Stick to Your Day Job [Open]

[Jin]

In the short amount of time that had passed since Jin's arrival in Twilight Town, one thing had been made incredibly clear to him. There were many people coming from many worlds who all shared one thing in common: They were dramatically and dangerously underequipped to be fighting anything, let alone the huge amount of Heartless that had been scrambling around them since the Nightfall.

And when a population was unarmed, it was far too easy for their antagonists to swoop in and do them in without any sort of fight. Not a respectable one, at least. Jin wasn't going to stand for that. He might shy away from the position of leader, but he was all in when it came to minimizing casualties. As a result, Jin was setting up to fill the need he'd seen one person at a time.

Finding blocks that were big enough to use as molds wasn't the hard part. No, the real issue would be in carving out good enough shapes to be used to forge the various weapons he'd likely wind up making for people. However, so long as he only had to focus on one person or one weapon type at a time, it wouldn't be any sort of big deal. That's why Jin was lugging two long blocks of stone into Market Street at the moment. He knew Avari needed a weapon; she may not have told him she wanted him to make one, but he knew the need for a sword when he saw it. Besides, if she was interested in learning how to fight from him, it was only fitting that she use a weapon that was at least somewhat modeled after his own.

Reaching what he believed to be a good spot, Jin carefully set the blocks down on the street and gave the engravings inside them a final once-over.

Yes, the mold would make for a good weapon. Sleek, two-edged, and just the right size for it to not be awkward to her as she grew accustomed to it. Now it was just a matter of tracking down some good metal - or at least enough scraps from the destroyed buildings to smelt out the impurities and make a half decent product. It was likely that any sword he made here wouldn't be as sturdy as either of his own, though he doubted that he could even if he had the best metal this world could offer. Nothing he'd seen was as durable or held an edge for as long as the stuff that the meteorite had offered up for the creation of Glimmering Lightning and Unbreaking Stone.

Still, no one could fault him for trying his best. Not in this case, at least.

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

Helping random strangers around Twilight Town had been something Avari had grown accustomed to. Most of the refugees, after all, had gone through the same pain she had: losing their friends, family, and even their own world. So when she came across that old man earlier in the day, she didn't hesitate in helping him to retrieve his belongings from a collapsed building. It took some time, as it was dangerous to crawl around in the rubble, but eventually she gathered all of his things- mostly these strange gems that came in many colors. Upon returning his things to him, the old man thanked Avari and asked what had brought her to such an isolated part of town. Being rather trusting to begin with, Avari simply told him she had been training, and he asked more, seemingly harmless questions. He wondered why someone as young as her would be looking for a fight, why she wouldn't rely on someone else to protect her. She was quick to respond, "I can't just wait around for other people to fight my battles! I need to be stronger, like Jin and Max!"

The old man didn't seem curious as to who Jin or Max were, but he replied, "Strength, you say?" a smile twisted across his face, "Perhaps you require this! A gem imbued with the power of 10,000 men! It is quite precious to me, but it seems you need it far more than I do. I would be willing to part from it for a small fee, my dear..."

Several hours later, with a significantly lighter coin pouch, Avari stood in an alleyway, turning the purple gem in her hand, realizing how foolish she was to fall for the old man's selling scheme, and even more so to not ask how this gem even works. Holding it in her hand, it seemed heavier than she expected it to be when the old man handed it to her, and different shades of purple and black swirled within its form. With a heavy sigh, she stepped out of the alleyway onto Market Street. The hand holding the gem relaxed at Avari's side as she looked up and saw Jin standing by two large stone blocks. She walked over to him, a confused expression forming on her face.

"Hey Jin... whatcha doin?"

[Jin]

As he was checking the depth and smoothness of the curves in the mold with his fingers, Jin pulled out Glimmering Lightning to smooth out a small rough patch. He had to be meticulous if he wanted the weapons this thing was going to make to be any good. He was focused on his work, but not to the point that he was ignorant to Avari's approach.

"I'm working on a base for crafting a sword," he said, giving one last grind across the patch that had his attention before sheathing his blade and looking up. "There's something on the horizon; something big. Not sure what it is, but it's on its way."

