We already know the most – if not the whole – story at this point: A story about heroic deeds and struggles against the forces of evil, a story about a brother who was searching for his sister, a story about conflict from a long forgotten past, a story about an ancient Elrian civilization, a story about inheritance and the successors, the Masters of El…
A story that started in a humble village called Ruben – a village so small that most of Elrios forgot about the might of a certain Rubenian – the starting point of the second El Search Party.
All of these tales, every conflict, all of them resulted from the existence of Ishmael's creation: the El Stone.
The Goddess Ishmael should have realized that a higher being should not meddle with human affairs. In fact, She already knew about that even before She created the El Stone, but She couldn't just let Her children suffer, could She?
So She decided to get involved.
And that was how the El Stone came to be.
To think that this stone (entity?) was once created to bring life onto Elrios and to sever the connection between Henir, Elrios, and the Demon Realm. Now, it became the source of struggle and conflict ever since its creation.
Everything was going alright. The people who could harness the power of El, the Elrians, started to appear to protect Elrios from monster outbreaks. They were the first El Masters.
Then, those who couldn't harness the power of El but excelled in theory and application of El energy appeared next. They were known as the Debrians. They were the founders of Nasod civilization.
Elrios was perfect, full of peace and harmony.
But, as what had been wired far deep inside the human mind, we are selfish creatures. Give humans power beyond their understanding and they would start to yearn for more.
Nothing could actually satisfy human desire.
In the end, human greed became their downfall.
The Great Nasod War.
Disappearance of the El Lady.
The explosion of the El Stone.
The Goddess Ishmael didn't want this to happen. Her duty to bring life to Elrios as the representative of High Goddess Elria outweighed Her love for the creatures roaming Elrios. She sent a part of Herself to prevent the El explosion at Harmony Festival, but when Her agent arrived, it was already too late.
Trapped between Henir and Elrios, Ainchase roamed around the vast space to find an exit.
He was a fail-safe solution, an 'emergency button', for Her first creation - the El Stone. His job was to prevent the El explosion, but now that plan was ruined. He needed to find another way to stabilize the El. He needed to find someone with the capability to fix the world. He had to do it no matter how long it would take.
It took 500 years to find 'him', a boy of the Rubenian bloodline who shared a similar affinity with Fenriart, the Sun Guardian Solace. He also had a latent power to resonate with the El Stone.
A perfect candidate for Her champion, but he was still too young and weak compared to his sister – who shared a surprising amount of compatibility with Hernia.
He still needed to train and face many trials. He and his companions needed to understand what fate awaits them in their journey.
He needed to make a choice.
Ishmael, with all of Her wisdom, knew that She failed both Fenriart and Hernia – the whole Elrios, even – with Her involvement with humans. 500 years and She still didn't know where Her agent was, so of course she needed another plan to prevent the same tragedy from ever happening again.
Then, she found the boy. An Elrian who received her blessing in harnessing El, also a Rubenian just like Fenriart at that. Truly, this boy was going to be the protector of Elrios in the future. But, She wouldn't repeat the same mistake again.
This time, She was not going to make any moves too early.
In time, they'll meet. Maybe not physically, but they'll eventually meet.
Beside, She has no doubt that Hernia will also reached out to him in the future. It practically destined to happens.
So She left him be for now. It wouldn't do any good if She rushes things. Wine tastes much better if one took time to preserve it for years after all.
In a few years from now, an Elf and a Landar descendant will began their journey together with this boy.
A story which started in a humble village of Ruben – a village so small that most of Elrios forgot about the might of a certain Rubenian – the starting point of the second El Search Party.
That is how the story of the second El Search Party we were already familiar with began…
But this was not that story.
It was truly fascinating how a single pebble could create a wave that spread throughout the entire pond.
Ainchase, the Observer, only knew one thing. Since his creation, his job was to stabilize the El. Interfering directly was not an option anymore, so he needed another way. He decided that the right course of action now was to get involved with the boy himself and lead him to greatness. And he must do it soon.
'Now, what should I do first?' He wondered. His pendulum humming with energy was the only sound in the vast space of void connecting Henir and Elrios.
500 years and finally he found the way out of this place. His disease wouldn't get worse too.
But now he had a dilemma.
This was the first time for him to visit Elrios in 500 years. He was not familiar with the way everything worked in human realms. He did not have a clue about human interaction either. From what he could gather, the Elrians and Debrians of this era were scattered all over Elrios and he couldn't actually discern them anymore.
Not that he intended to trace their ancestors, but still...
Maybe he needed to observe the new Elrios as a whole first?
