Tears flowed down Nat's face.
She finally found someone other then Nathan she can trust to be her teacher and now he's going to die because of her!
Nat said that she will carry her own weight when she decided to travel with Isaac and Marry but she can't even do that!
She's so pathetic. Nathan left to look for a portal back to his home world before he got around to teaching Nat any of the more complicated spells.
She tried teaching herself by conducting magical experiments, like that time she tried to combine her wind and fire spells, but most of the time, her experiments resulted in blowing up the magic user's club house.
But now more then ever, she realized just how weak she is.
She always admired how Nathan would use his magic to chase away the king's men. Especially when he used his fire magic. He's just so strong! And so is Isaac. She wants to be strong just like them, but she needs a teacher to make her stronger.
She only knows basic spells and her battle with the king's air dragon taught her that's not enough. Why can't can't someone make her stronger!
The pen in her pocket glowed a deep light blue.
'What would Nathan do?' A unknown voice said.
"Who said that!" Nat said out loud.
"Don't worry your pretty little head. No one was talking to you. Just shut up and look pretty.” The thug holding Nat responded.
He was currently removing Nat's cloak while grabbing her ass.
When he removed her cloak, he was surprised to find how... boyish... she looks. No. Boyish is not the right word. Gender ambiguous is more precise. She still has a slight hour glass figure to define her as a woman, but it's barely noticeable. It's hard to classify her as anything. She’s too old to look like a kid but she also looks to kiddish to be considered a woman. Yet, she looks to... babyish to be considered a teenager. The same can be said about her gender. She has the ass and curves to barely define her as a female, but she's also completely flat. Not even a A cup. Her features are so ambiguous that it's hard to distinguish her as a boy or a girl, much less distinguish her as a child or a teenager. The only thing that gives people the hint that she is a girl is by her voice. But even that sounds like a young boy's voice. No wonder this person wears a cloak all the time! She's trying to hide her confusing figure!
Any excitement the thug had completely disappeared. This girl is not even wearing a bra. But a mugging session is still a mugging session. He'll just disrobe her just like any girl he mugs. Start with the bra and work his way down. He always remove the undergarments last, if only to get his way with her. But he has the sinking feeling that he's going to be disappointed big time when he does remove her undergarments.
Nat needs to think fast. If he finds out that she hasn't developed her sexual organs, she's done for! Think Nat, think!
What did that voice said?
'What would Nathan do?' It had said.
What would Nathan do? Well...
She thought back to what Isaac said a few minutes ago. "I mean Nathan the human sorcerer could do more then just shoot fireballs at trees. He would explore different methods of using his magic." Isaac had said.
Nat thought back to all those times the human Nathan defended the town. Isaac mentioned that her use of magic wasn't very creative. Thinking back, Nat realized that Nathan never used the same method of dealing with the king’s men twice. He used his fire magic to scare away the men, but he also did other things like casting a thick fog over the town to hide it from wild animals. There was another time were he casted a powerful barrier around the town to protect if from a nasty lighting storm. Speaking of lighting, Nathan once shot a lightning spell into the ground when his detection spells caught the king's men trying to dig under the town. Now that she's thinking about it, Nathan always thinks outside the box. His unpredictable fighting style was the main reason the king’s men wasn't able to touch Pegasus Shoe Town!
Nat thought back to how she defended her hometown. It was always the same tactic over and over again. Just shoot fire balls until the intruders go away. She used sheer power and intimidation (and her love for fireball spells) to drive away intruders. But that eventually backfired when the king's men out smarted her by making deals with the town mayor behind her back. Nathan's methods kept the king's men from even entering and interacting with the town. Nat on the other hand is only one person, and the king's men only had to send a group to a unprotected side of the town to make deals with the mayor. How can she be so stupid! She had a whole club of magic users to rely on! If she took protecting the town seriously, she would had her fellow magic club members patrol the town 24/7!
But that doesn't mean she’s completely uncreative. After all, she did tried all those crazy experiments in order to create new spells.
She just doesn't plan ahead very often. Scratch that, she rarely plans at all. She just goes with the flow and don't think about all the possible variables. It's like chess. She didn't think about the possible moves available to her opponents. On the flip side, she also didn't think about the possible moves available to her. She kept using the same elemental ball tactic every time. But what if she used her spells... in a different way? Something other then shooting the enimeis?
She was a little surprised to find herself so clear headed during such a desperate situation. But it helped her come up with a plan in a few short seconds. She thought about when Isaac casted a fireball spell inside a cloud tree and how he explained that those are the kinds of creative tactics Nahan would use.
