Return of the Runebound Professor

As it turned out, finding a pair of new clothes for Lee was far easier than Noah had expected. The walk over to the store took a little over ten minutes, which was considerably longer than the three seconds it took Lee to point at the first thing she saw – a plain looking set of tanned leather armor.

“That one.”

“What?” Noah asked.

“I want that.”

“You realize I can only afford a single thing, right? I’m not getting you a whole wardrobe.”

“Just that is fine,” Lee said.

Noah shrugged and caught the shopkeeper’s attention. He wasn’t particularly worried about if it would fit Lee. She could always just change sizes until it did. The armor was cheaper than his own uniform, coming in at only five silver. In total, it took under a minute between walking into the store and walking out.

“Well,” Moxie said. “That was fast.”

“I’m not sure what I expected,” Noah agreed. “I want to know why armor is cheaper than our uniforms, though. What’s up with that?”

“Because the material in the uniform is expensive. Most people don’t need to buy more than a few sets and rarely need to replace them. Maybe because they actually remember to use their Shields.”

“There’s no forgetting involved,” Noah grumbled as they headed back down the road and away from the shopping district. Noah waited to speak again until they were a good distance away from any passersby. “I’m going to start thinking on what we’re going to cover after the party today. Lee, I don’t know if you want to hang around or roam, but make sure you don’t get waylaid anywhere. You don’t want anyone to figure out who you are.”

Lee gave him a thumbs up. “That would require me standing still long enough to get scanned. I saw some nice trees. I bet they’re comfortable to lay in. I’m going over there.”

“Shouldn’t I show you where we’re going to be first?”

Lee shook her head. “I know what you smell like. I’ll find you.”

She flitted off before Noah could respond, darting down the road and hopping a fence. Noah and Moxie watched her leave.

“She’s not just any Skinwalker,” Moxie said. “She transformed into you so easily – that isn’t normal. She’s something more.”

About that…

“I’ve gathered that much. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt right now, especially since she’s bound with the Rune Oath. I think she really does just want to relax.”

“I suppose it’s possible. I’ve never heard of a Skinwalker this intelligent. Normally, they just pretend to be the person whose body they’ve taken and keep at it until they get killed. She seems just as intelligent as we are.”

“Every day, I learn new things. Once you get used to constantly being in a state of learning, finding things that are out of place doesn’t bother you as much.” Noah said. “I trust her to follow her word.”

“Then that’ll have to be enough. What are your plans after this class? The next exam isn’t in the Scorched Acres.”

“Is there a list of these exams somewhere?” Noah asked. “I never found one of those. Must have gotten misplaced.”

Moxie rolled her eyes. “I’m sure. I’ll make a copy of mine. The next exam is in four months. It’s the team survival test.”

They reached building G. Moxie’s nose wrinkled in distaste, but she followed Noah into its dark corridors.

“That’s self-explanatory. I take it they’ve just got to camp out for a few days?”

“Yep. They haven’t decided where it’ll take place, but it’s usually an area that has a high monster population. If you interfere with anything your students do, it’ll count as a failure. Nothing new there.”

“So I’ll have to make sure they know how to get food, water, and shelter in addition to defending themselves. That shouldn’t be too much of a task. How long does the test last?”

“Three days,” Moxie replied.

They reached the door to room 100 and Noah pushed it open with a creak. He stepped inside, sniffling slightly as a little dust entered his nose. Moxie cast a critical gaze around the room.

“You don’t look like you approve of my accommodations.”

“Your room is disgusting.”

Noah walked over to the podium and leaned on it. “Blame the school, not me. I didn’t choose it.”

Vines curled out from Moxie’s feet and slithered across the ground. They gathered the piled desks from the corner of the room and arranged them back in their proper positions, separating the mostly undamaged desks from the unusable.

Moxie extended a hand and the wood from the useless desks peeled away. Vines carried it over to the remaining desks. The planks of wood merged into the desks, filling in cracks and repairing missing legs.

Within seconds, Moxie had repaired all the desks that could be salvaged and left only a small pile of metal scraps. A vine swept the scraps into the back of the room and then rearranged the desks once more.

“There,” Moxie said with a critical scowl. “At least it looks a little more presentable now.”

“Thank you,” Noah said. “I was honestly wondering what to do with those desks, but we’ve spent little time in the classroom as of the last few weeks, so it wasn’t high on my priority list.”

“Don’t get too sappy. I refuse to subject Emily to low quality instruction, and the environment is vital to learning.”

“I’ll agree with you on that,” Noah said. He took a step back and studied the hole in the ceiling. The light was filtering through in such a way that it just barely alighted on his chalkboard – or half of it, at least.

Noah grabbed his one piece of chalk and drew Vermil’s name on the board. Moxie tilted her head to the side.

“What are you doing?”