…Nah, he could do it while watching over the boy. Maybe he could take some references from ancient records he reads. Surely the standards of heroes in those records still applied in this era. Elrians and Debrians of the past could do it, so it is totally possible for today's descendants to do it as well.
Well, no other time like the present. He had a hero to watch over.
-Pebble-
Written by: Gearwill
Beta'ed by: Arrow-chan3
"Elsword Online" and every element of it is the property of KoG Studio.
"Pebble" is the property and the result of plot bunny swarms inside the author's head. And now the author is nervous.
That Time I Got An Invisible Trainer
Elsword found it odd that while he could see him, others can't see Ainchase at all. It was as if the pendulum-wielding man didn't exist to anyone but him. This freaked him out and also made him concerned, considering this person(?) was already around since he was a child.
His father believed that he was the product of his imagination, as kids tend to have a more active imagination than adults – that was why it was ideal for magic practitioners to start training since they were young, because magic required strong imagination when casting a spell.
It was just like his sister, his father said. She always snuck into their parents' bed and cried herself to sleep because she dreamed about a lady named Hernia. It took a few years for his sister to finally stop seeing that lady.
Basically, he meant that this person(?) who he always saw would soon disappear when he was older.
Which was bullshit, because that person was still there with his ever present smile – and wouldn't be going anywhere soon it seems – standing in front of him and doing nothing at the moment. And it's already been years.
He was a grown man! He had a sword! Well, a wooden sword but it still counted as a sword nonetheless.
A man with a sword didn't need any imaginary friends from his childhood anymore!
Still, the fact that this 'figment' of his 'imagination' was still here brought out several questions.
First off, who was he? Second, what did he want from him? Third, what was that thing dangling from his hand? Fourth, could he maybe stand out of the way? It's been two hours. He was still in the middle of sparring with his sister here, and he was distracting him by standing between them. More so because apparently this person was intangible seeing how his sister could walk through him.
Oh, wait.
His sister already moved.
See!? That person(?) distracted him again!
Elesis was already halfway through the field while he still had a sloppy stance.
He wondered whether his parents ever dropped him at one point in his life. A head trauma can cause a lifetime of hallucination apparently.
But enough of that. His sister now turned her sword in an angle and was going for his neck. That wouldn't do. Remembering a certain person's advice, Elsword moved forward when his sister was close enough to him, deflected her sword with his own, letting her momentum take over and slid her sword to the side using force with his own, before catching her arm and threw her over his shoulder. To end it all, he pointed his sword to her neck while she was still on the ground.
"That was even better than the last time you used this tactic. And even faster." His sister said, lying on her back, raised both of her hands in defeat while eyeing the tip of his sword.
Elsword looked at his sister suspiciously.
Since their childhood, his sister always used every chance and every weakness he showed to mess with him, especially when they were sparring.
Taking a quick glance at the side, he found his sister's sword a few feet away from her, so getting a surprise attack from her sword was not possible.
He then glanced at both of her hands, which were raised on both sides of her head, so he could see any punch coming for him.
Noting that his sister's state right now would not do him any harm, he relaxed his stance and lowered his sword.
At this point, Elsword should know to always stay vigilant around his sister, more so in the middle of sparing.
For the love of Elria, he lived with her since forever!
He should know better to not trust his sister when her eyes gleams like that.
And once again, Elsword got himself the front seat in the sky viewing show. He groaned, eyeing the tip of his sword on his neck which was taken from him by his sister when she swiped his feet off of the ground with her own foot.
"I thought a knight should be chivalrous, not tricking their opponents like this."
She smirked, "As long as it works, tricking your opponent or even flinging sand to your opponent's eyes are also viable strategies in battle." Elsword eyed her before she continued, "My point is, you can use anything as long as you can protect yourself or others. You can still stand in your chivalry code, but don't expect the enemy to respect that in battle. They are willing to use underhanded tactics to beat you. I should know and dad would agree with me."
Right, that. Sometimes he forgot why his sister's nickname was the 'Free Knight.' Aside from the fact that she wasn't bound with any kingdom at the moment, she mixed her swordsmanship with a free-style CQC technique.
But to think the chivalric code he was so fond of was not taken seriously by the only knight he respected so much. A member of the first original El Search Party at that, too!
To his side, the smiling man nodded his head, apparently approving his sister's opinion.
It seems he lost against his sister again today. Relaxing her stance and holding one of her hands out, she pulled Elsword off of the ground.
"One of these days, Sis," Elsword groaned, "One of these days I will figure out this 'trickery' of yours and beat you at your own game."
