BlazBlue: Cross Tag Isekai

by Storm VII

Ragna the Bloodedge has found himself in a bizarre new world... and he doesn't appear to be alone. Called at the plea to save this strange place he's been summoned to, Ragna teams up with the Persona Master: Yu Narukami, the wielder of the Insulator sword: Hyde Kido, and the Huntress-In-Training: Ruby Rose. Chaos and comradery await.

13. Progression 2

Rebellion the Thirteenth: Progression 2

"So… how did the breakfast date go?" Yu casually asked Hyde who'd stayed fairly silent in the short time since the boys had met back in their inn room. The blond just gave a non-committed shrug.

It was still fairly early in the day and much like Ragna had said yesterday, he'd given Liza a well needed day off after everything that she'd done for them and had worked with Ruby instead during the usual morning breakfast rush. The two red themed heroes were still taking care of the last few customers for the morning shift explaining why they hadn't joined the two just yet. While all that had been going on, Yu had been in bed the entire morning. It wasn't that he'd wanted to take the chance to sleep in while he'd had the chance, it was almost like his body wouldn't let him get up. It likely had something to do with the brutal amount of damage Izanagi had taken and resting like this was the easiest way to recover. As a result, he'd barely gotten out of bed and had just finished a small bowl of light porridge for nutrition.

"You're not going to talk about it at all?" Yu tried again, but Hyde didn't' seem all that giving with details for some reason. "…Can you at least tell me how much of a wingman Ragna ended up being?"

"Barely at all. He ended up doing what he said he'd do and had Ruby sub in for Liza today. After that I asked if she wanted to grab breakfast together and we had a small meal in the town square." Hyde shrugged, figuring if he said that much he might as well go all the way. "It wasn't romantic or anything; just talked about the town and ate… still nice though."

"As long as you had a good time I guess," Yu agreed. "Besides, I think there's another relationship that's in question."

"Right, were we going to address that today or-?"

Luckily he'd stopped talking quickly enough as the door to their room opened without warning revealing their team leader and his partner. Ruby headed over to her own bed and slumped down while Ragna appeared to be holding up better than her.

"Jeeze those breakfast rushes are busy," Ruby sighed. "Can't believe that Liza ends up doing that three times a day."

"Part of the blame is on Ragna; his food's too damn good," Hyde said in a weird roundabout compliment.

"I'm not apologizing for that of all things," the Reaper answered bluntly.

"Are they going to be alright with you gone? I mean your cooking has brought in a lot of business for them," Yu questioned.

"I've been showing my cooking techniques to Liza's parents when I could and they've improved from what I could tell. And it's not like they were lacking business before we arrived either. But if nothing else, they've helped me grow up my Cooking skill at least."

"What about you Ruby?" Hyde questioned. "How was working as a serving girl for breakfast?"

"Yes, my Sex Appeal skill went up but it wasn't like I was trying to use it or anything," she harshly denied with a scowl. "…Even if the tips and compliments I got were kinda nice." Yu got a chuckle out of that. "If we'd gotten a level up from that big boss yesterday, you both would totally be investing new skill points there."

"No…" Hyde tried to deny.

"Maybe," Yu admitted.

"ANYway, I'm just going to let that segway into our morning meeting for today," Ragna decided, playing the serious leader role once more. "We got pretty humbled by that giant ass spider last night even if we managed to take it down. Small ones were easy enough, but with how little experience we got those fights should probably have been even easier for us."

"That's what I was thinking," Yu agreed. "I think levels and stats here are only going to get us so far. We need to be working on our skills and making sure that we can be fully prepared for when we do get into a difficult fight like that."

"I was already planning to do that today by working on the Alchemy skill that I picked up yesterday, but there's something else that we need to talk about regarding the game system," Hyde said as he opened his menu and the rest of the team followed his example. "So I don't think we got any actual experience from that boss fight, but we did manage to both complete what the system calls a Major Quest and obtained new abilities. Let's all discuss that latter first because it's a bit easier to address."

"Right, I got a new ability too; it's called Inferno Divider," Ragna informed, though he seemed bitter about it. "It's one of my best techniques to use defensively, but I can't use it without a weapon… well, maybe I could but I doubt it'd work nearly as well."

"And there comes your luck stat into play again," Yu noted sadly him. "Meanwhile I actually managed to obtain two new techniques though they operate similarly. My first is Mazio, which is the same as Zio only I'll be able to target far more enemies in a single casting from Izanagi. The other technique I relearned, Zionga, is still a single target technique but it hits far harder. Useful lightning magic… provided I can use it."

"You're talking about when you weren't able to use Izanagi yesterday," Ruby asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm more or less helpless if it gets destroyed, so I need to find a way to minimize the times that I'll actually need my Persona to take hits. But that's for later, what about Hyde's technique?"

"It's called Shadow Scare. It's another ranged attack; what I do is stab my sword into the ground and there's a burst of energy a short distance away. I already have Black Orbiter, but this might be able to catch someone unaware."

"My… technique is a little weird to me," Ruby started. "It's called Buzzsaw Blast and it's just me swirling around with my scythe as I attack in midair. I guess I use my speed semblance a little when I use it, but what was keeping me from using it before?"

"Did you ever try to and failed or want to but decided against it? Maybe it's some sort of mental block?" Yu guessed.

"I dunno about that. Again, all I gotta do is move a certain way and use part of my Speed Semblance which I already have access to," she shrugged. "Maybe this just means that when I do try to use the technique it'll be more potent?"

"Let's hope that's the case, we're going to need every advantage we can out there and I'm gonna be counting on you to watch my back," her partner said seriously. Ruby only nodded with the same sort of aura about her.

'…Yeah, this is starting to become painfully obvious,' Hyde thought, thinking he should try to address it now… if Ragna didn't still scare the crap out of him. "Anyways, now we gotta consider how we got these new powers in the first place. Apparently we got this from something called a Major Quest and I never knew that we were being put on one to begin with."

"I mean we were going so fast that I don't think any of us even had the time to go back and check. And there's also another section called Side Quests that has our old odd jobs like Spider hunting. There's nothing that looks like it's not completed or only in progress though," Ruby said as she opened her menu. "It lists the rewards we got from them, so maybe it's here just to keep track what we've actually done?"

"I've got one in my side quests listing that fight I had with Rojo and Azula; anyone else got that?" Ragna asked. Everyone on his team shook their heads. "So if you weren't specifically a part of the job, it doesn't show up for you. Damn it, there's still so much that we don't know about this."

"Which is why I think we're going to need to experiment with these powers since nothing else is going to try to hold our hand along the way," Yu stated. "Since I was bedridden the entire morning, I did my best to experiment with our menus a bit. I tried several things but only a few of them seemed to actually work. First off, I can't send messages to any of you through this. I also can't try to take points out of a stat and distribute them somewhere else. Once you assign them, it seems that they're there for good."

"If stat redistribution ever is a thing here, I get the feeling that it's going to be more of a late game option," Hyde said. "So what did work?"

"An alarm clock, a timer, and a map," Yu said as he made his screen visible showing the map in question. "As you can see, the map only seems to cover where we've already been and if you zoom in it can show off certain features like building placement or city walls. It'll also show your own position, but it won't show any of your party members or the other townspeople so its uses seems limited."

"It's something at least, but now we need to be ready for when we head back outside of the city," Ragna said, trying once again to step up as team leader. "Unless something comes up or I give us all a day off, any time that we're not spending outside the city limits to hunt monsters or explore we need to focus on using the system to our advantage. Even if everything if we spend the whole day trying something that ends up being a total waste of time, it'll at least tell us not to try it again."

'…Oddly enough, hearing that makes me feel like I'm in my element again,' Yu considered. "In that case, we should probably go over what we'll be doing today so there's no unnecessary overlap. I'm going to head over to the elves in the refugee camp to work on my magic. I'll probably be the best healer on our team for a while and I'll also try to learn some offensive spells while I'm down there so I won't need to rely on Izanagi for ranged attacks."

"I'll head down with you. Since they had to tend to everyone that had caught those diseases, it's probably going to be the best place for me to work on my alchemy skill. If I can also help them while I'm down there, all the better."

"Good, since you both are going a safer route to improve that leaves room for me to try something a little riskier," Ragna started. "Yesterday's fight told me that while I can hit like a truck, I don't have nearly enough coverage with my unarmed techniques. Maybe if I put the work in and practice with Rojo and Azula for a bit, I can take what they've got and use it myself. Might be a bust, but at least we'll know."

