"Uwaa... I'm hungry..."
"..."
Two tiny humanoids with fox ears, one with red hair, yellow eyes, and two red tails with black tips, and the other with black hair, blue eyes, and one black tail with a white tip, both wearing small Fahrmannian clothing are in a room. The black one was drawing on a sheet of paper with crayons, while the red one was playing with a small red ball. As the red fox sat on the floor, the door opened, revealing a Haan family maid.
"Shiho, Naho, it's time for dinner."
"Yay!"
"...coming..."
The red one immediately dashed out door, causing the maid to stumble back.
"Shiho! Please! Do not run in the hallway!"
"Ohohoho!"
The black one slowly trodded towards the door when the maid cleaned herself back up.
"Naho, don't forget to wash your hands, okay?"
"...okay..."
At the dinner table, Shiho was already on top of the table on her seat. Naho arrived at the table, and looked up with a sad look on her face. Then, maid comes by, picks her up, and placed her on the table on her seat next to Shiho. Then the maid heads towards the kitchen area to deliver the food.
"Come on Naho! You gotta learn how to do the super-duper fox jump! That way you don't have to always have someone pick you up!"
"...yes..."
As the food arrives, Shiho spoke up.
"Hey, hey! Is Ara-unni eating with us tonight?"
"Lady Ara is very busy, so she won't be joining us for dinner tonight."
"Boo! Ever since Miho-unni left, Ara-unni is never around! She's always training! Training and training! This sucks!"
"Shiho!"
In response to Shiho's outburst, Naho began to sniffle and sob lightly.
"Ah! Sorry Naho! Shiho-unni isn't angry! See? I'm smiling! Don't cry!"
Shiho put her best smile on her face for Naho to see. Naho wiped away her tears, but didn't really cheer up.
"...I miss Miho-unni..."
"Ehhh? What is that thing?"
Elsword asked while looking at his next opponent. From the back, it looked like a larger Wally with modified arms and much shorter legs. The right arm is blue four fingers, while the left arm is essentially a large cannon. Attached on its back is another cannon. The giant nasod then rotates its upper body to face our heroes, uses its giant arms to lift itself up, rotates its legs, and then sets back down. It had a large beacon on its chest and forehead.
"INSPECTING FOREIGN ENTITIES. ENTITIES IDENTIFIED AS THE EL SEARCH PARTY."
"Wow Aisha! You're so famous, even nasods in underground laboratories know who you are!"
"Ohohoho~ It shows that your beauty reaches far and wide!"
"Oh you guys..."
"COMMENCING EXTERMINATION."
As soon as it said that, the beacon on its forehead began to glow.
"Everyone scatter!"
The giant Nasod fire a laser from the forehead beacon along the ground towards the El Gang. Rena and Aisha paired up and dashed in one direction, while Elsword and Miho went off towards the opposite.
"Freezing Arrow!"
Rena fires an arrow made of condensed ice magic towards the giant Nasod's chest. The arrow explodes upon impact and the giant Nasod's upper and lower body became encased in ice. Elsword and Miho took the opportunity to dash towards it. Elsword leaped towards on top of a flat section on the top of its torso where the head is connected.
"Take this! Mega Slash!"
Elsword emitted a malevolent red aura, and began to wind up for a powerful strike. A yellow flash emitted from his body and Elsword then swung his sword towards the Nasod's face. The force from the hit leaves a gash on its face. After freeing itself from its icy restraints, Miho spread her fingers out and readies her attack.
"You won't be moving for the time being! Snow Slash!"
Miho slashes the air, so she won't have to break her nails. Nine blue fire balls made their way towards the giant Nasod, freezing it once again. Elsword jumped off while Aisha teleports on to his old spot.
"Heavy Press!"
Charging her wand with magical power, Aisha strikes the face with two hits, and then follows with one final hit. On the final hit, the giant Nasod reels back, making Aisha teleport to Elsword's side to avoid falling off. After the ice shattered from its body, the giant Nasod rights itself back up. Using its left cannon-arm, the giant Nasod slams the barrel towards Aisha, Elsword, and Miho, but the three managed to evade the strike. As a follow up, the Nasod releases a blast into the ground, sending a series of explosion towards Rena. As the elf was at a fair distance away, Rena jumped out of the way, and rejoined the group.
"Hey, doesn't that attack look familiar to you?"
Rena asked the group. Aisha shrugged, but Elsword took a moment to think.
"That looks kinda like Chung's Land Demolisher!"
Elsword then turned to face towards the giant Nasod.
"Oi! Don't go around stealing my friend's moves!"
