Rise of a Legend

Chapter 36

"I must admit, I am fairly impressed with your abilities." The Countess called from a balcony connected to the stronghold.

"What do you mean? I was nearly killed!" Jeffrey shouted back.

"It was an unfair fight. That Mandalorian trials allow for you to at least have a weapon but we wanted to see what you could do without relying on your lightsabers." Sabine explained while standing beside her mother.

"Huh. So I was basically set up to fail?" Jeffrey asked.

"I suppose if you look at it a certain way." The Countess replied. "But it doesn't matter anymore, you must prepare for the next test."

Within 15 minutes, Jeffrey was led to a tunnel filled with dangerous obstacles.

"This is the Tunnel of Warriors. Only the most advanced Mandalorians can complete it safely and successfully." Fenn Rau said.

"Your task is to get to the other side without any items and within 30 minutes. Good luck and your time starts now." Rau finished and hopped onto a speeder to take him to the other end of the tunnel.

Jeffrey ran in without a hesitation and immediately found that there were several noises going off in the cave intentionally to prevent any challengers from being able to hear anything and to distract them.

Jeffrey tried to focus and drown out all the noise. He made it through about 10% of the tunnel encountering nothing more then a few high jumps and occasional blaster fire. Then he found a large section of floor comprised entirely of flamethrowers.

"Great." Jeffrey groaned.

He looked around and tried to find a way around the flamethrowers but to no avail. 

"I can't go under the flamethrowers or around them and most likely not through them.... Wait could I?" Jeffrey's concentration broke as he tried to imagine himself avoiding the flamethrowers but all he could picture was him being barbecued. "Yeah definitely a no. But maybe I could go over the flamethrowers!" Jeffrey thought as he glanced at the surprisingly low ceiling in the tunnel.

A group of  stalactites were growing from the ceiling and if he timed his jumps correctly he could theoretically cross by jumping from one to another.

Jeffrey used the wall to gain momentum and managed to just barely grab the end of the stalactite. He started to build more momentum by swinging back forth before making another jump, then another, and another.

"Man my shoulders are burning right now, but I gotta keep going." Jeffrey forced the pain back and continued his journey.

After what felt like hours of jumping and swinging, Jeffrey finally touched the ground safely on the other side of the flamethrower floor. He began to set an even pace again and started to make some good headway. When he reached what he assumed was 30% he noticed another large obstacle in his way. 

This time it was massive maces rocking back and forth hanging from chains attached to the ceiling. 

"If I had my lightsabers I could just cut through the chains easily." Jeffrey said bitterly. "The only way to cross this is to memorize the timing of when they reach a certain area. There's only three but they move quickly so I gotta be careful." Jeffrey whispered and spent the next two minutes attempting to get the timing down.

Jeffrey began to make his approach by at first going to the left, then the middle and then going back to the left. He quickly realized the error in his ways after having to completely flatten himself on the ground to avoid being skewered by the second mace. "Alright that's it." Jeffrey said and used the Force to blast the mace out of the way. "Forget safety, I'm getting out of this tunnel no matter what."  Jeffrey starting sprinting while using the Force to annihilate anything in his way. 

Meanwhile... 

"He has 1 minute remaining." Rau said slightly nervous as there had been no sign of Jeffrey yet.

"Maybe he wasn't ready to take on these trials. He is still young, maybe we can try again in another year." The Countess attempted to soften the mood.

Rau shook his head. "No, you know the rules Countess. Anyone who wishes to become a Mandalorian only has one chance. If they fail to complete any tests then the trial ends immediately and they have failed."

"Where is your optimism? If there is one person that I know that could do this without any time to prepare it's Jeffrey. There is more to him then meets the eye. Nobody has ever truly seen the extent of his power but he has proven himself time and time again. I think he can do it." Sabine said and the three Mandalorians watched the tunnel exit intent on finding any signs or signals. 

With ten seconds remaining they had almost given up hope when Jeffrey came running out, battered, bruised, and exhausted. He instantly fell over as soon as made it out and after a second to catch his breath asked if he made the cut.

"With five seconds to spare." Rau replied.

Jeffrey let out a massive sigh of relief and relaxed for a moment. Then he attempted to get up but fell over because of how shaky his legs were after all that running. "What's... next?" He asked with a slight strain in his voice.

"There is only one more test you need to pass before your final trial." The Countess said. "But that is for tomorrow, you must regain your strength tonight." 

"I agree." Rau said.

"Well good because I'm pretty hungry after getting through that tunnel of madness which by the way, what was the point of launching sharp needles at me?" Jeffrey said as he got up making everyone laugh.

Thank you guys so much for 4.5 k reads!!! Anyone that is reading this has my gratitude. Remember, constructive criticism is still appreciated and until next time, Lunch Kid out.