Blade V: A Rebel in the Order

(Not a battle theme, but I'd suggest cueing Kingdom Hearts: Traverse Town *Not the fight theme*)

Only a few days had passed since Ragna had single-handedly cleared the seventh floor. He'd continued to work hard to continue to gain strength, as a result he'd improved to level up to twenty-seven. He hadn't gained back any of his classic abilities, but he'd been able to improve has stats decently enough, so it was enough for him.

Currently he was on the fourth floor which was considered the merchant floor. The fourth level had been known for being a rock wasteland, however an area was fairly flat and was registered in the game as a large safe zone, so many of the people there had set up large tents in order to use as their own shops. The people here offered prices better than the NPC shopkeepers and there was also trading allowed in order to have easier access of goods.

Ragna finally found the red tent he was looking for and entered. "Yo!" he called, seeing the familiar face.

"Well I'll be damned," Agil said with a chuckle. "So our hero and savior decides to grace the less worthy will his great presence."

"What the hell brought this on? You never brown-nosed before man." Now that he thought about it, the odd time Ragna did see people some of them had run away from him while others plainly gawked. "Did something happen that I should know about?"

"I don't know," Agil said sarcastically, with a grin. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that someone managed to clear a guide without any of the big guilds finding out about." His grin didn't decrease as he heard Ragna's gulp. "You're just too predictable man, so how can I help you?"

"I was hoping I could give something to you for safe keeping," Ragna said as he opened his menu and brought out the blade he'd obtained from the boss on floor seven. "I got this as a… pretty rare drop. It's not too strong, but the effects make it plain obvious that it's an assassin's tool. If you want to give it to someone you trust that's your business, just leave me out of it."

Agil checked the sword's stats before sighing to himself. "You're right, this can poison or paralyze you. If I could destroy this thing I would, but I'll hold onto this for now. You know that weapons like this will eventually become common right?"

"I know, but let's see if we can delay that for a while. Any player deaths we can prevent, yeah?"

"I guess," Agil told him. "So how's your weaponry and armor looking?"

"Still looking for my sword materials, but I've got everything I need for my jacket," Ragna told him as he unequipped his jacket and handed it to Agil. "Here's my jacket, and here…" he grabbed a couple of items out of his storage and handed them to Agil. "…these are the elven leathers that I needed to increase it."

"Cool, let's see what I can do with this," Agil put the coat and materials together and took out a pin and needle and poked the coat. As soon as he did that the materials disappeared in a bright flash of light and there was just Ragna's coat. "Glad this crap's so simple, but you should know this is the last upgrade I'm going to be able to do for a while."

"How come?" Ragna asked as he reequipped the coat. "I can still look for materials can't I?"

"I'm not doubting that you can find them, but I can't work with them. My leatherworking and smith skill levels are getting too low for your items, and I've been focusing more on combat and appraisal. Sorry, man."

"It's cool, you're just trying to run a business. Speaking of which, how have things been going?"

"As well as expected," Agil said before putting the sword Ragna had given him in his storage. "There's been a lot of competition recently, so I'll have to make do with customers that even come in here. If they don't pay for anything, I count it as a loss."

"Enough with the song and dance," Ragna said, giving Agil a friendly grin. "How much do ya want for the coat?"

"Normal payment too much to ask?" Agil asked with a friendly chuckle.

"You've been helping me out by giving me upgrades as long as I have the materials, so how about triple?" Ragna offered as he opened his menu to pay.

"Deal," Agil said with a chuckle as a set of footsteps was heard entering the tent. "Looks like we have company."

"Actually, I'm just here for Ragna," the girl said with a smile. Ragna turned to face the girl. She had orange hair, was wearing red and white armor, and carried a rapier. "It's been a while, hasn't it Ragna?"

"Uh… I guess?" he told her, somewhat confused as he finished paying. "Who are you exactly?"

Immediately the woman's expression changed from happy to see him to irked and scowling. "It's me! You know, ASUNA!?"

"Oh," Ragna said with a sheepish expression. "Well, this is my first time seeing you without the cloak, so… sorry."

"You could have at least recognized me by my voice," Asuna said with an annoyed huff. "But I'm here to talk to you about a job. My guild needs some help and you're the most qualified for it."

"Your guild?" Ragna asked as he noticed the armor Asuna was wearing. "Isn't that the armor for the 'Knights of the Blood Oath?"

"Yep, you're looking at the second-in-command!" Asuna said with a triumphant smile.

"Guess that makes you pretty important," Ragna said with a casual shrug. "But I can't waste time with a job right now, I've got other crap to take care of."

"Like soloing dungeons by yourself?" Asuna asked with a slight glare. The Reaper let out a sigh, how many people knew it had been him? "We don't have anything official to say, but it's pretty obvious that you're the most reasonable choice outside the guilds. A lot of people look up to you for that, you know?"