Elesis grinned widely, "You're free to try, lil' bro."
Sheathing the training sword, Elesis walked towards the edge of the forest. "I'm going back home. What about you?"
"I'll stay here for a bit."
"Okay then. You better be back before sunset, you're cooking today."
"Only because we both know that you can't cook."
"Shaddap!"
A small chuckle and a wave later, Elsword walked over to the edge of the forest on the opposite side.
For a village known as the home of the Tree of El, this place was not that well-known to other people. The name 'Ruben' only popped out in several occasions or a passing comment about 'that village in the western part of Lurensia.' But truly, they just never saw the hidden gem of Ruben.
Forest Ruins. Located between White Mist Swamp and the Tree of El, the place exudes a calm atmosphere and the scent of the forest. From the topmost remains of stairs in the ruins, you could see the brilliance of the Tree of El as a whole. They said the Tree of El looked gigantic up close. They didn't know that by seeing it from afar and from the right angle, the tree could look even more majestic.
Adding the fact that most outsiders never found this place because of the mist, this place was perfect for training and resting.
"You did great this time, Elsword. But you're more naïve than I expected, seeing how quickly you lowered your guard in that spar."
… Well, it was perfect but now it was ruined. Taking a glance from his side, Elsword found the smiling man floating beside him. Apparently, this apparition could talk too. At this point, Elsword still thought that this man was simply just a product of his imagination.
And having his own imagination criticize his training outcome was more than annoying.
Well, yeah, he could see that the man was right. But there was no need to rub salt on his wound, was there?
"The next time you fight, why don't you take some of your sister's advice and actually fight dirty? Fling sand to her eyes, maybe?"
Elsword wanted to retort, but then quickly reconsidered it. Sure, it was not honorable, but his sister also said that it was a viable tactic, right? She wouldn't see his strike coming, literally.
"I guess I can try that."
"Ah, finally you gave me a response. Good."
Geh, he didn't mean to do that. He already decided to ignore this man. If he started acknowledging this man and talked to him, he might be seen as a freak and they might refuse his application to join the new El Search Party.
Talking to thin air would neither paint him as sane nor qualified to swing around a sword.
Luckily, they were in the middle of a forest so no one could hear them.
But for everything he said (or thought) about this man, he could still acknowledge that his advice helped him grow so far. His spars with his sister were now manageable and he was now able to take her down if he tried hard enough (or if his sister didn't have any more tricks up her sleeve).
Elsword sighed, scratching his head.
Frankly, he could accept the fact that this man was, sort of, kinda, his teacher.
Though it would help him if he was actually real and not just his figment of imagination.
(But he is real)
That Time I Learned 'That' Move
It was just another normal day of sparring with his sister.
It was supposed to be just another normal day of sparring with his sister.
But it wasn't.
Not when a demon general and his lizard-like underlings invaded his village.
Elsword had never seen those creatures before, but the smiling man – whom he learned his name was 'Ainchase' – whispered 'Glitter Demons' in hatred.
These Glitter Demons were equipped with standard armors for royal knight soldiers. Some of them, wielding spears, formed a phalanx formation. Standing behind them, the archers prepared to shoot with their bows. And to make the situation worse, they had a line of magicians behind them, their rods glowing ominously.
They came from a portal, shouting and screaming in a language he couldn't understand before shooting rains of arrows towards the village. The village guards couldn't go closer because of the phalanx, and even if they could, the archers and the mages were ready to kill them.
Needless to say, there were many villagers who got caught in the crossfire. Stray arrows and fireballs quickly put an end to them. The guards also suffered from a great amount of casualties. Houses burned down to ashes, the bodies of the deceased laying on the ground when the Glitter army marched forward.
This was what they saw when both he and Elesis arrived at the village.
They just finished their spar a few moments ago when they heard the commotion and saw smoke coming from the village.
They never expected to see this.
He took a glance and saw old man Albert, laying on the ground with blood pooled around him. Ever since his wife passed away two years ago, he now lived by himself in Ruben. Both of his daughters already moved to Hamel with their husbands.
Sometimes he confessed that he missed both of his daughters and wanted to see them. He even joked that he also had a granddaughter who was the same age as Elsword and he wouldn't mind if he married his granddaughter.
Today was his birthday and he invited the siblings for dinner. He and Elesis knew that old man Albert couldn't afford to spend that much money, but they also knew that he did that because he saw them as replacements for his children.
He took another glance and saw Alia across the street. The brown-haired flower girl who liked to follow Elesis around when they were in the village.
