Return of the Runebound Professor

“I know almost nothing about Garrick,” Karina admitted, her face pale. It looked like she thought that Noah would kill her just for not being able to fully answer his question – he supposed that probably wasn’t an unreasonable assumption, given how he’d threatened her.

It’s not like I actually want to go around murdering people for fun, but you started this. If you start a game, you better be ready to play it through to completion.

“Say what you do know,” Noah said.

“He’s an assassin, like I mentioned before. Garrick is from the main branch, so he’s got silver hair and eyes. He’s got a scar on his lip and is supposed to be a very quiet person. I don’t know what kind of Runes he’s got, but I believe he’s a Rank 4. He’s not the most dangerous person the Torrin family has, but he’s still very effective according to the information I’ve found.”

“Has he already killed anyone important?” Noah asked.

Karina shrugged. “I don’t know exactly what his targets have been before, but I know the Torrin family keeps using him. That’s got to mean something.”

Noah nodded thoughtfully. “What about Eline?”

“I tried to copy her personality pretty closely, though I probably didn’t get it right on,” Karina said reluctantly. “She’s a pretty typical Torrin girl. A little cocky, not used to things not going her way. Slightly sheltered from the real world. She’s also not happy about the fact that she can’t get a boyfriend.”

“Not having friends is sad,” Lee said with an understanding nod. She was still in Karina’s original form – and, judging by the way Karina’s eye twitched, Noah got the feeling that she wasn’t a fan of other people with her shapeshifting ability.

“Not just friends,” Karina said with a snort. “She’s got a lot of those. A lot of people, both in and outside the Torrin family, want to be friends with her. I’ve been observing her for a while. She’s got an extensive information network despite her age, but she’s not really close to any of them. Eline has been pretty vocal to everyone traveling with her that she wants a boyfriend, but she can’t get one. It’s pathetic.”

Why do I feel like this information is getting skewed by your own personal opinions?

Lee tilted her head to the side, her forehead creasing in deep thought.

“And what is Eline capable of?” Noah asked. “You said she’d be the threat to Isabel and Todd.”

Karina nodded. “She’s a whiny brat, but she’s also a capable fighter. She’s been trained by Garrick for years and is set to take his position when she gets old enough. For a Rank 1, she isn’t bad.”

Noah rubbed his chin. The problem could technically be alleviated if he just killed Eline, but murdering someone he didn’t know just on the suspicion that they’d try to attack his students was too far, even for him.

She hasn’t tried to do anything yet. Karina might believe what she’s saying, but I’m not an executioner. Killing a child just because it makes things easier is too much – until she actually acts against me, I won’t do that.

For that matter, Evergreen is going to be here. If I get into a direct confrontation with either Garrick or Eline, things could go south very quickly. I’m not the only one involved here. A fight could put Moxie in a really bad spot.

“Understood,” Noah said. “That’s all I need from you right now. Go get ready for the exam. Find a way to make sure Todd and Isabel are safe, but do not interfere with their exam. I don’t want anyone to go around claiming they cheated their way through or something.”

Karina nodded. She shakily rose to her feet. Her eyes didn’t leave Noah for an instant. He was pretty sure that, if he suddenly moved toward Karina, she’d run screaming.

“Just keep one thing in mind,” Noah said as Karina backed up and reached the door. “If either Todd or Isabel die during this exam – I’m killing you. Their lives are yours. Remember that.”

Karina swallowed. Her hand found the doorknob and she twisted it, darting out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her. Noah and Lee were silent for a few moments.

“You okay?” Lee asked, looking up at Noah.

Noah frowned. “Yes. Why?”

“You smell wrong.”

“I smell wrong?” Noah sniffed at his armpit. “Nothing seems off to me.”

“Not that,” Lee said. “You. It was only for a little while, but when I opened the door, it smelled really dangerous in this room. It’s better now.”

“Strange,” Noah said with a frown. “You don’t smell emotions or anything like that, do you?”

Lee shook her head and stood up. “No, it’s not that. It was a physical change.”

Is it something to do with the anger issues I’ve been having since I first tried forming the Fragment of Renewal? I’ve still yet to figure out what’s going on over there. No matter how hard I try looking, nothing seems wrong.

