Chapter 175: Pain

Noah placed his pipe in his mouth and packed a small tuft of Flashgrass into it, drawing a deep breath and letting the cloud of smoke curl into the air above his head as he watched Bria head in the direction of their camp.

Todd and Isabel joined Noah in watching Bria. The girl certainly wasn’t in any rush. She was just strolling across the hills. Her hair was strikingly similar to Emily’s, though it had been tied into a ponytail behind her head to keep it from her eyes.

“You know, a considerable amount of the ominous energy is gone when she has to walk like five minutes to get to our camp,” Todd said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“Can we just leave?” Isabel asked. “It would be funny if she showed up and we were all gone.”

“It would be,” Noah agreed. “But I don’t know if that would get Moxie in trouble. We probably have to deal with it. You’ve already gotten the lecture, so I won’t waste time repeating anything. Just keep your guard up.”

Bria reached the bottom of the flat hill they’d set up camp on and raised a hand to block out the sun as she peered up at Noah, squinting. She’d clearly spotted him before, so something told Noah that the motion was more show than anything else.

Nobody spoke until Bria came to a stop before them.

“Well, this isn’t the greeting I was expecting,” Bria said, putting a hand on her hip. “Did Contessa already make it? I would have hoped she’d pass along that I was coming. Don’t tell me she got eaten by something.”

“Oh no, she’s here,” Noah said, blowing out another puff of smoke. “But, I think the better question is why – and that goes for both of you.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that smoking wasn’t good for your health?” Bria asked, scrunching her nose in distaste and completely ignoring Noah’s question. “What kind of professor promotes something like that?”

“Oh? I’m glad to know that people hold me in such esteem that they’d find value in copying anything I do. My own students are smart enough to know better, and I’m not particularly concerned with what others do. They aren’t my responsibility.”

“Just what I’d expect from a Linwick,” Bria said through an arrogant smirk. “Vermil, right? Your reputation precedes you.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for you,” Noah said. “I have no idea who you are.”

Bria blinked. “Contessa didn’t introduce me?”

Noah laughed and shook his head, taking the pipe from between his teeth and letting the smoke curl up around his face. “Why would I care about what Contessa has to say? I have no interest in the Torrin family. I’m only traveling with Moxie because we happen to have complimenting skillsets. It makes for good training, but that doesn’t mean I care about anything your family has to say.”

Bria tilted her head to the side. “I see. Well, go fetch Contessa for me. We need to speak.”

“Fetch?” Noah raised an eyebrow. “Do it yourself. Isabel, Todd, go get started with training. I’ll join you shortly.”

Noah’s students nodded and trotted off in the other direction. Noah saw a flicker of annoyance pass through Bria’s expression. She clearly wasn’t used to being dismissed. Whether she was undercover or not, she certainly hadn’t been exposed to many people that pushed back against her requests.

Moxie and Contessa walked out from behind one of the stone tents, joining Noah and Bria. Both of their faces were almost completely unreadable, but for entirely different reasons. Moxie had a perfect poker face, while Contessa just looked so tired that all other emotions or thoughts had no spot to take purchase.

“Where’s Emily?” Bria asked.

“Training with Isabel and Todd,” Moxie replied. “Who are you?”

Bria’s expression tightened. “Contessa, I believe I told you to introduce me.”

“I did,” Contessa said.

“But that doesn’t mean I know anything about you,” Moxie said. “I’ve never heard of anyone in the Torrin family by your name.”

“I’ll gladly explain in a moment,” Bria said. She jerked her chin in Noah’s direction. “But, first, Contessa gave you your orders.”

“She did, and I am executing them with the judgement entrusted to me,” Moxie said, giving nothing away. She crossed her stance, matching Bria evenly.

Bria pursed her lips and gave Noah a once-over. Then she smirked and shrugged. “Okay, I’ll give you that. Don’t think there’s much to be worried about here.”

