Hello! Clicking this thread means you either got curious and once you figure out this isn't what you might have wanted to read you've likely clicked off. However, for those of you looking for an ever-evolving guide to combat in a Roleplay setting from one of the best, here we go.

 

I will be breaking this up into different sections/posts, as for organization's sake. Between each post, you're free to post any and all questions you want to, make your own suggestions or tips, and that sort of thing. Remember, even the best in the world have something more to learn and improve, and I'm certainly not the best in the world. Contribute if you so want or need!

 

Just make sure to only contribute if the contribution directly relates to the most recent post's topic, chances are that if I missed something I might plan to cover it in a separate post if it relates to but isn't directly in-line with that post and align's more with another. I'm also just human, and I can make mistakes.

 

On top of that, use this thread to practice, or even challenge other's to a match to improve your skills or test out some ideas! I certainly will be partaking, as I have to tune up my skill with scythe combat at this time. Think of this as a sort-of mock-dump RP, teaching, and all that thread. It's here to help guide people who are unsure as to how to improve in combat, are new, ect.

 

With that out of the way... Let's get started.

 

 

 

 

Chapter I: Basic Training.

 

The sweat on our hero's brow was no more than almost a thick film resting on his skin. Like a frog's slimy exterior, his skin found trouble in trying to grip onto his blade anymore. The massive weight, the tremendous force accompanied in the blow, it was a wonder his block withstood such a blast from his foe for so long, yet he just couldn't keep up with his rival any longer. His block broke, and so did his skin. 

 

The life force drained in a mere instant, once thought to be an unbeatable hero, he was now a corpse. Finally able to rest, the Guardian of Kailos Gate and our hero's foe took a last glance at his rival of the last hours, before kneeling once again at it's doors, and falling to rest once again.

 

 

Introduction:

 

So, the first thing to note about combat in it's essence is it's not just a mess of blows and cuts. It's an art. No matter what situation it is. Yes, art can be messy, and that is where we must start: the difference between a slosh of paint on a canvas and just throwing your dog into a pool of paint and calling it art.

 

 

Minor self-made terminology.

 

 

First thing to know: The difference between what I will call an attack and a move.

 

An attack is a well executed attack or series of attacks, movements, strikes, and actions taken during one's turn in combat during an RP. Attacks are generally what you want to use, as they encompass a lot of detail, help you set up the battlefield you're in, what the world around you looks like, your terrain advantages, disadvantages, and so on. Attacks are detailed, and you must execute them well.

 

Now, in example, say you are about to start a fight. You attack the opponent, how should you?

 

GOOD:

Sharon took the edge of her blade, aligning it with her forearm so that when his slash happened, it was quick and it hurt. The field was dusty and littered with grass, carried aloft by the winds of this battlefield. She looked to the opponent in front of her: A simple man, only a knife and a little magic. Nothing she couldn't handle. The winds stopped, and the dust settled, only a single blade of grass remained between the two. With grace, however speed-lacking, the plant drifted across the air like a bird in the sky. The skies were a vivid blue, the sun ablaze. As the blade of grass landed, Sharon's blade took flight. A horizontal back-handed slash, followed up with a upward strike from her reversed blade, and finally, with a twist of her waist, sending her blade behind her, Sharon switched her grip on her sword and preformed a reverse upward slash from her opponent's left. The morning dew hadn't quite yet dried, however, making this last attack a hard one to keep up with.

 

Why it's good:

The attack is descriptive and creative. The player takes a look at their surroundings and terrain to add detail and tension to the post, as well as a stylistic standpoint. Note how she never directly states if she hit her opponent. You can throw every hit in the book, but it's possible for you to miss every one. Now, should it happen? No, however, the situation could be that the opponent can evade due to their using a lighter weapon and being of a much faster fighting style. The situation of the warriors in the fight will always determine how it's run. Also note that she didn't keep to one angle of attack with her combat, though she used two upward slashes, the method of how they were executed were different as well as the speed of and positioning that came with the attack. Could it be better? Yes, descriptions on body movement, footing, and position to the enemy would help drive up how good this post is, but that is to be covered a little later.