“And it’s completely gone now?” Noah asked.

“Yeah. Completely.”

“Odd,” Noah said. He shook his head and shrugged. “Well, if you do notice it again, please let me know. I don’t know what’s going on, but it might be important.”

“I will,” Lee promised. She glanced at the door, then looked down at herself, still in Karina’s body. Her forehead furrowed.

“Is something wrong?” Noah asked.

It was several moments before Lee responded. “What’s the difference between a boyfriend and a friend?”

“Romantic interest, I guess,” Noah replied with a shrug. “It’s hard to read exactly what Eline’s problem is just from Karina’s very skewed analysis of things, but it sounds like Eline is lonely and trying to fill that with love. Seems like she might be trying too hard.”

“I don’t understand,” Lee said with a frown. “How can you try too hard to make friends?”

“It’s pretty hard to answer that when I’ve literally never met Eline.” Noah adjusted his coat and ran a hand through his hair. It was still messy from just having woken up, so he took a moment to try to tame it a little. “But from what Karina said, she’s not trying to make friends, she just wants to be able to prove that she’s worthy of love by finding anyone that will love her. It’s kind of similar to Karina, actually. Did you notice she got mad when I said I wasn’t interested in her?”

Lee nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, she clearly doesn’t like me at all,” Noah said. “And yet, when she heard that I didn’t like her back, she immediately got defensive and tried to show how she was worthy. If Karina was happy with herself, then she wouldn’t have cared at all about my opinion. It should have actually made her happy, because it would mean I’m more willing to cancel our supposed marriage.”

Lee pondered for a few moments, then nodded. “I get it. So she was trying to prove that she was someone that you should like?”

“That’s my guess. I don’t think it matters one way or another. I have no interest in getting to know her any more than we have to. She’s dangerous, but it sounds like she was originally engaged to the real Vermil. I can’t really blame her for trying to kill him – but I can for threatening Isabel and Todd.”

“Yeah,” Lee said. She was silent for another few moments. “Does changing shapes mean that we aren’t happy?”

“What? I wouldn’t say that,” Noah said with a surprised blink. “I mean, not unless you’re changing shapes because you’re trying to make someone else happy. As long as you aren’t drawing undue attention to yourself that could get the rest of us in trouble, you should just be who you want to.”

“How do I know that I’m who I want to be?”

Okay, we’re getting well beyond my level of philosophical ability. I had a lot of time to think about life when I was dead, but this isn’t anywhere near my expertise.

“I don’t think anyone can answer that other than you,” Noah said after a moment. “It’s probably harder for someone that’s always been able to shapeshift, but my best guess would be the form that you revert to when you’re comfortable.”

Lee’s body rippled. Karina’s features vanished as Lee’s normal ones replaced them. She looked out the window at the horizon, where the sun was just barely starting to rise, casting an orange hue over Arbitage’s campus.

“That’s this form, then.”

“Is it the one you used back in the Damned Plains?”

Lee waggled a hand back and forth. “It’s very close, although I usually had larger teeth and claws or the like as well. It’s the form I first took when I was born. But it’s also the one I took after…”

Noah raised an eyebrow as Lee trailed off, then shook her head. “Do you think it’s fine?”

“If you like it, of course it is,” Noah said with a laugh. “My own opinions on it shouldn’t even matter. I’m not going to like you less based on what form you’re in. Shifting shapes is just part of what you are, isn’t it? In the end, you’re still Lee.”

“So you don’t like blondes? That sucks for Karina.”

Noah choked. “How was that what you got out of this?”

Lee snickered. “We should probably go meet up with Moxie and the others so we can all get ready for the exam.”

“Good idea,” Noah agreed, shaking his head and letting out a laugh. He glanced down at the bracelet that Karina had left on the floor. He tilted his head to the side, then scooped it up and deposited it in a pocket. “Let’s go.”

He strode out the door, completely oblivious to the look on Lee’s face as she studied his back. She touched her face, pausing for a moment before she wiped the expression away and hurried to catch up to him, closing the door behind her.

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