I wanted to address some common concerns I often see early in reviews for new readers. I hope to address these concerns now to reassure you about certain tropes and elements common in stories like these.
First: Yes, Izuku will be getting One For All in this story. (This was carefully thought out, and it is story critical that he receives it -It is both thematic and relevant to the plot that he gets it-) However, he will not be overpowered like most AUs like this one tends to do. He might become overpowered by the endgame, but that will not be for a very, very long time. Older readers are fully aware of the backlash Draco Shift has.
I did consider giving One For All to other characters; however, as I said. I considered all of the possibilities carefully from both a short-term and long-term perspective and came out wanting.
Second: Izuku will not be the only one having their quirk/background altered. Almost every canon character will be getting their quirks upgraded (within reason) to avoid being made redundant. Almost everyone will be getting some much-deserved screentime when ready.
Third: This story is inspired: by Etrian Odyssey and features elements from the story. You do not need to know anything about Etrian Odyssey to follow this story. The Etrian Odyssey series is a very niche series, so I've made this story open for anyone to follow.
At most, any reference to the games will mostly be Easter eggs for readers who are fans of both to enjoy. Anything story-related will be addressed and explained directly in the text in due time.
(This is also why this story is not a crossover between the two series. This story was partly inspired but not directly crossed over.)
Now with that covered, please enjoy the chapter.
My Hero Academia Untold: The Fafnir Knight (Remastered Edition)
Saga I: Dusk
Arc I: Origins
Chapter II: Halcyon Days
"Remember to turn: Sadness into Joy. Hard times into good times. Struggles into accomplishments. Obstacles into opportunity."
― Hopal Green
"Oh, that is wonderful to hear, Urashima!" Inko said to the phone in the nook of her neck as she checked her emails. "Yes, I'm happy to hear that you found a good team to continue your research with."
She continued to click away on her computer, "I know, we do miss you here too, but your work could come in handy in saving lives in the future! Provided that your theory is correct. No! No, we were more than happy to provide you with the startup funds! After all, you did the same for us during your time here, so you know Hisashi was more than happy to help you with it."
As she listened to her former employee, Inko received an email confirming the shipment arrival for one of their pet projects. She smiled, knowing that Hisashi had been looking forward to this news.
"I see," she answered on the phone; "hey, Urashima? I'm sorry, but I have to go. It was great speaking with you again. Please give us an update when you can... Right... Yes... You have a great day too." Inko finished before hanging up the phone.
"Oh, that was a good report. I'll have one of the girls write that up from the notes Urashima left us," Inko said to herself, drawing up a few quick notes in her daily planner. "The tech he's been developing is something else." She was about to ring up the gym phone to let Hisashi know about the delivery when a familiar sound was heard.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
"Oh, dear..." Inko said to herself, hearing those familiar footsteps. A moment later, a giant man with the appearance of a killer whale stood at the doorway of her office and slowly leaned into her office space. He stood still for a brief moment as his red eyes scanned the office like those of a gecko searching for prey before looking straight ahead and finally bowing to Inko.
"Midoriya," He said gently.
"Sakamata," Inko replied with a nervous laugh. "How are you?"
"Your husband, where is he right now?" He asked again, just as gently.
"Ummm… Hisashi should be on the fifth-floor gym training with the boys."
The giant whale man hummed in response with a shadow of a grin forming on his face as he bowed again to Inko.
"Oh good, now we can begin round ninety-seven without delay," he answered with a hint of amusement in his voice. Inko could feel the sweat on her brow collect. Since their days at the UA Heroic Course: the infamous rivalry between Gang Orca and Draco Knight has been legendary. Especially among those who had been in the same year group in UA growing up.
"Would you like something to drink, Sakamata?" She asked sweetly, hoping to try and delay the whaleman.
"No, thank you, Midoriya," the man politely declined. "Now, if you would please excuse me, I have business to attend to with your husband," He added before turning around and suddenly began sprinting out the door. While starting to scream obscenities and challenges to the Dragon Hero that could be heard down the hall.
Inko sighed as she grabbed her phone and dialed the gym. "Well, better start with the delivery news first."
"And STRIKE!" Hisashi barked out suddenly, getting into a guarding position as his two young protegees charged at him again with a renewed vigor. His son Izuku attempted to flank his left side with his quirk to give him a power boost. While his second apprentice, his son's best friend, Katsuki Bakugou, or "Boom Boy," attacked the opposite side.
