Return of the Runebound Professor

“No.”

The demon’s eyes twitched. “What?”

“Why would I ever make a deal with you?” Noah scoffed. “You’ve literally told me that you’re actively trying to kill me. I have absolutely no reason to trust you enough to make a deal. It’s pretty apparent you can’t do anything to me from within my mindspace. If you could, you would have done it already.”

“Bah,” the demon spat. “You are a terrible bore. Fine. How about a game from your own memories, then? Quid pro pro.”

“Trading questions? That brings back memories,” Noah said. A grin flitted across his face and he shrugged. “How do I know that you’ll tell the truth, though?”

“You’ve already felt my mind.” the demon tapped its head with a finger. A strange sensation washed over Noah as he felt the demon’s thoughts brush against his own. “If we open our minds to each other when we answer questions, it’ll be impossible to lie.”

“I see,” Noah said. “And what do you stand to gain from this?”

“Is that your first question?”

“It’s the preliminary one if you want me to even consider doing this.”

The demon sighed. “The same thing you do. I’m bored, and you have something that interests me within your mind. If I can break the tedium of being trapped within your boring body in any way, then I’ll take it. How’s that?”

Noah could tell that the demon wasn’t lying. He could feel the demon’s thoughts with every word, and they resonated with them. That didn’t mean it was telling the whole truth, though. It was possible to leave off information without actually telling a mistruth.

“That’s right,” the demon said with a chuckle. “It’s on you to figure out questions that will actually get you the answers you want. Fun game, right?”

“I’ll ask my question first,” Noah said. “What’s your name?”

“Why do you get to start?”

“Because it’s my damn mind. Answer the question.”

“I’m not giving you my true name,” the demon said with a shake of its head. “I’m not an idiot, Vines. You aren’t banishing me. I’d rather die than get sent back to the Damned Plains.”

“Then what the hell do I call you? I can’t just keep thinking of you as a demon. It’ll tarnish my opinion of the entire race.”

“You may refer to me as Azel.”

Noah grimaced. “That’s it? I kind of expected the name to be… longer. I guess Lee ended up with a short name too, but I chose that for her.”

“At least I’m not named after a plant. My turn to ask a question. What is Earth?”

“Another planet. One without magic of any sort,” Noah said, quashing the temptation to reply another word for dirt. He didn’t like Azel, but there was always the possibly that he could get some useful information out of their game. There was no reason to squander the opportunity.

And, on top of that, a small part of Noah didn’t disagree with Azel. He really was bored, and this was as good a way to kill time as any.

“Back to me. Do you know how we can take care of the fake Evergreen in a way that doesn’t get me, Moxie, or Lee in trouble?”

“Not yet. Maybe something will come to me.”

“Some use you are.”

“I didn’t say I had all the answers.” Azel shrugged. “Your fault for asking a stupid question. How did you keep your memories of Earth? Everything before you died is a little spotty, but the entirety of the time you spent dead is a blank void. I can’t see anything that happened during it, and I want to know why.”

“No clue.”

Azel stared expectantly. Then its – his? – brow turned down in annoyance. “Fair play. You ask, then.”

“How much damage have you done to my mind? Are my thoughts my own, or have you somehow changed me?”

Azel chuckled. “Changed? No. Influenced. Tiny pushes, Vines. Anger where you normally would have felt none. A bit of extra impatience on top of your own. Just quick little shifts. I can’t actually change your personality or control your mind.”

Noah didn’t succeed in keeping the relief from showing on his face. Tiny nudges he could deal with, but the idea that Azel had been actively controlling him was terrifying. Even still, Noah could recall several moments where Azel’s small interference had been enough to completely shift how things had played out. The danger wasn’t anything to be underplayed.

Red lines curled out from beneath Azel’s feet, quickly passing through the darkness of Noah’s soul. Before Noah could react, color bloomed and the world shifted. His runes disappeared, replaced by the plain stone walls of a cottage. Chairs appeared beneath him and Azel, pushing them up to a small table.

“Relax,” Azel said. “Just a trick of the mind. Your soul is dreadfully dreary, you know. I’ve spent more than enough time staring at that endless void. I’d like a place a little nicer, but I suspect you aren’t going to be too partial to speaking in the real world.”

“You suspect correctly.”

“Thus, this will work.” Azel gestured around the cottage, then leaned forward and peered into Noah’s eyes. “Let’s get to the more interesting stuff. What happens after you die?”

Noah laughed. “It’s funny. All humans wonder that. I never stopped to think that demons might as well. You aren’t going to like the answer, though.”

“Are you ending the game here?”

“Nope, just warning you. The answer is a line. A very, very long line. You can’t gather the will to move or speak. You just stand there for thousands of years until you get to the end, where your memories are wiped and you start all over.”

Azel stared at Noah in disbelief. “You can’t be telling the truth. That’s what waits in the end? A line, followed by… what, having to do it all over? With no memory of anything that happened in your previous life?”

“That’s a whole lot of questions, but it’s my turn. You’re welcome to use your next question to get clarifications, but before that – do you know of a way for me to unbond our souls without one of us dying?”

“No.” Azel said, not hesitating for an instant. He reached out and a flagon of beer materialized in his hand. He raised it to his mouth, but Noah could tell that the liquid wasn’t entering his lips. It just vanished as soon as it left the mug. “How did you keep your memories?”

“I got lucky. The reincarnation method got muddled while I was using it. It’s not something that can be replicated. It somehow let me keep my memories.”

I’m not going to mention exactly how things played out. Technically not lying. The game goes both ways, Azel.

