Elesis NT Warrior

by HeeroUzuki

In the year 200XX, the Cyber Network has spread to the four corners of the Earth and computers manage every facet of life to make life more convenient. All seems well in this new era of humanity, but when strange occurrences in an MMO began to take affect in the real and cyber worlds, one boy and his NetNavi must fight to protect the real and cyber world from destruction.

1. The Boy and the Red Knight

Me: "Hello, readers! Some of you might recognize me as the guy who enjoys writing my crossover story 'New Mobile Report Mobile Suit Gundam Neptunia'. Well, I've been playing a lot of Elsword lately… and read some of my Megaman manga, and have decided to make a story about that. It's not so much a crossover of worlds, but of elements in the stories. Also, I figured to make it seem like a real work of fanfiction, I'm going to be using my own OC for the story!"

Heero Uzuki: "I thought I was only supposed to be used in that original story you came up with, why am I here?"

Me: "Eh, I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go through the process of making a whole other OC. Just know that there are going to be some differences between the 'you' here and the 'you' in the original story. Besides I've found myself with a rather unusual case of writer's block, but still find that my creative juices are flowing. I figured I would try starting up another story and see what happens with it." (Looks down at watch) "We better get this chapter started. Since I own the Intro Corner idea, I figure we should go all the way with it… that includes having our cast read off the disclaimer." (Points at Heero) "Let's hear it."

Heero Uzuki: "HeeroUzuki does not own Elsword or Megaman NT Warrior."

Me: "Unfortunately, but it's true. Now, let's go and allow our readers to read the very first chapter of this new story."

Me and Heero: (Leave Intro Corner)

Ch. 1 The Boy and the Red Haired Knight

It was a dreary December morning, grey clouds were hanging in the blocking out the sun and the temperature outside was in the lower forties. In the second floor bedroom of his mansion, a young boy was slowly beginning to wake from his sleep. The sheets of the bed fell off his small frame as he sat up. A groan made its way out of the boy's mouth as he speared his raven colored bangs, "I don't really feel like going to school today… but I guess I still better go."

The boy slipped out of bed, revealing his… rather small form. He looked to be seven or eight years old, his unruly black hair hid some of his emerald green eyes, and he was wearing a pair of black shorts that contrasted his white T-shirt. As he stood up, the sound of music filled the air of the spacious room and was coming from the bed stand nearby. The boy looked over to see his cell phone's alarm going off with a string of text running across the small screen on the back of the phone reading 'Heero's 7:00 A.M. alarm', "…shut up, you invention from hell."

Heero opened his cell and shut off the alarm before opening one of the windows in the room. A blast of cold air assaulted the boy that made him shiver, "…It's even colder than it was yesterday." Heero quickly closed the window and went about his room putting on some clothes for his day at school. After taking care of brushing his teeth, putting some clothes on and getting some breakfast, the boy headed for the front door of the mansion. Casting a brief look behind him he opened the door, "I'm… going now…"

As he passed through the doorway, Heero looked at a small terminal on the brick wall next to the door, "Computer; lock the door and set the security alarm." Shortly after he spoke to the terminal, a monotone female voice replied to the boy "Acknowledged; locking front door and activating security alarm."

Xxx

The Cyber Network has spread to the four corners of the Earth and everything, from National level mega-functions to everyday life, is now being directed by computers. It is the year 200X A.D. a year in a new era for humanity.

Heero sat at his desk in his classroom, looking out the window that was barely two feet away from him, "It looks like snow could fall at any minute…" The rattling noise of the classroom door opening resounded through the room and the teacher walked in, "Alright class, due to the increased chance of snow classes are cancelled today. I will call role and once I have verified whether you all are here or not you may go home."

The homeroom teacher went about taking attendance and Heero looked back outside, sinking into his chair, "…Guess I won't be able to see everyone today."

"…Heero Uzuki." The young boy shot up in his seat after hearing his name called, "H-Here…!"

A few of the girls in the classroom giggled, making Heero feel very embarrassed as he sat back down, "He's always so shy, he's just adorable!"

"I wanna take him home with me."

"What's so great about him? He's just a kid."

"Of course YOU wouldn't be able to tell, you're just a jock."

Heero stood out quite a bit at his school, and for good reason… he was the only 'kid' that attended DenTech High School. Not only that, but aside from the few friends he had, Heero never really talked because he was quite shy, "(…Please finish calling attendance so I can get out of here.)"

Xxx

The moment the teacher finished calling role, the class was dismissed and Heero wasted no time in getting out of the school building. Once he arrived at his home Heero punched in a password on the small terminal near the door that deactivated the alarm and unlocked the door. The door to the mansion made a rather eerie creaking noise as it swung open, "I'm… home…"

Heero looked down at the floor; his bangs fell over his eyes which were tinged with sadness. "…Why do I even bother? It's not like there's ever anyone here waiting for me."

The raven haired boy made his way up to his room and unceremoniously tossed his backpack onto the floor and looked at his alarm clock which read 8:45 A.M., "Wonder how I'm going to pass the time now…?"

The chiming of the doorbell pulled Heero out of his reverie of thought, "Uh… c-coming!" Heero quickly made his way back downstairs and opened the front door to find a mailman waiting with a box in one hand and a pen and clipboard in the other, "Package delivery for the Uzuki residences."

"I-I… can sign for it…" Heero took the pen and clipboard from the mailman, signed off on the sheet, and handed the items back to the mailman and received the box in return, "Here you go."