Hisashi felt cheeky and charged forward-leaning slightly from the right side of their pincer move. Hisashi grinned at the sight of the boys getting better every day. They had already been at this for a couple of hours. But, this was a big step in how they coordinated and worked together.
It was a close call as Hisashi managed to counter and grab his son's clawed fist and narrowly dodge Katsuki's blast. However, he didn't expect Izuku's sudden ingenuity. In a matter of nanoseconds, Izuku managed to turn back to normal. Only to transform back into his armored form to produce a flash of light strong enough to blind Hisashi for just a few seconds.
Upon letting go of his son. Katsuki used the advantage given to double-back, using one explosion to propel himself with one hand and using the other to blast his master away. Engulfing him in a cloud of black smoke.
"And pause!" Hisashi called out from the dissipating smoke of the blast to the two boys who were panting heavily.
A mild smell of burnt sugar wafted through the air, a minor side effect of Katsuki's quirk. Hisashi held himself still to avoid showing the pain he was currently in. It had been a good strike, as Katsuki had managed to hit one of Hisashi's old scars that were hidden under his shirt, causing more pain than usual.
"Okay, that was excellent, lads!" Hisashi finally said while giving both boys a light clap of his hands. "You pulled that last move effectively!"
The two boys grinned before giving each other a high five.
"Alright, hit the showers!" He added, "we're done for today."
"Aw, come on, Uncle! We can go another round!" Katsuki boasted despite being out of breath, while Izuku seemed more willing to listen.
"We did a lot already, Kacchan! Besides, my mom said she has a surprise for us when we're done!"
Katsuki clicked his tongue impatiently, so Hisashi had another plan to get Katsuki to cooperate.
"I think Ryūkyū should be back from her patrol in the next ten minutes or so…" He said almost as an afterthought. "I know she isn't very fond of sweaty or smelly people, especially with that nose of hers."
"Izuku! Let's go!" Katsuki suddenly snapped once he heard what his master had said, turning on his heel and grabbing his friend by the arm to head toward the agency's male locker rooms.
Hisashi chuckled to himself. The explosive boy was young, but the lad had quickly developed a crush on his lead sidekick and cousin Ryūko Tatsuma, better known as the Dragoon Hero: Ryūkyū.
He could still feel the sting of Katsuki's blast that rattled the burn scars that marked much of his lower torso. He couldn't help but laugh some more to himself. Ever since Izuku got his quirk a few years ago, they had been training whenever Hisashi had free time, just like he promised. Which proved to be quite often enough when you have a solid team of sidekicks. When they began their training, both wore loose-fitting basketball shorts and sleeveless shirts.
The first step was for Izuku to learn to gain control of his quirk by using simple drills of shifting his limbs one at a time. Hisashi drilled this into him for hours, then continued for days which then became weeks, until it finally became second nature for Izuku.
The second step in his training was for Izuku to begin honing his quirk by running, jumping, and climbing with his powers active. The reasoning was to slowly build up Izuku's stamina with each coming day while doing these actions. Izuku often asked if they could do simple, rigorous workouts using gym equipment. However, Hisashi refused; at Izuku's current age, rapid muscle growth could do more harm than good.
He promised they would start on proper body conditioning when he got older.
So in the meantime, Hisashi would simply train Izuku with martial arts to keep him in a base state of fitness until he was old enough for the proper workouts. Still, Izuku had barely allowed himself any free time for his friends, not that he had many, to begin with. So it was just him often alone until his best friend Katsuki Bakugou, or as he was more affectionately named 'Kacchan,' came by for a visit.
Soon enough, Katsuki himself would join them in training, building both their friendship and skills. Hisashi only recently decided that the two had built themselves enough to begin sparring with their quirks. Today's sparring session showed their results. Hisashi couldn't be prouder of his apprentices. He was about to leave the gym when one of the mounted phones rang on the gym wall. It was most likely an internal call from someone else in the agency as Hisashi walked up and answered, hoping it wouldn't be an emergency call.
"Hisashi here."
"Ah, honey! Are you all done with training?" Inko's calm, homely voice made Hisashi relax.
"Yeah. I was just about to hit the showers to freshen up a bit, and it looks like the boys went ahead of me." He answered with a laugh, his mood improved, and his thoughts became happier.
"Oh good, I do have an update! The new project has arrived on schedule, and the package is in my office. And I know how much you wanted to personally give Izuku and Katsuki their gifts."
