[ti]solo[/ti]Is That Blood Thine

❝Harden.❞

The mist around his right hand, shaped temporarily like a blade, solidified and had a bit of a sheen. Arthur stared at it, concentrating, clenching his teeth. He needed it to stay, to maintain its form, but if he broke his concentration at any moment--

The red fog started to melt and fall off, like it had a mind of its own. The trainer didn't realize that he was holding his breath and let out a heavy exhale when the form lost itself. If he wanted to land the final blow on HeartEater without any weapons (as he was not able to unlock Ironsmith on time), he needed to do it with his own hands. Well, hand, specifically - the one he was trying so hard keep cooperative.

Throughout the evening, he noted a number of things about this hand, the mist, and what it could do:

• It needed a very clear image of what Arthur wanted it to be for it to maintain its form. This is why, by default, it would be the shape of his hand, because that was always what he expected to see when he raised his arm, and it still functioned very much like a hand minus any sort of feeling. As a hand, it was also the most consistently solid, able to hold objects. Curiously, weight seemed to matter less to the mist, and he was able to carry heavier things by snaking the smoke around it to get a better grip, which leads to,
• He could extend it, like a rope, and maneuver it to a certain length and flexibility. The closer it was to the source, the easier to manipulate, but he can also shoot it out like a web in a straight line if needed be. There was definitely a distance where it would start to trickle into nothingness, and from a rough estimation, that looked maybe around...five? No, more than that, but less than ten meters away. Still, there was almost no solid-ness to stretching it so far; in those cases, it acted best as a near gaseous state.
• When forming his hand into a weapon, the easiest was to sharpen his finger tips into claws, which did not take an extreme amount of concentration. To fashion it into a blade resting on top of his hand though (something he saw in an anime long before) was more difficult. Actually, what was harder was not the shaping, but maintaining its shape, especially if he wanted it to hurt.

One workaround was to finally use the Player Class, since he needed to equip himself into one to prevent himself from getting oneshotted by anything sun-related. He had access to some basic techniques, with one of them being Harden. He noted though that it best worked if he said the move out loud, but whether he would be able to move past that or actually keep it active long enough to be of use, he needed to see.

So he let Kanya come at him, as much as the cat was very hesitant about attacking his trainer. Arthur reasoned, the fastest way I'm going to learn is if I'm in danger, so do it.

The Floragato grimaced, so he took it slow at first. He moved in, a semi-quick run before a lunge, and with a paw raised, he was poised for a Scratch, but he didn't put a lot of power into his swing. Arthur tried to keep himself from flinching before moving with his mist hand to block the attack, first without using Harden. This ended poorly, with Kanya's claws basically passing through, and the trainer fell back trying to avoid the attack. ❝Ugh...❞ he winced before picking himself up. ❝Again.❞

Kanya jumped back, completely unsure if this was going to work, but he repeated the action, moving forward with a ready Scratch, about to swipe down.

❝Harden!❞

The mist, shaped like a wide blade, shone briefly, and when claw struck mist, it clanged like hitting metal. The moment of surprise was enough of an opportunity for Arthur to push the cat back, but right after that movement, the mist scattered. Nonetheless, it was enough to be considered a successful block.

<Woah.>

Arthur could not hide that he was very much proud of being able to do it. ❝Just need to time it right. Let's do it again.❞

+1 Fighter Req: Physically battle with your Pokemon (1)
+1 Steeler Req: Train with your Pokemon