She liked to pester his sister to give her swordsmanship training. She was the older sister three younger siblings and sold flowers and herbs in the village as a way to earn money. The basket full of white flowers now became red, covering the bleeding girl with an arrow to the chest.
Something snapped, and Elsword didn't know for certain where it was coming from. Maybe it came from the first demon that got into contact with his sword, or maybe it was coming from the second demon whose head was now just a smear of blood under his sister's feet.
For the first time, he knew how it feels like to be controlled by rage. But he didn't care. Neither his sister nor Ainchase cared either, mostly because they were also in the same state of mind as him.
And the fact that Ain was actually REAL (because those ethereal lights that pierced some of the demons certainly were not Elsword's) should have made him happy. But he simply did not care. He couldn't right now. He had an army of demons to fight back at the moment so his mental sanity could take the backseat.
The feats of both him and his sister (also Ain) boosted the village guards' morale as they also joined the fray and fought back.
They fought until only one demon remained.
It was human-like in appearance but Elsword could tell that this man was not a human, not with the blue-ish horns on his head.
"So humans really do have some capable fighters among their kin. Impressive." The demon stated haughtily. His praise sounded genuine, but they knew that it was his way of looking down on them.
"I'm not a person who likes to waste such good assets when I see one. So I'm giving the three of you a choice." One arm – thicker than his sword – stretched out towards them, "Join me and you may live."
Did… Did this demon just ask them (Ain included) to join their army after they massacred half of the village!? And they were merely things in his eyes!?
"Do you think we're stupid?" His sister started, "Do you honestly expect that we'll turn our backs against our village? I've fought your kind before. I've seen many humans sucumb to your kind after offered the same thing. It never ended well."
The demon looked at her. A sudden recognition briefly shows on his face before quickly replaced by a frown.
"You must be that red-haired knight from back then. To think one of the threat to the demon army is here."
The demon then scoffed, "For your sake, I was hoping that you'd be wise. Giving up your life by fighting me is not worth it and certainly isn't wise of you. So bow down to me and – "
"Well, I guess we're not trying to be wise, then." Elsword interrupted, "Because we're fools who are about to do something foolish and stupid."
And with that, both of the red-haired knights charged towards the demon in a pincer attack. The demon raised his gigantic sword and swung in an arc, creating a crescent-shaped shockwave towards Elsword and Elesis. Both raised their swords to deflect the attack, but it was too strong to redirect with sword alone. Overwhelmed, they were sent flying towards different house remains.
"Pathetic." The demon general spat. His gaze wandered toward the village guards and the villagers in front of him. His eyes glowed menacingly as he started to raise his hand.
Azure energy started gathering on his unoccupied arm, slowly forming a pitch black sphere and grew bigger as each second passed.
The village guards realized that it was not something they could handle, but if left alone, it would eventually cause a large explosion. From the size of it, the affected area would be huge, possibly erasing Ruben entirely from the map.
"Now, die."
A single swipe and that sphere should have torned the village asunder.
The key word here was 'should have'.
Before it could happen, shining swords pierced the arm of the demon, causing the humanoid figure to lose his concentration and the sphere energy to lose its form.
It seemed like it was super effective. The flesh of the demon's arm started to sizzle.
"These swords… it can neutralize my demonic energy?" The demon looked in front of him, seemingly glaring at thin air, "You… What are you?"
Before he could ask any further, blurs of red from his left and right sides rapidly approached him. He could only raise his sword while his other hand felt too numb to intercept their attack, but it was not enough.
Elesis brought her sword down and cut off one of his horns, while also managing to wound him on his left torso. Following his sister, Elsword brought his sword up, sending the demon's sword flying and cutting his other horn.
For a moment, everything was silent. The demon, a creature filled with hatred, felt his rage build up seeing that both of his horns – a sign of nobility and status in his world – were broken by these humans.
"Enough-!!"
With a roar, the air suddenly felt heavy as the fabric of space above the demon started to become distorted and created a hole. The roar made them flinch and their stances unstable. Then, when they realized what happened, it was already too late.
They stabbed their sword to the ground and clung to it as if their lives depended on it – which, in this case, was true.
But not everyone succeeded in doing so.
Elesis tried to stab her claymore onto the ground and use it to avoid getting sucked by the black hole. Alas, she was not quick enough to do so. Her hands slipped and failed to secure a firm grip on her claymore.
When he saw his sister fly towards the demon, his eyes widened in horror. He tried to catch her and when his hand was actually able to grab hers, Elesis slapped it.
"ELESIS!!"
