Return of the Runebound Professor Chapter 920: Called out

Noah would have liked a chair. It was considerably easier to come across as confident when you were lounging. But there was only one chair in the room, and Vivian was occupying it. She didn’t seem to have any plans of offering Noah a place to sit. He couldn’t let that throw him off. Vivian was every bit as dangerous as Rake had been. More dangerous, if he counted the possibility of her going after Moxie, Lee, or anyone else.

He also couldn’t help but notice that Grim was uncharacteristically silent. That probably wasn’t a good sign.

“Where shall we start?” Noah asked. “I’m sure we have a number of questions for each other. I know I do. It’s not every day that I get to meet two different Faction Heads. Especially when I’m apparently the disciple of one of them.”

Vivian didn’t look amused. She looked a hell of a lot angrier than Noah had expected her to given the fact he’d just saved her from almost certainly would have been a massive humiliation had Rake found out that he was not, in fact, her disciple.

“Who you, Spider?” Vivian growled. “Beyond being an incredibly, incredibly lucky liar. Because you aren’t a Rank 8.”

“I’m a number of things,” Noah replied. His eyes narrowed. While he couldn’t afford to truly piss Vivian off, he also couldn’t let her walk all over him. That would just end up in him being forced to do whatever she demanded… and Noah wasn’t entirely without leverage. “But your disciple — at least as far as I’m aware — has never been one of them. Did you really expect me to roll over and just do what you asked me to when my future is on the line? I’m not some tool for you to move around the board. I thought you’d be a little happier that I dug us both out of that hole you made.”

“Most people would be elated to be chosen by me,” Vivian said, her voice little more than a hiss. “Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I took on a disciple?”

“No,” Noah said. “And in the kindest way possible, I don’t particularly care. The bond between a master and a disciple is not one that can be forcibly created. That’s not how it works. Not if you want a good teaching relationship. Both parties have to want to be there.”

“Yes. I’m quite aware that you attended this tournament with absolutely no desire to actually be picked by anyone,” Vivian said. Her glare bored into Noah’s eyes. “Which is the exact reason I chose you. You didn’t come here sniveling and begging for power. That is what caught my attention. That is something I can respect.”

Noah paused for a moment.

“If you respected the fact that I’m not looking for a master, then where in the world did you get the idea that I would want you forcibly deciding to be mine?” Noah asked. “And what kind of master would want someone who hates the idea of them as a disciple?”

“I had absolutely no plans of forcibly recruiting you,” Vivian snapped. “I was planning on doing this the normal way. Everyone has a reason for attending the tournament. Even you. And you would be hard pressed to find a better teacher than I. But my hand was forced.”

“Forced?” Noah tilted his head to the side. “What’s that mean?”

“Forget it,” Vivian said. “I’m not the one who’s getting interrogated. Who do you think you are, forcing me to play along with your lie? Do you have any idea how—”

“I saved your ass,” Noah pointed out. “Both of ours, actually. Come on. You saw what Rake was doing. There was no way he’d take ‘no’ for an answer. Not without a really damn good excuse. My lie was perfect. You can’t deny that. It got us both out of there without any embarrassment at all.”

“It was good. Impressively good,” Vivian admitted. For a moment, the anger in her features waned. But it returned just moments afterward. “But that is hardly the crux of the matter. It was clear you understood the situation. Going along with what I had said would have saved you just as effectively — and without forcing me into this sham as well.”

“But then I would have been forced to be your student,” Noah replied. “Which I did not agree to. My solution got us both what we wanted. You have a perfect excuse to avoid the other Faction Head’s ire. And I keep my freedom. I don’t see what the issue is.”

“The issue,” Vivian replied, her tone clipped, “is that your lie will immediately collapse if Rake digs even a little bit. What if he starts looking into things, Spider? If he starts wondering why I am working with a strange Rank 8 that he has never heard of before? And then I will have to back you to avoid looking like a complete fool. Do you understand the situation you’ve put me in?”

“How would he even go looking?” Noah asked. He shrugged one shoulder. “And I’ve already proved that I have a way to evade his domain. There’s nothing to doubt about me. Even if he kills me, it changes nothing. I’ve made it very clear that this is only a clone of my true form.”

“So you have,” Vivian said. She leaned closer. “But is that true? Or just another lie?”

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“It’s true enough,” Noah replied. “I can hold my own. You may not believe that I am Rank 8. But I am considerably more powerful than most would expect me to be. Even against someone like Rake… I can hold my own.”

“Which is another great question,” Vivian said. Her eyes narrowed into slits. “can you stand against rake, Spider? I don’t buy the excuse that you’re a Rank 8 for a second. And I don’t believe that you’re a clone. I think this is the real you. And a Rank 8 wouldn’t have to lie about anything. You’d have just revealed your true strength. So you’re still bullshitting me, Spider. Start giving me some real answers. Now.”

The two of them stared at each other for a long second.

Then Noah blew out a sigh.

