Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah wished that he could have looked surprised, but if anything, Silvertide’s words were only confirmation of something that had been hard not to suspect, at least a little bit. When Isabel had formed her stone armor while they were training, it had blue streaks of light running throughout it.

Those certainly weren’t part of her Stone Rune, and Noah was well aware that Isabel hadn’t learned how to Imbue anything like that. Silvertide noticed Noah’s rather lackluster response to his revelation and raised an eyebrow.

“You already knew?”

“I suspected,” Noah replied with a shrug. “It wasn’t any of my business, though. I didn’t want to push where my nose didn’t belong. Looks like she’s done a good job of keeping things under wraps so far.”

Silvertide nodded, and a wave of sadness passed through his eyes. “Yes, she has. It’s a damn outrage that she has to hide it at all, though. That Rune was her heritage from a father that should still be alive. The fact that they’ve nearly taken both from her – if I could do anything, I would. Unfortunately, I’m just one soldier.”

“Do you know why the Nobles are after the Rune so badly?” Noah asked. “I don’t need to know what it is, but there’s got to be a reason they want this so much. Unless my understanding is wrong, there are quite a few Master Runes. Some are rare, but their main draw is that they’re unique.”

“Correct. The majority of Master Runes are fairly unimportant beyond the fact that they are unique, but Isabel’s is not one of those. Her Master Rune is… powerful. She’s yet to fully learn how to use it. It will not be easy, but I will attempt to aid her in that matter during our training.”

That’s enough for me, then. Nothing I didn’t know, but at least I have a face to the name of who was messing with the kids during the exam. For that matter… should I tell Silvertide about the bloke that took over Evergreen’s construct?

Noah watched Silvertide silently for several seconds. He was loathe to trust anyone too quickly, but Silvertide had done nothing but be open with him. The powerful mage seemed to have Isabel and Todd’s best interests at the forefront of his mind.

“I’m not sure if this is related to the monster attack during the exam, but something else happened.”

Silvertide gestured for Noah to continue, a mixture of interest and concern on his weathered features.

“During the time I spent with Magus Evergreen, I discovered that she wasn’t actually who she claimed to be. Evergreen was a construct.”

A sharp bark of laughter slipped from Silvertide’s mouth. “She’s getting careless if she let a Rank 2 figure that out.”

“Rank 3, actually,” Noah corrected absently. “But that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that we – Lee, Moxie, and I – figured out that someone had intercepted her construct at some point and had essentially mind-controlled it. I don’t know what their goal was, but they knew that the exam was being meddled with. It sounded like they had a part in it as well, but the meddling wasn’t their actual goal. They knew Emily as well.”

“Someone was able to take control of Evergreen’s construct? That is concerning. Did you manage to get any more information out of them?”

“Unfortunately not. Another professor by the name of Revin killed the construct while the person controlling it was trying to set up a meeting with us. I wasn’t planning to meet them, but I was hoping to get some more information.”

Silvertide’s brow furrowed and he rubbed his chin, lost deep in thought. He shook himself out of it when the silence started to become uncomfortable. “I will look into this. I’m sure I don’t need to warn you of this, but make sure no mention of this goes to Evergreen. She is dangerous. I am not familiar with Revin, but he made the right decision to kill the construct quickly. Someone who was controlling it may have been able to track its location with sufficient energy or time. Do you trust Revin?”

Noah nearly laughed. “Not at all, but… I think his goals might align with mine. Maybe. He’s very difficult to read, and I think he might be insane.”

“Ah. I’ve met men like that.” Silvertide gave Noah a knowing smile. “Usually soldiers, not professors. Constant battle tends to unhinge the minds of even the most collected individuals. I would suggest keeping what you shared with me close to chest, then. I will ensure Isabel and Todd’s safety, so please take some time to prepare yourself for what is to come. You will need the rest.”

More like the training. The idea of sitting around and doing nothing still feels about as enjoyable as sticking pins under my fingernails.

“Thank you,” Noah said, starting to turn back toward the T building.

“I should also congratulate you,” Silvertide said as Noah began walking back. “Reaching Rank 3 when you were a Rank 1 just months ago – that’s quite the feat, considering I can feel the pressure coming off your Runes, and it’s nowhere near as low as I’d expect from someone who rushed through combining their Runes.”

Noah paused for a moment, then looked over his shoulder at the older man. “I’ve had a few strokes of luck.”

“I’d imagine. At least two of them.” Silvertide laughed, then waved Noah away. “Go back to your friends. And one last thing – don’t worry about the investigation into the Hellreaver. I will speak with Neir. As long as you avoid killing any more Great Monsters that the school purchases, I think all will be fine.”