The box Heero had received was about the size of a box used to hold a game console, but whatever it was that was inside was heavier than one. Once the mailman had left, the young high school student closed the front door and took the parcel up to his room. Once he had arrived in his room, the boy dropped the box onto the floor. Heero wiped his forehead of the small beads of sweat that had formed from the task, "This thing is heavy… wonder what's inside?"

Heero walked over to his PC, pulled out one of the drawers of the desk it was situated on and pulled out a box cutter. Using the box cutter blade, he cut through the tape that kept the lid together and opened it to see its contents. There were various objects contained with, but what stood out most was a small device with an envelope lying on top of it. The words 'From: Mom and Dad' were written in cursive on the white envelope, but the small bulge indicated that it was not a letter that it contained.

Carefully opening it, Heero pulled a flash drive out of the envelope and plugged it into his PC. Seconds after it was plugged in, the contents contained within were displayed on the computer as a single video recording. Heero clicked the play button, and a woman with auburn hair, emerald green eyes, a white lab coat, and that looked to be in her early thirties appeared on the video, "Heero, I hope this message finds you well. Honey, I know your father and I told you that we would be home for the holidays, but something has come up at work and we don't know when we'll be done."

Heero cast his gaze down to the floor, "I guess that's understandable… mom and dad are very high up in the software development department, so they have a lot of work… I just wish they could come home every now and then."

"Your father and I anticipated that something might happen that would keep us here, so we decided to send you your birthday present early. They won't be released to the public for at least another week, but we sent you a PET or Personal Terminal."

The boy raised a questioning eyebrow, "A… PET?" Heero looked back at the box and pulled out the device that the envelope had been lying on when he had first opened it. "Does she mean this thing?"

The PET was a handheld device with an all red exterior. Pushing the small button on the side, the PET snapped open to reveal two panels: the left panel had a screen that almost took up the entire panel, and the right panel had various buttons situated next to one another like the keys of a keyboard, three slots lining the top of it, and one more slot on the right side of it with a red plastic dish attached to it, meaning that it was obviously supposed to hold 'something', "We spared no expense in making you the best PET that we could, but you should know now that the PET is nothing more than an expensive piece of junk without a NetNavi or Network Navigator. If you'll look on the back of the PET, you should find a cable attached to it."

Flipping over the handheld device, Heero found a cable with a small connection jack on the end. "While the PET is a wireless terminal for connecting to the internet, sending E-mails and the like, its main purpose is to house your NetNavi and move it to and from your computer. As the NetNavi Operator, it's your responsibility to take care of your NetNavi… you can't expect it to stay in the PET all of the time. The data for your NetNavi is normally something you create yourself, but I created one for you, all you have to do is plug your PET into the computer and start the download process."

Doing as he was told, Heero plugged the terminal into one of the computer jacks and started the download for his NetNavi after receiving the prompt. "Just so you know the downloading process will take some time."

The raven haired boy looked at the taskbar to see how long it would take for the download to finish. A look of disbelief made its way onto his face, "'Some' time? It doesn't look like... the download will be finished until eight in the morning."

"Your father and I should have some free time tomorrow morning. We'll call you and see how you and your NetNavi are doing."

After a few seconds of silence Heero thought that his mother was done talking and was about to shut off the recording, "Heero…" The boy stopped as the recording went on, a sad smile its way onto the woman's face. "I know you've been looking forward to us coming home for the first time in years… but in case we can't, I should at least say happy birthday, Heero. Your father and I love you very much."

The recording stopped shortly afterwards and Heero was left to just look at the computer screen. It wasn't that he was focusing on anything, his mind was processing what he had heard, "…The last time I saw mom and dad in person... was three years ago. This house feels lonely... what with me being the only person here."

Heero looked back at the taskbar and very little had changed between how much of the data for the NetNavi had been downloaded and how much longer it would take before the process would be finished. "…Guess I'll just play an MMO for a while or something."

In an attempt to pass the rest of the day, Heero played MMOs on his computer, drew a few pictures in his sketchbook, wrote down ideas for inventions that came to mind in his journal, tinkered with machinery… anything that would serve to take up time. It was 10:30 P.M. when the boy was finished playing another game on his PC, "…I guess I should get ready for bed."

Heero shutdown the browser for the game he had just played, changed into suitable night clothes that consisted of a black tanktop and shorts, turned off the lights in the room, brushed his teeth, and fell asleep in his bed shortly thereafter. Had he been awake for just a few more seconds he would have seen that the allotted time remaining for the download to finish had decreased significantly.

Xxx

"...Hey, you up yet?"

Heero stirred in his sleep, shifting over to one side of the bed thinking that he was hearing a feminine voice in his sleep. Once more the voice called out. "Hello? Are you listening to me?"

Once more the boy shifted in his sleep, "(I must be hearing things… I'm the only one in here, right?)" There was a brief moment of silence before the voice let out an irritated sigh, "Okay, this is getting ridiculous. WAKE UP!"

Heero shot up out of his sleeping position, surprised by the shouting. Because of his sleeping position, Heero ended up falling out of bed and onto his stomach with an audible thud, "…Oww!" The raven haired boy rubbed his stomach, while the seemingly disembodied voice continued, "That's an interesting way to get out of bed, but I don't think I would ever try it."

Heero lifted his head and looked around his room… there was no one else in the room. He continued to scan the room; looking at the walls, the closet, his computer monitor… Heero did a double take as he looked at his computer monitor. Instead of seeing the usual desktop wallpaper he saw a teenaged girl on the monitor. From what he could see of her, she had fair skin, long fiery red hair that framed her face and was pulled into a ponytail in the back with matching colored eyes.