Without anything to defend herself, without her claymore, she was approaching her death. And she didn't want to bring him along.
Hand still reaching towards his sister, a small tear formed on his eyes. The demon smiled cruelly at the fast-approaching Elesis. And then…
SMACK!
The ground trembled. A sickening crunch could be heard. There, on the ground, in the middle of the crater, was his sister. The demon grabbed her by her neck and then slammed her to the ground, just like that. A cold shiver and dread filled his body. He couldn't tell whether his sister was still alive or not, the black hole prevented him from hearing any sign of life from his sister.
It was over…
It was over now…
"It's not over yet!"
A voice, Ain's voice, snapped him out of his trance.
"Use that, Elsword!"
Right, that. That might give him an opening to strike back… but what's the point… his sister already…
"You have to see whether she's alive or not yourself! Stand up! I don't remember Elesis or I teaching you to give up this easily!"
But…
"Still alive, huh?" The demon said in disgust, but it certainly caught Elsword's attention. "You are persistent and I commend you for that. Now, let me put an end to you, stubborn bug."
All of sudden, the adrenaline kicked in. The fact that his sister was still alive – or barely alive – was enough to make him jump into action. After he pulled out his own great sword from the ground and picked up his sister's claymore, Elsword ran towards the demon.
The demon noticed this and with a smirk, he raised his sword and prepared for a downward slash.
There's no way the puny-looking human would be able to use the dual-wielding technique. Two swords will hinder his movement.
But the demon never expected the boy to throw the claymore towards him. Caught off guard, he couldn't deflect it with his sword. The claymore embedded itself on the demon's shoulder.
But the boy was still approaching him and he still got another weapon. Releasing his grip on Elesis, the demon used his other hand to attack the boy. With his black hole still there, this will be the end of the young knight.
Unbeknownst by the demon, Elsword actually used the force from the black hole to execute his move.
He dragged his great sword on the ground, creating a cloud of dust and gravel along the way while shouting a war cry at the demon.
"This is the end of your journey, young knight!" shouted the demon.
"No," Elsword said, "I'm the one who decides when my journey ends!"
Making an upward slash a few feet in front of the demon, Elsword shouted, "SANDSTORM!"
The effect was immediate. The dust and gravel that was gathered spun around, spreading and moving fast because of the black hole. With that much dust, a lot of them got into the demon's eyes.
The demon's arm punched the ground in front of him, but he missed his target because of his lack of sight.
"Damn brat!!"
Using the demon's arm, Elsword jumped over the demon and raised his great sword with both of his hands.
He knew it was not enough if he used his sword alone. His great sword was not for cutting or slashing after all, rather it was used to deliver a heavy blow that could break bones. But his sister's claymore was different. It was designed precisely to cut things.
And now it was embedded on the demon's arm. It was now time to deliver the final nail to the coffin.
Like a hammer to a nail, he used his great sword to hit the claymore in a downward slash. With the heavy blow from the great sword pushing down the claymore, Elsword got the expected result.
The claymore cut the arm off easily.
While the demon screamed in agony, Elsword quickly carried his sister away from the demon.
"Human bastard!! How dare you do this to me-!!"
A portal opened behind the demon. Expecting another horde of demons, Elsword and the remaining guards point their swords towards it.
"I'll be back! And I'm going to take more than your arm as my revenge! Remember this: I am Scar, General of the Black-Eyed Demon Army! I'm coming for you, young knight!" As the demon said his final words, glaring at Elsword, the portal swallowed him.
The village was now silent. Crackling of burnt wood was the only thing they could hear. The smell of blood, fire, and ash was strong in Ruben village that day.
They were able to drive away the demons.
They won. They survived.
A single look around the village told them something different.
This victory left nothing but a bitter taste in their mouths.
That Time I Decided To Leave The Village
The number of casualties from yesterday's incident was recorded as the highest since the founding of Ruben Village. Civilians and guards alike died in the massacre.
Elsword sat under a tree, leaning against it with a shovel in his hand. He, along with a few village guards, were burying the bodies of the victims since this morning.
While all of them insisted that he already did more than enough by fighting the demon, he still decided to help them.
Particularly in making the final resting place for old man Albert and Alia.
To think that last night they were supposed to celebrate the man's birthday, and if he remembered it right, today was the day when his sister would finally accept Alia's constant nagging to train her, just to stop her from following her around the village – and also secretly because his sister actually loved Alia's drive.
It was sad enough that no one visited old man Albert's graveyard. It was sadder when he saw Alia's younger sisters crying in front of her grave.
He gripped the shovel on his lap tightly.