 

BAD:

Sharon smirked, a chump dared try and assassinate her! The nerve! She drew her blade and began slashing at her assailant, first from the front, then behind.

 

Why it's bad:

 

First and foremost, it's short. In combat, a short post is ninety-percent of the time bad. It shows lack of creativity or ideas on how to handle the opponent in a method that can be considered constructive. When you fight, you must describe what your action is, how it works, and where it comes from. If you don't, and be very indescriptive in your writing, your attacks are not only predictable to even someone new to the idea of RP combat, or can even be abused. In example, the post above could be countered with a simple round block(a block that follows the opponent as their pattern of attack is not described and as such can only be assumed as going in s circle or "round" shape and thus is easily blocked) parrie-knock of the weapon (which will denture counterattacking mid-attack, leaving them only with a move away or block option) to back-step for spacing and lunging-stab to the chest, if you describe your actions right, making the fight a quick loss for the initiator.

 

 

However, when being attacked, the way you must respond is slightly different. In example, say the enemy attacks you with a side-step to get some distance, then a charge with a stab at the body with their lance, followed with a downward strike to the ground to allow them to use their spear like a pole; as a result they jump and use the lance as a support and throw a followup kick.

 

GOOD:

The lances' tip came right for Hanz, however, with a downward-strike to the tip of the spear, trying to force the spear into the dense, thick earth that they fought over. He was able to deflect the stab, however he wasn't prepared for the follow up kick... The blow to his head knocked him back quite a bit and shook him a bit up, however he was far from done. In response, Hanz shot a icicle at Kiro as she went to land and followed behind it, lining up a punch right at her stomach. He took advantage of the hardened dirt and also landed a shot of ice on Kiro's spear which stuck to the ground. As he arrived, Hanz drove his knuckles into his opponent's stomach as revenge for the kick, throwing her off of the spear she used as a weapon.

 

Why is this good?

 

The writer chose to use his opponent's move against them. Any good fighter can size up a situation and adapt on the fly with a new strategy for combating the enemy. Hanz was not invincible, as, as far as we know he has no armor that protects him from being stabbed like that or kicked like that however we can assume that the fighter is competent enough to block a simple stab like that, and did take damage. You can afford to not take damage, however you have to pick and choose where you do, we will go over this soon, but as for now, anyone new: Always assume, unless the attack was very telegraphed, your set up to counter such a move, or it's a very poor move, the attack likely did something to you. Don't dismiss your opponent's attacks like they're nothing. We'll get into how to tell what is what in the next major section.

 

BAD:

 

Hanz grabbed the tip of the spear, it was a simple matter, in fact the enemy was far too slow to even touch him in the first place, especially in this location of all places. He snapped the tip of the weapon, and dragged it's owner to his fist, which Hanz used to repeatedly punch his poor opponent in the face multiple times until she died.

 

Why it's bad:

 

For one, we don't know what Hanz is capable of. He won the fight, sure, however... If he is really that fast, fast enough to safely grab a spear head and break it, and afterwards repeatedly attack beyond the golden number of 10(to be discussed) the opponent in a non-descript way with no allotment for countering, then they're overpowered unless multiple others of the game are of that caliber or the enemy you're facing is very, very weak. Even weak opponents, unless incredibly under your character's strength as written, are always going to provide a challenge, on top of this you dismiss your opponent and their character, insult them with not only a humiliating death but by underpowering them, and breaking multiple rules whilst your at it.

 

On top of this, your attack was boring, your approach has no dynamic points of interest, It's uncounterable, you didn't do anything with the scene that the fight takes place in, you didn't think of another angle to take this from, ect. Overall, this kind of attack is unacceptable. Now, there are moments when certain characters ARE untouchable, but those are very special and will be covered later as well, but as for now, understand that your character isn't an unstoppable killing machine that can evade, block, destroy, ect. everything in their way like it's their given birthright. Combat is strategic, if you plan ahead with your moves and guess your opponent well enough, you can be just as successful as the one above but just as fair, well written, well executed, and fun as the good post.

