Return of the Runebound Professor

One could say what they wanted to about demons. That they were impulsive, controlled by their emotions, or plain evil by nature due to how they were warped by their runes. There were a great many arguments about demons that could be had — but nobody could ever say that they were indecisive.

The moment Garina’s challenge slipped from her lips, even before Noah’s human students had properly readied themselves for a fight, every single one of them exploded into motion.

Vrith closed the distance between herself and Garina in a split second, shadows wrapping around her body as her claws streaked through the air in a blur for the other woman’s neck. The attack never got a chance to connect.

There was a painful whump as Garina’s leg snapped up. She drove her foot into Vrith’s stomach with enough force to send the demon hurtling back like a rocket. Aylin blurred, grabbing her from the air before she could crash into a tree and spinning to stop the immense amount of momentum that had been imparted into her body.

Violet charged forward with a roar, her arms stretched out to her sides like a linebacker as she sprinted to tackle Garina.

Noah suppressed a wince. He had no plans of charging to join the fight against Garina after she’d killed him half a dozen times already that day — but sprinting headlong at her didn’t really seem like the smartest course of action when confronted with a Rank 7.

The arching eyebrow rising up into Garina’s hairline implied she had a similar line of thinking. She extended a hand as Violet approached, almost lazily flicking the demon straight in the forehead.

Violet’s head snapped back like she’d run long into a wall. Her feet flew out from under her from the sheer force of the strike and she slipped back, crashing down to her back and skidding across the ground.

But, in the time Garina had taken to strike Violet, the others hadn’t just been sitting around — and the flicker of a grin that slipped over the demon’s features told Noah that she hadn’t just charged like an idiot for no reason.

Lee was upon her an instant later, appearing in a blur of motion to send her fist hurtling for the back of Garina’s head. The attack was fast enough that Noah was pretty sure it would have gotten him even with his Fragment of Self.

With the distraction that Violet had caused, there was a chance that it would even—

Garina’s head tilted to the side. Lee’s punch whistled past it, passing so close that the Apostle’s hair whipped in its wake. Garina spun and brought her knee up into Lee’s stomach with enough force to fold her like a pancake.

The strike launched Lee straight up into the air in a ridiculous show of force that would have put an end to any sane person’s ideas of trying to fight her.

Not one of the demons relented. Vrith and Aylin both sprinted toward Garina again while Violet staggered upright, coughing and wheezing as she broke back into a run. Even Sticky joined in on the fight. She sprinted in alongside the others.

Noah’s human students finally shook off their surprise — or perhaps they simply finished their preparations. Todd sparked his bracelets together and stone rushed up from the ground to coat his body in a protective layer. Isabel formed her own, heavier armor around herself, and the two of them charged forward.

The air around Emily turned crisp and frost crystals shimmered around her hands as an icy bow took form within them. She raised it, an arrow appearing against its string, and took aim at Garina while power poured from her into the weapon.

Yulin drew her sword alongside Alexandra, and the two of them sprinted in as well. Even Moxie darted in, vines twisting out from within her sleeves to writhe up around her like a nest of squirming snakes.

It wasn’t long before practically everyone in the Scorched Acres was bearing down on Garina — and every single one of their attacks ended the same way.

Magic streaked past Garina in flashes of light and power. The vast majority of the attacks missed her entirely, while the ones that did connect barely even seemed to distract the powerful mage.

She moved in a blur, streaking from target to target and manhandling them in a way that was almost depressing. The fight was completely one-sided. The only person that hadn’t directly joined the fight yet was Yoru.

For some reason, the masked demon had sat down and crossed her legs beneath her. She seemed focused on something, but Noah had no idea what. He couldn’t pay Yoru too much attention right now anyway. He was far more focused on watching Garina toss his entire class around like they were toys.

An explosion ripped through the clearing as Todd detonated the stone at the palm of his armor, releasing a molten explosion of rock directily into Garina’s face. For a flicker of a second, Noah almost thought that he’d managed to hurt her.

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Then Garina’s face appeared within the flames like that of devil rising from the depths of hell. She drove her fist into Todd’s chest with enough force to shatter his stone armor and send him crashing back into Isabel.

Every single one of them drew on all the power they could as thoughts of holding back to avoid injuring Garina went out the window. More and more magic churned around the clearing as everybody threw themselves at Garina, becoming increasingly determined to land at least a single good blow on her.

Noah’s lips thinned. Sitting back while everyone else was fighting… no matter how bad the headache was, it just wasn’t right. And he needed to learn whatever it was she was teaching as well. He couldn’t just sit around.

Goddamn it. Here we go again.

Noah charged forward to join the fight.