Nathan thought about her position. She's currently standing upright while the thug behind her takes her clothes off piece by piece. Her hands and legs are completely free, but with a air razor (cloud handgun) placed against her head or any other vital organ, been able to move wouldn't mater. One wrong move and the thug will end her life at a moment's notice.
Right now her arms are straight with her hands facing the ground. Perhaps she can use that position to her advantage? If she can't shoot anyone... then maybe she can make an explosion by shooting the ground? At least that will get that thug away from her. That way, Isaac doesn't need to worry about Nat being taken as hostage.
Breath in... Breath out...
One of the quickest and most instantaneous spells she has is the fireball spell. She doesn't even need to shout out the spell's name so as long it's said at all.
She silently channeled a fireball spell in each hand. A small ball of flame appeared in both of her hands. She needs a few seconds to channel two fire ball spells at once. Hopefully, the thug currently striping her doesn't notice-
"Hey lady. What's that in your hands?" Nat could practically feel the thug's trigger finger get tighter.
"Hey bandit! The one holding my friend hostage!" Isaac shouted. He recognized what Nat was doing pretty quickly.
The thug holding Nat hostage foolishly turned his attention towards Isaac.
A devilish smile was plastered all over Isaac's face.
"Burn, bastard!"
The spells were charged up… but for a brief second...Nat hesitated. She was scared. This is one of her more riskier plans. The fireballs's impact with the ground might kill her… but then again, she'll die anyways by that thug’s gun.
Nat let out a brave smile. She survived worse explosions.
Nat whispered "Ignira..."
"Oh shoot!" The thug exclaimed.
Two fireballs fired simultaneously from Nat's hands...
...and simultaneously struck the ground around Nat and the thug...
*BOOOOM*
...knocking both Nat and the Thug into the air.
That blast is strong... too strong...too hot...she’s fading...
But before she lost consciousness, she thought about the mysterious voice who asked her what would Nathan do...Who was that and why was she the only one to hear it?...
...
Isaac took advantage of the moment of hesitation Nat's explosion caused and did something he hasn't done in a long time...
His body opened up, revealing all of Isaac's disturbing insides. His breathing heart, his rib cage, his lungs, along with all the plant fiber, ice, fiery gas and everything else that made up his body. Not to mention any items he might be storing in there...
The image was nightmarish and it triggered the fight or flight mechanism in every bandit in the area, including the bandit holding Nat hostage. All the bandits in the area ran away screaming.
...Isaac found a way to win without fighting.
'What the hell were you thinking?! Why didn't you assimilate them and make their power yours?! Their essence could have made you lighter! Or better yet, why didn't you make them your spawns?! You need minions to get stronger!' Dark Isaac demanded.
Isaac let out a tired sigh.
'‘It's true that I want to get stronger. That air dragon beat me after all. If I want to continue my journey, I have to expect that there are others out there stronger them me. But I also want to explore other ways of getting stronger. A way that doesn’t involve stealing souls and power from others. Winning without fighting is one way of doing that. It's the paladin way of getting stronger. Stealing power from others... that's how dark knights get stronger.'
'What's wrong with using the dark knight's method of getting stronger?' Dark Isaac asked. He was actually curious as to what his other self's answer would be.
'If you are really a part of me, then you should remember all those history books I read. You know the ones. The books about the history of the Paladins. Once upon of time, there no such thing as magic and corruption. None of it existed. During that time, there were knights roaming about serving their lords. Chivalry was talked about but wasn't really practiced during those dark times. As a result, knights were no better then mercenaries. When Magic and Corruption was introduced into the world, those moral-less knights became known as Dark Knights. They would use magic and corruption to their advantage and terrorize the people. From what I read, it seems that there was even a war waged against them. Finally, after many generations, the last dark knight died, and in his place was the first regime of Paladins. The people was tired of the misuse of corruption, so the king of that time put together the first regime of paladins to combat the corruption. I'm part of the latest generation od paladins, many generations after the first regime of paladins were formed.'
Dark Isaac was getting bored. He does have all of Isaac's memories. All of that is old news to him. Ilvir on the other hand was strangely silent during the history lesson...
'And your point?' Dark Isaac inquired.
'I want to uphold the paladin's duty to defend the world from corruption. Too many people has lost their identity and sense of being to the corruption and those who misuse magic. To me... Having your very being rewritten into someone else is the same as death. That kind of power shouldn't belong on the material plane. From what I heard, Dark Knights only care about themselves. They would bring ruin to my world. I don't want to become that.' Isaac explained.
