Return of the Runebound Professor

Gavin adjusted his grip on his hammer. Noah’s eyes caught on the inscriptions covering the shaft of the weapon. They weren’t exactly Runes – at least, he couldn’t see where one ended and the other started.

There was certainly something, though. Long, jagged lines ran all along it, interweaving and mixing in patterns. The rest of Gavin’s armor was similarly decorated. If it was just an artistic statement, it was very extensive.

Gavin’s hammer hummed. A faint whine filled the air and he knelt, his greaves lighting up with a faint golden energy. The ground beneath Gavin shattered as he launched into the air, ascending to the skies in a streak of energy.

The Root Fiend reached out to grab Gavin. He flitted out of the way, just moving enough to avoid getting hit without wasting any extra time. Gavin shot up to the Root Fiend’s head and reared back.

A shockwave rippled out of the back of his hammer. It flashed forward, leaving a streak of light in its wake, and smashed into the Root Fiend’s head with a massive explosion. The sound of shattering wood split the day as the enormous monster stumbled back, a large chunk of its jaw demolished.

Gavin’s hammer seemed to jump in his hands. He flew after the Root Fiend, avoiding its attempts to bat him out of the air, and readied another strike. A furious roar ripped free of the Root Fiend’s mouth and spikey growths erupted all over its body.

One of them caught Gavin straight in the stomach. Noah heard Isabel and Todd both draw in sharp breaths, and he couldn’t deny the flash of concern that passed through him as well. It was for naught.

Gavin’s armor glittered with black light and he was thrown back – but his armor didn’t break. He spun, aiming a hand behind him. A ring of red, shimmering sigils appeared behind him and he jerked to a halt.

The soldier drove his hammer into the center of the circle. Electric maroon light surged into the head of the weapon and it bulged. Fragments of stone rose away from it, vibrating with the intensity of the magic filling the hammer. Pieces fell away, only to be grabbed by tendrils of red light and yanked back into place. Its head seemed to be in a constant state of splitting apart and reforming itself.

Even from where Noah stood, he could feel the pressure washing off the hammer in Gavin’s hands. His hair raised as if a current of static electricity was washing over him.

It’s like he’s got a miniature star trapped in that thing. What Rank do you have to be to do something like that?

The Root Fiend let out a furious roar and swept a hand for Gavin. A beam of red energy shot up from behind the hills, catching the monster’s hand before it could complete its path and knocking it back. The Root Fiend stumbled, clutching the smoking hole in its wrist and shaking the ground with its steps.

Behind Gavin, the red circle faded away, fully drawn into his hammer. He lit up with golden energy once more and blurred toward the Root Fiend. Zipping past its attempt to strike him, Gavin arrived beside the monster’s head and swung.

His hammer connected with it, letting off a sound like a pealing bell. A brilliant red flash lit up the sky, followed by an explosion that had such force that it made Noah’s teeth rattle in his head.

An enormous chunk of the Root Fiend’s head vaporized, turned to cinders and ash instantly. The monster flew backward, slamming into a hill with a loud crash. Noah stumbled as the ground quaked beneath his feet.

“Gods, that’s insane,” Todd breathed. “Can you imagine being able to do that? That Root Fiend barely managed to take two blows from him before going down.”

The monster twitched. Noah’s eyes widened. Evidently, the Root Fiend must have heard Todd’s dismissal of it, because it wasn’t down for the count. Lurching upright, the monster pushed itself back to its feet.

Roots wound up from the site of the huge wound in its head, knitting itself back together. Within moments, the massive monster was whole once more. It reared its head back and let out a furious roar.

Then it lifted both of its hands and aimed at Gavin. The man tossed his hammer behind him, where it floated patiently in the air, and crossed his arms before himself. His armor shimmered, then unfurled around him like a flower blooming for the first time.

Disks of metal whipped around Gavin’s hands. Golden light traced across them as they merged into a large, circular shield covered with sigils similar to the ones that had been on his hammer.

Noah squinted, trying to make out any Runes on them, but everything seemed like nonsensical squiggles. Either the Runes were somehow blocked from his vision, or they were in a language that Vermil hadn’t known.

Huge wooden spikes erupted from the Root Fiend’s palm, hurtling through the air and smashing into the barrier Gavin had erected. They shattered against the glowing metal like the world’s largest, loudest hailstorm.

As soon as the barrage stopped and the Root Fiend lowered its hands, letting out a cry of fury at its lack of ability to harm the soldier. Gavin reached back, even as his armor reformed around him like flowing water, and grabbed the shaft of his hammer.

