Blade of Ruin- Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol 3

Episode 98: Search for Family

*Isabel*

[Earlier]

After leaving Darian to fight the Hiearchian, I went to the marsh to look for signs of my cousin. The edge of it opposite of the city was around where I'd felt Iah's presence earlier. Or at least one like it. Though, considering how much time it took me to get here, it was possible he was long gone.

My eyes darted upward as a giant pillar of wind tore through the sky. What was that? It then hit me, this power, it was akin to that of the ogre-like man Lithdia was with. It was also the same one I felt clashing against Iah's earlier.

"Iah!" I yelled, running forward. Had he been fighting that guy for this long? Or had he gotten away only to be rediscovered?

I spread my feather covered arms out and jumped into one of the tree tops to get a better view. The pillar of wind seemed to extend well into the heavens. Moments before the pillar formed, I'd felt something like Iah's prana from that direction, but it was different. As if it'd been polluted. Could that have been the effect of the abysmal sword he took up?

Hold on, Cuz. I'm coming!

"Huh? Isabel?" a voice called out. I looked over my shoulder and saw a pair of familiar faces. One was a girl with blue eyes wearing black fabric armor with some plating on the shoulders and hips. The other was a silver-eyed boy with golden-rod hair dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans with a belt on his hips.

"Thalia, Ryan!" I yelled, smiling.

"Hey! Look out!" Thalia yelled.

I looked ahead and saw a tree. I kicked my feet against it, causing it to snap. The top crashed to the ground in a loud thud.

Thalia lowered her head and sighed. "Even in her own world, she's a klutz."

I hung my head low. She was right, I kept messing up.

Ryan sighed. "It's alright, Isa. You didn't mean it."

"Yeah, hence why I called her klutz rather than a wrecking ball. That said, she's nowhere as bad as Olivia."

Ryan shook his head. "Thalia..."

I smiled. "It's alright, Ryan. I understand what she's trying to say."

My friend closed her eyes and jumped to another tree. How she managed to move so easily in this kind of environment with those stilettoes of hers, I had no idea. More shocking was that they weren't very muddy. Had they gone around the marsh?

"Anyway,  where were you heading to in such a hurry?" Thalia asked, looking over her shoulder.

I turned my attention back to the sky. The pillar of wind had vanished. "I was looking for my cousin."

"Iah? He's here too? But this place is a war zone," Ryan said.

I smiled and laughed dryly. "Yeah. Uncle said he ran away from home. Guess this is a good place to hide. No one would expect him to come here of all places. That said, why are you two doing here? It's extremely dangerous!"

"We came in search for some water," Thalia said, jumping to the next tree.

I followed after her. "Water?"

She nodded. "Yeah, a mystical water. Said to have healing properties. It's one of the ingredients that Xuan said we need to restore our world."

"Are he and the others here too?"

"Yeah," Ryan answered for her. "Alex said he was heading over too."

"Huh? Why? He should be on vacation," I said. Out of all of us, he should be back home, with his family.