Me: FINALLY UPDATED THIS STORY!

Mario: Bout damn time. These people wanna see my actions Fire not the others.

Elsword/Aisha/Chung: HEY!

Me: Now now, it took some time to actually write this chapter.

Mario: You started a few days ago didn't you?

Me: Yep! You're actually gonna look more like a badass now!

Mario: YES FINALLY! WHAT DO I DO!?

Me: Read the chapter idiot and find out.

Chapter 5: Inside the Tree of El

Mario's POV

Why why WHY did I get myself mixed into this?! In case you got lost about my current situation, some bandit army came and raided the training camp I'm currently in. Now not only do we have to fight them off with half their numbers, but I could tell by almost all of the students' clumsy fighting styles (myself included) that we're pretty much screwed. I would've been fine fighting just one bandit instead of two who both slashed at me with daggers, all the while taking hits for this robotic girl who stood motionless.

I bled from a few cuts stinging my arms and chest as I tried my best dodging their quick stabs and slammed one of them right in the face, knocking them down immediately. Wait…when did I become this strong? I thought confused as the guy I punched down was suddenly bleeding from my one punch. Being in this universe with the magical El might've enhanced my strength somehow, but how exactly is it working? Never mind that I still need to take care of this other bandit. Actually being smart, I picked up the faintly bloody dagger (it's so light…) and parried the bandit's attack.

Heh. Now we're even you rogue! We traded slashes left and right, me jumping to avoid a low slash and using a low sweep on him as I landed, tripping him. I pointed the dagger straight to his exposed throat threatening to cut it as he pitifully begged for mercy.

"P-P-Please spare me!" He cried out.

"Not a chance bud." I twirled the dagger's grip a full 360 and, with two hands, prepared a downward strike straight to his windpipe.

"W-Wait! L-Lord Banthus would n-not be pleased if that g-girl of yours is left h-hanging!"

I don't know if he was bluffing or not, but there's no way a small bandit would know this kind of info. I didn't want to risk any chances though so I copied Elsword, grazing his throat a little with the dagger. "What the hell do you mean!?" My voice carried anguish and aggression, this is probably the first time in my life I felt truly angry.

"O-Over t-ther- GACK!" He slowly glanced his head right before coughing from blood loss, accidentally jerking his neck straight at my blade. It was horrible. Blood spewed everywhere from the wound as his eyes turned into dull nothingness, a fearful expression forever planted on his face. I didn't have time think about the psychological trauma of committing homicide against a person (mainly because 1. This is a video game and 2. I've seen much gorier stuff in the things I watch), instead heeding his last words by looking to my left. I saw the girl getting flung over the shoulder by one of the bulkier bandits as he walked towards the forest so no one would've noticed.

"Damn, gotta save her!" I left the dagger in the corpse and scrambled up to two feet, before promptly getting whacked in the back by one of two more bandits. I flinched and lamented on a cheap shot that was and swung a surprise back swing as I turned to face them. BAM, right in the face! These bandits, one with hair and one without (Hairy and Baldy?!), looked angrier than some of the others already currently fighting (if you actually care, the people left are 20 to 15 in favor of the bandits) having bulky builds, though not as much as the one who's about to get his butt whooped once I rescue the girl from him, and held beefy cavemen-like clubs. The hairy one swung his slowly but with great force, yet I dodged it quite easily…until the bald one intercepted my dodge with a whack to the head. As I cradled my head from the impact, the two took this chance to freaking clobber me.

BAM! WHACK! SMACK! All sorts of hit sounds rushed into my mind whilst being barraged by these two brutes. If I had a health bar, I'd be down to 20% right around now. I tumbled across the grass with bruises all over as the two were about to deal a finishing blow right on me. Thankfully at the last second (hooray for main character status!) the two students whose conversations I overheard kicked the bandits' clubs, sending the force to smack their heads and knock them out. The boy helped me up while the girl gave me a red drink, which I identified as a health potion in the game. I drank it and suddenly felt much better, not 100% but clearly better than how I struggled to hold the bottle.

"T-Thanks for that." I thanked the two and remembered the girl's capture. "Can you two do me a favor? I need you and the others to stop these guys while I go rescue the one who got kidnapped." They both looked surprised.

"W-What? Who got captured?" The boy got confused.

"She's the quiet girl in class with the brown ponytail. The one I mostly talked to during class?" Oh no. I can see where this is headed.

The two had amusing looks on their faces. "So our little Page here wants to rescue his girlfriend huh?" The two teased me, back smacking some incoming bandits while I did the same.

I blushed slightly at this. "N-No I barely even know her! We just need to rescue her from the enemy that's all!" I calmed down soon after. "I heard from one of them that they're taking her to Banthus."

"Oh him." The boy got more serious. "He's inside the base of the Tree of El, that really huge tree over there." He pointed to the tree, which I already knew.

"Are you sure you can handle him by yourself?"

"Yeah. Didn't this Elsword kid and others go into his hideout first? Maybe they already beat him." I tried to sound more optimistic.