He gave the young girl a quick head-to-toe look. Her being here was probably a good thing. It made the effort of making the delivery once he was done that much easier. Plus, now she could have a hand in the actual crafting process. It'd be a lot like how he made Glimmering Lightning back when he was a kid. Though she had about a decade of age on her more than he did when he'd done the same thing, and he doubted she could channel energy into the cooling blade like he had to breathe consciousness into the weapon.

"You still in the market for a real weapon?" he asked. "Not a lot of people defend themselves with a foam bat."

The question was innocent enough, though the follow-up had a bit of a bite to it. The slight raise of his eyebrow and the smirk playing on his lips was a small taunt, but it was an obvious one.

"All I need is the metal, some wood, and some leather or cloth. Shouldn't be too hard to track down in this dump."

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

Her eyes visibly brightened as he explained how he was going to fashion a sword, and she was instantly watching him with a piqued interest. Though as he mentioned there was 'something on the horizon' Avari realized that Jin seemed to have a lot weighing on his mind. Being the ever positive sort though, Avari focused more on the part about making her a sort, carrying a smile up until he teased her about using a struggle sword to defend herself. Her smile turned to a pout as she crossed her arms and gave him a pointed look,

"Well EXCUUUUSE me, not everyone can have fancy swords like yours." She maintained the dirty look on her face up until Jin listed out the materials he needed, to which she quickly replied, "I bet I can find all that!" Without another word, Avari scampered off to gather the materials from nearby buildings that had long since fallen into disuse. Roughly ten minutes later, she came back with all she could carry, consisting of: a couple planks of wood, some old water pipes, and a dusty leather pouch. As she was hurriedly placing the collection of junk on the ground, the purple gem slipped from her pocket and with a gasp, Avari quickly reached out for it, catching it before it fell.

"Phew." She let out a sigh of relief; wouldn't do to go on and break the darn thing that had cost her a hefty amount of munny. "How's all this? Will this do?" She asked, looking over the junk she had gathered for him. It wasn't a whole lot, considering she could only carry so much, but if he required more, or something of finer quality, she was more than capable of going on another hunt for whatever was needed.

[Jin]

The eager smile on the young girl's face warped dramatically from joy to contempt as Jin called her out on her strange choice of weapon. He chuckled, a mirthful grin playing across his face as her gaze tried desperately to bore into him. He wasn't the apologetic type. Once words came out of his mouth, he stuck to them no matter the consequences. She wouldn't be getting anything out of him. Well, anything besides a sword, apparently.

She rushed off, leaving the man at peace for some final moments of peace and quiet before the day would pick up. Smiths tended to attract customers during times of hardship, so it wouldn't be too big an assumption to think that more people besides the brunette girl would be stopping by for gear at some point or another.

It was about ten minutes later when the girl finally returned, panting slightly as she dumped an armload of materials out of her crossed arms and onto the ground. From what Jin saw, it was more than enough wood to make a scabbard for the final product as well as a handle to set the blade proper in, some sort of old leather bag, and...

Well, he'd have to work with it.

Drawing Glimmering Lightning, Jin lifted one of the old, rusted pipes and examined the material carefully. How much good metal was even in this thing? Certainly not a blade's worth, though maybe just barely if he used every pipe the girl had brought him. Still, being scant on supplies was to be expected in a wasteland like post-Nightfall Twilight Town. He couldn't exactly go tell her to get him refined iron or a meteorite to work with.

"Maybe a bit too much wood," Jin replied to the girl. "But I'm not exactly complaining about a surplus. Not too confident about the metal, though."

While saying this, the orange haired fighter had mounted the first of the pipes between the stones he'd brought. A solid, vertical cut downwards nearly split the pipe in two. Then another slash ninety degrees from the first cut put the pipe in even quarters. Rapid, back-and-forth horizontal slashes chipped away at their target centimeter my centimeter as bits just thin enough to fit in the groove of the mold began littering the ground in their wake.

"Then again, beggars can't really be choosers."

Jin collected the metal chips once the pipes had all been chopped down to size. Fishing a thick, stone bowl out from his supplies, he stowed the pieces inside it and set the bowl on the ground between the two of them. Now all that was left was to melt them down.

