Return of the Runebound Professor

“I am unspeakably jealous of you,” Moxie informed Noah, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair.

He’d returned to her room just a few minutes ago and had been relieved to find that everyone had returned safely – although that relief had faded slightly when he’d realized that he had to tell Moxie that he’d watched her hero show off his coolest move.

“I didn’t know he was going to go and do something like that,” Noah said defensively.

“I know, I know. That doesn’t make me any less jealous, though. It’s incredible that he’s managed to keep that under wraps this whole time. I never would have thought he used puppets, but it makes so much sense. That’s why he’s been punching above his weight class so much. He’s using the body of a powerful monster, and he’s probably been reinforcing it with extra Imbuements and magic this whole time.”

“He was certainly something,” Noah admitted. “He brought me and Ulya along specifically so we could make him look weaker – and I was supposed to be pretending to be a Rank 6 powerhouse. What a badass.”

“Stop talking him up,” Moxie groaned, running her hands through her hair. “It’s just making things worse. I wish I was there.”

“Sorry,” Noah said with a cheeky grin. “Maybe you can pretend to be the insanely strong mage next time so he drags you along instead.”

Moxie snorted. “Yeah, right. That’ll be the time we get attacked by everyone and their grandmothers. I’ll let you stick to that. But what happened after Silvertide killed the puppets? That can’t be it, can it?”

“Almost certainly not,” Noah agreed. “I’m certain this is Wizen we’re up against. I don’t think he could read any thoughts through his puppets, or he would have figured out what Silvertide was doing. There’s no way he’s done, though. And, unfortunately, he didn’t give us a scrap of information about what he actually wants.”

“Me too,” Noah admitted with a sigh. “I tried, but he didn’t bite. He’s not an idiot, unfortunately. Silvertide seemed to think it would be pretty hard for him to get his puppets back to Arbitage, though. He might have to come here himself.”

Moxie chewed her lip and leaned back on the rear legs of her chair, rocking back and forth in place as she thought. “Then he’s almost certainly going to go after Silvertide. After getting stomped that hard, he’s got to be pissed.”

“Given how arrogant he came off? Almost certainly.” Noah nodded. “I think it might be a bit before he pops up again. We should use that time to get stronger and focus the kids’ training. Right now, they’re the weak link and I don’t want Wizen thinking they’re easy targets.”

“That’s assuming he cares about them at all, but I agree,” Moxie said. She let her chair return to its normal position before she could fall. “Some of the other advanced track professors were discussing having training matches. It could be worthwhile matching up some of our students against theirs to see where they stand. The first one is next week.”

“Seems like a good goal. More than enough time to try to push them to the next step with formations,” Noah said.

They were silent for a few moments, and Lee took that moment to speak up for the first time since Noah had gotten back, having been in a food coma.

“What did you end up doing with the bodies the puppets had taken?” Lee asked from her spot on the edge of the bed. She’d – mercifully – returned back to her normal form, so Noah didn’t have to look at himself when she spoke.

“Left them to Silvertide,” Noah replied. “I don’t know what he did with them after that. Maybe he took them as proof? Either way, you’ve eaten more than enough for one night.”

“I’m still hungry, though.”

“You’re always hungry.”

“Oh, yeah.” Lee blinked, as if she’d completely forgotten that particular fact. “I guess I am.”

Noah and Moxie both laughed on the completely innocent expression on Lee’s face. Sometimes, it was hard to tell if she was being serious or not. If anything, she was even better of a liar than Noah was.

“What ended up happening at the advanced track party after I left?” Noah asked. “Anything important?”

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“I don’t know if I’d say it’s important, but they covered some of what they’d be providing and doing through the year,” Moxie said. “The most important part is that, for the students to stay in the advanced track, they need to score similarly or above the other advanced track members. So our exams are the ones everyone takes, but if we aren’t at the top of the class and also at the level of the other advanced students, they get booted.”

“They’re expected to be that good right off the bat?” Noah raised an eyebrow, but Moxie shook her head.

“No, there’s a warm-up period. They don’t have to perform as good as everyone else immediately, but the top performers get access to information on some rune combinations as well as special training areas and sometimes just straight up runes. They treat the students at the top really well.”

