Return of the Runebound Professor-Chapter 815: Reunions and Revelations

Noah’s mind reeled. It took him nearly a second to process what he was seeing before a disbelieving laugh forced its way free from him. Lee was here. He had no idea how or where she’d come from, but it didn’t matter.

“Holy shit, Lee,” Noah said as he let his magic fade away. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“You took too long,” Lee said. Emotion turned her voice taut. “We were waiting for so long.”

“I’m sorry,” Noah said. He put a hand on the back of her head to give her hair a gentle ruffle. “I wish I could have made it back faster. I did everything I could. To be honest, I was prepared to not see any of you again for ages. I can’t believe you’re here.”

Lee snorted into his shirt. “You thought I wouldn’t find you?”

“I suppose I should have expected it.” Noah couldn’t keep a grin from crossing his lips. Things hadn’t been right. Not without Lee. “But I couldn’t have dared to hope. How long has it been? No, it doesn’t matter. What are you doing here? Where are the others?”

Lee rolled off Noah and rose to her feet. She cast a glance out the window before looking back at Noah. “A lot happened since you vanished after killing Father. They told us you were dead. Like, actually dead. I knew it was a lie, of course. We all did.”

“They?” Noah asked. “Who?”

“The Apostles’ disciples,” Lee replied. “Alice and Carmen. They split us into groups after you vanished.”

“What?” Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Why? Did they hurt anyone?”

“No. I think they helped us train. I think it was to try and get something out of you. You took so long that they gave up. But we were all waiting for you to come back. We knew you would.”

Noah let out a slow breath of relief. All that mattered was that the others were safe.

“I’m sorry I took so long. I — well, I can’t promise it won’t happen again. I don’t want to be made a liar. But I can promise one thing.” Noah put a hand on Lee’s shoulder and met her gaze. “I’ll always come back. It might take a days or months or years — but I’ll never leave any of you behind.”

Lee sniffled. Then she nodded. “I know.”

Noah pulled her in for another hug. The relief and delight from finally seeing Lee again mixed with traces of confusion.

The Apostles had clearly been planning something. Everyone was safe. And that meant his next order of business was figuring out what the hell had happened and getting them back together.

“Did the disciples say why they were training you, Lee?”

Lee pulled back. She wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “Apparently our souls all smelled like Arbalest. There are people that want to figure out what happened, and they’re probably going to try and find us since we were the only survivors. We smell too strong when we’re together, so we got split up.”

Noah’s brow furrowed. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if there were people that wanted to learn what had happened to Arbalest or how the Night’s Shadow had escaped. There were incredibly powerful forces in Obsidia that had built the whole thing. If there really was a way to notice that somebody came from Arbalest, then he could buy the story. But he couldn’t think of a single reason why Alice or Carmen would have ever wanted to help his students — especially when they were claiming he was dead.

What were they going for? Why would they help? It definitely wasn’t out of the kindness of their hearts. Especially not Alice. They had to have wanted something.

Thoughts spun through Noah’s head at a mile a minute. He hadn’t had a chance to put together all the questions he wanted to ask Lee. No part of him had expected to run into her again so quickly. Then again, perhaps he really should have. Her nose was practically otherworldly in ability.

“So what happened?” Noah asked. “You got split up? Then what? Where did they take everyone? And nobody was hurt? They’re all definitely safe?”

“Nobody was hurt beyond what comes with training. Not that I saw, at least. But I’m not sure where we were taken,” Lee said. “Carmen trained us. She’s really strong. Pretty flexible, too. She didn’t smell bad. Her estate was surrounded by a bunch of traps and challenges. We all got separated and fell into different portals.”

Noah froze.

What?

“Scattered?” Noah asked, aghast. “You’re telling me everyone is… what, spread randomly throughout Obsidia or trapped with the Apostles’ disciples?”

“Yeah,” Lee said. “But I think everyone should have escaped by now. Carmen was training us well, and I don’t think Alice was doing anything different. They were preparing us for a tournament thing.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Noah blinked. “Wait. The one at Aqua Terra? Heaven’s Path?”

“Yeah,” Lee said with a nod. “Every one of us got signed up for it. Carmen did it.”

Noah blinked.

Then he burst into laughter. Finding everyone when they were scattered throughout Obsidia would have been near impossible. But if every single one of them was heading to the tournament… that meant they’d all be in the same city at the same time.

It was perfect.

Almost too perfect.

Carmen and Alice… they’re doing something. I don’t know what, but I’m not even entirely sure if I care. All that matters is that I can find everyone again.

“That’s incredible,” Noah said, finally getting a hold of himself again and letting out a slow, relieved breath. “I can’t believe it. But you look stronger, Lee. That training clearly worked. Are your horns bigger?”

“A bit,” Lee said sheepishly. “But it’s okay. People don’t really care about them in Obsidia. I’ve gotten a few glances, but there are lots of other people with unique bodies. Most people haven’t even realized that I’m a demon.”

