Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah’s dreams were plagued with visions of the Hellreaver, and it was laughing. The monster seemed to be mocking him, even in death. He couldn’t even do anything against it. The damn thing was probably waiting in a line somewhere.

Despite the dreams, Noah slept uninterrupted for the first time in what felt like ages. It wasn’t anywhere near a good rest, but it was better than what he’d been getting.

His eyes snapped open and he drew in a sharp breath, breaking out of his sleep and bolting upright. Noah’s forehead was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and his entire body felt hot. He grimaced and let out a slow breath.

“Nothing happened,” Lee said from above him.

Noah looked up, only slightly surprised to see Lee splayed out across the ceiling, somehow holding onto it with just her fingers and toes. She dropped down, landing in a handstand before flipping to her feet.

“Except for you,” Noah said dryly. “Why the ceiling?”

“It’s comfortable. Most people don’t look up when they try to get inside places looking for something.”

Noah grimaced. “I’m going to look up every single time I go anywhere from here on out.”

He peered out the window. The sun was rising over the silhouette of Arbitage. He’d slept through the day and night.

“I tried to wake you up, but you were completely out of it.”

“As long as nothing happened, it’s fine. What about class?”

“Taught it as normal. Moxie thinks you’re an idiot.”

“You told her what happened?”

“No. She thinks that normally. I just figured I’d remind you.”

Noah snorted. He slipped out of bed and entered his bathroom, splashing cold water on his face from the sink and pulling his hair back. His entire body still felt uncomfortably warm.

After all the shit I’m about to go through for this, I better see if I actually got anything worthwhile out of killing the Hellreaver aside from ridding myself of its accursed visions.

“Give me one moment, please.” Noah closed his eyes and plunged into his mindspace.

Runes spawned around the awaiting darkness. Every single one of them was completely full. Despite himself, a grin crossed Noah’s face. He was just about ready to advance to Rank 2. He could use Sunder’s ability once now, which would hopefully work just as well on a Rank 2 rune as it did on the Hellreaver.

The scene above Noah, however, was different. When he raised his eyes to check on Sunder, the Master Rune wasn’t where it should have been. Instead, it floated to the side, floating in a gentle circle above him. And, directly opposite to it, was a new rune.

Combustion.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Noah said, staring up at the second Master Rune. “That explains a lot. The passive effect must be something that stops reactions. Considering it’s specific to fire, maybe it stops the reaction of oxygen with anything else. That would explain why I couldn’t use my own wind magic. Or is it all air?”

Noah studied the Combustion Rune. He wasn’t sure how exactly it was different than Fire. While the energy bearing down on him from it was far stronger than any of the Greater Runes he had, it was vastly less than what came off Sunder.

Are there differences in how strong different Master Runes are? Both of them look completely full, so it’s not that. I suppose there must be. Maybe there are Ranks within Master Runes? If only the damn people here weren’t so stingy with their information.

Noah released his mental space and stepped back into the real world. The power from the Combustion Rune almost felt manageable. He raised a hand. It would be a shame not to test what it could do, if just for a little.

He paused, then took his gourd and brought it into the bathroom, closing the door behind him when he walked back into his bedroom. There was no point taking any risks. Lee watched him with a raised eyebrow.

“You might want to back up,” Noah suggested. “I don’t know what this is going to do.”

“Is it smart to do that inside your own room?”

“Better to do it here where nobody is watching.”

Lee shrugged and slid under his bed, poking her head out to watch. Noah mentally reached out to the new Master Rune. Power rushed through his body in response. His throat tightened and his skin warmed even further.

A wisp of smoke rose up from Noah’s palm. Only taking the smallest amount of the energy offered by the Combustion Rune, Noah snapped his fingers. A spark flashed above his hand with a whoosh, coiling up into a small tongue of flame before fading away.

Noah tried to control the fire as it moved, but nothing happened. It simply flickered up, scorching his ceiling slightly before dissipating into the air. He could feel that there was a lot of energy within the Rune – more than any of his Rank 1 Runes, though definitely far less than Sunder.

“Terrifying,” Lee drawled. Noah ignored her.

So that’s the difference. It literally only combusts. No actual control of the fire. Curious. I wonder how the passive effect works. I’ve never had to activate it on Sunder. Do I just –

Noah inhaled, but no air entered his lungs. He quickly released the power of the Master Rune and gasped for air. His Greater Runes shuddered, pushing back against Combustion and forcing him to release it before the pressure overwhelmed him.

“What was that?” Lee demanded. “What did you do?”

“Made it so that the air was basically inert, I think,” Noah replied with a scowl. Having the air inside his lungs suddenly go inert was not an enjoyable experience. “That’ll take some getting used to. The Hellreaver must have been holding its breath when we fought. It just has bigger lungs than me. Well, that or it could choose what air went inert.”

Lee stared at Noah like he’d lost his mind. “What?”

“Never mind,” Noah said, shaking his head. “It works. Why didn’t the Rune go to my Catchpaper, though? Shouldn’t it have been absorbed instead of transferring to me?”

Lee crawled out from under the bed and shrugged. “No idea. I hate it.”

“Thanks.”

They were silent for a few moments.

“Was it worth it?” Lee asked. “I’ve never talked to someone who got their hands on a Master Rune.”