"Unarmed techniques… right," Ruby said as she seemed to think things over. "You… used to use a sword and scythe right, or I mean you used to use something that could work as both?" Ragna nodded. "And how much did you use it? Compared to your unarmed techniques at least?"

"About the same really; it's kind of hurting me in fights, but since I've already broken a really strong sword just by swinging it once I don't have much of a choice," Ragna informed as he crossed his arms. "And what about you? What were you planning?"

"I was going to try and upgrade our gear. I think that the surviving Dwarves are already working in the city's forge. They might be able to upgrade all of our stuff and give us a proper edge in fighting, but if I play my cards right I might be able to start working with forges myself so that we're always using the strongest gear possible whenever we find the right materials."

"For such a weapon's fanatic, you sure seem to be in the right role," Ragna commented (Ruby seemed to take this as a compliment). "But is that even going to work? You've only got a single point to invest in the skill beforehand so it could take you a while to make anything worthwhile. Remember our first night cooking?"

"Th-then it'll be a bust like you said and I'll at least have tried! And I should be able to grow the skill either way!" Ruby declared. "And look, if it turns out that I really need another skill point to operate at all, I'll head outside of town for a few fights so I get the point quicker."

"By yourself?" Hyde asked. "Sounds like a bad idea; especially if there are any large spider groups left. We should all agree to leave at the same time from now on to minimize our risks." He then turned to Ragna. "And… that might need to include when you go after actual people."

"…You realize what you're saying, right?" the Reaper questioned with a sharp scowl.

"The spider attack on Brinkstone was too well coordinated to not have someone lead the attack and someone had to steal those documents and treasures," Yu reminded. "There's no telling what's going to happen if… when we finally catch up with them, but if we're not ready for anything one of us could end up dead."

"…We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." Ragna was still pushing the issue aside, but for now that was about all that he could do. "Alright, so we've all got our plans for right now. When we got back last night, the captain of the guard said that the training grounds were open to us if we even needed to use them. I say we all meet over there around 4PM, that'll give us more than enough time to show off the fruits of our labor before I have to start helping out for the dinner rush."

"Right, I'll see you boys then," Ruby promised after taking Yu's katana and Hyde Insulator (still no explanation on where it goes when he's done using it) she went off in a hurry, even utilizing a bit of her speed semblance.

"Yeesh, she's got a ton of energy today. Even after everything we went through last night." The Reaper almost sounded impressed. "If the rest of us can even show half of that today, I think we can finally get caught up with the system."

"Setting her as the bar sounds exhausting, but you're probably right," Hyde agreed. The three then exited the inn, Ragna split off from the former high school students since Hyde and Yu were heading the same direction. "So… back to what I was talking about before those two came storming in?"

"Lunch. Let's talk to her about it then," Yu agreed. "It'll give us just enough time for a small break and clear the air."

"Right, but I get the feeling that if I Ragna catches on that we were slacking he'll have both of our hides… Damn it!"

"Puns can be a tricky thing to avoid." 'If Yukiko were here, she wouldn't be able to stop laughing at his wordplay, intentional or not.'

Meanwhile -Training Grounds-

"Come on, I thought that you said today was the day you were going to land a knockout on your old man!" Rojo goaded his daughter, deflecting and weaving through her attacks with ease. "I don't remember giving you the day off!"

She was glaring daggers at him during their entire fight, but she was at least keeping her temper under control… for the most part.

"If your mother could see you goofing off, she'd-"

Something inside the blue haired woman seemed to snap as she unleashed her most powerful and fastest attack yet, an open palm strike that would deal considerable damage to Rojo… if her anger hadn't also made it her most predictable. Weaving around the move, he delivered a heavy gut punch that knocked the wind out of his daughter and forced her to crumple to the ground as she gripped her gut.

"And that's another point for your old man," Rojo said with a sigh as he offered his daughter a hand up. She didn't take it as she forced herself up, not out of pride (mostly) but because she knew she could do it herself. "Guess that one never fails."

"You hadn't used it in a while, I was caught off guard," she told her father sternly.

"Enemy's going to do that or worse if they can see how easily you can get enraged, and if they can take advantage of your anger like I can? You'd be killed or, again, worse," he instructed. "Getting that rage of yours under control would've been step one training with the monks, but back then they used to do it with 5 year olds with the advantage of several masters. You started late, you're stuck with me, and you've got plenty to be angry about… I think that you can give yourself some credit with how much you've done so far."

"Credit won't save my life in the middle of a fight. I can do better; I'm going to do better," Azula answered sternly before glancing over her father's shoulder. "Look what the cat dragged in." It was Ragna as he headed into the training grounds. He'd already seen Rojo the previous night when he'd reported to the captain of the guard, but this was his first time speaking to Azula in a bit. "What? You're looking for a rematch?"

"Actually, I'm here for some help." Azula rolled her eyes as she headed over to one of the training dummies. "From both of you." He caught a small smirk from the pugilist as she stopped to hear him out. "All of those techniques you were using against me when we fought, I want to try to learn 'em."

"Which ones, the Unarmed Techniques, the Class Skills, or our own personal techniques? 'Cause unless you're a Brawler class like I am I can only teach you the first one. Gotta say, it seems weird that you didn't already know them with how well you're able to handle yourself in combat when it counts. Hell, you managed to beat my daughter and I at the same time which I don't take lightly."

"Just never had the chance to learn 'em, too focused on the fundamentals." This was true enough, given how hard Jubei had drilled them into Ragna's skull (despite his old teacher saying he needed to go back and relearn them). "Plus a couple of my personal techniques too, but you've already been hit by those."

'The more I see of this guy, the more off he is and I get the odd feeling the rest of his group's just as strange as he is,' Rojo considered. "Normally to find these techniques you'd have to find a damn good teacher to show you the technique or read them from a Technique scroll or tome, but those are hard to come by these days. Even then, most of the time a teacher would have you dedicate their life under their tutelage or charge you a fortune for even the most basic of skills."

"Little short on time," Ragna rebuked.

"Right, and money's not that much of a concern compared to the state of the kingdom…" the brawler mused. "Guess I got no choice; Azula and I will just have to show you what we can and hope that you put it to good use saving the kingdom, like you've been doing. If we put our all into getting you ready today, can this be us getting square from our bet before the match?"

"Works for me," Ragna said without bravado or dismissing Rojo's analysis. "So where are we starting?"

"I think I'll have Azula give her try at teaching you and I'll just watch from the side unless I'm needed," Rojo decided. Now Azula smirk almost looked sadistic as she was about to pay Ragna back in full for their last fight. "I'd say get him started with the Greater Strike technique, that'll tell us what we're working with." 'He shouldn't be able to learn these techniques in a day, even as a combat prodigy it'd take you at least a few days to get Greater Strike down and that's as simple a technique as you can get… but he's not your average fighter. No one in his group is and the rest are barely adults.'

"First off, I want to show you an example of the technique so you can see what you're working with without being on the receiving end," Azula seemed to taunt. Apparently, she thought teaching meant trying to get under her trainee's skin (with her father's form of training, it was a credible consideration). Ragna didn't fall for this and simply gestured for her to proceed. He watched as she simply got in position, brought her arm back, and unleashed her attack on the dummy. "Weaponless Technique: GREATER STRIKE!"

Even with the obvious wind-up, the force produced from the end result was far greater than the sum of its components and blast into the training dummy to blast it to pieces. As leather, wood, and metal debris sailed past him, Ragna took specific note of everything he'd witnessed. It wasn't just Azula's martial arts skill on display; there was something else there, some sort of… force.

"I think I remember getting by that few times," the Reaper sighed as he thought back to their fight.

"I'm impressed you remembered after how rattled you were by it. Want an explanation?" she asked confidently.

"…Not for right now, I want to try something," Ragna said, but he didn't head over to one of the training dummies, instead he made sure he had plenty of space to work with before mimicking Azula's actions. 'Okay, so the physical bit's easy enough, but that other part… I wonder if…' He continued to mimic the technique, but moved slowly as he tried to channel his drive as he moved. There weren't any of Soul Eater's black flames, but his channeling seem to be stumbling on some other power hidden inside of him. It took him a little practice and some adjustment to access the new power in place of his drive, but soon enough he was able maintain this energy throughout the motion and began speeding it up.

"You gotta be kidding me," Rojo balked as he watched.

"WEAPONLESS TECHNIQUE: GREATER STRIKE!"

