Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah nearly blew himself up. All things considered, it had been quite some time since he’d last mistakenly killed himself, so perhaps it had been a long time coming. But, even so, he was pretty happy with his streak of only dying when he wanted to.

The only thing that saved him from splattering as his Formations shattered and released all their magic directly on top of him was the fact that he’d been in the very final notes of the song he’d been playing when the snap tore through his mind.

Noah stumbled, a wave of shock slamming into him like a stormfront and turning his fingers stiff around the bow of his violin. His breath caught in his throat, the final note turning from melodious into a grating screech.

The Formation he’d been practicing slipped away and the violin vanished from Noah’s hands as he braced himself against a wall while his mind reeled and spun. For a moment, he thought that Wizen himself had shown up and attacked him.

But, as Noah forced himself to turn in a circle and search for his assailant, his search turned up nothing but an empty room. His thundering heartbeat started to slow as he took slow breaths, gathering himself.

What the hell was that?

Noah plunged into his mindspace, searching for what had happened. Natural Disaster, Sunder, and the Fragment of Renewal all greeted him with waves of pressure as he arrived, but nothing was off about any of them.

His eyes scanned the darkness, trying to figure out what had happened. There was no way that snap had been his imagination. It had been too visceral, too intense. Even now, he felt like a portion of his mind was… different. Empty, somehow.

And then, finally, Noah realized what had changed. It wasn’t that something had happened to him. It was that something had left. The thread that had connected him to Azel was gone. It had snapped, peeling away from his soul and leaving him alone in his mindspace.

For several seconds, Noah stared in disbelief. He sent his senses out, trying to feel and see if Azel was somehow hiding elsewhere or playing a trick on him. Noah found nothing. His soul was entirely his own once more.

A grin started to form on Noah’s lips, but it died as quickly as it arrived. Being free of Azel was undoubtedly a good thing, but the demon wouldn’t have severed their connection for no reason. It probably meant he’d found a new host – and that had disastrous consequences.

Goddamn it. The last thing I need is Azel running around with someone else wreaking havoc on the school. Don’t we have enough problems right now?

Noah yanked himself out of his mindspace and returned to the real world. He grabbed his grimoire, slinging the large book over his shoulder before attaching the gourd to his hip and striding out of his room – and nearly tripping over Mascot with his first step into the hall.

Cursing, Noah grabbed onto the doorframe and managed to keep from falling flat on his face. He turned as Contessa ran down the hall, scooping Mascot up into her arms and sending Noah an apologetic look.

“Sorry. He teleported out again.”

“Again?” Noah asked, narrowing his eyes at the smug-looking cat. Mascot was definitely more rotund than Noah remembered him to be. “What has the little shit been up to?”

“Mostly just killing rats and the like,” Contessa said. “He’s been really relaxed as of late. I don’t know why he suddenly ran out here.”

That seems like it might be an ill omen. Mascot seems to enjoy showing up whenever things are about to go poorly. I’m not sure if that’s because he likes helping or because he likes watching, but I suspect it’s probably a mixture of the two.

“It’s fine,” Noah said, shaking his head and closing the door behind him. “Have you seen Moxie or any of the others?”

“Just Karina,” Contessa replied. “Are you expecting someone?”

“I don’t think so, but you never know. Just let me know if any advanced track members show up at the door, okay?”

“Advanced track?” Contessa’s eyebrows rose, but she didn’t press any further. “Okay.”

Noah turned to head off.

“Oh, one more thing,” Contessa said. “Your pay from Arbirtage showed up. The girl delivering it looked pretty confused that I was accepting it for you, but I figured you’d rather I take it than have to go to the Office to receive it instead.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Much appreciated. Can you hold onto it for now? Use it for expenses or the like, I don’t really need it right now. Just don’t spend all of it.”

Contessa blinked. “Are you sure?”

“It should cover some of your promised salary for a while, right? Arbitage pays peanuts anyways,” Noah said with a sigh. “I’d make more money hunting two monsters and selling them for parts than I would from their pay.”

Especially since they’ve probably got me listed as a Rank 2 still, the idiots. I highly doubt the attendant at the Office actually recorded that I hit Rank 3, which is perfect for my purposes but less than ideal for the pay.

Whatever – it’s crap either way, and I’ve got a much better way to make money in the form of that noble I met at the auction. I just have to wait for someone to roll up using the abilities of the Violet Transference Rune… whatever those would be. He said it would be easy to tell, so I’ll deal with that when I get there. For now, I need to figure out where the hell Azel is.

Noah waved farewell to Contessa and headed out of the T building in search of the others – particularly Lee. Azel had been spending time with her, which meant that she was probably involved in whatever had happened to him.

