Blade works (solo)

The cavern rang with echo of his weapons hitting the hard stone. He'd been at it for days if you went by a human clock, but it felt even longer to him. In a cavern of near darkness deep in the ground, things such as time became forgotten. Stratus was starting to like such things, the dark and quiet were calming. They helped him focus, he felt himself progress under these conditions. Even as he thought this his arms continued to weave in the air and hack at the stone target before him. He was trying to teach himself swordsmanship, but he knew now that would be impossible. While the true art of the blade was hidden from him, his goal now is to to familiarize himself with the weapon and make it his own. Just as using his claws and slime had become like second nature and reflex. He now sought to make wielding the two crystal weapons as natural as breathing.

His first step was getting accustomed to the heft and length of the weapon. This was more difficult than it sounded. Everytime he created the twin blades they were never the exact same length. On average they were anywhere from 3-5ft long. The ideal size was the in the 5ft range. With his hands holding ends as handles, it made the 'blade' a good 3 ft or so. He stood in place for hours working on only that. Firing a strand, quickly crystallizing it, then grasping them in his hands. He eyed the two blades and measured them. With two weapons in his hands and arms at his sides the swords reached his feet. Just right. He sent energy into the weapon and it shattered. He began the process again. He eyed the new blades; too short. They shattered like the last set, and the cycle began anew. How long had he stood there creating weapons? The shattered pieces had begun to pile at his feet. He stopped count successes, but only his consecutive successes. Two in row, failure. Three in a row, then two failures. Three straight failures followed by a single success. It wasn't tiring, it was frustrating. Finally he made a breakthrough; ten complete successes. He eyed the newly formed weapons. They looked like green rods, but they were as sharp as a sword. He swung them through the air and smiled to himself at the whistle of the wind.

He moved to his target and began swinging the weapons parallel. Moving the weapons together was more trouble than moving them separate. Being a creature with claws he didn't notice that was right handed. Stratus favored his right arm, so moving the weapons together he noted the left was slower. He moved around the stone target and struck back and forth. The sparks and chime of the crystal on stone

"What are you dancing around for boy?" Moldale had silently entered. It wasn't hard since Stratus was so focused he hadn't noticed. The short hollow's interruption stopped him mid swing. "So you're using swords? Are you trying to be a like those shinigami?" He chuckled. It did look silly when he thought about it. He had claws why resort to using a weapon?
"They add to my reach, why get close unless I have to." Was his only retort.
Moldale examined the weapons. He gave a sigh and walked away. He stopped at the tunnel entrance before exiting. "Well I'd think you'd get a bigger weapon."

Although the tone had been sarcastic, Stratus was inspired. While making a sword was a great way to combat another sword, he shouldn't restrict himself to just one type. He had found ways to use the crystal to enhance his normal fighting methods, but he hadn't put much effort in controlling his power otherwise. After thinking about it he sat down and tried to think of other weapons he had seen. Although details of his human life were a blur, the basic information was still there. As a hollow he had basic knowledge of human weaponry. The question was how was he to recreate those weapons? Complex machines were going to be impossible. Making a gun was beyond him, he didn't know how the parts worked. It would take too long to make one during combat. Perhaps if he made one beforehand? No, still too much work. Something simple. What about a bow and arrow? Stratus stood up in excitement, that could work.

Forming a bow was trickier then he thought. Making the wide 'u' shape was troubling. Most times he made sword by firing a string and crystallizing it before it fell. The same method wasn't ideal for creating a curve. After what seemed like an hour he figured it out. The way was to make a strand of slime between his hands pull it taunt then let it sag in the middle. A flicker of his energy and it was solidified. Another string of slime pulled tightly from each end. The gray hollow smiled at his new creation. Now he needed to make an arrow, but it proved to be the easiest step. A single strand crystallized and he had an arrow for his bow. The new problem was that he had no experience using such a weapon, and the second problem was the "arrow" wouldn't release from the string. His first attempt to fire was unsuccessful. He could make himself not stick to the slime, but had yet to master doing it to other objects. While he could disconnect the arrow from the string, he needed to cut the connection after the rebound. This proved to be impossible. Another hour passed before for a solution was found; turning a small section of the string into crystal. The modified string was now able to launch the arrow, but Stratus was unable to aim the weapon. The first shot went upwards, the next shot flew off to the right, and the ones that followed went every way but straight. He could probably with time he could get better, but for now it was enough to know he could do it. The arrows he did fire were firmly stuck into stone wall, floor, and ceiling. Did that mean it was an effective attack. To test it he took an arrow in hand and threw it at the wall from the same distance with all his strength. Upon examining the damage he noted the only a slight difference. If he could produce similar results with less effort the bow wasn't a bad idea. Stratus made a small mental note to practice his archery. Even if it wasn't as powerful, he did enjoy being stylish. "Emerald archer." he muttered to himself. He liked the name.

The bow's semi-success was enough for him to try pumping his brain for more ideas. Simple weapons was the idea, but he couldn't seem to come up with anything. In life he had tried to be an actor, weapons wasn't something that came up often on the stage. He could picture an actor using a sword in a fight scene dressed as knight or something. He looked at his current 'sword', why not try to make a bigger one? The method he used to create the short ones was to fire a strand and solidify it. Trying to make it longer was hard because it would fall before too long. Now he wanted to make it long straight strand. He walked to the wall and released a strand, slowly stretching it out to nearly 5 feet in length then made it crystal. The balance was horrible. Using the long weapon was harder than he thought. When he swung the longer blade he had to use both hands, but he was able to cleave the stone target in half with little trouble.
"Not bad." he grinned at the clean cut through the stone. "Cut it down like a tree. Wait a second, like a tree. Why not an axe?"
An axe was a wedge so he needed to make a triangle. Making a "V" with his hands then filled them with slime. It was crude looking, but he had wedge like shape about a foot long and wide. He merely glued one of his short swords to it. Less of a battle axe it looked more like a hatchet with a uneven fanned blade. The large head was barely light enough for him to swing with one hand. With a grunt he sent sparks off the rock as he hacked at the target. Each blow left large gashes in the rock.

Stratus' arm felt numb. The added weight was more than he had expected. But that weight added to the power of the attacks. The grey hollow sat down to catch his breath. The heavy weapon dropped to the ground beside him. Why didn't he just make a heavy weapon to smash his opponents? He cupped his hands and made a large wad of slime, The resulting emerald was almost as bigger than a bowling ball. He created a handle and with both hand hefted the heavy mace over his shoulder. It took a great deal of effort to swing it horizontal, but the destruction it dealt to the target was devastating. It was like a miniature wrecking ball; it tore a hole in the rock target. The target collapsed due to the instability of missing it's side. Stratus fell over after the swing from being unbalanced by the added weight. Gasping for breath again he dropped the huge weapon, it made a dent in the floor.