 

 

Move with the flow.

 

Now, onto a move.

 

A move is a set of actions that lead to either a short but powerful series of attacks, or one powerful one. Generally, the emphasis around these is about the attack itself, and are often VERY flashy, with particle effects, lights, sounds, or otherwise stated. Often enough, a move like this cannot be avoided, but that does not mean it cannot be withstood, though blocking, countering with your own move of choice, or just taking the hit, if you're strong enough to survive such a thing. However, no singular move is perfect. A move has to be set up, lead up to, or planned in advanced somehow for it to make sense or work.

 

And most of the time, it cannot come from out of no-where. No, that doesn't mean you can't make up new attacks on the fly, however, they must be able to relate to a characters' written-in abilities, skills, and powers, and the attack must operate on the laws of the world your character is in. If you have a signature attack that you can't live without, find some way to work it into the game without disobeying the rules of said world. Remember, you are the character in a world more often than not made by someone else, not your own.

 

The good and bad version of this is very easily explained, and doesn't require more than one example:

 

Suzu fired a gigantic freakin' laser through the earth, making sure to take Mako with the planet.

 

Now, why is this bad, and how do we make it good? It's bad as there is no prelude, context, start-up time, or insight as to how the character can do this. Not to mention, it is a tad overpowered and borderlines godmodding (which will be covered). In order to make a move work, you have to obey by a few laws:

 

One, anything that is very powerful requires at least a one-post startup time. The more powerful, the longer the start up should be unless the character's have access to powerful techniques that they do not need a long period of time to charge them for, however this is very conditional. An attack like this should take at least four posts of startup, in which time you're either vulnerable or have to stop the move to counterattack. You cannot (most of the time) continue a powerful attack that has a startup  as well as counterattack, as you have to focus on the move. This gives the enemy an opportunity to stop you, as well as your allies to aid you. If a move is something small, like a signature fireball, this can be ignored as long as the fireball isn't bigger than Sifer's ego in KH2.

 

Two: It should NEVER destroy the world, unless you're given expressed permission and are allowed to do so. No attack, in general, should be that powerful. As with anything, there are exceptions to the rule. It can do major damage, I.E., destroy buildings, make craters, so on so forth, but never something as large as a whole city the size of a Metropolis in one go.

 

Three, the attack isn't a completely guaranteed hit. Though attacks like this are normally allowed to hit, you cannot make an attack that cannot be evaded. In fact, even just giving the attack a chance to fail in some way must be done to make it fair. Moves, no matter how big or strong, or weak and little, are still attacks. They're however generally more powerful than your basic attacks, though.

 

If you understand those rules, and the basic ideas behind the idea of attacks, a move should not be hard for you to piece together in a fair and neat way. They're the flare, don't forget them, but don't overuse them, or it's like you're blowing up fireworks 24/7. Eventually, it doesn't seem as special or pretty.

 

Next time, I'll be covering more of the basics, like defining how some weapons work, more in-depth explanations on what to do in a fight, and some simple tips and tricks. That post will go more in-depth and actually be presented in a way that explains what I mean a bit better.

 

Questions probably going through your mind/FAQ when I have actual frequent questions to put here:

Q: Does he really think he is that good at Roleplay? Because that's not the case.

A: I do honestly think I'm decent at least. I have a good understanding of what combat flow is like, and love combat from it's core up. 

 

Q: Man, this guy... I guess he has a huge ego... Don't you?