If only he and his sister didn't decide to spar until evening yesterday, maybe they could still be saved. Maybe both of them would only be injured, but still survive.
Maybe old man Albert would still be among the living and pamper both him and his sister with his limited money.
Maybe Alia could become his fellow sparring partner starting tomorrow and become the next 'Free Knight', just like his sister.
Maybe…
"You know it's not your fault they died. You and your sister couldn't have predicted that."
A glance on his left showed Ain sitting beside him, the pendulum hovering in front of his face. The mysterious man whispered in a strange language before his pendulum shattered, and spread them around the graveyard.
Elsword loosened his grip on the shovel, putting it aside, and brought his knees closer before resting his chin against it.
"What are you doing with your pendulum?" Elsword asked.
"I'm just offering my prayer for these poor souls," Ain responded, "May they find their way to Elria."
Silence overcame both of them. A soft wind blew across the field, and Elsword could still taste the smoke and blood from the village. A pained expression crossed his face. Ain noticed this.
"It is much easier to blame yourself. It really does. But it won't change what already happened right now, nor is it any good to you," Ain sighed and shot a sad look towards the village, "You saved half of the village. I'm not saying that it's good, but it certainly is better than losing the whole village."
"That time," Elsword finally talked, "That time… I hesitated. When he got my sister, I was prepared to give up. At that moment, I'm not even thinking about saving the village anymore."
Pushing his body from his sitting position, Elsword grabbed his shovel and approached the cemetery entrance.
"I know it's not my fault they died, but I still brought danger to everyone who were still alive. I'm a threat, Ain, and I can't forgive myself."
The silence accompanying them was deafening.
They walked through the village square, noting the damage on every building. He heard that Hagus already sent Lowe to ask for some help from Elder. They also sent a request for the Red Knights to help them with security. With how messy the village was right now, Ruben would be an easy target for bandits.
After some time, they finally arrived at his house. He fondly patted the fence, trying to remember every detail on it. A training dummy and a few wooden swords could be seen from the front door.
Even after the incident last night, their fences were still standing and didn't have any signs of being broken.
A tree grew on their lawn. On it, he could see some lines with different heights, the ones with 'Elesis' scribbled above it were much higher than the ones with 'Elsword.'
Ain hovered behind him, crossing his arms while shooting him a sad glance.
"Are you sure about this?"
Elsword sighed and then nodded silently. Opening the door, he walked towards his sister's room and found Elesis still unconscious on her bed.
As expected from the Legendary Red Knight. Truly, his sister was stronger than steel and very stubborn. All of her injuries should have killed her yesterday, and yet here they are, her vitality and stubbornness putting that 'should have' words in the previous sentence.
No wonder General Corkus couldn't defeat her.
When she fully recovered, she would still be able to practice swordsmanship.
And until she recovered, he should keep a distance from her.
That demon, he would be coming back, Elsword could feel it.
Maybe it was not today. Maybe it was not tomorrow. But it was certainly inevitable.
And that demon would be a threat to everyone around him. He couldn't stay here.
Pulling out two letters, one for Hagus and one for Elesis, Elsword walked away with his backpack and his sword.
When the one who tended to Elesis came to check on her condition that evening, they found the letters on the dining table.
But Elsword was nowhere to be found.
That Time, Everyone Else…
At this point, Aisha Landar was just a mage apprentice who still had not found the Ring of Mimir yet.
Rena Erindel was still the mischievous troublemaker in her village, along with Lua.
Raven Cronwell was still the leader of the Crow Mercenaries.
Eve was still sleeping inside her hibernation pod.
Prince Seiker, the White Wolf of Hamel, was still working together with his father Helputt Seiker, the White Colossus.
Ara and Aren Haan were still the siblings they were supposed to be. The Moon El was still intact.
Ciel, who lost his sister Terre, was still under Wolvernian care.
Steel Queen Luciela, along with Berngart, Stirbargen, and Aegrip still ruled the demon realm under their king.
Edward was currently still trapped inside the ancient library and on the way to build his first Nasod gear.
And deep inside the Black Forest, a place where the first Earth Priestess chose to be buried, a nameless child had not yet experienced her third "morning".
They all would eventually meet.
Their stories would eventually intertwine with each other.
The only difference was that their soon-to-be leader was starting his journey earlier.
This shift, of course, caused some changes in their story too, no matter how small it was.
But for now, they needed to 'wait'. It was too early for the second El Search Party's legend to start. It was too early for their story to start.
But it certainly was not too early for their leader's story to begin.
