With their conversation finished, Noah brought Yulin back to rejoin the others. She stood around near the treeline for a few moments before slipping away to stand in the shade of a large tree.
It didn’t look like she was quite ready to start properly mingling with everyone else. Noah was pretty sure she was still trying to process everything that had happened in the past few days.
He didn’t blame her. It was a lot to take in. She’d get used to it eventually. The only thing he cared about was that she wasn’t going to go around spilling their secrets to their enemies, and as far as he could tell, she was definitely on their side. There was always the option of using a Rune Oath, but those were so finicky and dangerous that Noah dismissed the idea on the spot.
Oaths were a trap. They were a double edged sword unless someone used an intermediary, and he had absolutely no plans of keeping someone around just to get them killed when an oath shattered.
No, normal promises were enough for him. Yulin had done enough to prove that she wasn’t just in this to betray them. Between Aylin and Alexandra, Noah was pretty confident she would fit right in.
She’d just have to get used to... everything.
That made Noah wince. There was a lot of everything to get used to. Yulin was going to be in for a rough time. Things had been weird for his students for a while, but they were about to get a whole lot weirder once the noble families realized their somewhat covert attempt to wrest Isabel’s Master Rune from her had failed.
His hands clenched at his sides. His Rank 4 Runes put him well ahead of the average Rank 4, to the point where he couldn’t even be compared to anyone else of his rank on the mortal plane. He wasn’t worried about himself... but if the nobles got really serious and started sending more than a few people, his students would be in danger.
Noah’s face darkened. He couldn’t allow for that to happen. The moment he returned to Arbitage, a timer started. A timer that counted down the seconds Isabel had left to live in peace — and Noah didn’t know how long it would take to hit zero.
He was so focused on his thoughts that he didn’t notice Jalen approaching until the other man stood directly in front of him.
“That’s a stormy look you’ve got in your eyes there, Vermil,” Jalen said. “Not the expression I was expecting from someone who just ripped his way out of the Damned Plains with a host full of friendly demons.”
“I’m wondering how many people I’m going to have to kill,” Noah said. “And how many of them I can kill.”
“Always a good hobby to have.” Jalen nodded sagely. “The same thought passes through my mind at least once a week, especially when I’m standing in a particularly long line at a restaurant.”
“I’m being serious here, Jalen. You know why all this shit is happening, don’t you?”
Jalen arched an eyebrow and waved his hand around the clearing. “There’s so much shit happening here that I genuinely don’t know which shit you’re referring to. Is it the fact that you’re the only human in known history to go to the Damned Plains? The fact you ferried a bunch of powerful demons back along with you? Is it the the monster in your book that was torturing Jakob to death, or perhaps the fact that Todd killed Marley before you killed both of the other professors? Or is it—”
“It’s Isabel.”
“Ah. I was getting to her. Eventually. As I said, a lot of shit,” Jalen said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “The Master Rune.”
“Yes,” Noah said. His jaw tightened. “The Master Rune.”
“Don’t worry. I have no interest in it. I’m too old to care about toys like that. Now, if you’ve got any demon women that are in search of something fun — older ones, mind you — I’d appreciate an introduction. That’s something interesting. I’ve heard horrible things about what they do to people.” ṝaΝÒВÊŝ
Noah’s eye twitched, and he couldn’t keep himself from letting out a small chuckle. Jalen’s brain was so melted by age that it was hard to tell when the half-mad man was actually being serious. There was a genuine tossup as to whether he actually wanted to be introduced to an eligible demon bachelorette or if he was just bored and flapping his mouth.
“One topic at a time,” Noah said. “I’m a little more concerned about Isabel than I am about your love life.”
“Ouch. That hurts. Much like the majority of my love life.”
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“As I thought. You are a uniquely fantastic mage, Vermil. And I do not say that lightly.” Jalen turned to look at the students and demons gathered in the center of the clearing. “But if you stay this course, you are going to die.”
I’ve died more times than you can count — though, given who I’m speaking to, probably isn’t all that high. I’ll die a thousand more times if that’s what it takes... but dying isn’t going to solve my problems here.
“As I am now, you’re right,” Noah said grimly. “Which just means things have to change.”
“Slapping shoddy runes together will not change much,” Jalen warned. “You will buy yourself a scrap of power at the cost of an ocean. If you wish to survive, you should run. Take the students and leave the school.”
“As if the noble families wouldn’t track us.”
“They would, but it would be harder. You would have a chance to escape.”
Noah was already shaking his head. “No. That only delays the problem.”
“So does brute forcing your way up a rank. You will be no stronger than the Nobles whose parents feed them all their power.”
But that’s not true at all, is it? I’m not combining runes blindly. I’ve been taking things slow and steady for long enough now. I’ve been trying to make sure that I don’t draw too much of the wrong attention — even though that hasn’t exactly always gone to plan.
But I think the time for that is over. If I’m this strong at Rank 4... then at Rank 5, I might be able to challenge Rank 6 mages.
Noah’s features set.
“Made a decision?” Jalen asked.
“Something like that,” Noah said quietly. “I’m going to need some favors.”
“Are they going to make things interesting?”
“Without a doubt.”
“Then they are yours. What do you want?”
“Some Catchpaper. Enough to hold some Demon Runes — and entrance to the biggest auction in the near future that you can get me.”
Jalen arched an eyebrow. “Your plan is to go to an auction?”
“Me? No. As far as the rest of the mortal plane is concerned, Vermil Linwick is still dead. I’m changing my plans to keep it that way for a little while longer. I can’t go back to Arbitage yet. That’ll buy us time. A few days at most, but a few days can go a long way.”
“So if you’re not going, then who is?”
Noah smiled.
“Spider.”