Shinryu VS Artorias Erobern [Platinum Hearts Tournament Arc]

Everything was always so dull until today. OR at least he hoped it wouldn't be dull. The prospect of random opponents and learning new things intrigued Shin, sure. But, what if he got some boring guy who just punches hard or something? Idiots like those were the most annoying.

Oi, Shin-kun. While we wait we should do some naked twister.

One, no. Two, your limbs outnumber mines eleven to four. You'd never be able to lose. And three, and the most important thing to note. All these books I haven't read. So much to learn from them all. More entertaining than you anyway.

Baka! I am much more interesting than some dusty tomes and raggedy books.

Really? Then tell me something I don't know.

Shin's internal monologue continued as he went towards the towering shelves of endless reading material and proceeded to scan down the aisle for any on unusual topics of interest. As he did, he could hear Shibo Aijin ranting about something unimportant as he scanned the books in question. The various titles in this section were all medical and anatomical. Human anatomy he already knew. And Shinigami and Hollow, even arrancar. Those were things he did basic study on a long time ago when he first joined the Onmitsukido. You could never be sure who your next target could be. But then he saw one labelled Demon anatomy.

"Those guys really exist, huh? Who would have thought. Technically they did since Hell exists but, no-one's ever really seen much of them. And here is a book on them. Fascinating. Hmm?"

Shin paused for a moment while opening the book, one of his eyes perusing the material that it contained. The other eye surveying his surroundings. He could get a sense that something was around here. Probably his opponent. Why else would he be sent to this area and not his opponent? It didn't matter much. He'd react to his opponent when the time came. For now, this book had him very well entertained.

"So the whole horns thing is on an individual basis? I always thought they were like a Hollow's mask. A package deal kind of thing. Hmmm.....They can manipulate it like that, huh? Fascinating. It truly is a curious sight to see the similarities they have to us Shinigami. Granted they have their obvious differences but still. Still. Very interesting. Oh, they even have royal families like us too. Are they just trying to copy us or something?"

Shin then sat down and began flipping through the pages, one eye still observing for changes as he continued to monitor the area around him. His opponent was either lost, hiding, or biding their time. Or a mix of those three. Shin would figure it out as he went however. The nonfight occurring was far less important than the information in this book.

It isn't like you to ignore an opponent.

Would you suggest I let him think I'm looking for him? Better to let him force himself out of hiding than run into a trap.

Okay, you have a point there but still....Wait, I think he's near.

Seems like. I do hope he doesn't spoil my reading time.

Baka! This isn't the time to-

He seems like your type. Maybe you should use your feminine charms and less than feminine lower body to seduce him into submission?

Baka he can't see or hear me and you know- WHAT DO YOU MEAN LESS THAN FEMININE? MY LEGS ARE EXTRA WOMANLY!

You're long, firm, phallic tail isn't so. Unless this guy is into that. Then by all means, go get him tiger. Or should I say cougar, Shibo-obaachan?

BAKA I'M NOT THAT OLD! Besides, isn't phallic more your thing? You should like my tail.

Sorry, I prefer my men without tits.

You're just jealous because I am more attractive to men than you are!

If by attractive you mean centaurian and packing a bigger tool then them, then yes, I guess you are.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Shinryu took this time to stop listening to Shibo Aijin as it seemed like things might be starting soon. All the same, he just opened up his book once more and continued to engorge in it's material, learning new tidbits on every paragraph.

Hmm, books, books, books, books, more books... Artorias mused to himself as he slowly and calmly walked past shelf after shelf after shelf of books. This really was a huge library, probably plenty of reading material here, he never was a huge fan of reading though, though it could do some good at times. His gaze fixed on the location he sensed his opponent in, he was getting close...

He slowly walked out into the open isle his opponent was in, slowly looking around at his surroundings before turning his head and then his body to face his supposed opponent, his black coat swaying ever so slightly with his body, hanging somewhat heavily. He began his slow walk again, this time towards his opponent. He lazily looked to his right at the bookshelf he was next to, raising a finger and dragging it across a line of books for a few feet. He spoke in a low, somewhat grating voice as vibrations traveled through his metal body and translated to sound at around his head, his mouth not moving as he "talked".

Hello.

He came to a stop, putting his hand back down to his side and gazing once more at his opponent. He then put his hand to his chest as his "voice" rang out once more, his mouth unmoving.

My name is Artorias, of the Erobern family.

He let down his right arm, raising his left forwards pointing towards the man he was facing. Hunger, his blade, began materializing within his hand, first two feet of hilt jutting forward suddenly, then six feet of rugged steel, pointing directly at his opponent. He lowered his blade into a neutral position, his left hand at his side, slightly forward.

I will be your opponent today, it seems.

Shinryu took a slight second to pause as he heard him mention his family for a moment. The name sounded familiar and then he saw the page.

