Elsword the Awakening

**Chapter 1:**

A gentle breeze calmly enveloped the soothing air as the sun vibrantly shined amongst the various towns and cities. There was nothing specifically special about this day, not to the townspeople anyway as they went about their daily lives. Blacksmiths either crafting weapons, Farmers farming their fields, and students studying in their classrooms.

No, to them today was just going to be another peaceful day that followed the never ending cycle.

*But they were wrong….*

*Today would be a day that would change the lives of not only the world, but six incredible warriors who once saved Elrios from the clutches of an insane Nasod.*

[Feita Kingdom, 10:30 AM]

"L-Lord... It's a d-demon!" A female voice screeched from the outskirts of a small tavern located on the edges of Feita. Steadily approaching her, was a swarm of several thousand demons who all carried intense blood lust in their eyes as they made their way through the streets.

Their razor sharp claws gritted against another, and their penetrating fangs seemed to petrify defenseless civilians one by one. These were nothing like the usual wild monsters living in their territories, these *things* were after blood, human blood.

It was a full out invasion! Elderly men running for their lives, young children crying for their parents, and able mothers who clung to their families all screamed in panic as the demons made their way to the center of the towns.

No one was safe from their wrath. They spread themselves out as they bombarded the stable buildings and farms, killing any human who crossed their destructive path. Soon, seas of flames were cast around the town, and without even realizing, the town was completely devastated.

Luckily, the royal guard of Feita was commissioned in the area and tried their best to hold off the massive army before them.

"Where's Lento!? We need back up!" Soldiers everywhere were filled with panic and despair as their commander was nowhere to be seen. Try as they might, the entire force of Feita was nearly wiped out, as the main force was stationed in the capital, unable to send their assistance to the lower branch towns.

"We can't hold them!"

"Someone help me! They're too strong!"

One by one, they all fell to the unstoppable might of these demons. Their tough, impenetrable armor that was crafted from the best materials were nothing more than tissue paper to them.

To say it was unexpected would be a grave understatement. No one, not a single person living in Elrios was expecting an assault of this magnitude, especially not when the world's heroes had retrieved the missing El Stone. Where were they now? The commanding red haired swordsman, the enchanting purple haired magician, the beautiful green haired elf, the frightening black haired rogue, the cool headed silver haired queen, and the determined yellow haired guardian? Their presence seemed to disappear entirely from their prayers as they never showed up.

The people began to lose hope, believing that their heroes would never show themselves again and that the world of Elrios would be under siege forever.

And so it continued, day after day, towns were attacked by hoards of barbaric demons claiming that they would overthrow the human race. Would this nightmare ever stop? Would the world be doomed to suffer this torment for eternity?

*Let's find out….*

[Three Months Later…]

Far to the east, secluded away from the destruction that occurred in Elrios, was a closed town of magicians and mages. This town was home to the world's most powerful and insightful magic users and had a reputation for producing excellent mana casters.

Regardless of what was happening on the outside, this town wasn't affected by the invasion in the least due to their knowledge of the outside world being quite limited. Only members of the high magic council were entitled to know what had been occurring and withheld this grave information from the rest of the village. It was in their best interests not to know, as causing more panic would only make the situation worse.

Small innocent children ran across the streets, enchanting beginner spells and summoning harmless creatures. The adults made their money through selling their well made potions and elixirs. Thanks to the endless supply of mana that flowed through the Tower of Juprehm near the center of the town, there was never a worry for not enough mana.

Smack dead in the middle of the town, was a large building that towered over the smaller houses and markets.

Magicians Academy!

This academy was specifically built for the sole purpose of training young, inexperienced magicians in the art of spell casting and enchanting, so that one day they could venture into the world and use their powers to better help society.

Inside this enormous building on the second floor, was a classroom that held hundreds of young magical students, eager to learn from their new instructor that had just transferred in last month.

She stood at the front of the class, magical book clutched in her small hands, chalk sitting comfortably in the other as she began to write down the next lesson for her young pupils to absorb into their excited brains. Turning her head to the front of her class, the lower left bang at the edge of her hair whirled around as she stood facing them.

