Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah laid low the rest of the day. He kept his gourd hidden in his bathroom and sat on his bed facing the door, ready to draw on his magic to defend himself at a moment’s notice. Even though he’d stopped seeing visions of monkeys as of the last few days, the added stress didn’t help and he twitched every time people walked past the door outside.

Surprisingly, nothing ever happened. The day came and went, and night arrived. Once the sun set, Noah quickly lost patience with sitting around waiting for something to happen and went to sleep.

What’s the worst that could happen? I get assassinated? Psh. If they give me a few weeks I’ll end up killing myself a dozen times trying to take down the Hellreaver.

The night passed, and Noah was even more surprised to wake the following morning, his rest completely unbothered by the events of the previous day. He laid in bed for a few moments, then grunted and rolled out.

“Maybe that brat’s teacher didn’t like him all that much more than I did,” Noah said, chuckling to himself as he pulled his coat on.

There were still a few hours until it would officially be time for class. He sat down at his desk and grabbed a notebook, spending the time jotting down all his observations on magic and its uses so far so he could reference them in the future.

After all, it’s not like anyone can actually read anything I write here. I’m probably the only person in the world who speaks English. Even if other people here came from Earth, their memories would have been wiped. I’ve got a perfect cypher.

Noah put his quill away when the sun started to shine aggressively through his window, its position in the sky reminding him that he still had some students to get to. Noah blew on his papers to dry the ink out faster, then pushed his chair back and headed out of his room.

He poked his head out the door cautiously, but nobody was waiting for him in the halls. Noah moved at a brisk pace, leaving the teacher’s housing and cutting across campus toward building G.

Like the previous day, this area of the campus was deserted. Everyone was probably still trying to suck up to the noble houses and get themselves a spot. Noah suppressed a laugh. He wasn’t sure if it was good or bad timing, but at least it probably meant that the nobles had better things to do than deal with him.

When Noah arrived at his room, Isabel and Todd were already waiting for him.

“Dude, you punched Edward?” Todd asked, his eyes glittering in amusement. “I never realized you were that cold with it. Rock on!”

Okay, that lingo cannot be correct. Is that Vermil’s body automatically translating this world’s lingo into something I would understand? Weird. Todd is now forever going to be a surfer dude in my head, and I doubt he’s ever even seen the ocean.

“He asked for it. Literally,” Noah said. “Now, no wasting time. We’ve got less than two weeks until the exam, and I expect you to both be able to handle a Slasher entirely on your own when that time comes around.”

The fact that both Isabel and Todd both just watched Noah instead of making a disbelieving scoff filled him with pride. They were getting more confident in their abilities. There was no doubt in his mind that they’d pass the exam when it came around, so long as they kept improving at their current rate.

They left the classroom and made their way over to Tim. Noah kept an eye out for anyone he didn’t recognize that didn’t look too pleased to see him, but the path was as clear as it had been the previous day.

Tim greeted Noah with a small nod as they arrived. His nose was buried in one of the many books on his desk, and he barely even glanced up from it as the lift rattled to a stop, letting them all off.

“Same as usual, please,” Noah said.

“Sure, sure.” Tim waved his hand dismissively. He poked his head over the top of his book. “I already knew you were coming. You always do. It’s honestly pretty predictable.”

“Highlight of your day, eh?” Noah asked with a chuckle.

Tim let out a loud laugh. “Indeed. Everything is already set up, Master Linwick. I hope you and your students find the trip very informational!”

Noah’s grin flickered. He locked eyes with Tim. There wasn’t a single speck of the amusement that he’d come to associate the tower operator with in his eyes. He was deadly serious.

The hair on the back of Noah’s neck stood on end.

Tim said I was predictable. I don’t think he was joking. Is someone here?

“Are you getting in?” Isabel asked.

“You first,” Noah replied softly. “And Todd next. You’re both more than strong enough to defend yourselves before I get there.”

Isabel shrugged and climbed into the turret. There was a whump and she vanished, transformed into a streak of blue energy. Todd headed after her. As he was climbing in, Noah tilted his head slightly to the side and flicked his eyes toward the transport.

Tim shook his head so slightly that Noah would have missed it if he hadn’t been paying attention. He desperately wanted to search the room to see if someone was hiding there, but the look in Tim’s eyes gave him pause.

Chances were, Tim was probably safe. There was no reason for anyone to bring him into things, but if they’d tracked Noah’s movements, then they might have known how frequently he used the transport cannon. That meant they knew he’d be showing up in twenty-four or twelve hours, tired from training. It felt a little over the top to track him down with the cannon, though. It wasn’t like they couldn’t have found out where he lived.

Noah didn’t dare bring Tim into things any further, though. If his suspicions were right, then Tim was already putting himself at risk by trying to give any warnings at all. Noah just inclined his head slightly.

“Thank you. See you in twenty four hours, Tim. Take care of yourself.”

“You too,” Tim replied.

Noah climbed into the tube. Taking any action other than what he normally did could put Tim at risk. He laid down, pressing his back to the cold metal, and let out a slow breath. Then the world turned blue and he was gone.

The ground greeted Noah hard, and he swore as the transport cannon deposited him right on his butt. He rolled to his feet beside Isabel and Todd, who were watching him expectantly.

Noah glanced around. There was always the chance that someone had been waiting for him in the Scorched Acres rather than sitting around for him to pop back out. He tilted his head to the side, trying to listen and see if he could hear anything, but all that his ears found were the distant howls of the monkeys.

