[Third Person Pov]
Eric stared at Tony for several seconds after hearing the words, his mind briefly going blank as he tried to process them.
Weak-willed and self-centered were not the kind of descriptions he had expected to hear, especially not from someone who had just spent the last several minutes carefully analyzing him. The statement felt abrupt, almost jarring, and for a moment he simply blinked in confusion.
Tony raised a hand before Eric could respond, clearly anticipating the reaction.
"Relax," Tony said calmly, his tone measured and controlled. "I didn't say that to insult you. I said it because that's what your behavior pattern suggests."
Eric frowned slightly. The explanation did not make the statement sound any better, but he forced himself to remain silent. Tony had asked if he could handle an honest analysis, and Eric had agreed. Interrupting now would only prove the point Tony seemed to be making.
Tony began pacing slowly as he spoke, his mechanical eyes dimming slightly while streams of data continued to pass through his internal systems.
"Let's start from the beginning," he said. "Your quirk awakened when you were a child after you fell down a staircase. An accident. A sudden loss of balance, a rapid fall, and the very real possibility of serious injury. In other words, a moment where your brain perceived immediate danger and reacted accordingly."
Eric shifted his weight slightly but continued listening.
"In response to that moment of danger," Tony continued, "your quirk manifested as what you describe as a barrier that wraps around your body like a second skin. A protective layer that shields you from harm."
Tony gestured toward Eric's faintly glowing aura.
"It doesn't extend outward to protect others. It doesn't create structures or fields in the surrounding environment. It doesn't expand, spread, or adapt to different targets. It simply surrounds you and reinforces your own body."
Eric's expression tightened slightly as he listened.
"You also mentioned that you've tried multiple times to extend it to other people," Tony continued. "You tried through physical contact. You tried through concentration and effort. You trained with the specific intention of expanding the range of your barrier."
Eric nodded faintly.
"And despite all that effort," Tony said, "you couldn't do it. The ability refused to move beyond your body."
Tony folded his arms as he continued speaking, "That detail alone already tells me quite a lot."
Melissa and Momo remained quiet nearby, both listening with interest as Tony continued his analysis.
"Now let's talk about your mentality," Tony said. "You described yourself as cautious. You said you wouldn't call yourself paranoid, but you admitted that you tend to keep an eye on your surroundings. You also mentioned growing up around relatives who constantly tried to compete with you and prove themselves superior."
Eric sighed faintly but didn't deny it.
"That kind of environment forces a person to develop certain habits," Tony continued. "When you grow up surrounded by people who constantly try to undermine you, you learn very quickly that you need to look out for yourself. You learn that you can't rely on others to support you. You learn to protect yourself first."
Eric remained silent.
Tony pointed toward the faint psychic glow outlining Eric's body.
"That mindset directly influences how quirks manifest," he said. "People like to think that quirks are purely biological abilities, but that's not entirely accurate, especially in your case. The mind plays a massive role in shaping how a quirk develops and how it behaves."
Eric glanced down at his hands as the energy continued to ripple faintly around his fingers.
"You call your ability Psychic Barrier," Tony continued, "but that name is misleading."
Eric looked back up at him with a frown, "What do you mean?"
"I mean that your quirk isn't actually a barrier power," Tony said. "The barrier is just the form it currently takes."
Eric stared at him.
Tony continued explaining, speaking in the same calm, analytical tone.
"Think of quirks like muscles. The way they appear when they first awaken isn't always the full picture. Sometimes what you see at the beginning is just the simplest possible expression of a much more complex ability."
He gestured toward Eric again, "In your case, your quirk reacted to a moment of fear and physical danger. Your mind interpreted the need for protection in the most direct way possible, so the ability formed a protective shell around your body."
Eric slowly lowered his arms.
"So… it's not actually a barrier?" he asked.
Tony shook his head slightly.
"No," he said. "It's something a bit more interesting than that."
Tony stepped a little closer, examining the faint psychic aura more carefully, "What you actually have is a form of psychokinetic reinforcement," he explained.
Eric blinked, "What?"
"You're not creating a separate shield around your body," Tony continued. "You're reinforcing your own body using psychic energy. The reason it looks like a barrier is because your mind interprets protection as a shell, so that's how the power expresses itself."
Eric looked down again, flexing his fingers slightly as the energy around them shimmered.
"That reinforcement enhances your physical capabilities," Tony continued. "Your durability increases because the energy absorbs and distributes incoming force. Your strength increases because the energy amplifies your movements. Your striking power becomes significantly higher because the energy compresses and releases at the moment of impact."
Eric thought back to the numbers he had given earlier.
"The reason your striking force reaches around five tons while your lifting strength remains closer to one ton is because your quirk concentrates energy during motion," Tony said. "It's similar to how a whip works. The energy builds up and releases in a single burst."
Eric's eyes narrowed slightly as he considered that.
"And the reason your ability stops at your clothes," Tony added, "is because your brain defines your clothing as part of your personal space. The quirk reinforces what your mind considers to be part of 'you.'"
Eric slowly began to piece the explanation together.
"So it's not actually limited to being a barrier," he murmured.
Tony nodded, "It's limited by how you think about it," he replied.
Eric lifted one of his hands again, watching the faint glow ripple across his skin.
Tony continued speaking, "You mentioned earlier that you've never tried making the barrier thinner because you assumed that would defeat its purpose. In your mind, a thicker barrier equals better protection."
Eric confirmed with a nod.
"That assumption is exactly what's holding your quirk back," Tony said. "You're treating the ability like it's a wall that needs to be built thicker and stronger."
Tony pointed toward Eric's chest, "But it isn't a wall. It's energy."
Eric remained silent as he listened carefully.
"If you stop thinking about it as a shell," Tony continued, "and start thinking about it as controlled reinforcement, compression, and projection, the number of things you could potentially do with it increases dramatically."
Eric slowly looked back up at him.
Tony's lips curled into a faint smile, "Your quirk isn't weak, Eric," he said.
"It's just severely misunderstood," Tony finished calmly. "Mostly by you."
********************************************
+31 advance Chapters on: patreon.com/Shadow_D_Monarch3