"Hmmm. One of the examples does match. Let's see. 'Demon birthrights are often determined by their blood and family bloodlines are passed down, leaving little room for adaption and passing down anatomical traits to the next generation. Such families, such as the Erobern, are known specifically for passing down unique traits only known to those members. I knew I just picked that name from somewhere. So, that's you huh?"

Shinryu mused at the thought as he then return to the page he was reading previously. His opponent indeed was a demon it looked like. He figured his attire wouldn't give too much but, Shinigami were notorious so he doubted he could surprise him with that knowledge. He kept his face to the book while one eye observed his opponent.

"Demmy-san......Yeah, I think that suites you."

Shin said, half to himself but loud enough to be heard as he finished perusing the book. He then closed it in a snap and dropped it to the floor, walking in the direction towards his opponent. His stature was amusing and he generated a blade out of thin air seemingly, though Shin knew better than that. So far he knew he had a blade and was a demon and Shin contemplated how to go about this. He walked a few more steps forward before turning on a dime.

"Ooohhh. Demon history. Hold that whole fight thing Demmy-san, I'll be with you in a moment."

Shin said as he lightly stepped to the bookcase and took out the book labelled 'Demons: Through the times.' and then opened the book and sat down on the floor once more as he began to peruse the contents of the book. His eyes lit up with the fascination in it's pages as he was content with what he'd be learning from the book he had this time. More importantly, until his opponent caught his attention otherwise, Shin wouldn't care about him in the slightest. And Shin felt to make his opponent more interesting, he'd do some slight antagonizing as well.

"Hmmm.....The old families have ruled for awhile, kinda like Shinigami it seems. Let me see what was your family again, Demmy-san? Erobaka...no....Erobums?....no....where is it.....You just told me what it was a second ago and it isn't in this book. So obviously you guys aren't interesting or important enough to be remembered by. Oh well. What else is interesting in here."

Shin did lie, he already read the family name within the pages. Whether his opponent knew that or not didn't matter to him, his opponent's reactions would either be entertaining or dull regardless. He hoped entertaining, Shin didn't want to be pit into a fight with a boring opponent. What good would that serve? I mean, except this library. Now this was the place to be. So he figured even if this guy was a complete stick in the mud, at least this place made the trip worth while.

You really shouldn't taunt him like that when you don't even know what Demons do.

I read enough to get a general idea. Besides, what's the fun in a fight if you don't rile up your opponent some? Sure it could go sideways but, I've lived long enough to handle myself if it should.

Artorias waited for the man to finish speaking, noting the jeer at his family name. He gave no reaction, only resuming his slow walk forward. Metal shifting could be heard, not quite a screech, as Artorias began adorning his true appearance. As Artorias' armored body filled out, a faint purple substance could be seen beginning to percolate out of his body. A portion of this liquid substance began to traverse his left arm, moving across his swords' hilt and running along the length of the blade. Artorias would lower the swords' tip to the ground at his left as he walked forward, beginning to get closer to his opponent. The ground the swords' tip scraped across could be seen rapidly deteriorating as the substance running along his blade ate at it. As Artoras got to about ten feet of his opponent, he took action.

En garde. Artoras would say, only a second before sweeping his blade from it's lower position to his left, up to above his right shoulder, sweeping two feet from his opponent. The acidic substance running along it would release in many drops from Artorias' blade, crystallizing into dangerously acidic bullets very rapidly traversing the two feet of distance between them and their target. Artorias would continue swinging as his opponent stayed at range, using only his left arm and continuously firing off more and more bullets of acid from the path of his sword's swing. He would quicken his pace into a fast walk and he would utilize his blade's immense range to his advantage, not letting his opponent get close to him.

Shinryu kept a close eye on his opponent. No reaction. The Stoic type. Or the pure combat type. Or he was smart enough to see through his games. It made him slightly more interesting. But no, what was interesting was his body. It was being covered in something. And something else was dripping from the blade, melting the ground it was going across.

Acid?

More than likely. And he's plated in some kind of armor as well. Based on that and how he is wielding his weapon, he's more of a medium range type.

What does that mean?

If I try to take a distance, he will chase. But if I get close he will try to keep me out of his guard. He's attacking probably with a single arm until he needs the second hand on the blade against my attacks. There is also a good chance that liquid on the blade will splatter and spray as he swings.

Shinryu pondered his options for a moment learning these facts. Moving too hastily could open his guard up for a far more dangerous, unknown skill. Instead, he thought the best course of action would be to figure out the corrosive nature of the substance, then the nature of his armor. As the droplets came across, Shin simply moved the book in the motion of the blade as he then Shunpo'd atop of a shelf that was two rows away from where they were. He paused for a moment as he observed the lqiuid in question as it took a few seconds to consume the book. It ate through it without any form of stalling but, didn't react like normal acid either.

Acidic Reiatsu?

