Return of the Runebound Professor

A blast of wind launched Noah into the air. He sailed past one of the crabs large claws as it snapped shut behind him. The huge tubes on its back fired a barrage of sand toward Noah, and he redirected himself with another powerful gust of wind.

Noah landed on the monster’s back with a grunt, rolling to a stop. Its shell was jagged and as hard as rock, digging into his clothes and pulling at them as he rose to his feet. The crab spun, trying to throw Noah free as it reached up for him.

Water gathered around Noah’s hands. He continued to run across the crab’s back, ducking under a claw as it swept over his head and dragging the growing blob of water through the air behind him.

As he prepared to send the energy drilling into the crab’s tough shell, sand started to pour out from the cannons covering the monster’s back. It formed into a cloud in the air, and Noah only had an instant to react. He sprinted to the side and dove off the crab. The cloud of sand exploded outward, turning into jagged blades of sand that shot after him.

Noah spun midair and the water he’d gathered around him spread out, forming into a shield an instant before the sand pelted into it. He’d managed to pack enough Runic energy into the magic to withstand the barrage, but only had a few seconds to drop it and catch himself with a burst of wind before he hit the ground.

He stumbled as he landed on the dune, then took off sprinting. The crab raced after him, jabbing down at his back with its huge legs. Noah zipped and weaved from side to side, boosting his movements with bursts of wind as he furiously thought.

It doesn’t seem like it can control the actual sand around us, just the stuff that comes from its body. That’s good, but I still need more time to actually find a way to get through its shell. Sunder could do it no problem, but I can’t use Sunder while Revin is in the area. It’s too risky, especially for something this large. Revin is almost certainly watching us.

Noah spun, then launched himself into the air. He pulled more moisture out from his surroundings, then whipped it forward in a swirling spike. The magic slammed into the crab’s shell with a loud crack, boring a thin hole into it.

Sand pelted down toward Noah. He swore, throwing himself to the side and shooting straight to his feet as soon as he landed. The ground trembled beneath him as the crab stormed after him, even more furious than it had been before.

Noah shot himself into the air, redirecting midway through his flight to avoid one of the crab’s claws, then landed in a sprint on its back. He dashed without stopping, running behind the slanted cannon-tubes even as sand started to pour out from them again. Digging furiously in his bag, Noah pulled out his pipe and a tuft of Flashgrass.

There wasn’t really anything to burn in the desert other than his own hair, and he didn’t really want to turn himself into a living torch if he could avoid it. If the crab hadn’t been as hard as a rock, he would have considered trying to set it alight instead.

It’s too bad the crab isn’t smaller. I literally can’t even try to suffocate it with Combustion because of how big the damn thing is. It definitely has more lung capacity than I do. Actually, would all crabs? They’re basically the ultimate lifeforms or something, aren’t they? Can they hold their breath longer than –

A whip of sand arced past Noah as he threw himself to the side. It pattered against the crab’s shell, not even cutting into it. Noah stuffed the pipe into his mouth and combusted the Flashgrass.

Smoke rose up from Noah’s pipe in a trail behind him as he continued to run along the crab’s back. He dodged out of the way of another blast of sand, but there was a large cloud starting to amass over his head.

The cannons whumped, firing more sand out for the crab to work with. It formed into a thick sheet in the air, and Noah’s eyes widened as he realized that the monster was about to try to use the sand like a fly swatter. He ripped moisture out of the air, forming a small dome just large enough to cover his body above his head right as the sand fell.

It crashed down all around him. Noah staggered as the force of the blast around him made the crab tremble beneath his feet. He released his hold on the water and tried calling on Focal Quake, sending its energy worming into the shell beneath him.

The tough chitin shuddered beneath Noah’s feet, but it didn’t feel like the monster had even noticed it. Its shell was just too thick and absorbed too much energy. Noah’s eyes narrowed as sand shot out for him again.

He dodged to the side, smoke still curling off his pipe as he ducked behind one of the crab’s cannons to use it as cover. Humming to himself, Noah gathered the smoke and sent it streaming off into the tiny hole that he’d bored through the crab’s shell earlier in the fight.

It was time to go back to a tried and tested technique – even if well over half of his experiments had been on his own body.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I’m going to need some more time to gather enough smoke to blow something this big up, though.

