Return of the Runebound Professor

“Well, damn,” Moxie breathed. “Talk about extending the hand of friendship.”

Noah could barely believe it himself. He wasn’t sure if he was happier about the letter or the gift – but the answer to that question came to him in just a moment.

It was the letter, and by a wide margin. Allies were worth a thousand times what any normal Rune could ever be. Noah straightened up and glanced over at Lee’s bed – only to find her hanging from the ceiling.

Noah wasn’t even slightly surprised. “I see you’re awake, Lee.”

“I smelled something interesting. Is there something good for me on that Catchpaper?”

“How’d you know? You can’t tell me you can smell Runes.”

“I smelled Brayden.” Lee dropped to the ground and held her hands out. Noah handed her the paper and her eyes lit up. “Wow. I didn’t think he liked us anymore.”

“People can be complex,” Moxie said.

“Can we go say thank you?”

“Maybe a bit later. I think Brayden needs some space right now,” Noah said. “He also said that he’s headed out of Dawnforge, so we probably won’t be running into him here. We can figure out an appropriate way to thank him for when we next meet, though.”

“Food.” Lee straightened her arms and peered at the Space Rune, desire in her eyes. She forced her hands down and looked to Noah. “What do we do with the Rune?”

“All yours. Once you fill it up enough, you can make some duplicates and we’ll go from there,” Noah said, then grabbed Lee by the shoulder. “And please, don’t rip your Runes out again.”

“Why not? You can heal me again, right?”

Noah opened his mouth, then closed it again. He could. Things had been moving so quickly as of late that he hadn’t figured out what the Fragment of Renewal’s passive was, but that didn’t change its normal functions.

I sure do wish it gave me a little tutorial like Sunder did, though. That was convenient. I suppose Renewal probably isn’t too happy about me yoinking her Rune. I should really figure out what to do about that as well… eventually. I doubt I’m finding anything of worth to a god in the near future, so keeping my nose out of her business might be the wisest course of action.

“I guess we could do that,” Noah allowed reluctantly. “I don’t like the idea of you hurting yourself, though.”

“Well, we’ve only got one of those cool potions that Moxie bought, so you’ll have to fix all my Runes at once with Sunder. No point doing that now, is there? I should just fill this one up, make the duplicates, and only have you split things up once the new Space Runes are filled up.”

“Fair enough. As far as people go, I’m probably the last one to go around telling you not to hurt yourself too badly – just make sure you don’t kill yourself. I don’t think my Rune’s powers go that far.”

“I won’t! One second. I’m going to absorb this.” Lee gave him a mock salute, then closed her eyes and put her hand on the surface of the Rune on the Catchpaper.

Despite himself, Noah held his breath as Lee’s features creased with concentration. A second passed. For a moment, Noah thought that Lee might have actually managed to absorb the Rune without hurting herself.

A crackle of energy raced up Lee’s fingertips as the Space Rune vanished from the paper. Lee drew in a sharp breath and staggered. Moxie caught her as she slumped, blood trickling down from her nose at an alarming rate.

Noah immediately stepped forward and drew on the Fragment of Renewal’s power, sending the refreshing energy out from his body and into Lee. The pain on her face lessened almost instantly as she let out a soft sigh, her eyes fluttering back open.

“You okay?” Noah asked.

Lee’s tongue snaked out and licked the blood off her face. “Yeah. Thanks. That wasn’t too bad. The damage is healing really fast. Should be great pretty soon.”

Noah shook his head. “You know, I think I might know how you guys feel about me constantly killing myself now.”

“Oh, really?” Moxie’s voice was equal parts annoyance and amusement. “Does that mean you’re going to stop doing it?”

“Probably not,” Noah admitted. “It’s too useful. No problems absorbing the Rune, right, Lee?”

“None. Once I fill it up enough, I’ll make copies for all of us. Space Runes are really cool.” Lee held the letter out to Noah. Luckily, the removal of the Imbued Rune hadn’t damaged it, so he tucked the letter into his bag with all his other important papers.

Just because something is cool doesn’t mean it’s going to fit into our combinations… but having a Space Rune is definitely useful. The more Runes I have, the stronger I’ll be as I get to later ranks and need to fiddle with combinations even more.

Besides, some form of teleportation seems like a lot to say no to. Can’t hurt to have the option sitting on the table.

“Sounds like we should go hunting, then,” Moxie said. “Unless anyone has objections?”

“Actually, there were a few things I wanted to do.” Noah rubbed the back of his neck. “Do you guys think you could handle it alone?”

“You’re going to practice the violin, aren’t you?” Moxie asked.

“Yep.”

Moxie snorted. “Figured. That’s fine – so long as I get my song and I don’t have to wait too long for it. I’m looking forward to it, you know.”

“We should have some food when you play it,” Lee suggested. “Snacks and music. Good combination.”