It seems like that way.

As much as you hate to hold back, you need some defenses.

I'll agree with you on that.

Shinryu smirked for a moment. Things would get interesting now. More importantly, the metal would be the bigger issue if it was truly metal and not fleshy metal or spiritual metal. He'd had to learn that as he went however. But, if it was a spiritual metal, he knew the best way to test that theory as he unsheathed his blade and placed it on his palm, point towards his palm while observing his opponent's movements and moving away accordingly

"Contaminate all innocence, Shibo Aijin."

As he plunged the blade into his palm, it materialized into a black substance that wrapped around his arms and up to his shoulders, forming a pair of black, spiked gauntlets with a curved blade coming out of his shoulders. Two beads of the acid swiftly hit him in the chest and the force of the acid soon hit his body as he quickly let the burn sink in, causing him to bleed slightly as it did. A needed pain as Shibo Aijin began to analyze the nature of the acid.

Acidic energy of some sort. It will take me a bit of time to figure it out. It's also parasitic in nature, like it's stripping away to absorb it. For now I can dilute it till I figure it out.

Shinryu noted this information as he had slight burns on his chest. The one thing his opponent would notice is the effects not burning Shin as much as he'd expect. It didn't weaken the immediate slight drain he felt though as as he noted his opponent's stance. Time to test that armor of his. Shinryu swiftly bit the inside of his cheek, drawing blood into his mouth as noticed his opponent's next swing towards him. Using his left hand, he blocked at the blade and tried to rotate inwards in a spinning back fist with an open palm to try and and slash at his target. Upon contact with the blade however he noticed more of the melting energy now affecting his Shikai slightly as well. So it affected Reishi also. that was a good piece of information to have as his spinning, clawed strike came to attempt to close the distance. If his opponent attempted to move backwards, he'd spit his blood towards him, each drop infested with fungal spores that attached to and leeched spiritual pressure. Granted he wouldn't immediately notice it as it had a delayed effect. Aside from that, Shin was preparing Kido in both his fists for defense should he require it.

(Senchineru post 1, Attempting Sekai-teko Hayariyamai)

Artorias prepped himself for the incoming attack as he observed his opponent advancing. As he got within range of striking, Artorias would step backwards a couple feet, and when his opponent would then spit blood at him, Artorias would grin slightly. Artorias' acid would solidify and expand before the blood could impact him, and before the blood could dissolve from contact with the now more potent solidified acid, Artorias would draw his sword across it, horizontally slashing at his opponent in the process. As soon as Hunger was drawn through the blood and lowered again, Artorias' newly formed barrier would shatter, sending acidic shards in a wide area. Artorias would once again slash at his opponent should he remain in range.

Artorias grinned slightly once more as a low growling could be heard reverberating through his body as he could feel the bloodlust of his blade rising, his blade vibrating ever so slightly as it responded. It was time to change tactics. Large portions of Artorias' acid collected on his right arm, and one by one, he aimed at and shot a shard of it at all of the lights within his range of sight. A second after hitting the lights, the shards would burst, instantly evaporating into dark, purple smog, smothering all lights in the area and significantly dimming their surroundings. The smog would spread, slowly eating at whatever it touched. Artorias evaporated some of his acid from his body, coating himself and his immediate area in the smog as well.

The area would soon be covered in a thin and rapidly thickening dark purple veil of smoke which slowly started to singe whatever it met.

Shin-kun. I still need a little more time to figure this out.

Came the call from Shibo Aijin to him as he put a hand on the slashing blade coming towards him.

"Bakudo #73: Tozansho."

And while the blade came at him, it was quickly engulfed in a pyramid shaped barrier as the Tozansho barrier hit him in the chest and knocked him backwards and upwards as he pushed up on impact. The barrier protecting him from the blade's edge though leaving a large bruise on his ribs as he Shunpo'd up a few floors to gain a better vantage point. The barrier then began to dissolve under the mist that was forming as did the shelves when the lights came out. His blood being dissolved and the control over it, along with it eating his barrier only proved it was a controllable, dangerous energy that he had to by time to deal with. Shin noticed that stairs and some floors were dissolving away as well, meaning this would be short-lived it would seem. Interesting level of control but Shin was bored with this already. Very generic acid ability.

"Is that all you can do? All seems fairly basic to me."

Shinryu called out. They were both biding their time it would seem and it came to just be a war of Shin revealing all his opponents abilities before acting accordingly. Something was interesting though. Blocking the blood only confirmed Shin's suspicions: That metal had more to it that appearances allowed it would seem. For the time being he knew it dissolved reishi which left using long range bakudo as a non option. Until Shibo Aijin resolved her antiagent, he'd simply have to make things interesting. Shinryu had a general sense of where his opponent was and knew the dissolve timing of the acid in question. If it was large enough in volume, it would reach the ground or his opponent before fully dissolving. And once it made contact with his target, the acid would be a nonfactor once it seeded. Then again, it wouldn't matter much in a few moments when it was figured out anyway but, Shin didn't have to buy some time so, from the floor above, He began to spit out globs of his blood pouring from his mouth towards where this guy was. Maybe he'd hit him, maybe he wouldn't. Didn't matter much. All Shin had to do was get some onto him for it to matter. Or he could buy some useful time.

