Return of the Runebound Professor Chapter 930: Just a little busy

“Well,” Noah said, looking out over his runes and taking a moment to just admire them. “That’s seven.”

It is. Very astute observation. I’m glad that it seems the months of our separation have made you considerably sharper.

“Okay. I really don’t need the sarcasm when I’m trying to let myself be proud of my work,” Noah grumbled, glaring up in the general direction of Grim’s voice. “Let me have my moment.”

I was not being sarcastic.

Noah paused for a moment.

Then his eyes narrowed.

“Fuck off.”

Grim’s distant laughter echoed through Noah’s soul.

Just figure out how you will combine these new runes of yours. I am quite eager to see your proper ascension to Rank 6. I suspect it will be quite significant… and necessary. You will not be able to make it much farther in the tournament as you are now. The chances of running into someone too powerful to deal with is growing.

“Yes,” Noah said. He blew out an annoyed sigh. “I am more than aware. Especially given the fact that I can’t really afford to barely scrape out a win. Nobody’s going to talk about that in the way that I need them to. If word is going to get to all of my students… I’m going to need to sweep up some the competition. Should be more than doable at Rank 6 so long as I don’t run into the stronger Rank 7s.”

That would depend on how long it takes you to actually manage a Rank 6. This is not a Rune that you want to sit around with if the combination is poorly made. You remember what happened last time. The effects may be even more profound given the rather odd state of your soul. I am unsure.

“Right,” Noah said. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair before sending another look at the runes floating around him. “I’m definitely going for a flawless combination. I was just taking a moment to think on exactly how I should do that. There are a lot of ways these could combine.”

Most of them are wrong.

“And some of them are right — and still wrong,” Noah said. The corner of his lips pulled up in a faint smile. “I’m starting to realize that there are a lot of ways that runes can combine that are technically correct in every aspect and still just wrong for me. Flawless doesn’t always equate to suitable.”

So what is right?

“If I knew that, do you really think I’d just be sitting around here and talking?” Noah asked. He chewed on the insides of his cheeks as he thought. “It’ll obviously be some manner of greater disaster rune. But it’s not just about making the most powerful disaster.”

Why? That is the most logical progression of your current path. Continue making larger and larger disasters.

“Indirectly, yes,” Noah said. “But that’s not the main goal. I need to think about the actual direction I’m heading in at this point. And I need to be aware that this is my Keystone and will also set the direction that I follow while creating my Rank 7. So I can’t just go and try to make the most destructive option. To be honest, pure power probably isn’t the most suited to the direction I want to go. There are limits to raw destructive force when it comes to advancing it in increasingly difficult ways.

I doubt it. There is always room for more power when one is suitably disposed. And you seem to be. You seem to have a strong predisposition to causing immense amount of destruction wherever you go.

“Okay. That isn’t entirely fair,” Noah said. “Are you blaming me for what happened in Arbalest? Because that wasn’t my fault. It was Father.”

I am not blaming you for what happened in Arbalest. You were objectively involved.

“That’s—”

You now have the culprit’s rune within your soul. It is directly above us.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from NovelPhoenix. Please report it.

Noah sighed. “That was a coincidence and we both know it.”

I am certain anyone else who bears witness to your soul would be prone to agree. But if this is what you believe, then it is your path. I cannot say better than you. Intent is integral to success, and forcing yourself to visualize what you do not desire is certain to end in failure.

“Right,” Noah said. He glanced back at his runes. Then he frowned. Words were one thing. But actually combining a bunch of isaster runes into something else was an entirely different one. Though, it wasn’t like he was trying to step away from the disaster direction.

If one smashed a bunch of things that looked and quacked like ducks together, they were probably going to end up with another, larger duck.

He’d already been planning on trying to work music a little more into his runes. But this wasn’t going to be a music rune. That would be far too great of a jump. What he needed here was an instrument. Something for his Formations to use to create music.

Noah shook his head. That was three words. He didn’t need his magic unfocused. The shorter rune names were, the stronger they became. Perhaps Singing Cataclysm or something like that might have been more suitable. He nodded slowly to himself.

At the very least, that was the right direction. He already had a violin. There was no replacing that. He didn’t have the slightest desire to. Finding runes that could complement that would be ideal. Instruments of disaster. That would be the direction he’d follow for all of the his Rank 6s.

You look constipated.

“I am thinking,” Noah snapped. “I don’t know exactly what to do for the Rank 6. I know the general direction, of course, but I want to at least have some general guidelines before I go slapping prototypes together. This is a Rank 6. I don’t expect to get it right on the first try, but it would definitely be best to minimize the number of times I have to tear shit apart.”

That would indeed be wise. You genuinely have gotten a little more clever in the past several months. This is good. You would not make it far as the Herald if you continued bashing your head against every single wall you encountered until either it or you broke. Whatever you endured was good for you.

“I don’t think a continued stay in the Beyond is good for anyone,” Noah said. He chewed his lower lip, then crossed his arms behind his back and started to pace back and force across his soul. “What instrument do I start with? And should it be a literal one? Literal instruments does sound pretty cool. But it also seems slightly contrived. Maybe theoretical would really be better. I don’t want to accidentally create a rune of piano-mancy. That would definitely not be the direction I was shooting for.”

I do not believe you can mistakenly transform all the power you have gathered in the direction of disasters into a rune that allows you to control literal pianos.

“I mean, a hail of pianos falling on someone’s head would probably be a disaster,” Noah said. “But I see your point. Maybe I should just try both and see which one works better. I think I’ve got the general guidelines lined up enough at this point. It should only be a few attempts to figure out what feels best.”

What instrument will you start with?

“Harp,” Noah said. “I’ve already gotten a taste of how that one would work with my pattern. No reason not to pull it in properly. And I think it’s quite fitting.”

I do not see how. But it is your rune, and my understanding of instruments is largely limited to your faded memories. Let us see what you are capable of.

Noah nodded. More of his thoughts aligned. This was definitely the right path. It would take a few shots to get, but he was certain he could pull it off eventually. He just had to—

A hand fell on Noah’s shoulder.

He blinked. His soul fell away as his eyes snapped back open in the real world.

Lee was crouched in front of him, a frown on her lips that Noah felt crossing across his own.

“Lee?” he asked, brow furrowing in confusion. “What’s going on? I’m a little busy.”

“I know,” Lee said. Her eyes flicked down to his side. “But…”

Noah’s gaze followed hers down to his black tournament badge, which rested on the ground by his side.

It was glowing bright green.