A: No, in fact. Honestly, I'm my own worst critic, and hate just about every post I make unless I'm having fun with it. However, I love combat and happen to think I do well with it. But it's no fun when you're at the top, no one fun to play with. The best thing in the world is to find someone with a different style of combat to you but is your level of fighter, and what fun is it to see the same boring "X Character punched L Character in N Bodypart." I love good writing, and I think that everyone has a chance to put out my level or better in combat, and there are already a bunch with the potential. I'm good, but it's boring to be good without anyone else. A lot of people know I'm one of the better fighters, and I don't think it's fair to not share what I've learned and know. RPing is something you get the most out of when everyone is just as good as you and everyone else is as well, it's a social way of writing a story. Do I feel like I'm good enough to write a post like this? Hell no. I'm no where near as good as I want to be. But I want more people to face who challenge me, so I figured I should do something like this and-

 

I'm coming off as pretentious and cocky, right? It's hard to explain what I mean, but I know of a metaphor that might work. A Goku from Dragon Ball wants to be the strongest but never wants to have a boring fight either, and wants his friends to work and train with him so they can all get stronger together. I know I'm decent, if I denied what I am then I would lie to anyone who asked, and I refuse to lie.

 

TL;DR: I love fighting and want more people to fight me that are challenging so shut up and punch me bro.

 

Edited September 15, 201510 yr by Guest

One thing you need to keep in mind, to truly master fighting, you must be beyond death. And no I don't mean just flat out come back from life. Its just that going for the kill is just more thrilling.

Well I want to know what Riki wants to do first, because I originally just wanted to do a simple, quick roleplay with one person. Back on one of my statuses I asked that. I thought Riki and I were just gonna do one of those whole sparring matches, where nobody really loses, and nobody really acts higher than others. I was hoping that you'd guys would be fine with a battle like that... I mean, I just started out. (The RPs I did before weren't this brutal.)

Well I want to know what Riki wants to do first, because I originally just wanted to do a simple, quick roleplay with one person. Back on one of my statuses I asked that. I thought Riki and I were just gonna do one of those whole sparring matches, where nobody really loses, and nobody really acts higher than others. I was hoping that you'd guys would be fine with a battle like that... I mean, I just started out. (The RPs I did before weren't this brutal.)

Well, kill is a strong word, but it's sort of the easiest way to describe a total defeat. The way I enjoy RP is when the game is challenging and tough, but I can understand wanting something a little more mellow. I'll try and tone it down in private.

Well, kill is a strong word, but it's sort of the easiest way to describe a total defeat. The way I enjoy RP is when the game is challenging and tough, but I can understand wanting something a little more mellow. I'll try and tone it down in private.

Thanks, man. I'm glad you could understand. The main reason as to why I don't like the whole killing idea is because I always expected the battles to be about a friendly competition between friends, because that's what Roleplays are all about. Working and cooperating with one another as friends, not foes. If one was a villain, then yes, it could be a fight to the death, but friends aren't meant to kill each other.

Edited September 19, 201510 yr by Steven Drake (SteVentus)

My own two cents on combat in RPs.

 

My main experience with fighting in an art form comes from wrestling, where the whole point is to put on the best fight scene you can. Now, the thing with wrestling is that nine times out of ten, you can guess who's going to win based around what the story is or other factors that you can anticipate. So the outcome isn't what gets people to watch so much as the match itself. People want to watch a good fight between two strong competitors that even if they know it's predetermined, it will still get them jumping out of their seats, cheering, and becoming emotionally invested, which is ultimately what the point of any art is.

 

I guess the main thing to take away from this is that winning doesn't matter, or, at least, don't become too preoccupied with winning. Another handy wrestling term is called putting someone over, where you intentionally make the other guy look good at your own expense. You take a shot, sure, but it makes it look like your opponent can hold their own, and it raises the stakes more. If you're both no-selling shots, than there's no development in the match, and the action quickly stagnates. As popular as Hulk Hogan was in the eighties, his matches by now are regarded as atrocious and boring because he never put over his opponents during his matches, usually tanking for most of the fight, then getting in a handful of shots at the end and claiming victory. On the flip side, my personal favorite wrestler, Mick Foley, made it a point to make his opponent look as good as they could be (without looking bad himself, of course), because he wanted to make sure the audience felt that he was always fighting the best opponent possible, because that made it more engaging for everyone involved. So don't be overly concerned with being top dog 100% of the time. The point of an RP is to tell a good story, and you might have to take a bump in order to make the best story possible.