He gave it a violent twist. The head of the hammer shuddered, then shattered apart in a burst of red light. Tendrils of crackling red energy shot from the shaft, latching onto the pieces of metal and pulling them back.

They formed into the long, pointed tip of a javelin. Energy sparked and swirled around Gavin as he took aim. His hand lit with golden light that poured into the weapon, coursing through the interweaving designs within it.

With a roar, he let the javelin loose. It streaked through the air, slamming clean into the Root Fiend’s head. Wood erupted, folding in on itself as the javelin passed clean through the monster, piercing through it and slamming into the hills beyond.

Gavin was far from done. He extended his hand, curling his fingers. Runic energy lit up all over his armor once more, and an arc of red light sparked between his gauntleted fingertips.

Thousands of pieces of metal ripped out from the hillside behind the Root Fiend, ripping back through its body on their way back toward Gavin. The shaft of the weapon followed after them, shooting through the already-reforming hole in the Root Fiend’s head.

It slammed into his hand and the head of the hammer reformed at the weapon’s top. The damage that it had done to the Root Fiend was extensive. The monster smoldered from a dozen different wounds that covered its body, and it didn’t seem to be able to heal nearly as fast as Gavin could inflict damage.

And then the ground erupted. Dozens of huge roots shot out from the ground below Gavin, reaching up toward him. If he’d been standing on the ground, there would have been almost no time at all to respond.

He wasn’t standing on the ground.

Gavin swore, thrusting his free hand toward the ascending roots. Part of his gauntlet flashed with red light and a huge circle traced itself through the air below him in an instant. A massive beam of energy erupted from it, slamming the roots aside like the foot of a giant. It crushed them into the ground, ripping their fibers to shreds.

The Root Fiend lunged for Gavin, clearly hoping he’d been distracted enough by the attack to land a blow on him. To Noah’s surprise, it was right. The monster’s massive, clawed hand enveloped Gavin in an instant.

“Shouldn’t we help?” Moxie asked tersely. “I’m not so sure he’s winning.”

“He’s fine,” Brayden said with a shake of his head. “There’s nothing to worry about. Just watch and stay out of his way. Soldiers typically don’t enjoy anyone getting in their way. They’re pretty picky about things.”

“Have you dealt with them a lot?” Todd asked.

Brayden glanced back at Todd, looking at him out of the corner of his eyes. “Unfortunately.”

A shrill shriek ended their conversation. Beams of red light burst out of the Root Fiend’s hand, glowing so brightly that Noah nearly had to advert his gaze. The monster’s hand trembled as it tried to keep Gavin crushed within it, but it was futile.

It’s grip was forced open. With a roar, Gavin burst free of the monster’s hand, surrounded by a brilliant swirl of red energy. Fragments of wood fell away from the Root Fiend’s crumbling hand and it swung its other one at him.

For a monster as big as that is, it doesn’t have a ton of variation. I was thinking this might be a Great Monster, but Sunder didn’t react to it and it seems a bit… dim. Can normal monsters really get this big?

Gavin whipped his hammer down. It was an amusing sight if the circumstances were ignored. A man more than several hundred times smaller than his opponent was trying to stop its hand by swinging the equivalent of a toothpick at it.

His hammer connected with the Root Fiend’s wrist. A ring of red magic washed out and the monster’s hand shattered, smashed to pieces. Gavin flew into the air as the Root Fiend screamed in pain.

Its hands started to reform, but not in time to stop Gavin from arriving above its head and raising his hammer. It formed back into a javelin and, matching the monster’s cry with one of his own, he launched it downward.

A red streak of lightning flashed through the air and struck the Root Fiend in the top of the head. There was a brilliant crack as it carved through the entirety of the monster’s body and slammed into the ground beneath it.

The Root Fiend’s cry went silent. It swayed in place for an instant. The light in its eyes went out, and the roots that were working to heal its wounds withered and dried. And, there it remained, casting a shadow over the landscape.

Gavin’s hammer flew back into his hand, back in shape once more, and he floated down to a hill beside him. His armor was still humming as he approached them, lifting the helmet from his face to reveal the visage of a man far younger than Noah had expected. He couldn’t have been older than thirty.

“Apologies, folks,” Gavin said, pulling a gauntlet off and wiping the sweat from his brow. “I wasn’t expecting such a resilient Root Fiend. They’re usually a lot easier to take down. Nobody got caught up in the fight, right?”

“We’re all fine,” Brayden said.