Hisashi grew excited; the project for his fan club was finally ready to be unveiled!
"So they're here?!" He said, struggling to keep himself from nerding out.
"All twenty-one, custom made just like you wanted."
"I'll be down in a few minutes!" Hisashi exclaimed as he moved to hang up the phone.
"Oh wait, honey! Sakama –" her voice was cut off as he replaced the phone on the wall.
"Oh... Oh crap..." Hisashi said to himself, feeling a bit guilty for hanging up on his wife so abruptly before she could finish, but then shrugged it off. "Ah well, couldn't have been anything important."
Inko sighed at her desk while sporting a growing look of amusement.
'Oh well, I guess karma will get Hisashi for that,' she thought with a tiny giggle. She knew fully that their guest was on his way to Hisashi's location when she realized something else.
"Oh...!" She suddenly remembered before getting her phone again, "I should probably have a few repairmen on standby knowing those two." She was about to start her next call on her phone when it suddenly began to ring.
"Inko here," She answered, noting that the incoming call was from the reception office.
"Ah, boss! Umm... the Chief of Police is here."
Inko's face scrunched up a bit to figure out why the Chief would be here. Until she quickly remembered some paperwork that Hisashi needed to finish up.
"Which Chief?" She asked, hoping it wasn't who she thought it was.
"Chief Doumeki, ma'am."
"Oh... no, that could get awkward," she said nervously. "Please let the Chief know that we will be there soon."
"Aye aye, boss."
Inko got up as she hung up the phone while Ryūko entered her office, returning from her patrol.
"Ah man, that was a good walk! Hey Inko, I saw we finally got the stuff for the boys..." She paused when she saw the look on Inko's face. "Oh, what's wrong...Did someone die?"
"Ryūko, could you please go get Hisashi? I would ring him up again, but Sakamata is here."
"Ooohhh, what round is this now?" She asked with a smirk growing on her face. "Ninety-Six?"
"Ninety-Seven," She corrected her cousin-in-law, "and could you be quick about it, please? If you don't mind?"
"I don't know; you know how those two can get once they start fighting."
"Chief Doumeki is here..." Inko responded flatly.
"Oh!" Ryūko's eyes widened, realizing what that meant, and she started gunning it to the gym. "I'M ON IT!"
Inko let out a long sigh. She hoped it would be a quick visit to ensure Hisashi would remain in a good mood.
Hisashi walked down the hall with the biggest grin on his face, naïve to the looming threat that awaited him until he heard that familiar, unmistakable sound of footsteps.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP!
Those...footsteps.
Hisashi's smile faded from his face, creating an expression between dread, annoyance, and even some amusement.
"Sakamata..." He said to himself. Finally, he heard that familiar roar that had been cut off at the beginning.
"– SEIIIIII!"
A giant man with the appearance of a Killer Whale appeared at the corner of the hall. Upon seeing Hisashi, the whale man had suddenly charged at him.
"AH FU—FIND ME IN THE ALPS!" Hisashi shrieked out before turning around and running back to the gym.
Gang Orca versus Draco Knight: Round ninety-seven was now about to begin.
Hisashi was still tired from training and knew that his longtime rival would have the edge. He barely reached the center of his gym before turning around and getting clotheslined by the whale-man.
Ryūko was making her way to the gym as quickly as possible. She knew that an easy way to ruin Hisashi's day was by mentioning Chief Kai Doumeki, ever since the incident six years ago. The relationship between the once two good friends had soured. No one knew what had happened that night, not even Inko. All they knew was that the mission went wrong, and Hisashi ended up in a hospital for nearly two months.
After that, the two men seldom spoke to each other; and the times they did were often only for professional purposes.
Ryūko was almost at the gym when she could hear Hisashi and Gang Orca's fight from down the hall.
"YOU HAVE GOTTEN WEAK!"
"BITE ME, BLOWHOLE!"
CRASH!
"HAHAHA!"
"YOU ARE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, DAMN IT!"
As she slowed down, she spotted her two favorite boys, whose attention was also focused on the ruckus down the hall.
"Izu, Kacchan!" Ryūko smiled sweetly at her second cousin and his friend. Both boys turned to look at her. Izuku had a bright smile on his face. Katsuki, however, immediately faced away from the Dragoon hero with a dash of red growing on his face.
"Everything okay?" She asked before suddenly hearing a loud SLAM!
"Is dad going to be okay?" Izuku asked nervously.