***

Noah’s skull pounded. He lay back on the grass as the world spun above him. The taste of iron stung against his tongue and his throat was so dry that it felt like it was about to crack. It took every scrap of power and will he had to force his head up.

The bodies of his students were scattered around him like the scene of some horrible battle. Sticky laid in a heap against Violet’s side. Aylin and Vrith had collapsed against each other. Todd, Isabel and Emily had all been piled in a corner like a pile of discarded laundry.

Alexandra knelt on one knee. Her knuckles were white around the hilt of her sword that she’d planted in the ground like a crutch. Her limbs trembled as she fought to rise once more. Yulin laid beside her, not even able to so much as twitch a muscle.

Even James had been dragged into the fight. It hadn’t been voluntary — he’d been standing on the sidelines and observing until Garina appeared behind him and started pummeling the life from his body. He’d actually put up a decent fight for a few seconds as the others joined in, using the distraction to try and get the upper hand on Garina.

It hadn’t worked, of course.

All that had happened was that he’d spent the extent of his magic in a mixture of running and fighting before collapsing to the ground in a heap. Garina had been thorough. The moment he had nothing left, she’ d moved on to those who still fought to ensure nobody managed to evade her attentions.

She’d ensured that not a single one of them could even try to move anymore. Even Moxie laid sprawled beside Noah, limbs out in every direction as a tiny vine desperately pulled on the collar of her shirt in an attempt to bring her back upright.

And then there was Yoru. She sat in the exact same spot where she’d sat down during the fight earlier. Garina hadn’t bothered attacking her. Nobody really had the spare energy to wonder as to what was going on, though.

The sound of labored breathing filled the air in the Scorched Acres. They all battled desperately for breath, trying and failing to push themselves back to their feet. None could. They were completely and utterly spent. Even existing felt like a losing battle.

The ground around them had been torn to shreds. Trees at the edges of the now-enlarged clearing were cracked and shattered and huge gouges had been dug through the dirt. Smoke from snuffed flames rose up around them to filter through the twisting branches of the trees.

I swear there has to be an easier way than this to train. Garina doesn’t know the definition of taking things easy on anyone. It’s one thing to fight me like this, but everyone? She’s insane. I don’t even know if she’s any better than Revin.

Noah wasn’t even sure how long they’d been fighting at this point. It must have been at least an hour of constant, nonstop combat. Any energy they may have had, magical or physical, was long since gone.

“Good,” Garina said, looking over them. She stepped over Lee, who couldn’t even muster the energy to bite at her ankles. “This will do. Does anybody feel like they’ve got any strength left? It’s imperative to beat it out of you before we begin.”

Nobody responded. Even Noah was barley clinging onto his awareness. The world swam and spun around him as darkness clawed at the edges of his vision and tried to drag him into unconsciousness. If he’d taken one more blow, there was a good chance h’ed have passed out on the spot.

It seemed Garina knew exactly how far they could go before reaching their limit. That or she’d knocked the others out and he was soon to follow. It was hard to tell.

Garina nodded to herself.

“Then we may start. Connecting to your soul gets easier the more you do it, but you need to be in a reduced state to begin. It is all based on a simple understanding. Your body, your mind, your soul — all are one, but all are separate. Each one is you. Each can be controlled. The body is easiest. It simply follows your thoughts. The mind is harder. Few are in complete and utter mastery of their mind — but it can be learned. But the soul… direct control is nearly impossible under normal circumstances.”

Garina walked through the clearing as she spoke, checking on each of them without missing a single word.

“The world is a distraction. Your own power is a distraction. The soul is a tumultuous thing. It contains everything that you are, and that makes it exceedingly difficult to comprehend. Thus, you must reduce those distractions.” Garina came to a stop in the center of the clearing. “That has been done. Right now, your body has nothing left to offer. Your mind is exhausted. Let them both slip away. What remains is your soul. Listen to it, and it will speak to you. Do not waste time. Do not let yourself fall asleep. Send your senses inward.”

The temptation to ignore Garina was strong. Noah’s being begged to rest. To ignore the headache pounding at his skull and slip into the peaceful darkness.

He refused it. There was no energy left for him to even push the thoughts back, but something deeper clung to awareness. A part of him buried deeper in his mind than he had ever gone. And, with every word that Garina spoke, the world dimmed as it grew brighter.

Then the world changed.

Noah didn’t know when or how it happened. One moment, he was lying on the blackened, ash covered dirt of the Scorched Acres. The next, he was standing in an expanse of pure black. There was no sound. No pain. No ache or weariness in his body.

There was nothing but Noah.

And standing across from him was a face he knew well.

It was a perfect copy of himself.

“Nice of you to drop by again,” Noah-2 said, a smile pulling across his lips. “It’s been a while since we spoke, hasn’t it?”