Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 210: Friendly

“I’ve never much enjoyed this,” Silvertide said as they reached the stairs at the end of the hall. Noah drew up beside him.

“Enjoyed what?” Noah asked.

“Stairs,” Silvertide replied. He patted what Noah presumed to be his namesake. The silver leg shimmered even in the faint light of the T building. If it hadn’t been attached to his body, it could have been a work of art in a museum. The intricate carvings caught the light, twisting scattering it back across the floor.

“Is it hard for you to walk down stairs?”

“No.” Silvertide gave Noah a wry smile and strode down the stairs, taking two of them at a time. Noah hurried to catch up with him at the bottom before he got left behind. “In spite of what people assume, I am far from crippled. My leg is far from the weakest part of my body.”

“Then–”

“I am not the only one who lost a leg, and not everyone was fortunate enough to find a replacement as well made as mine.”

They reached the end of the T building and stepped out onto the path, heading out toward the garden. Silvertide paused by one of the multicolored rose bushes and leaned in, inhaling deeply. He let out a satisfied sigh. “The gardens are far nicer than any building.”

“I’ve got mixed feelings toward them. I keep ending up having really important conversations here.” Noah caught Silvertide’s stance shift, and the old man cleared his throat.

“Ah. That’s unfortunate. I fear I may be about to add to that count.”

“I’d gathered as much. Might as well get it over with. As long as you aren’t about to proclaim that you’re actually part of the Linwick family and have come to marry me, I think I’ll live.”

Silvertide chuckled and shook his head. He sniffed the flower again, a small smile flickering across his features. “You’re safe from that, I can assure you.”

They fell silent for a few seconds. Noah raised an eyebrow.

“I’ll admit that I’m not the most patient person in the world. Was there something you wanted to say?”

Silvertide turned away from the roses to properly face Noah. “My mind occasionally wanders in my old age, so I hope you’ll forgive me. I have a piece of information that you very much want, but I need to know that you can receive it.”

“What’s that meant to mean?” Noah’s brow furrowed in confusion. “Like you want me to prove that I’m safe to trust or not going to betray you?”

“Nothing of the sort. Your character has already been tested. It’s a far more practical thing I seek to test. This sort of information is dangerous, Magus Vermil. Learning it will inevitably put you on a path in which you will come into conflict.”

It was Noah’s turn to laugh. He waved away Silvertide’s surprised look. He’d probably meant to impress the importance of what he was about to share with Noah, but it had been so long since Noah hadn’t been fighting someone or another that the weight of Silvertide’s words was lost on him. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day. I’m not trying to disrespect your caution, but I’d take risk over ignorance.”

“Most would say the same, but few actually know what that means,” Silvertide said. He rolled his shoulders and a small smile pulled at one side of his mouth. “I am afraid words aren’t sufficient for this. You will have to prove that you are capable of defending yourself. If you can’t, then telling you will only cause trouble.”

Noah tensed, expecting an attack at any second. Nothing came. Silvertide just watched him quietly, observing his reaction.

“That’s usually the part where I expect you to attack.”

“You haven’t agreed to anything yet. If you don’t want to know, then I won’t.”

“Huh. Considerate. You do realize that you’re three ranks above me, right? Even if I fight you, there’s no world where I win.”

“I would not come at you with the full force of my power. That would not be a fight. It would be an execution. I make no promise that you will enjoy the fight, though. I mean to test you, not to give you a sparring partner.”

Noah actually took a few seconds to consider Silvertide’s words. He wasn’t particularly worried about any injuries, so he didn’t see any major drawbacks in trying to learn whatever Silvertide was hiding.

He doesn’t gain anything from seeing how I fight either. I’m not going to be using Sunder or the Fragment of Renewal against him. Revealing them isn’t worth whatever he knows. I guess he’s genuinely just trying to make sure I’m strong enough to handle whatever this will expose me to.

“Alright,” Noah said, taking a step back and lowering his stance as he drew on Natural Disaster’s energy, gathering droplets of water on his palms. “If you think its important, then I want that information. How are we doing this?”

Silver flashed. Noah lunged back, narrowly avoiding – something. He wasn’t actually sure what the blur was, but it passed through the air where he’d been standing so quickly that it was gone by the time he hit the ground.

He rolled to his feet, and another blur shot out from behind Silvertide. Noah rolled to the side, and there was a whump behind him as the ground was struck. He shot upright, thrusting his hand forward.

A drill of crackling water leapt forward, arcing for Silvertide’s chest. Another gray blur flashed through the air, carving the magic apart. The water splashed harmlessly across Silvertide. He hadn’t moved once from his starting position. His hands were crossed behind his back in parade rest, and his expression was inscrutable.

There was no indication from where the attacks were coming from. Another blur shot for Noah, and he twisted to the side, narrowly avoiding it as it. He’d seen the attack several more times now, but he still had absolutely no idea what it was or where it was coming from – aside from that it was associated with Silvertide. Another blur shot out from Noah’s side. He threw himself down, and it passed overhead.

That one didn’t even come from behind him. What the hell is this magic? I can’t even get a second to breathe and counter. In that case…

Noah pressed his hands to the ground as he pushed himself back up, sending a tremor running through it. Silvertide stayed true to his position, but he stumbled slightly as the ground trembled beneath him. That brief moment was enough for Noah to buy just a little extra time to think.

Now that I think about it, Natural Disaster is pretty bad for small scale fights. It’s big and flashy, but when I’m trying not to accidentally damage things around me, it’s kind of clunky. Sunder would be much better here, but I obviously can’t use that.

