Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 114: Ominous

A black line carved through the center of the Catchpaper, cleaving the Bleak Howling Maelstrom rune in two. For an instant, nothing happened. The hair on the back of Noah’s neck prickled.

He drew in a sharp breath as energy sprouted from within the paper. It expanded rapidly, swirling out into the air before him. His skin tingled and arcs of Runic magic danced across his flesh. Noah could feel the Runes within himself shudder as they pushed back against the pressure coming off from the paper.

Light blossomed so brightly that Noah had to squint. One by one, seven Runes lifted into the air, floating before him. He suppressed the urge to cheer in victory. It had worked the exact same way it had worked in the vision that Sunder had given him, but Noah had absolutely no idea how long the Runes would stick around and wait for him to work with them. He focused intently on the Runes, memorizing them as quickly as he could.

Three Howling Maelstrom Runes, Three Darkened Night Runes, and one Broken Gale Rune. Screw the Darkened Night crap. That’s probably what threw this off in the first place, but I don’t know if that’s the only issue.

Noah started with the Howling Maelstrom Runes, memorizing them as quickly as he could without making mistakes. Once he was confident he had a strong picture of the Rune in his mind, he touched the first of the Howling Maelstrom Runes and closed his eyes.

Energy coursed through his hand, even as he looked out into his mindspace. Noah quickly drew the Rune from his memory, but the first attempt failed and the Rune shattered, unable to take shape. He gritted his teeth and tried again, moving slightly slower.

This time, there was a sharp buzz. The new Rune snapped to life before him, its long, sweeping strokes and surprisingly simple – at least for a Rank 2 Rune – design shimmering with light. It was a little bit less than seventy percent full.

That meant that the rest of the Runes probably weren’t going to be very stable and would soon fade away. Noah quickly opened his eyes and nearly swore. They were fading at alarming rates, their energy dissipating into the air.

Noah quickly moved his hand to the next Howling Maelstrom Rune and closed his eyes once more. This one was easy to gather, as he’d already obtained the design. It snapped to life within his mindspace, just under fifty percent full. But, even though it was simple, it had cost him several precious seconds.

Returning to the real world, Noah turned his attention to the Broken Gale Rune. The other Howling Maelstrom Rune was tempting, but even the tiny amount of time it would take him to absorb the rune could mean that there wouldn’t be anything left of the other Runes. He already had two Howling Maelstrom Runes, so he turned his attention to the lone Broken Gale Rune.

Noah studied the sharp, twisting lines that made up the shifting Rune before him. It faded with every second he spent, but he didn’t dare rush. Something told Noah he’d only have time for one more attempt before there was nothing left to work with.

Finally, he closed his eyes and touched the Rune. He let his finger move with firm, precise movements, refusing to rush and risk making a mistake. Noah didn’t have time for mistakes.

He didn’t let himself think about how long it was taking, or how much energy would be left to harvest – assuming there was any at all. Noah simply just drew. His finger traced the final line and he pulled back, watching the Rune warily.

There was a pop, and a tiny ripple of pressure washed over him. A huge grin stretched across Noah’s face and he let out a relieved sigh, allowing his hand to drop. Floating in the air before him was a Broken Gale Rune that sat at just over five percent full. He’d barely made it in time.

Noah’s relief lasted about as long as his sigh. As soon as the tension started to leave his shoulders, a strange feeling gathered in his chest. It was a squeezing sensation, like something was pressing in on him from every direction and trying to crush his chest.

“Oh, shit,” Noah muttered, grimacing as the pressure around him started to build. “I just added three Runes to my soul in rapid succession. Is that going to–”

A wave of pain slammed into Noah. He let out a strangled gasp that turned into a string of curses as his body shuddered. Energy slammed at the edges of his mind, and all of his Runes burned with energy as they pushed against each other, their pressure forcing his soul to expand.

The sensation continued for several minutes, leaving Noah writhing on the ground of his mindspace by the time it finally started to fade. He didn’t know how, but somehow he was sweating within the confines of his own head.

Groaning, Noah staggered upright. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of a hand. His soul felt – more. A lot more. He hadn’t felt as much of a difference when he’d formed the Focal Quake Rune, but this felt closer to when he’d first combined a Rank 2 Rune.

“Goddamn it,” Noah muttered under his breath as he massaged his temples. “Am I capable of doing anything without ham fisting it?”

He shook his head, then looked out over his newly formed Runes. They floated in the proper circular formation, rotating slowly around him together with the Pyroclastic Resonance. Noah approached the three new Runes, walking in a circle around the first Maelstrom Rune.

To his delight, the pressure coming off it was smooth. No part felt like it was stronger than the other. And, more importantly, it was even more full than his Pyroclastic Resonance Rune. That meant it was almost certainly a perfect Rune.

Noah grinned.

Nobles sure have it nice. Thanks for the Runes, Dayton. But… where’d you screw everything up?