The girl was looking right at Heero, who was feeling very uncomfortable looking at said girl even if it was only on a computer monitor. Never before had Heero seen a girl who wore such a serious and intimidating expression. A painful silence dominated the air, making seconds feel like hours… Heero tried to say something, anything at all, but found himself struggling just to think, "W…Wh-"

Before Heero could say anything, a ringing noise broke the silence between the two. Shortly after a window popped up on the computer monitor with Heero's mother on it, "Good morning, Heero. I hope I'm not calling at a bad time."

Heero's mother paused for a moment before her lips curved into a smile. "I see you've met your NetNavi. I was calling to ask you something, but I think I should give you two a few minutes alone so you can get acquainted."

The live chat window disappeared as quickly as it came, once again leaving Heero alone with the red haired girl who was his NetNavi. The silence in the air was suffocating, and it didn't help that Heero was shy, "…Well? Are you going to say anything?"

Heero blinked a few times as he looked at the NetNavi. Clearly she was expecting him to talk to her, "U…Uhh… well… umm…" The red haired watched as the boy struggled to talk and her expression softened, "I feel like I'm talking to myself here. It's not like I'm going to eat you or anything, loosen up a little bit."

Heero cast his eyes down to the floor, "I-I'm sorry… I just… don't know what to say."

"You could try telling me your name? That might help to break the ice." A few more seconds of silence passed between the two before Heero responded, "…M-My name is… H-Heero… Heero Uzuki."

The red haired girl tilted her head to one side as she watched Heero, "You're pretty shy, aren't you?"

Heero's eyes began to move from one thing on the floor to another, "…Y-Yeah."

The uncomfortable atmosphere was again interrupted by a ringing noise, followed by a live chat window opening on the computer monitor, "So, are we getting along?" Another figure stepped into view of the camera from where Heero's mother was. He had short chestnut brown hair, baby blue eyes and wore a white lab coat like the woman next to him, "Shion, did you really just ask that? I would hope that our son would be able to get along with El-"

Before he could udder another syllable, Heero's mother slapped a hand over his mouth, "Shhh! Allen, we can't tell him her name! SHE has to tell him." Heero looked between his mother and Allen, the man that was his father, "…What are you two talking about?"

Shion rapidly waved her hand from side to side in a dismissive manner, "Nothing dear, pay it no mind." The auburn haired woman straightened herself as she faced the camera in front of her computer. "Before we go into anything else, the reason why we called you Heero is because we've been working on a new online game, and we need someone to test it."

Heero slowly pointed at himself, as if to verify whether or not they meant for him to test this new game, "Y-You mean… me?"

"Who else? We know you love MMOs and we need an experienced player to test this game. Our development staff has been working many sleepless nights on this game, and we want to make sure everything is functioning the way it should before we release it to the public."

Heero was trying very hard not to let his excitement get the best of him. He loved to do a lot of things, like drawing, writing, listening to music and the like… but playing MMOs were high up on his list. Perhaps the only thing he loved to do more than playing an MMORPG was building Gundam Models, "W-Well… I guess I can-"

The sound of Heero's alarm going off derailed his train of thought. Looking back at the clock which read 7:30, the sight of the time on the clock caused his face to go pale, "U-Uh oh! Mom, dad, sorry, but I have to go to class!"

Heero rushed around his room, taking off his tank top and shorts and replacing them with a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, white socks and tennis shoes. Heero stopped by his closet to take a denim jacket since he knew it was going to be cold. Just as Heero was about to leave, the red haired NetNavi on his computer stopped him with a question, "You go to DenTech High, right?"

The raven haired boy turned towards his computer monitor, "Umm… y-yeah…"

"Then you don't have to worry about going to school today. Classes have been cancelled due to snow." Heero looked towards one of the windows in his room, "…Snow?"

Heero opened one of the windows and poke his head out to see white flakes falling from the sky, piling up on the ground. "I-I didn't think it was going to snow this early in the morning." A gust of cold air blew across the boy's face, prompting him to shut the window, "Well… I guess I'm staying home today…"

Tossing his backpack onto the floor, Heero sat in his chair in front of his computer, his NetNavi and his parents were still there. "Since I don't have any classes… I guess I will be trying out... this game of yours."

Shion clapped her hands together, "Glad to hear it. Now, everything you'll need to play should have come in the box we sent." Heero got up out of his chair and opened the box he had received the previous day. The only things he had paid any attention to were the flash drive and the PET, so he didn't really know what all was inside. Reaching into the box, Heero pulled out a headset, a gaming controller, and a box containing blank data chips, as well as various other hardware that was intended for the game, "(Wonder what these are for…?)"

Picking up the contents of the box, Heero made his way back to his computer and dumped everything in his arms onto the computer desk, "Looks like everything arrived in good condition. Now just plug in everything and we'll get things started over here."

While Heero's parents were organizing things at their place of work, Heero was busy plugging in the gaming appliances. Once everything needed for the game was plugged in, the boy waited for a response from his parents... and as he waited he could feel the eyes of his NetNavi on him, "You seem much more relaxed."

Heero scratched the back of his head, "R-Really?" The red haired NetNavi nodded. Heero looked around his room for a moment out of nervousness, before taking a brief glance at his NetNavi. "W-What's… your name?"

There was a brief moment of silence before the girl gave a response, "I'm sorry, but I can't tell you."

Just as Heero was about to ask why, his parents came back into view of the camera at their place of work, "Okay, we've finished loading the server, and the browser for the game should have been sent to your computer." As his father had said, the game browser had downloaded itself onto his PC, "…Elrios?"

"The way the game is setup, two people have to login from a single computer." Heero looked at his parents for a moment. There was something wrong with what they just said, "Dad… that's going to be a problem… I'm the only person here."

