Chapter 150: Trouble

Chapter 150: Trouble

Noah brushed his fingers across the snake’s Runes with a delighted smile. All seven of them were identical. But, curiously, he didn’t understand what any of them were. It was the first time that Vermil’s ability to read Runes had failed him.

I wonder if these are Runes unique to monsters. It’s either that or just ones Vermil hasn’t seen before, but I’ve never had difficulty understanding Runes before, so it’s probably the first scenario. Lee said there were some Runes that only monsters have. I’m tempted to try to absorb one of them, but I don’t know what that would do to me. The important thing here is I know that I can Sunder the Runes out of a soul. I should be smart here. No point potentially injuring myself over a weak Rune.

Instead of trying to absorb any of the Runes, Noah just spent several moments memorizing their shape as best as he could. They weren’t too complicated, and he was soon pretty confident that he’d gotten it down fairly closely. Once he’d gotten it down, he quickly sketched the Rune on a sheaf of paper with his quill and ink. It wasn’t particularly neat, but it worked.

I’ll show Lee and Moxie when I get back to camp, and then they can tell me their thoughts. It’s not like there’s a lack of snakes to kill in the area. I bet Moxie will be proud that I didn’t just jump into things.

But there was one more thing Noah wanted to try. Much of Sunder’s function was still a mystery to him, but he’d been learning a lot about the Master Rune as of late, and there was still something important he hadn’t fully investigated.

When he died to a monster, his soul took damage but his Runes were unaffected. However, when he killed monsters, Noah drew their energy and filled all of his Runes. That led him to conclude that the soul’s energy itself was what filled Runes.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

Furthermore, it looked like when something died, the energy from its Runes probably either merged or transferred into its departing soul, and some portion of that went to the killer. Either way, it was clear that not all the energy was transferred.

So, either the conversion from Rune to soul energy is really bad, or not all the energy is captured. When I Sunder something like this, though, I have access to all the Runes directly. I want to know if I can somehow force that transition and draw the energy straight out of the Runes. I already know I can take energy from two matching Runes and transfer it between them, but can I yank it out of a different Rune?

Noah reached out to the Runes with his mind, trying to pull on them. He prodded and poked, even going as far as to cut at them again with Sunder to try and split the Runes farther. To his disappointment, nothing worked. The Rune he re-Sundered simply shattered, its power fading away.

The rest of the Runes started to dissipate as well. Before long, they were gone. Noah scrunched his nose in annoyance. That had answered a few questions, even if it hadn’t quite been the answers he’d been hoping for.

Whatever process that turns the Runes into general energy isn’t replicable by me – not right now, at least. And, Sundering the soul completely halts that transfer. So I have to choose between yoinking something’s Runes or getting its power. First world problems, I guess.

In the end, I can’t complain. I’m not in a rush to get power. I’m much more interested in Runes. My goal is to build a big grimoire that I can use to put powerful Runes together, not just to speedrun getting to Rank 3. It’s about quality here, not quantity.

Noah turned back toward camp. It was pretty late. He’d spent more time out than he’d expected to, and the others would probably be starting to wonder where he was. Noah kept his Body Imbuements active as he walked. There was still a lot he could practice with picking up vibrations, and he didn’t want to waste –

Something rippled at the back of his mind’s eye. Noah missed a step. It had been so fast that he’d barely even picked up the vibration as it reached his feet. But, even as fast as it had been, it was unmistakable.

The hell was that?

Another ripple passed through the ground, this time on the other side of Noah’s mental circle. He spun toward it, but only found darkness lurking within the trees. Noah’s hair stood on end and he flexed his fingers, reaching for his Runes and turning in a slow circle.

It probably would have been smarter to pretend like I didn’t notice whatever that was, but it’s too late for that now. I already hesitated. But... where is it?

Another step rippled, this time just a few trees away to his side. Noah leapt back spinning to face it, but the ripples had vanished before he’d even finished moving.

“If you’re human, I suggest you stop,” Noah called, listening intently to the vibrations through his feet.