'That sounds pretty hypercritical coming from you. Didn't you enjoyed absorbing other creature's power when you were in the crypt?' Dark Isaac asked.
'Yes... and now that I know their souls are trapped in my body... I can't forgive myself for the crime I committed. Monster or not, they still have identities... Lives they used to live... Possibly even loved ones of their own to go back to. Absorbing sentient creatures results in taking away their body and freedom. Doing that just to gain their power makes me no better then a dark knight. It's thrue that I want to get stronger to defeat the Sky King and his air dragon, but I rather get stronger by another means. If that enchanted knife I found can absorb corruption, I wonder what a item that absorbs purity would do? The glowing white metal Halo of purity seems to be the color opposite from my dark armor. Perhaps our halo of purity can absorb purity? If that's the case, I want to see if that's a better alternative then absorbing coupon. But then again, perhaps the Halo's function is to transfer corruption out of my body. I need to experiment with the Halo of Purity to see what possible secrets it may possess. That's one way of getting stronger. I need to explore and discover other ways of getting stronger that doesn't involve harming others.' Isaac mentally clarified.
Dark Isaac found himself intrigued by Isaac's logic. He's surprised that they both share the desire to get stronger. He thought that Isaac was too 'goodie two shoes' to desire power. But he does agree that Isaac needs to get stronger in order to survive. "Is using dark knight techniques really that bad? Why not master being a paladin AND a dark knight? You know... be the best of both worlds. Perhaps you will be known as the first dark paladin? Mary had the right idea. She trained in more then one fighting style like royal fencing and assassination. And who knows what else the village elder taught her. I'm not telling you to stop being a paladin. I'm suggesting you become a more versatile fighter. Training in more then one fighting style is a way of getting stronger, right?' Dark Isaac suggested.
Isaac was surprised by Dark Isaac's suggestion. There doesn't seem to be ill will in Dark Isaac's words. And it is a good point.
'I thought you were my evil half.' Isaac said.
Dark Isac scoffed at the accusation. 'I'm your shadow. Your hidden desires, The emotion you want to keep bottled up. That thirst for power you had at the crypt is a part of you and me. But that doesn't make me heartless. I'm just as heartless as you.'
Isaac smiled.
Dark Isaac's explanation as to what he is, is getting less and less consistent. He said that he was a part of Azaziel, then he said he's a part of every soul Isaac captured, and now he's saying he's Isaac's dark emotions and thoughts. He keeps giving Isaac a different explanation as to what he is. Isaac is starting to suspect that Dark Isaac really doesn't know what he is. But then again... Dark Isaac did mention that he doesn't remember his origin... Either way, it seems that Dark Isaac cares about Isaac... at least a little bit. That's a side of Dark Isaac, Isaac didn't expect to see.
It seems that Ilivir wanted to change the topic. 'Weren't you going to save that cloud brat? It's a paladin's duty to protect the innocent. She's been lying on the ground while you two were talking.' Illivir was back to his arrogant self.
Isaac's eye's lit up.
Nat!
Is she okay?
Isaac ran up to Nat. She was laying unconscious on the ground but still breathing. Steam was rising from some parts of her body. It looks like she was badly burnt. Or at least as burnt as a cloud person can get.
Isaac may not know much about cloud anatomy, but even he can tell that's she's injured.
Isaac lifted Nat's body on to his shoulder.
"Let's head back to Mary. She should have some first aid made to help cloud people." Isaac said out loud.
*KA-CRASH*
Lighting sounded overhead. It seems that the storm from last night has decided to make a encore. Dark clouds filed with electricity floated overhead.
It started heavily raining again, quickly soaking Isaac's material body again.
Isaac has a bad feeling about this. It's almost like the storm's return is a bad omen.
If those bandits are in the area, then Mary might not be safe either.
Isaac made a point to reequip his dark armor and store the oracle hand mirror and Nat’s clothes in his body storage. Right now, Nat is only wearing her panties, and Isaac doesn't have time to redress her. He doesn't want her to catch a cold from the rain so he reluctantly decided to put her in his body storage for now to protect her naked body from the rain. He just needs to be careful not to crush her while she's in his body. As he looked inside his body, he was surprised to see the Lexicon still inside his body storage. With everything going on, he honestly forgotten about it. Perhaps the Lexicon has some information on the cloud plane and possible methods of getting stronger with the need to absorb corruption.
But that can wait till later. Mary might be in danger of bandits. Isaac closed up his body as he ran back to the camp site on the front porch of the mansion with Nat and the baby air dragon (still sucking his cocks) in toll.
Hopefully, Isaac's not too late.