Shion stifled a giggle, "Oh, you're not the only person that's logging in. Your NetNavi will be going with you."

Heero cast a glance at the red haired NetNavi on his computer, then looked back at his mother, "…What?"

"If everything checks out, we'll have created the first online game that will allow NetOps to play with their NetNavis. Now, enough wasting time. Time to do what you do best!"

Seeing as he wasn't going to be able to get another word in until he started testing their game, Heero opened up the Elrios browser, waited for the game to load, then slipped on the headset in front of him while picking up the game controller. The visor attached to the headset flashed with a bright light, so bright in fact that Heero was forced to close his eyes as the world around him began to become warped and distorted.

Xxx

Heero had his eyes clenched shut until he was sure that the flash of light had subsided. Slowly, he opened one eye and then the other to see that he was not in his room anymore, but in a village surrounded by trees. There were a few buildings, all of which were made of wood, a river ran that through the middle of the village and a wooden bridge that was built over it, "Whoa… what is this place?"

"This is Ruben Village, the first village of the game." Heero looked from left to right, he was sure that he had just heard Shion, but couldn't see her. "Check your PET, dear."

The boy examined his person until he saw his PET stuffed into his jacket pocket. Pulling the handheld terminal out of his pocket, Heero opened the PET and found that the screen on the left panel was on, showing his mother… yet again, "Well… the graphics look amazing… but I doubt that's all you want me to see… right?"

"That's right. We need to see how the data for the dungeons came out, as well as the data for the monsters and items." Having examined his person, Heero saw a 'small' problem with his mother's request, "Mom… you want me to search dungeons and fight monsters… but I don't have anything to fight with."

"That's because fighting the monsters will be MY job." Heero swiftly turned around to see his NetNavi standing behind him. The red haired girl was wearing a red long-sleeve top with a small black tie around her collar and black armbands just below her shoulders, a black and white skirt with red flaps that had a strange emblem sewn into them, white stockings with a thin red ring around the top, and red shoes with pieces of armor attached to them. The area around her stomach was protected by another piece of steel with a small gold plate welded onto it that depicted the same emblem that was on the red flaps of her skirt, and leather belts were attached to the steel plate and hung by her hips. Her hand maintained a tight grip on the handle of the weapon she was holding, which was a red and gold claymore.

Heero could not take his eyes off of the girl. She projected an aura of strength and confidence he had never felt before. The boy continued to watch the girl until his mother's voice broke him out of his daze, "In Elrios, the player's NetNavi handles the actual fighting, while the player issues commands and provides support for their NetNavi. It is quite different from the MMORPGs you play, which is why we need someone with your level of experience to test it out. We already have all three of Ruben Villages dungeons loaded up, all you have to do is go into the waiting area with your NetNavi, pick a dungeon and get started."

Before Heero closed the PET to go dungeon crawling with his NetNavi, Shion felt it necessary to inform her son of one more important detail. "Before I forget, Heero, I should tell you now that your NetNavi is… different from the NetNavis that other players will be using. Unlike other NetNavis, she will not simply take orders. You will have to get along with her and work together."

Having said her piece, Shion cut off the video feed and left Heero with his NetNavi. Heero felt a wave of anxiety and nervousness wash over him now that he was alone with the girl again, "W-Well… s-shall we get started?"

The red haired NetNavi hefted her claymore and allowed the flat of the blade to rest on her shoulder, "Alright. Since you're supposed to be my NetOp, I'll let you decide where we go." Heero walked through Ruben Village with the teenaged girl following behind him. The village was fairly small in size, so it didn't take long to reach the exit, which lead to the 'waiting area'.

Heero and the red haired NetNavi walked into the 'waiting area' which was a dirt road surrounded by more trees and lead to a city. A ringing noise from the PET broke the silence in the air, though instead of seeing one of his parent's, Heero saw a map fill the screen on the left panel, "…Are these… the dungeons?"

Being taller than Heero, the red haired NetNavi simply had to look down to see the PET in Heero's hand, "Looks like it. Seems like the Tree of El is the only dungeon we can go to right now." With the Tree of El selected as their destination, Heero pushed the start dungeon button which caused a timer to count down from three. When the timer hit zero, both Heero and his NetNavi were enveloped in a bright light.

Xxx

The transportation to the Tree of El was instantaneous; one moment Heero and his red haired NetNavi were standing outside of Ruben Village, the next they were standing on a fairly narrow walkway. A large body of water lay beneath the pair and several large columns surrounded the walkway, and in the distance Heero could see a large tree that was obviously the Tree of El, "That was… fast."

As the raven haired boy marveled at the enormous tree in the distance, the teenaged girl he was with walked past him, "It would probably be a good idea for you to stay behind me at this point."

Heero looked at the NetNavi for a moment, trying to decipher what she meant when he saw the reason. Along the path before them were a number of humanoid creatures with masks on and birds with large bodies and very small wings. Heero alternated between the girl and what were clearly the monsters of the dungeon, "Y-You can't… seriously mean to take on… all of them, can you?"

The girl swung her claymore in the air once before pointing it forward, "People call me… the 'Red Haired Knight'. Just watch, I won't have a problem dealing with these enemies."

The Red Haired Knight began to walk towards the group of monsters, with Heero standing where he was since they arrived. Slowly, the sword wielding teen began to quicken her pace until she entered into a full-on sprint, her claymore at the ready. The sword wielding teen swung her claymore with incredible speed, Heero couldn't believe that she was moving so fast, especially considering that her weapon was a claymore; a heavy and somewhat unruly weapon.