So wait, you want me and Yuffie to duke it out in this thread Riki? 

 

that can be arranged.

So wait, you want me and Yuffie to duke it out in this thread Riki? 

 

that can be arranged.

Quite.

Fine...set up a combat environment then, either you or Yuffie, I can't exactly think up of an area for them to fight in.

Since Yuffie was the one who tried to invite herself to a fight earlier, she get's to have the field advantage. 

Alright, I can do that. Better bring your all though Scrap, I'm testing a new power buff with Neena.

 

Neena Two-Soul, Queen of the Graveyard has entered the fray!

~~~~~

 

Any second now. Patience. Yes, she was good at that. She could wait for hours in a spot without moving if it meant that at the end her target's blood was spilled. It was midnight now, a full moon high in the sky, illuminating the world. It was a particular beautiful view from her position. She was high in.a tree at the edge of a forest. In front of her was a small clearing surrounded on three sides by the previously mentioned forest. And on the fourth side, and directly across from her, was a large lake. Soon. Any second now, he would be coming. And she'd be waiting. His cursed existence would be destroyed by her hands.

Alright then, have mercy

 

 

Elements powered Henry enters the forest!

 

------------------

 

 

A young man walked down the clearing with a frown, as he examined the surroundings, "Remind me how we got lost again?" he commented to the elemental spirits, as the elemental spirit of fire, Salamander, materialized beside him, with her body covered in flames, "Sylph saw a butterfly, and flew after it..." Salamander commented, as the elemental of water materialized as well.

"Not surprised with the attention span of hers", as a small fairy, with wind magic flowing all around her materialized as well, "But it was so pretty!", As Gnome, the earth elemental was the last to appear, remaining silent at the situation, as Henry simply facepalmed, "God dammit Sylph" he simply commented, as they started to float beside him as he walked over to the lake.

 

"Least the scenery is pretty". He commented, as the elementals nodded in accordance, as they went to do their usual things, Salamander just leisuring around, her flames not capable of burning the trees as it was spiritual at best, Sylph flew around, Gnome went to take a nap by the lake and Undine dived inside the lake, as Henry "Didn't even have to say that we're staying here?" he commented, "We can read your mind..." Salamander commented, "Right...hate having my mind read though..." he scoffed.

Just throwing my two cents into the ring, in that I shall be following this topic, for I find it quite interesting!

 

(Seriously, this has probably taught me more about action scenes than I'm willing to admit, ha.) 

What an idiot. Neena thought to herself as she watched the boy begin to relax. Now was her chance. Finish this in one blow before he can even react. That would be the best case scenario. She pulled out her bow, it's blackwood crackling with red soul energy. She changed silently into Soul Drive, in order to charge the bow even further. Her skin turned a dark ashen gray and her hair went fiery red, flowing longer than usual. Her ears became pointed and her canines became fangs. Finally her traditional Decolor clothing switched into a mix of red and black armored trenchcoat and a deep red blouse with black tights and a pair of black leather boots to complete it all. The blackwood bow and its arrow became fully covered in a red aura as she pushed her soul into the weapon. Now the arrow would fly not only true, but was strong enough to pierce anything she had seen before.

Henry was about to sit down as he sensed a small disturbance, which seemed almost like soul energy, something he was all too familiar with when using his water style, he tapped into the flow of the water, and followed the motions in the air, simply turning to the side as he grabbed the soul-powered arrow, using his own control over souls to nullify it, as it disintegrated in his hands, the arrow did burn a bit as he held it though, "Hm." he examined the area, as a small burst of energy was released around him, entering his wind based style, as he teleported, simply vanishing out of thin air.

 

Neena would soon find Henry reapearring on a branch situated right beside her, "What the hell was that about?" he asked with a relaxed tone, "Noticed the energy readings you just pulled out, very nice, although you were trying to kill me...which is not nice" he said with a frown, as he held an orb of pure darkness on his hand, and crushed it, creating a large explosion on the tree he and Neena were in, he simply reapeared back at the lake, overlooking the tree and the smoke from the explosion, "So who are you assassin? rather who sent you? Synapse, the order, those creepy cult guys I stopped from sacrificing an elf child?" he asked out loud.

 

