Strife

Resa's POV

We wasted no time departing from the hospital after Thalia gave her opinion. It was the second night in a row we were camping outside. The instructions provided to us had led us to a forest on the outskirts of Lis with only the four of us venturing out, Jai leaving her crew back in town with the hopes of them buying a new aircraft.

Using the sensory instincts of my earth magic to listen and carefully navigate through the terrain; I piggyback Reis on my back, Jai, and Leifa, who was carrying Thalia, following closely behind as I batted away dangling tree leaves and branches while the moonlight of a waxing crescent beamed down on us.

Cautiously moving around a bend in the road that leads to a shaky rope bridge hanging over an overpass. Stepping across one person a time, we arrive on the other side, a clear scenery with no trees, foliage, or rocks of any kind, but a single lone river with still no visual of the cabin.

Appalled at what greeted us, Leifa peered by my side, peeking at the paper, confused.

"Are you sure you led us step for step?"

"Yeah, word for word. It says travel straight for three hundred meters when we first arrive, avoid the pitfall in the middle and head west, tear through the trees, and head right around the bend until you come across a rope bridge and cross it to the other side. We did everything without mistake."

"It could all be a ploy. This idea was iffy from the start; what kind of doctor associated with a hospital would live in the middle of a forest? And let's not forget about the low survival rates and insane experiments we were warned of. Sounds like a place dealing in illegal experimentation; we shouldn't trust it."

"And I guess dealing with people who kidnap and possibly murder others isn't? As long as you can buy whatever looks pleasing for a few coins and use them as a pet, nothing else matters. You might be cooperating with us, but that doesn't mean I trust you."

"You call it cooperation; I call it looking out for my newest members. It's a job belonging to those with power, something I doubt you know anything about considering your role of being just; the help."

"Help. Yeah, I'm the help, but at least I have things I'm loyal to; individuals I've built a mutual bond of trust with! You can't say the same in the slightest because everyone in your crew is just more people you've bought from Tak!"

"You think their whispers about you escaped my ears why you were with master Reis in the junkyard? The only reason you're so obsessed with having them revived is because you're dependent on the help of others since you're too weak to accomplish anything in this world by yourself!

"YOU LITTLE BI-

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!"

"Too frightened to stop them thus far, Jai's and Leifa's heated argument was broken up by Thalia's scream cutting through their harsh words. Silence returned to the forest; I looked away shamefully, cursing under my breath for letting things spiral out of control and forcing Thalia to speak up where I couldn't.

My gaze continued to linger on the ground even as Jai shoved past us, shaking angrily, heading back the way we came.

"...Leifa."

"We don't need her, Thalia. Come on, let's continue, Resa."

"Continue where exactly? The paper doesn't go any further than this; if we get lost in there, there's no telling what could happen to Reis in the meantime!"

"I know that very well, but it's better to wander around the area with the possibility of finding something than head back and gain nothing. Besides, it's like they say, where water exists, so does life."

Leifa confidently said those words, pulling ahead, leaving me with little choice but to follow. Walking in tandem beside her, we eventually reach the river, our feet perfectly lining up with where it starts.

Instantly, the surroundings warp and change, and we find ourselves standing wide-eyed on the edge of a cliff overlooking a waterfall that empties into a vast water body. The moon had been replaced, transforming the night sky into day as birds sang overhead, beating their wings.

I looked back and forth in a stupor, unsure of what to make of the new situation, while Leifa covered her eyes, gazing at the sky opposite my reaction, calm and composed.

"Where...are we?"

"A Reality Sanction."

"A what?"

"It's essentially a separate world conjured using the castor's imagination as a food source. They can be as minuscule as a bubble or as vast as you wish them to be with no limit on their size. The area or feet crossed where the river began must have been linked with a teleportation spell to transport us here."

"I've never read anything described like this in the school's magic inventory."

"Because it's Class VIII level magic. Only beings who could be mistaken for gods have created anything like this."

"So, in other words, escape is impossible."

"Not unless you're of a higher magic class. However, this could be the place we're looking for. There's a path ahead of us, can you direct, Resa?"

"Maybe, give me a second."

Crouching down, I place my palms on the floor, sending vibrations through the rock out far and wide, concentrating for minutes, waiting patiently as nothing comes back to me.

"Sorry," I shake negatively at Leifa, rising to my feet gazing at the open path lying ahead.

"This Sanction spell or whatever, I'm not picking up anything inside it. Normally when I send vibrations through the earth, they pick up and record what lies above and below in the nearby radius and relay it back to me, creating a virtual map in my head of my search radius."

"I'm not getting such a thing now, though. It's dispersing my vibrations before they can map anything out. I can't even sense our place in this world."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means the three you best not waste any more time and get inside already... before my magic eats you alive."

With a booming voice coming through the clouds, all at once, everything seemed to stop around Leifa and me. The birds stopped mid-flap, the rushing water suspended in the air.

And then abruptly, a black magic sigil appeared before our eyes sucking everything towards it as the atmosphere turned dark and purple mist obscured the area.

We shield ourselves from the dangerous winds with our arms and dig our feet into the ground, resisting being swallowed as the sigil glows brighter, taking a bodily form before fading, returning everything to normal.

In its place, Leifa and I beheld a young woman no more than in her twenties gazing down at us with maroon eyes. Her umbra purple thigh-length hair blew gracefully behind her as she looked from us to quiet Thalia and finally unconscious Reis with an unreadable face.

Snapping her fingers, she levitated Reis into her arms, walking off without a care.

"W-Who are you?"

Leifa spoke up, shaking with fear in her voice as she tried to summon her trusty spear with trembling fingers. The figure kept walking, speaking to us without turning back.

"I'm the one whose voice your master has heard once before. You may call me..."

"Xiala."