Return of the Runebound Professor

“Did you really do nothing other than play games with Jalen?” Moxie asked, leaning against Noah’s side while he flipped through his grimoire.

“Surprisingly, yes. After the initial shit which was basically just a dick measuring contest, we just played darts. I won.”

“I’m still finding it hard to believe that Jalen didn’t want anything else. He didn’t fish for information or try to get you to reveal how you progressed so fast?”

“Nope. After we started playing, the only thing he talked about was how much he hated the dart board for trying to avoid his darts. He said it was cursed. I don’t think it was, though.”

Moxie shifted, turning so she could look directly at Noah. “Wait. I was so caught up with your disappearance that I forgot. You were combining your Runes, and Jalen’s domain barely affected you. Did you manage to…”

“Oh, shit. Yeah, I did,” Noah said, his eyes lighting up. “I honestly didn’t even remember why I was looking through my grimoire. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I still needed to do something, but I think I forgot that I’d already did the thing I was trying to do.”

Moxie grabbed Noah’s shoulders, delight in her eyes. “You hit Rank 4? That easily?”

“I don’t know if I’d say it was easy, but it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as I was worried it would be. I tested everything out again too, it all seemed just about right. I think I’m finally done reworking it.”

Moxie let out a breath and rocked back, shaking her head in disbelief. “That’s incredible. Reaching Rank 4 without the backing of a noble family, and doing it with completely perfect Runes… your abilities are completely unfair.”

“Oh, trust me. I’m not complaining. I’m just in awe. You’ve got a domain, then. Can you feel it? What’s it like?”

Noah’s brow furrowed as he sought the words to properly share how the domain felt. The sensation wasn’t as intense as it had been when he’d first reached Rank 4, but the area in a fairly large sphere around his body still felt like another limb – but, at the same time, it didn’t.

He could feel it, but he couldn’t actually move anything. It was just a general awareness and the faintest feeling of control.

“It’s kind of like having a phantom limb that you can feel but can’t move,” Noah said thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. “But it’s everywhere around you. Kind of a warm and fuzzy feeling.”

“Can you feel me? Or just magic?”

“No, I can definitely feel your presence. It might be the magic inside you, though. I can’t say for sure.”

Moxie dug through one of her pockets and pulled out a seed. She held it between two fingers and it cracked as she sent a tiny tendril of magic into it. All that emerged was ash, and Noah felt a tickle at the back of his mind.

“It blocked my magic,” Moxie said. “Whoa. No effort at all? You just instinctively did it?”

“Yeah. I’m going to have to figure out how to turn that off when I need to.” Noah’s forehead furrowed in concentration and he tried to picture his domain pulling back. Something shifted, but he wasn’t sure exactly what it was. “Can you try again?”

Moxie shrugged and took out another seed, repeating the process. This time, it sprouted without trouble and a vine curled around her fingers. It reached out toward Noah, continuing until it reached the end of the area he’d pulled back. A hiss rose up as the vine fizzled and the magic was destroyed.

“Damn,” Moxie breathed. “This is a really strong domain. I’m pretty sure Allen’s domain was so weak that it barely affected anything that wasn’t directly touching his skin. If he knew that some upstart Linwick had a domain this powerful, he’d probably cry.”

“That would be a sight to see,” Noah said, a grin pulling at his lips. “We’ll have to get you to catch up to me soon. Lee too.”

“You’d better count on it. There’s no way I’m letting you sprint past me when I’ve been doing this for so much longer than you. Are you trying to leave us behind or something?” Moxie teased.

“Never,” Noah said, his features turning serious.

Moxie smiled up at him, then leaned back against his side. “I can’t believe you somehow forgot about reaching Rank 4 less than a day after doing it. That should be one of the crowning accomplishments of a mage’s life, you know.”

“I was playing darts,” Noah said defensively. Moxie craned her neck back to send a withering stare at Noah and he grinned down at her. “Hey, I had more important things on my mind when I got back.”

Moxie’s cheeks reddened and she moved to give him another quick kiss before sliding off the bed and fixing her crumpled clothes. “Have you tested the new Rune out yet? Is it still Natural Disaster?”

“Tested, no. But yes, it’s still Natural Disaster. Just… right, this time around.” Noah lifted a hand and rubbed two of his fingers together. Electricity crackled between his fingertips as he pulled them apart. “The magic comes so much easier now, and it’s controlled as well. I want to find something big to train against the next time we go out to practice with the kids.”

“Speaking of them, how do you think they’re doing?” Moxie asked. She tried to adjust her long hair, but it had decided to stick out in every which direction and was no longer under her control. She scrunched her nose in annoyance and pulled it back into a ponytail, using a thin vine as a hair tie.

