Return of the Runebound Professor

When the sun rose the next morning, Lee and Noah drank the Mind Meld potion. Lee took it first, Dayton’s scroll unfurled on her lap and the Runes she wanted already picked out.

Noah wasn’t sure what he’d been expecting to find in Lee’s mind. Part of him had expected everything to be made out of food or candy. Instead, what greeted him was darkness. Much akin to his own mindspace, Lee’s Runes floated in a sea of black.

It only took him a second to realize that their minds weren’t exactly the same, though. While Noah’s mindspace was just black nothingness, Lee’s was made out of twisting shadow. The darkness squirmed at the edges of Noah’s vision as if quailing away from his sight. It wrapped and enveloped her Runes, intertwining everything together like the web of a spider.

Lee watched Noah intently as he got his bearings.

“Much easier to find your Runes than it was to find Moxie’s,” Noah said, ducking under a strand of dark energy.

“You don’t think it’s unsettling?” Lee asked. “It’s so… dark. Azel told me that Moxie’s mindspace was really vibrant and pretty.”

“You like the dark, don’t you?” Noah shrugged. “It’s meant to be a reflection of you. My mindspace is just pitch black. At least yours has something more than that. But when the hell were you talking to Azel?”

“Every once and a while. He showed up at night sometimes, but never bothered me much.” Lee’s brow darkened. “Until yesterday. He pissed me off yesterday.”

“What did he do?” Noah’s lips pressed thin and he glanced over his shoulder. Azel was probably listening in to their conversation somewhere.

Noah grunted. “Asshole. Good. Don’t listen to what that prick has to say, Lee.”

“I don’t. We only have thirty minutes to fix my Runes, right? We should start.”

“Agreed. Which Rune do you want to begin with? You said you wanted to keep two Shift Runes, two Umbral Body Runes, and then add in three Space based Runes, right? The Shift and Umbral Body Runes are already here, but we need to make some Rank 3 Space Runes, since the one Brayden gave us is a Rank 1. We aren’t concerned with waste anymore, so take all the energy you need from Dayton and Evergreen’s Runes, assuming you know where you’re going with it.”

“I do.” Lee gave Noah a confident nod. “I don’t think it’s possible to get perfect Space Runes, and since we don’t have that many of them, I decided to keep to my current theme. I want to combine Shadow and Space. Dayton really liked that kind of Rune, so it works well.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Let’s do it, then. You want to draw in a Rank 4 Runes and I’ll cut them apart before they can do too much damage? We’ll then do some surgery and take them apart down to their base components one by one, then rebuild them with the new Space Runes. You have enough Space Runes filled up for that?”

In response, Lee raised her hands. The darkness around them rippled and inky strands bubbled up, peeling back to reveal Runes within them. The strands didn’t fully release the Runes, so they were still partially buried within it.

She’d filled a lot more Space Runes than she’d initially let on. Six of them just barely poked out of her soul – presumably because they weren’t active, as she already had all the main seven Rune slots in her soul filled with Rank 3 Runes.

“Hey, are your Runes all kind of wound up in your mindspace because of how they affect you more as a demon?” Noah asked.

“Yeah. That’s why it’s so difficult to get rid of them. It’s like messing with my own body,” Lee said. She hesitated for a moment then gave Noah a firm nod. “It hurts, but you can fix it. I need to be stronger. I’m going to start by fully Imbuing two of my True Shift Runes. Can you then split my Shadow Rune? We can bring in Dayton’s Runes after that.”

Lee’s expression was pure determination. She knew how painful this was going to be, and she wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. It would have been disrespectful for Noah to do anything but everything in his power to help her. With the Fragment of Renewal, at least the pain would only be temporary.

“Understood. I’m ready when you are then, Lee.”

Lee drew in a deep breath and let it out, extending her hands to the True Shift Runes. Two of the Four shifted through the darkness, coming to sit before Lee. She grit her teeth, then reached out to touch them.

Then Lee got to work.

It was gruesome, to say the least. Noah felt like was watching someone quite literally rip themselves apart. Lee’s method of removing the Runes from her soul was anything but elegant. She tore both of them out of her mindspace in one fell swoop, leaving a weeping grey wound in their place.

The shadows holding the Runes in ripped with a loud screech. Even as Lee’s eyes closed and she focused on fully Imbuing the Runes into the Catchpaper, blood started to pour down her face from her nose and Eyes.

Noah couldn’t draw on the Fragment of Renewal yet. He had one use a day, and he had to save it until she had finished her work, or the soul damage would remain.

Lee gritted her teeth and flicked a hand, causing the Shadow Rune to slide over to her. Shewiped the blood from her face, then looked up at Noah.

“Sunder it.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to pause for–”

“I’m fine. Sunder it.”

Noah nodded. He drew on the freezing cold energy of Sunder. His veins turned black as the Master Rune’s power stormed within him. Noah sent the deadly energy flooding out and into Lee’s Shadow Rune.