In just seconds the Red Haired Knight came out on the other side of the mob of monsters, all of which fell to the ground the following second and disappeared, leaving behind small bronze coins. Heero stared at the girl in amazement, "…I've played dozens of MMOs… but I've never seen anyone swing a sword that fast… let alone a claymore."

Heero had been so stunned by the way his NetNavi had dispatched with the monsters so quickly that he hadn't noticed that she had already turned to face him, "Hey, I know you're impressed, but we should get going."

The raven haired boy ran to catch up with the Red Haired Knight, who was making her way through a path she had opened shortly after defeating the monsters. The new path was littered with vines, and the sound of birds could be heard nearby, meaning the duo was drawing closer to the Tree of El. More monsters guarded the way to the Tree of El, though they were not all in one group like the monsters from the previous area.

Heero heard the PET ring, pulled it out, and found his father on the small screen this time, "You two have gotten pretty far in such a short amount of time, even the development staff couldn't believe how fast you two got through the first group of monsters. Anyway, that's not why I'm calling. As you have noticed, your NetNavi will fight monsters that come close as she sees fit, but as the NetOp you will need to use Battle Chips for her to use her more powerful abilities."

Two chips were ejected out of the PET in Heero's hand and slid into the plastic dish attached to it. One chip was red with the words 'Power Burster' written out over the top with a picture of a column of fire beneath it. The other was an orange chip with the words 'Dodge and Slash' with a picture of what seemed to be the silhouette of his NetNavi running. "The slots at the top of the PET are where you insert your Battle Chips. I'm pretty sure you know which kind of chip goes where."

Shion suddenly entered into the screen, pushing Allen slightly out of the way, "And remember, you have to shout the name of the Battle Chip for it to work!"

"What? He doesn't have t-"Before Allen could say anymore, Shion slapped a hand over his mouth to keep him quiet. "Anyway, have fun you two!"

The video feed cut off once more, with Heero receiving a questioning look from his NetNavi, "What interesting parents you have."

"For lack of a better term… A-Anyway, shall we? They said we... needed to clear all three of the dungeons." The monsters were easily dealt with, without Heero needing to use either of the Battle Chips he had. The Red Haired Knight was proving to be a swift and immensely strong fighter.

Just as before, the Red Haired Knight and to forcibly make a path for them by destroying an obstruction, which led them to the Tree of El. As they entered into a clearing, Heero and his NetNavi encountered a rather large, muscular man with a scar over his right eye. In his right hand he held a large sword, in his left hand he was holding a shining green crystal that glistened in the sun's rays.

Upon seeing Heero and the red haired girl, the large man tossed the large crystal to one of his assistants, which was another of the mask wearing humanoids. The humanoid with the crystal ran away, while the big and burly man gave the NetNavi in front of Heero a thumbs down gesture with his left hand, as if taunting her, "I… don't think he really… likes you."

The claymore wielding maiden in front of Heero pointed the tip of her weapon at the brute of a man, "The feeling is mutual. Shall we get started?" Obviously the man that Heero and the Red Haired Knight were facing was the boss for the dungeon, and probably wouldn't fall in just one hit like all of the other monsters.

Now, being the MMO expert that he was, Heero quickly took head count of the enemies, which were two of the humanoids that had appeared throughout the dungeon, and the bandit leader, "…Three of them. Y-You should probably… t-take out the weaker enemies… first."

The Red Haired Knight quickly closed in on the two lesser monsters first; a single swing from her large weapon was enough to slay them, "One more to go." As the swordstress swung her claymore at the bandit leader, he brought his weapon up to block her attack. While he was still damaged from the attack, the damage was less than what it was supposed to have inflicted.

The red haired NetNavi jumped back to put some distance between herself and the bandit, "I Figured as much. You're going to make this difficult."

After dropping out of his defensive stance, the bandit leader closed in on the Red Haired Knight. His attacks were slow and easy to dodge, which made it easy for Heero's NetNavi to get in a few hits with her claymore. Heero looked down at his right hand which still held the Battle Chips for his NetNavi, then remembered he needed to do to activate them. What his mother had said he was required to do caused his face to turn a light shade of pink, "I-I don't… really want to… but I guess I have to…"

Holding the Power Burster chip with his thumb and index finger, he held the Battle Chip over the red slot of his PET. "P-Power Burster… Battle Chip in!"

The boy quickly slid the Battle Chip into the slot, where it was sucked into the PET like a vacuum. The Red Haired Knight reared her right arm back, raising her claymore above her head, and then struck the ground with the claymore, "Power Burster!" The ground beneath the bandit leader split and fire erupted out of the crack in the ground, enveloping the burly man. Whatever was left of his HP was long gone at this point. Just like every other monster, the bandit leader vanished and left behind more bronze coins… clearly some form of currency for the game.

A few seconds after the bandit leader had fallen; Heero and his still nameless NetNavi were transported back to the Waiting Area just outside of Ruben Village, "That was… rather convenient."

"Let's move on to the next one."

Heero turned to look back at the teen behind him, who was looking at him expectantly, "W-We just finished… the first dungeon… and you already want to go onto the next?"

The Red Haired Knight plunged her claymore into the ground in front of her before stretching her arms above her head, "That wasn't even good enough to be a warm-up for me. So, to make up for its easy difficulty, I'll just have to explore the other dungeons."

Heero thought it best not to deny the NetNavi what she wanted for the time being, he was also curious as to the extent of her power, "Well… if you're sure…"

Opening the map on the PET again, the raven haired boy picked out 'Forest Ruins', the next dungeon on the map. Just as before, after confirming that they wanted to go to the dungeon, Heero and his NetNavi were engulfed in a bright light and a split second later were gone.

