Martial Arts

**Martial Arts** (武技, *Bugi*?) are fighting skills used by warriors that hail from the New World. They are considered as one of the powers alongside Talents, Wild Magic, and Runecraft that did not exist in YGGDRASIL.

## Background

Martial Arts is made up of techniques that did not exist in YGGDRASIL. Similar powers in YGGDRASIL were called "skills" and they are acquired mainly by players with warrior classes. When using a particular martial art technique, the effects can boost a warrior's physical abilities, sharpen the person's mind, and so on. Whereas magic casters are practitioners of Tier Magic, Martial Arts are considered to be the magic of the warrior classes which melee combatants excel at.

One needed sparring partners when practicing the techniques of martial arts. According to Brain, they were the kind of skills mastered during a warrior’s quest for martial perfection. He even contemplates the idea that martial arts were created to fight beings that were stronger than humans. A warrior needed to anticipate all sorts of circumstances, learn various martial arts, and incorporate them all into one's own strength. This went double for adventurers, who were often plunged into bizarre battle conditions. Some people had even referred to Martial Arts as ki or some kind of aura, but they defied easy description.

On the other hand, Martial Arts consume a user's focus depending on how strong they are. For this reason, there is a limit to how many of its arts can be used at once. Still, a warrior of Gazef Stronoff's caliber can normally use six at a time and, under extreme circumstances, up to seven simultaneously.

While so, Martial Arts is considered a natural-born fighting style developed by the native inhabitants living in the New World. For unknown reasons, players or monsters like the Death Knight from YGGDRASIL are neither able to demonstrate nor develop any skills close to martial arts' level. There are several warriors like Go Gin in the New World from different races, rather than magic casters alone, who are already capable enough of using martial skills with their own physical might without the need for magic.

Furthermore, they can practically utilize martial art techniques in unison, so as to enhance their overall power, resistance, and create more devastating combos, using them in succession as one skill altogether. It is possible for other natives such as Hamsuke to be able to learn martial arts over a given period of time while training oneself. There are also methods, like the one used by Climb, who is able to develop and learn a martial skill in deadly battles, from facing blood lust directly against opponents who are stronger than him.

In other instances, Brain could copy and perfect another user's martial skill. Ainz even believes that the concept of martial arts was created as a countermeasure against YGGDRASIL Players. Some warriors, who are considered to be geniuses, can learn Martial Arts themselves when they wouldn't normally be able to learn during their current level.

## Mechanics

Martial Arts are skills that can only be cultivated through intense training. The applications of martial arts are vast, ranging from altering one's physical prowess, magic resistance, strengthening weapons, to even altering the opponent's spatial and temporal awareness.

In terms of acquiring martial skills, it usually takes a novice around a year to achieve. This is through real battle experience, healing when injured, fighting stronger opponents with enhancement magic, etc.

However, Martial Arts are limited through the user's physical and mental stamina. The more powerful a martial art is, the greater mental concentration is needed to fully perform it. Also, this would mean that concentrating too long will fatigue the user's mental and physical stamina over time.