“You’re incredible,” Todd breathed, his eyes wide with wonder.

Gavin let out a booming laugh. “Thanks, son. Mighty kind of you. I’m just doing my job.”

“And poorly at that, you lout.”

They all turned as a red portal split the air open and a young woman strode out from within it. She wore light metal armor, clearly chosen to be functional but not nearly as unwieldy as what Gavin wore.

Gavin cleared his throat. “Sorry, Jess. I didn’t mean to use so much energy.”

“Stop showing off so much next time,” Jess said, shaking her head in mock anger. “Don’t be too impressed with Gavin’s magic, because half of it isn’t his. It’s mine.”

Gavin rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “This is Jess, my partner. She does all the Imbuements on my weapons.”

“Might as well call me your battery at this point. You nearly drained all the magic out of my runes. You barely even used any of your own power.”

“My magic isn’t really suited for this kind of encounter,” Gavin said. “Besides, this is hardly the place. I’ll cover your dinner or something.”

Jess grinned, and Noah got the feeling she’d gotten exactly what she’d wanted from the start.

“Great. I’ll be choosing the place.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Gavin grimaced and turned to the group. “Again, I’m sorry for interrupting all of your travels. We’ll have this Root Fiend cleaned up and out of the way shortly. You’re free to continue on as you will.”

“How many Imbued weapons do you have?” Todd asked eagerly, completely ignoring Gavin’s polite suggestion to get moving.

Noah didn’t say anything, as he’d been wondering the exact same thing.

“I’ve Imbued every piece of his armor and have more Imbuements than I can count on that weapon of his,” Jess said, a note of pride in her voice. “All optimized to draw as much energy out of the environment and as little out of me – not that Gavin ever manages to keep from draining my Runes. You have any interest in becoming an Imbuer?”

“I’m going to be a soldier,” Todd said firmly. “But I know Imbuers work very closely with soldiers.”

Jess smirked. “I wanted to be a soldier too, but I’ve found it much more relaxing to have someone else do all the fighting while I get to do the fun stuff with Rune research. Gavin might get to have the fancy stuff, but–”

“I couldn’t do any of it without Jess,” Gavin finished. “Not the really fancy stuff, at least. That’s too intricate to do on the spot. I remember pretty much standing in the exact same spot you are right now, son. Keep your studies up. Being a soldier isn’t easy, but it’s rewarding.”

“And dangerous,” Edward said under his breath. “I’ll stick to just doing stuff the normal way.”

If Gavin overheard him, he didn’t care.

“We’ve got more ground to cover today, so we’ll have to be on our way,” Gavin said. “Best wishes to all of you. Take care on the road. Come on, Jess. Let’s–”

A rumble shook the ground beneath their feet. Before Noah could even finish processing it, a second vibration followed up the first one immediately afterword. Two hills near them let out a series of pops and rips as they tore free of the ground, unfurling into large Root Fiends, both slightly shorter than the one Gavin had just killed but nowhere near any less intimidating.

“Oh, shit,” Gavin breathed. “Jess, get them out. They must have woken up from the fight.”

“I can’t,” Jess replied through gritted teeth. “I’m nearly out of energy. A long range portal like that is beyond me right now. I just wasted a bunch portaling over here to save time.”

The Root Fiends roared in unison, their burning eyes turning to land straight on the group. Noah reached down to his pipe and packed some Flashgrass into it. Beside him, both Moxie and Brayden gathered their magic. A chill prickled into Noah’s back, marking Allen’s powers as he readied them as well.

“What Rank are you lot?” Gavin asked.

“We have two Rank 4s, a 3, and a 2. The students aren’t prepared for this,” Moxie said. “We’ll distract one of them if you can get the other.”

“Understood. Just focus on holding it off,” Gavin said, slamming his helm back over his head and readying his weapon. “We’ll handle ours and get to you immediately afterward.”

Smoke poured out of Noah’s pipe as he ignited the Flashgrass.

“Stay back,” Noah warned the students as he and the other professors eyed the approaching Root Fiend. “Whatever you do, don’t engage it. Even if we’re having trouble. Understood?”

“But what about–” Isabel started.

“No,” Noah said flatly. “No matter what, you stay out. If you get a chance, run. Just don’t draw the monster’s attention to yourselves.”

He didn’t get time to wring a confirmation from them. The nearest Root Fiend let out a thundering screech and took a step toward them, its mouth parting in a woody grimace. Noah summoned his magic and combusted the smoke coming from his pipe.

Then he and the other professors charged.