Return of the Runebound Professor

It would have been a lie to say that the crowd had been cowed. Demons looked at Noah and the balcony around him with undisguised interest. Several of them sported excited grins and others exchanged money. Noah half wished he could have bet on himself, but that might have been a bit much.

Not many demons actually looked all that put out about Matis’ death aside from the ones on the balcony below them, who had gotten even more blood on them than Pirren had. They threw a few insults up at him, but he ignored them.

While most of the crowd didn’t seem to care about Matis, there were definitely some that had taken more displeasure in the demon’s death than others. Sinclaire’s porcelain features were tight in displeasure and her lips were pressed into a thin line. Several demons scattered throughout the auction house had similar looks, likely having been allies of Matis. Something told Noah that nobody missed him because of his stellar personality.

Despite the looks they earned, not a single demon in the crowd said a word. That wasn’t much of a surprise. The Rune really wasn’t that powerful. Any demons that would have been powerful enough to risk wanting to fight him now probably wouldn’t be interested in something like Falling Shadow in the first place.

“If we’re going back to bidding, does the price reset to the original amount? It’s not like the other party was around to bid on it any longer,” Noah said.

“I’m afraid not. The price remains at 220, if anyone would like to make a bid.”

“Unfortunate. 220, then,” Noah said. He put a foot on the railing and pushed himself up, using a burst of wind to launch himself up and into the air. He landed on the railing of Matis’ balcony and hopped down, scanning the relatively barren area and spotting a leather bag on the table. He snagged it, almost blinking in surprise at its weight. It was heavy.

Noah slung the bag over his shoulder before turning back to his own balcony and jumping, letting his magic carry him back over to Moxie and the others. He dumped the bag on the table.

“If there are no more bids, then Falling Shadow is sold for 220 gold,” the announcer proclaimed, clearing his throat loudly. He sent a pointed look up at Noah. “And you will be liable for the cleaning fee.”

“One hundred gold.”

“Ah.” Noah pulled Matis’ bag open and glanced through it. It was completely stuffed full of gold, but there were six glistening white crystals amongst the sea of yellow. They were perfectly round, nearly coin-shaped, and light danced as it passed through their clear depths.

He was surprised to feel a trickle of runic energy residing within them. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to send a faint tingle down his fingers when he brushed them across the gems’ surfaces. Noah pulled one of them free to get a better look. It wasn’t hard to guess they were some form of currency if Matis had brought them here.

“Crystals,” Aylin breathed, his eyes fixing on the gemstone.

“You know what this is?” Noah asked.

Aylin gave him a sharp nod. “Yes. Rune Crystals. I’ve never seen one this close before. They’re really expensive.”

“Not this one,” Yoru said. “That barely has any magic. It’s worth 100 gold. The dim light shows how weak it is. If it were more brightly lit from within, it could be of far greater value.”

“100 gold is a lot of gold,” Aylin muttered.

Yoru didn’t respond to that. She just lifted her gaze to Pirren, who still stood before her. “You may sit now.”

The blood-splattered demon looked down at herself. Then she mutely walked back over to her chair and lowered herself into it, not even bothering to try and wipe herself off. Her eyes stared off like she was trapped somewhere between a dream and a nightmare and hadn’t quite managed to work out which one it was yet.

Noah quickly counted through the money in Matis’ bag. If each of the Crystals was worth 100 gold, there was a total of 800 gold in it. The demon had actually been pretty wealthy by the standards of the Damned Plains. He grinned.

You know, killing a bunch of demons here would actually be a pretty good investment. Pay 100 gold, take their bag and all the goodies in it in turn. I’m up a net 700 right now. I should goad some more idiots into trying something.

“That’s a lot of gold,” Moxie said as she looked over his shoulder. “Do we still have to pay for the other rune Matis bought?”

“Yes,” Yoru said. “But you will get it in his place. The contract was already struck with the auction house, so attempting to free Matis’ coin from it will go poorly.”

“That’s fine,” Noah said with a shrug. “We’re down a total of 310 gold of his 800, so there’s still 490 extra to play around with. For the amount of effort we had to put in to get this, I don’t think I’m going to complain. Pirren, do you need a towel or something?”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Pirren wiped some of the blood from her cheek. She looked down at her hand, then back up to Noah. “No. I am fine.”

Definitely doesn’t sound fine. I wonder what’s got her so bothered. Matis was a right prick. She and him definitely weren’t friends. Eh. Not the time to go digging. I’ll figure it out later.

The announcer continued the auction and put the next rune up, but it didn’t catch Noah’s attention. He spent his time observing the other demons instead. It was hard to tell how many of them had come here to actually participate and how many had come just to watch the others beat the life out of each other.

There was also a third group of demons — those that looked bored with the fights and runes alike. They were few in number, just five or six that he could spot, Sinclaire among them. Noah was willing to bet a body that they were here for more powerful runes, and the games of the weaker demons just held no interest to them.

