Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah’s eyes opened to a concerned frown on Moxie’s face. She sat in front of them, a bloody cloth in her hand as she dabbed at Lee’s face. Mercifully, Lee’s eyes fluttered open a moment after Noah’s did.

Moxie had clearly been ready for Lee’s Rune modifications, because there were several other clothes sitting on the ground beside her, all completely stained through. Lee blinked several times, pulling herself back into awareness.

“Did it work?” Moxie asked, lowering the cloth.

“Yeah,” Lee said through a yawn. She shifted and Moxie moved back, watching Lee with her hands out to catch the smaller woman in case she fell. “I did it.”

“Perhaps we should have done this in two sessions, but it’s all repaired,” Noah confirmed. He pulled out the final one of Lee’s Runes – the Broken Enveloping Dark Master Rune, and held it out to Lee. “Will taking this in cause trouble?”

“No,” Lee replied, a grin crossing her lips. She wiped at her nose and took the paper from him, running a thumb across its surface. “I’ve never had a Master Rune before.”

“It’s broken,” Noah pointed out. “I assume that means it’s weaker than it should be, and I suppose the multi-word name reinforces that. Then again, it could just be the Master Rune is the peak of Enveloping Darkness and got broken. I still don’t know all the rules of how they work yet, but there’s clearly a degree of hierarchy between them.”

“Too many words.” Lee put her hand on the paper and closed her eyes. Moxie and Noah both stiffened as Lee’s lips pressed thin and her forehead creased in concentration. A minute passed, and the paper fizzled.

The rune on it burned away, taking the Catchpaper with it. Tiny wisps of ash drifted into the air as the last of it vanished and Lee opened her eyes to watch the remains of the paper float off.

Moxie flicked a hand and a vine reached out, pulling her window open. Catching her thoughts, Noah sent a small breeze out to carry the embers away instead of letting them land on her very flammable room.

“Huh,” Lee said, looking down at her hands and flexing her fingers. “That… isn’t what I expected.”

“Did it work?” Noah asked.

“Yeah. It’s in there. Feels really different than the rest of my Runes. Kind of like someone stacked an extra Rune on top of them. I feel like I could remove it pretty easily if I wanted to.”

“Maybe because it’s not bonded to your soul as tightly as the other ones?” Noah suggested.

That’s odd, though. I didn’t notice anything like that with Sunder or the Fragment of Renewal – and I can’t really remember much about how I felt after getting Combustion. I was in a bit of a delirium, and now it’s Imbued into my soul.

“Could be,” Lee said with a shrug. She looked out the open window as a chilly breeze blew in through it, ruffling her hair. “I want food now.”

Noah suppressed a laugh. No matter how much changed or how hard she worked, she was still hungry. And, now that she mentioned it again, food did actually sound pretty good to him.

“I wouldn’t object to getting something to eat,” Noah said.

“Neither would I.” Moxie already had her cloak on, so she was ready for the cold. Noah dialed up the heat from Combustion just a bit to fight off the increasing chill, then looked back to Lee. “Before we head off – you’re sure everything is fine, Lee? No adverse effects?”

“I feel normal,” Lee confirmed. She rolled her neck, then licked her lips. “Just hungry.”

“In that case, you can lead and pick the place. You’ve done enough work today to earn it.”

Lee didn’t need to be told twice. She zipped out the door and the others had to run to catch back up with her.

***

After a surprisingly fun walk through a foot of snow, they all had a hearty breakfast at one of the local restaurants. They ate near a large window, watching snow fall outside. The large, glistening snowflakes mesmerized Noah to such a point that he could barely take his eyes off them.

When they finished eating, Noah couldn’t bring himself to head back inside. It wasn’t like the snow was particularly cold because of his Imbuements, so it was basically just a soft blanket covering everything around them.

“I have never been more jealous of your Runes,” Moxie informed Noah. “If fire wasn’t so opposite to the path I’m trying to take my own Runes, I’d have considered Imbuing myself with it purely to stay outside longer.”

“Is the cloak not enough?”

“It does a lot, but I not to the point where I can lie down in a foot of snow and not get cold in the slightest. It’s fine, though. I’ve been thinking on what I’m going to teach, and I think I want to try to get ready for class tomorrow.”

Noah scrunched his nose, but he wasn’t going to argue. Moxie had been wanting to start teaching again before they’d even returned to Arbitage. It would have been unfair to stand in her way or even offer to help – this was something she wanted to do on her own.

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“Sounds good,” Noah said. “What about you, Lee?”

“I think I’m going to sleep. I’m tired.” Lee rubbed her stomach and licked her lips. “And, when I wake up again, I’m going to be hungry.”

Noah snorted and shook his head. “If all you do is eat and sleep, you’re going to turn into a slug. Or a sloth. Something that doesn’t do much. I don’t know. I never really paid much attention to animals. But, in that case, I am going to go frolic through the snow like a newborn deer. I trust there are no objections?”

Lee’s response was to yawn and head into the T building. Noah chuckled and took his gourd off, handing it to Moxie. She arched an eyebrow and took it from him. “Why are you giving me this? Don’t tell me you–”

“No plans of it,” Noah promised. “I do quite literally plan to just run around in the snow and explore the campus, but it’s just a normal gourd. I don’t know how great the cold and wet will be for it.”

Moxie’s eyes widened and she nodded, taking the gourd hurriedly and cradling it in her arms. “Good point. It’s clearly treated to last, but there’s no point taking a risk. I’ll keep an eye on it.”