"Now class, who can tell me the inscription of this incantation?" a clear but soft voice beckoned towards the young children.

Raising his hand, a young boy who sat right at the front of the class eagerly waved it around, as if he was absolutely sure he was correct.

"Sensei! I know! It means fire right?"

The purple haired instructor gave a weak sigh as she expected no less from him.

"Nicolas, must I repeat myself every time? Fire cannot be a part of an incantation such as this because of its opposite properties."

The young boy blinked his eyes several times as he tried to comprehend what she had just told him. Scratching the back of his head, he laughed nervously and closed his eyes. "Sorry sensei, I just really like fire!"

Giggles could be heard around the classroom from his latest answer as the professor closed her book and started to walk towards him. She lightly bonked her white encyclopedia on his head, making him grasp it in pain.

"You need to pay more attention, what am I going to do with you"

All the boy could do was smile and laugh in his seat, obviously ignoring his teacher's stern words.

"I'll study harder and become the strongest mage ever, just you wait sensei!"

Silence eroded the room at first after hearing his little outburst. Seconds later, no one in the room could contain their laughter anymore as they couldn't take what he had said seriously. A faded tint of pink spread across the boy's face as he got up from his seat and tried to shut them up.

The Professor however, had a little spark in her eyes after she had heard similar words before. Where had she heard them from?

*I'll get stronger no matter what! I'll become the strongest swordsman you've ever seen!*

Elsword.

The short, bratty, reckless, but determined kid who only thought about getting stronger suddenly popped into her mind. It had been almost two years since she last heard his less than pleasant voice and she wondered what he had been up to during this time. Was he still training in Velder to become an official knight? Knowing him, she guaranteed that he would fail and start slicing people up.

"Sensei? Are you okay?"

Snapping back to reality, the young professor gave an awkward cough and turned back to face the chalkboard.

"Y-Yes I am fine. Just a little something on my mind. Now, let's get back to-"

An electrical vibration began to condense at the top corner of the classroom as everyone could hear someone about to speak.

"Please excuse this announcement. Professor Aisha, please come to the council room immediately. The council members would like to have a word with you."

Aisha, who stood in the middle of the class with a confused expression on her face, wondered exactly why the council wanted her presence.

"Okay class, we'll continue this lesson when I return."

With that, she closed the door behind her and proceeded to head down the hallway.

"*What could this be about? I haven't made any mistakes yet have I? Oh no! I hope they don't fire me because I'm distracting all the teachers? Maybe I should have dressed down in order not to stand out?"*

Her thoughts began to cloud her better sense of judgment, as she found more excuses as to why they would call her down. Finally reaching the end of the hall way, she stood before the enlarged door that had the initials "Magic Council" engraved at the top.

Swallowing her spit, she proceeded to open the door handle and stepped into the darkened room that cast a sea of darkness. Cautious, she took her first few steps into the lifeless room, looking for any signs of human activity.

"U-Uhm..hello? I was called here by the magic council?

Her voice went unanswered as she waited eagerly for a response.

Suddenly, a single candle lit itself in the middle of the room, and soon a group of candles began to ignite themselves one by one as they rolled with each other like a set of falling dominoes.

"Miss Aisha…" The voice was weak and sounded quite old and on the verge of death.

Soon, many shadowed figures began to show themselves in front of the candles as Aisha began to adjust her eyes to the darkness and stood in front of ten wizards who all wore white hoods to cover their faces.

"Are you the magic council?" Her voice sounded weak and confused, still not believing that this was the legendary council that never revealed their presence to the outside world.

"That we are. We have summoned you here because of some unfortunate news"

She didn't understand. Judging by the way the voice had just said that, it was correct to assume that they weren't referring to her. A breeze of relief washed over Aisha's body as she was glad that she wouldn't have to leave the academy.

"What is it?"

"I'm sure you haven't heard the news yet, but most of Elrios is currently under attack."

Excuse me? Aisha couldn't believe what the voice had just spoken to her. The peaceful, carefree world of Elrios that she and her trusted friends worked so hard to save was under attack again?

