Return of the Runebound Professor
Chapter 726: Guess who

Warm lantern light spilled over a beautifully carved stone table laden with plates of food. Decadent smells drifted through the small stone room in which the table sat, beckoning tantalizingly to the two mages seated across from each other.

If the table had been placed anywhere else in the Empire, the food covering it likely would have been devoured within instants. It was of a quality that the average man would never see in his life. Even a powerful mage wouldn’t be able to pass such an offering up so easily.

This was the kind of food that one waited a year simply to get a taste. It was of a quality beyond anything else in the kingdom, affordable by only those who had so much wealth that they had absolutely nothing better to do with it. The ingredients upon the table came from monsters likely strong enough to bring a fledgling mage all the way up to Rank 4.

And it was untouched.

The first of the two seated at the table — a younger man with a flat expression and hair as silver as the moon’s glow, leaned forward as his fingers interlaced. His eyes were a pair of inky pools, bordering the edge of pitch black without quite managing to tip over the precipice. There was just enough emotion left within them to sense the dangerous edge that seemed to line the man’s very breaths.

“If there was ever a time to act, then that time is now. The Soul Master Rune is undefended,” Exal, current reigning head of the Torrin family, said. “The Empire is in chaos. It will not be improving anytime soon. Even the loose treaties holding the Bastions together are fraying at the seams. A single small push will send everything crashing to the ground.”

The seemingly middle-aged woman sitting across from him crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her pale features were weathered, not by the years, but by stress. Zebra-patterned hair hung around her face in straight strands. Power lurked behind her brown eyes like a snake coiled to strike — but it was reserved. Waiting, just as it had been for many years.

“So say you,” the woman said. “But those who pull the first brick free of the crumbling wall will feel it fall on their backs. I would prefer to be the brick at the top. I do not see why I should overstep now. After waiting all these years, a few more will hardly hurt. You are too young. Too excitable.”

“The brick at the top has the farthest to fall,” Exal countered not missing a beat. “Magus Biya, I know you are cautious. That is why I called you here today rather than any of the other house heads. Herron has reigned as the second strongest House within the Arbalest Empire as far as records can go back. That is not because you are too weak to take the title of strongest from the King family. You have chosen to remain in second.”

“Flattery will not take you far with me, child,” Biya said. “I know of the setup that the Torrins have chosen to take with their family. You hold no true power. Your strongest mages are hidden, as they always have been. The Head of the Torrins is nothing more than a figure. You are no different than Evergreen.”

“That,” Exal said, extracting his fingers from themselves and letting his hands rest on the table, “could not be farther from the truth. Evergreen was old. Stiff. A brittle tree shatters in the storm, but the limber one bends. My youth is not a hinderance. It is a new perspective. One through which I have seen a path to the future.”

“And yet you lack the power to handle it on your own.” Biya’s lips curled in amusement. “So you come begging to me for help.”

“I come to you because you are first in line of those I would work with,” Exal corrected. He tapped a finger on the table. “But you are not the last. There are other options. You, however, have your people positioned in Arbitage already. As do I. And you would not have them there were you not already planning what I now suggest.”

Biya’s lips curled into a smile. “You know more than you let on. Very well. Let us pretend that I am willing to work with you. What do I get out of this? There is only one Master Rune. I have no more plans of giving it up now than I did when that stupid girl’s father found it.”

“I’m certain we can come to some manner of agreement,” Exal said. A smile crossed his lips. “I’d imagine you’d be more than willing to buy it off me. I have no particular connection to that Master Rune. Yes, it is immensely powerful, but there are other paths to power. I am not an unreasonable man.”

“You’d just let me have it?” Biya raised an eyebrow.

“Not for free. But for a suitably sized donation and an alliance…”

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“Ah.” Realization washed over Biya’s features. “You’re using this to make sure we don’t come after the Torrins when the last strands of this fake peace snap. While the rest of the Empire prepares for war among even their own families, you seek to establish an alliance?”

“The next few years are going to be tumultuous. Taking that rune will be a show of strength,” Exal said with a shrug. “But whoever has that rune will be a target. I only want the first part of the equation.”

Biya smiled. “Well, isn’t that interesting? Very well, Exal. You have my attention.”

“Good,” Exal said. “But I want more than your attention. I want action. Now. Tell your people to move.”