“Noted. More reason to make sure everyone is ready to crush, but we’ll have to approach this in the right way. We don’t want too much attention. Not yet, at least. It’s something we can deal with tomorrow. I’m hearing the bed calling my name, but I want to know one more thing before I can rest.”

“What is it?” Moxie asked.

“What did Jalen do after I left?”

“Oh, he kind of just hung around. I was surprised. I thought he’d start trouble, but he stayed out of our way and barely said anything. He escorted us back to the room and left shortly afterward.”

“Seriously?” Noah tilted his head to the side. That really was odd. He hadn’t expected Jalen to lie, but doing absolutely nothing felt even weirder. It wasn’t like Jalen was around to ask what had happened, so all Noah could do was shrug. “Well, that’s good. Maybe he’s not as insane as we thought.”

“Right,” Moxie said dryly. “More like we didn’t figure out what he was doing.”

“Probably. Either way, I’m exhausted from a day of doing absolutely nothing but thinking that I am going to be doing something.”

“Me too,” Lee declared, about half a second before dropping her head and starting to snore.

It wasn’t long before Noah and Moxie got into bed and followed her lead.

***

Rafael was deeply concerned. He’d known that this task wasn’t going to be simple. Killing demons rarely was – but he’d never expected his target to be this deeply entrenched. The demon wasn’t just defended. Everything around them was a veritable fortress.

It had been strange enough when the blood he’d gathered had been more finnicky than it should have been. Instead of leading him right to the demon, it faded and swirled throughout Arbitage, as if it couldn’t make up its mind as to where the demon had gone.

If it had gone up a Rank, Rafael could have understood a degree of confusion. Demons changed considerably with every Rank they advanced – but this was different. It was as if the demon couldn’t determine if it existed or not.

And, even in spite of that, he’d tracked his foe. He’d followed its many trails through Arbitage. His efforts had finally led him to a group – a group that was in with one of the most famous soldiers in the kingdom, Silvertide.

It wasn’t just Silvertide, either. The group, including several people that appeared to be mere students, also had the support of a man and a woman who had completely suppressed their power. And, if there was one thing that Rafael had learned in his time hunting demons, it was that anything without even the slightest amount of power had far more power than anyone else in the room.

Rank 5 minimum, probably Rank 6. I’ve never felt such a perfectly suppressed… well, everything. I would have thought the hooded man wasn’t even there if I’d been looking less closely. The woman… the same. I couldn’t get a read of her.

But… which one was the actual demon? Was it the one shoveling food into his mouth like there was no tomorrow? Was it the woman – or the masked man? Damn it.

He’d chosen to remain hidden in the shadows of the meeting he’d followed the group to, staying behind when Silvertide and the masked man had left. The chances of Silvertide being corrupted were low, so the others were far more likely to be his targets.

But, to his annoyance, the night had ended without anything even slightly out of the ordinary aside from the man – Vermil, if Rafael had caught his name correctly – having a seemingly bottomless stomach.

It could be him. Eating that much could be indicative of a demon’s unrestrained personality… but he also seems to care a little too much about the people around him. He keeps glancing at the students to make sure they’re next to him, and with the discussion that was happening in here earlier, it makes sense.

Demons don’t care for others. Shit. Who is it?

They couldn’t have all been demons, and there was a very good chance that at least a few of them had no idea who they were traveling with. Rafael couldn’t warn them either – if they did know and were simply hiding it, then he’d be giving himself away.

Damn it. I could try approaching Vermil, but what if he made a deal with a demon to protect his students? That would make him an enemy, even if it was for a good cause.

No matter how hard Rafael thought, he couldn’t think of anything that would answer his questions. Nobody had given themselves away tonight, which meant it was ever more likely that his target was the masked man or, gods forbid, Silvertide himself.

I don’t have much time left. I’ll have to observe them over the coming days. And, if nothing reveals itself, then I will be forced to try to isolate them as much as possible and confront them one by one.

Rafael took his rosary in his hands and ran his thumb along the beads, forcing himself to take control over his fraying nerves. He was no stranger to great threats, and this demon was no different. No matter how extensive its support network may have been, it was a demon.

And, once it was revealed, he would destroy it. There was no alternative. There were no other paths. Demons were a plague on this world, and they could not be allowed to exist.

Before this week ends, the demon must die.

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