Return of the Runebound Professor

The girl - who Noah presumed to be Alexandra - blurred into motion. She sprinted toward him without a flicker of hesitation as soon as the last word of Gentil’s command left her mouth, bringing her sword up to slash it across his throat.

Something about killing a girl that was basically the age of one of his students didn’t sit right with Noah, but he wasn’t about to sit around and let her cut him open. He released Natural Disaster’s power in an orb of violent wind.

It slammed into Alexandra’s stomach and picked her off her feet, spinning her around once as if she were in a tornado before hurling her into the wall. She slammed into it and dropped to the ground, rubble clattering down around her.

Her expression didn’t change in the slightest. Alexandra landed on her feet, then sprinted at him again.

“I’ll get the quiet guy,” Lee yelled, sprinting past Noah and raising her axe. Moxie looked from Lee to Noah.

“Help Lee,” Noah said. “Don’t get caught.”

“Thanks. Hadn’t figured that part out myself,” Moxie said dryly, running to join Lee. Gentil didn’t budge from his spot in his chair. As tempting as it was for Noah to blast him with a bolt of lightning, if Gentil was going to just sit the fight out, he wouldn’t complain. That just swung things in their favor – and, ideally, they’d still have the old bastard alive to question once all the dust had settled.

Alexandra swung her sword at Noah. He leaned to the side, avoiding the blow easily. She wasn’t slow, but she was far from as fast as the other opponents he’d gone up against.

Which lends the question of why this crazed old guy is keeping her around.

A loud crash rang out, and Noah glanced at Lee and Moxie out of the corner of his eye. The two of them were locked in a violent dance with the silent man, and it looked like he was holding them at bay.

Compared to him, this chick isn’t even a distraction. What’s up with this?

Noah swept his leg out, taking the girl’s feet out from under her. She hit the ground and Noah kicked her sword out of her hand. “Stay down. I’d rather not kill a kid.”

If Alexandra heard him, she gave no acknowledgement of it. There wasn’t any recognition or thought on her face. She pushed away from Noah and grabbed her sword, rising to her feet once more.

Alexandra’s sword cut through the air again. Noah slipped to the side, then raised his hand in the other direction, aiming for the hooded man. He released a bolt of lightning that streaked across the room, catching him in the chest.

The magic slammed the man into the wall, and Lee took advantage of the moment of distraction to swing her axe for his head. He ducked impossibly fast, avoiding the blow and lunging for Lee, forcing her to hop back to avoid getting run though with a dagger.

Damn. He’s just as fast as that Stigman guy, but without all the stupid edgy quips.

Noah turned his attention back to Alexandra, tilting his head back to avoid her sword and throwing her back with a blast of wind.

“What’s up with the girl?” Noah called to Gentil. “You didn’t seem like the type of person to send children to battle.”

He’s insane, so maybe I can play to his delusions or something.

Gentil chuckled. “Oh, Alexandra is far more than a girl. She’s just a little reluctant to fight. Isn’t that right, Alexandra?”

Alexandra’s face didn’t even so much as twitch. She ran at Noah again, raising her sword in the same way that she had every time before. Noah’s lips pressed together and he threw her back with the exact blast of wind that he’d just used.

“She’s quite powerful,” Gentil continued, tapping a pointer finger on his armrest. “Alexandra made a big mistake, but I extended my grace to her. But, like a rebellious child, she refuses my absolution. And so, we are stuck as such. Worry not for her, Magus Vermil. She will kill you soon enough.”

Every word out of your mouth makes you seem more like a really creepy pervert than… well, whatever it is that you’re trying to portray yourself as. Blegh.

Noah sent another blast of wind into Alexandra, then called on Natural Disaster to crack the ground between himself and the girl. A small chasm raced through the floor, ripping open and swallowing Alexandra whole.

She plummeted fifteen feet into the darkness, landing with a thump at the bottom of the crack.

I’ll deal with her once the rest of these guys have been handled.

“Alexandra,” Gentil called, a note of faint annoyance in his voice. “Please stop disappointing me. Fight.”

The hair on the back of Noah’s neck stood on end. He spun, dropping to the ground just in time to avoid Alexandra’s blade as it hissed through the air above his head. She’d moved so fast that his tremorsense had only barely managed to pick her up in time.

Noah skipped a step back, lowering his stance and re-examining Alexandra. She was frozen in place, her hand trembling around the hilt of her sword. For an instant, a flicker of emotion broke through her expression.

Her teeth grit, and a single tear rolled down from one of her eyes. Then the blade of her sword ignited with a fwoosh. Alexandra blurred.

If it hadn’t been for all the training Noah had gone through with Lee, that would have been the end for his fight. But, luckily for him, he was used to fighting someone faster than he was – and that gave him just enough experience to throw himself to a side as soon as Alexandra vanished.

Her blade carved through the stone where he’d been, passing through it with no resistance or sound. Alexandra spun toward him, a puff of steam coming out from her mouth. There was no trace of the tear, but it had been enough.