"Took a while to find the stuff to make this, but if this goes well it'll be worth the effort. You're up."

The melting point of iron was high, though the melting point of steel was quite a bit lower. Jin crossed his fingers that whatever architect had built the plumbing systems of the buildings Avari had gathered her supplies from had gone for the latter. The stone could probably hold up if it wasn't, though. Probably.

"I want you to hit this thing with all the heat you've got, and then I want you to hit it with some more. I'll tell you when you're done."

This was reminiscent of how Jin had first made Glimmering Lighting. His father had told him to use his lighting; a task he was hardly familiar with. It was the most strenuous thing he'd done to date, but the final result was nothing to scoff at. So, Avari would have to take the same amount of pride in her work.

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

She frowned as he critiqued the rusty pipes she brought, never having taken part in crafting a blade before, and unsure of where she could find better metal in a place like this. Her mind shifted to the trains at the Station and all the metal located there, but she wasn't sure how she could dismantle the vehicles for parts without some serious assistance and a way to cut and melt metal. She watched as Jin drew his lightning sword and started cutting down the pipes into workable material.

Avari hadn't thought to use her magic for practical means, apart from nailing heartless with it, so she hadn't quite expected Jin's request, "Wha- me? Alright, I'll try." Now that he mentioned it, using her fire magic did make sense, especially with their lack of tools. Besides, Avari was more than happy to feel useful and help the process along. With a brief nod, she turned her attention to the stone bowl on the ground between them.

Avari took a deep breath, and then threw one of her fists out, emitting fire that hit the bowl with a small clatter against the pavement. She threw another fist, this time a little softer, and the fireball hit with slightly less impact. She continued like this until she was able to simply heat the bowl and have the fire disperse before it actually impacted with the bowl. The process took quite a bit out of her, however, as she still hadn't really mastered the magic, and there were visible drops of sweat beading on her face.

Eventually, though she didn't stop what she was doing, spoke up, "Now? How bout now?" And once Jin gave the go ahead, she would halt her fire magic and fall back into a sitting position, tuckered out from the effort she put in.

[Jin]

The girl lacked focus.

It was a problem Jin had been aware of from the time they'd been in the Underground together. Avari could hardly ward off a few Shadows with her skills, and she would have stood no chance against the newer, stronger models that the depths of the caves had thrown at them. Jin had been taken by surprise with their speed, which didn't give say anything good about the strength of their enemies going forward.

Even now, all she seemed to be doing was shooting one burst of heat after another, and by the time the next burst in line arrived at its target the metal and rock would have already cooled enough for her efforts to have next to no effect. It was wasted effort.

After a minute or two and with the metal hardly starting to smoke, the girl began to grow impatient. It was to be expected; Not only was she young, but she also lacked the kind of discipline that had been beaten into him from the time he was a decade younger than her. Still, she had to have some sort of drive. She'd have to arrive at a tipping point and decide to keep going or give up. If it was the former, she had talent. If it was the latter, then Jin supposed it would be time for another lesson.

He pointedly ignored Avari as she began questioning whether or not the metal was ready, waiting a good thirty seconds until after the words had passed her lips before speaking loud enough that she would hear him even if he didn't bother to look at her and away from the crucible in which the steel was held.

"You're wasting energy doing it like that," he commented. "If you keep this up, we'll be out here for at least another few hours. Maybe days."

It was all the advice he was going to give her. At least until she passed out or snapped and starting hucking those fireballs at him.

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

Avari paused, feeling disheartened by Jin's words, and she saw from where she stood that the metal hadn't been reduced to liquid like she had hoped. A little out of breath, Avari spoke up, "What am I supposed to do? I can't spit fire forever." Just the small amount she had done just now had worn her out, and she'd never attempted to hold a flame for more than a few seconds, it really took a lot out of her. She took a few moments to catch her breath, keeping her eyes on the broken metal bits in the bowl rather than catch Jin's harsh gaze. She wasn't quite sure what Jin expected from her, it had only been a few weeks since she even started using magic, it was hardly enough time to master the skill, heck, it was a miracle that she had even made her fire combat worthy.

