Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah busied himself by playing with his Rune. He’d already lit the Flashgrass on fire, so there was no reason to waste the smoke. From what he could tell, he still had good control over Ash, likely due to the pyroclastic aspect of the Rank 2 Rune.

However, his control over wind with it was nearly nonexistent. His only remaining wind magic was from the Greater Wind Rune. He made a few low pitched, trilling notes by whistling, then warped them. The air heated around him as he played with the sound they made, as dissonant as it was.

Definitely vibration in that. I wonder if it works just as well as a Vibration Rune, though.

Noah pressed his hand to the ground and sent a small pulse of energy out into it. The dirt beneath him whumped, bouncing up in a circle around him like water on the surface of a submerged speaker. Noah grinned and raised his hand.

Good. I’ve still got access to most of my magic, then. I’ll have to figure out what else I can actually do by combining the ash and sound, then.

Noah wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he looked up, tearing away from his thoughts as he heard the sound of leaves crunching around the edge of a nearby shrub. Lee and Moxie stepped out from behind it. Moxie’s face had a bright red imprint of a fist on it.

“I see you’ve come to an agreement.”

“Not really,” Moxie said.

“Yep,” Lee said.

They glanced at each other.

Moxie chewed her lip. “I’m still thinking stuff over, but I may have been acting a little too rashly. I heard Lee out.”

“Ah. Good,” Noah said. He rose to his feet, brushing the dirt off his pants. “I was starting to get bored. I’m glad to hear that we’ve gotten things fixed up. It’s about time I go find my students and see what their thoughts are.”

“Do they know?” Moxie asked as Noah turned to head out of the garden.

He paused and glanced back at her. “They don’t know a lot of things. That’s why they’re students. It is my job to evaluate challenges and make sure that they only face what they’re ready to handle. So long as they don’t go trying to kill anyone they shouldn’t be, I reckon everything will be fine – up until the Linwick estate, at least. That still needs some thinking.”

Moxie cleared her throat. “I already spoke to Emily about things and she’s more than willing to get some more training in, especially since you promised to give a proper demonstration of those aggressive training techniques you use.”

“Good to hear. In that case, I’m heading out.”

“I can find Brayden and make sure you meet him before he wanders off somewhere,” Lee offered.

“That would be greatly appreciated,” Noah said. “Thank you. And don’t forget compiling that info about demons I asked you for.”

Lee just nodded. She hopped, grabbing onto a low hanging branch, and swung herself over the tall shrubbery, vanishing behind it. Moxie’s eyes traced her through the air.

“Not having second thoughts, I hope.”

“No,” Moxie replied, walking with Noah as he headed out of the garden. “Nothing like that. At least, not about Lee.”

Noah raised an eyebrow, but Moxie didn’t expand on her words. She looked lost in thought as they emerged onto a cobbled path and continued onward toward the G building. They walked in silence for a few moments before Noah broke it with a question that had been building ever since he’d combined his Runes.

“Why does the first Rune combination matter so much?”

Moxie glanced over at him, pulled from her mind. “What?”

“You know, with Lesser and Greater Runes. There was so much importance put on it and making sure that the combination was good, but in the end, you’re still a Rank 2 mage. Couldn’t you just break the combined rune if it was bad? It’s not like you lose Rank 2 status, so you could just replace it with a different Rank 2 Rune.”

“There are some people that do that,” Moxie said. They both stopped talking for a moment as they passed by a group of other professors. Once they were gone, Moxie continued. “But it’s dangerous. When you combine a Rune, you’re binding it together with energy from your soul. That makes it very closely integrated to you. If you shatter it, your soul takes some severe damage – and it can last for years or even be permanent. There’s a chance the effects won't be too bad and you’ll get away with it, but I’d rather not gamble with my future with such poor odds.”

“I see,” Noah said slowly. “But what about–”

“Imbuing it?” Moxie asked with a wry smile. “You aren’t the first to think of that. Fully imbuing a bad rune would probably have better chances, but you’d still be completely giving away part of your soul. That’s not going to be pretty.”

I suppose that makes sense. I wonder just how bad the damage would be, though. Is my own soul recovering faster than it should be for some reason, or have I just not taken truly bad soul damage yet?

“One more question in this vein. If people can fully Imbue Runes, what stops large families from just farming them? You know, force some poor sap to donate his Rune and give the whole thing to someone else.”

Moxie’s face darkened. “Some do, but nobody would dare admit to it in public. That goes strictly against the treaties that were established after the war between the Bastions. Also, it isn’t proven, but a lot of people believe that if you fill your Runes yourself, you have a much better control over them than anyone who just picked up a full one. And none of that even mentions the price.”

“Price?”

