Return of the Runebound Professor

Evergreen spun, her shield twisting to life around her in the form of wooden vines reaching to cover her body. Energy hissed and popped in the air between them as their domains clashed, but Azel didn’t wait to let Evergreen’s magic inevitably overpower him and chose to take a page out of Noah’s book. Even though he was a rank below her, his fist still shattered the wood that rose up to protect her and drove into her stomach.

A loud crack echoed through the room and Evergreen flew back, spinning midair to land on her feet even as a bracelet on her wrist crumbled to dust. She skidded across the ground and thrust her staff forward.

The entire room came alive. Wood rushed out for Azel from every direction, jagged points shooting for his throat. The demon vanished in a puff of flame, appearing before Evergreen and swinging another fist at her face.

This time, Evergreen was prepared. A brilliant explosion of magic enveloped her body, throwing Azel back and into a wall.

“I am disappointed,” Evergreen snarled, stalking toward Azel. “You attempt to betray me, Magus Moxie? You bring a demon to my house?”

Moxie didn’t respond. Her brow was furrowed with concentration and her hands stretched out in an attempt to wrest even some control of the room around them away from Evergreen.

As far as Noah could tell, it wasn’t working. Evergreen was just too powerful, and they were using the same kind of magic. Luckily for them, Evergreen didn’t have time to deal with him and Moxie yet.

Azel might have been a Rank 5, but he was a powerful one. The demon flashed toward Evergreen and she was forced to bring her magic to bear defensively, forming dozens of wooden walls in Azel’s path.

He dashed around them and lunged for Evergreen, only to catch a spike of wood into the chest. It had moved so quickly that Noah hadn’t even seen the magic appear.

Azel coughed and vanished, reappearing behind Evergreen. He lunged at her, the wound on his chest weeping flame, but was forced to dodge out of the way as a wooden blade carved through the air where he’d nearly passed.

“Pathetic,” Evergreen hissed. “You will suffer. All of you. Was Father behind this? Did that old fool–”

A torrent of flame poured from Azel’s hands, washing over Evergreen. It pressed against her domain, smoldering and popping but failing to penetrate the defensive aura surrounding her. Loud cracks split the room as Evergreen ripped wood up, but Noah didn’t have any more time to be distracted by the fight.

Azel wasn’t going to last against Evergreen forever, and he was already losing a lot of ground. It was now or never. While Evergreen was distracted, he had to breach her defenses. But, even with Sunder, there was no way for a Rank 3 to even come close to harming a Rank 6.

After all, Sunder was constrained by his meagre Rank. He needed to draw more of it than he had ever drawn before – more than his body could ever possibly handle. He needed somewhere to store the magic, something that could contain it until he’d managed to channel enough.

Noah’s violin materialized in his hands and he placed the bow against the strings. The sounds of battle rang out all around him, a cacophonous, chaotic roar. Fragments of wood and fire ripped the room to pieces all around him. He drew a deep breath, pushing everything away. There was no room for distraction.

And then he started to play. Every night since Moxie had voiced her plan, he’d practiced this song, the violin muting the sound so only Noah could hear it.

But, this time, the music didn’t hide itself. A loud, clean note echoed through the destruction, cutting it like a knife. There was no room for errors or hesitation. The moment Evergreen figured out what they were doing, it was over. And so, Noah played.

Music poured from his fingertips as his song intensified, the notes enveloping him as they picked up in volume. Noah’s hands moved faster as he sank deeper into the song, accelerating until they were a blur.

Runic energy poured out around him. Crackling power joined his song, weaving itself into a circle above his head. Power from Natural Disaster seeped into the building Formation, building a cage – a way to contain the power of Sunder for longer than his body ever could.

Despite everything happening around him, Noah’s lip quirked up in a subconscious smile. The song he wove intensified, the glorious notes ringing out. The destruction seemed to silence itself in awe of the performance.

All that remained was his music. It had to be perfect – the greatest performance he had ever put on. Not a single note could falter or be out of line, for the slightest mistake would mean the Formation would crumble.

That wouldn’t happen, though. He’d practiced it dozens of times. The song was ready. Azel would distract Evergreen until it was readied, and then Noah would take advantage of Evergreen’s distraction to unleash Sunder upon her. He would land a single empowered blow that, while unlikely to kill her, would weaken the woman enough for the next stage of their plan. It was going to work.

Until something went wrong.

A wet squelch broke through the glorious song swirling around Noah. Azel’s body fell before Evergreen, his head severed. It blew away in a wave of smoke, swirling into Noah’s body as their distraction vanished.

Evergreen’s eyes snapped over to Noah, widening in recognition at the gathering power. She didn’t waste time on words. A wave of wood rose up from the ground, crashing down toward Noah.

He didn’t stop playing. The Formation was almost ready, but a mostly complete Formation was just as useful as one that hadn’t even been started.

Moxie dashed before him, thrusting her hands into the air and scattering seeds above them. The seeds erupted, twisting vines writhing out from within them and sprouting vibrant flowers all along their length.

Evergreen’s magic crashed down. Moxie’s magic crumpled under Evergreen’s immense power, but she managed to push the wood just enough to the sides that it destroyed the floor on either side of them instead of squashing them both like bugs. Fragments of wood bit into Noah’s skin and carved through his clothes like bullets, but he continued to play even as panic built in his chest.