Avari never seemed to lack courage when it came to the decision to fight the heartless, but it turned out that she was missing the ability to do so. She was just another ordinary civilian or refugee, and buying some trinket in order to use fire magic hadn't changed that. Determination and baubles weren't enough, but then what did she need, in that case?

As she looked down at the stone bowl, she thought back to their rescue mission at Station Plaza, when Jin held up that stone so that Oswald could get the civilians out from under the rubble. While the rabbit had done so, a young girl Avari hadn't met before stood at the front of the hole, blasting air through to get oxygen to the people trapped underneath. Avari didn't understand much about magic, but she remembered the consistent stream of air passing over her shoulder as she had helped Oswald get the civilian out of the hole. Surely if a girl younger than her could create a breeze so easily, than Avari could melt this metal down with fire.

After another moment or two of reconsidering her methods, she straightened her posture and place both hands in front of her, palms facing out towards the bowl. After a deep breath, fire ignited and spread from her hands like a flamethrower, her gaze intent on the metal. Not much time passed before the fire dispersed and Avari leaned forward with her hands on her knees, exhausted by the effort she put out. This time, however, the metal in the bowl was hot enough to turn red around the edges, but not quite to melting point just yet. Seeing this as the right direction, Avari started up again once she had caught her breath and her magic recovered.

[Jin]

Avari had expended all that effort, and yet all she was left with was some red-hot chips of iron. Jin wasn't surprised - she still didn't really have the same natural affinity for her fire charm that he did for his lighting. The effort of pumping her energy into it and trying to squeeze out what flames she could was a harsh penalty to pay for the skills it allowed. Jin's lighting, on the other hand, was different. It was a part of him, so he always knew exactly how much he had to work with. It had been that way from the time he was a kid.

Still, the fact that she'd managed to completely wear herself out on this one admittedly tedious activity wasn't something to be overlooked. She obviously had the desire and the drive to keep working, but that wasn't exactly what he meant when he said she lacked focus.

There was something inside everyone that, if given enough effort, they would be able to channel. It was the part of you that could lock into one task, disregard your wellbeing, and throw everything you were able to at accomplishing it. When that happened, it was a matter of finishing the job come hell or high water. That was something Avari was going to have to learn for herself, but it didn't look like this was the right environment for her to do it.

Jin suppressed the urge to sigh at her complaints. No, she couldn't spit fire forever, but she could try to make it hotter and try to get a steady stream of the stuff going. It looked like she'd done a good enough job of figuring out that last part, though her energy was also nearly spent. She'd need to build up her endurance as well as figure out the ever-important aspect of focus if she wanted to succeed.

'Maybe I'm going about this the wrong way.'

He walked over to the panting girl, holding one hand out in front of him and pointing his palm at the bowl. With a breath, a stream of lightning jumped from his hand and arched into the bowl below the two. He held it there for ten seconds, then twenty, and by the time a full minute had passed the metal in the bowl had entirely turned to hot, red liquid.

"Let me tell you a story," he began as he unsheathed his swords. He crouched, planting the blunt ends of the weapons underneath a small lip at the rim of the bowl. He stood, taking the incredibly hot material with him over to the mold he'd prepared. The two stones were now pressed together and a small, circular opening in the top was left as the only access to the engraving he'd made in them. With a careful hand, the molten metal found its way into the crevice and filled it to the brim. Now it was just a matter of waiting. Though, never one to waste time, Jin took a seat by the stones, pulled up one of the wooden planks that Avari had retrieved, and set to work whittling away at it with Glimmering Lightning's blade. To any onlooker, the way Jin gripped the sword by the edge for a better grip looked dangerous. However, the lack of blood pouring from his hands said all it needed to about the weapon's distaste for cutting humans.

"When I was about six years old, my dad took my brother and I out into the woods to hunt down a meteor that had fallen the night before. When we got there, he took out his sword - made of the same stuff that mine are made out of - and cut the rock clean in two. Inside it was the good stuff; the quality ore that could be used to make the best swords around. I didn't know much about swordmaking at the time, but my father told me one thing about metal that I'm never going to forget.