“I guess I’ll let you know,” Noah replied, but his mind was more on being free of the Hellreaver than it was on his new Rune. “It’s definitely powerful. I’ll have to speak with Todd and learn more about Fire Runes to see just how useful this is in comparison with them. The passive seems considerably more powerful than the normal abilities.”

Lee opened her mouth to respond, but she froze midway through. Her nose twitched and her eyes narrowed. “Someone is coming.”

She and Noah both turned toward the door. Not more than a few seconds later, there was a sharp knock. Noah glanced at Lee.

“Who?” he whispered.

Lee shook her head and shrugged. Noah called on his Vibration magic and approached the door.

“Who is it?” Noah asked.

“Did you suddenly get popular?” a deep male voice called, laced with humor. “You know who it is, Vermil. Nobody else would bother visiting you.”

The voice sounded familiar, but it took Noah several seconds to place who it was coming from.

Shit. It’s the person that knocked on my door the first day I got to Arbitage. He said he was going somewhere for a few months or something, didn’t he?

Noah let out a forced laugh. The door handle jiggled.

“Let me in already, you idiot. Don’t just leave me standing outside.”

Noah searched his mind for an excuse to send the man away, but he couldn’t think of anything that would actually make sense. Then again, not knowing somebody that clearly knew him would probably be even worse.

“Open the door, Vermil. I’m not in the mood for this.” The voice darkened. “I’m not here for fun. This is official Linwick business.”

Noah pressed his lips together. He unlocked the door and pulled it open, coming face to face with a towering wall of muscle. The man before him stood an entire head taller than Noah and barely fit in his shirt.

A large broadsword hung at his side, its blade nearly as wide as Noah. Several metal wristbands hung above his hands, clinking gently with his movements. His hair was cut neatly, revealing sharp eyes and an easygoing grin. He had a sharp, angular jawline and pronounced, handsome features.

“There we go,” the man said, pushing Noah to the side with one hand and turning sideways to fit through the door. It looked like a child trying to squeeze into his sister’s dollhouse.

The man paused as he spotted Lee standing to Noah’s side. He let out a weary sigh and nodded to her.

“Get her out of here, Vermil. Another student?”

“No! She’s a teacher.”

“And I’m your mother.”

“Are you?”

“No, idiot.”

They stared at each other. The large man’s eyes drifted back to Lee, who met his gaze. He grunted.

“Damn. She’s actually not a student?”

“No, she isn’t.”

“Well, good job, I guess. Now get her out. We need to talk.”

Noah frowned. He wasn’t sure if getting rid of Lee was a good idea when he was facing off against someone the size of – whoever this was. On the other hand, insisting she stay would probably set the man’s alarms off even more.

“I’ll see you around,” Lee said, solving the problem for Noah. She gave him a knowing look before stepping past the man and heading out the door. He watched her leave, then grunted.

“Nice.”

She’d eat you alive, man. Literally.

“So… what’s the reason for the social visit?” Noah asked, leaning against the wall and trying to look as relaxed as possible.

“Can’t a man just drop by to check on his wayward friend? You’re acting odd, Vermil.”

Noah pressed his lips together. He had absolutely no idea how he was supposed to work his way around this man. Vermil was clearly someone he knew and was friendly with, so there was probably no way to actually skirt the subject without getting caught.

“I’ve got to admit something,” Noah said, rubbing the back of his head and letting out a heavy sigh. “You remember that whole thing I mentioned about having memory loss?”

The man’s brow furrowed. “Not particularly, but sure. What about it?”

“Well, it’s pretty bad. I don’t remember who you are.”

The man burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s a good one. Great way to do it. Gets you a lot of time off work too, I bet. Can’t teach if you’ve got issues, but if they fire you for skipping out, then you can argue that they didn’t properly accommodate your medical needs. Clever, Vermil. Very clever.”

Noah stared at him. The man wiped the mirth from his eyes, still snickering. He cleared his throat and gave Noah a mock salute.

“Right. I won’t blow your cover, then. It’s a pleasure to meet you again, Vermil. My name is Brayden, your elder brother.” He extended a hand.

Noah reached out and took it, half expecting his hand to get crushed in Brayden’s massive mitts.

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to re-meet you,” Noah said. Brayden released his hand, leaving it surprisingly uncrushed, and Noah let it drop back to his side. “So, why are you here?”

Brayden shook his head. He glanced back at the door, then let out a sigh. A wave of purple energy coiled off his body, washing over the entire room before Noah could even react. It filled the gaps beneath the door and covered the window as it flowed.

Noah nearly lunged to unleash a blast of Vibration into Brayden, but he caught himself at the last moment. The larger man didn’t look like he was about to start fighting. He looked bored.

“There,” Brayden said. “Not like anyone would ever bother trying to spy on you, but you know how father is about things like this. Rules and all that.”

“Right,” Noah said slowly. “Well, in the spirit of that, care to share why you’re actually here?”

Brayden rolled his eyes. “Damn, you’re cautious. More than normal. Nobody’s going to break through my Shield, Vermil. You can drop the act. Doesn’t it get tedious?”

Noah stared at Brayden.

Brayden groaned. “Fine. Whatever. Don’t trust me. That’s why you got picked for this, I guess. I’m here to ask you why in the Damned Plains you aren’t dead yet, Vermil. You had a job to do, and the Family is starting to wonder what’s going on.”