Knowing what it was like to have his own attacks stolen, Elsword dashed towards the large enemy, and jumped into the air, intending to land an attack on its head. The giant beacon on the enemy's chest began to glow yellow. When Elsword swung his sword, his attack was deflected with no problem.
"Is that a shield? What a pain!"
Elsword retreated, seeing as his attack had no effect. The giant Nasod pointed its cannon arm the girls of the group and fires a cannon ball. Rena and Miho jumped out of the way while Aisha teleported towards the enemy. The cannon ball exploded upon reaching its destination. After teleporting next to the Nasod's face, Aisha swings her staff horizontally at it. Her attack, like Elsword's, had no effect.
"My attack didn't work either!"
Rena assumes her siege stance and fired two arrows at the Nasod. The arrows were unaffected by the shield and struck the enemy right in the eyes after Aisha teleports out of the way. Rena takes note of what she saw.
"The shield doesn't block magic attacks!"
"Okay!"
Aisha, using her free hand, launches multiple star balls at the enemy, and with a twirl of her wand, launches four fire balls that circle around her. As a follow up, Rena fires a salvo of five arrows at the giant Nasod. However, the enemy's chest beacon began to glow blue, and the five arrows harmlessly bounces off of it.
"Looks like it switched its shielding to magic!"
Elsword, with an exciting looks on his face, took initiative.
"Now's my chance then! Aisha, Miho!"
"You got it!"
"Ohohoho~"
Elsword glowed a surreal blue aura as he ran towards the giant Nasod with Miho following him. The enemy, using the miniature cannon mounted on its back, fires a projectile in the air. Using its forehead beacon, it fired a laser towards Aisha, which she easily avoids by teleporting. However, using its cannon arm, the giant Nasod predicted where Aisha would evade to, and proceed to slam its cannon down barrel first on to Aisha.
"Aisha! Look out!"
"Uh oh!"
Using his magnificent speed, Elsword quickly dashed to Aisha and pushed her out of the way. However, Elsword couldn't evade the Nasod's attack and the cannon struck directly in front of him, dislocating a metallic floor panel and launching him into the air.
"Elsword!"
"Whoa!"
The shock of the impact made Elsword drop his sword, and it slid off on its side elsewhere. With his back towards the floor, Elsword looks towards the ceiling and sees several blue and yellow spheres of light.
"Crap!"
Using his arms, Elsword covered his face as he was flung into the spheres. As he made contact with them, the spheres explode, and he suffered various burns.
"Gah!"
"Cherry Boy!"
Elsword lands on the floor with a loud thud and Miho ran towards him. Rena ran over to see if he is alright.
"Elsword, you okay?"
"It hurts a ton, but I'll be okay. Not sure if I can help out though..."
"That's fine, Aisha!"
"Y-yes?"
"Keep attacking it until it changes its shield again, then I'll finish it off!"
"Whatever you say! Miho!"
"Stay comfy Cherry Boy! The beautiful me well handle things!"
Rena held her free hand up into the air and started to gather mana. Miho and Aisha pair off and made their way to the giant Nasod. Aisha teleported back to the top of the torso segment and then she jumped up into the air.
"You've made me mad now! Guillotine Press!"
Aisha stomped the giant Nasod on its head with a powerful strike. She then jumped into the air for a second stomp, but the enemy's chest beacon began to glow yellow. Aisha bounced off harmlessly and she teleported down to the ground.
"Miho!"
"Nobody hurts Cherry Boy that way! Snow Slash!"
Slashing into the air, Miho materialized nine blue fireballs and sent them towards the giant Nasod, once again freezing it. Aisha turned to face Rena.
"Rena!"
Rena finished gathering all the mana in her body. Then Rena pulled out something from her cleavage. It was a blue colored jewel with a yellow circular brace around it.
"Good thing I brought this with me today!"
Rena crushed it in her hands and Rena's body began to glow.
"Shooter Destiny!"
Rena fired twenty arrows in an arc around her into the air. The arrows redirect themselves towards the giant Nasod. Aisha quickly picked up Miho and teleported out of the way. The twenty arrows struck their mark, striking at its joints and body. Rena then jumped into the air, and mana starts to flow towards her bow, creating an ethreal image of a giant bow. Rena nocks a giant arrow on to this magical bow.
"This marks your end!"
Rena lets loose the giant arrow and it zooms towards the giant Nasod. The arrow pierces right through the chest beacon, leaving a giant hole going through both the front and the back of the Nasod. Its eyes began to dim black, and it falls forward. It then explodes magnificently.