Every weapon has a soul of its own, and it's not some trick of the forge or a specific technique of forming the steel. The soul comes from the person who makes the blade. Nothing else. A weapon is an extension of yourself, and not just because it's like having a longer arm. Weapons, and especially swords, are reflections of their wielders. So, when it comes to making them and using them, anything short of putting your everything behind it is a failure."

Another few minutes passed before Jin cracked open the stones, confident the metal had cooled enough to harden and retain its shape. The results were better than he'd expected. The metal was still beyond hot, but it was cool enough that his calloused, heat-resistant hands could take hold of it and hammer the handle in place. From there, he deftly grabbed the leather pouch and cut out a sizable portion of it. He reached into his pocket, drawing a small needle and a spool of black thread from inside it as he stitched the leather in place around the handle.

It was practically complete, but there was one thing missing.

Jin stood, and suddenly he was next to Avari with the small, purple gemstone she'd nearly dropped earlier in his hand. He was quite the pickpocket back in the day, after all.

"For the finishing touch," he explained as he attached the crystal to the weapon's pommel. As he suspected, it snapped in place without any need for adhesive or the like. It was similar to the materia Avari had been toting around, but it seemed like this one was exclusively for weapons. Now if only he had any idea what it did.

"Now then, what do you say we test it out?"

There was a challenge in his voice as he tossed the weapon back to the girl. She'd had plenty of time to rest, and he still had a lesson she needed to learn. If she wanted to be effective in a fight, she needed to learn how to get into the right head-space. That wasn't going to happen from him pushing the limits of her magic, apparently. No, the obvious solution was the most fun one. A fight.

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

Between breaths, Avari watched as Jin stepped forward and held out his hand towards the bowl. Lightning sprung forth from his palm at a consistent rate, heating the bowl until the material inside melted into a molten liquid. It came as easy for Jin, which made Avari feel a bit disappointed in herself. Why couldn't she be more like him? He was cool, confident, and all these skills Avari couldn't have imagined. But perhaps this sword would be the first step for her, as magic didn't seem to be in her blood.

Avari's breathing eventually returned to normal, and she let out an exasperated sigh. Jin didn't seem angry with her though, just stayed his usual calm, collected self as he poured the melted down material into the stone mold he had created. He then proceeded to sit down and start whittling away the wood Avari had brought to him. Her gaze drifted down to his hand, noticing how he held his sword by the blade to cut the wood, but somehow didn't cut himself. She was curious about this, but as Jin began to explain a story to her, she remained silent and listened.

Jin described how his father brought him and his brother out to search for a meteor in order to craft a sword, when Jin was only 6 years old. At the most, when Avari was that age, she played with wooden swords at most, Jin's life sounded like it was full of all sorts of exciting things. Though he had made it clear that he'd had his own struggles, Avari couldn't help but envy him, and once again wonder what his world must have been like. Jin went on to tell her about what went into crafting a sword, how it had its own soul, and that you had to put everything you had into making it. Avari glanced down at the ground as he said this, now only feeling more frustrated with herself.

Soon enough, Jin finished carving a hilt for the sword, and then he stood up to retrieve the now cooled metal that would form the blade of the weapon. She stood up off the ground as he did so, watching with fascination and seemingly forgetting her failure, at least for the moment. The sword seemed complete, as Jin stitched together the leather on the hilt, but he didn't seem to think so. Suddenly, he was right next to her, procuring the purple gem from her pocket. She jumped out of surprise, taking a quick step back, but watched as the gem seemed to snap into place on the sword without any extra effort to attach it. "Wha- do you know what that does? To be honest I didn't even know it would do that... Ack!" She caught the sword by its hilt as Jin tossed it to her, and she looked it over briefly, a look of excitement showing in her eyes as he suggested a spar, or at least she assumed as much by the taunt in his tone of voice.

With another chance to prove herself, Avari offered a determined smile, holding the blade with her right hand as she looked up at Jin, "Yeah!" Perhaps he would even teach her some proper techniques if they sparred. Of course, Jin was super strong, but it wasn't like this would be a fight to the death or anything; better for her to test the waters now rather than have to learn during her next encounter with heartless. There wasn't any real form or posture to Avari's stance, but she stood, waiting for Jin to make the first move.

