Return of the Runebound Professor

When the following morning came, Noah and Moxie went to get Lee. The rest had passed quietly, but both of them were eager to hear her take on the fire tarantula that Noah had seen on his way out of the Red Barrens.

“What’s going on?” Lee asked wearily, blinking awake as they poked their heads into the stone tent. She squinted at them, scrunching her nose. “Is it morning?”

“How are you holding up?” Noah asked.

Lee pushed herself upright and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back and yawning like a cat. “I’m awake. Unfortunately.”

“I mean the soul damage.”

“Oh. That. It was worth it, I told you.”

Noah couldn’t help but notice that Lee hadn’t really answered his question, but if she didn’t want to talk about it, then there wasn’t anything he could do to force her. He’d just focus on what he could deal with.

“In that case, you mind helping out with something that’s been confusing Moxie and I?”

Lee blinked. “Sure. What is it?”

“I scouted out the Red Barrens yesterday,” Noah said, nodding over his shoulder in the direction of the burgundy desert. “While I was out there, I saw a monster that wasn’t on the dossier. It was this big spider thing with some sort of fire or heat affinity. Something had already killed it, but the wound didn’t look like it fit the abilities of any of the other monsters in the area. Do you have any idea why that might be?”

Lee rubbed the back of her head. “Huh. I don’t know a whole lot about the world up here, but I did think it was a bit strange that the Scorched Acres had a bunch of the exact same kind of monster. It’s not like all demons are the same.”

“I was thinking it might be due to what you mentioned about monsters and their physical connections to Runes,” Noah said. “Is it possible that something in the desert combined its Runes in a unique way that made it mutate?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s really common,” Lee said with a nod. “I don’t know if I’d use the word mutate, as that implies it changed in a way that isn’t typical. At least in the Damned Plains, a lot of things were pretty much unique. I guess there were more common Rune combinations that get passed along, so a lot of monsters choose to use those over trying their own, but it’s just like humans. Different approaches to everything.”

Moxie nodded her understanding. “That makes a lot of sense. I never really gave it a lot of thought, but I bet the Bastions put a lot of work into trimming the populations of monsters near them to make sure that nothing unexpectedly powerful emerges. They hire a lot of soldiers and adventurers for that.”

Noah paused as an old memory in the back of his mind was tickled. When he’d first arrived in the Arbalest Empire, he’d been rescued by two men that had called themselves adventurers.

“Shit,” Noah said. “I think you’re right, Moxie. There were some guys flying around the Scorched Acres a while ago that called themselves adventurers. I bet that’s what they were doing. What’s the difference between soldiers and adventurers, though?”

“Soldiers have funding and political power,” Moxie said. “They often work for one of the noble houses, but if they don’t, they band together in official groups. Most of the time, they’ve got a lot of proof of their ability, either through powerful Imbued weapons or through references. Anyone can be an adventurer. It’s just a mage that goes around offering their services in exchange for money. They usually aren’t too capable, but there are some notable exceptions.”

“I see,” Noah said. “That clears a lot of things up, then. We’re far enough away from Arbitage that the monster populations aren’t as prim and proper, so we’re seeing more variance in them. So… what do we do? Continue on? Are the kids ready for this?”

They all fell silent in thought for a few minutes. To Noah’s surprise, it was neither him nor Moxie that broke their thoughts. It was Lee.

“I think it’s a disservice to baby them,” Lee said. “Isabel, Todd, and Emily were working really hard in the Vibrant Woods. Between the three of us, we should be able to keep the most dangerous monsters back. But… even if we can’t, life is risk. They’re not babies, Noah. Let them spread their wings.”

Noah blinked, taken aback.

Have I been overprotective? They can’t come back to life if they die, though. Keeping people alive isn’t being over–

“Just because people aren’t immortal doesn’t mean they’re fragile,” Lee said gently, reading Noah’s thoughts like an open book. “It’s good to give them curated experiences through training, but you saw when they grew the most – it was when they were forced to fight something stronger than what they had expected. Growth comes from difficulty. That’s why demons are so strong.”

Noah frowned, but Lee had a point. When he’d started training Isabel and Todd, he’d basically thrown them to the wolves and they’d improved at incredible rates. But, ever since he’d been reminded lives weren’t expendable, he’d swung back to playing things a little safer.

“Maybe you’re right,” Noah admitted. “Real world experience is what taught me. I just wish they had Shields. I guess we could try teaching them how to form Shields, but–”

Moxie shook her head. “No, you had the right idea. Manually forming a Shield is a huge crutch that slows people down more than anything. We do need to get Isabel and Todd proper Shields, but that’s a problem for when we can afford it. For now, I’m with Lee. Let’s press on and just keep an eye out for dangerous monsters.”

Their path decided, the three headed out into the camp. Todd and the girls had already started packing up, and Isabel was in the process of pulling down the stone tents. A few minutes later, they ate a quick breakfast and set off toward the desert.

When they grew close to the sand, Noah suppressed a grin as he looked back to see how the students would handle the unstable ground. To his confusion, all three of them had pulled their boots off.

“Did you like my fashion sense that much?” Noah asked, wiggling his toes in the sand.

“No,” Isabel and Emily replied at the exact same time that Todd nodded.

The girls both shot him a look. Todd grinned and stepped out onto the sand. “What? Shoes are overrated.”