"What! Who is responsible for this?" Her voice was completely different than the one she had used earlier. Instead, confusion and anger began to overtake her emotions as she wanted answers immediately.

"The one behind the invasion is still unclear. All the information we gathered was that for the past three months, the great Kingdoms of Feita, Altera, Bethma, and Elder were invaded by a hoard of powerful demons."

Now this wasn't making any sense. They had faced demons before, so what was the threat? Surely a few demons couldn't really overtake the near impenetrable fortress of those kingdoms? This had to be some sort of joke.

"No this isn't a joke, if that's what you're thinking Miss Aisha. We're dead serious."

The mood swiftly changed inside the lightened room as Aisha began to accept the reality she was thrown. Aisha gripped her fists tightly as she pictured the destruction of what the demons could have caused and the possibility that one of her friends might have been attacked as well.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?! This has been going on for three months and you didn't bother to tell anyone!?"

This time, a more stern and intimidating voice came from the far east of the room. "What would that have accomplished? We, the great leaders of the Town of Magicians were only notified of this a few weeks ago. You should watch your tongue Miss Aisha, the fact that we're telling you this is already an exception in itself."

It was frustrating, but Aisha had to accept that she had only recently been enrolled into the academy, and didn't possess enough authority to know about these kinds of things. This didn't make her ease up on her anger towards the council for this. What if one of her friends was killed during the invasion? She could have spent the rest of her life unaware of what could have happened to them.

"Well, why did you decide to tell me this?"

The voice from earlier resumed his speech.

"Because, it is our duty to uphold the peace of Elrios no matter the cost. We may not be as obedient as the knights, but it is still our duty to destroy any evil that threatens our world."

"And so Miss Aisha"

Aisha turned her attention towards the only female voice coming to the left of her side.

"We need you to gather your five comrades once again, and launch an assault on the demons that have brought upon another war."

Aisha's ears picked up and her heart began to flutter a bit when she heard those words. The world needed the El Team once again, and she was going to reunite them?

It's funny. She usually thought the role of brining the group together was supposed to be handled by the leader of the team, which in this case would be the young bratty Elsword, but the thought of seeing his saddened face, knowing that she was not only taller than him, older than him, but now higher ranked than him, would be delightful.

A small, wicked smile spread across her face as her eyes were shadowed by her eccentric purple hair.

"Miss Aisha? Do you accept or not?" the wavering voice spoke.

Raising her head, she looked them straight in their eyes and gave them a warmful smile. "You can count on me, I will not fail in this mission."

"Excellent, we knew that we could rely on your cooperation. Remember Aisha, these demons aren't your every day run of the mill monsters you find in the wild. They're a great deal more powerful and were able to beat the Royal Knights of Feita in almost a week. Needless to say, you need to be fully prep-"

"Mayor, she already left"

Noticing the absence of the young female magician, the mayor of the council sighed deeply as he had expected something like this from her. She may have been a child genius when it came to spells and incantations, but that girl never knew her limits and usually bit off more than she could chew.

"Do you think she'll be alright?"

"Hard to say, I do believe she has gotten much more powerful, it's her lack of reservation that worries me."

"Let her have her fun, I haven't seen her smile like that since she first came home from her adventures with her friends."

"I guess, I just hope she is careful, her magic is quite unpredictable. Remember when she felt so embarrassed that she summoned a meteor shower and almost destroyed the whole town?"

Hardy laughs and chuckles began to flood the room as the memories of Aisha started to envelope their thoughts.

"Regardless of what happens, let's just pray that she and the El Team can stop the threat before Elrios is doomed."

Lying on her cushioned white bed, Aisha had her eyes closed as her legs hung off the edge of the bed. She rested a hand on her face as a sigh escaped her small lips. It was such a shock that she still couldn't believe it was actually happening. The El Team was getting back together again, and she was going to do it. Not Elbrat, but Magician Instructor Aisha.