Noah checked the other Maelstrom Rune, but it was the same as the first, just with less energy. But, as he approached the Broken Gale Rune, he instantly knew something was wrong. The Rune hung crooked in the air, twitching like it had gotten hit with a bus and then run over by about half a dozen other cars before someone pulled it out of the street.

“Good god.” Noah walked around the Broken Gale Rune, the grimace on his face growing deeper with every step. “Did you get thrown in a blender or something? This is horrendous. I suppose it lives up to its name, though.”

He let out a heavy sigh. “I wonder if this was causing all the trouble, or if the Darkened Night Runes were part of the issue as well. I think I can guess how this happened, though. Dayton got gifted the Rank 2 Maelstrom Runes, all made from pretty Greater Rank 1 Runes. Then the ditz kludged together a crappy Broken Gale Rune and stuffed everything together, trying to make some cool Storm Rune and resulting in that crappy Rank 3 instead. Well, good for me. Means I get to harvest these beautiful perfect Runes for myself. And Broken Gale. You too, buddy. I’m sure I’ll find a use for you.”

I’m chopping that thing up into a million pieces and harvesting everything inside it – assuming Dayton even had the foresight to use Greater Runes when putting it together. Well, it’ll all be useful in the long run either way. Two new Rank 2 Runes after just a day of work… I love Sunder.

Noah opened his eyes, leaving his mindspace. His legs were tingling. He’d been sitting for too long. He shifted, grimacing as pinpricks danced across his lower body. Shaking himself off, Noah pushed himself up to a standing position.

The sun had traveled through the sky and was already well on its way toward dipping below the horizon. Somehow, he’d spent hours working with the Runes.

Well, no point getting my little grubby mitts on new Runes if I don’t go and test them. I shall now resist the urge to see what it does inside my room. That would probably end up summoning a tornado and tearing the house down on accident.

Noah gathered his scrolls, rolling them back up. He tucked Evergreen’s into his bag, then stuck Dayton’s in the crook of his arm as he headed out of the room. Noah hurried down the stairs and out into the remains of the yard.

They’d really done a number on it over the past week. There wasn’t a single trace of unmolested grass. Everything was tilled and ripped apart, though Lee had tried to pack everything back down a few days ago. That had just resulted in her burying what remained of the grass, though.

Well, at least it’s all primed for a garden.

Noah set his scrolls and travel bags down near the edge of the house, then walked out into the center of the yard. He drew on the energy within the most filled Howling Maelstrom Rune, directing it into the air above his hand.

Wind whipped. Noah had just envisioned a blade of wind, but the Rune had a mind of its own. A churning swirl of air materialized in his palm, spinning like a top for a few moments. The Rune lived up to its name a moment later, as a keening howl started to emerge from within the wind.

Noah flicked his hand and sent the magic flying. It landed on the ground, ripping a small trail through the loose dirt before dissipating.

Okay, It really likes that whole maelstrom aspect. It didn’t really want to just make a normal blade of wind. I guess that’s the drawback of getting more specific. It’s pretty damn loud, though. If I get varying sizes of these, I wonder if I could make a whole wind instrument section – a literal one.

Noah chuckled to himself. The miniature tornado hadn’t sounded even slightly good, so he was pretty sure a whole orchestra of them was about as horrendous of a noise as he was going to get. But, with a little tweaking, he was certain he could turn anything into music.

“Did it go well?” Lee’s voice came from the house.

Noah turned as Lee headed out of the door. She glanced at the scrolls that Noah had left leaning against the building, then back to him. “Judging by the look on your face, I think it did.”

“Really damn well,” Noah replied. “There were some great Runes that fit me very well. I’ve got five total Runes now. Six, if you count my Rank 1.”

“Only two more Rank 2 Runes, then. Are you going to try to combine the Rank 1?”

“Not sure yet,” Noah replied. “I’m going to need to settle in with these a bit first.”

And I’ll have to repair the absolute travesty that is this Gale Rune – or rip it up for components. Poor, crippled thing.

“Are you going to… you know.”

Noah followed Lee’s gaze back to his scrolls. He scrunched his nose in annoyance and strode over to them, picking everything back up.

“Not until I absolutely have to. He’s got to have noticed they’re missing by now, but since he hasn’t said anything, I’m not going to mention it either. I’ll give it to Jancie before we leave – Dayton’s, at least. I don’t want to be a liar, especially if he can somehow use that against us. But this technically isn’t lying.”

Lee shrugged. “Whatever you think is best. I was just wondering if Janice would stop feeding us if you kept it.”

“We’re only here for – what, two more days?” Noah asked. “You’ll live.”

“Actually, no. That’s why I came to get you. Brayden is here, and he wants to leave early.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Something happened,” Lee replied. “He wouldn’t say what, but apparently he thinks the roads are going to get dangerous really soon. Todd and Isabel are both already packing. Brayden said we’re going to leave tomorrow morning at first light.”