Using the attack at full speed to punch the air around him, Ragna let loose an attack that shifted the very air around him. Azula went into stunned silence as he performed the technique correctly on his very first attempt (with due warm-up of course, but still). The Reaper glanced at the hand he'd used to punch and while there wasn't any energy coming off of it, it was unmistakable that the hidden power had greatly enhanced his attack.

'So there's some overlap here after all. If I use these techniques the same way I use my old drive moves, adjust for this world's changes, and focus the output I'm in business.'

"That… was pretty good for a first time use," Azula commended with quite the understatement if her father's still shocked face was anything to go off of. "But it was far from perfect."

"Yeah, your use seemed to give you a lot more push than mine just did," Ragna considered. 'So there are different levels of mastery to these moves, might mean I'll be able to grow some of my old moves with some more practice here too… I'm not hating the idea at least.' "Okay, I'll keep going for it; just give notes for now."

"That's not all, you'll need an opponent to practice using this in an actual fight," Azula instructed before glancing to her father. "Thankfully, we have an able participant who already volunteered to step in when he's needed."

'She's getting a streak to her,' Rojo realized, but couldn't help but smirking. 'If he can learn like this, there's no telling how high I'll be able to actually push him. And if watching him grow that heights is going to inspire Azula, then all the better… I'm actually getting a little excited at the idea.'

Meanwhile -Refugee Camp-

"…When I offered to teach you curative magics earlier, it was because they were the easiest to learn and the most needed in this day in age," Gerdula reminded. "The destructive magics that you're asking for are both hard to learn and moreso difficult to entrust. Yet you expect me to teach them to you?"

"I'm hoping that what our team's done for this town is proof enough of our good intentions," Yu tried, playing with his bartering skill while the chance was given. "If we're going to survive our trip to the capital, we're going to need the offensive ability to finish fights quickly; we can heal injury but we can't raise the dead."

"Not without necromancy, but those aren't spells for you and me… Very well," the elf reluctantly agreed. "I'll show you what I know from three other schools of magic. There will be spells from Offensive castings as well as spells for Enhancement and Weakening. While my focus is in healing I arts, I know magic in all categories and I refuse to simply show someone how to burn down a forest."

"That's actually even better than what I was hoping for; being well rounded enough to attack, heal, and play support is perfect for me," the Persona user agreed earnestly.

"Then that means that you have your work cut out for you; simply focusing your efforts into one school of magic is difficult enough, but each school you'd have learn entirely new bases of casting and it will take some time to get even the most basic principles down."

"Well then, I'd better get started." Yu obviously wasn't deterred and this at least told Gerdula that he was ready to put the work in. Opening her traveling trunk, she rummaged around it for a bit before finding and bringing out three heavy tomes. "No imitation casting?"

"Not for your first spells, for now you have to get an understanding of each field of magic before you can use it. The reason that you weren't required to do that before you started casting healing spells was how easy and safe the school is. Now, you have to study from the beginning."

'School work again,' Yu considered before taking a seat. '…At least it looks like I'll have better teachers than Moroka or Kashiwagi.'

Over with Hyde, the fellow schoolboy was set with Zygerrian, a fellow elf of the refugee group and a worker of potions. He too had been set with a book to learn the basics from, but he had also been given paper to take notes from as he sat within view of his teacher. Convincing Zygerrian to teach him potion work had been far easier, considering how much help the elf claimed to have needed brewing basic healing potions. It didn't look like he'd been learning more than that and basic antivenoms for now, but it was still a useful and needed start.

"Alchemy is more than just mixing a few ingredients together and calling it day. Even the act of sealing potions in the correct containers is vital for using them when the time is right. If you don't want to run out of bottles I recommend you take up glass work to save yourself time. Also, make sure each vial is thoroughly washed after each and every use, even if it was using the same type of potion. There's not enough time in the day to get into how many horrid side effects I've seen caused by that little misstep."

"I'll be sure to keep it in mind," Hyde promised. "How will I know which potions aren't considered… legal?"

"It differs by region and the law is subject to change due to politics or… more underhanded means."

"More underhanded than politics?"

"Underhanded means that include politics," the elf alchemist clarified. "In general, healing potions and medicines are almost always acceptable, poisons rarely are, performance enhancing potions are on the fringe end of the law at best, and explosives are best kept to yourself… though for now we'll only be handling the first category."

"What about smoke bombs? Like if we get caught in a bad situation and need to escape from a fight," Hyde considered, remember more ninja like tactics that had been used by a rival of his (though they hadn't even needed the bombs)

"That's an easy enough alchemic concoction to make, but healing potions and note taking first. You'll learn the more… dramatic uses later," Zygerrian promised. "Now in that book I gave you, turn to page 394."

Meanwhile -The Town Forges-

"You want us to teach you our sacred smith work?" Garnet demanded the red dressed young lady in front of her. The rest of the workers (mostly the usual forge staff along with a few Dwarven survivors from Brinkstone) paused in the work for a moment to watch the exchange. "My entire city was destroyed, all the scrolls containing of our most sacred smith techniques were stolen, our greatest creations were either destroyed or also stolen, and now you want us to just unveil what little pride and mastery we have left to you?"

"Uh… yes please?" Ruby answered (asked) meekly.

"Even if you saved what was left of us; giving away our remaining smithing secrets is akin to giving away the very soul of us. Even showing you our basics would… would…" The former governess had trouble finishing her next sentence as Ruby put on the cutest, most pleading look she could… and distastefully tried to add her sex appeal skill. Garnet couldn't even look away before she eventually sighed. "You're lucky you're adorable. Fine, but ONLY the basics. Former governess or not, I'd be ostracized by my people if I should you anything more."

"Perfect, I just want some help getting started and maybe the occasional tip along the way," the Huntress agreed.

"Along the way of what though? I need to know what you're trying to accomplish before I start you off on anything," she reminded. "And even with how I'm limiting what I can teach you, that would still be enough to keep you here for a month."

"I…" Ruby began before thinking where they really needed help. Upgrades to the weaponry was certainly good along with that other project that she was keeping in mind, but with the nasty hit Ragna had taken from the spider's acid it was clear what they really needed. "Armor, let's start there."

"A solid defense. Good choice for a start," Garnet said as she guided Ruby to the back of the forge where pieces of armor were set out on display. These suit varied all the way from basic leathers all the way to heavy set of Fullplate. "Is yours a spell casting class?"

'Shoot, still gotta keep most of this hidden for now,' she realized. "N-No, I have a unique class. I can use magic thanks to my stats, but I really do a little of everything. Super quick on my feet if that helps at all."

"Sounds like you're closer to a Thief class then," the Dwarfess decided as she went for a simple padded armor. "This is probably the best fit for you; light but effective in the protection it'll grant you. Let me help you get it on."

As it turned out, there wasn't much to show because as soon as Ruby slipped the armor over herself…

"Ugh…" Ruby groaned as she fought to keep standing. It wasn't just the armor, more like gravity itself had suddenly increased on the young girl. Garnet took notice of her shaking legs and the two got the armor off, leaving her to return to normal as soon as it was gone. "What the heck was that?"

"That… is what happens when you wear a type of armor that your class doesn't support. But that doesn't even make sense; any class out there should be able to wear this without a problem, even dedicated mages can wear this better than that. You just hard rejected it like you were foolishly trying on the heavy stuff."

"So… what are my options? I'd have to upgrade my clothes somehow?" While it wasn't ideal, Ruby wasn't too averse to the idea of getting better protection and wearing what she was familiar with.

"Only high quality clothing can be upgraded and from what I can tell your outfits (as impressive and strangely unique as they are) hardly qualify," she again denied. "Seems that unless you can get a class we're familiar with, you're stuck without proper gear."

"Oi boss," one of the listening dwarves called out. "We still have the papers fer that project you wanted us to look into. Know you said it was supposed to be a secret, but if it doesn't work for any of the classes we've tried 'em on maybe it'll at least work for 'er unusual one."

"Secret project?" Ruby repeated.

"…Guess we don't have much to lose; you got the materials to make one of them?"

"Got more than enough to make at least a dozen, but we can start with one ta make sure this isn't a waste," the Dwarf answered. "And if it turns out to work on 'em, it's not too complicated of a process. Heck, this young one might even be able to do it long as we guide 'er."

"So what is it we're making?" Ruby asked. "This sounds like an important project."

"Not in this stage, here it's more a novelty than anything else but it could become something else with enough work put into it," Granite corrected. "The project is a small accessory sized piece that we're hoping could function as a smaller as more portable version of armor which could be easier to transport. As a long term goal, we were even thinking it could be used as a second armor atop a usual one, maybe even stack several of them upon each other for a near impervious defensive build. The problem was that no matter what alterations we made; no one could equip them."