The mere thought of this just made her squeal in happiness as she couldn't wait to see her old friends again. She missed them so much, their warmth, their fun, their everything was something she longed for everyday.

Rena's beautiful smile and sweet scent that made her envy her perfect body. She was gorgeous, well endowed, and so wonderfully kind to everyone she met, even villains! Aisha could never be like that, she didn't have the patience to handle immature brats, or sleazy thugs who only wanted money.

She missed Eve just as much, her cute and emotionless face that always looked as if she was trying to reserve herself. It took quite awhile, but she was able to finally bring out her emotions again and show her that interacting with friends was a better way to live her life.

Even though she didn't favor men, she couldn't help but miss those three guys. Raven, who was actually a former enemy and acted distant towards them, was like a big brother to her and missed his guidance. Chung, the determined young boy who always thought about the greater good of the world, was like a younger brother to her who she cared about.

Finally Elsword, the bratty, stupid, but strong and dedicated swordsman who always tried his best and valued his friends more than anything in this world. Aisha couldn't help but smile as she remembered all of the crazy adventures they had together. It seemed like it had been forever since she last saw him make his way toward Velder to become a Knight.

Did he succeed? Probably not, with his personality, she doubted he would be one for following orders and becoming more mature. It just wasn't possible as the saying "once a brat, always a brat" was something she strongly believed in.

Getting up from her bed, she looked around her nicely fitted room that held mountains of books, incantation notes, and teddy bears, and began to pack her things for the long journey ahead of her.

Making her way to the entrance of the town, she noticed the townsfolk giving her pleasant smiles and children running around and enjoying their carefree childhoods. Could there really be a war going on with peace like this? The whole idea still didn't capture her completely, but she needed to worry about that once he left.

Arriving at the entrance, she took one quick look at the town she grew up in and spent most of her life with while smiling beautifully. She had just gotten accustom to living here once again, and now she was sent on another adventure, leaving the safety of her hometown to go to war with evil demons. Seemed a bit cliché to her, but she wasn't complaining. She already made up her mind to do this and she was a woman of her word.

With a back pack full of food supplies, mana potions, incantations, and her advanced magic encyclopedia for the road, she headed out of the entrance, where the force field that was cast around the town dissipated around her.

When she turned around, she saw nothing but an empty forest of where her town was hidden from intruders and bandits.

"I guess I should start looking for either Rena or Eve"

Taking her snow white wand strapped to the side of her high stockings, she gathered a significant amount of mana below her feet as a blue magic circle erupted from her shoes. She began to incite the words of a magic spell that she was familiar with.

*Oh beads of time and space that govern the world we live in. Answer my Call!*

*Transpertta en Ruben! (Transport me to Ruben)*

In a flash, Aisha's entire body was covered in a blue aura that began to change shape, and immediately she was gone, leaving behind a trail of leaves that danced with the wind.

Aisha had a long journey ahead of her, and it was going to start by getting her girlfriends back first, she needed to have them with her first before she reunited with the boys.

**Chapter 2:**

[Hamel Kingdom, 11:15 AM]

The city of water, known for being partially submerged under the clear vast ocean was at peace, well at least for the moment. The demons hadn't been able to infiltrate that deeply yet, as the Red Knights were more than capable of dealing with their relentless assaults.

It was in this town, that a war council was currently unfolding in the capital of the Senarth Principality. Stretching past the sun's horizon, this dominating tower stood proudly as a symbol of humanity's protection against the demons.

Inside these impenetrable walls, the Holy Sanctuary room was occupied by various Kingdom leaders as they gathered to discuss the chain of recent events. The Lord's and Kings of Elder, Feita, Altera, Velder, Hamel, and Sander all sat around a round table, with each of their kingdoms insignia's plastered on their banners hanging behind them.

"The meeting between the kingdoms shall now commence. Will the representative of Feita please come forward". The voice of the politician filled the room as he began to meeting between them.

Arising from his seat, an old, dignified man stood among his fellow rulers as he proceeded to speak his mind.

