I've done something I shouldn't have, but now it exists.

This is Desmond's Fighting skills, his style, and the 'Martial Arts' he knows. 

Kind of giving myself and you guys a better understanding of how Desmond fights when put in different situations and with different weapons.

If you could, let me know what y'all think. Or don't it's understandable to not want to read a 20K character post on ramblings on how Desmond hits things good.

[Hider=Fighting Style]

This is stuff for Desmond not only to explain his skills in combat but also to help me write and figure out how he would fight in different situations. 

[hider=Ranking System]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/zbQRY8KSVbU[/youtube][/center]

I will be using this chart to actually be ranking where I see skills Desmond uses and such. This is not an official list but is meant to help with understanding what I'm saying, and also gives me a much easier time explaining it now rather than having to explain it every time I am trying to talk about his skills.


[u][b]Beginner[/b][/u] This is an amateur level, you dabbled in the ideas of skill for about a few weeks, but you haven't spent much time in either working with the skill nor have you seen much of it. 

[i]-A peasant who is being trained to hold a spear in a spear line.[/i]

[u][b]Intermediate-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 6 or so months, at this point you have been creating habits, learning the fundamentals of the skill, and even developing your own ideas in a skill. There are some things that aren't instinct or second nature yet, but you can still rely on the fundamentals taught.

[i]-A Militiaman who has completed training to be a part of a functioning spear line.[/i]

[u][b]Adept-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a year or two, at this point you have been developing muscle memory. At this point, you can start relying on the skills that you started learning to still be with you without you needing to mentally figure out the maneuver you are doing, you can just do it. 

[i]-An inexperienced squire, who has been under the care of a lord, and training and sparing against other squires.[/i]

[u][b]Advanced-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about 5 years or so, at this point, you have been tested in your skills. You have gained and lost multiple habits, you have started figuring out certain things that have been less efficient and starting to create your own skills to best fit you. 

[i]-A fresh-faced Knight, who finally finished his years of training and is now to go to war for his lord.[/i]

[u][b]Sacred-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for about a decade or two, at this point you are starting to refine your skills and making a name for yourself with certain 'signature' skills. At this point, you have seen many different things, and started to create and form new measures to best combat certain faults and counters you have seen through your time. 

[i]-A Knight/Mercenary who has seen years of battle, and has been now refining skills to best combat the many things you've seen.[/i]

[u][b]Royal-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed to some of the greatest degrees they can be. Few can match you in your skills, as you have seen many different styles, many different skills used, and have taken meticulous care to make sure your skills have been brought to a level that nothing really surprises you anymore.

[i]-A Greater Knight who has seen decades of battle and has now been honored for his skills as he has now passed on many of his skills to his successors.[/i]

[u][b]Divine-[/b][/u] This is the level of someone who has been practicing a skill for multiple decades or more, at this point you're skills have been honed beyond what could even be thought of as possible. At this point, few can say they are able to even equal you. Your skills seem otherworldly, you are seen as the pinnacle and few can even imagine equaling you let alone surpassing you.

[i]-A Grand Knight who has defeated foes thought beyond possible by ones self. Few can challenge a dragon on their own yet a Dragon's head is on your mantle for that very reason.[/i]

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[h2]Thought Processes[/h2]
[hider=Tactitian]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/ZGAIW1lcJeM[/youtube][/center]

When Desmond is working with others around him, he is quite an efficient tactician and team player. Desmond has learned how to work with many different people, may it be with other Magusjaegers, knights, to mages, Desmond had to play ball with them. Often he was seen as a child at best, however, showing skills on the battlefield helps people reconsider their position.

He normally takes the role of a small-scale tactician and supportive role, making sure people are able to do their jobs. If a Mage is giving some people trouble he will deal with them, knights are pushing too close, he will force them back, and if he notices another Magusjaeger, he will track them to make sure that there is only one set of eyes over the battlefield.

Desmond will oftentimes pick out certain plans to best allow for everyone's abilities to come forth, or what he thinks they can be. He hates it when he needs to give some control away to someone else, however, to use the resources you have is the utmost priority, after all, they could possibly find something that he himself could never see, like a more equipped Chemist being able to pick up on a faint internal change or other things like that.

