Chapter 153: Collision course

Energy coiled off the fallen jaguar, tingling as it brushed against Noah’s fingertips. He only had one chance at this, but he’d gotten quite a bit of practice in on the other monsters in the forest. There wasn’t any time to second guess himself. The jaguar’s Runes were too valuable to waste.

Now.

Noah unleashed Sunder, and a black line carved through the air before him. Lee watched over his shoulder, the confused expression on her face slowly shifting to surprise as seven Runes lifted up from the jaguar’s body, materializing in the air.

“Get my travel bag. Move as fast as you can,” Noah said, every ounce of his concentration on the seven Runes before him. Lee didn’t hesitate for an instant. She vanished, kicking up dirt in a small cloud with the force of her departure.

He kept his eyes on the spoils of their fight. Of the Runes, Noah could understand three of them.

Umbral Body – Rank 3

Umbral Body – Rank 3

Jagged Weeping Storm – Rank 3

The other four Runes were all similar to the ones that the snake had possessed, unreadable to Noah. But, even if they were useless, the Runes that he’d brought forth were more than worth the effort.

Lee returned a moment later, skidding to a stop beside Noah with his bag and gourd clutched in her hands.

“Take the Catchpaper out,” Noah said, but even as he spoke, a crushing realization struck him. For him to transfer the Rune to the Catchpaper, he’d actually have to absorb it for a moment. He had no way to draw in a Rank 3 Rune. It would be too much for a Rank 2 soul.

“Those are Rank 3 Runes,” Lee breathed, undisguised hunger in her eyes. “How did you–”

“Later,” Noah said. “I need to figure out how to get these into Catchpaper for you. If I cut them again, the others will vanish. At least, I think they will.”

“For me?” Lee blinked in surprise. “Really?”

“They won’t be for anyone if we don’t figure out a way to get them to you,” Noah said, cursing to himself. He could always just split one of the Umbral Body Runes, but that wouldn’t help Lee nearly as much – and he wanted the Jagged Weeping Storm Rune for himself.”

“You’re sure I can have them?” Lee repeated.

“Yes, but as I said, it won’t–”

A ripple of energy stung Noah’s fingertips. He flinched, jerking his head over to look at Lee as she let out a pained whimper and staggered.

“Lee?”

Lee doubled over, coughing. Blood splattered on the ground and dripped from the corners of her eyes. Before Noah could even act, she drew in a ragged breath and straightened back out. Her entire body lit with a gentle glow, but Lee didn’t seem to care. She reached out for one of the Umbral Body Runes and pressed her hand against it.

Arcs of black energy crackled down her palm. Blood continued to trickle down Lee’s face, but her features creased in concentration. In an impressive few seconds, the Rune vanished. Lee gritted her teeth and hesitated for a moment.

Her features set and she turned her gaze to the other Rune. Another shudder shook her body and Lee doubled over once more, throwing up blood all over the ground before her. Lee hacked and sputtered, gasping for air as she desperately slammed her hand against the other Rune.

It vanished with a pop. She’d absorbed it so quickly that Noah had barely even realized she took it until it was gone.

“There,” Lee said through a ragged breath. “I – I got them.”

“Are you–”

“I’m fine. Just do what you need to,” Lee snapped.

Noah didn’t waste time arguing. The energy from the jaguar was starting to dissipate, and now that Lee had snagged the two Runes best suited for her, he had no reason to hold back an instant longer. He called on Sunder once more and, with a touch, carved the Jagged Weeping Storm rune in twain.

It split apart with a crack. Seven Rank 2 Runes swirled out from within it, the energy around them slowly fading as the Jaguar’s spent life energy slowly slipped back into the ether.

Weeping Storm – Rank 2

Weeping Storm – Rank 2

Weeping Storm – Rank 2

Jagged Vortex – Rank 2

Jagged Vortex – Rank 2

Jagged Vortex – Rank 2

Jagged Vortex – Rank 2

Noah only had seconds to decide between the Runes. Luckily, it was pretty easy to figure out which one was which. Jagged Vortex was likely a combination based on Wind, while Weeping Storm was more aligned with water. Noah’s eyes traced over the Rune, committing it to memory as he placed his hand against it and closed his eyes.

Within the darkness of his mind, Noah recreated every single stroke. They’d taken so long claiming the other Runes that he wasn’t going to get another chance to get this correct. A completely full Rank 2 Rune was nothing to scoff at – especially one that lined up so well with what he needed.

So, instead of worrying about if he’d be able to gather it or not, Noah took a different approach.

He just didn’t consider failure as an option.

Noah’s gestures came to a stop, and energy bloomed within his soul, weaving deep into his body. A Rune lit up, joining the other six Rank 2 Runes and bathing him with blue light. The moment Noah confirmed that he’d properly claimed it, he yanked himself out of his soul space and back into the real world.

Lee stood beside him, her eyes glassy. The blood running from her mouth and eyes had thankfully slowed, but it was still dripping from her chin and falling to the ground below.

“Lee! Are you okay?” Noah asked. “What happened?”

A flicker of a smile danced across Lee’s features. “I ripped some of my worse Runes out of my Soul. Combined ‘em myself. These – these were better.”

She swayed, then pitched forward. Noah grabbed Lee before she could fall, planning to steady her, but dropped like a wet noodle. He scooped her up, lifting her like a small child. Noah had never realized quite how light Lee was.