"Very well. I shall report the events that have occurred in the north, south, east, and west regions of Feita. We have taken substantial damage on all sides, losing an estimate of about fifty percent of our territory. In addition to that, the Royal Guard of Feita has also been dealt a substantial loss, as over forty percent of our forces have been slaughtered within the past three months."

As a ruler, he had a code of honor to follow and had to set an example for his soldiers, but anyone could tell that behind the coldness of his voice, sadness was there. Having to sit by and watch as your kingdom fell to ruins by the hands of mindless demons must have been devastating towards the King.

"I see, out of all of the Kingdoms, Feita has been damaged the most"

A snicker was heard from the west side of the meeting, as all eyes were now focused on the culprit behind it.

"Something to share with us? King of Hamel?" The previous speaker proclaimed at him.

Opening his previously closed eyes, Hamel's King proceeded to answer his demand. "Isn't it obvious? Out of all of the Kingdoms, Feita's is the least guarded. Not to mention, you're royal guards are lacking in man power."

A comment like that would normally go unanswered as no one had the authority to challenge a kingdom as strong as Hamel, but that wasn't happening today. Stepping forward, the Royal Guard of Feita's Knights proceeded to reply towards the unsettling announcement.

"With all due respect sir, Feita's Royal Guard isn't so weak to allow a group of rogue demons to defeat them. We gravely underestimated our opponents and as such suffered for our blunder."

This outburst earned him a glare from the King of Hamel, as he was not a man who responded kindly towards oppositions. "Watch your mouth boy; did you forget where you are?"

The mood was swiftly changing, and the intensity of their arguments became more personal as the seconds went by. Unsatisfied with that answer, the leader of Feita's Royal Guard spoke once again.

"I haven't forgotten sir, I just believe that calling a kingdom weak because of its lacking military strength is unprecedented". He wasn't going to back down. Regardless of what the consequences were, he wasn't going to allow someone to disrespect the bravery it took for his soldiers to go out and fight the demons, knowing that they weren't going to receive back up.

A chuckle began to spill out of Hamel's King, as he was amused by his obligation to defend the deceased.

"No need to get so defensive, Commander Lento. I wasn't entirely referring to your Kingdom, just your less than capable subordinates."

That did it.

Lento's attitude took a definite turn for the worst. Gripping the base of his jet black gloves tighter, he slammed his fist down on the table laid before him and gave Hamel's King a piercing glare.

"How dare you disrespect the courage and loyalty of Feita's Knights you arrogant son of a b-"

"That's enough Lento!"

The threatening voice of Lento was quickly subdued by his King as the tension began to die down. A look of shame and agony spread across his lips as he tried to regain control of his self respect.

Straightening up, Lento released his embedded fist from the table and bowed his head in regret towards Hamel's King.

"I sincerely apologize from my outbreak sir. I swear it shall never happen again"

A satisfied sigh came from Feita's King; the feeling of frustration began to disperse from his body. In a meeting such as this, even the slightest outburst and disrespect could lead to a fatal mistake, and they couldn't afford to be going to war with each other.

Clearing the air with a cough, the standing politician proceeded to reorganize the meeting between the kingdoms once again.

"So, does anyone have a proposal as to dealing with this nuisance?"

Silence swept over the room as no one could think of a quick solution for this problem. Suddenly, a hand was slowly thrust into the air as Altera's King was waiting to be called upon.

"What about the six heroes of Elrios? I'm sure those six would be a great asset to the main defensive line."

Immediately, the atmosphere shifted into a ray of hope as none of them could forget how those six heroes were able to defeat King Nasod, who was planning to detonate a bomb capable of blowing up half of Elrios.

The King of Altera was confident that with those six, they could launch a good surprise attack on the demons and tip the war in their favor. The only problem now was actually *finding* each of them.

"Last I heard, after the incident they all disappeared and haven't been seen since."

"That isn't entirely true; we do know the whereabouts of one of them."

All eyes were on the King of Velder, after he proclaimed his bold statement.

"Are you positive about that King Eden?" the questioning voice Altera's King spoke.