[Jin]

Avari's audible surprise at the way the strange crystal fit neatly into the hilt of her weapon had Jin smirking a bit. Of course, she was already firing off a thousand questions about what the gemstone could be or do, and Jin had no answers for her.

"No clue," he responded. "Do I look like the kind of guy who uses all this magical crap? It wasn't one of these, though."

Jin revealed the Sparkling Thunder materia that he'd come by with a flick of his wrist. He still had no idea what it would do, but he did know that it had reacted strangely to his energy when he'd picked it up from the ruins after his and Avari's last encounter.

"Figured it might work with a weapon. Looks like I was right."

As the girl dropped into her stance, Jin smirked and flourished his weapons once again. One look at her told him all he needed to know. She was flatfooted, and even more importantly her weight wasn't distributed correctly. If he was lucky, he may be able to teach her the basics.

He took a lunge at her, closing the gap between himself and Avari with a single step and bringing Glimmering Lightning around at her with a harsh twist of his body. With that stance, it would be harder for her to dodge around it - and if she blocked she wouldn't have the stability to not lose her footing unless she had an abnormal amount of strength.

"Stay on your toes," Jin said, taking another quick step in the girl's direction and stabbing towards her with Unbreaking Stone. "And make sure you turn your body away from the person attacking you. Don't make yourself a bigger target than you need to be."

He continued attacking her in ways that would force her to correct her stance or encourage her to have good footwork, though he was cautious to hold back a sizable portion of his power and speed. She needed to learn, not get the fight kicked out of her.

Regardless of how she'd improved in the few short minutes he'd been trading blows with her, he decided to take it up a small notch. He leapt back, creating a good amount of distance between them as his swords sparked with blue lightning.

"And make sure you're quick," he said with a smirk, skating the edges of his swords against the round as sparks danced in the surrounding area. They would give her a little more than a tickle if she wasn't quick to jump out of the way, but hopefully she could handle it.

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

Avari's gaze followed the swords as Jin flourished them and before she knew it, he lunged at her with one of the blades. It happened so fast she had no choice but to try and block it, holding her sword in one hand, but once it came in contact with Jin's blade, his strength overpowered hers and she was knocked back a couple steps, nearly falling to the ground. She let out a surprised yelp as this happened, but Jin wasted no time in swinging again, instructing her on her stance as he did so. She was practically forced to turn herself sideways to avoid being stabbed in the torso.

He seemed to be fighting in such a way that was aggressive, yet gave Avari at least a split second to react. She continued attempting blocks and dodges each time he attacked, facing the consequence each time she was too sluggish her off balance to move. When he paused, she had a couple cuts here and there, a few on her arm, but somehow she had yet to feel the pain, as the burst of adrenaline kept her focused purely on avoiding further attacks. She could hear her heart pounding in her ears, and as Jin stepped back and started sparking electricity, her eyes widened.

"Are you crazy?!" Avari jumped out of the way of the first spark, but the next one that came her way struck her. She yelped at the shock, now that much more motivated the dodge the next. At this rate, Avari didn't stand a chance; she couldn't even go on the offensive. She watched his smug face with annoyance for a moment, before making for his position, skirting around the electricity as much as she could. She tried to keep an eye on for him in case he came forward with another attack, but a lot of her attention was being put into avoiding the dancing sparks.

[Jin]

If Jin were to be entirely transparent, he'd have to admit to himself that he wasn't spacing enough room between his attacks for Avari to go on the offensive. This ran in stark contrast to how he'd been taught how to use a sword. His father had taught him the basics of attacking well before he was allowed to try his hand at defending.

Avari was a different animal, though. She wasn't a six-year-old child hidden away from the world in a deep forest. She was a teenager, and well on her way to adulthood. She didn't have time to ignore the basics of defending against things coming her way. If that meant that he never taught her how to throw a single attack, then so be it. She'd learn how to handle the edge of the blade in the field.

Right now, there were exactly three skills she needed to have beaten into her. Proper stance, clean footwork, and the ability to block when necessary. Attacking could come later, and it was the least important think he could be teaching her.

Jin grinned wickedly when Avari began scrambling back and forth to avoid the bolts of energy he'd sent scattering around their makeshift battlefield. It had been a long time since anyone had called him crazy.