Noah let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

Silvertide just nodded and the two headed off in opposite directions.

When Noah got back into the T building and returned to his room, he could hear Moxie and Lee having a conversation through the door. They weren’t making much effort to be quiet, so it would have been hard for him to not have overheard.

“So if I were to find steak physically attractive, then I could start dating it?” Lee asked.

Noah paused, his hand on the door.

“Please don’t date an inanimate object,” Moxie said. Noah could feel the exhaustion in her words, and he nearly laughed at the expression he knew she was wearing.

“So it has to be alive.”

“And consenting.” Moxie let out a sigh. “Please don’t forget that part.”

“Okay. I get it this time,” Lee said. Noah heard a thump, presumably as she jumped down from something she was sitting on. “So I can love friends because they’re friends. I can super-love someone else, but they have to be… different. Somehow. And then I can like food.”

“Yes, that just about sums it up.” This time, there was relief in Moxie’s voice. Noah went to turn the door handle and walk inside.

“What about you?” Lee asked.

Noah paused.

“What do you mean?” Moxie asked.

“You’re giving me advice about love, but you haven’t even told me if you love anyone.”

“You shouldn’t have come to me for advice if you were worried about that.”

“You know so much about it!” Lee protested. “You’re hiding it from me. Is loving someone a secret? Did you trick me?”

“It’s not a secret. Most people don’t just talk about it so blatantly, though.”

“Why?”

“I – I don’t know. It’s very personal, I suppose. Generally, people don’t share incredibly personal things with each other. It makes you vulnerable, and that makes you weak.”

“You said people that love each other share things with each other.”

There was a long pause. Then Moxie let out a sigh.

“Not everyone is as open as you are, Lee. It’s difficult. There are a lot of things that I want to say, but many of them just aren’t good ideas. Sometimes, I’m jealous of your complete lack of inhibitions.”

“You should be. It makes life more fun.”

I think I’ve been standing outside the door long enough to be a certified weirdo. Time to go in.

Noah turned the handle, pausing for an instant longer to make sure they heard him before pushing the door open and stepping inside. Lee was lying at the base of his bed, looking up at Moxie who sat on top of it.

“Is everything okay?” Moxie asked, jerking her gaze up to him and looking ever so slightly flustered.

“Yeah,” Noah said with a nod. He shut the door behind himself. “Silvertide seems like a great guy. He told me some information about what might have happened to the kids during the exam. Some person from the Herron family called Calo.”

Moxie pursed her lips, then shook her head. “Never heard of him, but that’s good to keep in mind in case we ever run into them. Did he say why Calo would be interfering?”

“A personal matter regarding Isabel’s Runes,” Noah said. Moxie’s eyes widened slightly and she nodded her understanding.

“Do we need to kill Calo?” Lee asked.

Noah laughed. “I’m not so sure it’ll be that easy. If he’s high up in the Herron family, then I’d imagine he’ll be somewhat difficult to get to. For now, nothing changes. We play things by ear and focus on getting stronger. I know Karina promised us a way to get infinite Catchpaper – and I still want that – but in the meantime, we should go to the market tomorrow. I’ll sell some of the monster bits I’ve collected to get some extra Catchpaper for you to use, Lee. Pairing that with Dayton and Evergreen’s grimoires should be enough to let you gather some Runes to replace your current ones.”

“Okay!” Lee said cheerfully. “I’m going to go run around and chase something small. Moxie said the thrill of the hunt was similar to love. Bye!”

She pulled the window open and squirmed through it, dropping out of sight a moment later. Noah’s gaze drifted from the window to Moxie, whose cheeks were starting to turn red.

“I think my conversation might have been harder than yours,” Moxie said, rubbing the bridge of her nose and trying to get herself back under control. “Silvertide is a legend, you know.”

That’s definitely an attempt to change the subject, but I’ll show mercy.

“I could tell,” Noah said. “You know, I nearly killed his apprentice on accident.”

Moxie latched onto the lifeline, jumping to her feet. “Right! You mentioned that. You can’t just say that in passing, you know. Tell me what happened. All of it.”

“Maybe we should head back to your room?” Noah suggested. “We promised Karina she could use this one, and I imagine she’ll come back when she remembers that bit.”

“Oh. Right.”

They headed out the door. Noah grabbed his belongings as they made their way back toward Moxie’s room. Once they got back, Moxie pointed to her chair and sat down in her bed, watching Noah with a raised eyebrow.

“Well,” Noah started. “It’s not actually a very short story, but it began with a bunch of really damn annoying hallucinations.”

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