“Now?” Biya tilted her head to the side. “Why the great rush? Plans acted with haste are liable to fall apart. We should prepare properly for this.”

“No. Spider’s pet professor has not been seen in Arbitage for nearly six hours now. He is known to leave for around twelve hours at a time. That means there are still at least six hours left to act. This is the perfect opportunity to move,” Exal said firmly. “I have someone in Arbitage and ready to act. Someone with a grudge. They’ll be perfect for this… I know you have even more.”

“A Rank 6 and two Rank 5s,” Biya allowed. “You’re confident that Spider and Vermil aren’t present? Spider is too dangerous for me to challenge directly. He’s come out ahead too many times for it to be coincidence. Even the Inquisition was cautious of him.”

“He is not present,” Exal said with a firm nod. “I am certain. Who knows when the next time we’ll get an opportunity like this will be?”

“And the person you have in Arbitage is strong enough to handle this?” Biya asked. “I will not lightly risk such a significant portion of my house. We do not have many Rank 6s. If Spider has some manner of trap…”

“Do you want the Soul Rune or not?” Exal asked. “Plotting only takes you so far, Biya. Time to make a choice. The one I have in position is not clever, but he is strong and loud. He will draw attention. That should be more than enough for your team to deal with the rest… or are they completely incompetent?”

Biya drummed her fingers on the table for several seconds. Then her features set. “I could order them to attack this very instant. And I am leaning toward doing just that — but that is contingent on just what manner of backup you have for us. I will not act without knowing that. Who is it that you have in position?”

Exal smiled.

***

Lee’s brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to squish her soul into the shape of a fish.

It wasn’t working.

Well — it was working — but it wasn’t right. A fish was more than just a shape. It was a small. A taste. A texture.

Mostly a taste.

And her soul didn’t taste like anything. Lee would know. She’d done her best to find a way to take a bite out of it. A small one, of course. She wasn’t trying to give herself even more soul damage… but a little nibble never hurt anyone.

It wasn’t that she wanted to eat herself alive, anyone sane would have wondered what their soul tasted like. Such a thing was natural. Everyone in their right mind had tasted their finger at least once, so why would a soul be any different?

Unfortunately, Lee’s soul didn’t agree with her. No matter how tantalizing of a shape she squished it into, it never got he hint. She couldn’t bite it at all. It was like trying to eat the air.

Things weren’t all bad, though. Lee had spent so much time trying to shape her soul that she’d actually gotten quite good at it. It was pretty much the only thing she’d practiced ever since Garina had taught them about soul shaping.

And now, Lee could shift her soul’s size and shape in an instant. She’d taken to it naturally. It wasn’t all that different from back when she’d had Shift runes. Lee couldn’t complain too much. Even if she couldn’t take a bite out of it, changing her soul was fun.

Lee flopped back into the grass to stare up at the sky above her. The sun bore down from overhead. She loved the feeling of it prickling against her skin. It was so warm. So comfortable, yet gentle. There wasn’t anything like this in the Damned Plains.

She also wanted to eat it.

I wonder if I can do anything more with Soul Shaping. Could it be a weapon as well as a way to hide? Soul damage is a real thing. I can’t bite my own soul… but could I make my soul into a sword and stab somebody else’s soul?

Lee’s nose twitched. That was an interesting thought. She’d need somebody to test stabbing, though. Noah would probably get mad at her if she just poked a random person.

But maybe just a quick little poke. That can’t hurt anyone—

Lee’s nose twitched again.

There was a scent in the air. A vaguely familiar one. It was something — someone — she’d smelled a long time ago. That really shouldn’t have been worth taking notice of. Lee had smelled pretty much everyone in Arbitage at some point. A small frown tugged at the corners of her lips as she dug through her memory trying to figure out why this particular smell had caught her attention.

Then her eyes went wide. The smell was coming from the direction of the dorms.

She bolted upright as she finally remembered why she recognized who this scent belonged to. It was someone that could only possibly have a single reason for being on Arbitage grounds.

It was the Rank 5 that Noah had tricked into running away from the Linwick Estate months ago. And there were other people coming from that direction as well. Strong ones — and they smelled close enough to be traveling together with the scent that she’d recognized.

Lee shot to her feet, sprinting from the garden and toward the student’s dorms in a blur.

Dayton is back.