Xxx

Shortly after arriving at their destination Heero took a moment to scan the surroundings. The area around him was blanketed with trees and other forest life, really the dungeon looked more like a Weld than ruins, "This is the place… right?"

"The ruins are further ahead, so we'll simply have to walk the rest of the way."

Being that it was a dungeon there would no doubt be monsters, so Heero's red haired NetNavi lead the way to the ruins. It did not take long for the two to come across the first of the monsters within the dungeon… which were two rather large, yellow rodents with hair on their heads that were fashioned into Mohawks and carried blue knapsacks tied around their necks.

The Red Haired Knight shot a questioning look at the 'monsters', "…So my opponents this time are oversized rodents? I was hoping for a challenge, not a downgrade from what I fought before."

Clearly the teen felt insulted by what she was having to fight, but would nonetheless fight. The creatures were quite slow, which meant that the red haired NetNavi was not going to have to make any real effort to defeat them. Heero looked from the knight to the monsters and then back again, "Still… looks can be deceiving… you should still be careful."

"I know. I just feel insulted that's all."

As the Red Haired Knight approached the monsters, the two creatures raised their paws over their heads and pulled stone bricks out of the knapsacks they were carrying. Shortly after pulling them out, the rodents hurled their bricks at the red knight.

Because the attack was so easy for her to predict, the NetNavi sidestepped out of the way of the first airborne brick, and then destroyed the second in midflight with her claymore. Without wasting another second the NetNavi quickly closed the gap between herself and the two monsters. With a single swing of her claymore, the red knight had slain the monsters, which quickly de-rezzed and left the game's form of currency behind, "Let's go. If the enemies are all this weak then we should be done in a few minutes."

The Red Haired Knight waited for Heero to catch up before venturing further. As they neared the ruins that were coming into view, Heero came to a stop which prompted his NetNavi to look back at him, "What is it?"

Heero had his attention fixed on what appeared to be a boulder with moss growing on it. The raven haired boy knelt down to pick up a rock and then tossed it at the boulder. Shortly after the rock hit the boulder the moss covered object began to move, revealing two arms which immediately began to flail about, two short, stubby legs and a small face on the object, "It's always best… to trigger these kinds of enemies from a distance."

The moss covered monster advanced toward Heero and his red haired NetNavi, but its size made it incredibly slow. Heero pulled out the Dodge and Slash Battle Chip from his jacket pocket and held it over the orange slot of the PET, "D-Dodge and Slash… Battle Chip in!"

Instead of taking effect like it was supposed to, Red Haired Knight attacked the green monster as she had the other monsters before. After the green monster vanished, the teen looked back at Heero, "I'm not going to go along with all of your plans and ideas, you know. I'll deal with the monsters the way I think is necessary."

Heero watched as the red haired girl walked toward the ruins that were in sight, "H-Huh? B-But why didn't i-" It took the boy a moment to realize what had happened and then thought back to what his mother had said before they had started testing the game, "(Unlike other NetNavis, she will not simply take orders. You will have to get along with her and work together.)"

"So… THAT'S what she meant…" If Heero was going to get his NetNavi to listen to him, he would have to 'get along' with her, but that was easier said than done. Heero had been shy for his entire life, and in order to get along with anyone you had to be able to communicate with them… and communication wasn't exactly his strong point when he was addressing that person physically. "I'll… figure something out."

Heero ran after the NetNavi, who had already entered the ruins. When he caught up with the red haired girl they were in the center of the ruins, and the Red Haired Knight was facing another of the strange rodent-like creatures from before… only this one had a sword, wore suspenders and was slightly bigger than the others, "…And yet another let-down. Let's get this over with."

The creature drew its sword and began to… walk towards the red knight in front of Heero, "I've noticed… that the enemies aren't exactly up to spec with the system… maybe I should talk to mom about it."

"I would like to actually work for my victories… It feels like they're being handed to me." The sword wielding maiden moved in on the sword wielding vermin, which had begun to charge at her with arms outstretched and sword in hand… or rather, paw. It was yet another easy to read attack that the red knight evaded with utmost ease, and then struck the monster in its blind spot. "Pathetic."

It was only a single attack, but the monster still fell. And just like before, seconds after the monster had finished de-rezzing Heero and his NetNavi were transported back to the Waiting Area, though Heero could tell that his NetNavi was disappointed.

Xxx

At their place of work, Shion and Allen, along with their development staff were busy running through the data that they were collecting as Heero and his NetNavi ran through the virtual world they had created, "They're moving pretty fast… are you sure you didn't make her too powerful?"

Shion waved off Allen, "Oh, she's not too powerful. We just haven't added in everything yet."

"But she's already at level six, and she just brushed all of the monsters aside. And even when we do upload all of the data, who's to say it will be any different?"

Ignoring her husband, Shion moved back in front of the computer they had been using to communicate with their son, "You think too much Allen. Now, go do something while I go over something else with Heero."

Allen speared his hair and let out a sigh, "Why do I even bother?"

Xxx

Heero had received another call from his mother about an important feature of the PET in the game, "…Did you get all that?"

Heero nodded his head, "Y-Yeah, I think so."

"You only have one more dungeon to go. After you two are finished, we'll take the server offline to make the necessary adjustments and add in everything else. Have fun!"