“That’s a relief. I’m sure you can take care of yourself, but I’d be more worried about the others.” Noah clapped Lee on the shoulder. “You’re looking good, Lee. Stronger. I didn’t expect a few months could make that big of a difference.”

“I’m not the only one who’s different,” Lee said. Her nose twitched and some of the delight in her eyes flickered as concern crossed her features. “You smell… changed, Noah.”

Something within Noah shifted. The dark lake of memories buried deep within a sea of gold eternity trembled. Three voices twisted through the back of his mind in an ever-weaving tapestry that twisted just below the thin veneer of his consciousness.

A thousand steps echoed as one, trembling down the strands of a web stretching throughout the deepest parts of his soul. He could feel everything. A thousand, a million, memories—

Lee blinked expectantly at him.

The roaring ocean of gold vanished.

Noah shook his head.

“A lot. And that isn’t a cop-out. It’s a really long story.”

He scratched the back of his neck. Then he glanced at the shattered window and shrugged. “Well, I suppose I’m not going to bed at this point. I kind of got stuck in this white void called the Beyond after I died. The Night’s Shadow’s corpse was there, so I stole its rune on the way out. Took me a while to escape, but when I did, I ended up in some ancient citadel-maze thing. It was some old research site for the Beyond, but it’s got some incredible training tools. I wandered around there for a while until I found out how I could escape. Then I came here to find everyone.”

Lee blinked again. Then she tilted her head to the side. “That wasn’t really that long.”

“I cut a few details out,” Noah said. A shimmer of gold passed through his eyes. He ignored it. His brow furrowed. “But I suppose it isn’t that long at all, now that you mention it. What did you do?”

“Train, mostly,” Lee replied. “I also ate a lot. It was okay. Not as fun as when everyone was together. I was going to start looking for everyone else, but I got dumped out in these really cold mountains. There wasn’t anyone nearby and the monsters were good training. They also tasted pretty good. I’ve been there while I waited for the tournament to get closer. That’s about it.” 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Mountains?” Noah’s eyes narrowed. “Wait. Ice Wretch Mountain?”

“I think that’s what I heard someone call ‘em,” Lee said with a nod.

“Were you the one attacking all the caravans?” Noah asked, aghast. “Some guards told me they were off limits because some humanoid monster was terrorizing them!”

“What? No! I wouldn’t attack people randomly!” Lee exclaimed. She paused for a moment. “I did liberate them of their supplies a few times, but nobody noticed. I was fast.”

“So there’s a second humanoid monster terrorizing the mountains?” Noah asked.

“Oh, it isn’t a monster,” Lee said with a shake of her head. “It’s a bunch of perverts.”

Noah stared at her. “What?”

“Perverts,” Lee said again. “The lead one has this big fluffy fur coat. It looks really soft, actually. But it’s probably because he’s got nothing underneath. His name is Mordred, and he’s been chasing me for a while with two other people.”

“Why?” Noah asked. “And what does this have to do with the caravans? Are you telling me—”

“They destroyed a bunch of caravans while trying to catch me,” Lee said. “It wasn’t my fault. Then he asked me a bunch of weird questions when they trapped me in a cave. He put dating cards in with his monster research cards. Who does that?”

The hell?

A flicker of anger cut through Noah.

“Did they hurt you? And why the hell were they chasing you, Lee?”

“Nah. I’m fine,” Lee said. “I think the Coral Empire sent them. And they didn’t really try to hurt me until I ran. Then he tried to stop me, but he failed. We were just talking before then. Mordred didn’t try to do the Bird thing either. We have to make sure they never meet, though. He definitely would.”

“The Coral Empire sent them?” Noah paused. “After you? And I take it this means they’re still alive? Even after attacking you when you tried to leave?”

“Oh, yeah. I don’t think I can kill Mordred,” Lee said. “He’s really strong. If he hadn’t been trying to keep me alive so he could talk to me, I’m pretty sure he would have killed me.”

They’re strong enough to actually threaten Lee? And the Coral Empire themselves sent them? Shit. This isn’t some random group of people mad that Lee is stealing their food.

“When did this happen, Lee?”

“Oh, a few minutes ago,” Lee said, scratching the side of her neck. “I was talking to them when I smelled you. That’s why I left. They weren’t worth wasting time with when you were here.”

“But they were able to track you through the mountains?” Noah asked.

If the Coral Empire sent them specifically to deal with Lee and they were able to find her once… they can do it again. And if they’re strong enough to force Lee to run rather than fight, that means the absolute last thing we want to do is get caught in a fight with them.

Shit.

“Yeah.” Lee paused. Then she frowned. “Oh.”

“We need to get out of here,” Noah said, grabbing his flying sword. As it turned out, he wasn’t going to have to figure out how to pay for his stay in the inn after all. “Now.”