“I take offense to that,” Noah said, taking another slow drag from his pipe. Bria scowled at him and took a step back to avoid accidentally inhaling the smoke. Unlike with everyone else, Noah was taking absolutely no effort to keep the smoke from entering Bria’s lungs.

There was a distant flash of Essence as Isabel and Emily started to spar. All of them glanced in the direction of the fight for a moment.

“So, you going to spill why the Torrin family is crashing our training? We’ve got a lot of work to get through before the survival exam,” Noah said. “And, thus far, neither you nor Contessa have been particularly forthcoming with what your plans are.”

The more Bria thinks Contessa didn’t share anything with me, the better. I don’t need any suspicion that she’s actually reporting to me as well as Evergreen.

Bria studied Noah for a moment. He could have sworn that he saw the gears shift in her head as her expression softened and she looked up at Noah with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Well, I heard how well things were going for Emily, and I wanted to have a chance to join in and have some fun as well. I’ve been training on my own for a while, and it’s so boring. I’d love to hang out with some other students my age and learn to fight with them. Would that be okay with you?”

Bria stepped into Noah’s personal space, still peering up at him. He watched her, eyes flat in response.

It sounds like Bria knew what type of person Vermil used to be, but her information is severely outdated if she thinks that’s going to work on me – not to mention she’s not even a blip in comparison to my age. Sorry, kid. I’m not interested in the equivalent of a fetus.

“Well, if you ask so nicely,” Noah drawled, chewing his lower lip in a show of great thought. Bria’s lips started to curl upward.

“Thank–”

“No.”

Bria’s expression flattened.

“What?”

Let’s see. I need to figure out what her actual goal here is before I determine exactly how I handle this.

“You just implied I wasn’t a very good teacher. Why would you want to study under me?” Noah asked through a yawn. “And Moxie’s working together with me right now. I’ve got more students than she does, which means I make the rules right now.”

“That can’t be how it works,” Bria said, narrowing her eyes and looking over at Moxie. Moxie just shrugged. “It hasn’t been an issue. We trade off who’s teaching based on the subject we’re covering, and it’s Vermil’s turn right now. You’ve also yet to verify that you are who you say you are.”

“Is the hair not enough?” Bria asked, her eyes narrow. “How many people with silver hair do you see just walking around?”

Lee chose that exact moment to wander out from her stone tent – her hair a brilliant silver. They all looked over at her and Lee blinked, tilting her head to the side. She waggled her fingers in greeting, then skipped down the hill to join the students.

“Who in the Damned Plains was that?” Bria asked.

Damn it, Lee.

“Lee. I guess she must be a Torrin as well,” Noah mused.

“What? No. She isn’t,” Bria said, her eyes narrowing. “Look, Linwick. I was keeping my identity secret, but I attend Arbitage. I’m part of the Torrin main branch. I don’t know who that girl was, but she’s not in the family.”

You know, if you’re trying to keep your identity secret, telling someone that’s part of your family’s greatest rivals usually isn’t a good idea. Whelp. That just about settles it, then. She’s planning on killing me.

“You know, if you were hiding your identity, then maybe other people were too,” Noah mused. “Maybe I’m a Torrin as well. Moxie, do you see any specs of silver in my hair?”

“Stop playing around,” Bria snapped. “I don’t know what you’re playing at, but there’s no reason to keep me from training with Emily and the others. It’s a perfectly reasonable request. I’m sure we could come to some sort of agreement that made up for any inconvenience I caused you.”

Bria’s eyes fluttered, and it took everything in Noah’s power not to gag.

The hell is she trying to get out of this? I’m completely certain that she plans on killing me because of that earlier comment, but what’s with the game?

Noah glanced at Moxie out of the corner of his eye, hoping that she might understand more of what was happening, but Moxie’s face was an unreadable mask. As Noah looked back down at Bria, he spotted a shift in her eyes.