"Maybe a little!" he called to the girl. Before the waves of sparks even ended, he was moving in and around them. His feet slid harshly against the ground, never completely losing contact with it despite the fact he was moving at a quick pace.

He'd aimed to catch her mid-jump. There were two lessons behind this. The first was to always keep your footing and to not hop around in a way that would destroy your balance or stability in the middle of a fight. The next was the need to rely on the whole body when it came to stopping impacts. If she got hit with the slash mid-jump, she'd get sent stumbling back again. If she blocked just as she landed, she'd likely feel the impact go right through her legs and into the ground below her now that she had a half decent stance. That was the way it was supposed to be.

"But you should remember that you're the one who agreed to this fight!"

Avari was more adept at this sort of thing than Trey had been when Jin first ran the basics of swordplay by the boy, but Avari also had four years on him and a history of fighting if that foam bat she'd been lugging around with her had been any indication. Still, the gap in Jin's ability and Avari's was vast when it came to fighting. No amount of talent could have made up for over a decade of near-constant fighting for survival.

"Fights are games, kid. You should know that by now. It's all about lining the pieces up and noticing patterns and habits."

To demonstrate his point, Jin lifted his foot a fraction of an inch into the air and stomped down, sending another pulse of electric energy right for Avari. She'd jumped out of the way of all the others, and he'd put this one further to the left of her body on the way towards her. It was a setup - there was a good chance she'd jump to the right to move out of the way, and Jin was already on his way to where she'd land if she did and was ready to give her another slash as she traveled through the air.

"And once you've figured those out, you can start baiting the hook."

[Avari]

Avari
Refugee

It wasn't long before Jin entered the fray of dancing sparks to pursue her again, coming at her with downward diagonal slash. She had just jumped out of the way of another spark and with little time to respond, she could only bring up her blade to block, feeling the impact weigh down on her as she held the sword at bay. Thankfully she was able to match his one handed strength by holding her own blade with two hands, vertically, but it was still a challenge; he obviously was far stronger than her, but she had to do something.

Sparring like this wasn't entirely new to Avari due to her experience in struggle battles, but typically magic and swords weren't involved. When she and her opponent locked swords like this, however, she usually tried to knock them away in order to create an opening. So she attempted to do so, putting all her strength into contesting against his and as metal scraped against metal, suddenly her blade gained an extensive amount of weight, swinging downwards with the hilt of the sword snagging on Jin's blade and forcing it in tow. Her blade hit the stone ground like a an unstoppable force, leaving cracks in the ground in its wake. Avari hadn't been expecting this and was practically yanked along by the blade's newfound weight. "Ack! What the- how does this-" The gem on the hilt of the sword glimmered, and as she attempted to lift the blade, it gave no resistance as it had returned to its feather-like weight.

She didn't expect Jin to cut her any slack at this point, so she readied to block his next attack. Once she had the opportunity, she tried to move back away from him, dodging more sparks as best she could. She didn't have time to contemplate this new ability she had discovered in the sword, but she appeared to have a slightly better aptitude with this physical weapon over her fire charm.

[Jin]

When Jin's blade made contact against Avari's, the sparks around the pavilion ceased. Jin played along, letting Avari think out her next move as she struggled against the pressure he'd applied to her guard.

There was something in the air just before he felt the weight of her blade increase past the strength that her body should have been capable of. A dozen thoughts flashed through his head in that time. Had she been holding back until now? Was this a power she'd had and was just starting to rattle loose, or was it the gem.

Jin's focus shifted to the crystal, and the glimmer it gave off told him all he needed. This was magic, not some power coming from the girl. Given her reaction to the events, she didn't have much control over it either.

His blade was pulled along with hers, so he followed the momentum into a spin while bracing the other blade for a second slashing attack along the same line as the first one.

"Good. Think on your feet and don't get distracted," Jin said mid-stroke. He'd noticed Avari's quick adjustment to her weapon. She was lucky the weapon hadn't stuck itself to the weight it shifted to. Jin still had no idea how to control the magical trinkets that people were picking up left and right these days, but they apparently weren't hard to use if Avari had used one on accident.

He probably wasn't going to pick one up regardless, but it was still good to know.