Phoenix Maplewood I will hide myself below

And there it was -- the first landed blow.

The impact to his muzzle was more dense than he thought it was gonna be, and it happened so suddenly that it took a moment for the nerve-endings to recognize pain; but the warm, crimson liquid which trickled down Āzon's nose came soon after.

Ignis took a step back and lick away the small scratch on his nose with a small grimace to his face. 'So they really do retract, huh?' the pheonix wondered to himself. Benry's claws were not visible before, but were just seconds before the blow. And it wasn't just a regular scratch either -- it had a sort of hook to it that hung onto the flesh it touched.

This combined with the force one lazy swipe Benry gave him and it was then and there that Ignis truly began to realize his ability to kill -- and the instictual fear of lupine towards feline began to resurface in the pheonix's wild eyes.

This was scary.........but fun. Testing his strength against someone stronger than him, it aroused an excitement within his chest. 

He wanted to test Benry again. "Not so bad for the first hit--" Ignis would comment as a smile lifted his lips "--though, I wouldn't mind you unsheathing your claws all the way. Ill just have to make it a little harder for you..."

He would not wait for Benry to hit him this time -- now, Ignis was circling the Tom to test his reflexes and speed towards counter attacks.