Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah closed the door without gracing her with a response. He let several minutes pass, then opened it again. Moxie was gone. Noah turned back, grabbing his gourd from the bathroom before heading out.

He sought the map pillar out once again, scanning through the buildings when he reached it. If he recalled correctly –

Ah, there it is. Transport Cannon. That sounds like the least safe way to possibly get anywhere, but I’m sure it’s better than it appears.

The building in question was a tall tower at the edge of the main ring of campus buildings. Noah set off in its direction, and he spotted it long before he reached it. The tower loomed over its surroundings, made of thick metal beams and a winding stairwell open to the elements that led up to a small, enclosed lift. The lift ran the rest of the way up its center to a huge, cubical room at the top. A turret made of bronzed metal emerged from the top of the cannon, pointed skyward. It scraped through the clouds, only occasionally making itself fully visible to anyone below.

A small line stood in line at the base of the cannon when Noah arrived. One by one, a worker directed them up the stairwell. Noah fell in line behind the others. The line moved quickly, and he was at the front within a few minutes.

“Head on up,” the worker said, pushing a strand of black hair out of her face and yawning with boredom. “The operator is ready for you.”

“Thanks,” Noah said, starting up the stairwell. He slowed slightly as he ascended, getting his second view of the campus from above – and his first view of it when he wasn’t half dead. Arbitage was beautiful.

Massive trees, dozens of times thicker than anything he’d ever seen on earth, reached into the sky and dotted the campus. Their huge branches stretched over and through buildings, casting shade with multicolored leaves.

Winding paths ran throughout the campus, almost in an artistic pattern. As Noah stared at it, he realized the paths strongly resembled the flowing lines of runes.

“Keep it moving, please!” the worker called up at him from below.

Noah cleared his throat and tore his gaze away, hurrying up the rest of the stairs. He entered the lift, which was really just a metal grate cube, and the chains suspending it rattled to life.

It clunked up, quickly accelerating in speed, before finally rattling to a stop within the top of the tower. Papers and maps hung from every wall, and a flickering lantern hanging from the ceiling illuminated a wizened man sat behind a wooden desk and hunched over a book the thickness of Noah’s forearm.

Noah stepped out of the lift and it rattled down behind him. A trapdoor fell shut on the section of the floor it had come through with a loud bang, jerking the old man away from his book.

“Ah, professor,” he said, brushing out his white beard to reveal a nametag that read Tim. “Where can I send you today?”

It only took one look at the man and the surroundings to tell that the man probably loved his job. The corner of Noah’s lips quirked slightly.

Perfect.

“It’s been a while since I’ve used anything like this,” Noah said conversationally. “How exactly does it work? I’m fascinated.”

As he’d guessed, Tim’s eyes lit up. “Ah, you must be new to Arbitage. This is the Travel Anywhere In No Time tower. It’s the fastest way to get yourself transported to anywhere in the area surrounding Arbitage.”

“I see,” Noah said, glancing at the turret barrel. “Forgive my asking, but is it safe?”

“Far safer than any other option,” Tim said, jutting his chest out and thrusting a thumb into it. “I’ve traveled with it hundreds of times, and haven’t had a single issue once. Don’t know anyone that has, actually. Really, it’s marked on the map as a cannon, but it’s much more of a slingshot.”

“Oh?” Noah asked. “How so?”

Tim stepped out from behind the desk and walked over to the barrel of the turret, patting it like one would a pet. “This baby marks down your signature before it blasts your body into the astral plane and sends you to wherever you’re going. Then, after exactly twenty four hours have passed, it yanks you back. No chance of getting lost or anything.”

“That… sounds very safe,” Noah lied. “But only twenty four hours?”

Tim nodded. “Yeah, it’s a bit of a drawback for if you’re trying to do anything long term. I wouldn’t recommend it for excursions or long hunts, but it’s great if you’re just checking an area out for a class or simply looking for one specific thing. Much faster than flying out and back.”

“That’s a fair point.”

“As much as I’d love to talk, we do have a bit of a line below,” Tim said. “Where are you headed?”

Noah scanned the maps on the walls, coming to a stop on a section of burnt looking trees several blocks away from Arbitage. He swallowed. Nothing was going to get accomplished sitting around, though.

He pointed at the map. “Could you send me here?”

“The Scorched Acres? Sure thing,” Tim replied. He raised a hand and energy poured from his palm and into the tower. The turret rumbled, then rotated to point several degrees lower and a bit to the right. “Just slide yourself into the tube and I’ll get you going.”

“Anything else I should know?” Noah asked, approaching the turret and examining it suspiciously.

“Nope. Get in there! You’ll love it.”

Noah wasn’t quite so sure, but he needed to do something. If he just sat around reading books and trying to figure out everything that was going on, he’d be locked up for years – and he was getting the feeling that he didn’t have that much time to lose. Noah climbed into the turret and laid flat on his back against the cold metal.

“What now?”

“You squeeze,” Tim said with a wry chuckle.

There was loud whirr.

The world exploded.