Moxie should know more about this.

Noah sprinted into the forest, heading back toward the others as fast as his feet could carry him. He wove between trees, bounding straight over a thick, tangled bush with a boost of wind.

Less than a minute later, Noah’s tremorsense picked Moxie and the students up. They were standing in a tight circle, their backs to each other. He shot out from the trees, arriving before them.

“You killed it! I knew you would!” Todd cheered, but his smile vanished as soon as he spotted Lee in Noah’s arms.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Vermil!” Moxie exclaimed, relief washing over her expression. Her eyes flicked to Lee, then widened. “What happened?”

“The monster is dead,” Noah replied. “But this happened after. Lee–”

“I’ve got a healing potion,” Emily said, rushing to open her travel bag.

Moxie stepped closer, placing a hand on Lee’s brow and pulling one of her eyelids up slightly. Her eyes had rolled back in her head, but Noah could still feel her faint breaths against his chest.

“She took a Rune straight from it, didn’t she?” Moxie asked. Emily thrust the healing potion toward them, but Moxie shook her head and gently waved it away. “That’s not going to help.”

“What?” Todd asked. “Why not? Give it to her!”

“It’s not a body wound. Not a significant one, at least,” Moxie said. “This is severe soul damage. The damage is just from burst blood vessels. Looks really bad, but it’s not actually dangerous.”

All three of the students let out a relieved breath, but Noah’s expression didn’t budge in the slightest.

She ripped out Runes that she’d combined herself to make room for these. Were they really that good? And when Moxie says soul damage…

“How bad is the soul damage?” Noah asked.

“No idea,” Moxie replied. “I’ve seen similar things happen before, though. Did she faint instantly?”

“No,” Noah replied. “But it wasn’t long, either. A few seconds.”

“Then it probably wasn’t the lynchpin Rune.” Moxie breathed a sigh of relief.

“By lynchpin, I assume you mean the Rune that Lee used to reach the next Rank?”

Moxie nodded. “Yes. Especially in higher Ranks, the one you’re most closely bound to is the one that you first formed. So, when you bind it into another Rune, the resulting Rune is even more closely wrapped up with your soul. If she ripped out two normally combined Runes, it’ll be bad, but nowhere near as bad as if she’d pulled out the lynchpin.”

“What’s that mean for Lee?” Todd asked nervously. “Is she going to be okay?”

“Lee isn’t stupid,” Moxie said. “She wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t calculated the risks, but the Rune she took must have been really damn good. I had no idea Lee was talented enough to draw a Rune out of something as she killed it, though. That’s a high level technique.”

Technically, I have no idea if she was. It was Sunder that did that.

“So she’ll be fine?” Noah asked.

Moxie just shook her head. “I don’t know. She’s not waking up anytime soon, though – but she’ll survive.”

Noah let out a slow sigh. Lee had made the decision to tear her Runes out herself, and Moxie was right. She wouldn’t have done that for no reason. He just hoped the payoff would be worth it.

“The jaguar is dead, then?” Moxie asked.

Noah nodded. “Lee ambushed it while I kept it distracted.”

“Gave it a taste of its own medicine. Good,” Isabel said, but she looked more worried about Lee than relieved that the monster was dead. She glanced back to Moxie. “You’re sure Lee will be fine?”

“Just trust her,” Moxie said. “Do you really think Lee would seriously injure herself if the reward wasn’t worth it?”

“Makes me wonder what kind of Rune the jaguar had.” Todd watched Lee intently. “I hope she can show us when she wakes up again. How long will it be? A day?”

“I’m not exactly trained in healing,” Moxie replied. “But no, not a day.”

“A few hours?” Isabel guessed.

“Wrong direction. Try half a week or so,” Moxie said with a shake of her head. “Soul damage bad enough to actually stress Lee’s body this much isn’t going to go away that quickly.”

“Half a week?” Emily’s eyes widened. “Are you sure we can’t give her the healing potion?”

“It won’t do anything. Save it for when it’ll be useful,” Moxie said firmly. She put a hand over Emily’s, guiding the potion back into the girl’s bag. “For now, we should leave.”

“Is it safe to move Lee around right now?” Isabel asked.

“And why? The jaguar is dead now, isn’t it?” Todd added. “Isn’t it safe again?”

“She’ll be fine,” Moxie replied. “And if a monster like this just randomly showed up, that means its possible that others are in the area too. I suspect the rain we got was what lured it out, and I don’t want to be around to see what else crawled out. Let’s avoid any surprise variables while all of you are still so early on in the learning.”

Noah nodded, carefully shifting Lee to lean her against his shoulder. Blood stained his uniform, but he didn’t particularly mind. It was already ruined. As he moved Lee, Isabel spotted the cut running along his chest.

“Professor! You’re wounded too!”

“Just a minor one,” Noah said with a shake of his head. “Not worth treating.”

“That doesn’t look minor,” Emily said, spotting it herself. “I thought that blood was Lee’s at first. Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Noah said with a shake of his head. “Let’s just get moving. I’ll be a lot worse off if another damn panther comes for us.”

Emily didn’t look too convinced, but Isabel and Todd exchanged a knowing glance. The group set off, moving at a slightly slower pace so Noah wouldn’t have to justle Lee too much, entirely unaware that they were headed straight toward the scorched remains of a clearing that had been burnt to the ground the previous night.