Their presence was actually quite beneficial. It told Noah that the auction was still far from being in full swing, and the best runes had yet to be revealed. There was just one small potential problem. He had a decent amount of money between what they’d brought and Matis’ thoughtful donation. The price of the Rank 3 runes was steadily rising as the announcer sold one after the other. It had already reached the low 300s and went up every time one sold. They were going in order of worst to best — which meant his own Rank 3 would probably sell for a pretty good price.

He just wasn’t sure if it would be enough. Matter and Space Runes were disproportionately expensive in the Mortal Plane. Noah doubted it would be that different here. If he wanted to get a powerful Rune, it could end up running at a cost higher than what he had.

I was half joking about finding some more demons to kill during the auction, but I may need to do just that. Then again, I might not even have to do anything. The moment I bid on something nice, some macho prick will probably try their hand against me. I just hope they’re rich.

“I’d like to bring all of your attention to the final rune in our Rank 3s for today,” the announcer called, flapping his wings to emphasize his words. “This may be one of the most unique runes I’ve had the pleasure of selling. Though it is a Rank 3, its quality is sublime. This is a standard rune called Sandy Gale, that was formed at an unbelievable 11 percent full. Bids will start at 250 gold!”

Noah leaned forward in his chair, an excited smile crossing his face beneath his storm wrappings as dozens of gazes all snapped down to stare at the announcer. He’d been waiting for this, and the winged demon had done a great job of hyping the rune up.

Now I just need a few people to start a bidding war over it and I’ll make off like a king for just about zero work.

“250,” a brown-scaled demon with craggy spines running along his back and shoulders called, slamming his palm into the table on his balcony. “I’ve been waiting for something like this for months. If you bid against me, be prepared to fight for it.”

“280,” a stout demon from the balcony to his side said, crossing her arms and letting her steely gaze bore into the other demon. “You aren’t the only one that can use that, Ramon. You want it? Fight for it.”

“290,” Ramon growled. The spikes covering his spine rippled. “One warning. Don’t try again.”

“Your threats aren’t going to stop me. Put your fists where your mouth—”

The rest of the stout demon’s words were lost as a sharp, crisp voice split through the air like a spring wind.

“300,” Sinclaire said, crossing one of her legs over the other as her lips pulled up in a faint smile.

The stout demon’s mouth snapped shut. Ramon exchanged a glance with her, then clenched his fists and lowered himself back into his chair as well. The auction house was silent. For some reason, the single bid from Sinclaire had completely stilled the competition.

Noah’s eye twitched. Ramon and the other demon definitely would have pushed the price far higher than 300 gold. He didn’t know why nobody was willing to bid against Sinclaire, and he couldn’t have given a shit less.

Nobody scams me. I’m the scammer here.

Even the announcer looked slightly pained at the price abruptly jerking to a halt. He glanced around the room, clearly hoping someone else would speak. Nobody did. His wings drooped slightly as he drew in a breath.

“310,” Noah called out.

Sinclaire’s eyes snapped up to meet his, burning with such malice that Noah could almost see flames flickering within them. A flicker of recognition passed through him. He recognized those eyes. They were incredibly similar to Azel’s. She was an Anger demon.

“You do not want to start this,” Sinclaire said. “I am not at the same level of the pest you just quashed, Spider. 350.”

“To a giant, ant and man and mountain are alike,” Noah replied. He held Sinclaire’s gaze without flinching. He didn’t know what an anger demon needed a rune like this for, but she clearly wanted it. And if she wanted it, he could push the price a whole lot higher. “400.”

The muscles in Sinclaire’s jaw clenched. Cold fury washed over her features and her eye twitched as her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides.

“Pirren?” Yoru said.

“Yes?”

Yoru mutely pointed to the ground in front of her. Pirren looked to her bloodied hands. Then she stood up and moved to stand where the smaller demon had indicated.

“Here?” Pirren asked wearily.

“Yes. Very good.” Yoru nodded. “And, Pirren?”

“Yes?”

Yoru raised her hands to cover masked face. Pirren gave her a confused look for a moment, then mirrored the motion.

“450,” Sinclaire ground out. “Do not open your wretched mouth, Spider. Do not confuse this for a mere warning. I am no whelp to be toyed with. Be thankful I give you this opportunity to evade your death. The cost for eliminating your entire balcony is still greater than the annoyance you have caused me, but it will not be for much longer.”

“I don’t need to evade what I already am,” Noah called back. For a brief second, the two of them were silent. Noah could see the promise in her posture. Sinclaire was at her limit. If he spoke again, she would attack. That was just fine with him. If she refused to buy his rune at the price it deserved, he’d just beat the life out of her until she came to a more reasonable decision. “500 gold.”

Sinclaire rose to her feet. Her loose robes fluttered around her as she mutely took a step toward the railing. Her fingers flexed, revealing long, black claws at the tips of her alabaster white skin.

Noah called on his Runes, letting power flow through his body as Sinclaire’s entire body trembled with poorly restrained fury. He winked at her. That proved to be the final straw.

Sinclaire launched herself into the air in a blur. She shot across the auction house with her claws primed to rip his throat out, and Noah stood in wait for her.

I did always wonder how I’d square up against Azel once I was closer in rank to him. I guess this is about as close as I’ll ever get to finding out.

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