However, when Desmond can have control over the majority of the operation, that's when he is most at ease, as it will give him the most he can work with and how they will work.

[/hider]
[hider=Lone Wolf]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/tSQ6CyyPatM[/youtube][/center]

When Desmond is by himself, his thought process when doing missions is much more methodical. By himself, he needs to fight and think smarter than most. As the only things he can rely on are his skills, his wits, and his will to get through. Yet this makes him at ease, cause it gives him the most control making him the sole cog and the easiest to control.

Often he will be on a constant watch of things, he will more often than not hide among what he can, often trying to blend in the best he can no matter where he is. Even when walking the streets he will often hide in the crowd, slowly and methodically planning his route and all possible way to escape.

He is a constant vigilant alert, as he will often plan days if not weeks ahead, often learning the environments he will get himself into, the dialects, and even some simpler mannerisms. Because of his looks, he has learned how to blend in, changing parts of himself to best fit the bill, maybe even sometimes living somewhere nearby for some time creating an alibi before moving to his objective.

Desmond will often put his own safety above all else, except when it comes to someone he cares about. Where he might compromise himself, the mission, and all else in making sure they survive. Yet if that is not to occur, his skills were formed to allow him to move like a ghost, even able to shift through crowds to find his target or complete his objective. After which, he will quietly complete it before he disappears back and almost as he disappeared off the face of the earth.

[/hider]
[h2]Ranged Weapons[/h2]
[hider][hider=Sniper]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/Zn-VQ-B1ODA[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Sacred[/u]

When Desmond is at a far range and out of notice of his enemies, he takes up his gun in a slow and methodical approach to assassinate targets from extreme ranges. Here he will use his long gun exclusively as it is the only of his weapons that can reach out far enough for his use.

With the use of methodical and stealthy movement to find good fields of view to get clear lines of attack. He uses calm and incremental drawing from the area, he will start finding anything around him to draw from, the swaying of leaves, the ambient heat, or even small things he does with his body and he draws from the movement. 

From there he converts it slowly to the energies he needs them for. Such as transforming it to form low-level light magnification to better help him differentiate between targets. Uses Kinetic energy so he can increase the velocity of his bullets to reach out further. As well as converting it to Magnetic energy so he would be more able to guide his bullets and make sure they fly in a much more controlled and precise way.

Once he fires a shot, he will begin moving to one of his next shooting areas, as he will continue to do so until his objective is done, or he needs to leave in preparation for being overwhelmed.

Desmond will often use his many different bullets during this to deal with as many as he can as quickly as possible. Using explosives to deal with swaths of enemies, Inferno bullets to quickly start fires and cause chaos, and using QuickSilver bullets to poison people in areas where they are hiding.

If he needs to leave because he could be overwhelmed, he will use many of his bullets to start causing an area of denial. Chilling areas and then having ice forming there, using QuickSilver bullets to form poison clouds and many other less-lethal bullets, but having wide areas of effect to buy him time against pursuers.
[/hider]
[hider=Gunslinger]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/xB_K5O33WcQ[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Adept[/u]

When Desmond is at the range but is noticed by his enemies, he changes his fighting tactics to a much more defensive and manipulative style. Uses the flow of combat to cause greater effects and opportunities, manipulating forces to create bad situations for the enemy, and using counter-offensive tactics to take down his enemies. Here he will use his long gun and pistol in tandem to increase his rate of fire and combine bullets together to cause devastating effects through different reactions. He will use magnetic magic to help him load his guns to increase his speed of reloading and fire rate, as often he will have both his hands occupied and unable actually reload his guns.

With the use of fast movement and defensive use of cover, Desmond will constantly be shifting away from his opponents, making sure he keeps some form of cover between himself and his enemies if they have ranged weapons as well. If he is facing off against enemies without any ranged counters, he will make sure to destroy all cover the enemy can use to make fights much easier. 

In the midst of fighting, he will begin to pick out everything the enemies have at their disposal, from there he will begin creating strategies to combat what every they have. As a matter of what kind of objective he needs to achieve, he will change how aggressive or defensive he will be. As if he knows he can win he will get a little more aggressive to ensure victory, however, if the fighting does not look like a winning fight, he will often try to be much more defensive or even try to escape to prompt a cat and mouse chase where he has a bit of an advantage with the use of guerilla tactics and stealthy takedowns.