(Synapse and the order are organizations in the Rp he originates from if you're wondering, also, elemental styles)

Edited September 21, 201510 yr by Scrapmaster

Before answering, she swept out with her leg, aiming to knock him from the branch. "As if I would join such paltry organizations." She seethed. "My readings have marked you as a possible threat to my realm. And so, destroying your soul before it causes trouble down there would probably be best for me." She said. She pulled out her obsidian ninjato, it was covered in a similar aura, but this one was black. She attacked, diving towards him, and slicing right towards his neck. The aura around her weapon seemed to be providing her far more strength and speed than she normally would have, even in one of her other forms.

"Your readings? your realm? I don't even know what you're talking about" Henry asked as the spirits now all turned to look at Neena and Henry, they soon de-materialized, signifying they've came back to Henry, as she lunged at him Henry quickly stomped the ground as he dashed backwards, the area where he stomped, where some rune-like carvings on the ground, which signified a trap that would bind Neena into place if she stepped on it, considering she was already in mid air, it would be difficult to change trajectory mid air.

 

Before she could react wheter she bypassed the trap or not Henry summoned an armor made of fire around him, signifying he entered his fire style as he dashed at her with extreme speed, followed by a trail of crimson like fire as he slashed with his sword, covered in crimson flames as well, if the hit landed or was blocked, it would result in an explosion upon impact regardless.

"You don't need to know." She said simply, before throwing her blade right into the runes on the ground. Before it left her hand though, she blasted soul energy through it. It still went straight on course, but she went flying out of the way from the force of the self prepared blast. She skidded to a halt on the ground. She flung out her hand and the blade came flying back to her. She looked to Henry. Soul energy had proven ineffective, at least her bow. And considering that was half of Soul Drive, she would likely benefit from a change. As long as she dealt the final blow using Soul Drive, the end result would be the same. "You just need to lay down and die." She said ominously. She brought her hands together dramatically, and her appearance changed once again, but not before another concussive blast of soul energy erupted from her. She floated slightly off the ground, her skin having dramatically changed shades from ash gray to a sky blue, and her features had become more humanlike once more. Her clothing had vanished and was replaced by a white gymnast's leotard, that almost seemed less like clothing and more like a fact of her being. In her hands was now a large bronze broadsword with runes written all across the blade. She took a defensive position, waiting for him to make the next move.

Boom Derik enter's the Fray.

 

~

 

The sound of a person whistling echoed in the air, which had almost seemed to act like a brick wall to the flow of combat with how seemingly random it was. However, nothing is an accident.

 

"Shiik... Shaak.."

 

The tune seemed to be quite hard to place at first, but as the notes progressed, one could hear the cords of "You are my Sunshine" by Johnny Cash just trickle out, though the strange sound of almost what sounded like metal crushing some sort of fabric almost detracted from it.

 

"Shiik... Shaak..."

 

It didn't seem to let up, until a man had walked the distance to this new battleground, that sound. His steel grey eyes and black hair could throw someone who didn't expect someone to look like him through a loop. He was tall, maybe six foot two or three, and on his back were strapped two diffident swords, as varied as night and day in shape.

 

"What do we have here?" The man looked at the two fighters. "A smaller, faster woman who's all proud of herself for getting as far as she has." He looked over at Neena, then glanced to Henry.

 

"And an interesting fellow with some elemental magic and a bit of a boring look about him. Shame, I thought there was someone worth fighting here." He coddled, trying to provoke the two. He hadn't had a fun game in a while, time to see what these two could do.

You just couldn't keep out of this could you?

And here comes Derik to ruin my anti-magic strategy -_-

I couldn't. It's my own damn guide for hell's seven bells' sake, I can't avoid a challenge.

I couldn't. It's my own damn guide for hell's seven bells' sake, I can't avoid a challenge.

 

If you mean neena, yeah, Henry, not that big a challenge