“Is something wrong?” Isabel asked.

Noah didn’t respond immediately. He scanned the trees around them, but he couldn’t spot anything that caught his attention.

I wonder if my Vibration Rune could sense somebody breathing. That’s a vibration, right? But it would also mean I’d need to get the feedback somehow, since I’m not physically touching them. I can’t use both Vibration and Wind magic – I need to combine them for that to work. It’s still worth a shot, though.

Noah concentrated on his Vibration Rune, trying to will it into picking up vibrations around him. Almost instantly, Noah could pick up the thrum of his own breath running through his body – but nobody else’s.

“Come here for a moment,” Noah said, ignoring Isabel’s question. She blinked, but walked over without hesitation. Noah put a finger on her shoulder. The ripple of her breaths lit up immediately.

The more he focused on them, the more the rippling energy actually appeared before his eyes. It took the form of white wake marks that passed along her body and vanished as soon as they reached her fingers.

Noah lifted his hand and the lines vanished instantly. It was like he’d thought. His Vibration Rune didn’t have a way to see other people’s vibrations yet. He probably needed to combine it with something.

“What’s going on?” Isabel asked. “You’re acting strange, Professor. Did something happen?”

Well, it’s not like I can just walk with them. If someone was here, they’d just follow us. Oh well. But… if I tell them now, they’re going to be too nervous to practice. Moxie said this wasn’t a problem big enough to get anyone killed, so it’s best to focus on what’s actually important right now.

“Sorry, I was just testing out a new way for myself to apply my magic,” Noah said with an easygoing chuckle. “It didn’t really work. Why don’t we get started on practice?”

Isabel didn’t look too convinced, but Todd nodded energetically before she could say anything. Todd’s hands flared with fire and he flexed his fingers.

“Yeah! I’ve got some new ideas for how I can fight as well, Teacherman. There’s a monkey right over there. Let’s go.”

Todd pointed into the trees. Noah followed his finger, but he couldn’t see anything. Isabel raised an eyebrow.

“Are you hallucinating? There’s nothing there.”

“Yes there is,” Todd replied. A large grin stretched across his face. “Wanna bet? One small monkey, sleeping from a tree about a hundred yards away.”

Noah and Isabel exchanged a glance. They both shook their heads negatively.

“I’m not betting against anyone this confident,” Noah said with a chuckle. “Lead the way, then. If you’re that confident, then I want to see it.”

Todd shrugged. He crept off in the direction that he’d indicated. Noah and Isabel followed closely behind him.

He was right. Just like Todd had said, a little under a hundred yards away, a small monkey hung from a tree, sleeping. Todd shot a victorious smirk back at them. Noah gestured at the monster and flicked his fingers.

A beam of fire shot from Todd’s hands, burning straight into the back of the monster’s neck and killing it instantly. It collapsed to the ground with a soft thump.

“How’d you know?” Isabel demanded.

Todd preened, puffing his chest out. “I can’t go around sharing my deepest secrets with you, Isabel. That costs money, you know.”

Isabel glared at Todd. “Come on. Seriously?”

“Fine, fine. I was thinking about how Vermil showed how using our magic creatively was more effective, you know? One of my Runes is a Heat Rune. It’s pretty close to Fire, but technically weaker since I can’t actually do things with fire itself, just temperature. I thought it was pretty worthless, but people are warm, right? So are monkeys.”

“You used the Heat Rune to see locations that were hotter or colder than others,” Noah realized. “So you can see things that put off too much or too little heat much farther than your normal eyes could.”

“Exactly.” Todd rubbed his hands together. “Well, it’s more feel than see, but pretty much. I know how much heat there is and the general area its coming from, so I can figure out what I’m ‘looking’ at. Pretty impressive, no?”

“It is,” Noah said enthusiastically. “Brilliant job!”

And great timing, too. Were you reading my mind or something? That means nobody was watching us here, or you would have noticed them.

“You know what else this means?” Todd asked.

“You’ve burned out your compliments,” Isabel warned. “You aren’t getting any more.”

“It means I can start practicing hunting on my own. I’ll know if there are Slashers, so I can avoid them and focus on fighting monsters I can handle alone.”

Noah and Isael both blinked.

“Are you sure?” Isabel asked nervously. “I mean, it’s one thing if the Professor is here, but…”

“We’ve got two weeks.” Todd’s smile faded. “And it was you who told me we needed to work harder yesterday, Isabel. And that was after you beat me in a sparring match. Not other way around. I’ve got a healing potion. If I stay fairly close, it’s a good way for both of us to train at the same time.”

“It is,” Noah allowed. Isabel spun toward him, but Noah held a hand up. “But let’s save it for later in the day. We should focus on hunting Slashers first, okay? Once we’ve done that, you can do some solo hunting. I’ve got a flying sword, so if things go wrong, you can call out and I’ll be there in a few seconds.”

Todd and Isabel both reluctantly nodded.

“Great,” Noah said. “So, Todd – you’ve just elected yourself as our tracker. See any Slashers nearby?”

Todd scrunched his nose in annoyance. “I made a mistake by telling you about this, didn’t I?”

“Let’s call it a learning opportunity.” Noah grinned. “Go on, then.”

“This way,” Todd grumbled raising a hand and pointing to their east. “I feel like a bloodhound.”

“Look like one too,” Isabel said, punching Todd in the arm and snickering as they set off.

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