Behind Alexandra, Noah could see Gentil’s kindly expression – so fake that he could have spotted it from a mile away. Disgust bubbled in Noah’s chest.

“You sick old piece of shit,” Noah snarled. “You’re forcing her to fight?”

“She failed, so I had to take a heavy hand in her reeducation,” Gentil replied. “I–”

A massive bolt of lightning scorched the ground as it roared from Noah’s hand, striking Gentil like a truck. A gray shield flashed to life around him, but it wasn’t enough to completely stop the attack.

Even though the shield held firm, Gentil was hurled from his seat. He flew through the air and crashed through rows of wax, rolling once and slamming to a stop against the wall.

Noah didn’t get a chance to see the effects of his attack. Alexandra’s sword snaked out for his face. He lunged back, but she was so fast that he couldn’t completely avoid the blow. Molten heat scorched his cheek as the blade cut across it, leaving a thin scar that instantly cauterized.

Cursing in pain, Noah detonated a powerful blast of wind energy directly behind Alexandra. She was yanked off her feet as it twisted into a miniature tornado, and Noah took the moment he’d bought himself to look to Gentil.

The old man had risen to his feet. There wasn’t a single trace of the gentle mask he’d been wearing a moment before on his face. All that remained was pure, unadulterated hatred and fury.

“You dare?” Gentil screamed, spittle flying from his mouth. “You strike me? The one who has shown you mercy? I refrained from entering the fight! I granted you a chance to believe you might survive! You ungrateful, unappreciative, twisted–”

Another bolt of lightning slammed into Gentil, cutting his raving short. His shield erupted with light as he was thrown back into a wall, shattering even more candles.

Holy shit, that shield of his is powerful. It’s barely even flickered with all the attacks I’ve sank into it.

“Stop monologuing, asshole,” Noah snarled. “Let the kid go before I cut your head off.”

Alexandra slashed at Noah again. He jumped back, nearly tripping over some of the candles on the ground. He managed to keep his footing and narrowly avoided the attack, but Alexandra followed it up with another.

Noah wasn’t as lucky with the second attack. One of the candles set his pant leg on fire. The moment of distraction was brief, but it was enough for Alexandra to close the distance between them.

She lunged. Noah twisted, but he could tell that the blow would still strike his chest in a nasty wound. An instant before it connected, the blade slammed to a halt. Alexandra’s limbs trembled in exertion.

Noah regained his balance and put distance between himself and the girl just as her moment of resistance was shattered. She lunged at him again, but Noah hurled her back with a blast of wind.

If I kill Gentil, the control he has over this poor girl should vanish. I can’t waste time fighting her. She’s too fast to reliably defeat without actually killing her, and I’m not doing that unless it’s my last resort.

Noah’s gaze flicked to Gentil. It didn’t take a genius to read what his thoughts were. Gentil’s mouth curled upward in a hate-filled smile, the contrast to his expression from just seconds ago so stark that it almost felt impossible that the face belonged to the same person.

“This is a Rank 5 Shield,” Gentil said, beckoning Noah onward. “Your magic is nothing more than a mild inconvenience to it. You and Alexandra disgust me both – refusing to take responsibility for your vile actions and believing yourselves in the right. I will fix you, Magus Linwick. And, only once you have seen the error of your ways, I will kill you.”

Noah let out a roar, drawing a huge portion of Natural Disaster’s remaining powers and sprinting toward Gentil. Electricity arced through the air as it gathered around his body, too great to contain.

Gentil stood still, his vile eyes tracing Noah with an air of smugness so thick that Noah could practically taste it.

It pissed him off. Energy crackled off Noah as he leapt into the air, rearing back to release all the magic he’d gathered. Gentil didn’t budge. He knew Noah’s magic wouldn’t even make a dent in his defenses.

Just from the short conversation Noah had with Gentil, he could tell the old man genuinely seemed to believe that he was in the right. He was unbelievably arrogant, and that meant that he felt untouchable. And, whenever someone was confident that they couldn't be touched - that was when they were the easiest to strike.

Noah released all the magic he’d gathered – not toward Gentil, but behind his arm. A massive roar filled the room as wind accelerated Noah, letting him move at speeds even faster than Lee could for the briefest instant.

His fist literally screamed through the air and slammed into Gentil’s nose, passing straight through his shield. There was a sharp burst of pain as the bones in Noah’s hand shattered, but it didn’t do anything to dull the satisfaction that flooded him as he watched Gentil tumble across the ground and slam into a wall with such force that it shattered behind him.

Noah spun as he hit the ground, barely managing to keep his balance.

Fucking Shield abusing assholes. Never remember that Shields only work for magical attacks automatically, and you’ve got to use the physical part to block a physical blow. Rot in hell, Gentil. The line was made for people like you.

The pile of rubble that Gentil had fallen in twitched. The grin vanished from Noah’s face as Gentil staggered to his feet. Blood poured down his face, and his nose had been struck so hard that it had literally flattened, but Gentil was somehow still alive – and the hatred in his eyes was burning so brightly that they were literally glowing red.

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