While Katsuki chose to remain silent, hoping not to avoid stuttering in front of his crush.
"Oh yeah, he's just sparring with his old friend!"
"YOU SON OF BITCH!"
Ryūko laughed nervously. "A very old friend."
"GODDAMN IT! I WILL EAT YOU FOR LUNCH! I ALWAYS WANTED TO TRY WHALE MEAT!"
CRASH!
SNAP!
"Say Izu!" Ryūko put her hands on the boys' shoulders, gently guiding them away from the property damage, "Why don't you and Kacchan head down to your mom's office? I'll go get your dad so he and your mom can get started for your surprise, she mentioned earlier, okay?" She chirped, ignoring the two pros' roars, swears, and fighting.
Both boys seemed to hesitate but eventually listened to the Dragoon Hero and headed down to Inko's office on the second floor.
"Phew…" Ryūko breathed out as the boys turned around the corner out of sight. And with that, she stood back straight up and headed towards the gym once again. She arrived just in time to see Hisashi performing a German suplex on the whale-man.
"AND THE NAME IS MIDORIYA NOW!" Hisashi roared out.
SLAM!
The loud slap of Gang Orca's back against the gym mat rang out. The whale-man groaned in defeat, with Hisashi quickly getting up to his feet, with arms raised in victory; face left swelling and bruised.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Round ninety-seven is mine! That makes it fifty-two to forty-five now, ya prick!" Hisashi laughed out to his defeated foe. Only to add salt on the wounds, "and you're still paying for the damages!"
"Ahem!" Ryūko cleared her throat to get her cousin's attention.
"Oh!" Hisashi hopped to the side, startled. After a moment, he simply stood there nervously upon seeing that his cousin was eyeing him in frustration. "Ryūko, you're back from patrol! Oh good! We can get started wit –"
"I'm sorry, Hisashi," Ryūko interrupted with a raised hand, "but there is something more important that's come up."
Hisashi frowned. "What do you mean?"
Ryūko bit her lip before saying. "Chief Doumeki is here for that report that was due two days ago."
The mood in the room changed almost instantly. Hisashi's face went from nervous to almost stone-cold with what could only be described as a mask of shame. Only the groans and breathing of the unconscious Gang Orca filling the silence of the deafened room.
"How long has he been waiting?" Hisashi asked, finally breaking the heavy silence in a flat tone.
"I'm not sure, but it couldn't be longer than ten minutes."
"Shit..." Hisashi muttered quietly before looking at his cousin right in the eyes, "I'm going to head straight down to see him. Call Inko and tell her to have Kenichi's report on hand on the first floor. I'll grab it and deliver it personally."
Hisashi rarely ever yelled out of anger towards anyone that wasn't a villain or a sparring partner. However, just because he didn't yell out his orders, it didn't mean that the firm voice he was using now left any room for arguments, a fact Ryūko knew all too well.
"I'll get started right now." She answered with a nod and walked toward the gym's phone.
Hisashi sighed one last time before grabbing a spare towel from a side rack and started walking toward the door in dread. His legs felt like lead as he dragged himself down the hall with an equally heavy heart full of guilt.
"I still need to apologize to him..." He felt a new sting from both his scars and of memories he would rathered left behind.
Izuku and Katsuki were now in the cafeteria of The Drake's Den agency. They had been sent there by Inko after their run-in with Ryūko. The two boys sat on one of the tables, eating snacks and messing around with their phones.
Now, Katsuki loved to prank Izuku every chance he could, ever since he discovered he could trigger his friend's quirk by scaring him. Creating a hilarious moment every time. And was quickly working his way to find an opening to surprise Izuku. With that, Katsuki discovered the perfect jump scare video, and now he just needed to trick Izuku into watching it.
"Hey, Kacchan?" He heard Izuku say.
"Yeah?"
"What do you think the surprise is?"
"I dunno, but I know Auntie looked pretty happy about it."
Izuku hummed before turning his attention toward the TV. The screen displayed a recent news update about the HUC. (Also known as The Help Us Company)Leadership committee and the Heroic Licensing Body's board of governors gathering.
"Reports the of recent gains of the Neocon movement..."
Katsuki, however, wasn't watching the report. Instead, he focused on pranking his friend, and he had just gotten the idea as he remembered some of the TV features. He quickly synced his phone to the TV, having done it weeks earlier to watch a movie on the big screen; streaming from his phone. Now it would serve him again...
"The committee is proposing to introduce possible restrictions to..."