"You mean they all felt that massive weight like I did?"

"No, they couldn't even put it on. The piece we used was blasted off of us like it rejected even being held by them. No one was hurt thank goodness, but it was still too much of a resource investment and we ended up dismantling them for materials. The project was considered a failure until we either came up with a new design or found more ancient runes to assist our developments."

"Ancient runes? You mean someone made these before?" Ruby asked.

"No… more like it was a prophecy that they would be made," Garnet clarified. "We don't know who made this prophecy or even who it was for, but our hope is they'd at least be some form of hero… we could certainly use one in this day and age."

'Right, the prophecy of the four,' Ruby thought, realizing how in the dark the group still was. Soon enough the group had returned a Ruby was able to watch the smithing process. The accessory in question was more of a bangle made of high grade steel with a combination of small crystals that they told her were Magic gems. Once the base of the bracer was completed, three of the crystals were set into the three indented slots, but it was the runes that were then carved into the exterior that caused the equipment piece to sound a short hum that signaled the power it gave off.

"There are plenty of accessories out there that warriors of any class can use to increase their abilities, but something about this one seems different, those sigils mostly. I can't think of any language that uses symbols similar to those," Garnet explained. Ruby wondered if she would recognize the symbols since she was likely associated with the prophecy in question, but it looked just as alien to her. "Well, I guess all that's left is to try it on."

"And… it's safe?" Ruby questioned, as she analyzed the artifact on the table before her.

"Worst that happens is it goes flying off you," Garnet reminded… right before she and the other dwarves took cover in the forge where they could. "Ready."

'That fills me with confidence,' Ruby thought.

Deciding that she needed to be brave here (though still unclear on what there was to fear) she reached out to equip the bangle… only for the piece to disappear in a flash of light at the first contact her hand made with it. Before she could as much as make a sound of surprise, she felt a surge of power flow through her. It was weird, but… she felt stronger. A little bit physically stronger like she could swing her scythe with more force, maybe even move with a bit more speed, but most importantly she felt just a good deal more protected, even though her outward appearance hadn't changed at all.

"Did you just absorb that piece?" one of the dwarves demanded.

"I guess I did. Weird." Understatement of her time in this world. "So does that mean I'm stuck with it or-?" Right on cue, the absorbed bangle then appeared in her hand though Ruby lost the new feeling of strength she'd gained early. Absorbing it again, the feeling returned at the same strength as before. "Huh… cool. If it works with me it should work with my teammates too. Guess that means I'll need three more."

"Leave the other three to us, least we can do," Garnet said, feeling generous now that her project had bared fruit. "But to make sure that you'll be able to upgrade these on your own when it comes time we'll have to get you familiar with the forge. To help with that, you can in turn help us start crafting basic equipment. We have a large order to fill, I think it's the perfect work with a starter like you, and you'll only be getting my best advice."

'Time to start crafting!' Ruby thought excitedly. 'Too bad I can't make transforming weapons… yet.'

Meanwhile -Governor's Estate-

"And that's the full report from the northern pass? When you suggested I make a request of local hunters to simply act as scouts, I first thought it would be a fool's errand. It's fortunate that your work ethic has more than earned my trust… but still, this news does not bode well. The spiders' numbers had decreased, and yet the capital is finally making their first move."

"Yes, though the soldiers appeared non-aggressive at the moment, but if I doubt they'd stay that way for long if we pushed against it," May informed as she looked over her written reports. "Do you truly think they could be behind the eradication of Brinkstone?"

"The refugees from the north currently in our town were running for a reason; there isn't much I wouldn't put past those still residing at the capital. And they fully expected the spiders to have overwhelmed us by now… or they're trying to box in those trying to escape to better lands. Even including my… disagreements with his highness, this seems uncharacteristically vile. What purpose could he even have to cause this suffering? Either way, the time to start making our moves is now. Go into the vault, you know what to bring out; the tomes."

"Are you sure that's wise? Those techniques are only given to the most elite of your guard because they're the only ones that have proven their loyalty. To act so brashly now-"

"I won't be giving them to my guards, not today." The governor gave a heavy sigh. "Tell me, what do you have to say about our local group of celebrities? You were planning to spend time with them the other day, were you not?"

"…Their actions taking out that giant snake and later saving Brinkstone aside, they all seem earnest though their leader is rather rough around the edges. From what I can grasp, he's taken the darker responsibilities upon himself, but there's only so far that can go. They've all mentioned their plans to change the kingdom and that involves journeying to the capital… probably the rarest sentiment in this age."

"Sentiment that is clearly needed. Bring them to me this evening, it's time I confirmed my suspicions."

Later -Back to the Forge-

'Okay, smithing's both easier than I thought… and much harder,' Ruby considered as she let out a deep sigh and set a longsword off to the side. "I think that makes 20."

"And you're already tired, I thought you were going to be serious about this?" Garnet taunted. "Come on, you've still got a ways to go before you'll even get all of the bare basics down. At least you've got yer bases down for the blades, but it's time we moved onto some spears and hammers."

'They're really making me earn this,' the young huntress thought as she wiped her sweat covered brow. She was now wearing a long forging apron, a cover for her hair, and sturdy thick gloves. She took the safety of forging carefully as instructed and hadn't been put in much danger so far. Collecting the next set of ingots to be melted, she made a record with a quill on materials used and what she was using them for (apparently dwarves were very meticulous with their supplies).

"Kid, ya got company!" one of the dwarves at the front called Ruby. Setting her supplies aside for the moment and taking her gloves off, she headed to the front of the forge where she found Yu and Hyde waiting for her. "I'll get the spear cast out; you see what they want with ya then come find me."

"Got it, thanks." While she was left with the two boys, Yu held out a small sack of food containing lunch. "You guys didn't need to bring this to me."

"We figured that you'd be so enamored with weapons that you wouldn't take a lunch break unless we made you," Hyde answered smugly. "In fact, we're still surprised that you stepped away from the forge at all."

"I'm not; Ragna seems like the one you'd really have to worry about for this sort of thing," Yu countered. With his partner not having his back, this felt like a betrayal to Hyde. "How's your progress so far?"

"Slow. I haven't been able to upgrade your swords just yet, my scythe is going to be tricky to work with and my other project-" She stopped herself. "But in spite of all of that I've got something in the works that's going to help all of us big time and I've managed to grow my skill decently while have the results to show it… still going to need to invest a point into the actual skill next chance I get."

"Hey, at least we know that you can still grow the skill and get something out of it… or is that more of the dwarves keeping an eye on you and correcting you with their skills?" Hyde asked, which Ruby answered with a nod. "Meaning we might have to focus on getting teachers in the future to look over our skills… at least it'll be able to help us grow in our needed areas."

"You really going to want someone teach you guys about Sex Appeal?" she asked them both with a mischievous smirk, laughing as Hyde cast his gaze elsewhere in embarrassment.

"Why? Do you finally have your sign off to grow the skill?" Yu questioned.

'Nothing freaking gets to this guy!' the blonde realized in amazement. "Well, we won't have to worry about that for a while and…" He paused. "I guess if any of us wanted to grow our cooking skill, maybe we could try another cooking session with Ragna?"

"Oh, that could be a ton of fun!" Ruby realized excitedly. "Speaking of him, did you guys bring him his lunch already? He needs to eat too."

"We'll uh… we'll grab him something later," Hyde answered evasively before turning to his partner. "But, more to the point we were actually hoping to talk to you about him."

"Talk to me about Ragna?" Ruby confusedly repeated. "I mean, shouldn't you talk to him? Why on earth do you need to hear it from me?"

"Ruby…" Yu started softly. "…We want to talk about what's going on between you two. It's become pretty obvious."

"Obvious?"

"Yeah." Hyde took a deep breath before answering with Yu in unison.

"You have a major crush on him."
"You see him as a big brother."

Ruby went still, but both boys were flabbergasted as their own words and… differing views set in.

"HUH!?"

"I thought you said that we were both seeing the same thing!" Hyde shouted at his silver haired partner. "Where the hell did you get little sister from that!?"

"I mean I've been seen as someone's surrogate old brother before and I've notice kind of the same thing between those two…" Yu weakly defended.

"Nuh uh! Not with the goo goo eyes and consideration she's always showing him! And the fangirling!" Hyde vehemently shot down. "Ruby! Tell-! …him."