Noah’s head jerked back as sand screamed past him. The only thing that saved him from losing his neck was instincts honed from hundreds of life-or-death battles, and even that had been a close one. The crab wasn’t playing around.

The shell beneath Noah bucked and he staggered. If he tried to use other magic, he’d lose control over the smoke. He had to avoid the monster’s attacks for a little longer if he wanted to pull the special technique off, but it looked like the crab had gotten fed up with his presence on top of it.

Massive claws reached up toward Noah and the crab started to rotate in circles, moving increasingly faster with every step. It felt like he’d stepped onto the worlds least safe carnival ride.

Noah grabbed onto one of the tubes as the monster started to spin fast enough that his feet slipped out from under him. He flailed, the only thing keeping him attached to the monster the desperate grip his hands had on its rough body.

The distant sound of the monster’s feet thudding against the sand were like the volleys of a civil war army, but Noah could barely even hear it over the sound of blood pumping in his ears. Unfortunately for him, the crab didn’t seem nearly as bothered by the rate they were spinning at as he was.

A claw snapped at him, and Noah flung himself to the side, releasing the tube with one of his hands and only holding onto a rough bump in its chitin with his other. He snarled in pain as he felt his shoulder flare in agony.

This has to be enough.

He hadn’t dropped his control over the smoke filling the air, and it had remained in a thick cloud above the monster’s shell. Noah let out a sharp whistle, directing it toward the hole in the monster’s shell.

At least, that was his plan. The crab was still spinning, and he couldn’t exactly tell where the damn hole was. As Noah tried to get his bearings, the crab’s claw shot out again. It wrapped around his torso, ripping him free of the tube. Noah grunted in pain and the crab’s skidded to a stop, sending up a thick spray of sand.

The claw was a vice grip, but it wasn’t trying to crush Noah. It was just bringing him down to the crab’s mouth, where it could eat him.

Lovely. Much better.

Noah’s head was still spinning violently, but the crab had stopped moving. He let out one last whistle and the cloud of smoke shot out, finally finding its target and pouring into the hole. All that remained was a thin stream that reached out toward him, extending in an almost gentle manner.

He couldn’t see the top of the monster’s shell anymore. His entire vision was the twitching, grinding mandibles of the massive crab as it moved him toward its mouth. Hot breath washed out over Noah. It smelled like rotting carrion.

The smoke touched Noah’s hand.

He combusted it.

A flash of orange arced down the smoke, burning it away as it zipped down the stream and vanished over the top of the crab. Noah called on Howling Maelstrom, drawing deeply from the Rune. Something told him that–

A brilliant explosion shook the desert, cutting Noah’s thoughts off even as he formed a thick wall of air between himself and the crab’s body. The crab detonated like a bomb had gone off inside it. Shards of chitin slammed into Noah’s air wall, only slowed for an instant before continuing toward him.

That instant was enough. Its claw loosened and Noah set off a huge blast of wind, launching himself as high into the air as he could get. A ball of fire rolled up from the crab’s body, the heat washing over him, and the pieces of the monster rained through the sky all around Noah.

Energy poured into Noah like a coursing river. He drew in a ragged breath of surprise, nearly forgetting that he was still plummeting through the air toward the sand below. Reality snapped back a few moments before he joined the crab in becoming a splatter on the desert dunes, and he set off a small blast of wind to throw himself forward and into a roll instead of falling flat on his face.

Noah staggered to his feet, his heart slamming in his chest. Adrenaline pumped through his body. Pieces of the crab were still raining down around him, though all the largest ones had already fallen.

The smell of cooked meat filled the air. It had a slight smokey twist to it that Noah wasn’t ashamed to admit made his mouth water slightly, but there were still two more of the crab monsters to deal with. He wiped the sweat from his brow and scanned the ground for his flying sword.

Luckily, he hadn’t dropped it too far from the fight. The hilt of the blade stuck out of a dune, glistening in the light. Noah ran over to it, pulling the rusty weapon free, and threw it to the ground. He was tempted to grab a piece of the smoking meat from the ground, but it still wasn’t anywhere near properly cooked. They’d have time to eat it after the rest of the monsters were dead.

A loud crash echoed through the desert from the other side of the camp, where Moxie was fighting. Noah jumped onto his flying sword and it shot into the air, peeling away from the smoldering remains of the monster, hoping that nobody had been seriously injured.

When I get my hands on Revin, I’m going to wring that idiot’s neck.

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