Return of the Runebound Professor

“Shit,” Moxie breathed, her eyes going wide. “That’s nothing like any Space Rune I’ve ever seen.”

“Yeah,” Noah said. He stared at his hand, then swallowed. “It used up a shit ton of energy just to do that tiny move, but it was damn effective.”

“How much energy?”

Noah peered into his soul to check on the rune and almost choked in surprise. The rune was completely empty and had only just barely started to gather power once more. He’d drained it entirely. He grimaced and returned his attention to Moxie. “Damn thing is completely out of power. It’s starting to regenerate, but it’s slow.”

“You completely drained a Rank 4 just to do that?” Moxie’s eyebrows rose up her forehead.

“Well, it’s not perfect, much less flawless,” Noah pointed out. “But yes. I thought I’d just used a bit of it if I’m being honest. It’s actually kind of weird. Using space magic feels different from other magic.”

“How so?”

“It’s hard to describe. Less efficient, I guess?”

“Maybe it’s because you aren’t actually using something physically around you?” Moxie guessed. “With an Earth Rune you’d have the ground to work with. I’m not sure what the space you’re working with actually is. It’s kind of hard to conceptualize.”

“That could be it,” Noah agreed, but he wasn’t so convinced. It felt like there was more to it than just not being able to see what he was working with. Even if the space was more of a concept than anything else, it was still there.

He fell silent for several seconds as he dug through his thoughts for an answer, but nothing arose. That was fine. He had time to get used to the rune and test it out more, so there was no pressure to rush to figure anything out now.

Something told him he wasn’t going to brute force this. It would just take more understanding of space. If Brayden still found his Rank 4 Runes inefficient after working with them his entire life, then he wasn’t going to find a simple solution.

“It’ll be a bit before my rune recovers, and I probably need to get some energy into it before I can do any real testing,” Noah said through a yawn. “I think I’ll work on that tomorrow, sometime around or after class. We can test it out more then.”

“Sounds like a plan. Speaking of class, are we just going to go back to the arena? I don’t think the transport cannon is operational for random usage yet.”

“Yeah, the arena is probably our best bet,” Noah agreed. “It’s getting close to that first exam. We should probably decide who the final winner of the competition is pretty soon. You… have been keeping track, right?”

“Have you not?”

Noah coughed into a fist. “I was, yes. But a reminder wouldn’t hurt. I kind of assumed you were doing it.”

“I know you did,” Moxie said with a laugh. “Isabel and Alexandra are both really close, but Alexandra is two points up. Todd is a bit behind them, followed by Emily and then James. Their scores are honestly all pretty close to each other.”

“The rune would be useful on all three of the top lot. Neither James nor Emily actually want it, so that works for me. It honestly probably doesn’t matter who wins. I might be overestimating them a bit, but I’m pretty sure the kids would give the rune to whoever actually needed it the most regardless of who won.”

“You’re probably right,” Moxie agreed. “I guess we’ll find out. It still seems a bit insane to just give away a Master Rune.”

“It’s not like it would be all that useful on either of us. I mean, it would be useful, but not nearly as much as on one of them. Besides, can you imagine the look on some noble prick’s face when one of them whips it out and slaps it on the table?”

Moxie snorted and raised her hands in surrender. “I’m not arguing with you. And yes, I can imagine it…but I think I’d rather see it with my own eyes.”

“I think we’ll get a chance to do that soon enough. That, however, is a thought to deal with tomorrow. My brain is a little bit cooked right now. It’s been a long day.”

“That’s what happens when you kill yourself,” Moxie admonished. “Go take a shower. Then we can sleep.”

“I literally have a fresh body! It’s perfectly clean. Like a baby. Literally.”

“On a list of thoughts I want to have, that is absolutely not one of them. Shower.” Moxie sat down on her bed and started pulling her shirt off. She paused when she saw Noah still standing there and narrowed her eyes. “Get a move on. You are not getting anywhere near me until you’ve washed up.”

“Fine, fine.” Noah chuckled and headed into the bathroom. The day had indeed been long, but he had high hopes that the night would be longer. It never felt like he got enough time alone with Moxie. But, even if he spent all the time he’d spent waiting in the Line with her, it probably still wouldn’t have been enough.

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***

Alexandra’s hands tightened around the hilt of her sword until the metal beneath the leather wrappings bit into her skin. Her breath came out in short huffs that turned into white vapor in the air before her and sweat streaked down her skin as she slipped from one pattern into the next.

She’d been making progress. There was no question of that. It was tempting to seek Vermil out and ask him to follow through on his promise to monitor her while she used magic in her formation. It was even more tempting to just use it on her own.

Alexandra pushed down both options. Vermil had put trust in her. The professor knew what he was doing, particularly with patterns and formations. He hadn’t judged her ready to push farther yet, and there was no point permanently crippling her only remaining path forward in life.