## List of Martial Arts

* **Ability Boost**: *Raises the overall strength of the body.*
* **Body Strengthening**: *Raises an individual's body defense.*
* **Brief Seal**: *A combination of this martial art with Grand Power Strike allows one to inflict a sunder attack to destroy their opponents' weapons and equipment.*
* **Capacity Building**: *Increases the bodies' overall capacity.*
* **Crosses**
* **Cutting Edge:** *Able to gather air to give an extra cutting edge to a blade.*
* **Divine Skill Single Flash**: *A Martial art that makes a blinding light that confuses an enemy.*
* **Dragon Fang Thrust**: *A consecutive two-hit piercing attack with the spear bending as if like that of the tooth of a dragon.*
* **Dull Pain**: **A** *Martial Art that dulls one's own perception of pain as long as it is in effect.*
* **Enhanced Magic Resistance**: *It increases the user's resistance to magic effects.*
* **Evasion**: *It allows the user to increase his evasion skills.*
* **Eyes in the Back** (*Web Novel Only*): *It allows the user to notice attacks outside of one’s field of vision.*
* **Fatal Edge**: *An art that, by pouring energy into their blade, it allows the user to unleash an intense slashing attack.*
* **Field**: *A unique martial art that Brain created himself, allowing him to perceive everything within a three-meter radius. In simpler words, it raises the user's accuracy and evasion to the utmost limit.*
* **Flow Acceleration**: *An art that temporarily accelerates the workings of the user's nerves, increasing one's attack speed and movement speed. The downside to it, however, is that the extreme exhaustion that builds up in the user's brain.*
* **Focus Battle Aura**: *By pouring the user's fighting spirit into their weapon, this art endows normal weapons with effects equivalent to those of magical weapons. With these weapons, it is possible to break through the special defenses of races such as angels.*
* **Fortress**: *A defensive art that absorbs attacks. It can be used to offset the enemies' attacks. This technique does not require a shield or sword to be used. If desired, one can activate it with one’s armor or even bare hands. Of course, most people would use it when blocking with one’s weapon or shield because the timing has to be exact. When using it without armor, a miscalculation would result in one being left defenseless before their foes. Therefore, most people would commonly use it with a shield or weapon.*
* **Impenetrable Fortress**:*Greater version of Fortress that deflects enemy attacks at a higher level.*
* **Fourfold Slash of Light**: *An art that allows the user to slash nearby enemies four times with one swing of their sword.*
* **Front Cut**: *It allows the user to cut directly one's opponent using the front of the weapon they are using.*
* **Full Throttle**:*A Martial Art that allows a person's own abilities and attacks to be increased to the maximum speed they are capable of.*
* **Gale Acceleration**: *It increases one's own speed.*
* **God Flash**: *Brain's third unique art that comes from practicing Instantaneous Flash millions of times, this attack is so fast that even when cutting through someone, blood will not stick to the blade.*
* **Grand Power Strike**: *An advanced technique, that produces a powerful strike that would inflict additional damage to their opponent.*
* **Greater Ability Boost**: *Improved version of Ability Boost that greatly increases the overall strength of the body.*
* **Greater Evasion**: *Improved version of Evasion* *that allows the user to dodge attacks more easily.*
* **Greater Reinforce Hide**: *Improved version of Reinforce Hide.*
* **Heavy Blow**: *Raises the weapon's crushing capability. On the other hand, it is also an art that inflicts battering damage on enemies with hard armor.*
* **High Vertical Strike**
* **Instant Counter**: *Corrects the balance of the user, allowing them to attack continuously.*
* **Instant Reflex**: *An art that forcibly returns the user to attack stance after they are thrown off-balance by a previous attack. It's effective for dodging enemy attacks but puts a large burden on the user's body.*
* **Instantaneous Flash**: *Brain's second unique art, which allows him to attack at an extreme speed.*
* **Invulnerable Fort**: *Allows the user to block attacks from physically superior enemies.*
* **Iron Fist**: *It hardens one's fist to be as strong as iron and use it to cause direct attacks.*
* **Limit Breaker**: *Allows the user to use more martial arts at the same time than normally would be able to. It causes pain and possibly other side-effects after use.*
* **Limit Breaker: Mind**: *The effect is to remove all limits imposed on the body by the brain. It causes muscle tearing and potentially more damage to the body after use.*
* **Magical Weapon Enchantment**: *A Martial Art that activates any magic weapon's enchantments the user has currently active.*
* **Mental Enhancement**
* **Oblique Strike**
* **Nail Clipper**: *The result of the union of three martial arts: Fourfold Slash of Light, Field, and God Flash. It causes four simultaneous strikes to quickly and precisely target one specific area.*
* **Pace of the Wind**: *Increases the user's speed.*
* **Physical Boost**: *It increases one's own physical stats to the limit for a brief time.*
* **Piercing Strike**
* **Piercing Dragon Tusk**: *Double piercing attack with elemental type damage. Developed from a martial art, Piercing Strike. As it is useful in both offense and defense, many warriors learn this martial arts.*
	+ **Piercing Blue Dragon Tusk**: *Adds lightning-type damage.*
	+ **Piercing White Dragon Tusk**: *Adds ice-type damage.*
* **Possibility Sense**: It allows*the user to detect any chance of victory against their target.*
* **Power Claw**: *It increases the sharpness and piercing damage to one's own claws.*
* **Reinforce Hide:** *Hardens the skin of the user.*
* **Sense Weakness**: *Allows the user to detect any possible weaknesses in their chosen target.*
* **Severing Blade**: *It allows one to take down strong opponents in a single attack.*
* **Showdown Declaration**: *A roar that compels an opponent to unconsciously rush forward and attack the user of this technique.*
* **Shield Bash**:*Increases the impact force and knock-back effect of a shield attack.*
* **Shukuchi**: *Allows the user to close the distance without moving their feet.*
* **Shukuchi Kai**: *Improved version of Shukuchi that allows the user to move freely in any direction.*
* **Sixfold Slash of Light**: *An art that allows the user to slash nearby enemies six times with one swing of their sword. This art releases six strikes of light that are although powerful, they can't be directed. That is why the user only uses this when fighting against groups. It is a favorite killing move of the tremendously powerful belonging to Gazef Stronoff as one of his trump cards. However, it carries a great burden when each use takes as much focus as three regular arts, and the user's body is markedly exhausted.*
* **Slashing Strike:** *A Martial Art that allows the user to use a powerful slash attack on their enemies.*
* **Smash:** *Blunt Attack.*
* **Strengthen Perception**: *A Martial Art that increases the perception of the user's surroundings.*
* **Strong Assault**: *Increases attack power towards someone with heavy armor.*
* **Strong Strike**: *A Martial art that increases the power of a strike attack.*
* **True Nail Clipper**: *A combination of Field, God Flash, and Sixfold Slash of Light. Rivals a level 40 attack. Brain's talent allowed him to activate this martial art and step into the realm of heroes.*
* **Twin Blade Strike**: *User attacks opponent with two swords at the same time.*
* **Vertical Strike**
* **Void Cutter**: *User fires an air slash. Deals less damage the farther the target is from the user.*
* **Wind of the Great Forest**: *Brain's trump card. A combination of Field and God Flash. It was named after the sound of blood spurting shortly after severing the neck.*
* **Whirlwind** (*Web Novel Only*): *It was an area of effect attack.*