'Just a bit more,' Katsuki thought as he pulled up the new jump scare video on his phone. Now he just needed to wait for the moment for Izuku to be distracted to strike.
"However, it seems with the lack of votes in the Lower House of The Diet, the committee..."
Katsuki was about to tap his friend on the shoulder with a wicked grin plastered on his face when Hisashi, Inko, and Ryūko entered the cafeteria. Hisashi headed straight toward the refrigerator to grab a drink, his face still hardened from the quick meeting with the Chief. While Inko walked over and addressed the two boys.
"I'm sorry for the wait, boys," Inko said apologetically. "We had to take care of something quick."
'I'll say...' Ryūko grimaced to herself.
Hisashi finished his drink in silence. The meeting wasn't horrible, but his shame prevented him from apologizing to him once again. The fact that the man would not display any emotion during their interaction was just mind-numbing. Hisashi almost wished that the man would yell and scream at him. If just to break through the ice of the past.
Katsuki was unable to read the mood of the room. But took the time, nonetheless, to make the switch now that Izuku was distracted by his parents and cousin. He queued the video to the TV and saw the report suddenly cut off, with a blank black screen replacing the picture.
"It is unlikely that the movement to gain any more traction, unless –"
The sudden cut of the news broadcast, replaced with a dark screen, made everyone in the room turn to the television.
"Oh, did the cable signal cut off?" Inko asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It could've just fried itself; that's the old television from when we changed buildings," Ryūko suggested with a shrug.
Hisashi agreed with his cousin – fearing that maybe the TV had finally broken after all this time. At that moment, Katsuki realized that his prank could backfire and moved quickly to undo the video sync. Unfortunately for him, his phone began to lag, and once he saw Hisashi walking closer to the TV to inspect it, it was too late.
The TV screen suddenly displayed a zombie-looking figure producing a high-pitched scream that startled everyone in the mess hall, including a couple of Hisashi's other sidekicks in the room.
CRASH!
Due to his reaction time and instinct, Hisashi immediately punched the TV screen straight on. His quirk activated, and the bottle of water he had on his other hand was swiftly crushed. Hisashi simply stood there shocked, his eyes wide open and scaled-up spikes ripping up his clothes. No one moved a muscle, as they couldn't read Hisashi's mood at the moment. Despite not getting his intended target, Katsuki couldn't help but break the silence by laughing out loud, trying desperately, and failing to suppress it.
Slowly but surely, Katsuki's laughter proved infectious to the point that everyone, even Hisashi, couldn't help but join along. At last, it was Hisashi himself who broke the ice.
"Well, that was unexpected, but I did teach the boys to strike when their opponent was off their guard!" Hisashi said, wiping a tear from his eye moments later.
Inko went up to her husband, whispering into his ear. "Are you feeling better now, honey?"
Hisashi closes his eyes for a moment, breathing a sigh of relief. "Yeah... I guess I just needed a good shock to the system, ya know?"
While the husband and wife quietly spoke about their next course of action, both for the surprise and to replace the newly broken TV, Ryūko took the chance to pounce and hug both boys.
"Good work, guys. You helped out there."
Izuku was confused but returned the hug, while Katsuki simply broke out into a nervous, red-faced mess.
"But I didn't do anything though, Kyū!" Izuku chirped, "I think it was just Kacchan trying to scare me again."
"Well then, good job, Kacchan!" Ryūko said before kissing Katsuki on the cheek, which only made him grow into a deeper shade of red.
"Ryūko! Stop that! You're torturing the poor boy!" Hisashi suddenly called out with another hardy laugh as he saw his apprentice's face.
Ryūko, let go of the two boys with her tongue sticking out.
"Are we going to finally give the boys their surprise?" She finally asked.
Hisashi and Inko both looked at each other and nodded.
"Right, let's go to my office," said Inko, motioning everyone to follow her. "Everything should be set."
Izuku and Katsuki got up and started whispering to each other about their surprise.
When they arrived, the two boys saw a small stack of small wooden boxes in various sizes. Hisashi had the two boys stand in the middle of the office while Inko sat by her desk and Ryūko stood by the entrance, leaning against the doorway with her phone out.
"Okay, sorry it took a while, lads! But after everything, we are finally here!" Hisashi said in a light tone while motioning to Inko to get started.
"Boys, Hisashi and I had wanted to do something special for his fan club. And after several meetings, a few phone calls, and a few redesigns, we came up with these!" Inko said while she pulled out two boxes: the biggest among the stacks.