“Writing my name.”

“Why?”

“Because I’ve got a new student. That’s what you’re supposed to do when you have a new student."

"She knows how to use your name, Vermil."

"She’ll forget if she spends any amount of time around Todd.” Noah chuckled to himself and set the chalk back down. “You know, I didn’t really think this through. Class isn’t for a few hours, and the pizz – ah, tomato pies won’t be done until then either.”

“I’m glad you’ve realized that after waking me up.”

“Rising early is a good way to get the blood flowing. Maybe I should have asked Lee to spar with me before class,” Noah said, rubbing his chin. “That would have saved some time. I don’t suppose you managed to get your hands on that book on the Linwicks yet?”

“Not even I work that quickly.”

“Well, damn.”

They stood there in silence for a few moments. Moxie sighed and reached into her back pocket, pulling out a deck of cards. “I had the foresight to bring this, as I was concerned your class would be boring.”

Noah’s eyes lit up. “Cards! It’s been so long. What game? Ah, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to have to teach me either way.”

Moxie just shook her head as she directed a vine to position two of the desks across from each other and sat down.

***

Several hours and multiple lost games later, Noah set out to collect his pies from the chef. He’d managed to win one of the many rounds he’d played against Moxie, which bothered her to no end. The game they’d played hadn’t been too different from poker, although all the cards had been different.

He picked them up and headed straight back to the classroom, knowing that he’d end up getting distracted for far too long if he let anything catch his attention. As he walked, the side of his neck prickled.

Noah glanced to the side. In the shadow of a large tree, he spotted Lee. Her eyes widened as they made eye contact and she frowned, jogging to catch up with him.

“Did you smell me?”

“My nose isn’t anywhere near good enough to smell you from far away,” Noah replied. “And, if I could smell you from all the way down the road, we’d have a very serious issue.”

“Then how did you know I was there?”

Noah shrugged. “I didn’t know you were there, but it felt right to look in that direction. Maybe you were staring too hard at me or something and my subconscious somehow picked up on it.”

Maybe I’ve gotten better at noticing when things are watching me after all the fights in the Scorched Acres? It’s like evolution, but it’s only me. Neat. I want to test that further in the future. Maybe I should challenge Lee to a game of hide and seek after this.

They made it back to the classroom and Noah set the two large pies down on the counter. They’d come on metal platters that he’d had to assure the chef he’d return when everything was done. The pies smelled divine, and he had to remind himself several times that the party wasn’t for him.

“You look like you haven’t eaten anything in months. Please don’t start drooling,” Moxie said.

“You know, I haven’t done much eating now that I think about it,” Noah admitted, tearing his gaze away from the food. “I’ve just been living off the energy from killing the monkeys in the Scorched Acres on most days.”

Moxie’s eye twitched. “What?”

“…is that bad?”

“How many of them are you killing?” Moxie demanded. “I’ve heard people who focus on drawing energy from the environment and into their runes can sustain themselves, but they sit still and don’t move for days on end. You’re surviving just from Rune energy?”

“I’ve killed a lot of monkeys. And it’s not just killing them. I’ve gone to the mess hall a few times. Once. Maybe. I can’t really remember much of the experience. It wasn’t great.”

“That’s why only students use it,” Moxie said, shaking her head.

“Can you go back to that drawing energy from the environment part?” Noah asked. “You mean like meditating?”

Moxie eyed him. “No. It’s not meditation. That’s clearing your mind, and drawing energy in is a very dedicated task. I don’t know if I’m the person to talk on it. I don’t bother, there are much easier and more effective ways to grow in strength.”

“I’ve done it,” Lee put in. “It’s boring. Eating things is much more fun.”

Noah didn’t get a chance to press any further on the topic. Footsteps echoed down the halls. They all fell silent as Isabel and Todd entered the room. Their eyes widened as they spotted Moxie beside Noah and took in the refurbished room.

Todd opened his mouth, then sent a pointed glance at Moxie and closed it.

“There’s nothing to be concerned about.” Noah waved to the pizza behind him. “Help yourselves, please. Moxie, is Emily coming?”

“I’ll have to go collect her. It shouldn’t take long,” Moxie replied. “I’ll be back soon. Save me a slice.”

She slipped past the students and headed into the hall. Once the sound of her footsteps had faded, Isabel raised an eyebrow at Noah.

“What?” Noah demanded. “Don’t give me that look.”

“She’s scary,” Todd said, walking up and claiming a slice of pizza. “Thanks for the food, Teacherman. And for the… well, you know.”

“Everything so far,” Isabel finished. “Well, most of everything. Wait, not that either. The last month. Especially the last month.”

Noah laughed and shook his head. “Just eat, would you? You both earned this. After today, we’re hitting the road running again. Our goal isn’t for you to just pass these exams. You’re going to smash them.”