What change could this fact bring to the storyline?
Well…
It is too early to tell.
That Time I Went Undercover and Joined Cobo Service
Being impulsive was maybe his family trait. While he decided to travel by himself and trained with Ain's help, he forgot one crucial thing: money.
He had several coins on him when he left Ruben, also taking some of his sister's for his travels, but it was not enough.
He considered to register in a guild, but due to age restriction, he couldn't join the adventurer guild just yet. Don't get him started with the merchant guild. Everyone in Ruben knew that he sucked at mathematics, and one requirement in joining the merchant guild was a calculation test.
Too bad, since gathering monster materials was his specialty, which was what adventure and merchant guilds were all about. If he tried to hand over the material without a license, they would take the materials without paying him, or worse, accuse him of thievery and put him in jail.
So his only option right now was going to a back alley market in Velder.
Changing his hair color and using the name 'Elrio', he accepted requests to hunt and collect materials from different people.
While some of them were shady (and usually the types he refused to work with), a bit of a quarter demanded questionable things (like that Wally guy who asked him to gather some gears and circuit for whatever reason). The rest of them were nice people whose requests were denied by the guilds.
With Ain's help, he worked flawlessly in completing the quests. But Elsword knew that this business was not safe. Sooner or later, he could get reported and the royal knights would throw him into jail.
He already got a close call from running into that knight lady, Vanessa.
When he tried to find a solution, he came across a recruitment poster for Cobo Service. They offered a dormitory for the trainees in Velder, multiple job selections (from Storage Manager, Guild Hall Attendant, Travel Service, Cobo Entertainment, and his favorite: Cobo Travel Escort), and a good amount of payment.
The best part was, there seemed to be no age requirement. And while most of them required him to take a written test, Cobo Travel Escort only needed him to escort the Cobo Service Travel employees twice to get his license. It counted as one journey if he finished escorting them to and from the destination.
A Cobo Service License was equal to both the adventurer and merchant guilds, so he could sell the materials he found legally.
"This is also a good chance to broaden your view and test your skills." Ain said while nodding appreciatively to him.
It didn't take Elsword too long to decide taking this job. This was perfect to hide his identity! No one from Ruben, not even his sister, would expect him to work in Cobo Service. Being able to live under a roof was also a nice bonus, even though he had to share the house with many people.
At least he didn't need to share the room. The room was already small as it was, it would certainly be smaller if he had to share it with another person.
That day, in Cobo Service's Trainee List, 'Elrio' was written there along with 'Ariel.'
That Time I Got Paired Up With An Annoying Girl
While other job selections would only work independently, Cobo Travel and Cobo Escort was a one deal package and the employees from both departments would work together. This meant that Elsword had to pair up with someone from the Cobo Travel department.
"Sit up straight. Fix your tie and collar. Always smile. You don't want to make a bad first impression on your coworker, right?"
Elsword's eyes twitched. This was the ninth time Ain scolded him this morning. It didn't help that today being the first day made him nervous, his mentor (Friend? Brother?) also decided to scold him every two minutes and fussed about his manners.
Didn't he already pass Ain's 'Advanced Manners' test?
He couldn't reply right now either, not in the lobby of Cobo Travel Department. Instead, he chose to examine his sword and his supply of support items in his belt. He still tried to learn that Inventory Space skill Ain was trying to teach him since they arrived at Velder. For now, he could only create a Pocket Dimension with limited space for bigger items.
He sometimes wondered if Ain actually didn't grasp the concept of normalcy at all. He tried to check and it turned out that Elrios didn't have any record of those convenient skills at all, both Inventory Space and Pocket Dimension. He should have realized that when Ain suddenly asked him to meet his 'friend', Glave.
Next, he examined his uniform. It was a standard male uniform for Cobo Service. There wasn't much difference with the female counterpart – a white long-sleeved shirt with red linings, black trousers, a brown vest with gold buttons and Cobo Service's insignia stitched on the back. A nametag, 'Elrio', was on his right chest.
But as a Cobo Travel Escort, he got additional equipment such as vambraces, a chest plate, and greaves. Finally, instead of the regular hat that the other departments wore, he got a red beret with another Cobo Service insignia on it.
All in all, he looked like a knight and he loved it.
Grinning widely, Elsword finally calmed down and began to fantasize what kind of adventure would await him, but not even halfway through his thoughts, he got interrupted.
"Sit up straight. Fix your tie and collar. Always smile. You don't want to make a bad first impression on our customer, right?"
At first, Elsword thought it was Ain yapping at him again. A glance to his side showed him that Ain was just sitting there with a book in his hand (where did he get one of those?).