"Phew! That takes cares of that!"
As Elsword slowly sat upright, the knight looked at Rena's back as she looked towards the wreckage, with Aisha running towards her. He was reminded about the time long ago, when the three of them took down Wally No. 8 many years ago. The same scene reenacted in the present day.
"Man, I look uncool. As usual..."
"Don't say that Cherry Boy!"
Miho, dragging Elsword's sword by the hilt on the ground made her way to Elsword. She sets it down when she reached Elsword.
"Phew! Honestly! That thing is heavy! You must be a cool person to swing that so easily! Ohohoho~"
Miho sat down beside Elsword.
"Hey look! The princess is coming to see her knight! Ohohoho~"
Aisha ran over to Elsword.
"Darn it Elsword! You didn't have to do that! You got yourself hurt!"
"Hey hey! You almost got flattened!"
"Well I have my Mana Shield to protect me!"
"Y-yeah..."
"...thanks..."
"Eh?"
"I said thanks! Besides, it's not like I was happy you rescued me or anything! Hmph!"
Rena sighed.
"Aren't you a bit too old for that?"
It's the middle of the night now, and out intrepid adventurers had just arrived back in Elder.
"Man, I'm beat..."
Elsword let out a big yawn as he lead the group back to Hoffman's office.
"Shouldn't we get you to a doctor first?"
Aisha asked Elsword out of concern. Elsword shrugged it off.
"Ehh, I'll be fine. It's not like I got hit with anything serious or anything... And it's the middle of the night, everyone's probably asleep."
A sleeping Miho was being carried by Rena over her shoulder, like a baby resting on a mother's shoulder.
"Zzzzz... Mimimimimimimimi"
"Even when she's sleeping, she's so adorable!"
"Zzzzz... Hohohohohohohoho"
As they passed by an elaborate workshop, they meet Echo.
"Ahhh... It's you three again..."
Aisha ran up to her.
"Echo! It's been a while!"
"Yes yes... You've grown quite a lot..."
"Thanks! But what are you doing out in the middle of the night?"
"Ah... I was getting a lollipop..."
Echo and Add both share an uncanny interest in sweets. They would probably hit it off pretty well.
"Suru suru... It's Elboy. Did you get into a fight?"
"Hahaha... Something like that. Could you help me out?"
"Oh, sure..."
Echo lead the team into her work shop. For most alchemists, the little shop was quite modest, but everyone knows not to judge the worth of an alchemist by how big their shop is. Echo is the best alchemist in Elder, even with her little quirks.
"Drink this."
Elsword remembered the first time he got treated by Echo. He was pensive at first, but when he finally drank it, he felt a whole lot better. Elsword drank the concoction and felt his pain disappeared. His burn wounds disappeared, and he felt great.
"I got to hand it to you, you always make great stuff! How'd you make this stuff anyway?"
"Suru suru... trade secret..."
The adventurers bid their farewells with Echo. She wasn't one to talk much, but she was always friendly.
The adventurers head over to Hoffman's office, and Elsword presented a report to Hoffman. Aisha, and Rena went back to their hotel rooms, leaving a still sleeping Miho with Elsword."
"Good work Elsword. You never cease to impress me."
"Well, I couldn't have done it without my friends..."
"You must be exhausted. I've prepared a hotel room for you. Aisha's concert is coming in a little under two days right? You can stay for free during those days."
"Wow! Thanks!"
"Hard work is to be rewarded appropriately after all. Go get some rest."
"Ara... Do you hate me so much, that you must bathe in the Spring of Purification and wash me away? I'm hurt..."
"Oh Eun..."
At a hot spring somewhere in Fahrmann, Ara is relaxing in the hot water after a rigorous day of training. As she looks at her reflection in the water, Eun's visage can be seen right next to hers.
"I would never do something like that!"
"What about that time when you cried about your eyebrows when we merged?"
Ara instantly blushed
"Don't bring something like that up or I'll really wash you away!"
"Ohohoho~~~"
Ara gazed up into the open night sky at the moon.
"I hope Miho is doing well. She hasn't written anything to us."
"I'm sure she is fine. She's the most adorable after all, 'Foxy'."
"Don't you start calling me that too!"
"Ohohoho~~~"
Ara sighed and smiled to herself.
"Well, she's with Elsword. I can trust him most of all."
Ara – Asura
Chapter 12. Phew! Finally decided to make Ara an Asura.
I picked this particular class so I can have Ara and Eun mirror Elsword and Miho's relationship much more closely than the other two branches.
Elsword shouldn't be the only tsukommi after all.
Thanks for reading!
