Return of the Runebound Professor

Nearly a minute passed before either Noah or Father spoke again. The two of them sat, sipping their drinks and watching each other quietly. Noah’s throat and chest tingled. The alcohol was nothing like what he’d had before. It was simultaneously hot and cold, and it tasted vaguely of mangoes. He wouldn’t have said it was his favorite beverage, but it was certainly interesting.

He was more than comfortable with the silence. There were a great many things that Noah was too impatient to wait for – but this wasn’t one of them.

If Father was going to try to make him uncomfortable with the silence, he was going to have to wait a good bit longer. Several hundred years longer.

Sure enough, Father finally broke their silent battle with a slow, satisfied sigh.

“It is good, is it not?”

“What is?” Noah asked.

Father looked mildly offended at the question. He raised his empty wine glass, then poured himself another cup. “The wine.”

“Food has lost most of its appeal to me,” Noah replied with a shrug. “It is sustenance. I prefer to feed off killing. It’s more efficient and lets me fill my Runes faster. I abhor wasting time, and most meals tend to be just that.”

Father pursed his lips. “We are of different cloth. I find meals to be a moment in which great power can be seized. Political power, not that of Runes. When men’s stomachs are full and their minds satisfied, they are most willing to give me what I wish.”

“Not as cunning as one would expect of a demon.”

“Let me ask you something,” Noah said, setting his glass down and crossing one of his legs over the other as he lounged back in the chair. “Have you ever had an ant problem in your kitchen? Small little bugs, all getting into your food and ruining it.”

“That would be a problem for my servants to deal with,” Father replied. “But I trust it has happened. Imbuements that are not upkept are prone to failure, especially on large buildings. It is likely that bugs have gotten into the house before.”

“And how do you think your servants purge those bugs?” Noah asked.

“Poison, or some other equivalent manner.”

“Why did they not attempt to outwit them? Surely that would have been wiser. What if the ants had outmaneuvered your servants and tricked them?”

Father’s brow furrowed in anger, though his eyes remained just as dead as they had been. “You imply that humans are nothing more than ants to you?”

Noah let out a heavy sigh.

“You are still posturing. Am I wrong? What could you possibly do to me that could inconvenience me any more than an ant could?”

“I could kill you.”

Noah tilted his head to the side, copying the movement that Father had made just a minute before. “No, you couldn’t. I already told you this. You cannot kill me. I will tell you what you can do. You can cut my hair. The loss of this form will not bother me in the slightest.”

“A likely story,” Father said, leaning back in his chair and swishing the wine in his glass around, looking as nonchalant as if he was talking to a mere servant bringing him the daily news. “Everyone would wish others to believe that they are immortal to keep them from making moves. It is a rudimentary trick. You are a powerful demon, yes. But an Archdemon you are not.”

Noah’s lips peeled apart in a toothy smile.

Father snorted. “Vermil could not have summoned such a creature.”

Noah studied his fingernails. “Vermil is dead. I told you that he died in the attempt – an attempt that opened a portal to your plane of existence.”

Father shifted ever so slightly in his seat. It was subtle, but he wasn’t just ignoring the words Noah was saying. He was considering them. Anyone who was suitably paranoid would, of course. If there was even a slight chance that Noah was telling the truth, dismissing it could be disastrous.

“An Archdemon walking around in a form such as yours?”

“Do you know what your problem is? You’re too focused on trying to figure out where I’m lying rather than what I’m offering,” Noah said, shaking his head. “And, worse yet, you have failed to offer me anything that would garner my interest. Why should I prove anything when you have nothing to offer?”

“Those who come asking must be the ones to provide proof,” Father countered. “You came to me. Give me a reason to not only believe that you are who you say you are, but also one to prove that you are not simply planning to betray me at the nearest opportunity.”

Noah tapped his fingers on his empty glass. “I can answer the first one, but not the second.”

“Because you cannot prove it?”

“Because I will not parlay with ants.”

Father set his glass down with an audible clink. “You are arrogant.”

“It comes with power.”

“Or stupidity.”

“Also comes with power,” Noah said with a wry smile. “And is of no consequence when faced with ants. Stupid or clever, they die all the same.”

Father grunted. “And what is it that you seek of me? I would know your desires before I even waste my time trying to wring the truth from your lips.”

“Knowledge,” Noah replied immediately. “There is no greater power.”

“You wish access to my libraries?”

Noah repressed a gag. “Absolutely not. I want access to someone who knows everything in your libraries, as well as access to the libraries as well should I need them. I cannot be bothered wasting days away.”

“Is that all?” Father asked, his features unreadable.

“Of course not, but it is the first. Our relationship will be one of give and take. Your offer will be access to the information I request.”

“The Linwick estate has Rune combinations compiled over centuries. We have Runes that have been lost to the world for years and waiting for someone with the proper affinity to put them to use once more.” Father raised an eyebrow. “But what will you give in return for accessing all this information?”

“Your life.”

Father burst into laughter. “Only a demon or a fool could be so arrogant. My life is not yours to give. You do not have any Runic Pressure coming off you. You cannot be higher than Rank 3.”

“And I told you that I split my strength amongst hundreds of bodies,” Noah replied with a shrug. “This one is Rank 2. Some are weaker. Others are stronger. All serve a purpose.”

“I have no reason to believe you. We are at an impasse. You do not have a way to prove you have the power you claim.”

“I suspected you would say as much,” Noah said, rolling his neck. “I will prove it, but it will be costly.”