The screen on the PET went back to displaying the status of Heero's NetNavi, and shortly thereafter displayed a skill tree for the red knight, "Mom said that the PET has a touch screen… and that I can get new chips by picking them off of here…"

Moving down the skill tree, the boy found that there were only two new skills that his NetNavi could get. "Well, might as well get them now…" After touching the screen and selecting the two new skills, the PET spit out two more Battle Chips into the plastic tray. One was red with the words 'Wild Shock' written at the top with a picture of a wave of fire, the other was orange with the words 'Rushing Sword' with a zig-zag picture on it.

"Well, let's get this over with. The sooner we finish the better." Heero could hear the disappointment in his NetNavi's voice… hell, he could feel it. "My parents want to wrap this up quick… so with the exception of the boss… they took all of the monsters out of the last dungeon. Th-They said that they were the same monsters we've been fighting… s-so…"

The Red Haired Knight let out an irritated sigh, "How can I get stronger by fighting enemies that are so weak? Whatever, let's get going."

"Umm…" The red haired teen looked at the boy in front of her, who although shy, had something he wanted to ask. "…There something you want to ask me?"

Heero may have been a little more comfortable around the sword maiden, but he still had some difficulty looking her in the eye, "E-Earlier… when I asked you what your name was… you said you couldn't tell me. W-Why can't you… tell me?"

Silence filled the air between the two, just as it had when they first met. Heero was beginning to think he had asked a question that he shouldn't have, considering that his NetNavi was not responding, when finally she broke the silence, "…Because only other than a select few people, only the lord that I serve may call me by name."

The girl saw that Heero had a very confused look on his face, meaning that she would have to explain what she meant. "Every knight has a king or lord that they serve, and while I am a Velder Knight, my loyalty does not lie solely with the King of Velder. I am a Free Knight, and I am still searching for the lord that I am meant to serve."

Even after hearing her explanation, Heero still felt out of the loop. Velder Knight? King of Velder? Select few people? ...Free Knight? Heero had no idea what his NetNavi was talking about in regards to those terms, but clearly his NetNavi didn't really want to be stuck here with him, "Then… why are you here… with me? I-I mean, if you're... looking for someone to serve a-and I'm not that person-"

Heero was stopped in mid-sentence when the teen poked his forehead with her finger, "As a knight, I can't simply leave someone who's in need. I might not be serving you, but that doesn't mean I won't help you."

The Red Haired Knight walked a few paces past Heero before glancing back at him. "Besides, I'm the one who will determine the person that I serve. Who knows? Maybe you might be the person I'm looking for."

She may not have wanted to be stuck here fighting monsters that were beneath her, but at least the red knight wasn't going to leave Heero just because she wanted to, "Th-Thank you…"

"Let's finish this up. This game isn't going to be much fun until the updates are put in, and I won't get a chance to fight stronger enemies until they do."

Nodding his head in response, Heero selected the third and final dungeon in Ruben Village, 'White Mist Swamp', "Well… here we go…"

After confirming that they wanted to enter the dungeon, a familiar flash of light enveloped Heero and his NetNavi leaving the Waiting Area empty once again.

Xxx

The 'White Mist Swamp' as it was called was appropriately named. The entire area was quite humid, with mist constantly falling against Heero's face and arms, as well as clinging to his clothes. The map of the dungeon was significantly smaller than it was supposed to be; including the area Heero and the Free Knight were in, there were two areas.

With no monsters in the immediate vicinity, the walk to the boss's area was uneventful. Heero was able to marvel at the detail of the graphics in the virtual world since he did not have to worry about his NetNavi having to fight. Of course, the uneventful walk was short lived, as it did not take long to reach the end of the swamp, where a large creature lay in wait.

The monster bore some resemblance to the rodents that the duo had encountered during the second dungeon, only this one was actually bigger than Heero's NetNavi… several times as a matter of fact. Its body was also white instead of a sickly yellow.

A smirk made its way onto the Red Haired Knight's face, "I might actually be in for a challenge." A loud roar came out of the monster as it slammed the ground with its large paws. The claymore wielding knight charged the large creature, not intimidated by its size. "Make this interesting while it lasts!"

As with the battles from before, the red haired NetNavi used her speed to evade her enemy's attacks while her own attacks found their mark. Everything seemed to be going well, until the large creature suddenly charged at the NetNavi. Naturally, she wouldn't be able to stop the creature because of its size, so the Free Knight was forced to move out of the way of the charging monster.

Unbelievably, the monster was able to skid to a halt not too far from the Red Haired Knight and swung its right paw at her, using the momentum from the sudden charge and abrupt halt to increase its force. Using her sword to block the attack, the Free Knight stood her ground, but the attack had left her temporarily stunned.

The monster took a deep breath, then got down on all four of its appendages and exhaled a blast of fire. Because she was still recovering from blocking the first attack, the red haired girl was not able to move and completely vulnerable to the incoming gale of fire, "Damn…!"

Just before the blast of fire reached the stunned NetNavi Heero ran right into her, forcing them both onto the ground behind a nearby tree, while the fire burned the virtual grass to smoking ruin. Heero was on his hands and knees, still reeling from he had just done, while the Red Haired Knight shot a look at him that was a mixture of anger and concern, "What the hell were you thinking?! You could have been killed doing that! Now I know you wouldn't have died in the real world, but what would you do if this were to happen in real life?!"

Heero had finished catching his breath while listening to the NetNavi, "You said that you were going to help me… then to some degree, you think of me as a friend… right?"

The Velder Knight cocked an eyebrow at the raven haired youth, "By that logic, then yes… but what does-"

Heero lifted his head, a beaming smile on his face despite the scratch on his cheek. "Well, what more reason… do you need than that? You may be a knight... but even you need help sometimes. And if you can't rely on a friend... to help you when you're in trouble... what kind of a friend are they?"