Nodding his head promptly, he motioned his hand forward. The woman who was standing behind him acting as his bodyguard stepped forward. She wore the proud insignia of Velder on her battle outfit as she stopped beside him.

"Vanessa, tell them"

Nodding her head, she adjusted her glasses slightly and began to speak.

"The young leader of those six heroes has been enlisted as one of our Knights for quite some time now."

"Oh really now? That youngster became a knight for Velder? Gotta give the brat credit for accomplishing something like that."

"Indeed, I've heard rumors of a powerful knight who has been essential in protecting Velder's strongholds."

Showers of praise began to erupt into the room as the red haired swordsman became the new topic of focus. The only one in the meeting who didn't seem too impressed was the King of Hamel, who just ignored everyone's comments and waited until the conversation died down.

"Vanessa, I want you to send a message to division commander Elsword. Tell him that he is expected to gather his companions again and come to Hamel at once. Is that understood?"

Promptly raising her hand to her forehead, Vanessa stood stall. "Yes Sir!"

"With that out of the way, we shall reschedule this meeting at a later date to discuss the threat, once we have gathered the six heroes of course."

With everyone in agreement, the King's began to stand and leave the council room one after another. Commander Lento, who was still standing beside his King noticed Hamel's King and Bethma's King conversing with one another at the opposite door.

"*What are those old men talking about…?"* An old feeling began to sweep his being as he couldn't quite grasp their conversation. Whatever they were talking about, Lento was sure that it had something to do with this whole demon mess, and he was going to find out.

Aisha's feet landed in the soft rich soil of Ruben Village as she stumbled to gain her balance. Using teleportation without anyone to hold onto was much more difficult than she had imagined. Once she had regained her footing, she inhaled a great deal of oxygen and released it, calming her nerves.

She had been afraid of what might have happened to Ruben village, especially since there weren't many soldiers protecting the place. Luckily, it was the exact same as she had remembered it, with the townspeople safe from harm and buildings neither burnt nor damaged.

Yes, the beautiful town of Ruben was quite a sight to behold, as it brought back quite a few memories for the female magician. She could remember it all clearly; the first day she had met Rena and Elbrat in the village.

"It feels so good to be back, nothing like the sweet smell of El trees"

Taking her first few steps, she looked around the rural village, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of her companions. Logically speaking, if there was a place that they would return to, Ruben would be the first choice.

Did they know about what was going on? She was sure that Elsword was clueless about it and was just off training somewhere like he recklessly does, but what about Rena and Eve? Rena did say she was going back to her home village in Ruben forest.

Eve however, was quite mysterious about where she was headed. All she knew was that she was trying to restore the Nasod Kingdom back to its former glory, but that was going to take quite awhile.

Aisha shook her head violently, trying to get a hold of herself. This wasn't the time to be thinking like that, she needed to find Rena as soon as possible, and Ruben was her best lead.

"Now where is that entrance to Ruben forest…..ah there it is!"

Noticing two tall trees that stood a great distance apart from one another, she looked beyond them and saw the passageway that lead deep into the forests of Ruben. Without a moment's notice, she began walking into the dark and mysterious forest that held many mysteries inside of them.

The trees were as lively as usual, with wild Phoru's resting between trees. They were small white creatures that had the softest fur known in El. Aisha could remember the first time she met one and almost cuddled it to death.

Swiftly, her eyes daunted to the ground as she kneeled down and examined what appeared to be a pool of red liquid.

"Blood?" She inquired.

Raising her head a bit, she looked onward and noticed that there was a trail of blood that was cut off of the pathway. In a place full of wild animals and creatures, it was strange to see blood out of the blue. Maybe someone had been injured in a skirmish with a Bor.

Cutting through the forest and following the trail of blood, it continued to lead her down more bushes and plants that seemed to go on forever. The blood trail finally stopped abruptly and Aisha looked around to find the root cause of the liquid.

She heard a weak moan come from behind an oak tree a few feet away from her and decided to investigate the sound. Bringing her wand out, she slowly crept forward, beads of sweat dripping from her face from the unpredictability that followed.