Desmond will use his specially made bullets more often, as many will often be used for area denial to cause his enemies to move according to his own wants, setting up large reaction explosions to take out swaths in an instant and cause disarray, or using very specific bullets against certain mages to take them out efficiently and with as little effort as possible, because a drawn-out fight with a mage is a death sentence.

[/hider]
[hider=Way of the Gun]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/K2yEN7SlArA?list=RDMM[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Intermediate[/u] 

When Desmond is at close range while fighting enemies, he changes his fighting style to a much more frenetic and aggressive style. Mixing in different ranges of attacks to open many different opportunities and openings to take down his enemies. Here Desmond will both use his long gun and pistol in tandem, to fire off multiple bullets in a short period of time. Often times he will use magnetic magic to reload one gun while using the other as a club to fight with or shooting the bullet it was loaded with.

With the use of fast movement and aggressive shifting footwork, Desmond will constantly be shifting his position to be near his opponents for fast elbows, knees, and strikes using his pistol. Then he will shift away to do kicks, strikes with his long gun, and fire off a shot from his pistol. Finally, he will shift just far enough away to fire off a shot from his long gun and begin to use it as a one-handed spear to jab and keep his opponent at a slightly farther distance.

While Desmond uses this constant shifting and aggressive style, he will draw kinetic energy from attacks he does, some of his movements to change his movement patterns to mess with his opponent, or from some of the attacks, he would sustain. From there he will often use the kinetic energy he draws to either increase the force of his attacks or convert it into magnetic energy to set up for devastating counterattacks or to reload his guns as he is fighting.

While in this range, he will normally use lead rounds to fight with, or very specific bullets to assist him against certain pesky foes. He will sometimes use certain bullets that can cause area denial effects to force certain adversaries to either make distance from himself or keep within close range. After which he will continue to use led bullets or if up against a skilled Kinetic or Magnetic mage he will use his Death's Promise to take them out when they least expect it.

[/hider]
[hider=Throwing Weapons]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/wPQ_B2TbDDQ[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Intermediate[/u]

Desmond has learned how to throw many different types of weapons, may it be knives, sharpened needles, and spears, Desmond is quite good at throwing them. Desmond will use these less often than his guns, but when he gets into close-ranged combat he will use them often like throwing daggers and the such.

Desmond will sometimes use throwing weapons in fights, however, he does not carry them on him often enough to matter. So often he will find objects he can improvise as throwing weapons and using them when he can.

Desmond will normally use throwing weapons more for 'fun' in a fight rather than as an essential weapon for his fighting. Often he views throwing weapons as a less efficient projectile than other ones, but it can be useful when caught in a bad situation.

[/hider]
[Hider=Bow & Arrow]
[center][h1]LOL!!! Who uses these things?[/h1]

[h2]Stay seething Knife Ears[/h2]
[img]https://c.tenor.com/VoL39y7_jN4AAAAd/goblin-slayer-goblin.gif[/img]
[/center]
[/hider]
[/hider]


[h2]Melee Weapons[/h2]
[hider]
[hider=Polearms]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/K5hVDpq6SFA[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Advanced[/u]

Among most of the Melee weapons, Desmond has practiced, the Polearm is one of his most used. A large wooden pole can be found anywhere and can make a great weapon. A spear, a bo staff, or mattering on what you affix to it, a hammer, an axe, or a large pick. However, when fighting in melee range, the most important things are often range and speed, as the spear is well known for both, with fast and strong strikes that can reach out farther than almost any other melee weapon.

Desmond had become quite skilled with Staves and Polearms, as whenever he is found without any ammunition, he will often need to rely on his gun to become an impromptu short spear, bo staff, or even a club. This soon changed to becoming a weapon skill he wished to foster as now he has become quite efficient at using Polearms and staves, to the point where if he needed to choose a melee weapon to fight with, he would take a spear knowing he can probably take on a Knight with it.

[/hider]
[hider=Swords/2-handed blades]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/7RqD2ClRUEc[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Intermediate[/u]

Desmond is practiced in swords and 2-handed blades, however less so than most of the weapons he has normally used. His skills with swords and 2-handed blades are fundamental skills, and he will often use them when it is one of the few things in his hand, however, it is not his favorite weapon. He will often use a mixture of blade attacks and kicks and mixing into close range for shoulder bashes, elbows, and headbutts. 