"Like I care, I'm just a lone wolf. Plus, I don't need anyone licking my boots," Ragna said as he made his way past Asuna to the tent entrance and lifted the flap.

"Well, what if you could help everyone survive this game while getting paid handsomely for it?" Asuna suggested.

Ragna paused as he was about to leave. "I'm listening."

"Their tents on this floor, I'll tell you on the way," Asuna assured him. "Good seeing you again Agil!"

"Uh, yeah, you too Asuna," Agil said as Asuna proceeded to drag Ragna and tell him to hurry. "Man, don't I get all of the weird customers?"

Outside with Ragna, Asuna had just finished explain the basics of the job to him. Ragna was more than a little surprised she'd been coming to him for help.

"A training exercise?" Ragna asked. "What kind of job is that?"

"One that I'm going to need your help with," Asuna told him. "Look, a couple of new members joined our guild and they don't exactly have the stats OR the skill to be the most competent players. So we're going to show them how we work to clear the floors."

"I'm no teacher," Ragna told Asuna. "You'd be better off with someone else."

"Oh, come on!" she demanded with a pout on her lips. "Look, this job will be easy for you. I'll teach the players about strategy and abilities, you just need to slay a couple of monsters and show off. Okay?"

"Tch," Ragna grumbled under his breath. "How much is this job offering?"

"Five thousand col, you get half in advance. Sound fair?"

"I'll accept the job, but do you really need my help for something this small? Your guild should be more than qualified for this and I'd think that people look up to you enough as it is, Miss Second-in-Command."

Asuna sighed. "Part of it's because the guild voted on it. If there's a vote in favor in something, it's most likely for the good of the guild. The reason my I wanted you was because were demanding I find someone important. The guild wants to keep up its imagery, and if they find that someone with a powerful reputation and they work with us we'll have a great boost to our reputation."

"So I'm here just to make your guild look good? Super…" Ragna cricked his neck. "By the way, do you know any good blacksmiths? Agil's been working with my weapons and armor for now, but he's going to be focusing more on shop keeping and appraisal."

"I know a pretty good blacksmith, she's on this floor so I can introduce you two to one another after this job's done. She's been able to help me out with my armor and rapier, so I can guarantee her work. Anyways, it looks like we're here."

(Change them to Final Fantasy X: Temple Band the Temple Player)

The Knights of the Blood Oath had quite possibly the largest tent on the plain. It had obvious white and red colors to reflect the guide and had on large tent that had several smaller tents added to it. The reason most people were here now was because not every floor had a city in it, and this was actually the closest comfortable safe zone to the front lines.

As Ragna walked inside the tent with Asuna, several of the members became silent as they stared at the Reaper. Ragna wasn't used to his new found fame, but it didn't beat his previous fame of being the most wanted man in history by much. He ignored most of the conversation as he and Asuna made their way to the back of the tents where Heathcliff was seated behind an oak desk.

"So this is the man you had talked about Asuna," Heathcliff said as he rose and held out his hand for Ragna to shake. "Heathcliff, commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath."

"Ragna," the Grim Reaper said as he shook the commander's hand. "Solo player."

"Yes, I'm aware," Heathcliff said. "I've also heard recounts of your victory over this first floor boss. You managed to save quite a few people. Hopefully with your help today you can save quite a few more. I take it you've explained the job to him Asuna?"

"Yes sir, he knows what we'll be doing and we're prepared to head out once you give the word."

Ragna was a little surprised at the way Asuna was acting now. Earlier she'd been a solo player who hadn't wanted to interact with anyone. Now she spoke with both respect and authority that he hadn't expect from someone like her. 'I guess suggesting she joined a guild was a smart move,' Ragna thought to himself. 'She's grown considerably as both a player and a person.'

"You'll depart with the trainees within an hour," Heathcliff assured them. "But Ragna, we may have to make some changes to your… attire."

"What?" Ragna asked as he examined at his clothes a bit confused. "What the hell's wrong with it? It's even red, that's your guild's main color isn't it?"

"It is, but I once hosted a training exercise with an outsider before. From what I'm told, the trainees didn't listen to him because they considered themselves above him, considering he was a member of a nameless guild and they were part of the three largest guilds."

"They'll listen to me," Ragna said with a glare, clearly unconvinced.

"I'd ask that you simply humor me with this," Heathcliff asked crossing his arms. "All you'd be doing is temporarily wearing a set of our armor to let them know that you have the authority of the guild behind you and you're the one in charge… along with Asuna of course."

Ragna was silent for a moment before a small smirk appeared on his face. "Ten thousand."