“No. I’m not going to do that, Vivian.”

Vivian blinked. She clearly hadn’t expected him to flat out refuse her. “What?”

“The way I see it, we both screwed each other,” Noah said with a shrug. “But I gave us a way out. If Rake really does go poking around and I get myself killed for it… well, I’ve claimed to be a clone. It won’t matter. You aren’t in any trouble. So don’t try to pretend like this is some giant scheme waiting to blow up in your face. As long as I don’t go revealing the truth myself, nobody will ever know. If you as me, I’d say we’re even here. There’s absolutely no reason for you to be mad. Why are you? I don’t get the feeling you’re so petty that having to go with someone else’s plan has you this pissed.”

And then Noah closed his mouth and waited.

He could practically feel Vivian’s gaze boring holes through him. She didn’t say anything for quite some time. But, finally, a cold smile pulled across her lips.

“You want me to be direct? Then you start. This is my city.” Vivian rose from her chair, closing the distance between herself and Noah in a split instant. He hadn’t even seen her move before her finger drove into his chest. “Who are you, Spider? I will not ask again.”

Noah stared back at her. He couldn’t help but notice that Vivian easily could have pulled his mask off if she’d wanted to. But she hadn’t. That was probably because she didn’t expect to recognize him in the first place. But either way, she was leaving the choice with him.

It wouldn’t have been too hard to come up with something believable. There were any number of stories that would have been entirely believable. It wasn’t like he owed Vivian anything. She’d basically tried to press gang him into discipleship.

But there was a note of sincerity in her voice. She hadn’t abused her power to force him into doing anything — and Noah knew for a fact that she could have. He’d seen what she’d done to the Night’s Shadow when the huge monster had escaped Arbalest.

Another second dragged by.

Then Noah blew out a sigh.

“Why do you care?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Vivian asked. “You—”

“You’re misunderstanding my question,” Noah said. “I know you care on a professional level. You’re a Faction Head. A Rank 8 mage. I could go on, but I won’t. What I mean is — why do you care about me? If you were Rake, you would have either killed me already or laughed this off as a good deal and somehow tried to weaponize it against me. But you haven’t tried either. So why do you care?”

“You do realize you’re answering my command for answers with a question, yes?”

“Answer this, and I’ll answer your questions. Honestly,” Noah said. He paused. “Well. Most of them. There are a few I won’t. And that’s me being honest.”

Vivian studied him silently. Then, finally, she inclined her head. “We spoke. During the banquet.”

Noah started. “What? When did—”

And then he realized.

The woman that had sat by his table, the one with the stain on her shirt, who he’d had a fairly pleasant conversation with.

“Oh,” Noah said.

“Oh,” Vivian agreed grimly. “I sensed potential. That was the truth. I hadn’t been planning to force you to be my disciple. But Rake tried to lay claim. I couldn’t let him destroy that potential, so I intervened. It did not go as planned.”

Noah winced.

“That’s what got you so pissed at me?” Noah asked. “Because I turned you down when—”

“Enough,” Vivian said. She spoke in a normal tone, but the word slammed into Noah’s chest like a metal weight. It was imbued with Rune Force. “I answered your question, Spider. Now answer mine. Do not push me further.”

“You’re probably not going to like this,” Noah warned.

“I highly doubt you could find a way to displease me any more,” Vivian said.

Noah sighed again. He reached up to his mask. “The Banquet isn’t the first time we met, Vivian.”

Then he pulled the mask off.

Vivian stared at him blankly for a moment.

Then her eyes widened in recognition.

“.”

“Me,” Noah agreed.

“You — no. You should be dead,” Vivian said. “Your soul was torn to shreds. Even when I knit it back together — and then you fought Father. You died.”

“That’s one line of conversation I’m not going to go down,” Noah said. “And I tell you that for the sake of honoring your request to be truthful. Don’t ask. I won’t answer.”

Vivian’s jaw worked for a second. Then she shook her head.

“I can’t believe it. of all people.”

“You said that already,” Noah said. “I’m starting to get a bit insulted.”

“I don’t care,” Vivian said. She looked back to him. “What’s your real name, Spider? If you told me, I forgot. That won’t happen a second time.”

“Spider is my real name,” Noah said. “But my friends know me as Noah.”

Vivian nodded slightly. “Very well, Spider. I will accept that. Then answer me this. How do you know of the Lost Citadel?”

Noah blinked. He hadn’t been expecting that question. He’d just pulled the whole Citadel bit from his ass to justify how a Rank 8 might not have been known to Rake.

“Well, you know.” Noah scratched the back of his head. “I kind of… found it.”

“You found it,” Vivian repeated flatly. “You found the Citadel? And you’re claiming to be it’s master?”

“Well… yes,” Noah said.

“That isn’t possible,” Vivian said.

“Why?” Noah asked. He frowned. The bit with the Citadel was one of the few things that he hadn’t lied about.

“Because you aren’t the master of the Lost Citadel,” Vivian said. “I am.”