Aha. That’s what’s up. It’s not about me – it’s about Moxie. She’s trying to figure out where her weak spots are, and I guess she’s assuming that I must be one of them because she lets me around Emily. Idiot. As if Moxie would care about a child flirting with me.

“Please?” Bria asked, putting a hand on Noah’s chest.

Moxie’s eye twitched.

What?

“Ah, well you put things that way,” Noah said, picking her wrist up between two fingers and flicking it to the side. He wasn’t sure if Bria had noticed Moxie’s momentary lapse, but he didn’t plan to let her capitalize on it if she did. “I’m afraid I have to refuse. I prefer teaching attractive students.”

Bria’s smile froze on her lips. “What did you say?”

“Well, you know,” Noah said, gesturing with his pipe. “Students that don’t look like they were thrown against a wall as a child. I have standards, you know.”

“No, I don’t know,” Bria said, her lips pressing so thin that they turned white. “Please, explain.”

“Sheesh, you’re dense,” Noah said, blowing out a puff of smoke and sighing. “You’re ugly. Your eyes are like dead fish scales and your breath smells like shit. Also, the silver hair doesn’t work on you at all. I’m pretty sure it’s receding, while we’re at that. I just don’t have any interest in wasting my efforts on someone with as little potential as you.”

Noah leaned back as a blade flashed through the air, his eyes widening slightly as he watched several strands of his own hair flutter to the ground. He’d been expecting the attack, but the speed that it had come with was incredible.

“Forget this,” Bria hissed, spinning the plain steel sword in her hand. Her expression had completely changed, going from cutesy to a step away from a raving lunatic within instants. “I’m just killing you now, you greasy piece of shit. How dare you talk down to me when you’re just a Rank 1? I’ll rip your innards out and feed them to you before I choke you to death with your own intestine.”

Noah had no idea where the sword had come from, but he wasn’t particularly concerned with it. On any other day, he wouldn’t have minded testing his skills against Bria, but he’d just gotten to Rank 3. He didn’t know how it worked yet – and so Noah took the easy way out.

He took the pipe from his lips and drew in a deep breath, locking eyes with Bria and baring his lips in a sleazy smile. Then he called on Combustion and froze the air in Bria’s lungs. It took her a moment to realize what happened, and Noah used that moment to drive his fist into her wrist, sending the sword spinning.

Bria stumbled, but she hadn’t been prepared for the sudden loss of breathable air. She lunged at Noah in an attempt to throw him off balance, her body still moving with impressive speed.

Even though Noah dodged, she managed to snag his leg. She grabbed her fallen sword with her other hand, whipping it toward Noah – but there was a very significant problem with holding onto someone while trying to stab them, and that was that you couldn’t dodge very well.

Noah’s knee snapped out, driving into Bria’s nose and breaking it. To her credit, she didn’t let go, and she drove her sword for his chest. Noah dropped to the ground, losing his pipe in the process. Bria’s sword scraped across his chest, drawing a line of blood but failing to inflict a serious wound.

He spun to the side, driving his other foot into Bria’s stomach and knocking even more air from it. She coughed, rolling across the ground and slamming to a stop against a stone tent. Noah stood back up, brushing himself off.

Bria clawed at her throat, desperately trying to draw a breath. She locked eyes with Noah as he walked up to his pipe, placing it back into his mouth. He kicked the sword out of Bria’s hands and looked down at her.

I’m pretty sure this is the point where I warn her off and say that she better stay the hell away from my students, but I really can’t be bothered.

Noah kicked Bria’s sword up off the ground and grabbed it, spinning the blade around. Then he thrust it down for her neck. Bria’s eyes widened. Her hand clenched, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air.

Her body disappeared in a stream of green light, vanishing into the sky. Noah’s brow furrowed and he released Combustion, looking up at where Bria had vanished.

“Well, damn.” Noah tossed the sword to the ground. “That’s going to be a pain.”