Return of the Runebound Professor

“You used magic in your pattern by accident?” Noah repeated. “Are you certain?”

“It wasn’t intentional,” Alexandra said hurriedly. “It happened while I was fighting Gero.”

“Tell me more,” Noah said with an encouraging gesture. It wasn’t like stressing about things now would change anything. Alexandra wasn’t dead, so either she’d successfully added the magic to her pattern or she’d misunderstood what happened.

“Gero had some form of magic that made it impossible to hit him with physical attacks,” Alexandra said. “My sword was going right through him and I thought I was going to lose. He had me inside his domain so I couldn’t even use what little magic I do have. I tried to push myself harder, but it was clear he wanted me to try and make space to attack from range.”

“Which you can’t do,” Noah said with a nod. “You’re fully focused into close combat.”

“Yeah. All I could do was try to hit him faster and hope that he couldn’t actually ignore every single physical attack. While I was trying to push myself to do more, I felt magic slip out of my runes, and I think it went into my pattern. I’m not completely certain. Gero ended the fight almost immediately afterward.”

“Interesting.”

It wouldn’t have been too much of a surprise for Alexandra to be correct. She was the farthest along with her pattern out of everyone and Noah had lost track of the amount of times that frustration and impatience had pushed him to try something he probably shouldn’t have.

The entire purpose of a pattern was to contain and use magic. If Alexandra had been drawing power without any intention, it was possible that it could have slipped into the pattern and empowered it.

“Is that bad?” Alexandra asked and swallowed nervously. “I haven’t done more damage to my body or anything, have I?”

“No, nothing like that. If something went wrong, you’d definitely know,” Noah promised. “That’s not to say it wasn’t dangerous. What you did was the first step to casting a Formation. If it had gone wrong and you’d screwed up your pattern, you could have seriously injured or killed yourself.”

“I cast a Formation?” Alexandra asked, completely glossing over the second half of Noah’s words as her eyes went wide.

He did his best to resist the urge to laugh. This was the time to be serious, and so much as chuckling would take the weight out of his words. The attempt was only partially successful and he couldn’t keep a grin from tugging up one corner of his lips.

“You cast the beginnings of one,” Noah said. “Much like Emily did. The difference is that I wasn’t there to oversee it. If you want to keep all your limbs where they currently are, I suggest you avoid doing that in the future. Only use Formations when I’m present until I tell you that you’re ready for it.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best.”

That wasn’t a promise. Fair enough. She knows the risks, and she’s been through some shit. I can respect that she’s not committing to something she doesn’t plan to do. I’m her teacher, not her father. I just hope it doesn’t get her killed.

“Good. Then we’ll focus on trying to see just what it was you did in a more controlled environment.” Noah extended his senses to his domain and peeled it back in the area around Alexandra, leaving only a thin layer of his mental presence behind. “Whenever you’re ready, go ahead and demonstrate your pattern. Let a tiny amount of magical energy seep into it – as little as you can. The magic is going to flow slower than normal, but make sure to increase the amount you use very gradually.”

Alexandra drew her sword and lowered into a fighting stance. In stark contrast to Emily, it only took her an instant to slip into her pattern, the blade of her sword flitting out and spinning around her like the path of a distracted insect.

It flicked and danced and spun around Alexandra in a mesmerizing dance. Noah couldn’t help but marvel at the pattern. The tip of her sword seemed to have a life of its own. It changed speeds and accelerated seemingly at random.

If I were fighting against her and had the same Rank as she did, Alexandra would be a terrifying opponent. I wouldn’t be able to let her get close to me or I’d definitely lose. I can barely track that sword. What a menace.

Alexandra wasn’t done. Noah’s skull prickled as she started to draw on her magic. Energy rose off her as she pushed it into the pattern. Once again, there was very little hesitation in her moves.

While Emily had started from almost nothing and gradually brought her energy up to a visible level, Alexandra ramped up her power almost immediately. Wisps of white wind gathered around the edge of her blade, just barely rising off the weapon. They raced down her body and traced her movements.

Alexandra accelerated. Her blows zipped through the air with audible hums. Noah couldn’t even see the tip of her blade anymore, just the streak it left in the air behind it. He kept a careful watch with his domain in case Alexandra drew too much power. It was tempting to turn his full attention to her movements, but he still had a responsibility to keep her as safe as he could.

The energy pouring into Alexandra’s pattern intensified. Noah’s eyes narrowed as the power contained in her movements started to grow. She’d gone beyond the bare minimum that he’d suggested.

Stolen novel; please report.

She’s using my presence as a way to test more of what she can do in what she believes to be a controlled environment. If I stop her here, she’s probably going to just try to practice it on her own. But I think Alexandra is still taking this a bit too lightly.

Noah would have stopped her on the spot if her pattern hadn’t been so flawless. But, since it was, he decided a different lesson was more in order. He gave her a few more seconds to use the more intensified magic, then knelt and picked up a small pebble from the ground beside him.

He tossed it at Alexandra, boosting its flight with a small swirl of wind from Natural Disaster. The pebble streaked through the air and smacked into her shoulder. Alexandra stumbled in surprise.