Using all of her courage, she jumped out from behind the tree in the spur of the moment and to her complete shock, there was a grieving elf resting beside it. She was clutching her arm in agony as she winced several times at the constant stinging.

Placing her wand back at her side, she walked towards her and bent her knees. "Hey, what happened to your arm?"

The elf noticed the young girl's presence and decided to keep her mouth shut and turn her head away. Well that was rude; Aisha furrowed her eye brows and persistently tried to get the elf girl to talk.

"I'm just trying to help, stop being stubborn and tell me what's wrong"

That didn't do it, the young girl still refused to talk to her and remained quiet about her injury. Losing her patience, Aisha was starting to get frustrated by this young girl. Why would she want to refuse help when someone is offering it? She reminded her of the bratty Elsword whenever he got an injury and refused to let her treat it.

"Well I guess you leave me no choice"

Taking her wand out from her side, she pointed it in her direction and lit it on fire to signal that she wasn't playing around.

The Elf girl's pointy ears began to pick up on the ferocity of the flames and she began to panic.

"W-Wait! What are you going to do to me?" Her voice was so young, innocent, and as precious as an unborn child. This human was beginning to scare the pants out of her, with her sorcery.

She gave the young Elf Girl a bright smile and increased the size of her flames. "Oh nothing, I'm just going to burn you up so that I can eat you"

If Aisha hadn't been standing a few feet away from her, her ears would have definitely exploded from the velocity of the scream she pulled off. It was so loud that creatures everywhere were running in terror as it sounded as if someone was stabbed repeatedly.

Aisha was forced to cover her ears and put away her wand to show her that she was only joking.

"Jeez! I was only joking, can you please stop crying now?"

Finally listening to her, the elf sniffed a few times and rubbed her eyes that still had some tears. "D-Do you mean it?"

Bending down, she patted the young girl on her head and gave her a small smile. "Of course, why would I want to hurt such a cute little girl like you?"

A small blush escaped her cheeks as she returned her smile. She let go of her wincing right arm and showed it to Aisha who took out some bandages from her backpack. "Okay I'm sorry I was mean to you. It's just; we don't like being helped by humans"

Still bandaging her arm, Aisha was intrigued by the term "We" she had used. "What do you mean by we? Do you mean your family?"

She shook her head. "No, I meant elves in general. We aren't supposed to interact with humans at all, but our grandmother made an exception for Mistress"

"Mistress?"

The young girl's attitude seemed to change drastically as she began to talk about her idol. "Yea, she's the strongest elf ranger in our village! She's so cool and she's so pretty too, I want to be like her when I grow up"

"Well, I'm sure she's a wonderful person. I'd like to meet her someday, if that's okay with you?"

After she had finished bandaging her up, the little elf jumped up to her feet and hugged the bottom of Aisha's leg in gratitude. "Of course! As thanks for helping me, I'll introduce you to my village!"

She had just hit the jackpot. Aisha was already looking for the Village of elves in the first place, and now she was going to get an escort. Aisha warm fully smiled at the young girl and brought her pinkie out in front of her.

"It's a promise okay?"

Confused for a few seconds, the small elf brought her pinkie out as well and met with Aisha's pinkie.

"Yea!"

Walking for almost an hour now, the young elf finally reached the base of a tree that had a unique symbol on it. Was there something special about this tree?

"It's in here"

Without hesitation, the young elf walked straight into the tree, surprising Aisha in the process.

"*A secret hiding spot! So they use the same method of camouflage as the magicians eh? I'm impressed…"*

Peeking her head out of the tree, the elf stared blankly at the impressed magician and tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Coming?"

Regaining her senses, Aisha nodded her head proficiently and calmly stepped into the tree's base in front of her. The space around her began to shift and when she opened her eyes again, the scenery changed indifferently.

It was one of the most beautiful things she had ever laid her eyes upon. She was absolutely breathless at the surroundings that were revealed to her. She saw an endless field of white flowers that extended for miles. Beautiful trees that bloomed as quickly as the wind were planted into the ground and gave off an irresistible aroma. Enjoying this scenery, elves who looked almost identical to Rena danced around beautifully. Was this heaven? Aisha never knew such a world so different from theirs had existed. She had stories about it from Rena, but this completely transcended what her original belief was.

