Chapter 435: Master Rune

Chapter 435: Master Rune

When the following morning came, Lee was waiting for Noah and Moxie on top of their bed. Shed somehow managed to sneak in without waking any of them up. The sun was already well on its daily journey through the sky, so they quickly headed out to meet their students at the base of the transport cannon for class. Even though they werent going to be using it to head anywhere, it had been their gathering point for long enough that it felt odd to go elsewhere.

That may have been a rather odd sentiment since both Noah and Moxie both had literal classrooms they could use, but those werent all that useful for practicing fighting.

Once everyone had gathered at the transport cannon, the group set off to the arena. They soon found an unused area and set about raising stone walls to obscure a small location off for themselves.

Hows everyone feeling today? Noah asked once the walls had been erected and they had their relative privacy. Lee sat on top of one of the walls, looking out to make sure nobody grew too close to them.

About the same as I do most days, Todd said. His eyes narrowed and he studied Noah. Why do you ask? Thats a suspicious question.

How is it suspicious? Its just polite.

So were not doing something special today?

Noah coughed into a fist. I didnt say that either. Youve all been putting a lot of work in these last few days. I know it hasnt been easy. Everything from classes to meetings with the advanced track thats a lot to handle. Moxie and I have decided its about time to get one thing off your plates.

Youre going to decide who gets the master rune? Isabel asked, catching on immediately.

No, Noah corrected. You are.

Like Isabel is? Or all of us? Todd asked, not even bothering to hide his grin.

You are ruining my dramatic reveal, Noah said. All of you. It would kind of defeat the purpose if Isabel was just deciding who got the damn thing on her own. The scores are so close that today will basically decide everything. Well be going by the same rules as always. Sparring sessions, and I want to see whos managed to improve the most. Its not just about winning. Its about control and progress. And, needless to say, no using magic in your patterns. Not against each other.

The students all nodded.ReAd latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Perfect, Noah said. Lets get to it, then. Isabel, Alexandra, how would you two like to start? Everyone will get a chance against everyone, so it doesnt really matter who opens things.

The girls exchanged a nod, then drew their weapons in unison. Neither of them bothered exchanging words. At this point, they knew each other well enough that words werent going to change anything. All the talking they needed to do would be handled with their swords.

Theyd, as usual, both managed to improve since the last time that Noah had seen them fighting. Alexandra and her sword almost felt like a single entity. Shed completely wrapped herself in her pattern and flowed from one move to the next without so much as a flicker of hesitation.

Isabel matched her well. Even though Alexandra was better with the sword than she was, Isabel limited her disadvantage by using her ramping strikes to force the other girl to play on the defensive. She also had her stone armor that absorbed a large amount of Alexandras attacks, letting Isabel buy her pattern time to ramp up.

Even though Alexandras pattern was considerably faster, Isabels pattern hit a lot harder once it got moving. Isabel could afford to ignore many of the small strikes, allowing them to connect with her armor.

Alexandra was likely to win a war of attrition, but if Isabel managed to land one of the strikes at the end of her pattern on the other girl, then she shifted the theoretical tides in her favor. Of course, in a real fight, Alexandra would just automatically win. Noah was pretty sure that Isabels sword wouldnt even be able to cut her skin but this was a training exercise about skill, not just victory.

Lee hopped down from the stones and landed beside him. Noah?

Yeah? Noah asked, still watching the fight. It didnt look like there would be any need for him to interfere. Both Alexandra and Isabel hadnt so much as drawn a flicker of magic into their patterns.

Oh, I know. I wouldnt ask you to. But, when Wizen does get found and he will I want to know if I can count on you.

Im just a Rank 4, you know.

Brayden pierced Noah with a flat stare. I think we both know that there is nothing just about you. I know it seems like the Enforcers should have this covered, but I cant shake the feeling that were up against more than what we think. Father wouldnt be reacting like this to a minor threat.

Isabel and Alexandras fight finally ended. Neither of them had actually managed to overwhelm the other. Theyd both just stopped fighting at the exact same time. The girls exchanged a grin, then walked over to sit down while Todd hopped to his feet and dragged Emily up along with him to start the next round of sparring.

I know, Noah said. Ill back you up. Not because I particularly care about the Enforcers, but because I dont want Wizen getting strong enough to do whatever it is hes aiming for. I wont waste a ton of time helping you find him, but once you figure out where he is, Ill help take him out. As much as I can, that is.

Thanks.

They fell silent for a few seconds, doing nothing but watch Todd and Emily spar. Brayden then cleared his throat.

Did you have any luck with your Space Rune endeavors?

A fair bit of it, actually, Noah said. Ive got something. But when you said that Space Runes were power hungry, you werent kidding. I used up nearly the entire thing just activating it. Is that normal?

Brayden nodded sagely. Early stage Space Runes are almost useless. I dont know why its so hard to use them, but that ridiculous power draw is normal. Its like that, even for me. I just deal with it by having quite a number of them and trying to make them the highest quality I can manage.

Damn. I was really hoping hed have some kind of trick or pointer that would let me optimize Crumbling Space, but I guess thats asking too much. The rune is more than powerful enough to justify its ridiculous power draw.

So, is there a reason your students are pushing themselves so hard right now? They cant treat every lesson like this, can they? Brayden asked.

Noah looked back down just in time to catch Todd and Emily walking back to take their seats on the sand while Alexandra and James stood for the next match. It looked like Moxie was keeping tabs on everything and leaving things open for him to speak with Brayden.

Id say they do. Theyre all very motivated, Noah said. Both for this particular lesson and in general.

Whats special about this lesson?

Whoever demonstrates the most improvement from when we started a training exercise a few classes ago is given a rune, Noah said.

Brayden nodded his understanding. Ah. A reward. Thats clever. Good way to get them to push, and its good timing. That first exam is coming up on us pretty soon. There will be a lot of eyes on their performance.

What do you think of their chances of winning the whole thing?

Its hard to say. This is an impressive performance, but there are a lot of very talented students in the Advanced Track, Brayden said slowly. Im very curious to see how it plays out. By the way, how did you motivate all of them with a single Rune? Do they all have one in common?

Oh, no. The reward is just a Master Rune.

Brayden nearly fell off the wall as he spun to Noah surprise. Its a what?