Her sword missed a movement. She tried to resume the pattern as it had been before, but it was too late. The magic she’d gathered rebelled. Noah’s domain clamped down on her and the power sputtered. It resisted him, trying to fulfill its purpose, but Noah gave it no quarter and it slipped away harmlessly. Alexandra let her blade lower, breathing heavily and staring at Noah in surprise.

“What was that?”

“You’re dead,” Noah said. “Or at least, you could have been. The instant your pattern goes down, if you don’t adapt and change your pattern, it’s gone. Best case scenario it does nothing. More likely, you go boom.”

“I wasn’t expecting you to throw a rock at me!” Alexandra rubbed her shoulder. “I had it under control.”

“I’ll make sure to let the insect buzzing by your ear the next time you train know that,” Noah said dryly. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. “You can’t control every single circumstance, Alexandra. If you’d been using less power, there was a chance you might have been able to abandon the pattern or otherwise escape. You didn’t do what I said to, though. That was a lot more power than you needed.”

Alexandra’s shoulders stiffened and she averted her gaze. “I wanted to see how far I could go. I could have handled it.”

“I know,” Noah said. Alexandra looked up at him in surprise.

“If you do, then why did you–”

“Because it’s not about if you can handle your pattern in a normal situation,” Noah said. “It’s about if you can handle it when things go wrong. I understand how you feel. You don’t want to fall behind. You’re worried about getting passed up by the others, so you try to force more out of yourself. But tell me something – are you going to be able to catch up with them if you’re dead or so badly crippled that you need a ten thousand gold healing potion to fix all the damage?”

Alexandra cringed back as Noah’s words bit into her. Her jaw clenched and, after a few moments, she shook her head, not willing to speak any further.

Noah sighed walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You’re not going to fall behind, Alexandra.”

“How can you say that when–”

“Alexandra.”

“What?”

“You specifically asked for me as a teacher. Do you trust me?”

“Yes,” Alexandra said.

“Then trust me. You aren’t going to fall behind. Not unless you do something stupid to yourself. Train with all the intensity you can muster. But… not this. If you’re willing to throw your body away, you eventually will.”

“This is the only option I have!” Alexandra protested. “Formations and patterns are the only way I can progress in the future. If I don’t master them–”

“Are you a liar?”

Alexandra blinked. “What?”

“Answer the question.”

“No,” Alexandra said. “I don’t think I am.”

“Then do what you just said you would and trust me,” Noah said simply. “You will not fall behind. I swear. The world is bigger than you think it is.”

Alexandra turned to meet his gaze and he held it. Several seconds passed before she pulled her eyes away and nodded. “I – okay. Fine. I’m sorry for pushing so hard. I just don’t want to become obsolete.”

“Just trust me. You’ll be fine.” Noah took his hand off Alexandra’s shoulder and gave her a nudge. “Now stop looking so put out. If we ignore the part where I interfered, you were doing absolutely fantastic. Your understanding of your pattern is incredible and you’re using it perfectly.”

A small grin pulled across Alexandra’s lips. “Thanks. I had an epiphany after training with Todd. He pointed out that the pattern has to be my whole body, not just my sword. You don’t fight with just your sword, after all.”

“Well, that makes me want to see just how far Todd’s pattern has come,” Noah said with a wry grin. “But for now, we’ll stay focused on you. I wouldn’t be surprised if you did use your pattern while fighting Gero. I won’t order you around but be careful with doing that again. You saw how easily things can go awry.”

Alexandra nodded. “Understood.”

“Good. Your next task is going to be working on doing your pattern – without magic – while people try to interrupt you. I’m sure the other students will be more than willing to help, and you’ll get a chance to get your revenge when it becomes their turn.”

“Understood. When can I–”

“When I’m there and tell you that you can,” Noah said firmly. “Unless you’re literally about to die and have no other choice.”

Alexandra sighed. “Okay.”

“If you can’t help yourself, then come find me after class and I can help you practice then.”

That lightened her expression. She gave him another nod. “Okay. Thank you.”

“No problem,” Noah said. He turned to his flying sword and stepped onto it. “I think that’s all I had specifically planned for today, so let’s head back to the others and see how they’re doing.”

“Hold on,” Alexandra said, her tone shifting.

Noah glanced over his shoulder at her. “What?”

“You stopped my magic,” Alexandra said, her eyes going wide as she thrust an accusatory finger at Noah. “You’re a Rank 4!”

Noah snorted. “Bit of a delayed reaction, wasn’t it?”

“I was focused!” Alexanra exclaimed, her cheeks reddening. “But when – how? Are you getting fed runes or something?”

“Or something. You’ll see soon enough,” Noah said.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were the favorite child of the Linwick family,” Alexandra muttered as she walked over to get onto the flying sword.

“How do you know I’m not?”

I didn’t think Alexandra knew all that much about my relationship with the Linwicks. Assuming they’re funding me wouldn’t be that much of a stretch.

“I spoke to a few people when I came to Arbitage,” Alexandra reminded Noah. “They were pretty clear as to where you stood. Your reputation really sucks, Professor.”

Noah sighed.

“Right. Forgot about that.”

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