With the small scene that they'd caused, Ruby had closed her eyes and was shaking her death grip of a fist as her rage threatened to blow over. Both boys glanced at each other and came to the realization that… they'd screwed up.

"BOTH OF YOU OUT OF HERE! NOW!"

"W-We support whatever's going on!" Hyde tried to say, though it wasn't helping him any as her scowl (very Ragna-like) was now focused on him. Yu meanwhile was smart enough to remain silent as the two cautiously backed out of the forge before scurrying off back to the refugee tents.

"So…" Garnet asked, the only Dwarf brave enough as all of her workers had once again dived for cover during Ruby's screaming. "You… aren't interested in your leader?"

"Not like that!" Ruby screamed again (the vocal cords on this girl). "He's my leader! So heck yeah I respect him! Why wouldn't I!?"

"Well… there's that special project that you've requested I show you; pretty sure that you're not looking to make another scythe just for yourself."

"Because he needs a weapon! Otherwise he's just punching into spikes with his hands!" A fair reason given yesterday's events. "I'm doing this to look out for him! You have to understand that much!"

"Looking out for someone is one thing, but giving them an armament like this means something else to us Dwarves. Most of time gifts like these mean that you're looking to court the other person, especially if the crafter puts their heart and soul into the blade like you're looking to do." Ruby cursed her actions (as much as she usually did with her tamer vocabulary). "And if the crafter considers their own piece of work as some of their best and gives it to someone they truly care about? Well let's just say there'll be wedding bells in the not-so-distant future."

"You're kidding me…" Ruby groaned. "…You know what, let's change the deal; I'll keep working over here, YOU make the scythe."

"Sorry girl, not what we agreed to and a Dwarf's gotta hold true to her word," Garnet shot down with a smirk. "Besides, you'll need to know how to make fresh ones since this leader of yours seems to be the type to go and break them on a regular basis. Can't have him punch any more spikes, can you?"

"…I guess not," the young huntress sighed, realizing she'd effectively trapped herself here.

"...Besides, all the boys are pulling for you." Every Dwarf (and even the human workers) in the forge collectively gave a small but well-meaning shout of encouragement.

"I.. That's not… You… WILL YOU LEAVE IT ALONE!?"

Meanwhile -The Training Grounds-

"…Hmm?" Ragna grunted as he turned his head skyward for a moment.

"Focus," Azula instructed strictly. "Can't let you lose focus now, especially since you're starting to slip."

"Thought I just heard screaming… and I've now got a gut feeling that I somehow got cheated out of food."

"You're a cook; how the hell could you still be cheated out of a meal?" Rojo asked as he stood across from the Reaper on the training grounds. "Either way, she's not looking for excuses. We both want results."

"And you think I don't? Come on, you even admitted that you don't have this move completely down. All things considered I'd say that I'm doing pretty damn well." Despite his mouthing off, Ragna still complied and got into a ready position as Rojo did that same. Both men didn't move past that, Azula stood in between the two and kept her eyes straight ahead where the collision would take place. With a hefty stomp of her both men charged forward.

"Brawler Skill: PUNCHING WHIRLWIND!" Rojo shouted as he rushed forward with a series of punches.

"Weaponless Technique: IRON BODY CHARGE!" Ragna shouted, leading with his shoulder instead.

When the two came into contact with each other, Rojo's first lightning fast attack seemed to harmlessly glance off of Ragna as did the second and third, the fourth and fifth punches in the series seemed to slightly slow the charge while the sixth and seventh punches caused the Reaper to actually wince as he fought to hold the contact. The either punch proved to be too much as Ragna was blasted off of his feet before crashing back to the ground.

"Huh, seven punches that time. He managed to break his record." Somehow Azula sounded both impressed and utterly bored. She waited for the Reaper to get up, but he didn't appear to be moving from his spot on the ground, instead heavily panting for and unable to get off his back. "Guess you finally hit your limit too."

"The hell…" he huffed out between gasps. "Is that… supposed to mean?"

"Honestly, I'm amazed it hasn't happened before now; you've done more intense training in just a couple of hours than most masters do in a week, sometimes much more." Rojo's answer didn't seem to amuse the glaring Reaper, so it was probably better to tell him what he wanted. "When you use a technique like that, you lose a good amount of your stamina. Normally you're able to regain your standing fairly quickly, but if you abuse them like you're doing it's going to leave you winded after a while. Being winded usually means that you can't push your techniques any further, but you can still fight in a state of disadvantage until you catch your breath. Getting hit by a powerful attack like you just did in that state though… well you feel the results now."

"Yeah… and you're just stand there… without warning me?" He was too tired to even throw a swear into his heated words.

"Well, experience is better teacher than second hand," Rojo answered with a chuckle. "I'm sure you're never going to forget this feeling."

"Hate you… hate you both so much…"

"Quit being a baby, you'll just have to live there until you fully recover. Thanks to your regeneration, it should have some positive impact on how long you're out of commission, though that might be impeded too," Azula guessed with a more analytic mind. "Come on, a few more attempts with this and we'll move onto Force Shot, one that I actually know how to handle."

'Once I get up,' Ragna thought irately. Remembering that Yu had been put in a similar situation and that he'd at least used his time effectively to look through the system menus, Ragna opened his and started to do the same. 'The moves I just learned show up under my Techniques, but I haven't gotten any experience from fighting here… I guess you only get stronger from fighting off actual monsters or fights where my life's on the line like I did against those knights. Actually, I think I got some hefty experience when I fought these two for real. So it just doesn't count because this is technically training? Either way, seems like a pain.'

That afternoon -Tents-

"…We forgot to bring Ragna lunch, didn't we?" Yu asked out of seemingly nowhere.

"We're about to check back with those two and that's what you're worried about!?" Hyde demanded. "Do you know what he'll do to us if he finds out what we said to Ruby!?"

"He'd probably be grumpier without a full stomach," Yu reminded.

"He's got two modes; pissed and waiting-for-things-to-go-wrong-to-make-him-pissed. Either way, that rage is now going to be fully focused on us! What are we going to do?"

"He'll be less angry if we're able to come back with some decent results and I think we can both bring plenty to the table," Yu said, charging and switching between four different spell sigils forming from his hands without the use of Izanagi. "Your potions are at least going to put Ruby at ease since we'll be able to heal him if he does anything reckless."

"Right, and she's clearly worried about him regardless! Maybe we can blame this on him if we need to!" Hyde tried again.

"…No we can't."
"No we can't."

"Either way, I think that we're both done here," the silver haired student said as he turned to their two Elven teachers. "Thanks so much for the help, both of you."

"Despite my earlier reservations, I'm glad that you came to both of us after all," Gerdula said. "Your quick learning of magic had me shocked and you seemed to keep a level head throughout the entire learning process. You've been a very apt student, but never forget that no matter how far along you get you'll always have more to learn."

"Of course; more spells to learn, more ways to attune my magic, more ways to explore magic as an expression of my very soul," Yu answered.

"You took those magic tomes to heart then; I remember trying to make any sense of those," Zygerrian commented before turning to his day's pupil. "What I taught you today is only a fraction of what I know and not even a drop in the ocean of Alchemic knowledge this world holds. Your creations today are impressive, but they're only the first step forward."

"Good to know; I'd really hate it if things peaked here," Hyde answered with a small chuckle. "I'll do my best to make sure that my Alchemy will fall in line of what's legal when it can."

"And when it can't?"

"Then I make sure I never get caught. The smoke bombs I worked on with help with that."

"Good, you've learned quickly then."

"Potential acts of needless (or needed) lawlessness aside, we should be heading over to Ragna and Ruby," Yu reminded. With one final nod, they left their teachers and headed for the training grounds. Passing through the refugee camp, they saw that their group's actions that day and the one prior had indeed taken effect as the people seemed to be recovering from any lingering ailments and even ones previously bedridden were actually up and walking about. "It's nice to see that they're going to be alright and that we played a role in that, but still this is just helping with the symptoms."

"Right, and the cause seems to be the people in the capital; but we still don't really have a good idea why they're treating anyone like this. Do you think that it's just horrible indifference or that there's something else to this?"

"The king is apparently a… busy man," Yu said remembering the princess's claims of her many siblings. "He could've set himself in a life of indulgence, but even if he hasn't there's no good reason that the rest of his kingdom needs to suffer so much."

"So we just do what we can, consider our options as best we can, and leave our brooding to Ragna," Hyde answered with a smirk. "Hey, he gets to be an ass anytime he feels like it, I'm sure as hell going to get my own quips in on him where I can."