“Oh?” Father gave Noah a patronizing smile. “Very well then, Demon. Tell me, how will you prove this power of yours?”

“By calling one of my other bodies,” Noah replied. Father blinked in surprise and Noah’s smile grew larger. “You look taken aback, Father. I knew what kind of person you were by digging through what remained of Vermil’s soul. You are not one to blindly work with me.”

“Still words and no proof,” Father said. “Show me.”

“Send for my clone. They have taken the form of a woman called Lee, and is currently with two students that I brought with me from Arbitage.”

“A demon that brought along its students?” Father didn’t bother to hide his incredulity.

“They are part of a web I weave. Bring the clone.”

Father grunted. Noah didn’t see him make any moves, but the door behind them rumbled open and a guard strode into the room not even a second later.

“Go find the traveler named Lee that was brought here by Vermil and Brayden,” Father instructed. “Bring her directly to me.”

The guard saluted, then strode out of the room.

“I will need to speak with my clone privately,” Noah said. “I have taken measures to ensure that the clone itself does not realize its true purpose, and they use magics that I would not share so freely.”

Father waved his hand. “You may speak in silence. My ears are not what they once were, and this room is well protected.”

“Brayden will make a sound shield around us,” Noah said. “He is capable of using his magic to do that.”

Father’s eyes narrowed slightly. He’d clearly been planning on listening in somehow. It wouldn’t surprise him if the room amplified all the noise in it so that Father could hear it.

“Very well,” Father said. “Is there anything else? Would you like some fruit and cheese as well as a maiden to satisfy you during the process?”

“I admit that I am starting to get slightly hungry,” Noah said, pretending to consider Father’s sarcastic offer for a moment.

“And you said that you do not enjoy eating human food. A liar once, a liar again.”

“My hunger was not directed toward your fruits and cheeses,” Noah said with a cold smile. “I find the challenge to be the most interesting part. I do not believe you have anything of interest to offer me in the realm of meals.”

Both of them fell silent. Noah expected it would take quite some time to find Lee and bring her over, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. After just barely over ten minutes, the guard’s footsteps echoed down the hall through the open doorway and he emerged with Lee and Brayden in tow.

“You were not instructed to bring Brayden,” Father said. His voice was soft, but it had an edge of cold steel to it.

“Yes, he was,” Noah said, matching Father’s gaze. The old man’s dead eyes burned into his, filled by years of scheming. But, compared to the vast, all-consuming nothingness of the afterlife, they were nothing.

Father flicked his fingers at Lee. “Speak, then.”

Noah stepped out into the hall and turned to Brayden. “Please make your sound Shield around us. It is for the good of the family.”

Brayden glanced at Father, who inclined his head. Extending a hand, purple energy washed forth from Brayden and formed a cube around Noah and Lee. Noah waited until it had taken complete shape around them before speaking.

“What’s going on?” Lee asked. “The old guy is way older than he looks, by the way.”

“I know,” Noah said. He stepped close to Lee, lowering his voice as much as he could. “Where did you put my belongings?”

“Stuffed ‘em in a closet like you always do.”

“Is it empty?”

“Yes. I got my own room, and it’s in there.”

Noah nodded. “Turn into me and act like an aloof asshole. Don’t give any answers to anything he asks. I’ll be back shortly. We’re playing a game with Father – a similar one to what we played already.”

Lee’s eyes widened as she registered what Noah was saying. Then a grin played across his lips. “Ooh. I see. Dangerous. Could be fun.”

Her body rippled. Lee pressed her hands to her face and hunched over. Her skin bubbled, shifting in tone as her body expanded. Clothes tore at the seams as she enlarged, forming into a perfect copy of Noah and straightening back up.

Brayden’s eyes bulged and he looked from Noah to Lee in shock. Noah gestured for him to lower the purple shield, which he did.

“You may leave,” Father told Brayden, not taking his eyes off Lee.

Brayden opened his mouth, then snapped it shut and nodded. He strode back into the hall, passing by Lee and Noah as they walked back into the room. The door ground shut behind them.

“There are many ways to replicate a body,” Father said. “This is hardly proof.”

“This perfectly?” Lee asked, glancing down at her torn up clothes. “You’ll be paying for these, by the way.”

Father’s brow furrowed. “The quality of the copy is not the question. It is the validity of your claim.”

“I thought you might think as much,” Noah said. He let out an exaggerated sigh. “There will be a time when you regret this decision, but I knew you would make it nonetheless. As such, we will have to ensure you get the most value out of it possible.”

“What are you blathering about?” Father asked.

Noah approached Father. “Stand.”

“A threat?”

“On the contrary. Do you have a dagger? One of your own collection, please. Let us not leave room for trickery.”

Father blinked, then rose to his feet. He walked over to one of the shelves, pulling a plain but beautiful dagger from one of them, and headed back to stand before Vermil.

“Will this suffice for your show?”

Noah reached down and took Father’s hand, guiding it up to his throat. He locked eyes with the man. “Just like hair.”

To his credit – or perhaps discredit – Father didn’t hesitate for an instant. He ripped the smooth blade across Noah’s throat, leaving a line of cold heat behind. The wound was deeper than Noah had expected. Father really hadn’t held back in the slightest. Blood poured out of his neck and Father stepped back, examining his handiwork.

Noah grabbed Father by the shoulders. Perhaps it was surprise, but Father didn’t try to yank away. Noah’s blood poured down his neck and seeped into his clothes. A cold, flat grin stretched across Noah’s lips, even as he felt the world starting to go dark around him.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Father.”

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