## Trivia

* Since Martial Arts did not exist in YGGDRASIL, Ainz Ooal Gown refers to it as 'the magic of warriors'.
* Given the overall inspiration D&D has had on Overlord, Martial Arts are probably inspired by the "Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords" Stances and Maneuvers.
* One of Ainz's Death Knights had trained with Hamsuke, to test whether it can learn Martial Arts or not. The result ultimately showed that it was impossible.
* Ainz uses one of his spells called "Perfect Warrior," enabling him to perform extraordinary feats that make it look like a martial art technique. Even without "Perfect Warrior," Ainz relies on brute strength and his racial abilities to better himself as a warrior and imitating battle stances similar to the stances used by experienced warriors he witnessed in the past, like Clementine.

## References

1. ↑ *Overlord Volume 02 Chapter 1: The Two Adventurers*
2. ↑ *Overlord Volume 03 Chapter 2: True Vampire*
3. ↑ *Overlord Volume 01 Chapter 4: Duel*
4. ↑ *Overlord Volume 10 Chapter 1: The Sorcerer Kingdom of Ainz Ooal Gown*
5. ↑ *Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 11: The Final Battle of the Disturbance*
6. ↑ *Overlord Volume 07 Chapter 3: The Large Tomb*
7. ↑ Overlord Volume 06 Chapter 8: Six Arms
8. ↑ *Overlord Volume 10 Chapter 3: The Baharuth Empire*
9. ↑ *Overlord Volume 02 Chapter 4: Twin Swords of Slashing Death*