It was so dark in Lee’s soul that he barely even saw Sunder’s magic go off, but the brilliant crack followed by the Shadow Rune splitting itself apart was impossible to miss.

Seven Rank 2 Runes split apart from within the Rank 3 Rune. While Noah spotted several Shadow Runes within them, there were others that he couldn’t understand at all.

To Noah’s relief, Lee’s only reaction was a wince. The Rune hadn’t technically left her mind, so her body didn’t have as adverse of a reaction to the damage.

“We need to move fast, now,” Noah said. “Before the energy disperses. You want to save as much as possible. Pull in that Rune from Dayton’s scroll.”

Lee didn’t need to be reminded. Her brow was already furrowed in concentration. She was on it, and there wasn’t a spec of doubt in her expression. She raised a finger, starting to trace a Rune through the air in her soul –

A flaming hand emerged from the darkness, clamping around Lee’s wrist. She let out a startled yelp, the energy at her fingertip dissipating as Azel materialized at Lee’s side.

“Stop, you idiot,” Azel hissed.

Noah lunged, throwing his shoulder into Azel and knocking the demon back. Azel staggered, losing his grip on Lee.

“The hell do you think you’re doing here?” Noah asked, his voice deadly cold. “Get out of Lee’s soul, you bastard. What’s your problem?”

“You don’t understand what you’re talking about, fool.” Azel spun away from Noah, directing his glare at Lee. “Bringing in that many foreign Runes is going to rip you body apart. You can’t make drastic changes like that, you stupid girl. Have you forgotten that you’re a demon?”

“Get out!” Lee yelled. Blood dripped down from her nose and eyes. “I can handle it!”

“No, you can’t,” Azel spat. “You’re going to literally rip your own body to shreds. Even if your idiotic soul survives, you won’t have anything left to work with. Demons are their Runes. You’re going to literally replace half of your body with things you don’t fully understand. One Rune is fine, but this is too much. You’re giving up too many Demon Runes.”

Noah prepared to try and push Azel away with all the mental power he could muster, but paused. Lee’s expression didn’t look angry anymore. For an instant, a there was something else on her features – acknowledgement.

Azel wasn’t lying. His mental connection to the demon confirmed it as well.

“What are you talking about?” Noah asked, his lips pressing thin. “And speak quickly, Azel.”

“Forget him,” Lee said. “I can handle the change. Your Rune will heal me.”

“No, it won’t,” Azel insisted. “It’ll patch the damage, but you need something to fix. Your body won’t be the same without all those Demon Runes. You aren’t a human. Your Runes can’t all be theirs.”

Lee’s confidence faltered for a moment. “Why not?”

“Did nobody teach you anything?” Azel snarled, a burst of flames enveloping him for a moment before he snuffed them back out. “Idiot. It would be like draining a human of blood and replacing it with water. You are a Demon. Not a human. How will you feed if you sacrifice everything that makes you a Demon?”

Noah looked from Lee to Azel. He hated to admit it, but judging by the expression on Lee’s face, Azel had a point. Demons fed on emotion, but everything in this world was based on Runes.

Monsters all had their own unique Runes – the same ones that made them unreadable to Noah. It wasn’t that much of a stretch to believe that Demons needed to have a balance of their own Runes to keep themselves alive.

That’s how they feed on emotions, then. The Runes. How did I not realize that?

“We’re too far to stop,” Lee said, her hands tightening at her sides. “I’ll get more Demon Runes later. I can take them back from the Shift Runes.”

Demon Runes don’t unbalance True Runes? I guess they’re just a variant of Runes rather than entirely new ones, like Demonic Shift Runes or the like.

“Except the Runes you’re trying to form right now have none,” Azel said. “Form those Runes and you won’t have enough left of you to rebuild. You’ll wither away until you’re a husk. Give it up.”

“No.” Lee bared her teeth. “Get out of my head. I’m doing what I want to. Why should I trust you? All you’ve ever done is try to hurt us.”

“You know I’m not lying. I can see it in your eyes.”

“I don’t care! I need to get stronger!” Lee yelled. A tentacle of shadow whipped out of the ground and slammed into Azel’s stomach. He grunted, stumbling back but not losing his footing.

“Idiot,” Azel growled. “I need you alive. You’re no use to me as a husk.”

His hand warped and his fingers sharpened, shifting colors and turning into a burgundy red. Noah tensed, but Azel didn’t move toward Lee. Instead, he reached up to his chest and pressed his fingers into it, carving through his suit.

Flames curled around his fingertips, forming into the shape of a flickering reddish-black Rune. Azel flicked his hand, sending the Rune flying at Lee. She raised her hands defensively, but it stopped in the air before it reached her.

“Take it,” Azel spat. “Stupid girl. Have the moron I share a soul with split this apart, and use it to form your Runes.”

“I’m not making a deal–”

Azel blurred. His hand slammed into Lee’s throat and he lifted her into the air, cutting the rest of her sentence off.

“This is not a deal. I simply need you alive.” A droplet of blood dripped from Azel’s chest and fell to the ground of Lee’s soul, sizzling against the shadows.

