Return of the Runebound Professor

Noah went to his room that night with a head stuffed completely full of new information. Despite his promise to Janice, he’d kept her nearly three hours after the moon had risen into the sky, grilling her on a variety of information – only about three quarters of which he actually cared about.

His questions ranged from prying for information about runes to the Linwicks to what humans did for fun and when their flesh was the softest. Hopefully, that would throw Father off enough to keep him from actually figuring out what Noah was really looking into.

Of course, he’s going to realize I’m going to be trying to throw him off, so some of those questions should get ignored specifically for that reason. Hopefully, a few of the actual questions I had will get tossed out with the stupid ones. No way to know for sure yet. All I can do is wait and see.

Noah let out a slow sigh and sat down at the padded chair before the desk. He pulled out the sheaf of notes he’d taken to carrying around and located a quill and some ink. Noah started to write, putting down the most important pieces of information he’d gathered.

The Torrin family really hates the Linwicks. Moxie might get in trouble if people know we’re friends. The Torrins are supposedly cruel. Need to confirm this with someone that isn’t a Linwick, considering I think we might be a bit biased. Master Runes are most powerful when Imbued and working in conjunction with other Runes. This principle works for normal Imbued Runes as well, but pulling out a Rune Imbued on your soul causes damage. Since ranking up means you upgrade your Runes, most people don’t do it. The damage would be bad for most people, but just a mild inconvenience for me. Master Runes are unique, but they’re not completely uncommon, especially amongst stronger mages. Father almost certainly has one, as does anyone else higher up in the Linwick or any other noble family. The Linwicks are a powerful family, but they’re probably not the strongest in the kingdom. Janice was pretty wishy-washy about who that was. I need to do more research. It’s probably not the Torrins either, and I didn’t recognize any of the other names she mentioned. Will have to visit a library and actually figure that out so I know who to avoid pissing off. The Linwicks aren’t exactly all friends with each other. Already gathered that much, but Father is at odds with several powerful branches in the Linwick family. Janice was too scared to answer who in particular. I suspect Father will answer this one soon. Father’s name is literally Father. Weirdo. The book said that too, but it was a title or something. Janice was adamant that Father was his only name. At least it isn’t Daddy.

Noah leaned back and let out a small sigh, returning the quill to its resting spot and wiping some of the ink he’d dripped on the table away with the back of a sleeve. The jacket was black anyway. A little extra wouldn’t hurt it.

I hate all this political shit. I just want to learn more magic and teach my students. And become immortal. That would be nice too.

Hm. I think I’ve put in my hours doing real work today. I think that means I can spend some time thinking about my Runes without worrying about slacking off. A little fun, a little work. That’s the strategy.

Noah headed to bed and laid down on top of it, propping a pillow up and crossing his hands behind his neck to get comfortable.

Let’s see… I’d like to make some music at some point. After hearing whatever it was that Father had playing, I’m jealous. Pyroclastic Resonance will help with that, but it’s not quite enough to really do anything on its own. I need something to resonate. Maybe something with earth, so I could make drums? Or more wind, for wind instruments?

Damn. So many options.

A smile crept across Noah’s lips as he descended into his thoughts, letting all the possibilities of the future dance before him to the sound of distant music that was still just barely beyond his grasp.

Something slammed into Noah’s stomach. He grunted, bolting upright as all the air was knocked from his lungs and something tackled him. Noah threw himself to the side, calling on Pyroclastic Resonance and shooting to his feet, preparing to blast whatever had attacked him – only to find Lee’s face staring at him.

“Lee?” Noah asked, staring in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry,” Lee said. “I got a little too excited flinging myself through the window.”

Noah lowered his hands and shook his head. “What the hell were you doing?”

“Flinging myself through the window, I told you.”

“Why?”

“I was running and didn’t want anyone to see where I went,” Lee replied. “And I’d already done a few laps around the other houses, so I didn’t want to keep running around.”

Noah walked over to the window and closed it, pulling the curtains shut before turning back to Lee, who had claimed a spot in the center of his bed.

“Hold on. Maybe we shouldn’t talk too freely. There could be ways for Father to listen in on us here.”

Lee shook her head and tapped her nose. “No, it’s fine. I checked the room. Runes have a certain scent to them. There’s nothing here that I didn’t already destroy.”

“Ah. Convenient. Then, in that case, care to explain why you were running?”

“Killed a guard or two. Scared a bunch of others.”

Noah tilted his head to the side. “Trying to help establish the ‘demon in the city’ bit? Not a bad idea, but I hope the guards at least deserved it.”

“They were just hired thugs,” Lee replied with a shrug. “Part of some guy called Dayton’s branch. I overheard some of them planning to do a shakedown on some people, so I killed them to see how strong they were.”

“And?”

“Not very strong. Not against surprise, anyway. I’m sure they’d have put up a better show if they were expecting the helpless old woman who’d tripped and spilled all her money in the alleyway to fight back. Unfortunately, they were too busy trying to steal all her money.”

