Author's Note
The playable cast will take on a hybrid of their own job paths to supplement the narrative. Deleted skills and old versions of some skills will be included for the same reason. Character perspectives will change per chapter depending on the main focus. Complete arcs, such as getting back Ruben's El Stone, stopping the demon invasion, and restoring the Large El will be covered, but incomplete arcs that have yet to be finished by KoG will not be covered. Laby will not be included because there's no involvement between her and the other characters within complete arcs so far. This is subject to change as I gradually release new chapters. There's no ETA for when I'll upload, so please be patient, and check back every month or two. I'm also doing a video series on Youtube where I give commentary about each chapter. Search "Let's Analyze Elsword Revamped" by MLG Jude Wannabe.
Chapter 1: Tree of El
A red-haired boy stares down the cliff edge at a bulky log. He leaps off the cliff, and on his descent, Elsword cleaves the wood in half. Before the halves fall, he swings his blade horizontally. "Mega Slash!" The two pieces split into four and fly to the pile of chopped forestry several feet away. "Another one."
His drill master, Lowe, lifts a log over his shoulder. "If you keep training like this, we're gonna have enough firewood for the rest of next year!" He looks at the Tree of El, the biggest plant among the forests by Ruben village, and picks up part of the cut log in front of the tree. Metal shards are wedged into the wood. "Your blade's chipping off on these more than before, so take a break. I'll repair it as soon as I get back to Ruben." He sets the new log down where the old one stood, and then, Elsword gives him the weapon.
They lie down by the river gushing behind the Tree of El. Its raging current slams the edges, which occasionally splashes water at their shoes. When a rush of wind blows past, the sun pierces through the rustling green thicket above. Elsword shields his eyes from the blinding rays. "Nature hasn't been very calm ever since other villages lost their El Stones."
Lowe scratches his head. "And despite that, you're still not gonna help me guard Ruben's El Stone." He wipes his brow and flicks some sweat at his pupil. "All this training you do makes me think you'll change your mind and surprise me one day."
The boy playfully pushes Lowe's shoulder. "What, your cadets aren't reliable enough that you want my help, too?"
"No, I just think everyone would feel more at ease with you by their side." The man cups both hands under his head. "You're really set on bringing Elesis back, huh? The world's dangerous out there, you know."
Elsword sits up and gazes across the river, the only thing separating them from the creatures of the forest on the other side. Small tree logs mashed together in a human-like form are known as tree knights, and while small they appear, their thorny branches make them a camouflaging threat. Fairy guardians, or golems made of sod, rocks, and moss, move slower than tree knights, but their bodies camouflage more and pack a bigger punch.
The boy picks up a pebble and chucks it at a mound of moss across the river. That greenery rises off the ground to reveal itself as a fairy guardian. It looks around its surroundings with big grass-colored eyes before slumping to the ground. Several tree knights walk away from their foliage to gather where the pebble hit, but they shortly return to their camouflage spots after a few minutes of wandering. Elsword says, "I know it's dangerous, but that's exactly why I'm going to bring her back. My father wanted me and my sister to live here in peace. Like he said, the Velder Civil War is no place for children."
A gurgling noise sounds out from his belly, and Lowe laughs at it. "You're not going on an empty stomach, though. I'll fix you up with some phoru cookies and spirit tea at my house." He stands up, offering his hand to Elsword. "Go on ahead of me. I need to gather the wood you cut for Ruben."
The boy takes Lowe's hand and smiles. "Thanks a bunch! I'm pooped after all that training."
On his way around the cliff he jumped from, Elsword bumps into a tall, muscular man. "Whoops, sorry about that." Looking up at him, he notices the person has a slash scar in the place of his right eye and a massive broadsword strapped over his shoulder. "Whoa..." Elsword realizes this cyclops got past the two cadets guarding the path to the Tree of El. "Wait a second, what's your name, and why are you here?"
The man looks down at the puny boy. His frown and gruff tone of voice don't improve Elsword's opinion on him. "Banthus. I'm a scholar researching the effects of El on the world, and since so many have been stolen, I'm here to learn about this one, the only one not stolen."
Lowe is still around, so Ruben's El Stone shouldn't be in any immediate danger. With that in mind, Elsword puts his hands behind his head. "Alright, go learn whatever then. See ya later."
Inside Lowe's house, Elsword stretches his arms as he lies down on the couch. Not even a minute passes before the boy falls asleep.
