Return of the Runebound Professor

Isabel walked up to the front of the classroom. She came to a stop several paces away from him, then pushed a few desks back so that she would have more room to move around. Once she was satisfied, she turned back to him.

“I think my pattern is a little easier if I have something to practice against. It’s awkward just swinging a sword at the air,” Isabel said.

“I can do it,” Alexandra volunteered, rising out of her chair. She and Isabel looked to Noah, who shrugged in response.

“Go for it. Whatever works the best to demonstrate your pattern is fine, but you’ll probably need to get to the point where you can practice it alone at some point in the future. You won’t always have a sparring partner. And remember – no magic.”

“That’s fine,” Isabel said. Alexandra drew a sword from a second, smaller sheathe hanging at her side beside her normal one and held it out to Isabel hilt-first. Giving her an appreciative nod, Isabel took the blade. She held it at her side, shifting into a fighting stance.

Alexandra drew her own sword and raised the weapon. Noah was struck by just how different their stances were. Alexandra stood on the balls of her feet, shifting her bodyweight like a palm tree in a strong breeze.

On the other hand, Isabel stood completely still and unmoving. From what Noah knew, he was pretty sure that being light on your feet was a pretty important part of not getting injured, but the look on Isabel’s face told him she wasn’t doing it for no reason.

Noah moved closer to them, making sure both were within his domain, then nodded to Isabel.

“Whenever you’re ready, you can start. Stop whenever Alexandra calls out or whenever you finish your demonstration. Please do your best to attack her sword and not her. I’m confident in her abilities, but I’d rather avoid an incident.”

Both of the girls nodded, then exchanged a glance that told Noah this definitely wasn’t the first time they’d done this. A small grin crossed over his face as Isabel drew in a deep breath and squared her stance, wrapping both of her hands around her sword.

She raised the blade, and her whole body twisted as she swung it. A resounding clang rang out as she struck Alexandra’s sword. It scraped past Alexandra harmlessly, carving through the air, but Isabel didn’t seem bothered.

The sword lifted once more, this time coming from the other side. Noah’s eyes narrowed as he watched Isabel start to rain blows down Alexandra’s sword. It took him a few moments, but there was something off about Isabel’s movements.

At first, he’d thought it was merely the fact that she was standing in such an odd stance, but that wasn’t it. Isabel’s whole body seemed to be committing to every single blow, not even considering the possibility of missing.

The feeling of confusion intensified as Noah realized that Alexandra seemed to be losing ground. She should have been naturally stronger than Isabel because of her Body Runes constantly empowering her, even if she wasn’t actively using them.

But, despite that, Isabel’s strikes were actually having an impact. Alexandra’s features were tight in concentration. She was struggling to keep her sword up. Every strike Isabel sent forth seemed to have even more force than the last.

The pattern started to take form. Noah could see it – a gradually building avalanche of blows, each one stronger than the last. Isabel was purely using swordwork, but by using the momentum of each strike and steadily putting more and more of herself into every attack, she’d effectively created a crescendo.

Isebel finally relented and the lines of concentration faded from her face as she let her hands lower. Alexandra lowered her own sword, discreetly shaking her hands off.

“Well?” Isabel asked. “Did I do it?”

“I’d certainly say so,” Noah said with an approving nod. “I could see what you were going for, even if I didn’t understand it perfectly. Can you describe the exact goals your pattern had?”

“I was trying to envision a landslide, and how all the small rocks falling started to build up into something bigger,” Isabel explained, turning the sword around and handing it back to Alexandra. “I tried to do that with my sword. Having every single blow lead up into and intensify the next one. I feel like that fits really well with my Stone Runes.”

“Perfect theory. Keep the practice up. You might want to work on doing that while letting yourself continue to move,” Noah suggested. “I saw a lot of potential there, but you don’t want to be stuck standing in one spot during a fight. Maybe your body could be one of those falling stones? I’m not sure if that’s the best suggestion, but try to make sure your pattern isn’t something that puts you in an unfavorable position.”

Isabel nodded her understanding, and Noah could already see more ideas flashing through her eyes. “Okay. Thanks.”

Noah gave her a thumbs-up. “Keep up the good work. Alexandra, since you’re already standing, do you want to show your pattern off as well?”

“Sure,” Alexandra said. “I don’t need a partner.”

Noah shrugged. “Whatever lets you show it off the easiest. Whenever you’re ready.”

Isabel headed back to her chair and sat down as Alexandra turned toward Noah. It struck him how differently she stood now than she had when Gentil had been controlling her. Her movements had become far smoother and controlled, to the point where it almost seemed like a different person was holding the sword.

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Alexandra’s blade started to trace through the air, its tip flitting about like a butterfly. It zipped from side to side, seemingly completely opposite to what the directions for their assignment had been.

Instead of having a pattern, Alexandra’s movements felt completely random. The blade darted to and fro, flicking and stabbing random points – but never stopping for more than an instant.

Whoa. Her moves are so erratic that the pattern is the complete lack of a pattern. She’s wrapped it all the way back around?

Alexandra continued her demonstration. She moved, locked in a dance with an invisible enemy. Noah could practically envision her batting blows out of the air, but instead of ever putting in the energy to deliver a killing blow, her sword just continued to flit around.

Death by a thousand cuts. She’s keeping the sword moving quickly and avoiding committing to anything, which lets her react much faster and constantly wear her opponent down. That’s an incredible strategy so long as you’ve got the stamina to outlast them, and the longer I watch, the more I like the pattern. It fits her perfectly.

