The following morning, Isaac and crew started their journey to hunt down some Pegasus in the mountains. On their way there, they gotten close to a local town. Just as they were about to make their way around the town, a load explosion could be heard from the center of town. White smoke vapor could be seen rising into the sky.
Without a second thought, Isaac rushed into the town. He was surprisingly fast, but not fast enough to lose his companions.
"Isaac! Wait! This could be a attack from the King's men! If so, then we can't afford them reporting your presence back to the king!" Mary shouted.
But Isaac wasn't having any of that. He may be no longer human but he still considers himself a paladin. And it's against the Paladin code to ignore the chance of saving innocent lives. Doing so will cost anyone their title as paladin and Isaac has no plans of returning home as a fallen paladin.
The town looks no different from Mary's village except it is much more bigger and has more wide open space. Isaac could have compared the town to a old western town if he ever lived during those times.
When Isaac reached the source of the explosion, he found the crater of a blown up house in the middle of town. But there was no signs of the king's men or anyone who could have blown up the building. Instead, there were white hooded cloud women running out of the smoking crater.
Isaac approached one of the cloud women and asked her what's going on. "The boss blew up our Head Quarters again!"
Isaac was only able to let out a confused, "Again?" before the hooded girl ran off.
Before Isaac could chase down after the hooded cloud woman, another cloud woman emerged from the center of the crater.
"Eureka! I have proven that Air and Fire aren't the same thing!" The cloud woman looks like a young librarian with glasses. Her white hair is even made into a cute bun fit for a librarian. She also looks like she is in her teen hood. Though Isaac has the sinking feeling that she is more older then she looks. She also seems to be wearing a white robe just like the other girls. Isaac can't quite put his finger on it, but she seems very familiar...
"At the expense at our club hou- er, I mean headquarters! How many times do we need to rebuild the Head Quarters to learn magic?!" A nearby hooded cloud woman shouted.
"Magic!?" Isaac said to himself. Magic involves borrowing the laws of physics from other worlds. Isaac didn't think that residents of the cloud kingdom would know magic. But then again, he knows very little about this world.
The cloud woman with glasses gave a "please forgive me" face. "Er, Learning Magic is a lot more complicated then it looks. It involves taking laws from other worlds and bringing them to our own. It's not as easy as you think. How would I have known that particular spell would blow up our club house?"
"WE know how complicated magic is! We also know that you been trying that same exact spell over and over again! Every time you try it, the same thing happens! The HQ blows up! And every single time, we have to rebuild it! Why don't you give up on that spell and try another one already! We're tired of you trying to figure out magic by yourself! When is that human sorcerer going to return?!"
"Human sorcerer!" Isaac yelled in surprise. Is it possible that someone from his world ended up in this world?
"Alright, first and foremost, I'm trying to master the fire and Air fusion spell because I want to learn it! HE did it, so why can't I?!"
While the girl was talking, Isaac walked up to the librarian looking girl. "Tell me! Who is this human sorcerer!?"
The girl seemed unfazed by Isaac's sudden outburst. "Are you from another world? I can tell because you're not made of water and air like the others. Am I smart or what?" The girl seems proud of herself.
"Calm down! What do they mean by human sorcerer?" How ironic that Isaac seems to be to one that's not calming down. The girl seems pretty chill.
"You don't know? A few months ago, a human sorcerer came along and scared away the king's men! They never came back since!" The librarian girl replied.
Another girl was quick to add on to that thought. "He was so cool! He scared them off with his fire magic! He threatened to evaporate them with his powers!" Another girl piped in. "Too bad he isn't here now. Ever since he left the town a few months ago, it's been getting harder and harder to pretend that he is still here. Eventually, the King's men will find out! What will we do if they attack us with the air dragon!" The little hooded girl was on the verge of tears.
From what Isaac and assume, all the white hooded girls are part of a novice magic group. Isaac has soon a few of those back home. And the nerdy librarian looking girl must be their leader.
"Don't worry! Big sister Nathan is on the job! I'll make sure no one will know that he left town!" Librarian girl Nathan proudly announced.
...Nathan?!
"Wait a minute! YOU"RE Nathan!?"
Nathan was Isaac's best friend from back home. He and Isaac trained each other. Isaac would teach Nathan a little bit of his Paladin training and Nathan would share Isaac a little bit of his sorcery training. That's why Isaac knows a little more magic then most paladins. However, just a few months before Isaac embarked on his quest, He and team of sorcerers were sent by the magic institute into these depths to study the magic within the crypt. He hasn't heard of him since. Part of the reason for Isaac to embark on his quest was to hopefully rescue Nathan if he was still alive. And now a girl who looks and acts very similarly like Nathan appears before him. What if she is Nathan? With all the things Isaac has seen with in the Crypt, it's not too much of a stretch for Nathan to be corrupted into a cloud girl. He also recalls Ilvir not remembering who he was when he was a were wolf. What makes this any different. But Isaac can't risk abduct a innocent cloud girl if she turns out to not be Isaac's Nathan. The only way to know for sure is to ask.
"Yes....?" She doesn't like were this is going.
"Tell me! Are REALLY Nathan!?"
"Yes! I already told you that!"
"Tell me. Do you recognize me?"
"No. Why Should I?"
She doesn't recognize him!? Maybe she really is not the Nathan from back home...If Nathan has lost his memories, then there is no way Isaac can confirm she is the real Nathan... Well, there might be one thing. During a playful sparing session, Isaac accidentally scared Nathan's back. A sword gash can be seen from Nathan's right shoulder to his left hip. It's a hunch, but maybe the corruption can't get rid of physical scars? If so, then this girl should have the same scar if she is the real Nathan.
Isaac then grabbed "Nathan" and took off her robe and shirt off, with the girl still squirming.