The image of a large, padded foot landing on the ground behind Noah formed in his mind. He spun, sending a churning bolt of wind scoring through the air. It slammed into a tree, tearing through the wood with a loud crack.

There was nothing there.

Noah gritted his teeth. He couldn’t head back to the camp if something was chasing after him. It would put the kids in danger. He’d have to take care of it here – but it was patient. A lot more patient than he was.

Gathering himself, Noah scoured the forest floor to try and spot where the creature had gone. His mental image of the world around him was blank. Seconds turned to minutes. Nothing happened.

Noah thrust his hands forward, sending a wall of violent, twisting wind toward the jaguar. Its yellow eyes flashed and it suddenly vanished, sinking into the ground and disappearing from Noah’s senses.

He spun, expecting it to attack from the back again. Instead, the Jaguar appeared exactly where it had been standing a moment before and lunged. It slammed into Noah, knocking him to the ground and lunging forward to rip at his throat.

Noah released a powerful vibration into the beast’s paws from his shoulders. It screamed in pain and leapt back instead of going for the kill. Noah rolled back to his feet, his eyes narrow. Its thick fur seemed to be doing a lot to keep the vibrations from penetrating deep into its body, but it clearly still felt them.

“How’d you like that?” Noah asked. “Come on. I can do a lot worse. Take a bite out of me and see what happens.”

To Noah’s surprise, it wasn’t the jaguar that made the next move. It wasn’t him, either. It was the trees.

Vines shot out from the darkness, reaching for the jaguar. Several of them wound around its limbs, jerking them taut. Moxie stepped out from the shade of a tree, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“What in the Damned Plains is this, Noah? What are you fighting so close to camp?”

“Moxie!” Noah exclaimed, even as he drew on a Howling Maelstrom Rune and formed a spike of wind, launching it at the jaguar. “Kill it, now!”

The monster vanished, slipping through Moxie’s vines and slipping into the ground. The vines tightened on air and Noah’s spell passed harmlessly by where it had been caught, drilling into a tree.

Noah gathered more magic as his tremorsense picked up a footfall to his side. The jaguar appeared directly before him, swiping with a paw. For an instant, Noah locked eyes with the monster.

Then it vanished.

“Moxie!” Noah yelled. “Behind you!”

The jaguar rose from the shadows to Moxie’s side. She clapped her hands together and vines erupted in a thick sheet before her, crashing down over the jaguar. A flicker of relief shot through Noah, but it was short lived.

The vines split apart as a blade of dark water carved them apart and slammed into Moxie. She stumbled, her Shield flashing a brilliant green as it activated, and the Jaguar vanished. Noah lunged, but he wasn’t fast enough to reach her.

Reforming at Moxie’s side, the jaguar swiped a claw for Moxie’s back. She didn’t have the benefit of Noah’s tremorsense to warn her of its approach, but Moxie was still well trained. Her Shield solidified, a dense layer of vines forming between her and the monster’s claws a moment before they struck.

The jaguar’s claws slowed as carved through the vines, and Moxie was thrown to the ground. She rolled with the blow, jumping to her feet as Noah launched a wind blade at the monster. It vanished, reforming several feet away and arching its back in a hiss. Noah rushed over to Moxie as she staggered, cursing under her breath.

“Are you okay?” Noah kept his eyes locked on the jaguar.

“It managed to get me. What the hell is that?” Moxie hissed.

“No damn idea. We should be able to take it together, though,” Noah said. “It can jump into shadows or something. Keep your back to mine. Are you badly injured?”

“Pained, but I’ll live,” Moxie replied. “Just watch the cat.”

The jaguar’s eyes remained on them for several seconds. Then, to Noah’s surprise, it turned and slunk away into the woods. Noah stared at it in shock. Moxie let out a pained grunt as she reached down to her travel bag, grabbing a potion and tipping it into her mouth.

They stood in silence for several minutes. The jaguar didn’t return.

“Did... it just realize the same thing that we did?” Noah asked, a chill running down his spine.

“Yeah. I think it did,” Moxie replied grimly. “This might be trouble. A lot of it.”