He finds himself on his bunker bed. The moonlight from the window to his right only illuminates just past his bedside, a muddy-brown hallway that stretches so far, the end isn't in sight. A feminine voice from the top bunk bed draws his attention. "Are you refusing to help Lowe because you're not strong enough, even after all this training?" Elsword shakes his head, both to disagree and out of disbelief that he's hearing his long-lost sister, Elesis. "Are you scared to face the truth of your incompetence? Scared to know bringing me back is too much for you?"
He shouts, "That's not true! I am strong, and I'm not going to back down, even if bringing you home feels impossible!"
A shadowy figure leaps from the top bunk bed and walks down the hall. Elesis's voice softens as she continues, her body shrinking the farther away from Elsword she gets. "The El Stone and Lowe need you more than I do. Support the allies you make, and they'll be by your side forever. Wake up."
"W-what do you mean?" The dark room shakes as that figure gets too far for him to make out as a person. Elsword can't move, despite all his effort at doing so. "Wait, hold on, Elesis!"
Ruben's elder, Hagus, is the first face Elsword sees inches away from his own face. He stops shaking the boy's shoulders and says, "You're finally awake." The old man backs off before raising his voice. "Ruben is being raided by bandits and phoru! You've got to help everyone drive them out of the village."
Elsword's red eyes widen. "What!?" He looks around the brightly lit house, a stark contrast to his dream's bedroom, and sees that his drill master isn't here. "Where's Lowe? Is the El Stone ok?"
Hagus furrows his brown eyebrows. "I was hoping you'd know, considering you and him were training this morning. What happened after you parted ways with him?" The boy runs into Lowe's room and grabs his blade, a replica of Elsword's weapon, before darting to the door. Hagus shouts, "Wait, where are you going!?"
Elsword grips the copper-brown doorknob and yells, "The Tree of El! I'll cut through Spirit Falls to get there faster, so I can help Lowe protect the El Stone."
He swings the door open to see Ruben in turmoil. Houses have their windows and doors broken in, people tremble behind swordsmen clashing blades with white-masked men, and many phoru are wolfing down fried carp from food stalls.
Phoru are generally white-furred bipedal animals that resemble badgers. However, they can speak the human language and even fight with people's weapons in the same manner. Most phoru can stand up to shoulder-level with the average person, but there are taller phoru among the group here.
The swordsmen protecting the villagers are at a standstill with the masked bandits as their numbers and sword skills rival each other. Because of this, there isn't a person free who can fend off the ravaging phoru besides Elsword. He can't deny that there's a demand for help. The boy grits his teeth while he runs away, never looking back despite Hagus's distant shouting.
Near the outskirts of the village, Elsword arrives at the most relaxing place he's been to, Spirit Falls. The grand lake in front of him constantly has its surrounding waterfalls supply new water, and what's overflowing will go down a river, which eventually loops around the waterfalls to the Tree of El. Lotus plants, standing six feet above the lake's surface level, are scattered across this large body of water. The tops of these plants are flat, wide, and sturdy enough for people to stand on without swaying, thanks to the abundance of earth spirits keeping them strong.
Across the lake is a rock wall between two waterfalls, and just above that is the cliff that Elsword jumped from earlier this morning. Right before he approaches the nearest lotus, a bell chimes behind him. There's a phoru holding out a crate full of eggs to Elsword. Steam rises from the white shells, and the aroma of boiled eggs makes the boy's stomach growl. "Freshly boiled Ruchi eggs, ten thousand ED each."
Elsword reaches in his pockets but then jumps back, weapon ready to swing. "You almost had me there, but I'm not falling for poisoned eggs!"
The phoru shakes his head furiously. "These aren't poisoned, I swear!"
He points his sword at the animal. "Oh yeah? If you've got food to sell, what's with all the phorus raiding Ruben for its fish?"
"I guess I wasn't invited for the raid?" The phoru shrugs. "I don't really care about fish, though. How about I go give them some eggs to calm things down?"
Elsword lowers his weapon and shrugs back. "Do whatever you want. I gotta get going."
He leaps across lotus after lotus over the lake before reaching the rock wall. However, his speed comes to a halt when a realization hits him. He forgot to grab Lowe's sheath to strap the sword on his back. It'd take too long to return, and Hagus would certainly give him an earful. The sand-colored wall looks gigantic from where Elsword stands, so throwing the weapon over doesn't seem worth the risk of it ricocheting off the wall and into the lake.