Turns out, it was a girl with blonde hair tied into a side ponytail. Standing in front of him with a stern glare, both of her hands on her hips, she seemed like his sister when he did something bad.
"Er… Are you my partner for the License Exam from Cobo Travel?" He asked.
The girl sighed exasperatedly, "Not only do you look sloppy, but you also don't know what your coworker looks like. Did you even read the manual and details of the job?"
What the… What's the problem with this girl!?
"At least I'm here thirty minutes earlier while you decided to show up exactly forty-five minutes later."
The girl frowned, clearly not liking the way Elsword talked. "You should have asked for me from the Main Terminal, or ask one of the counter attendants over there."
"Yeah? Why should I do that when I can just wait here? You do realize our departments have different ways of doing things, right?"
"Ugh, this is why they should really pick women only employees for this company."
"Of course, because every woman likes to get their nose in the manual like you do."
They glared at each other while the other employees watched nervously. Not even in the middle of a mission and his partner turned out to be such a pain. Eventually, the girl gave up and shot the boy a stern glare. She had a headache coming and she wished to change her assignment partner right now.
How come the higher ups accepted this boy!? One look at him and everyone could tell he was a delinquent from his spiky black hair and his glare, not to mention his sword. He was the textbook example of a delinquent who would let his mercenary subordinates harass innocent creatures.
Somewhere in Altera, Raven stirred in his hibernating pod. The nasods who tended to him made a confused noise because how the heck could a semi-comatose human feel irritated without any clear reason.
Back to Ariel, she was appraising the boy once more. He did look like a delinquent, or maybe, a bratty boy. His manners were close to one and he may randomly pick a fight with anyone. Though, maybe his looks were useful for this kind of job. It was not fair for her to judge her partner this early, but that didn't mean she had to like him.
… That's it! She just needed to finish this test with him once. Cobo Travel Service employees need to finish four tests before they could get their license. She could ask to change her partner for the next assignment.
"Listen, this is important for my license and I'm not going to let your tardiness and behavior affect the result. So I hope you do your best and not mess this up." The girl warned him.
"You understand," She glanced at his nametag, "Elrio?"
"I should be the one to say that," A glance on her nametag, "Ariel."
AND… CUT!
Hello, everyone, it's me, once again with a new story (and a multi-chapter story too!)
As you can see, this story wouldn't fully follow the exact same lore from the game.
And you know what that means…
This is my own sandbox at the moment! Everything will be different! Including original abilities and such Hahahahaha! … but of course I will still use parts of the main storyline so this story (hopefully) won't turn into chaotic jumble of words.
This site named 'Fanfiction' for a reason after all, so it won't always the same lore you already know.
Also, I'm writing this for myself. I wrote things since middle school and somehow forgot how therapeutic it is when college hit me. The fact that I'm writing this now means that I decided to pick it up again because of that therapeutic feeling I got.
So, if you somehow enjoyed this story, I'm really glad.
A special thanks for Arrow-chan3 who is willing to look through my story! I needed to make a tribute for her by singing the last verse of 'Hero Too' for how much she improves this story uwu shout out to Arrow-chan3!! :3
3: 3 here! beta reading this chapter took a while since it was so dang long lmao. i hope you guys will enjoy reading this story! I personally am looking forward to seeing Ain messing up the plotline more! Aheheh xwx
Me too, Arrow. Me too :3.
Onto another note:
I wrote this because clearly we don't have enough interaction with some NPCs in the game, not to mention the company and 'Guilds' scattered around Elrios. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we can work as Cobo Service workers in-game? What about the Sword Smith Cats? Aren't you curious about what would happen if our Hero knows Luichel's previous achievement as a notorious bandit? Have you ever wondered whether Ember Ryota is a she or a he? Aren't you curious about the Seven Tower? Because I certainly am!
Also, if you didn't notice it already, I decided to take a serious atmosphere for the story. You will find Elboy cry, laugh, hurt, sad, and angry in the most realistic situations I can come up with.
And by 'realistic', I also mean no gold randomly generated after killing monsters. They only drop materials and the adventurer will only receive gold distributed by adventurer guilds and merchant guilds based on the quests they gave our boy.
And about pairings…? Well… you'll have to wait to see it.
On one hand, I really love ElsAi. On the other hand, I need another pairing to satisfy my craving! So, aside from the usual Els x any El Search Party ladies, you might find Els x NPC moments here and there. Who here wants some El Priestess moments with Elsword!?... Just me apparently. Maybe. I don't know.