The ground beneath his feet solidified into a thin sheet of stone. Isabel followed after him, and the exact same thing happened to her. Emily followed the two of them, thin tendrils of frost reaching out from her feet and locking the sand below her with every step.

“Well, look at that,” Noah said. “Are those Body Imbuements, or are you doing it manually?”

“Body Imbuements,” Isabel said proudly. “Todd tutored both of us last night and we put some really weak Body Imbuements together on the balls of our feet. Todd and I are using Stone, and Emily is using Ice.”

Emily reddened at the reminder that she’d needed Todd’s help, but she nodded in agreement. “It was… easier with a teacher.”

“Good forward thinking,” Moxie said approvingly. “But… Todd, when did you get a Stone Rune? I thought you only had Heat and Fire.”

Todd cleared his throat. It was Todd’s turn to blush this time around. He looked to the side in embarrassment. “Also yesterday. Isabel Imbued a portion of her Rune for me.”

“Without Catchpaper?” Noah asked, taken aback. “I thought it was really difficult to do that.”

“Only if you don’t have a good surface to work with,” Todd said. He tapped himself on the chest. “Bodies are pretty good surfaces. Not comfortable, but decent.”

That’s genius. He used himself as a canvas. But doesn’t that mean Isabel is the one powering his Imbuement?

“Does that mean Isabel’s powering the Imbuement for you?” Lee asked before Noah could figure out a diplomatic way to ask the same question.

Todd grinned. “No. I’m not shameless enough for that. I’m not trying to be a burden. I absorbed the Rune into my own soul. There’s a reason Imbuements are often hidden with a bunch of inscriptions to make it difficult to discern where they start and end. If you just Imbue a Rune on something, anyone can take it. That’s exactly what I did. We did lose a good bit of energy in the transfer since my body isn’t quite as perfect as Catchpaper is for storing energy, but it’s much better than a random rock.”

Todd really does know his Imbuements. Just how much did his father teach him? He talks with such confidence that it’s clear he knows more than he’s let on. Good shit, Todd.

I’m still going to make you spill those secrets of yours at some point.

Lee walked out onto the sand, then promptly started to sink into it. She flailed, then grabbed onto Noah’s arm, crawling up his back and clinging to it like a koala. Noah sighed.

“No Body Imbuements from you, huh?”

“No need to waste energy when I’ve got a ride already.”

The others all laughed. Noah shook his head, unable to keep a chuckle from his own lips, then nodded to Moxie. “It’s your show, Moxie. Anything you want them to do before we get started fighting?”

Moxie turned to their students. “Why don’t one of you three tell me? You’ve arrived at a new, inhospitable location. What are our first steps?”

“Figure out what we’re up against,” Todd said. “But we’ve already done that.”

Noah tilted his head to the side. “You have?”

“Scouting means using all resources at your disposal,” Isabel said with a flicker of a smile. “I hope this doesn’t count as cheating, but we read the dossier Moxie had.”

Moxie blinked. “What? When?”

“This morning.”

Moxie pulled her bag off her shoulder and dug through it. She pulled out a piece of paper, sending Isabel a confused look. “It’s still here. How did you manage to read it and put it back without me noticing?”

Noah opened his mouth, then tilted his head to the side. He slowly turned to look at Lee, who averted her gaze and started trying – and failing – to whistle.

“Bribery works wonders,” Emily put in. “You should try it sometime, Moxie. Lee’s a lot easier to buy off than you are, though. It only took two strips of jerky.”

Moxie sighed. “Seriously? You convinced Lee to sneak into my room and both steal and return the dossier? You’re supposed to be injured, Lee!”

“The injured need sustenance,” Lee declared. “Also, I was bored. It was an awful move, though. I had to fake being asleep for so long after I woke up.”

Noah rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t help but being a little impressed. Lee’s new stealth was seriously impressive. “I think we can let that one slide this time in respect to the creativity, but I’d suggest new strategies in the future.”

Moxie nodded in agreement. She stuffed the paper back into her bag and shifted it on her hip, gesturing for Todd to keep talking. “What’s next, then? You already know the monsters and a general description of the area.”

“Scouting them,” Todd said, exchanging a glance with the girls to get their agreement before continuing. “We need to see what they’re capable of, then find a defensible area.”

Moxie grinned. “Get on with it, then. We’ll follow behind.”

Isabel took the lead of the party, Todd and Emily keeping close behind her as they set off into the desert. Noah kept his tremorsense active, sweeping the area for threats. Moxie matched his stride and leaned in, lowering her voice.

“Can you do some wider loops around the camp and make sure we don’t run into too many enemies at once? Pushing them is good, but we don’t want to overwhelm them too quickly. I can handle Lee.”

“Works for me,” Noah said with a nod, plucking Lee from his shoulders and passing her to Moxie. Lee quickly re-attached to Moxie’s back, not perturbed by the shift in her vehicle in the slightest. “I need to kill some things anyway. Call out if you need help.”

“Will do. Come back soon, though. It’ll be useful to have your expertise when they’re actually fighting the monsters.”

Noah gave her a thumbs up, then drew his flying sword and hopped onto it. Sand kicked up around him as he shot off, tearing across the desert to scan the immediate surroundings. This would be good. He needed to test out his new Runes, and killing a few monsters would also help him fill them up. Noah almost felt sorry for anything he ran across.

Almost, but not quite.

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