He holds the sword with his left hand and grabs onto a protruding part of the wall with his right hand. "I better get some great cookies after this, Lowe." Elsword finds some footholds before climbing with one hand instead of two.
The increased strain on his right arm is like nothing the redhead has ever felt, but he pushes it out of his mind by focusing on the reasons for why he's doing this. The El Stone has to be safe, or else nature will be even more chaotic than it already is. Lowe's life is definitely in danger, and there's no one who can fill his shoes if something happens to him. Elsword thinks, "Would things have been better if I stayed with Lowe to collect firewood?" He shakes his head. A tired, weaponless boy couldn't do anything. He would only be a liability. Finally, there's that dream. The Elesis in it wants him to help the El Stone and Lowe. It sounds silly to think of, but Elsword can't get it out of his head.
Some questions come to mind as he's halfway up. The phoru are a docile species, so why did they attack Ruben? Is the strong river current preventing them from catching fish easily? There's no way anyone can swim through the rapids, even if they're expert swimmers. The forest can only grow so much fruit for them after all. No, that can't be it if that phoru was willing to sell hard-boiled eggs. This hurt Elsword's head to figure out, so he thinks of something else.
Why did bandits attack Ruben? There's nothing of great value in the village, so it'd make more sense for them to go after the El Stone. However, Lowe's cadets are gathered around there, so that wouldn't be a good idea either. They would have to leave their post. However, those swordsmen fighting back the bandits must've been Lowe's cadets that Hagus mentioned earlier. News of the bandit attack must've got to them, so they left their post to protect Ruben. It's all a distraction for someone to steal the El Stone! Someone, like Banthus, can pull it off.
The summit is almost within reach, so Elsword tosses Lowe's weapon over and uses both hands to finish pulling himself up. At the top, sleeping over the soft grass feels tempting, but he falls to his hands and knees instead, grabbing the sword's hilt. Slamming and clanging noises from beyond the cliff's edge draw his attention.
He crawls forward to see Lowe and Banthus fighting! However, it's completely one-sided. Banthus is constantly on the offensive with his leaping slashes while Lowe jumps back, holding Elsword's broken weapon. It must've been weakened from all the training earlier in the morning and broke when Lowe used it against Banthus. As nimble as Lowe is, his movements are getting slower. The war of attrition isn't going in his favor.
It's time to end this. Coming to the Tree of El as a fake scholar is a smart move, but this one's even better. The boy leaps from the cliff and shouts, "Learn about this, Banthus!"
Lowe runs to his attacker's back while Banthus looks up. He barely manages to raise his broadsword to block the boy's attack. "You little—"
Banthus readies his sword for a swing, but Lowe kicks the back of his knee. "Now!" This knee buckling and his weapon pull the bandit backwards just in time for Elsword to swing Lowe's blade once more.
"Mega Slash!" The redhead cuts into Banthus's left shoulder, bringing out a scream from the man. The drill master rolls out of the way before Banthus falls to the grass. Elsword offers Lowe's weapon to its rightful owner and says, "He's all yours."
After taking it, he rushes past the boy and a metal clang sounds out. Elsword turns around to see Lowe blocking another bandit's sword. The white-masked man yells, "Boss, we'll take care of 'em! Don't worry about us!" Another masked man jumps from the cliff for a knife stab on Lowe, but the drill master jumps back and pulls Elsword with him. "Mars, you back me up with your knives, and I'll—"
An arrow of light from above lodges into his shoulder. He turns and looks up just in time for a green-haired woman to land on his face, heel first. He falls flat on his back, completely motionless, as the other bandit yells, "Toby! You'll pay for that, you wretch!" The angered man throws a knife at her, but she back flips over. While in mid-air, three arrows of light form on her bow and fly at the attacker. One pierces his knee, another through his stomach, and the last ruptures his head. The simultaneous impact slams the poor bandit to the grass, where the arrows disappear.
She points her bow just past the El Stone defenders. "You better put that back unless you want to end up like your henchmen."
Lowe and Elsword turn around to see Banthus holding a shimmering rock, easily the size of a watermelon. He leans back against the Tree of El and shrugs his right shoulder. "Don't make me laugh with that bluff. Your arrows can only go so far before they vanish. Judging from the distance you shot Toby from that cliff top, there's no way you can reach me from where you're standing."