"Are you going to do it to his face though?"

"Hell no, I know better than that. Not like you'd ever be brave enough to try it," the blond countered.

"I don't have to; I just have to be absurd enough in my commentary that no one can even process my thought patterns and I always walk away scot-free."

"…Ah."

"I can't believe you haven't realized that by now."

Revelations aside, the boys made their way through town until they found themselves in the training yard with Ragna. Rojo and Azula had already left, leaving the Reaper waiting for the boys covered in sweat and very much in need of a good bath. He only nodded to the boys, apparently still catching his breath from all of the physical training he'd been put through.

"Hold up a second," Hyde said as he reached inside his recently acquired potions satchel before grabbing out an orange vial for Ragna. "Give this a swig; should replenish your stamina so you're no longer exhausted."

"Should?" Ragna questioned bluntly as he stared at the liquid inside.

"It's only a starter potion and you seem pretty exhausted, but either way it should help." Shrugging, Ragna downed its contents in one swig. Almost immediately, the Reaper looked far less ragged but he hardly seemed to agree with the taste. "Nice, could come in handy. Be careful though, relying on too many of these too often can result in a dependency on them which will screw you up pretty badly."

"Got it, in a pinch only," the Reaper answered as he handed the empty vial back to Hyde. "Now we're just waiting on Ruby."

"Give her some time; she's probably finishing up some smithing project since it's not the kind of work you can just step away from," Yu suggested. Ragna only nodded. "From what she said early, it seems that she had something that would be of huge importance to us."

"You talked to her earlier today? When?" Both boys grimaced as they realized how dangerously close they were getting to revealing the day's… less than ideal events. "…Am I missing something?"

"We… uh…" Hyde tried to start, words failing him harder than a last-minute college essay.

"We brought her lunch… earlier today," Yu said, knowing that admitting to that much was unavoidable. As if on cue, Ragna's stomach then gave a low groan. "…Sorry."

"Don't be; I'm the adult so I should've known better and stepped away… not that Azula was going to let me." He shook his head with a smirk. "'Sides, she's the only one I'm really worried about. Getting the chance to make her own weapons with master smiths like that? For a fanatic like Ruby is she'd so focused on smith that she'd forget to breath."

'Hold up,' Hyde thought as he got a good look at Ragna's expression. 'Does he-?'

"Sorry I'm late!" an out of breath Ruby declared as she rushed into the training grounds. She'd been using her speed semblance to cover ground quickly to make the deliveries. These deliveries were three weapons wrapped in cloth and tied close with twine, though the boys noticed that her scythe wasn't among those weapons as she had that in its usual place. "Got a lot of good results here, but let's save mine for the grand finale."

"If you want all eyes on you, must be some pretty impressive shit," Ragna crassly noted. "I spent all day with Rojo and Azula trying to master a few of their techniques. Turns out we can learn new moves so long as we have someone that's willing to teach us or the skill is written down somewhere. As the same, even with the simplicity of the techniques and all of my earlier experience, everything felt more streamlined for me than whatever training they had to deal with. They get stronger the more you use 'em and feel them out, but they'll also tire you out much faster. Something we should bear in mind moving forward."

"I had a similar experience using this world's brand of magic," Yu input before he began casting, showing off the difference magic sigils he could create around his hands. "Thanks to all of my own practice today, I've managed to master a few different types of spells. I now know how to cast attacks of fire, ice, and wind without the need of Izanagi; spells that can increase the physical attack power of one of you individually, and even a spell that can slow targets I deem to be enemies within a set area. With a little effort, I might even be able to teach these spells to the rest of you. The only risk with spell casting is that the more you cast these spells, the more mental strain will be put on the caster. This leads to a greater chance of spells getting progressively weaker if not outright failing."

"Thankfully, Doctor Hyde's got both of you covered," the blond highlighted member of the group said confidently (and with a new title to boot). "Earlier I gave Ragna a potion that'll help with physical fatigue, but I've also got one that'll help with the mental drain of casting too many spell. I've got healing potions, antitoxins, and I've even prepared a few smoke bombs that'll help us in case we need to make a clean getaway. This is only the start; more ingredients I find in the wilds the more varied and powerful potions we'll be able to make."

"Nice to hear that you both are giving us more options to work with," Ragna commended. "What about you? You were trying to give everyone some help by getting us all gear?"

"Yep, so here's what I got!" Ruby declared excited before tossing the three fresh bangles. After they all suddenly absorbed the artifacts and felt the sudden surge of power, all three boys were understandably speechless. "Normal armor won't work on us, so we're going to have to make do with these while we can. Once I get better at smithing I should be able to upgrade them with better materials, but that's all we're getting. Also, each person only gets one. You can't absorb more than that."

"…Maybe we can if we get strong enough to take them," Yu considered, admittedly flexing with the new power boost he'd just gotten. "What about our weapons?"

"Got some upgrades on all of them, but there's a limit to how much I'm able to do with them. I can take the swords you already have and make them as strong as possible with better and rarer materials, but my skill's the big roadblock right now. Before I can even think of working on more smithing, I need to put that first point into the skill. I think the only reason today went without a hitch was because I had the Dwarves helping me with the entire process."

Taking their respective katanas, Hyde and Yu both gave the blades a swing and were impressed by the refined balance of weight they were feeling in the swords they'd grown so familiar with. Each blade even appeared to have a sharper edge to it as well. With Yu sheathing his blade and Hyde's sword disappearing (and everyone somehow forgetting about it), they turned to the final wrapped piece.

"This uh… is for you." With absolutely everything that had happened that day, Ruby wasn't able to keep herself from blushing as she handed him the new wrapped piece. Undoing the bindings, Ragna saw that she'd given him a new folded scythe. "Figured since both of the boys already had swords, you and I might as well match."

Matching was an understatement as metal handle looked like it was currently retracted and the blade was folded inward for safety purposes. Briefly setting it behind him, Ragna set the blade on his belt behind him and just like Aramasa it wasn't going to leave without him moving it. Taking it back off, he noticed a certain link in the handle that appeared twistable. Doing so, his weapon fully extended and the curved blade snapped into place. Giving it a few test swings, it was obviously far lighter than his old blade but it was hard not to see the obvious heart that had been put into making this.

"Huh," Ragna said before twisting the handle again and causing the blade to retract. Setting it on his back, he turned to his partner and looked seriously at Ruby. "Thanks for all of the work you put into this thing, but my luck stat's probably going to destroy it before long."

"Which is why I used some of that metal carapace from last night; that's the toughest material we've had to work with so far and I'm just getting started! Trust me, by the end of this I'm going to give a scythe made out of the best material and made by the greatest smith in the kingdom!"

'She's… into this.' Now Ragna was the one with a blush albeit a light one. "Th… thanks then."

Ruby smiled back at him… and did her best to completely ignore Hyde and Yu who pointing at Ragna and then at her to make an obvious note of something she wasn't looking to deal with just yet.

"Someone's heading this way," Ragna noted, as he glanced to the entrance of the training grounds (fortunately the opposite direction of Yu and Hyde). It was May, the three's guide through town and Yu's eventual date (though that had been cut short). She certainly had a serious air about her as she stepped forward to the group. "What brings you here?"

"Business. The governor wanted to address you all personally for your aid in saving the city of Brinkstone. If you'll follow me."

"That's gonna have to wait. I have a dinner rush coming up that I promised to help with so-"

"Our head chef is already there; he'll cover for you until your meeting is concluded," May interrupted. "I'm sorry, but the governor's a busy man and he's short on time. Please follow closely behind."

'She acted plenty different in the middle of a date,' Yu considered. 'But even when she was talking business with us a few days ago she wasn't this strict… what's really going on here?'

Passing through the nobility district on their way to the governor's estate. The houses were large and each seemed to have a garden among more artistic architecture, that was the largest extent of the buildings. It was clear that the people inside were likely 'well off' compared to the rest of the town, but that was about it.

"One house, one noble family," May said out of nowhere. "Nobles houses closer to the capital are likely twice as big as these at least and more than likely are decorated with gold or silver. A noble family in the capital might even have multiple of these estates across the kingdom's several towns."

"…So you're saying?" Ragna bluntly asked.

"Nothing important, just dropping a few facts."

'She wants us to know what the other towns have to go through, the poor especially,' Yu guessed. 'If the wealth gap is really that intense… I guess we'll just have to wait until we see it with our own eyes.'