"He-hey! What are you doing?! HELP! This guy is trying to rape me!"
When Isaac first saw the scar on the girl's back, he was exited to find that is was a slash mark just like Nathan's. But upon further inspection, it seems the mark is in reverse. Instead of going from left hip to right shoulder, the scar goes from the right hip to her left shoulder. Isaac knew the corruption can do a lot of thing, but he's not sure it can change the position of a scar. It seems Isaac has striped this girl for nothing. This girl might still be Nathan, but it's probably best to put the subject to rest for now.
"You're not him..." Isaac said grimly.
Before he could let go of the female Nathan, someone tackled him away from her.
The female Nathan was dusting herself off. "That was rude! Can't you tell I'm not a guy! Could you at least TELL me what you're doing?!"
That was when female Nathan noticed it was Mary who tackled Isaac to the ground. "Oh, hey Isa. Play knight in shining armor again?"
Mary responded with gritted teeth. "The name's Mary, Nat."
A imaginary sweat drop has formed on female Nathan's head "Oh, right. Hey Mary. Long time no see."
Mary got off of Isaac. "It's only been a few months Nat. I'm just glad you're safe."
Isaac dusted himself off as he got off from the ground. "Sorry. I thought you were someone else. How do you know Mary?"
Nathan, or "Nat" as Marry called her, gave a cheeky smile. "Mary used to visit me all the time when we were younger. She would teach me how to fence and I would tell her about the Mysteries of Magic. Of course, that was before the human Nathan apeared and proved that magic was real."
That's seems eerily similar to his childhood relationship with Nathan. Wait... Human Nathan?!
"W-wait! Are you talking about the human sorcerer?!" Isaac said over enthusiastically.
Nat gave a perky nod.
"Tell me! Did he has a scar on his back!" Isaac practically shouted.
Nat was getting irritated. "How would I suppose to know! It's not like he would take off his cloths in front of other people!" The spectators were giving *tsk, tsk* noises. "Look. If you're talking about other Nathan, then I don't know! He Left Town a few months ago!"
Other Nathan?..."You've been referring yourself and the human sorcerer as 'Nathan". Do you two have the same name or are you the same person?"
Nat seems offended by that. "Just because he and I have the same names doesn't mean we're the same person."
Isaac bowed his head in shame. "My apologizes. It's just that 'Nathan' seems a little masculine for a woman."
Nat doesn't seems to be offended by that. "For the last time, my name is Nathan too! But you can call me Nat. That's what everyone calls me.Oh, and I have a man's name because my parents thought giving me a masculine name will make me intelligent. That and the doctor mistook me as a boy."
That wasn't too different from Nathan's story. He was almost named Natiline because of how feminine he looked as a infant.
This turn of events got Isaac thinking. Mary and Nat are childhood friends just like how he and Nathan were childhood friends. Nat even called Mary, 'Isa', a nickname that is strangely similar to his own name. Isaac remembered Nathan mentioning something about how other worlds may have residents who are very similar to the people in the human world. He called people who are very similar but lived in different worlds as "Alternate World Counter Parts". It's possible that Nat is Nathan's cloud kingdom counterpart and Mary is his counterpart. But that's all just speculation for now. For now, there are more important things to know.
"Can you tell me what you mean by trying to convince the Kings men that the human is still here?" Isaac asked Nat.
"Oh. He first arrived to our town about a year ago. He said something about portals. Anyways, after he stopped the king's men from harassing us, he sorta became the the towns guardian! He said he'll stay so as long he has a place to study. The town mayor was so overjoyed that he gave him the deed to a abandon house! I even became Nathan's magical apprentice! He taught magic to anyone who was willing to learn. We didn't know it at the time but he was training us on defending the town for when he leaves. He said that he detected a "portal" somewhere nearby the King's castle but it was unstable. As soon as he detected it, he told us to protect the town and left.We never saw him since. Soon afterwards, we began hearing rumors that that Sky King recently got him self a new air dragon. That was 6 months ago."
The white robed girls surrounding the group all shared sad expressions.
"And ever since then, I have been pretending to be Nathan in order to keep the king's men away. It helps that my voice sounds just like him when I try and my magic, though not as powerful, is very similar to his!"
Interesting.
"But boss! What if the King's men finds out you're not the human sorcerer! They'll send the Air Dragon after us!" A hooded girl asked.
"Yeah boss! Have you noticed the King's men has been less and less afraid of you after every encounter? I think they're catching on!" Another girl added.
Nat puffed out her chest. "Don't Worry! So as long as I have fire magic, we'll be totally sa-"
"AHHHHHHHHH"
Shouting and screaming could be heard from the far end of town. Before anyone could react, a fat cloud man in a white top hat ran up to Nat.
"Mayor! What's going on!" Nat asked the fat man.
"Oh Nat! The king's men knew Nathan was gone since he left! I have been secretly paying the king's men the taxes. They only tolerated you're harassment because they knew you didn't know of our deal."
The shock silenced everyone who heard the confession."
"What..." That wasn't a question. That was Nat's steely cold anger about to burst. "You mean... that YOU SOLD US OUT EVER SINCE NATHAN LEFT!!!!"
Before Nat could strangle the Mayor, he quickly responded. "P-please Nat! You're the strongest Magic user we have. I failed to pay the taxes yesterday and now the Air Dragon is attacking the town! Please forgive me!"
Nat spared no response. She and her white hooded followers quickly ran toward the destruction.
The only ones left was Isaac, Ilivir, and Mary. The Mayor ran off to hide.
Marry was in complete warrior mode now. So she cut straight to the chase. "We can't afford to let the king's men to see us."
Ilivir was also ready for a fight. "What's the plan Isaac?"