The archer smirks. "You're delusional if you think that's true."
"Don't try to fool me, lass. Your arrows shot through Mars because you were close enough, but they didn't pierce Toby, so…" Banthus runs around the Tree of El and towards the river! "I'm home free!" He merrily laughs as Elsword, Lowe, and the archer give chase.
It isn't long before Lowe catches up with her in their pursuit. "Give me your bow and some arrows!" he yells. "I know I can get close enough to him."
She shakes her head. "Only I can make and fire these arrows. If I gave them to you, they'd disappear."
Elsword shouts, "How the heck is he so fast!?" The predicament is starting to feel more and more hopeless to the boy. He can't catch up to Banthus running away with the El Stone, and even if he somehow can, there isn't a weapon he can use against the cyclops. It's all up to Lowe and her now, so Elsword slows down.
At the river, Banthus makes a huge leap across but wobbles on his landing near the edge. Lowe grinds his feet to a halt and shouts, "Get back here, you coward!" The bandit only turns to laugh at him. To their surprise, the woman doesn't slow down. "Wait, the river's too strong for swimming!"
"Who said anything about swimming?" The lady jumps over the river, but judging from her momentum, it looks like she'll only make it halfway.
Just as she goes down, her body gains a boost of motion upward, which looks enough to cross the body of water with ease. Upon seeing this sudden burst of momentum, Banthus turns around and continues running. Lowe mutters, "H-how did she do that? It was like she got an extra jump in mid-air."
Elsword finally catches up with him, still gawking at the mysterious lady chasing after Banthus through the forest. "What do we do now?"
He lodges his blade into the soil and crosses both arms over his chest. "Elsword, I've been fighting that man ever since you left. You seemed to know I was in trouble, which is probably why you came back. Something must've happened while we were separated. Please, tell me everything you know." It baffles the boy to hear that. While he slept in Lowe's house, ran to Spirit Falls, and climbed its rocky wall, Lowe fought using only a broken sword. "No spacing out now! C'mon!"
That snaps the redhead to attention. "Sorry!" With his adrenaline leaving, he can't help but fall to his knees over the soft grass. "Bandits attacked Ruben." His voice softens almost to a whisper, and Lowe turns around to face him with furrowed eyebrows. "Had a dream." The boy falls to the side, but Lowe catches his limp body. "You were in trouble." His eyes close. "Ran over here as... fast as possible…"
Elsword finds himself on that same bunk bed in the dark room. "You failed," Elesis says. "Failed to protect the El Stone after deserting Ruben. How are you going to face Hagus and the rest of the villagers?"
"I…" Trailing Banthus would be difficult by the time Elsword crosses the river normally through Spirit Falls, so getting back the El Stone to redeem himself seems impossible. A mere apology can't undo the pain Ruben's people are going through. There is one accomplishment, though. "I did fail. There's no denying it, and I'm sure everyone at Ruben is disgusted by my actions." He punches the top bunk bed from below. "However! I did save Lowe's life, something no one else could've done at the time. That's something to be proud of."
The shadowy figure of his sister jumps down by his bedside. Her face is nothing but darkness unlike the rest of her clothes and skin, illuminated by the moonlight. "Are you really satisfied with just that?" A voice with no face to call its own frightens the boy, but he can't seem to move away no matter how much he wants to.
Elsword wakes up on Lowe's couch once more. The whole house is faintly lit by the sunset peering through broken windows. A draft of hot air sweeps in, carrying the scent of sawdust and fried fish. In front of him is a muddy-brown table with a few things on top. His weapon, fully repaired with 'Elsword' engraved on the hilt, lies flat on the far end of the table with its red sheath. Closest to him is a white plate of sugar cookies in the shape of phoru heads. Beside that is a grass-green cup of steaming tea.
When the boy picks up the plate of phoru cookies, he sees a note underneath. It reads, "Hagus informed me of the situation. At seven o'clock tonight, we'll hold a strategy meeting with Rena, the lady who helped us at the Tree of El, and Aisha, a girl who turned the tide of battle against the bandits and phoru in Ruben. Rena and I wanted you to join us, but Hagus and Aisha said otherwise. There's a back door with a peephole you can use to see us, and a cat flap below it will let you hear everything inside if you open it a little with your foot. Just don't make too much noise, and I'm sure you'll be fine." Lowe's signature is at the bottom.