Eventually the group made their way to the governor's manor, a building in the center of town that was larger than the noble estates that they had passed by, but still not overly decorated or much more impressive. At the front, all of the four were required to drop off their weapons and they each complied though Ragna dreaded that he'd somehow lose Ruby's scythe after just getting it. Though this didn't immediately scream trap, they would be ready with Ragna's unarmed skills, Yu's magic, Hyde's hidden Insulator sword in his hands, and Ruby's… speed hopefully.

The inside of the building was a good reflection of its exterior, right between plain and fancy. They expected to have May to lead them to the Governor's office, but instead she took them an odd direction that led them through the kitchen, into the panty, and behind a hidden wall that took them down below the city. A good ten minutes of walking they found a group of impressive looking knights wearing armor and their variety of weapons at the ready.

"One should never poke at the sleeping lion," May told them, leading the knights to stand aside so they could travel to the door in the back. Knocking on the door in a set of three raps, then two, then five, May called to the other side. "Master, I've brought them."

"Excellent, show them in." With the door opened, the group caught their first sight of the man running the town they'd spent their time protecting and working in (not that either of those were mutually exclusive for their group) these past few days. Instead of a powerful regal looking man… the figure sitting at the table across from them was a total wreck. Greasy and unkempt hair atop their head and even messier facial hair, dark circles under their eyes, and a smell that was far from noble. Their writing hand was stained with ink and the signed parchment lay in a disorganized mess around him. "My… apologies for the state of my office… as well as my current state. Call me Thomas, of house Heavencliff of course but that's obvious."

Ragna didn't say anything, though a quick glace at the papers showed that a lot that this man had been working on was dealings in order to provide proper aid to the new refugees. He didn't comment on this just yet, but still took this to note. "…Seems that you don't get out much."

"Even if I didn't have all of this paperwork to worry about, this is currently for my own safety. About a month ago, an assassin broke into my manor and nearly got their knife to my throat. Luckily my guards outside were able to save my life at the last instant, but it still put things into perspective. I am without an heir of my own since my son is in the capital, but even if I declared a rightful successor from the nobility or my royal guard the capital would be able to use the resulting chaos and install their own leader… I've seen it happen before."

"Do you really think the assassins are still around?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"It doesn't seem likely, but it's too big of a risk. I haven't gotten out of this room in… two weeks?"

"Two weeks," May affirmed.

"You're being awfully trusting by letting us in here then, not to mention I don't think anyone else in town knows about the attempts," Hyde noted, almost mirroring Ragna with his serious scowl.

"I am trusting you… after all I think that Princess Marie is putting all of her faith in the Prophecy of Four."

"The Prophecy? You can't be serious," May gasped.

"It would explain their all but sudden appearance and their lack of general knowledge yet abundance of unusual abilities. You've described what the tall one's capable of in his spar a few days ago. Those aren't normal techniques. You also informed me of the young lady's unusual weapon. Not even the Dwarves can understand all of the mechanism."

"Then what is the prophecy? We don't know anything about it," Yu asked. Ever distrustful Ragna would've preferred to hold out a little longer, but that option was now out.

"There's not a lot that can currently be said about it," Thomas began. "We've only found a few tablets across the kingdom with any mention of this prophecy, but each were found in different corners. Almost any writing has faded away with time and there's not even a certainty that it was prophecy; it could have been a legend of a previous group of four heroes… though your being here indicates the royal family may have had additional knowledge of the prophecy, including the ability to summon you."

"So wait, the fact that we're here is all the damn prophecy was about? Nothing about saving anyone or saying what we're supposed to do?" Ragna asked before smirking. "Suits me just fine."

"…I have to hope that you're still planning to aid our kingdom," May nervously noted.

"Don't worry, none of us can turn a blind eye to this," Hyde promised.

"Good, because the reason I brought you here is to discuss the next thing I need you for," Thomas said seriously. "Recently I've sent several of my scouts towards the capital disguised as hunters. When they got to the main pass, they found a large unit of capital troops that were sent there on the orders of boxing the threat of dire spiders to this region. Even if that caravan managed to make it through beforehand, they still set up that barrier far too quickly."

"They're trying to make sure that you don't survive," Ruby coldly realized.

"Thankfully not, otherwise my town would've already met the same fate of Brinkestone. I think for now they're just trying to keep other refugees from running to my region for shelter. The reason why doesn't matter now, so much as making sure a route is open. But breaking the blockade is only going to cause us more problems and could be seen as their final reason to declare me a traitor to crown and kingdom. I need you to open a different path through the mountains. May."

"Yes sir," his aid said as she handed the group a rolled up scroll. "This shows the location to an ancient temple deep within the mountains. What the temple was used for can only be speculated, but any record shows that it certainly seemed… cult like. There's no doubt that a trek through would be dangerous, but there's also tale of a similar temple on the other side of the mountain."

"So you're banking on them being connected, us living long enough to get through, then creating a secret passageway for everyone to evacuate… at least until we can get the blockade down." Ruby's summarization was met by two nods. "What do we do once we get through?"

"The nearest town is going to be a ways away from the temple and even the temple on this side is going to be quite the journey. Once you get to that town, you'll need to find a way to establish an escape route but doing that is going to be impossible under current leadership. About a year ago, a Duchess took control from a… as of now late friend. I don't know the specifics of their situation, but I fear the worst. In order to get anyone safely to this side, you'll have to fix that town first."

"…And we're all agreeing to this?" Ragna asked the rest of his team. No objections. "You got anything to get us started?"

"Indeed, I have books that each contain two techniques for sword, archery, and shield usage. Memorize them and learn the techniques before you leave for your accommodations. I need your group to leave first thing in the morning."

"Sweet, sword techniques," Hyde realized. "Been looking to branch out a bit more."

"I don't think that I can use those techniques with my scythe, but maybe archery will at least give a usable gun technique," Ruby hoped.

"…" Once again, Ragna's luck stat came into play.

"…We'll get you a shield before we leave tomorrow," Yu promised. "…Hopefully one that doesn't break immediately."

"Funny," Ragna muttered, though he began reading the shield tome regardless. 'Setting out tomorrow… feels like the first real test of our journey is finally about to begin.'

Author's Note

Not gonna lie, I kind of had to push myself to get this chapter out in time. I usually like posting Friday morning, but I guess I'll just have to settle for the 31st for now (or so I thought before getting to the Omake). Anyways, let's just jump to the review responses and a closing Omake. Oh, and follow me on AO3 as Storm_VII. Got some updated chapters coming in there and I could use some help getting my profile around if you're up to it.

Review Responses

DripGodRagna: It's a strong reference at least.

Twylaken: Here's the next chapter, enjoy!

Guest (1): Let's hope the hype has lasted.

The Unplanner: Well, first big boss that was an actual test. Can't have it be that easy.

Guest (2): Not grinding just yet, but growth all the same.

Mudkipknight: NOBODY EXPECTS THE STORM VII UPDATE!

NeroAlmia: Luckily since then I've made a point to go back to those stories and have more updates for them on the way.

NiceScourge: Yeah, Yu's sudden interjections can be fun to write for.

Sarcase Sage 626: Nice summary as always, good to hear from you when I get a review update.

Reclusive Dork: …OUTTA MY HEAD!

Fantasy Fan: Sorry… not really planning any new stories just yet.

AND NOW FOR WHAT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR… the omake.

Cross Tag… Apartment?: Part 6

"Wow, didn't even have to twist your arm for a drink this time," Gordeau noticed as he finished pouring Ragna a glass of whisky. "In a good mood then?"

"With plans for summer vacation finally set, I at least have something to look forward to. At worst I'll have my first full week off in I don't even know how long," he answered. "…Plus, you helped me get said time off."

"What was that? Couldn't quite hear you."

"Don't be an ass," Ragna swore right before the two heard the jingle of the front door. "Wait, didn't they lock up already?"

"Nah, I told them I'd them do it after I left tonight. Give me a second." With Gordeau heading to the front to shoo away the out of hours customer, Ragna was left to sip his drink in peace. Said peace didn't last long however, as Gordeau soon returned with a light brown haired middle-aged woman who seemed utterly plastered. "What are you doing?"

"Just getting the lovely lady a drink on the house before she makes her way home. That's what you want, right?"

"Sure… whateva…" she drunkenly slurred as she took the seat next to Ragna.

He knew what Gordeau was doing as the barkeep mixed the lady her drink. A mixture with next to no alcohol but the illusion of it in the taste, something to hopefully giving this customer a break and help her sober up a little before she walked home. And knowing Gordeau's policy, he might even make a point to walk her there for safety's sake. She took a long swig of the drink that had been offered to her, but otherwise said nothing. Ragna kept his eyes and comments to himself.

