Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah’s eyes snapped open in the darkness of his closet, a dull headache thumping in his temples. He reached down, snagging his travel bag and pulling out one of the few remaining sets of cheap training clothes he had left, and pulled it on through force of habit.

He pushed the door open, squinting, and stepped out of the closet. Noah left his belongings in the closet and walked over to his bed.

That should do it. Can’t say it was particularly fun, but Dayton is going to be confused out of his mind. Lee’s wandering around with my appearance in the markets, and that’s the kind of place where news travels easily.

The moment Dayton puts out feelers to figure out why the hell Father’s guest blew himself up, he’ll find out that I was supposedly in the market at the same time that I exploded. When I visit him next, I think he’ll be a lot more willing to hear me out.

Noah grinned to himself and sat down, leaning against the headboard of the bed and closing his eyes. The headache was frustrating, but it was a small price to pay, especially since he had been the one to strike the killing blow against himself, so the soul damage was minimal.

Actually, it’s been a bit since I’ve checked my soul state. Should probably get into the habit of looking at it when I get myself killed on a consistent basis, even if it isn’t at the hands of monsters.

I’ll check once the headache is gone. For now… I’ve got some great time to think about Runes. Earth is tempting, but I don’t want just a pure Earth rune. Mixing it with Vibration could help me get closer to the percussion I want, but that seems too close to the Resonance aspect. It would be better to have complimenting aspects rather than the same ones.

Also, I can’t be bothered to get every single Rank 1 Rune I need from scratch. I should try to find a Rank 2 Rune from Father that has components of what I need, then Sunder it and just use the ones I actually want. That’ll throw him off my trail completely and save me a lot of effort. Maybe I’ll find something of interest when I’m looking through them after I take care of Dayton.

Noah let his thoughts drift off and the hours slipped by as he planned what Runes he’d use in the future. Before he knew it, his headache had faded and the sun had set. Noah blinked out of his reverie to the rumble of his stomach – and the glint of Lee’s eyes looking at him from where she hung, suspended from the ceiling.

“Hanging,” Lee replied, dropping to land near the foot of his bed. “It’s relaxing. Why’d you have me wander around the market? Throwing someone off the scent?”

“Pretty much,” Noah said with a nod. He covered a yawn and slid out of bed, peering out the window at the moonlit streets. “Anything interesting happen? I didn’t realize the day already passed.”

“Todd and Isabel spent a lot of time training in the yard, but that’s about it.”

Noah’s stomach rumbled again and he turned around. Lee held a loaf of bread out to him.

“Want this?”

“Oh, that sounds – wait. Where did that come from?”

“I was holding it.”

“Why were you holding a loaf of bread?”

“Because I took it from the kitchen.”

“Right,” Noah said, taking the loaf from her and taking a large bite out of it. He chewed, swallowing before he spoke again. “Thank you.”

“No problem. I already ate a dozen.”

Noah decided not to question that. Something told him that demons probably had a much higher metabolism than humans.

“I was thinking,” Noah started.

“That’s never a good sign.”

“Oh, come off it. About Runes,” Noah said with a sigh. “When you’re combining them, especially at higher ranks, is it better to have overlapping elements? Or should each one serve its own unique purpose that only fits together once they’ve been combined?”

Lee chewed her lower lip. “I don’t actually know. I feel like either way would logically make sense. I’m not really a Rune scholar or anything. You’d probably be better off asking Moxie.”

Bah, waiting. Well, if there was a common element, it’d be some sort of vibration. I already have the Rank 1 Vibration Rune, so I don’t need to worry about getting another. I’ll focus on the Earth bits then.

“Fair enough,” Noah said. “Can you keep an eye on the house?”

“You’re heading out again?”

Noah nodded. “Paying Dayton another visit. I was planning to go tomorrow, but I basically already got my rest in. No point wasting good time.”

“Can I come?”

Noah opened his mouth, then paused. He didn’t want Lee somehow getting hurt or injured because of the way he was going about accosting Dayton, but there was still a way she could help without getting into the line of fire.

“Actually, there’s something you could help with, yeah. I need to sneak into Dayton’s mansion. Do you think your Runes could get me in?”