Henry simply looked at Neena as she transformed into another form, seeing her skin change made him raise an eyebrow, "huh" he was amused at the scene as she summoned a greatsword, "Alright then..." he said with a smirk as the flames around his armor intensified as he was about to do an attack, but they halted as he began to hear someone singing in the distance, and soon that person turned out to be quite a weird looking guy, with two swords on his back, he didn't care much about who he was, but he frowned as he was called boring.

 

He said nothing, but Undine materialized in front of Derik, "Excuse me?! Boring?" she exclaimed as Henry sighed, "Undine, not the time for that." he said as she sighed and nodded, and vanished, "If you're looking for a fight you're welcome to join in, I already have someone wanting to kill me right here, so not much will change." he said pointing at Neena as he took a defensive stance.

"To be absolutely honest, yeah, you look rather cliched." Neena pointed out, remarking to Henry. She looked Derik up and down. He was an incredible person that much was certain. But the same rule applied to him as it did for Henry. If his soul reached her realm, it would probably not end well. And after all her hard work... She could not let that happen. She hadn't been anticipating fighting both of them at once, but if that's how it was going to be... As she stood there, very still, the Assassin moved one hand off the hilt of her sword. And then she vanished with a only slightly noticable appearance of something in her hand. 

 

Suddenly, with no notification aside from the slight shifting of the ground behind him, Derik was about to fall victim to hugely powerful one-handed downward strike from Parashu. If it didn't hit, which was doubtful considering how much of a surprise attack it was, the strength behind the attack was enough to split the earth and create a narrow crevasse down several hundred feet.

(Okay, question I figured I should ask: How do you determine the noises of Audible Sharpness? Is it purely intuition, or is there something more to it?)

Henry simply looked at Neena as she transformed into another form, seeing her skin change made him raise an eyebrow, "huh" he was amused at the scene as she summoned a greatsword, "Alright then..." he said with a smirk as the flames around his armor intensified as he was about to do an attack, but they halted as he began to hear someone singing in the distance, and soon that person turned out to be quite a weird looking guy, with two swords on his back, he didn't care much about who he was, but he frowned as he was called boring.

 

He said nothing, but Undine materialized in front of Derik, "Excuse me?! Boring?" she exclaimed as Henry sighed, "Undine, not the time for that." he said as she sighed and nodded, and vanished, "If you're looking for a fight you're welcome to join in, I already have someone wanting to kill me right here, so not much will change." he said pointing at Neena as he took a defensive stance.

 

"Never looking to kill someone, but a good match is hard to find. Maybe the two of you together will provide some sort of challenge." His buster sword dropped from his back harness, the handle dropped right behind his right hand as it fell, and drug the blade through the ground, making a long cut in the ground, his arm outstretched.

 

"To be absolutely honest, yeah, you look rather cliched." Neena pointed out, remarking to Henry. She looked Derik up and down. He was an incredible person that much was certain. But the same rule applied to him as it did for Henry. If his soul reached her realm, it would probably not end well. And after all her hard work... She could not let that happen. She hadn't been anticipating fighting both of them at once, but if that's how it was going to be... As she stood there, very still, the Assassin moved one hand off the hilt of her sword. And then she vanished with a only slightly noticable appearance of something in her hand. 

 

Suddenly, with no notification aside from the slight shifting of the ground behind him, Derik was about to fall victim to hugely powerful one-handed downward strike from Parashu. If it didn't hit, which was doubtful considering how much of a surprise attack it was, the strength behind the attack was enough to split the earth and create a narrow crevasse down several hundred feet.

"Woah, little lady." The mild boredom in his voice could almost be felt as he threw his left hand behind him.

 

Derik grabbed the blade that was incoming with his left hand. "Look, that ground moving like that is a bit of a tell as to where you are coming from. Try not to stomp like that next time." He leaped into the air and threw his enemy into the nearby lake. "Also, rude. Finish the introduction before you just go on the attack, lest you want to seem rude."