"Maybe- wait!" Oh no the girl found me out. "Did you spy on us earlier this evening!?" The boy glared at me.

"Y-Yes…"

The two merely sighed. "Well at least you know some good intelligence." The girl concluded. "Are you sure you'll be all right?"

"Yeah I'll be fine!" I thanked them for their help and started to dash for the forest.

"Hold up! Take this!" The boy tossed me a backpack filled with 5 health potions (which I had to slam a bandit trying to intercept it using my right arm). "You might need it."

"Thanks! Good luck you guys." I put on the weightless pack and ran straight towards the Tree of El.

Great, now I have to do a Big Damn Heroes moment. Luckily there was a trail of dead bandits leading the way straight to the tree (probably that rash Elsword), what I didn't expect was this gaping hole found at the base of it. It sure as hell didn't look natural, Banthus and the girl are probably hiding in here.

I sat on a nearby rock as to recollect my thoughts. Am I really doing this? I mean I see this done all the time in today's media, hell I'm used to it while playing Super Mario. But…am I ready to actually save the girl and some possible captives? I pulled my legs up to my chest and buried my head within it, a distant look on my eyes. Why the hell am I even trying anyway? I'm just a regular introverted 16 year old boy with a normal social life and no battle experience whatsoever. The only reason I got lucky with the bandits from before was that my fighting instincts just clicked. I glanced at my hands with curiosity then upwards at the starlit sky. It felt like…a key unlocking some of my potential. Sorry about the cliché term but it's true.

*sigh* I stood up and wiped my hands on my pants. Luckily my Red Knights uniform remained intact thanks to the game's programming. I'm starting to miss my friends from the other side, we would usually go around the mall and play some video games, the usual stuff. Oh god what'll my family think!? I clenched my fist in renewed determination. That fight taught me something. I need to unlock the secrets of how much control I can really do inside this game and exploit it. To beat the heck out of Berthe and get back to my dimension! Enough of this rejuvenating pick up crap, time to save the girl whether she likes it or not!

I picked up a stick and walked inside the man-made cave of El.

Aisha's POV

That stupid red-headed brat! I glared at him from within the cage we got trapped in. Thanks to this idiot, all three of us were trapped because he felt like yelling across the inside and get pulverized by the big thief there. If he just waited patiently we could've captured him, not the other way around!

*sigh* How did we get mixed up in this? And why is this girl here? A bulky bandit barged in recently carrying a girl around my age with brown hair tied into a ponytail and took her to that huge brute Banthus. I couldn't hear them because they were so far away but I clearly remember that Elbaka here had a slight redness on his face when she arrived. I smacked him for some strange reason, quickly coming up with the old pervert routine. I sat on the concrete floor of the cage and used my fire magic to play tic tac toe.

Five hours ago

"Rena should we follow him?" I asked hiding behind some bushes. Elsword just went inside this Tree of El where the so-called thief Banthus is hiding. I charged up my lost mana fighting that brat and got all fired up and ready to go.

"I think we should…um…"

"It's Aisha. I never told you did I." I slapped myself at this. How could I forget to introduce myself to a polite lady like Rena?

"Right Aisha here's the plan. While Elsword in there distracts Banthus, we show up in his blind spot and take him down from far away!" She sparkled green doing a winning pose.

"…That's it?" I had to question this. "No complicated plans? No stealth take downs? Nothing? Just…Just take him down with our weapons?"

"Yeah that's about it. After all he is a close ranged fighter, at least that's what I think Anne described to us before leaving." I slapped myself for the third time today. Not only did she come up with a simplistic plan so easily, but it's also pretty effective! I mean what could possibly go wrong? We sprouted out of our hiding bush and quietly dashed inside the Tree of El.

Well this is…unexpected. Rena and I took a step back with astonished looks on our faces. The dark blue cave walls and floor shined too clean for a natural environment, there were some suspended platforms in the air from more of the cave floor, and a silver chair in the back with a treasure heap so big to fit three freaking air ships! There appeared to be someone rising up from the aforementioned chair, luckily he couldn't see us from that far away (Well it's like 50 meters between us and we can't really see him either). What we CAN see, however, is a slightly bigger red dot that's rapidly closing the distance between him and the guy on the chair. Luckily there were some columns supporting the ceiling to the right, Rena and I hid in there following the two little dots on the hard cave floor until the two dots finally came into clear view.

Oh no. You have to be kidding me. The red dot turned out to be that brat Elsword, still not recovered from his injuries, pointing his sword threateningly at the other dot, a brute who fits Rena's description of Banthus.

"BANTHUS!" Elsword shouted. "RETURN THE EL OR I'LL GIVE YOU HELL TO PAY!"

"HAHAHAHA!" The boisterous bandit belted out. "Me give the El to a kid like you? You got that all wrong kid." He pulled out a sword with the scabbard still on it, about one twice the size of Elsword's. "Now run home to that pathetic little village before you get hurt."