“Probably, but I don’t know how good the Imbuements in his mansion are. If they’re really good, then he’ll know if you set one of them off.”

“That’s fine,” Noah said with a smile. “Help me get into his mansion, then. Just don’t stay any longer than absolutely necessary. I do not want you getting caught up in this – and, actually, once we’re in, could you come back here and shift into my form to sleep on the bed? Just in case Dayton decides to try and spy on me.”

“I guess,” Lee replied, clearly not pleased that she couldn’t do more. “Now?”

Noah grinned. “Now.”

***

Dayton’s mansion was as it had been the last time Noah had been there. Even in the night, the bushes surrounding it were hideous. Yellow light shone from several of the windows, showing that there were at least some people still awake within it.

Noah and Lee stood at the edge of the garden wall, hidden in the shadow of an alley. Lee sent Noah an inquisitive glance and raised an eyebrow. Noah nodded to her, expecting Lee to press her hand to his shoulder and turn him invisible.

Instead, Lee grabbed Noah and slung him over her shoulder. He muffled a curse as he felt Lee’s magic wash over both of them. Noah couldn’t even see her anymore. It was as if he was just floating in the air.

He could certainly feel her, though. Especially when her shoulder dug into his stomach as she jumped, bounding straight over the wall. Wind whipped past Noah’s hair as they landed – somehow without making a noise – on the roof of Dayton’s mansion.

Lee paused for a moment, waiting to see if anyone had noticed them, but it was silent. She darted across the roof and Noah clutched onto her back, thankful that nobody could see how he was getting ferried around.

Noah couldn’t exactly see where they were going because he was facing the wrong way, but a flash of light washed over them as Lee swung down from the roof and into an open window on the second floor, landing lightly on the carpeted ground and setting Noah down and keeping a hand on his shoulder.

He rose to his feet, rubbing his stomach, and glanced around. The halls were dark and empty. A few doors along them had light peeking out from their cracks, but they were few and far in between.

Noah took the lead, padding over to Dayton’s office door. The room was dark. He tried the handle, but it was locked. Noah reached up to his head and yanked a hair free. He suppressed a curse at the flash of pain.

He combusted it, and the hair went up in a quick flash. Noah grabbed the smoke as it formed, pushing it into a small cloud and sending it into the keyhole. He forced it to fill the space and solidify as much as he could, then had his makeshift key twist.

Ash and smoke didn’t exactly have a lot of substance, but the force of the magic holding it together did. There was a loud click from within the door. Noah froze, and he felt Lee stiffen. They both waited for a moment, but nobody emerged.

“This is it,” Noah whispered softly. “Get back to safety.”

Lee paused for a moment. Then he felt her remove her hand. Noah shimmered back into vision. He didn’t hear anything else. Lee was nothing if not silent. After waiting a few more moments, Noah pushed the door in.

Moonlight lit Dayton’s office from the window, casting it in a silvery hue. It was still scorched. That brought a flicker of a smirk to Noah’s lips. He stepped inside, closing the door behind himself and locking it.

He watched the ground closely as he walked over to the desk. It was tempting to root through Dayton’s belongings, but Noah resisted the urge. If literally anything had any sort of defensive mechanism or Imbuement, it would go off and completely ruin the entire persona he was trying to set up.

Noah studied Dayton’s desk, not daring to touch anything. Unfortunately, Dayton hadn’t just left his Runes sitting around for Noah to look at. The room was a burglar’s wet dream – and completely worthless to him for the time being. It wasn’t like he planned to leave it alive, after all. Carrying something out would have been impossible.

No, what mattered right now wasn’t wealth or riches. It was setting the stage properly for the show. Noah glanced around the room one more time. He didn’t hear anyone outside, so either they were incredibly slow at responding or Dayton was so arrogant that he didn’t have any alarms on his personal office.

Noah thought for a moment, then pulled his arm into his sleeve. He used the covered hand to pick up a golden goblet and set it on the windowsill. Then he walked back over to the throne and sat down in it, crossing his legs and leaning back to rest his head against the padded back of the chair.

Now, all that was left to do was wait.

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