As Alexandra’s blade slowed to a halt, Noah had no doubt in his mind that Alexandra was farther along than Isabel was. Both girls had made great progress, but Alexandra completely understood every move she made. They felt completely natural, while Noah could tell that Isabel was still working to completely come to terms with her pattern.

“Absolutely brilliant,” Noah said. “Well done, Alexandra.”

A small smile flitted across her lips before her normal expression took back over. “Thanks.”

“Feel free to sit back down. Both you and Isabel put on a great showing. Who wants to go next?” Noah asked, turning his gaze to the rest of the class.

Todd, Emily, and James all looked to each other, then back to Noah. None of them made any moves to stand.

“I don’t want to go after them,” James said sullenly. “I’d look bad.”

“You always look bad. You just don’t want to go because you didn’t study,” Emily said with a snicker.

“I don’t see you volunteering,” James said.

“I volunteer you to go next,” Emily countered. Todd just sat back, clearly more than willing to let the two of them duke it out so he could avoid going too close to Alexandra. Noah suppressed a laugh as James gave in and trudged up to the front.

“My pattern is the pattern of not being noticed,” James said. “Can I start?”

“I thought you were going to try for humming?”

“I was, but then I got tired.”

Noah wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or sigh. Instead, he just shrugged and gave James an encouraging gesture. “Well, let’s see it.”

James nodded, then sat down on the ground, crossing his legs and leaning his chin in a palm. And then – he did nothing.

A minute ticked by, and it struck Noah that James wasn’t kidding. He was quite literally doing nothing. And, to his complete bafflement, he could actually somewhat see it. James wasn’t just sitting there and idly looking around or daydreaming.

He was very intentionally doing absolutely nothing. Noah was pretty sure James wasn’t even breathing. The boy was completely and perfectly still.

Well, I’ll be damned. Doing nothing is somehow a pattern as well. I wonder how long he can hold his breath, though.

The answer to that was an impressive three minutes. James finally drew in a deep breath and clambered back to his feet, brushing his backside off. “Okay. I did it.”

“You didn’t do anything!” Emily exclaimed.

“Actually, he did,” Noah said, shaking his head in amusement. “There’s no way to get that degree of nothingness without intention. James actually has a pattern of doing nothing. Honestly, pretty damn impressive.”

“I know.” James sat back down in his chair beside Emily, then leaned back and yawned. “You next, Emily.”

Emily’s cheeks reddened. “I… uh, don’t really have anything to show yet. I’m working on it, but I haven’t really figured the patterns in the ice out yet. I mean, I know they’re there, but I haven’t found out how to apply them to myself.”

“Nothing wrong with that,” Noah said. “We’re all going to move at our own pace. Luckily for you, it is currently snowing. Maybe try to spend some time around it and really try to feel how it affects you and how you can incorporate it into a pattern and your fighting style alike. James might be able to give you some guidance.”

“So I don’t have to present?”

“Not if you don’t have anything to present yet,” Noah said with a laugh. “I’m not going to make you stand up here and do nothing.”

Emily let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks.”

“That just leaves you then, Todd,” Noah said. “Have you made progress?”

“I have, but it’s not really in the same way,” Todd said. He stood up and approached Noah, pulling a metal bracelet off his wrist and handing it to Noah. “I’ve been trying to work my patterns into some Imbuements I’ve been testing.”

“Interesting idea,” Noah said. He took the bracelet and studied the designs covering its surface. It was covered with flowing lines that ebbed and flowed in a mesmerizing pattern. It took Noah a moment to realize that the Runes weren’t actually concealed, and Todd had actually just played with their sizes and shapes so much that they were difficult to spot.

He wasn’t actually sure if the Imbuement would even work with how much Todd had modified the Runes, but he could see the understanding within the bracelet. Todd had tried to capture the feeling of something burning away, and he’d done it quite well.

“This is impressive,” Noah said. “Does it work?”

“I don’t know,” Todd admitted. “I haven’t tested it. I don’t think the quality of the Imbuement is safe enough to test yet. I know I can do better.”

Noah nodded and handed the bracelet back to Todd. “I’ll admit I don’t know much about Imbuements, but this is impressive. Keep practicing, but you were smart to avoid testing it. Wait until you’ve got something you’re confident in, and then we can test it together.”

“Thanks,” Todd said with a grin. He headed back to his chair and sat down.

“So who gets the points for today?” Emily asked.

Noah thought for a moment, but the answer was pretty clear in his mind. “You all clearly put in a lot of work, but Alexandra understood her pattern the most. She gets three points, Isabel gets two, and James gets one.”

A flash of satisfaction lit in Alexandra’s eyes, but she didn’t gloat. Noah paused to see if anyone would protest at his rankings, but nobody did. They all just nodded, as if they’d already predicted the answer Noah would give before he spoke it.

“Great,” Noah said. “Again, great work everyone. For today, we’ll continue working on those patterns. Everyone will partner up and discuss what they’re struggling with and you can all see how you can help each other. Then, anyone who wants to test their pattern further can come stand next to me to make sure they don’t accidentally let any magic seep in. Any questions?”

Everyone shook their heads. None of them questioned why Noah wanted them to stand right next to them, and he was fine with that. It would be a lot more amusing to reveal his domain at a more opportune time, and there wasn’t any rush in letting anyone know about it yet.

“Great. Then let’s get to it.”

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