I just hope everyone is safe. Where did they head off to practice? Maybe I should find Tim.

***

Tim wasn’t in the transport cannon when Noah arrived. Nobody was – the area was deserted. There weren’t any signs of a fight or indication anything had gone wrong. It was just… empty.

Growing concern building in the pit of Noah’s stomach, he walked up and down the streets of Arbitage in search of someone who might know what was going on. He considered going to the Office but dismissed that thought right out the gate.

If he’d known where Silvertide lived, Noah would have set off to find him. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no idea where to find the elderly soldier. Noah returned to the transport cannon several times, over the course of the next few hours, the tension building within him rose.

Why don’t I have a damn way to track Moxie and the others? Shit! I should have made them take my gourd with them. Then I could have just killed myself and found them instantly. Wait, that wouldn’t work. I’d show up without magic and wouldn’t be able to do anything.

Damn it. Even that would have been better than wandering around and wondering what the hell happened to everyone. Maybe I should find Isabel and Todd. Where’s Jalen when you need him? Shit, shit, shit. What if Wizen showed up while they were practicing?

Noah’s stressed pacing intensified as he ascended the transport cannon one more time, arriving in a now-unsurprisingly empty room. A flash of anger built in Noah’s chest and he resisted the urge to kick the wall.

“Damn it!” Noah snarled, spinning to head back onto the elevator, only to trip over something.

He hit the ground with a crash, rolling to his feet with a slew of curses. Mascot stared at him with wide eyes, then licked his paw.

“You ornery little shit,” Noah snapped, but a moment later, his eyes lit up. “Wait. You can find Moxie, right? Can you take me to her?”

Mascot stared at Noah, then rolled over onto his back and scrunched his body, starting to groom his backend. Noah’s eye twitched.

“I know you can hear me,” Noah said. “Stop licking your asshole and help me find Moxie. I’ll give you some fish, or something. I don’t know. Just find her!”

Mascot paused mid-lick and glanced up at Noah. Then he got back to his duties. Noah ground his teeth and rose to his feet, preparing to reach down and grab the cat by the scruff of its neck. He was pretty sure there was absolutely nothing he could do to Mascot, but that wasn’t going to stop him from shaking the damn furball until it brought him to Moxie and Lee.

Energy buzzed at Noah’s back. He grabbed Mascot reflexively and the horned cat let out a surprised yowl as Noah spun toward the source of the energy, taking Mascot with him.

Moxie shimmered to existence at the base of the cannon’s tube, her hair frazzled and expression weary. She blinked as she spotted Noah and Mascot.

“Noah? What are you–”

The rest of Moxie’s sentence was lost in a yelp as Noah ran over to Moxie and scooped her into a tight hug. She let out a muffled grunt into his shoulder, unable to speak through his embrace.

Mascot let out an affronted hiss and batted at the back of Noah’s legs before sending everyone a smug look and stepping through a portal, vanishing.

“Where’s Lee?” Noah asked, finally releasing Moxie and taking a step back, though he kept his hands on her shoulders just to make sure she was actually there. “I–”

Another crackle filled the air and Alexandra materialized at the base of the cannon, followed shortly thereafter by Emily.

“She’s safe,” Moxie said, putting a hand on Noah’s chest. “How did you find out? Did Tim find you?”

“Tim? No, he’s bloody missing,” Noah said, letting out a relieved breath. “I’ve been running all over campus trying to find out where you guys are. Wait – what do you mean by find out?”

“Someone attacked us,” Emily said, lowering her voice and glancing around the transport cannon.

“Who? Where are they?” Noah demanded.

“Dead,” Moxie replied. “Don’t worry. None of us got injured.”

“Wizen?”

“No. It was the same group that attacked you some time back,” Moxie said, giving Noah a pointed look. “The one that has reason to dislike Lee.”

“You’re kidding me,” Noah said, his fists clenching at his sides. “They found us? Where’s Lee?”

“Maybe I should give you the full story,” Moxie said gently. “Lee will be here soon. She entered the transport cannon after us, remember? And Brayden is here as well.”

“Brayden showed up?”

Father did say he’d send Brayden, but that was to deal with the Wizen problem, not for goddamn Inquisitors. What the hell is going on?

“Yeah. Just after everything was done,” Alexandra said. “Moxie is right, Professor Vermil. Lee is safe.”

Noah drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to reign in his anger. Lee and Moxie were more than capable of defending themselves, but that didn’t make him like hearing they’d been attacked any more.

“Maybe filling me in would be for the best,” Noah said. “But, before that, where is Azel? Did he have anything to do with the attack?”

“No,” Moxie said, a frown flickering across her lips. “He didn’t have anything to do with the attack, but he’s probably the reason we survived it. He died protecting Lee.”

“He what?”

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