“I see,” Noah said slowly. “And where did you get all that money?”

“Stole it.”

“Figured. Well, what happened next? It’s probably a pretty good idea to establish that there’s a demon roaming around for our deals with Father, though we don’t want to go too far or we could bring someone else down on us. Dayton seems like bad news.”

“Well, I was kind of following Isabel and Todd while in your form. They snuck out.”

Noah’s eye twitched. “Okay. They’re kids. Makes sense. What were they trying to do, find somewhere private to have fun?”

“They were scoping out Dayton Linwick’s house and planning to kill him.”

“You know what I could use right now?” Noah asked, walking back over to his desk and sitting down in the chair. “Some of Moxie’s not-alcohol potion. Why the hell were they trying to kill Dayton?”

“I think he killed their parents. Both of their parents, that is. Isabel seems to be the one with the biggest grudge.”

“And they were stupid enough to go after a Rank 5 on their own?” Noah demanded.

“Well, they didn’t actually plan to kill him yet. Isabel just wanted a look at him. I think she wanted him to know who was coming to kill him.”

Noah rubbed his forehead. “That’s why she was looking at the Linwick lineage back in Arbitage. Not sure why she waited so long, but maybe that’s when she started to feel like she’d actually have a chance at getting back at Dayton. Damn. Did he notice?”

“I don’t think so,” Lee replied. “I pulled them out of the situation, then killed some more guards that had it coming. It wasn’t too hard. Dayton’s men are idiots. They fell for everything.”

“I’m not even going to ask,” Noah said. He chewed his lower lip for a moment. “Do you think they’ll try again?”

“I scared them pretty bad. Probably not anytime soon, but they definitely will eventually.”

“Eventually is fine,” Noah said. “If he killed both of their parents, then of course they’ll want revenge. I wonder how Todd and Isabel really know each other, but that’s for them to tell me. Good job, Lee. I’m going to have to have a conversation with them soon and see just what they plan to do. They can keep specifics to themselves, but if they’re going to bring a whole house down on top of us, I’m going to need to be ready.”

“Just ready?” Lee asked. “I thought you’d try to stop them or something.”

“I mean now, sure. But why would I stop them? Having a reason to get more powerful is a very good motivator.”

Noah shuffled through his papers, putting them into order before tucking them back into his bag. “So were you running from guards when you flung yourself through my window?”

Lee nodded. “Yup. I wanted to see what would happen if I turned into one of them and tried to breach the gatehouse and figure out what they had in there.”

“And?”

“Turns out, they have runes that detect when someone that isn’t a guard enters. They found me. We had a bit of a chase. I got away. They were only Rank 3s.”

“Good to know there are ways to detect you, even if you aren’t a Skinwalker,” Noah said. “Try to keep things a bit low for the rest of the night though, okay? We want Father on edge, not furious. I can’t imagine he’s going to be very appreciative of your efforts.”

Lee gave Noah a mock salute. “No more murdering. Tonight.”

Noah shook his head. “That Rune Oath really didn’t bind you in the slightest, did it?”

“Nope.” Lee paused for a moment. “Did you want me to–”

“No,” Noah replied. “I don’t really care if you kill people that have it coming, to be honest. Maybe that’s callous, but I just don’t care. They shouldn’t have set themselves against us if they didn’t want to die. Dying isn’t so bad, anyway. Just boring.”

His voice trailed off with his thoughts, and Noah yawned.

“What do you mean?” Lee asked.

“Never mind,” Noah said, shaking his head. “Thanks for keeping an eye on Isabel and Todd while I was slacking off. I didn’t think they’d try sneaking out. Can you keep that up?”

“No problem.”

“Great. I’d be pretty screwed without you. Having to handle this with just one body would be nearly impossible.”

“Thanks. It’s pretty fun actually getting to do things that matter. Much better than just killing things to survive. If I can’t do anything else tonight, I’m just going to go sleep. I don’t think Isabel and Todd will try anything else today.”

“Likewise,” Noah said. “Be ready for tomorrow. I get the feeling that Father is going to send someone at an annoying time to speak with me. I’m not sure what their goals will be yet, but keep your guard up and, if possible, make sure he doesn’t get anywhere close to Todd or Isabel.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” Lee promised. She slipped out the door, closing it behind her with a soft click. Noah sat in silence for a few moments, then let out a slow sigh. He’d been doing a good bit of that lately, but it felt appropriate.

Am I being too cold? I feel like I should have been more affected by Lee telling me she basically baited a bunch of people into getting themselves killed trying to attack her, but it barely registers.

I suppose that knowing that they’ll get another chance to be less shit of a person the next time around doesn’t help there. Hopefully the line goes longer for them than it did for me, but I wouldn’t hold any hopes out.

Noah shook his head and headed to bed. He wasn’t going to get anything else useful accomplished that night, and he wanted to be completely ready for whoever Father sent to speak with him when the time came the next morning – or whenever Father decided to send them over.