“How do you know?” Moxie looked at Lee out of the corner of her eye, mildly surprised. “Did they have music in the Damned Plains?”

“No. I just think they’d go well together.”

“You think anything goes well together with food,” Noah pointed out.

“I do not!”

Noah took a page from Moxie’s book and arched an eyebrow, gesturing for Lee to elaborate. “Go on, then. What doesn’t go good with food?”

Lee tilted her head to the side, considering his question for about a second before shrugging. “I dunno, but I’m sure there’s something. I’ll let you know when I figure it out.”

Noah couldn’t help himself from laughing. “Sounds good. I’ll be in the area, then. Don’t get worried if I’m not in the room when you get back, though. I might head off to look around Dawnforge.”

“Just don’t start murdering anyone, no matter how much they deserve. We’ve had enough trouble,” Moxie ordered.

Noah gave her a mock salute. “I’ll do my best.”

“That’s not particularly reassuring.” Moxie squinted at Noah as Lee hopped over to the door and pulled it open, humming to herself.

“Come on! I want to fill my new Rune up,” Lee said before vanishing down the hall. Moxie hurried after Lee, which was probably a wise decision. Leaving Lee to her own devices for just a few seconds was a pretty good way to cause chaos.

Noah waited until he’d heard Lee and Moxie’s footfalls fade into the distance before he moved. While he fully planned to find some time to practice with his violin, there was still another thing on his mind that would be much faster to take care of.

I need to get started on Moxie’s gift before we leave Dawnforge, and now’s as good a time as any. I’ve got some gold and a general idea of what I want to do – I should just figure out how much this is going to cost and get it started as soon as possible.

A goal in mind, Noah headed out of the room and made for Olive’s store. The Imbuer felt like a good spot to start his hunt.

***

“I make weapons. Blades that can withstand intense battle and ferry their owners to the other side in one piece,” Olive said, crossing his arms and staring at Noah in befuddlement.

“Yeah, we went over that part.”

“And you want me to make a… stuffed bear?”

“It’s called a teddy bear.” Noah held his hands out in front of his chest, palms facing toward each other. “And not just any teddy bear. I want a fluffy one about this big.”

“That,” Olive said, pushing Noah’s hands down with two fingers, “is not the point. I am a renowned Imbuer in the city of Dawnforge. You want me to make a child’s toy.”

“Bah. You made all those costumes in your back.” Noah crossed his arms and met Olive’s gaze. “You can’t tell me that you’re above making a gift for someone. How is this that different? Or is it that you don’t think you’re capable of doing it?”

“I recognize your attempts to goad me into agreeing.”

Noah shrugged. “Well, you aren’t the only Imbuer in town. I’m sure I can find someone else that can do it – maybe they’ll make another one and put it out in front of their shop to show how much better they are at making their customers happy than you are.”

Olive grabbed Noah’s arm as he turned to leave the store. Noah looked back to Olive, who glared at him.

“Just because I recognize you’re attempts does not mean I am immune to them.” Olive let go of Noah and snapped his fingers impatiently. “Tell me the rest of the details on your little gift, and then we will decide a price for this little side project.”

“Oh, I want more than just the bear.” Noah reached into his bag and pulled out the bundle of soft, white fur that he’d been carrying around for quite some time now. The snow ferret’s pelt had been sitting around, waiting for him to put it to good use. “I’ve got this, and I’m trying to get something made that would go well with the teddy bear.”

“I could give the bear a cloak.”

“Cute, but I was more thinking an Imbued item,” Noah said. “For the woman that was with me the last time I was in the store. Something protective, maybe?”

“There are many Imbuements that could fulfill that request. Let me see the material.” Olive held his hands out and Noah deposited the pelt in the man’s hands.

Olive ran his hands along the fur, his expression unreadable. After almost two minutes of silent inspection, he looked back up at Noah.

“This is quite the high-quality piece. It doesn’t boast any significant properties on its own, but the feel is positively divine. I might actually be able to make something quite interesting with this.”

“So you’ll help me?” Noah’s eyes lit up.

“Once we agree on a price. One… teddy bear, and a cloak with defensive properties. You will provide this fur for me to work with, and I will acquire all other materials needed.”

“Yep. Sounds good to me. How much? I’ll go kill some monsters and scrounge up the coin once I know how much you want for it.”

Olive burst into laughter. “Oh no, my dear friend. We aren’t anywhere near done. This is a gift, is it not? You can’t just give me general information like that and then leave. It comes from your heart, not mine. I simply provide the hands to forge this.”

Noah blinked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means you’re coming into the workshop,” Olive said, beckoning for Noah to follow him before striding through the door at the back of the room. He poked his head out a moment later, a flicker of irritation playing across his features. “What are you waiting for? Come in. We have much to discuss.”

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