(Senchineru post 2, Sekai-teki Hayariyamai attempt.)

Artorias gazed at his blade as the barrier around it dissolved. He may have to watch out for more kido if his opponent has more powerful things up his sleeve. Nevertheless, it was time to act. May the hunt begin. Artorias thought to himself. The acid on Hunger would crystallize around the blade, a thin layer, but it had many blades on it, not losing it's cutting potential, and becoming more dangerous with the addition of the solidified and more efficient acid. Artorias saw the globs of blood his opponent fired at him through the smog thanks to Hunger's tracking ability, now that it had tasted his opponent's blood. He shadow bursted, doubling his speed and evading the projectiles as he advanced swiftly, the growing darkness increasing his abilities and speed further as the smog blotted out more and more light.

Using some of the shadow burst's speed, Artorias would concentrate the fog in a huge sphere around his opponent, rendering visibility almost nothing as he approached up the floors that distanced himself from his opponent. Now that the fog was surrounding the two of them, the darkness amped up Artorias shadow burst by another twofold, and he focused all of the shadow burst's speed on himself again, quadrupling his speed. Artorias would land on the floor of his opponent, about six feet from him, and he would then cause the sphere of smog around them to begin swirling at high speeds and for small portions of it to crystallize, becoming a swirling vortex of tiny blades around them.

Artorias would waste no time, he was in range. He would advance in the blackness, swinging the six feet of now acidic, rugged steel attached to it's two feet of handle at his opponent in rapid succession. He would press his opponent, trying to push him into the bladed fog closing in around them.


Shadow Burst: Post 1/3

Alright, I've figured out how to deal with the acidic nature of it. That's all I can offer.

With that thought in mind, Shin noticed the environment as it changed into an enclosure of sorts. At least his skin wouldn't be melting in it and his opponent chose to enclose them both. But he couldn't worry about that anyway. Vision also obscured but, That was the way Shin preferred to fight anyway. He was more than used to fighting in darkness, albeit his smoke was usually red and moved differently that this opponent's. He simply focused on the immediate things he could do and could not. With his opponent not making an effort to conceal his spiritual pressure, he knew where he was. And he knew where Shin was also, meaning that he was tracking him with something else than sight as well. As the first attack came, Shin observed the whish of the blade as it cut through the air. Coming from his opponent's left hand meant it would be on Shin's right. Fighting in close quarters was a specialty of Shin's being a hand to hand combatant after all. The blade came in and Shin moved his right shoulder to collide with it. In that instant, both blades clanged and Shin turned the curved blade on his shoulder as he rotated into a side stance while reaching his right arm and clasping on the blade itself.

It's draining our spiritual pressure Shin-kun!

I figured that out already. It's probably using that to track us also. But the rate that it drains isn't threatening to us in short bursts. We will take advantage of that.

With a good lock on the blade for the second, he lowered his stance and observed his opponent's armor. Penetrating strikes wouldn't be greatly effective, true. Blunt force trauma however, would be worse. Especially if it fully and tightly encased him, the vibrations of a strong blow would reverberate back into him, shaking him up inside and probably doing some solid damage.

"Bakudo #63: Sajo Sabaku."

As he placed his left hand to the ground, several thick, yellow ropes of energy would rise to wrap around his opponent. Granted he doubted they would truly restrain him. Even if they were strong without an incantation, without gripping on the actual opponent instead of his armor, he could only estimate it would hold the armor in place for a moment at most. Primarily it was just to get get to focus on multiple things. With his blade secured and his body about to be entrapped, unless he was stupidly strong, carrying Shin with him while dodging wouldn't be wise. He was intending on making his opponent abandon his armor or his blade. And if these circumstances didn't permit it, the powerful energy welling in his left fist would bring that to fruition as the ropes rose from the ground.

"Shunko."

Shin would rise and step slightly forward while using his right arm to pull hard on the blade, intending on pulling himself forward and dragging his opponent wielding the blade towards him. His left arm burst out from his shoulder as did his right with Reiatsu. The force of a Shunko reinforced pull would more than compensate for any strength difference between them. Or that's what Shin thought at least. With that pull, his body moved forward, throwing a Shunko empowered right cross aimed towards his opponent's sternum. Whether it could break the armor or not Shin wouldn't know, but if it hit he knew his target would feel it in the morning for sure. Shin's own Hakuda could crack Hierro without Shunko. So now it was time to get serious for sure.