“I’m sure they’re fine. Isabel and Todd are much better at bringing other people into their group now, so I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about,” Noah replied. “We’ll know for sure next class. Have you thought at all about what you want to teach, or should I get into music and Formations in addition to the normal training?”

“Let’s do that for now. I’ve got some ideas, but you’ve already gotten started with your stuff so you might as well run it through. And, I’ll be honest, I’m pretty curious to learn about Formations myself. I imagine this should be enlightening.”

“In that case, I’ll probably just head to bed. It’s been a pretty long day.”

“Tell me about it,” Moxie said dryly. “Go wash off before you get under my covers. I’m not letting you get them dirty.”

Noah gave her a mock salute and strode for the bathroom, grinning at the the eye roll she sent in his direction.

***

Renewal yawned. Souls stretched out through the cosmos around her, as they always did. It wasn’t like it had been that long since something interesting had happened. The past few months had been some of the most eventful ones in recent memory, but that somehow just made things worse.

She’d gotten so used to complete and abstract nothingness that even the slightest taste of anything else had her hooked. To her growing annoyance, the fools that made up her so-called church on the world where the interesting mortal had landed were startlingly incompetent.

“How long can it possibly take that many people to find a single man?” Renewal asked, pulling at her hair and looking up into the endless sky above with a groan. “If any of them actually had enough power to hear my actual commands instead of just tiny snippets of them, this whole thing would have been done weeks ago. I don’t want to wait any more.”

The temptation to just go to the world herself was strong – but not nearly strong enough to make her abandon her senses. A transgression of that magnitude would result in her complete and utter annihilation.

And, as boring as waiting was, it was nowhere near as bad as oblivion. At least, Renewal was pretty sure that was the case. She’d never tried oblivion, so it was always possible it wasn’t that bad.

I won’t give up my chance to ascend further through the godly realms because of one stupid little mortal. I should just forget all about him. No matter what power he stole or enlightenment he may have stumbled into, it’ll all be worthless. It’s beneath my attention.

Yeah. I should just focus on the important things. I’ll pretend I never even saw him. In a few hundred years, he’ll be nothing but a blip. In a thousand, he won’t even register in my memory anymore.

I –

A ripple of energy passed through the air beside Renewal. She looked down as a tiny tuft of white fur trotted into her domain, red horns shimmering with faint energy. Her eyes lit up and she knelt beside the cat.

“Hello there, little avatar. You’ve certainly taken your time.” Renewal’s body shrank as she drew her energy in, shrinking down to the size of a normal human. She scratched the cat’s chin and it purred, arching up against her legs. “Come on, then. What did you find? Where is he?”

A flicker of judgement passed through the cat’s eyes, and Renewal’s face heated.

“I know I just decided I didn’t care anymore, but that was before you came back,” Renewal said defensively. “It’s not my fault. Forget that. I changed my mind. Tell me everything.”

The cat let out a low purr. That was it. No information arrived in Renewal’s mind. Her brow creased in confusion.

“What are you doing?” A note of annoyance entered her words. “That was a command, little avatar. I made you from my power, and I can unmake you just the same. Show me what you found when you located the man who stole my energy.”

The cat meowed, its face scrunching up. It hacked a hairball up on the ground, then licked at its paw. Dark eyes watched Renewal slyly.

“You’ve always been an annoying little shit,” Renewal growled. She scratched the cat’s back. “Come on. Give me the information. I only kept you around this long because of how useful your shenanigans are with the other gods. You are not turning them against me.”

Her avatar let out one more meow, then trotted away from her. It turned, looking at Renewal over its shoulder. Her frown deepened and she rose to her feet, extending a tendril of energy toward the cat. It was acting strangely.

The little brat has been mischievous ever since I made it, but it’s never disobeyed a direct command from me. What’s going on here?

Renewal’s energy reached the cat – and brushed across it. Her eyes widened in shock. Her Runes didn’t match with the cat’s anymore. It had changed. The Runes that fueled the avatar had shifted enough that they were no longer hers.

“No,” Renewal muttered. “Impossible. I made you. Nobody could have corrupted your energy!”

The cat let out another meow, and this time, Renewal realized what it was. It hadn’t visited to share information with her. No, it had come to say goodbye.

“Who?” Renewal demanded, although she was starting to get the feeling that she already knew the answer. The only person that could have possibly modified any aspect of her avatar would have had to be someone that had access to her Runes.

And, throughout all the cosmos, there was only a single person other than her in existence who had a Rune that could have done such a thing.

Renewal watched as her avatar turned tail and slipped into one of the streams of energy that connected the universe, vanishing from the astral plane. It was doubtlessly returning to its new partner.

“You little shit,” Renewal muttered, staring at the space where her cat had once stood. “If you think I’m letting you get away with this that easily, you’re sorely mistaken. We’re going to have a chat, even if I have to break a dozen rules to do it.”

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