"Excuse me?" Heathcliff asked, slight shook appearing on his face for the first time since Ragna had seen him.

"You heard me. Ten thousand col, and I'll play dress up for you."

Heathcliff looked at Ragna in surprise before letting out a small chuckle. "Very well, I'll add the money to your fee. Asuna, would you mind showing Ragna here to the storage room to get him situated?"

Asuna gave a respectful nod to her superior as she started walking off. "Let's go," she said to the Reaper curtly. When she and Ragna were outside of Heathcliff hearing she glared at her old partner. "What was that?" she demanded. "That rate just to wear one of our sets of armor is robbery!"

"You told me yourself, the guild wants me to work with them so that they can bolster their reputation. If they want it that badly I'm not just going to give it to them for free. Having me look and act the part of one of their members costs extra."

"What happened to you Ragna?" Asuna demanded. "Back on the first floor you saved everyone's life without even expecting anything in return. Did you demand that Diabel pay you for him to give him the potion?"

"No he didn't," Ragna told her. "He was too ashamed and wanted to die. I didn't give him that choice… Plus, Heathcliff runs a guild, ten thousand won't even put a dent in his wallet."

Asuna stared at Ragna for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Sometimes I can't decide if you're the most caring man in this game or the greediest mercenary."

Ragna gave a small smile. "Neither, I'm just the Grim Reaper."

"First you call yourself Ragna the Bloodedge, and now you're calling yourself the Grim Reaper. How many names do you really go by?"

"All of them, it helps with the ego," Ragna said sarcastically with a chuckle. Asuna tried to keep her glare, but eventually joined in with a giggle of her own. "So you can laugh."

"Oh be quite you," Asuna said, but was betrayed by the playfulness on how she said it. After walking a bit further they came into the equipment tent. "This armor is available to everyone in the guild, so feel free to pick what you want, I'll meet you at the west entrance when you're ready."

Ragna took a look at his options and analyzed the stats that they gave to the wearer. After a while he managed to find an odd suit of armor that looked like he could stomach wearing.

*One Hour Later- The West Entrance*

(Cue Final Fantasy VII Main Theme)

Asuna was at the West Entrance with the new recruits for her guild. These people had just joined recently because they wanted to become part of the top guild. They were all considered fairly fresh with levels between twelve and sixteen. Some of them seemed pretty cocky and were sending flirty looks her way while others were trying to deal with pre-battle nerves.

'How did I get singled out for this job?' she thought to herself with a groan. "Thanks for waiting everyone. As soon as my partner gets here we'll head out."

"Please," one of the haughty guys scoffed, he was highest leveled person in his group. "I doubt we'll even need him. With the seven of us we can easily wreak anything on this level. You might as well sit back and watch sweet cheeks."

'SWEET CHEEKS!?' Asuna thought with disgust as a tic mark appeared on her forehead. "Regardless, my order still stands. We'll head out once he gets here and not before."

"Pfft, waste of time if you ask me," he complained.

"No one was," Ragna's curt voice came from behind them.

Asuna turned to face her friend and was surprised with the outfit he was wearing, with all of the gasps she heard it seemed she wasn't the only one. Ragna's outfit was a mainly white, but with a metal belt and red designs in the middle. In order to compensate for the decrease to his defense he'd also grabbed a red platted head piece. Since the armor didn't have a way of carrying his sword for him, Ragna was forced to carry Blood-Scythe in his right hand at all times.

(If any of you don't have a clear idea on what Ragna looks like, go onto google images and type in 'Order Sol'. That's the equipment that Ragna's wearing.)

"Am I late?" Ragna asked Asuna. She shook her head. "Good, just thought I'd get the hand of fighting in this as opposed to my regular clothing. Ready to get started?"

"Definitely," she told Ragna before turning to the rest of the members. "Our training course for today is going to take place in three stages. First, we're going to travel to a safe zone about three miles away from here. You'll be responsible for all of the fights along the way, but we'll jump in if you have difficulties. This will be a good way to evaluate your strength. Once we get to the safe zone we'll hold some sparring matches in order to give you advice and increase your skill. After that, we're heading into a nearby dungeon and you'll test will be to get to the end with minimal help from me or my partner. Any questions?"

To Asuna's surprise almost every member of the group raised their hand. She hadn't thought that her explanation would be that confusing, it had been pretty straight forward.

"Any questions that aren't about the rumors of me clearing floor seven?" Ragna voiced. All of the hands went down. "Let's go then."

Authors Note: I don't own anything.

I may or may not include a chapter with Ragna and Asuna training these jokers… I might leave it up to you. If not, I'll just skip to him partnering up with someone else.

As for the whole Order Sol get up… It was just a whim that I sort of went out on… If anyone can make fanart of that and send me the link that'd be great. Until next time!

Ciao!