“Damn,” Azel cursed. He tossed his tankard to the side and it vanished before it hit the ground. The demon leaned back in his chair, chewing his lower lip as he waited for Noah to ask his next question.

I don’t even know what I should ask at this point. If I go too specific or detailed, it could easily just be something that Azel doesn’t know. Then I’ll have wasted my question. Hm.

“Tell me about the woman we have tied up in our room. She’s supposed to be a Rank 6, but you were able to defeat her easily. How is that possible?”

“She’s a construct,” Azel said. “That’s not a living creature. It’s a powerful Rank 5 formation, but it can’t do anything without using the staff. As long as they’re separate, the body is useless.”

Formations can do that much? Holy shit. Revin was right about how powerful they are, then. Sounds like Formations are going up the priority list.

A moment of silence passed. Noah frowned.

“What, are you done? I didn’t think you’d be the one to tap out first.”

“I am not,” Azel replied with a shake of his head. “I was thinking. I’m going to shift the line of questioning because your previous answers were making me feel worse, not better.”

Azel snapped his fingers. The air on either side of the table blurred as Moxie and Lee both appeared. Noah’s eyes widened, but it quickly became apparent that they weren’t real. Both of them stood stock still, like a picture rather than a living being.

“What’s up with this?” Azel asked. “It’s not cute to be oblivious after a certain point, you know. Do you not like women?”

“Whoa. Where did that come from?” Noah demanded. “We are not talking about this. It’s none of your business.”

Azel raised an eyebrow. “Considering I’m stuck in your body and forced to watch you bumble through whatever all this is, I’d say it certainly is.”

“I’m not answering this.”

“You know,” Azel ran a finger down the side of his face and gave Noah a toothy smile. “Anger isn’t the only emotion I can influence.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you dare.”

“New game time.” Azel clapped his hands together. “Or rather, I’m amending the rules. We’re playing with favors now. Fail to answer a question, you owe the other person a favor.”

“There’s absolutely no way I’m agreeing to that.”

“Is it getting hot in here, or is it just me?” Azel fanned his face, his grin growing even wider. “This is a threat, Vines. Play the game. If you do, I’ll promise to leave that particular feeling off the table. How’s that sound? I’ll even throw in a little bait. I know how you can get out of your little situation with Evergreen.”

A moment passed. Noah let out an exasperated sigh “Fine. I’ll play. Is that really going to be your question, though?”

“Yep. There’s not much to do in here but this, you know. How come you aren’t having some fun?”

“Because I’ve got bigger things to deal with, and we don’t need something like that getting in the way right now.”

“Well that’s a boring answer. No spice whatsoever.”

“Spice? Seriously? There’s no way demons use that word like that.”

“I stole some lingo from your memories – and that counts as a question, by the way.”

Noah cursed under his breath.

“So you aren’t just being oblivious on purpose?” Azel asked. “Curious. In that case, you wouldn’t mind if I went after Lee, would you? She’s cute. A little weak, but hey – we both know you can fix that.”

“Absolutely not. Stay the hell away from my friends.”

Azel wrapped his arms around his shoulder and faked a shiver. “Ooh, the fangs came out. Protective, aren’t you? I approve. How far would you go to protect them, though? You’ve already killed.”

Noah’s lips pressed thin. “That was your question. How do I deal with Evergreen?”

“Break the staff at the end of the exam. The construct will shatter, as it’s drawing strength from the caster through the staff. When it shatters, all the information its gathered will go with it. At that point, it’s a simple matter of deciphering the runes on the staff to reform the construct. It’ll be missing a bit of memory, but the sooner you do it, the less likely that anyone will notice.”

That’s… surprisingly simple, actually. Except for the fact that I have no damn idea how to work the staff.

“My turn,” Azel said with a wry smile. The demon knew exactly what he’d done. If Noah wanted to get the answer of how to use Evergreen’s staff, he was going to have to get through at least one more of Azel’s questions. “Between Moxie and Lee, which do you like more?”

“That’s a terrible question.”

“And that’s a terrible answer. Which one? I could see an argument for either,” Azel mused, tapping his chin. “Lee’s cute. Really knows how to shift a somber mood into a happy one. Pretty clever too. But there’s a real solid case for Moxie as well. She took care of you for a week. You couldn’t see, but I did. Girl was really worried about you. She’s pretty as well. I like the hair and the confident attitude. Real go-getter. Can’t go wrong either way, I say.”

“I want to know what your problem is,” Noah growled. “What does my love life have to do with anything?”

“If it doesn’t matter, then the answer should be easy,” Azel said with a smirk. “Just choose one and answer. If you had to chose between saving one or the other, which would it be?”

“Both.” Noah gave Azel a flat stare, holding the demon’s gaze without flinching. “I value my friends equally. I don’t know what you’re playing at, but I’m willing to bet you would have said something like oh, sweet. I’ll just try to go after the other one, then about whoever I didn’t choose.”

Azel put his hands together in a silent clap. “Good deduction, Vines. I told you that you had the mind of a demon. You think just like us. What’s your question, then? I’ve got a lot more, and you won’t be able to skirt all of them so easily.”

“What’s your goal here?” Noah asked. Evergreen was important, but he also got the sneaking suspicion that Azel didn’t actually know how to work Evergreen’s staff. There was no logical reason to assume he did – Azel hadn’t had a chance to look at it yet, and considering he was stuck sharing his head with the monster, it was a good idea to figure out what Azel’s endgame was. “Why are you asking me about this? I don’t believe that it’s just because you’re bored.”

“Ah,” Azel said with a low chuckle. “Now you’re getting to the good questions.”

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