With that, before Noah could even react, Azel vanished in a puff of flame. Lee dropped to the ground and Noah ran up to her.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” Lee waved him away, her voice slurring from pain and exhaustion. Her eyes were transfixed on the Rune Azel had left behind. Noah couldn’t understand its meaning, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out he’d left behind a Demon Rune – and one that felt quite strong.

“Do you trust this thing?” Noah asked. “Was Azel right? You can’t kill yourself for temporary power, Lee.”

“I don’t know,” Lee muttered. “I didn’t have anyone to teach me, but… I think he might have been right. We’re wasting energy with every second we waste. Split this Rune apart.”

“Are you sure?” Noah asked doubtfully. “Azel might have some form of ulterior motive.”

“Runes are Runes. This one wasn’t exactly what I had planned, but he felt right. I think we should listen, and we don’t have time to think that much about it. We’re wasting energy.”

Noah chewed his lower lip. In the end, it was Lee’s decision to make. He was far from an expert on Runes, but he was pretty sure there wasn’t such a thing as a trapped Rune, and Azel had said that they weren’t part of a deal. Azel had no way to hold it over their heads, but it just didn’t make sense.

Why would he give Lee a Rune for free?

“Let’s just do it,” Lee insisted. “Come on. We’re losing too much energy.”

“If you’re sure.”

Worst case, I cut them right back out of Lee’s soul and we replace things later.

“I am.”

Noah didn’t waste any more time. He called on Sunder once more, carving through the Rune that Azel had left behind. It split apart, seven Runes spiraling forth from the light that bloomed within it.

Lee didn’t even wait for Sunder to finish. While Noah was splitting apart Azel’s Rune, she had already pulled in one of Dayton’s Runes – Nightshrouded Electric Storm, a Rank 4. Noah matched her speed, carving it apart with Sunder as well.

Then he stood back, watching with trepidation as Lee got to work. She pulled Runes through the air, sending them over to Noah for him to Sunder and then pulling them back without wasting an instant.

Energy stormed around them. It was the most excess power that Noah had ever felt just lying around – he didn’t want to think about how much power was getting wasted, but Lee was moving at such a speed that it was far better than it could have been.

Together, they broke the Rank 4 Rune down all the way to its Rank 1 and 2 components before Lee melded them back together. The work was taking a significant toll on Lee, but there was no choice but to push forward.

The thirty-minute duration of the Mind Meld potion felt like hours, but finally, it ended. With just a few minutes to spare, Lee slammed the last of her Runes together. She lost her footing and Noah caught her before she could fall.

He drew on the Fragment of Renewal, sending the healing energy coursing through her body. Lee stiffened at his touch, then let out a sigh relief.

They both looked out at the seven Runes interwoven into Lee’s mindspace. Two Shift Runes and two Umbral Body Runes from before sat just behind three new Runes, none of which Noah could understand.

Exhaustion racked Noah. He’d had to cut the Runes apart several times after Lee had formed them, but neither of them had been willing to stop until the Runes were perfect. And, even though Noah had no idea what the Demon Runes did, he could tell that they’d achieved that goal.

The Runes weren’t full, but there had been so much energy to work with that they weren’t far from it either. Lee was probably almost ready to push for Rank 4, provided she had a plan for how to combine her new Runes.

Grey scars littered Lee’s mindspace, but they were slowly pulling themselves back together as the Fragment of Renewal worked to repair her body and soul alike.

“We did it,” Lee muttered, a smile flitting across her lips. “Perfect Runes. All of them.”

“It was all you,” Noah said. “I just did a little groundwork. How are you feeling?”

“You’re healing me. I’ll be fine.” Lee’s voice was heavy with weariness. “Thank you. You might have to carry me a bit. I’ll be fine again in a day.”

“No problem,” Noah promised. A faint buzzing started to build in the back of his ears, marking the end of the Mind Meld’s duration. “What Runes did you end up making, by the way? I can’t read Demon Runes.”

“Smoldering Warp,” Lee replied with a smug grin. “They aren’t a full Space Rune, but I can’t wait to see what they do. They’re going to be strong. I know it.”

Noah believed her. He still wasn’t sure what Azel’s angle was, but at the moment, they didn’t have time to question it. Every single edge they could get against Evergreen was one they had to take.

“We’re going to win.” Lee’s eyes sharpened as she caught Noah’s gaze. “We’ll beat Evergreen.”

“Damn right we will,” Noah agreed. The buzzing intensified and he carefully set Lee down on her own feet. The world started to spin around him. “See you on the outside, Lee. The potion’s ending.”

We aren’t deluding ourselves. Every step we take is one closer to finding a way to defeat Evergreen. No matter how bad things look, I – we – will find a way.

Darkness rose up, swallowing Noah. As Lee’s mindspace faded away, she gave him a grin. She genuinely meant her words. And, even though Noah didn’t have the slightest idea how they’d pull it off, he believed them too.

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