The soft and gentle emotions that began to envelope Aisha were soon tarnished by what happened next.

"Trespasser! A trespasser has infiltrated El Garden!"

Screams could be heard all around her, as it seemed to them Aisha was a demon in the form of a human. Why were they so against humans to this extent?

In a heartbeat, Aisha was surrounded by Elvin amazons who all pointed their sharp steel spears at her, followed by their glares so penetrating that it felt as if they were daggers. Aisha gulped a bit as she tried a way to defuse the situation before it got worse.

"W-Wait a second! I'm not an enemy!" she tried her best to plea with them.

Standing in front of her with her hands fully pointing out, the tiny bandaged elf child pouted her cheeks and glared at her family.

"Don't hurt her! She's my friend and a nice human!"

The Amazon warriors were quite puzzled by her unexpected reaction. "What are you saying Elvia! She's a human; you can't trust a word they say!" One of the women holding their spears reprimanded her.

"That's right! How dare you force Elvia to bring you here! You despicable human!" another cried.

Scrunching her eye brows, Aisha' tolerance for insults hit its limit and she was fed up with being called names for things she didn't even do.

"What did you call me!? You can't blame me for-"

Once again, their spears were only a few feet away from Aisha's startled face as she couldn't believe the defensiveness of the elves. They may have looked like Rena, but in terms of personality they couldn't be more far off.

What was she going to do? She was sure she could handle them if she used her advanced spells, but what would that accomplish? She was the one intruding on their territory, and it wouldn't be right to attack them when all they're doing is protecting it.

There was only one way they could come to trust her and Aisha had to deal with it. Surprising the elves, Aisha raised both her arms into the air looked them dead in the eye.

"If you won't trust me as a human, then take me as a prisoner."

Elvia was shocked to hear what she had said and pleaded with her to rethink what she was saying. "Don't do it Aisha! You're not a bad human, so you don't have to do that!"

The Amazons began to waver a bit as they were surprised at her sudden declaration. This human was different, even though she was dressed oddly; they could see she was harmless…mostly. Although this was what most of them thought, there was one Elf amazon who still didn't trust her.

"Don't falter! She's just tricking us so that we let our guard down!"

Turning their heads, a much bigger and intimidating Amazon appeared before her and unsheathed her sword at Aisha.

"I'm telling you the truth! I'm not trying to hurt you guys or any-

"Shut up human! You dare have the nerve to set foot in our village after what you did to us four years ago! Don't give me that crap!"

Four years ago? What was she talking about? This was Aisha's first time ever being *in* the village, so how could she have possibly done anything four years ago?.

"We'll never forget the damage you humans caused for our village because of the El Stone. We haven't forgotten and will always remember the suffering we endured because of your races greed!"

Aisha started to feel saddened by her claims as she knew that a bunch of stupid bandits stole the El Stone from the Elves, therefore weakening the power of the El Tree.

"You will have to pay for what you've done, now die!"

Lunging forward, the threatening Elf thrust her sword toward the staggering Aisha who couldn't react in time to reach her wand. Aisha had to watch as the sword closely enclosed in on her with each second, until it was only a few steps away from her still face.

Was this going to be it? She was going to be killed by some Elf girl who accused her of doing something her race did? This wasn't right! It wasn't fair! She needed someone to help! Help!

"Stop it Mizora!"

Immediately, the large Amazon stopped her forward movement at the last second, with drips of sweat dripping from her forehead as if she was under the sun itself. Aisha slowly began to open her eyes, wondering why she didn't feel the slightest pain from the attack.

"Don't attack humans so carelessly! Most of them are good people, can't you see that?"

Aisha's heart almost skipped a beat when she heard the all too familiar voice of an elf woman who slowly approached her behind the large group of elves. As her vision began to clear up, she took in the unforgettable face of her best friend, finally stopping at the centre of all the commotion.

"It's Mistress Rena!"