“Thanks,” Noah said. Moxie raised a hand in farewell and headed into the building while Noah turned, setting out in the opposite direction.

Snow fell around him as he walked to nowhere in particular. Small mounds of it built on his head and shoulders, but Noah couldn’t be bothered to brush them off. He intentionally dialed Combustion back, letting a little bit of the chill nip at him.

Arbitage looked oddly beautiful covered in snow. He wandered down the streets and past the markets. A tiny smile pulled at the corners of his lips as he passed by other people. It was really easy to figure out who had Fire Runes and who didn’t – while most people were bundled in heavy clothes and waddling around with distaste, there were a few that looked like they’d dressed for a normal summer day.

He continued walking, not paying any particular attention to where he was headed. Noah wasn’t even sure how long he walked. There wasn’t anywhere in particular he needed to be. At some point, he got back to working on his Imbuements, not bothering to stop moving while he did.

At this point, he knew Natural Disaster’s power enough to work with it on the back of his mind. The Imbuements were already almost done, so it wasn’t too difficult to continue tracing them on while enjoying the beautiful day.

The sun’s light was muted, hidden behind the thick clouds pouring snow down on Arbitage. It felt like it was still early in the morning, even though it was probably approaching midday.

It wasn’t just Arbitage’s appearance that had changed. The snow seemed to have muted it as well, and the air was still aside from the faint rustle of the wind through trees. Silence hung all around him.

Noah finished the last of the modifications to his Imbuements and finally came to a stop, drawing in a deep breath and enjoying the fresh air. Snow even smelled crisp.

To his surprise, he found himself standing at the ruins of the building that Moxie had taken him to before they’d headed to the Linwick Estate. A small grin pulled at his lips. For some reason, it felt oddly fitting.

I must have been walking for quite a while. Time really slipped away from me. I think this would have been nicer if Moxie was here with me, though.

Noah watched the soft light filter through the cracks of the building, enjoying it as it played across the snow-covered stone. He drew on Natural Disaster and hopped into the air, using a soft gust to propel himself up onto the roof.

He landed, sending up a soft puff of snow and trudging over to the spot where they’d watched the sun rise. Noah drew in another deep breath and craned his neck back, looking into the sky.

It was beautiful. It was –

A faint ripple nipped at the back of Noah’s mind. The newly finished Imbuements in his ears picked up an abnormal shift in the air behind him. Noah turned, picking up on a humanoid shape moving toward him before he could even see it.

On the roof across from him stood a cloaked man. He wore heavy leathers from head to toe, and a mask concealed the part of his face visible beneath the hood. Not a single part of his skin showed, and two swords were sheathed at his side.

“Can I help you?” Noah asked, squinting. “I’m kind of trying to have a moment here. Maybe come back tomorrow?”

The man didn’t respond. He just reached down, drawing the blades and shifting into a fighting stance. Something about his movements felt off, but Noah couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Oh, come on,” Noah said. “Look up, man. I’m busy.”

The man didn’t say anything, but he aimed the blade of one sword at Noah’s heart in a clear refusal of his request. For some reason, he didn’t seem to plan to attack until Noah was ready.

If I just ignore him, will he screw off?

Noah considered the thought for a moment, then dismissed it.

“What are you? Another assassin?”

The man didn’t respond, but his stance tightened even further. It didn’t look like he was going to wait around for Noah to make a move for much longer. Heaving a sigh, Noah drew on Natural Disaster.

“Can’t I just have one day of peace? Come on, then. You’ve got to be the politest assassin I’ve ever met, though. I appreciate the consideration.”

Wind whipped around the man’s body, swirling into tight blades that enveloped his sword. He lunged, blurring into a streak of white wind as one of his blades shot for Noah’s neck.

He was faster than Noah expected, but not nearly fast enough to surprise him. Noah vaulted back, releasing a blast of wind from his palms. It launched him into the air and sent the assassin skidding back against the roof.

Noah landed on the ground beneath the building, raising his hands. A blur streaked into the air as the assassin leapt off the roof and plummeted down for Noah, swords aimed straight for his heart.

Power roared around Noah as he took advantage of the snow surrounding him. Thick streamers of snow erupted from the ground and shot out like tentacles. They slammed into the assassin, enveloping him in a ball of dense ice and snow with a loud crunch.

The ball crashed to the ground with a thud. Noah looked down at it, then scrunched his nose in annoyance.

“At least I got to test out Blizzard. Thanks, I guess.”

A figure appeared in Noah’s mental map of the area around him. He groaned, turning to find the assassin standing at his side, completely unharmed. The man hadn’t moved fast enough to avoid his attack – which meant he hadn’t moved at all.

“You’ve got space magic?” Noah asked, his eyes narrowing. “Has anyone told you that using space magic is cheap? The only one that gets a pass is Brayden.”

The assassin just pointed his sword at Noah’s heart again. Noah lowered into a fighting stance once more, drawing deeply on Natural Disaster and letting a howling snowstorm start to pick up around him.

This guy isn’t going for killing blows. Is he testing me? Or is there something else he’s looking for? Either way, I might need to start taking this seriously. Letting my guard down against someone with space magic is a stupendously bad idea. Maybe this was what today needed. Can’t appreciate peace without war, or some poetic shit like that.

“Right then,” Noah called over the roar of his magic. “You’re clearly a little more competent than I’d hoped. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

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