"…That's a nice red coat," the woman eventually got out.

"Thanks." He was blunt, but Gordeau didn't interrupt as he worked on his own glass of whisky.

"Tell me, you've ever been in love with someone before?"

"…Can't say that I have." Ragna wasn't a fan of this new line of questioning, but at the moment he was kind of trapped.

"Good for you then," the mystery woman groaned before taking another sip. "You're smart. Smarter than I was at least. Guy wasn't even anything that special. Above average looks maybe, a little on the sweet but naïve side, and worked as a middleman at a decently sized company. We met for coffee, had dinner together often, and he was quite the cuddler."

'TMI.' "Look, maybe you shouldn't-"

"And after three months of dating he dumps my ass the first chance he gets! Just for a shot to get under a foreign secretary's skit!" she screamed. "Why? We were happy together! I laughed at his dumb jokes, he ate my decent at best cooking, we watched each other's favorite movies even through some disagreement… it was perfectly imperfect… and then he left."

'…If this is what being in love is like. Hard pass… but she's not going to leave like this.' "Well you dodged a bullet then; can you imagine if you'd been married to that asshole when he tried that?"

"Yeah… yeah you're right! He is an asshole!"

'From the bits of story I'm hearing at least.' "Screw him."

"Hah! He doesn't deserve it!" she proudly declared.

"Great, now can stand on your own," Ragna encouraged, just to get his current headache out the door.

"Damn right I can!" the woman shouted as she got to her feet. "That asshole isn't going to BLUUUUUGH!"

"MY BAR!" Gordeau shouted as the woman expelled her stomach's contents all over the wooden surface. She then slumped back onto the stool and looked completely devoid of consciousness. "…You had to work her up."

"I thought I was helping."

"Clearly you weren't," the barkeep sighed. "Okay, I need you to get her home and I need to clean this mess up. Just… get her ID out of her purse and walk her back. Can you do that?"

"Do I gotta?"

"It's her or the vomit, Ragna." …He had to think it over for a moment. "Never mind, just take her back."

Ragna grunted as he got the woman's ID out of her purse while Gordeau set out to get plenty of damp rags. Kashiwagi… the name sounded oddly familiar. At the very least she lived close by and was even right on his way. He just had to get her to her apartment… problem was the journey there.

"Alright, up we go," Ragna said as he helped her stand and kept a steady hold on her. "I better not get arrested while I'm out there."

"I mean… you could just take her to a love hotel, leave her with a note, and let her sort things out in the morning. Nothing too unusual there."

"I gotta save money and her place is on the way. See you tomorrow." Gordeau only gave a casual wave back before grimacing as she started wiping up pure vomit.

"You smell like garlic bread…" came Kashiwagi's voice in her disoriented state. "…I love garlic bread."

'…Oddly enough, that's the THIRD time I've heard that one.' It wasn't too cold outside, a pleasant reminder of the Summer Vacation quickly approaching. Still, Ragna quickly assisted the intoxicated woman down the empty streets. He heard her groaning, but at the very least that meant she hadn't passed out yet. "Just lean on me and walk the best you can; I'll make sure I get you home."

"Bein' my knight tonight?" she asked while stumbling forward. It took about a half minute before she started laughing at something. "Knight and to-knight. Heh."

'That sounds like one of Yukiko's jokes, so she IS really that plastered,' Ragna thought. "Just stay with me, your ID said that your place is only a few buildings down. Soon enough you'll be asleep at home and your biggest nightmare's going to be nursing tomorrow's hangover."

"You're not going to stay with me?" she asked, somehow managing a purr in her drunken state. Ragna stiffened a little at the advance, but the woman didn't even hold that front long. "I don't blame you… I'm a wreck…"

'Don't agree with her. Don't agree with her. Don't agree with her.' "You just had a bad night, probably the worst of your life. Just cut back on the drinking and leave this in the past with that asshole. You've got it in you to walk forward."

"Yeah… maybe I can do that," she sighed. "Thanks for… all this… Never got your name."

"Ragna."

"Huh… foreign?"

"Nah, just a strange one."

The Next Morning

Following such a late shift at work with such an early one was a cruel combination to Ragna, but there wasn't much he could do to air his grievances. All of the work he was putting in was actually being rewarded by a better and better payrate as time went on and his quality of life was noticeably improving, so it's not like there wasn't a point to all of this. In fact, taking Yu in a while back for Dojima had been a way to help him catch up on his bills from his place's down payment. As of now he didn't even need the extra money he got from looking after his group, just watching them until the agreement with their parents ended… he was starting to look forward to that day less and less.

"Ragna, you're needed at the front," Chaos said as walked into the kitchen, an odd place for the front receptionist. "Someone's asking for you. Says they wanted to… thank you?"

"You don't have to phrase it like I've never done a good thing in my life," Ragna muttered before looking to the head chef, Valkenhyn. The old man gave him a reluctant nod and Ragna had to wonder if he was going to get written up regardless. "I'll be quick."

"Please do so, we're about to open and this is an important event for us."

'At least I get a bonus for working such a high-profile brunch.' Ragna's content attitude with his paycheck aside, he headed to the front lobby and found Kashiwagi. She'd cleaned herself nicely with a good and well needed shower, gotten her makeup properly reapplied, and there wasn't that lingering stink of booze. "I'm surprised you're still up after how out of it you were last night."

"I wasn't that out of it, was I?" she asked, sounding a little worried. "I thanked and… apologized to your barkeeping friend just now, but I really wanted to thank you for bringing me home and… your words of encouragement."

"It was nothing, really," Ragna told her simply. It looked like she wanted to talk, but there wasn't time for it (not that he was great at this in the first place. "Look; you're welcome, but I've really gotta get back to work. A lot's riding on this event we're about to host."

"I understand… but maybe you're at least tell me how it goes?" she asked, slipping an already prepared note out of her purse, obviously containing her phone number. She seemed adamant that he would take it, so he pocketed the piece of paper if only to make her happy and get this over with all the quicker. "Don't be a stranger."

"…Sure thing," he sighed to himself before making his way back to the kitchens… while making a point to pass Gordeau at the bar. "Missed a spot."

"I went over it a dozen times last night; there's no chance in hell."

"You sure about that?" He didn't get an answer, but still smirked as he walked away as Gordeau checked his bar yet again for any signs of yesterday's accident.

Later -That Afternoon-

Ragna had gotten off of work at a reasonable hour compared to most nights and would even have time to make an actual meal for himself and the others. This of course meant making an extra stop on the way home to grab groceries for their eventual study session, but he didn't mind nearly as much as his own late nights. Walking through the front door though, he was greeted by the sounds of Mario Party 5 coming from the TV.

"Must be in middle of their break," he voiced aloud before leaving his shoes by the front door and stepping into the room… where he only found his three usual charges. "No study group tonight?"

"We're all as surprised as you are," Hyde answered though he kept his eyes fixated on the TV so he could focus on a very needed mini-game win. "We only have two turns left if you want to join in next game."

"Sure, but we're pausing after turn 10 for dinner," he insisted as he started putting the groceries away and starting his dinner prep work. "How long have you guys been playing?"

"I mean this is our usual 20 turn game, but we didn't even have any homework or additional studying to work on tonight," Ruby explained as she, Yu, and Hyde all took the win in the 3-v-1.

"After all of the hell you've been put through this past month, you all of a sudden have a nothing night? I mean I'm happy for you guys, but that seems sudden. Any idea what happened?"

"Our teacher was actually in a pleasant mood today, most of her class didn't think it was possible. Especially after the mean streak she'd gotten after her boyfriend broke up with her."

'…Oh no.'

"Yeah, and somehow even my class felt those effects, weird right?" Ruby asked before turning to Ragna and seeing that he'd frozen in place. "…Ragna?"

"Uh… Yu and Hyde, what was your teacher's name again?" By now, he already knew the answer.

"Noriko Kashiwagi," Hyde answered.

"And..." They couldn't see it from the side they were watching him, but Ragna was grimacing hard. "She seemed… happy?"

"Really happy, someone even brought up the idea that she'd found another boyfriend…" Yu recounted. "Well, in truth they put it a much crasser way, but that intent was still there."

'…Shit.' He still had her number in her pocket. "Group meeting tomorrow, even if none of you have to study."

And the plot thickens! Sorry this is a day late! Ciao!