“Catchpaper isn’t all made the same. No material is. Containing Runic energy is not easy. The Catchpaper I gave you could handle up to one full Rank 1 Rune. If you want something that can handle a full Rank 2 Rune, you’re going to need to shell out a lot more gold. The higher up you go, the better material you need. It goes the same way for Imbued items. It’s why good Shields are so expensive, and Shields are the most basic items on the market. Core, but basic.”

Noah blew a raspberry and shook his head. “Makes sense. Good stuff doesn’t come cheap. Damn. I was hoping.”

“Hoping for what?” Moxie asked as they drew up to the front of the G building. “Were you going to look into Imbuing things more? You skipped those lessons with Lee, so I figured you weren’t interested in it.”

“I was tied up in extenuating circumstances.” Noah cleared his throat in embarrassment. “I assure you that I’m very interested in just about everything we can do with Runes. Speaking of money, actually, just about how much would Slasher claws and other bits sell for? I’ve got a bit of a collection.”

“It depends who you sell them to. They wouldn’t be worth all that much here since we’re right next to the Scorched Acres, but you might get a decent price if you try to sell them near the Linwick Estate.”

“Good point. I suppose I’ll lug them with me,” Noah said.

They reached his classroom in the center of the building and stepped inside. Isabel and Todd were both already there, waiting. Two leather bags sat on the tables behind them.

“We’ll go,” Isabel said before Noah could even speak.

“Ah. Well, that was fast. Any questions?”

“Are you going to be able to give us any more answers safely?” Todd asked. “You didn’t want a Rune Oath last time, but this feels pretty important. Are you sure you don’t want one?”

“He probably doesn’t want his soul scarred when you burn your own head off with a fireball,” Isabel said with a laugh. She grabbed a bag off the table and tossed it to Todd before picking up her own. “We’re ready to leave.”

“Maybe I should go get Emily,” Moxie said. “I thought this would take a bit longer.”

“What can I say?” Noah asked. “I’m very efficient. Maybe its rubbing off on Isabel and Todd. Let’s get going. The only step left is to convince Brayden that this is a good idea, and I’m going to need to speak to him privately for that.”

“Are you going to threaten him or something?” Todd asked as the group headed out of the classroom.

“Of course not. I don’t think I’d last very long in a fight against him,” Noah said with a laugh. “No, I’ve got other methods. I can be very convincing. Moxie, could you and the kids meet me at the base of the transport cannon once you’ve gathered Emily? I’m going to branch off to meet Lee.”

Moxie shrugged. “That’s no problem with me. Just try not to piss off anyone too important.”

“No promises,” Noah muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

***

Brayden and Lee were both in Noah’s room when he got back. Lee had perched herself on top of a stack of papers that she’d moved on top of his desk, and Brayden was sitting on the barrel of rum that Noah had bought the previous night. Once Noah arrived, Lee hopped down and slipped out the door behind him, pulling it shut.

“You took your sweet time,” Brayden said through a yawn. “I’ve got work to do, Vermil. Last night was nice, but I can’t slack off all day.”

“Of course. I understand. I only asked you to speak with me again because this is about work.”

Brayden tilted his head to the side. “About work? The Hellreaver?”

“Related to it,” Noah said. He glanced over his shoulder. Brayden took the hint and summoned his Shield, sending purple light washing over the room.

“You can speak freely,” Brayden said. “What is it? Do you know something?”

“I’d say it’s more than just something,” Noah replied. “You asked me what I was doing. If everything was going according to plan.”

Brayden nodded slowly, not sure where Noah’s angle was. “Yes. Father was impatient. There’s only so much time we have to work with. But you assured me there was nothing to worry about.”

“There isn’t,” Noah said. “Because there’s nothing left to do. You’ll have to forgive me – I’ve been very careful, and I had to make sure that everything was properly aligned before I told you anything more.”

“Anything more about what? Either you’ve done it or you haven’t. You – wait.” Brayden’s eyes narrowed. He took a step back, then studied Noah’s face closely. “What are you saying, Vermil?”

“What do you think?” Noah asked. “You know me better than most, Brayden.”

Brayden glanced down at the barrel beneath him. His gaze sharpened as he looked back up at Noah. “Were you celebrating more than just my arrival?”

“I was,” Noah said with a wry smile. “I was drinking to success – both of our success. Yours, for discovering who killed the Hellreaver. Mine, for accomplishing the task that I set out so long ago to do.”

Brayden’s eyes went wide. He slowly raised to his feet, watching Noah in disbelief. “You mean… you’ve had it? This entire time?”

“It took longer to find a balance with it than I thought. Housing something this powerful inside your body isn’t easy,” Noah said. “I wasn’t lying about that amnesia when you went off to our estate. But now we’ve come to an agreement.”

Brayden swallowed heavily. “I don’t believe it. It’s over?”

“No, Brayden,” Noah said. “It’s only getting started. I need you take me back to Father. It’s time we had a chat.”