The Red Haired Knight looked at the boy in silence, her eyes widening. The silence was once again broken as the tree the duo were hiding behind was destroyed by the large monster that they had been fighting just a moment ago. Heero swallowed hard as the creature towered over them. "It's back..."

Getting back up on her feet, the Velder Knight grabbed her claymore to face the large monster once more, "Well? What are your orders?"

Heero looked at the red haired teen who had just asked him what his 'orders' were, "Huh?"

"I will abide by your orders, so how do you want me to beat this guy?"

Heero wasn't sure what he had done or what had happened that would make the Free Knight want to take orders from him, but was glad that she was willing to trust him, "If you can get behind him... that should allow you to beat him quickly..."

Giving a curt nod in response, the Free Knight charged at the large beast. Heero pulled the Battle Chips out of his jacket pocket, his attention focused on 3 in particular, "These should do the trick..." With the first chip held securely with his thumb and index finger, Heero slid the Battle Chip into the PET. "Rushing Sword... Battle Chip in!"

The Red Haired Knight had suddenly dashed past her large foe, a cut on its side began to form which indicated that she had slashed it as she passed. The PET read each Battle Chip that was inserted into it, and would eject the chip into the plastic dish attached to it when the skill's cooldown period had elapsed. The 'Rushing Sword' chip could be used 3 times in a row and only had a 6 second cooldown period, but the whole point of using it was to get Heero's NetNavi behind the monster, so using it again would be pointless and it would have consumed more of the Free Knight's MP.

Now that the Velder Knight was in the large monsters blind spot any damage she inflicted was sure to be fatal. Heero slid the second Battle Chip in his hand into the PET, "W-Wild Shock... Battle Chip in!"

Fire began to envelope the Free Knight's claymore as she held it overhead, "Wild Shock!" The Velder Knight swung her claymore, causing a wave of fire to soar through the air and tear into the back of the creature. The monster roared in pain as it slowly began to de-rezz from the damage it received, and Heero slipped the third Battle Chip into the PET. "This should end it... Power Burster, B-Battle Chip in!"

Closing what little distance between herself and the wounded giant, the Free Knight struck the ground near the monster, "Power Burster!" Fire spewed out of the ground where the Velder Knight had struck, and the monster was engulfed in the flames.

When the monster had finished de-rezzing, Heero and the Free Knight were once again transported back to the Waiting Area outside of Ruben Village where Heero's PET began to ring. The boy looked down at the portable terminal to find his mother already on the screen ,"You two did a great job with running those dungeons. Of course, this was only a test and the next time you and your NetNavi play, the monsters will have actual names, be able to talk and everything so that they aren't bland. We'll also have the quests and NPCs loaded up so that the game feels more 'alive'. Just you wait, this will be the best MMO you've ever played!"

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Heero's face, "Umm... okay."

"Now, I have to cut the connection short so we can get everything ready for the update. Once we've verified that you and your NetNavi have looged out of the game, we'll close down the server for maintenance. Talk to you later, dear!"

The PET screen died, and Heero closed the handheld before looking at the red knight behind him. "Guess we gotta... call it a day."

"Very well... Young Lord."

Heero blinked a few times as he looked at the Velder Knight. "W-What... did you call me?"

The red knight placed a hand on her hip as she looked at the boy. "Young Lord. Is there a problem with that?"

Heero could feel his cheeks heating up at being called 'Young Lord', "W-W-Well... I-I don't really think that I'm... 'Lord' material."

A smile curved the teens lips as she looked at the flustered Heero, "You're shy... but you are also modest. Modesty is an important trait of any good lord."

Heero wasn't sure how he was going to handle being called 'Young Lord', but decided that it was best to just go with it rather than try and fix it. "O-Okay... B-But are you sure about this?"

Pulling her claymore out of the ground were she had plunged it, the Free Knight closed the short distance between herself and Heero, "Like I told you earlier, every knight has a lord that they protect... and you just so happen to be the Lord that I am meant to serve."

Heero had at least wanted his NetNavi to trust him a little, he hadn't expected to have her swear her loyalty to him. Looking down at the ground in embarrassment, Heero asked the red knight the question he had asked before they started playing, "S-So... what's your name?"

The teen just smiled at the boy. He may not have let on about it, but it seemed that he really wanted to know her name, "That question again, huh? Well, since you are going to be my Young Lord from this moment on... I guess it's only right that I tell you my name." The teen knelt down on one knee so that she could see Heero's face, which was hidden behind his hair because he was looking down. "People call me the Red Haired Knight, but my name is... Elesis."

Xxx

Me: "Well, there you have it folks. The first chapter of my first Elsword fanfic."

Heero and Elesis: (Enter ACCC) "I-It came along rather well... don't you think, Elesis?"

Elesis "It was alright for a first chapter, though the lack of certain details may disappoint the readers."

Me: "I know, I know, but I can't put in too much detail just yet. It IS the first chapter after all."

Elesis: "I guess I can let it slide, though you should make sure not to cut any corners when going into detail about my self or the Young Lord."

Heero: "I-I don't mind... really."

Me: "No, she's got a point. Actually, it would be bad to cut corners period. Also, I'm looking for readers who also play Elsword to come up with OCs for me to use in the story... as well as picking a character from Elsword to use as their NetNavi in the story. I will need character descriptions of the OCs which includes: hair, eye and skin color, personality, age, and what their relationship with my OC will be. They of course cannot be directly related to him." (Looks down at watch) "Okay you two, wrap up this chapter and let's get to work on the next chapter."

Heero and Elesis: "Read and Review this chapter, and look forward to the next update."

Me, Heero and Elesis: (Leave ACCC)