Her hands tightened around the sword even tighter. Patterns were the only route left open before her. Body Runes had destroyed her potential. The process to remove them would probably leave her completely crippled from soul damage — unless she had enough money to buy a potion that could handle it.

And the only way I get that much money is if I can get strong enough to do missions and earn thousands upon thousands of gold. I might need multiple treatments. That could be twenty or thirty thousand gold if not more. I can’t let myself take a risk and cut that path off. Patterns and Formations are the key.

Alexandra let out a slow breath, then raised her blade once more. She couldn’t approach Vermil for more tutelage before she had mastered the pattern perfectly. There were still flaws. Her concentration could still be better, and her movements could still be smoother.

She threw herself into the Pattern. Her blade shimmered through the air like a silver butterfly as she danced alone in the night, slipping from one motion to the next in a seamless flow.

Nothing mattered other than her moves. The world was her body and her sword and nothing more. All was silent aside from the song of her blade. Alexandra pressed herself harder, jumping abruptly to the side as if someone had thrust an invisible spear at her side.

She leaned back, still locked within her pattern, shifting to fend off a horde of attacking enemies located entirely within the theatre of her mind. Scenarios passed by and she adapted to each one.

A pebble shifted beneath her foot. Alexandra stumbled, managing to keep the pattern in tact with her sword, but the rest of her body had fallen just enough out of sync that she’d opened up an opening. Her movements slowed and she lowered her weapon.

If that was a real fight against someone stronger than me, I’d be dead. I need to get better at keeping myself completely immersed in my pattern no matter what happens. Dropping it because I trip is going to be a serious issue. Maybe I need some more moves that allow me to fall and keep using them?

Several came to mind almost instantly. Alexandra went to raise her sword, then paused. The hair at the back of her neck was standing on end. She hadn’t lived in a den of assassins, involuntarily or not, without picking up more than a little awareness of danger. Someone was watching her.

Alexandra didn’t let her realization show in her posture or features. The last thing she wanted to do was give away that she knew someone was there. Instead, she launched back into a set of sword strikes that she used to move in a slow circle around the dirt training area and scan her surroundings.

It didn’t take her long to find her target. A small form stood at in the shadow of a nearby fence. Alexandra wasn’t even sure if they were trying to hide. The light of the moon was shimmering off their eyes, making spotting them laughably easy.

Alexandra dropped out of her form and raised her sword to point right at the person watching her. There was no point pretending she didn’t see them when she was looking right in their direction. They’d probably have already realized she spotted them the moment she stopped moving.

The figure stiffened in surprise. They hesitated for a second, then stepped out of the shadows. Alexandra blinked in surprise. It was Yulin. The girl made her way over to Alexandra, stopping at the edge of the dirt arena. A plain metal sword rested at her side.

“I didn’t think you saw me,” Yulin said. “How long did you know?”

“That depends on how long you were standing there, but you aren’t as good as hiding as you seem to think. Do you want something?”

Yulin hesitated for a second before replying. “Were you serious about what you said when we were in the advanced track meeting?”

“I rarely say things I don’t mean, but I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”

“You said you’d be willing to spar me again in the future.” Yulin shifted from foot to foot and rubbed one of her forarms.

Alexandra blinked. She had said that, but she hadn’t actually expected Yulin to take her up on it. She scanned her surroundings again to make sure that there wasn’t someone else hiding in wait to ambush her.

She seemed a bit too arrogant to accept, and I can’t imagine there’s any way her professor would be okay with this.

Yulin glanced over her shoulder nervously, and realization struck Alexandra. Unless Yulin was a very good liar, everything about her body language said that she felt like she was somewhere she wasn’t meant to be.

She snuck out here to spar with me?

“You want to spar now?” Alexandra asked.

“I’m… busy during the day,” Yulin said. The excuse was so lame that Alexandra didn’t even bother trying to pretend like she believed it.

What would Vermil say I should do? This is a risk. Even if I haven’t spotted them, there could be someone waiting in the shadows. Yulin had a pretty bad loss against me. It’s possible Jakob would want me out of the way so it would be easier to get at Emily… but Yulin seems genuine.

When I was stuck under Gentil’s control, I really would have loved if someone had done literally anything with me. If they’d even acknowledged me as anything other than a tool. It was agony. But I’m not there anymore. Can I afford the risk?

“Enough talking,” Alexandra said. A flicker of disappointment passed through Yulin’s face. It vanished as quickly as it had arrived — she was good at controlling her emotions. She made to turn away and Alexandra let out a huff. “Where are you going?”

Yulin sent her a baffled look. “I thought you said—”

Alexandra gestured at the blade at Yulin’s side with the tip of her sword. “Speak with your sword.”

A small smile passed over the Torrin girl’s lips. She drew her sword and inclined her head, taking a step toward Alexandra and entering the arena. They circled each other for a second, then both darted toward each other. The ring of metal on metal filled the silent night, but the two of them were the only ones around to hear it.

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