Crap that made Elsword flare up in a red aura of frenzy! Wait...does he actually have a red aura around him? I rubbed my eyes and stared at him again, the red aura was still there. Oh god his aura just oozes darkness with a devilish expression worse than Rena's. We both trembled as he dashed towards Banthus and began to duel.

I was too busy focusing on Elsword's demonic fighting style to figure out who's winning (Rena told me that they're even). He fought as if that big nasty demon, Berthe, possessed him as a puppet and attacking mere pawns. I don't think I'll ever make fun of that idiot again.

"B-BOSS!" A tiny dot came from the entrance of the tree, making the two combatants turn their heads. Banthus, however, saw his chance and swung his sword to send Elsword flying.

…Over here…where Rena and I sat. "NONONO-" That's all I screamed before the red kid toppled over us, earning Banthus the right to pick all three of us up like a couple of dumbbells.

"L-Let me go!" I squirmed around his beefy hand (which for some reason only carried me, while his other carried both Elsword and Rena) but to no avail.

"B-BOSS WE FOUND THE GIRL!" Some brute, probably the guy from the entrance, came in with a girl slugged over his shoulder. For some reason she didn't put up any resistance and stayed there looking all bored. What's with her?

"Heh, I know I could count on you knuckleheads once in a while." He jerked his head to the side to two cages. The two bandits nodded and headed toward the cages. Oh no.

"D-Damn cheater!" Elsword burst into the red aura again, causing Banthus to flinch and release me from his grasp. Good thing I had my staff on me.

"CHAIN FIREBA-"

"NO AISHA YOU BAKA!" Rena screamed before I could finish chanting. Oh right…Rena and Elsword are still on Banthus.

"That was a rather brave move for a tiny girl like you." Banthus teased, figuring out my situation. "Get in the cage before no one gets hurt now." He place his sword at Rena's throat.

"Damn you! We will get the El back!" Elsword spat out before tossing the three of us into this one huge cage.

We then sat here in this cage for quite some time as those stupid bandits were discussing something about the girl with Banthus (ok what do they see in her anyway).

Present

*sigh* another game won. I stopped writing on the floor when Rena tapped me on the shoulder. "Huh…what?" I yawned.

"Quiet I hear someone coming." She woke up Elsword from his little nap (he deserved it from ditching the inn) and pointed towards the cave entrance. Indeed someone actually came into the cave but…

This isn't a bandit.

The cages were positioned atop suspended platforms in the cave near the entrance (how stupid is this Banthus guy, we could just escape right now if I had my staff), suddenly noisy as we caught a glimpse of the mysterious boy walking in.

He's in the same get up as Elsword, a Red Knights veteran maybe? I mean he's older than Elsword. The medium length black hair and lean figure…and a stick!? Wait a minute this guy looks familiar but also kind of different. He looks determined and stared straight at the girl by Banthus, does he like her? The boy advances towards the two bandits and girl by the treasure heap with his…sword unsheathed.

"So you're Banthus huh?" He taunted. "I suggest you let go of her and give back the El."

"What are you doing here?" The three of us and the boy acted surprised, the girl looked confused as to why he came here. "I can handle these simple-minded humans myself."

"A smart ass are ya?" The unnamed bandit smirked at her, raising his club. "Looks like I'll have to teach ya a less-"

"SONIC BOOM!" What the hell? The boy used his open hands to slash the air sideways to form a shockwave homing towards the bandit.

"GAH!" The bandit fell from the attack.

The boy looked shocked and quickly inspected his hands for some sign of magic or something, smirking afterwards. He turned back to Banthus. "Better step down now or end up like that guy."

However Banthus still smiled at him. "I've seen Phorus more intimidating than you buddy." He unsheathed his sword. "What's your name anyway?"

"Me? Just call me Mario." Oh now I remember him! The same guy who ran out of breath carrying a boy standing to Banthus with a blank determined expression?

"I think it's about time you give the people of Ruben their El shard back." He challenges Banthus while slowly going towards the fallen bandit, taking his sword and throwing the stick away.

Banthus laughed. "It'll be my pleasure, Mario." He shoved the girl aside on his chair and the two guys started the fight.

Mario: So...I did an air slice and acted all cocky?

Me: Pretty much.

Mario: *strangles* DAMN YOU I WANT A BETTER CHARACTER MOMENT!

Eve: Mario would you like Moby and Remy to attack you too :3?

Mario: O_O *drops Fire* NO THANKS EVE!

Eve: Too late 3! Drones after him!

Mario: NONONONONO! *chased by Eve and drones*

Me: *cough* *cough* Great I didn't even do my important announcement.

Chung: What announcement?

Me: Well since school kept me busy for the past two weeks, I'm putting my Espionage story on hiatus for now.

Chung: D: *Awakening* CHANGE IT NOW!

Rena: *slowly hugs Chung* Just let it go okay :D!

Me: ...Um yeah. I'm not that good handling my time as good as the other ElAuthors and their stories but I'll work on Chung's story around April 15th or so (if any of you like the story). Rather have new updates on fewer stories than none at all due to many stories!

Mario: OW! DAMMIT EVE!

Eve: Hehe :3