Desmond sees the sword as more of a tool to use as a finisher rather than as a weapon he will use more, but he does think it's cool. This is why he has learned it a bit, but for the sake of fighting, he finds it less efficient than his other weapons.

[/hider]
[hider=Short blades/Daggers]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/wbmkBBUnUR8[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Advanced[/u]

When Desmond uses a short blade or dagger, it can often be akin to a surgeon of the Dordian Order. He will normally use a dagger with a mixture of martial arts, yet his blade will often swing fast and with precision. Uses the blade to parry and deflect blades as he strikes from the other side with kicks, strikes, or getting them into a grapple.

However when using his blade while sneaking is that of an assassin, his skills to hide as a Magusjaeger, transferred almost seamlessly to sneaking as a silent blade and taking the lives of those he was tasked with. He silently moves around, almost making his presence unknown, until the blade is already through the abdomen of his target. He knows the areas on the body that will either instantly kill his target, or push the air out of them before they are able to scream.

When caught in a fight, Desmond will normally use his blade to disable a certain part of his target before going in for the kill. Slicing the wrist to deactivate the hand, slicing ligaments to stop the use of a limb, or even making large slashes over large arteries to bleed the person out in a fight.

[/hider]
[hider=Unarmed]
[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/D7hm1gI17e0[/youtube][/center]
[u][color=gold][b]Skill Level-[/b][/color] Intermediate-Advanced[/u]

When Desmond is pushed to the point where no other weapons are able to be used, his fists are the things that come out.

Desmond has learned some of the fundamentals of multiple different unarmed Martial Arts, many of which he either learned through sparring against other mercenaries, soldiers, and his 'family' or through watching them be used so many times by different practitioners. Which makes Desmond formidable on first contact, as he can very quickly figure out what style to use to give himself an edge over his opponent. 

But this is only often times a short-lived advantage, as if an actually studious practitioner of Martial Arts was to go up against Desmond, they can find his skills are lacking. His fundamentals are solid, but when it comes to the more nuances of certain styles he is an amateur at best. Yet when he gets pushed into an extended bout, Desmond pulls out his most practiced Martial Art, Kastäng.

Kastäng is the Eskandish traditional martial art. Desmond will normally not use it from the start of a fight because of its very long drawn to nature, it focuses on breaking not only the body but the opponent's spirit. This point can lead to Desmond facing off for multiple minutes, yet Desmond will switch to it when faced off with multiple opponents or when faced with an opponent who seems to be much strong than himself.

It was taught to him by the man he sees as a father figure from his Mercenary group, a man named Danyel, he taught Desmond a martial art he developed that combined many different aspects of different martial arts into one greater form. 

Using Vai-to and their mentality of 'All the Way In' and 'All the Way Out' style to constantly transition ranges that will change and alternate between unexpected ranged kicks, pseudo-feints, and lunging step-ins to go into close range hooks, elbows, holds, and takedowns, all while trying maximizing the bodies force. Yet the moment a full step-in happens the transition changes to using more Kastäng traditional mentality, making use of holds, grips, angles, and the body's weak points to break opponents physically and mentally. All the while the practitioner will be drawing from the kinetic energy to amplify the force of their attacks, the speed of the throws, the speed of movements, and the speed of the feints to make them seem almost blurs of speed.

Yet because of Desmond's RAS, he can only moderately use this ability, so he modified it for himself to introduce new moves in multiple different grapples, while still using the teachings Danyel had shown him. Forming new standing strikes that lead into shifts and range changes more easily that lead into grapples and hold that seem to lead in from one to another to make use of every ounce of energy and strength he can create. Sometimes closing the gap a bit in the differences in power can be found when facing off against Mages who use kinetic magic in their martial arts.

[/hider]
[/hider]

[h2]Out of Options[/h2]

This is for when he is out of mana, ammunition, his weapons are broken, and he is left exhausted.

[hider]
[center][h1]He's Never Out of Options[/h1]
[img]https://c.tenor.com/UH8Jnl1W3CYAAAAC/anime-punch-anime.gif[/img]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGbxsiBZGPI[/youtube][/center]
[/hider]
[/hider]