Silvertide already knows about Combustion, though. No point trying to hide it. That might be the tool I need.

Noah drew in a deep breath, dodging out of the way of another blurring attack, then ripped the air away from the area around them. If Silvertide was surprised, his expression didn’t show it. He just remained in his place, watching Noah.

Two gray blurs whipped out for Noah, coming from opposite directions. He dropped to the ground, then rolled to the side instinctively. A third strike bit into the dirt where he’d been. Noah combusted a small patch of grass beside him, ripping the flaming material into the air and sending it shooting for Silvertide, more to distract him than actually do damage.

As always, a silvery flash cut the magic away. But, in the brief instant that it took Silvertide to block the attack, Noah charged him. Two more blurs shot up at him from ground level and Noah threw himself forward, landing in a roll and launching right back to his feet without losing a second.

If I can’t get him with the long range spells, then I’ll have to get closer and see if I’ve got more luck there.

Noah formed a blade of wind. Lightning crackled within it as it leapt from his palms, streaking out for Silvertide. Once again, the old mage cut it away. Noah lunged, driving his shoulder into Silvertide’s stomach to tackle him.

To his surprise, Silvertide didn’t even flinch. It felt like striking a brick wall. A tremor ran down Noah’s body and he stumbled back in surprise, his shoulder throbbing violently. He lurched back and a silvery blur carved past his face, narrowly missing once more.

Noah hopped back, using a burst of wind to push himself out of range. He watched Silvertide warily, but the man had still yet to move from his spot. For several seconds, the two studied each other.

Then Noah pressed his lips together. Using more magic would end up destroying the garden – and would make absolutely no difference in the fight. Silvertide wasn’t even flinching at his attacks.

It was like they weren’t there, and adding a little extra juice wasn’t going to change anything. If this was Silvertide’s defense when he was strongly restraining his powers, Noah didn’t want to think about how deadly the man was when he actually tried.

If this is the level of the threat I’m going to get into if I actually get the information Silvertide is offering… I can’t defeat it. Not yet. Sunder’s powers were already limited against the jaguar monster because I wasn’t strong enough to channel it properly. Even at Rank 3, if I’m up against someone like this, I suspect I wouldn’t be able to trust Sunder to kill them instantly.

I can’t win this fight. If I didn’t care about revealing Sunder’s powers, I might try some more aggressive moves and get myself killed until I found a gap in how Silvertide fights… but that’s obviously not going to work.

“I see,” Noah said, lowering his hands and taking a step back. “I can’t win this. I was thinking I could count it as a victory if I landed a blow on you, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Not without us tearing the garden down – and probably not even then.”

Silvertide smiled. “You pass.”

“What?”

“Your strength can always change,” Silvertide said, uncrossing his hands and walking over to Noah. “You can get stronger. The circumstances of a fight can favor you, or you may have powerful allies. But what does not change is your approach. When faced with an insurmountable threat, people act differently. You were bold enough to try fighting me, but didn’t beat yourself against the rocks when you realized you were outmatched.”

“You were just trying to see if I’d back off from a threat if I realized I couldn’t win?”

“You’d be surprised how many people would continue until they were defeated, convinced that all that matters in life is will. Understanding your situation and yourself is just as important as training,” Silvertide said, a wry smile passing over his features.

I’m not so sure I’d say that I’m typically the type to take things slowly.

“Perseverance isn’t the same thing as idiocy,” Silvertide said, as if he’d read Noah’s thoughts. “I recognize that look in your eyes, Vermil. I’ve had it before. I don’t know you, but I know I’ve done some stupid shit in my life. The difference is knowing when you’re well and truly outmatched versus when you still have a chance.”

“That’s a meaningful lesson,” Noah said, genuinely meaning his words. “Thank you.”

“I am always pleased to be of service. However, you have earned yourself the information you seek – should you still want it.”

“I do.”

“Very well. I was watching the exam this year very closely. There were a multitude of concerning events.”

“I noticed that as well,” Noah said with a nod. “I got lucky enough to get invited to a viewing room with Evergreen.”

“Evergreen? I’d hardly call that lucky.” Silvertide chuckled, but his expression quickly grew serious once more. “Then I’m certain you noticed the interference happening for Isabel and Todd’s team and the appearance of the Rank 6 mage.”

“Two Rank 6 mages, right?”

Silvertide’s brow furrowed and he didn’t respond for several moments. “Likely. I am unsure. One of them was much stronger than the other. That isn’t the concern, though. Nobody has been able to find any trace of them, and I suspect that they’ve left. Whatever their purpose was – it doesn’t matter. The issue is that, when they showed up, I was momentarily distracted. And, in that time, whoever was controlling the monsters to attack Isabel and Todd managed to slip away.”

“So someone was controlling them?”

“Yes. But in a very odd manner. It was like they were aiming more to distract than to actually kill. That is a small fact, but paired with the type of magic that was being used, I have come to a conclusion. The person that was interfering with the exam is a skilled Mind rune user from the Herron family by the name of Calo.”

“The Herrons are one of the largest noble families, aren’t they? I was pretty sure that this was either someone trying to bully Isabel and Todd because of their Blacklisted status or targeting Emily because of the Torrin family. Why would the Herrons care about either of those things?”

“Because neither of those were their goal,” Silvertide replied. “I suspect they have figured out that Isabel still bears her late father’s supposedly missing Master Rune.”