She opened both and presented one to each of them. Inside of both was a design of an order of knighthood.*
Izuku's was a large, elegantly designed metal badge of Draco Knight's emblem: a sword with a dragon wing cross-guard pressed against the shape of a kite shield. It was gold with silver and black accents and had a sash and cape with the same color scheme as the emblem. Katsuki's was similar to Izuku's, except slightly less decorative, and his cape was only a half-cape.
But unlike Izuku's, behind Katsuki's badge was a beautifully carved Number One.
"What do you think?" Hisashi excitedly waited in anticipation.
"What is it?" Izuku asked with a confused look, making Ryūko burst out with laughter.
"It's a medal, right?" Katsuki answered, though still a bit unsure.
Hisashi sighed before answering,
"Well, Katsuki is partly right," Hisashi knelt down to the boys' level." You see, when someone is knighted, they are inducted into a Knightly Order. Depending on the situation and other circumstances, an order could contain multiple 'ranks' depending on the situation and other occasions. Anyways, the ranks include different types of awards. From the base ribbon bar medals to the grand crosses," Hisashi tapped the medals in the boys' hands; "you two have now."
Inko got up with some large pictures on hand. The boys could see the photos had people modeling with some of the prototype versions of the medals.
"We plan to host a contest for the fan club, and the top nineteen receive a box with their prize, which varies on their ranking**," Inko explained further. "But these are going directly to you, and they're both one-of-a-kinds; Izuku's has no number, but you, Katsuki, get to be ranked first with the Grand Cross."
Katsuki grinned widely at his medal. While he admitted to being a bigger All Might fan, he was still a fan of his master, who went out of his way to personally train him. As expected, his son was his biggest fan, so clearly, Katsuki accepted this without issue.
"Why doesn't mine have a number?" Izuku sadly asked, his eyes downcast.
Hisashi smiled and patted his son on his head.
"Because yours, Izuku, is the version reserved for the Grandmaster, the head of the order. And maybe once you become a Pro-Hero and maybe even take over The Drake's Den, you'll be able to host your own contest and name the next new set of Knights of the Order."
Inko smiled, but she couldn't help but roll her eyes just a bit.
'He's such a nerd!' She screamed in her head before giving her husband a loving gaze. 'But he's my nerd.'
"Oh!" Ryūko exclaimed as she readied her phone's camera mode, "Izu and Kacchan, why don't you try them on?!"
Katsuki felt himself blush red again. "N-no! It's cool like it is!"
"Aww... And here I thought it would look dashing on you~!"
"Damnit..." Katsuki growled out lightly, easily swayed by her request.
Hisashi was losing it again to all the laughter throughout the room. As the boys began removing the gear from the boxes to try on. His thoughts turned to his biggest regret of that day.
He had still failed to apologize to his former friend.
Today, he vowed to himself and proved that he would redouble his efforts to prove that he was sincere enough to make up with his friend and fix their relationship.
But it would all be for naught, as the following year would prove.
Author's Commentary
*Orders of Knighthood: Anyone from the commonwealth; or several countries in Europe that still features a monarchy may be more familiar with these kinds of institutions.
(However, a monarchy is not required for these awards to be issued.)
Examples included, but are not limited to.
The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (United Kingdom)
The Order of the Gold Lion of the House of Nassau (Luxembourg and The Netherlands)
The Order of the White Eagle (Poland)
Just to name a few.
**2. Ranks within an order.
Almost every Knightly Order: features multiple ranks or grades. Each Rank that grades higher has a more ornate award.
Most orders range between three to five "Ranks." However, there are plenty of exceptions.
0. Grandmaster (Often the head of state, such as a President of the Country; or someone within the Royal family.)
I. Grand Cross
II. Grand Officer
III. Commander (also known as Knight's Commander.)
IV. Knight Officer
V. Knight Member
However, even other awards unrelated to Knighthoods can feature this style of awards.
Examples here include the following.
The French National Order of the Legion of Honor. (With Five grades.)
The US Presidential Medal of Freedom. (With Two grades.)
And a rather unique US Military award based on the French Legion of Honor.
The Legion of Merit with four grades. (However, the latter three grades are exclusively reserved for foreign, non-US service members.)
Well, I think that covers it for now. For new readers, what do you think of the story so far? And for old readers, how are the fixes?
Let me know what you think! It's quite important!
With love
-ZX