Without Azel, there’s no way for me to hit Evergreen with Sunder. It was already a long shot to penetrate her defenses – if she’s not distracted, that chance goes to zero.

Moxie sent a wave of vines for Evergreen, but her magic withered and fell away the instant it grew close as Evergreen’s domain swallowed it. A pillar of wood slammed into Moxie’s stomach, shattering her shield and throwing her across the ground. She rolled, coughing and scrambling back to her feet.

Shit. Shit. Shit. What do I do?

Noah’s fingers nearly faltered, but he didn’t stop the song.

The ground beneath his feet vanished, but an instant later, Moxie threw more seeds beneath him. They sprouted, propping Noah up before he could fall into the ground. He nearly missed a note as his stomach dropped into his chest, but he managed to rescue it.

“Enough of this,” Evergreen commanded. A spike of wood shot out toward Noah and Moxie lunged. Vines enveloped her hand, not even having time to shoot out, and she shoved it into the attack’s path.

The spike pierced through Moxie’s vines and hand alike, but she managed to knock it just far enough to the side that it missed Noah. Panic swelled in Noah’s chest. Moxie was pinned in place.

His song was nearly complete. Power infused every single part of his body and swirled in the air above him, just waiting for the final few notes.

Evergreen knew it too. She sent another spike of wood hurtling forward – this one aimed straight for Moxie’s heart. Moxie tried to pull herself out of the way, but there was no way to avoid the attack.

Noah lunged forward, darting past Moxie and into the spell’s path. The spike bit straight into his heart, ripping out the back of his chest. All the power swirling around him faltered, held briefly in limbo as he missed a note of the song.

Evergreen ripped the spike free. Blood bubbled from Noah’s chest, running down the massive hole in his chest and pouring to the ground. The Formation shuddered.

Noah coughed, blood splattering from his lips. Evergreen gave him a cruel smile, then flicked her hand. A lash of wood carved down his shoulder and head, severing both. His body crumpled to the ground, the violin vanishing before it hit the ground.

“No!” Moxie screamed, her voice cracking.

The pain that had been racking Noah’s body vanished, replaced by a deep agony piercing his soul. His soul rose up above his butchered form. He watched, helpless, as the Formation began to dissipate.

“Was that all, Moxie?” Evergreen asked, taking a step toward Moxie and lifting her hand. Wood enveloped her body, forming into dense armor that pulsated with magic. “A respectable attempt, I must admit. I’ll give you the honor of respecting that. You won’t land another blow on me.”

Sunder tugged on Noah, but he crushed it with a thought, his mind racing desperately as he tried to find something – anything – he could do. Sunder wasn’t cutting through Evergreen’s Rank 6 defenses. Not anymore.

Evergreen stopped before Moxie, who slumped before her, defeated.

“It was beautiful,” Moxie murmured.

“What’s that?” Evergreen placed the blade of her sword at Moxie’s neck.

“The song.” Moxie raised her gaze, but it wasn’t to meet Evergreen’s eyes. She looked into the air above Noah’s body. “It was beautiful.”

She’s saying goodbye.

A flicker of reddish purple danced behind Evergreen. A cat materialized behind her, its dark eyes looking straight up at Noah’s soul.

Please. Do something! Anything!

The cat didn’t budge. It wasn’t going to act.

A sob caught in Noah’s throat. Energy from his Formation poured out. Within a few seconds, all of it would be gone.

The desperation built within him as he called out to every single one of his Runes. Natural Disaster was completely tied up in his crumbling Formation. Sunder would only delay Evergreen, not change the result.

He needed –

Noah’s eyes caught on the cat, finally understanding one final missing piece of its puzzle. He’d thought that it had helped them every time it had showed up – except for one, but that wasn’t true.

The cat hadn’t just been helping them. It had been showing him what it could do.

Evergreen raised her sword.

With a roar, Noah drew on Sunder. Thick black ropes swirled up from his body and latched onto his soul, dragging it back to the world of the living. Strands of black whipped out, grabbing onto his severed limb and head. They were dragged back into place as Noah bolted upright, agony greeting him once more.

He leapt to his feet and Evergreen spun, even as his violin re-materialized in his hands. Her sword cut straight through his chest, slicing him in half. Even as the upper part of his body pitched back, black strands shot out and yanked his halves back together.

“What manner of magic is this?” Evergreen demanded, her eyes widening in a brief instant of shock. It faded, even as Noah placed the bow of his violin back on the strings. “No matter. Your song was impressive, but it’s over. Your Formation is ruined.”

Her sword flicked out, and burrowed straight between Noah’s eyes. Every fiber of his body screamed as Sunder tried to pull him away, but Noah refused to give in. His body stitched itself back together and he locked eyes with Evergreen, pulling the bow across the violin.

“The song isn’t over,” Noah growled. “That was just the caesura.”

The final note to his performance rang out, summoning the last Rune of the Formation. It wasn’t Sunder that he chose, but the Fragment of Renewal. A roar filled Noah’s ears as the shattered magic circle above him erupted, one last plunge of energy driving into it.

Evergreen’s sword plunged into Noah’s chest and roots wove out from the wound, ripping his body to dozens of pieces. This time, he couldn’t resist any longer. His soul was ripped free once again and he floated up, helpless to do any more.

“Damnable cockroach,” Evergreen snarled. She started to turn toward Moxie, then froze as her eyes locked on a swirling magic that twisted above his head. The Formation hadn’t vanished. It was complete.

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