Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 860

Brayden’s eyes snapped over toward Noah at the sound of his voice, going wide in recognition.

“Noah? Is that you?”

“Who else could it be?” Noah asked with a disbelieving laugh.

He yanked his mask off, but didn’t get a chance to say anything else before the massive bear of a man slammed into him, pulling both Noah and Lee into a tight hug. Brayden had definitely gotten stronger since the last time they’d met. A lot stronger. He quite literally lifted both of them off the ground in his delight, and his huge arm squeezed around Noah’s back tight enough to crush the air right out of his lungs.

Noah let out a surprised wheeze, his feet kicking in denial of the fact that the ground had been rudely parted from beneath them. It didn’t even seem like Brayden had realized that he’d lifted them into the air — and it wasn’t like Noah or Lee could have said anything if they’d wanted to.

The huge man let go a few seconds later, dropping them both back to the ground unceremoniously. Noah and Lee both landed on the street in synchronized thuds.

“I can’t believe it. Noah! I thought — well, I don’t even know what I thought. We all knew you’d be back. But actually seeing you back is a totally different thing. You crazy bastard, you are. How did you do it? What happened with Father? And what took you so damn long? It’s been months!”

“It’s a long story,” Noah replied with a laugh.

That only caused Brayden to bring his hands down on both of their shoulders. His arms fell with enough force to nearly send Noah’s chest rocketing down into his legs. He staggered — and more surprisingly, so did Lee.

“Oh, shit.” Brayden lifted his hands with a wince. “Sorry about that. I thought I’d gotten a bit better at controlling things, but I just got so damn excited. I mean, Noah! Lee! It’s really you! Both of you!”

“It’s damn good to see you, Brayden,” Noah said, clapping the other man on the arm. “And good god, man. What the hell have you been eating? You were built like a brick shithouse before. Now… damn. I don’t even know what you are. A giant? Why are you so huge?”

“I’ve been training,” Brayden replied with a huge grin. He raised his hand to slap them on the shoulders again, then caught himself and lowered them with a sheepish clearing of his throat. “A lot. I have a few new Body Imbuements as well. But forget that. What about you, man? And you as well, Lee? How is everyone? I — shit. I have so many questions.”

“It’s just us, right now,” Lee said. She scrunched her nose and tapped it with a finger. “My nose doesn’t work here. We didn’t actually find you on purpose. It was pure luck.”

“Luck?” Brayden asked in disbelief. “In a city this big? I — oh, who cares? It hardly matters. Now there are three of us. I can hardly believe it. Tell me everything. What brought you here? How have you been?”

“I wasn’t joking about it being a long story,” Noah replied. His words sounded a little distant to his own ears. He could still barely even believe his eyes. Stumbling into Brayden like this was beyond just a crazy coincidence. The probability of something like this happening had to be astronomically low.

Hell, the probability of it is probably just straight up zero. Aqua Terra is like the size of Arbalest itself, and that’s only something of an exaggeration. I —

Wait.

Noah’s eyes narrowed.

“Brayden, have you been traveling with Your?”

“Hm?” Brayden blinked. “No. Why? Is she okay?”

“Knowing her? Yes,” Noah replied. Then he glanced over his shoulder, looking up toward the roofs of the houses around them. There was nothing there. He shook his head and looked back to Brayden. “Just thinking to myself. And I’ll give you the whole rundown of everything at some point in the near future, if that’s okay? I don’t want to get into it on the street.”

“Oh, shit.” Brayden nodded. “You’re right. Put your mask back on. You hiding from someone?”

“Nope.” Noah pulled the mask back on anyway. “I’m just using this as a persona. Figured I might end up pissing someone off during the tournament and such. Just wanted to make sure I have an identity to burn if I have to. You never know when that’ll come in use.”

“You kidding me?” Brayden let out a snort and flicked Noah in the shoulder. “I’ve hung around you for more than enough time, Noah. I think I know quite well just how often that comes in use. What do you go by now, then?”

“For you? Still Noah. But for everyone else… I’m back to using Spider.”

Brayden nodded. His features hardened, jaw clenched, and his eyes turned serious as the amusement drained away from his face. “And Father? I need to know, Noah. Is that bastard—”

“Dead,” Noah said. “He’s dead.”

Brayden’s mind seemed to skip a beat. His eyes kept staring ahead, but it was like a switch had momentarily flipped itself off within his mind. Then he blinked, and his thoughts were back in the present. He swallowed, his tightly bound fists draining of their tension.

Then he took a step back.

It was a moment before Brayden spoke again.

“You’re certain?” Brayden asked, this time in little more than a whisper. “He’s not the type to go down easily.”

“I’m certain,” Noah said. “I finished him myself. He’s gone, Brayden. Without a doubt.”

Brayden exhaled. And, with that breath, what seemed to be twenty years of stress sloughed away from his shoulders. His back straightened and his posture noticeably righted itself as he grew — somehow — even taller.

“He’s dead,” Brayden repeated. The words were closer to a prayer than a statement. “Truly?”

“Truly,” Noah said. “His soul was swallowed by… well, infinity. He’s not even walking to a rebirth. He’s just gone. Forever.”

Brayden swallowed. Then his eyes narrowed.

“Good fucking riddance,” Brayden said. “After everything he’s done, death almost seems too kind for a monster like that. He took so much. The entirety of Arbalest is gone because of him. I’ll never forgive — oh, shit. You do know about Arbalest, right?”

“I do,” Noah said. “But I was told that everyone else is okay. They are, right?”

“Ah, right.” Brayden glanced to Lee. “You told him. Of course. Forgive me. My brain is a little scattered. I wasn’t expecting this. I — shit, Noah. I’m going to need a drink. A few of them.”

“Not too many, I hope,” Noah said with a wry grin. “I know how you get when you’re drunk.”

“That was your fault,” Brayden said through a laugh and pointed an accusatory finger at Noah. “You were wringing me for information! And how was I supposed to know you were so good with your drink? You’re like a quarter my size! It’s not fair, you know.”

“Oh, wait. Did I never tell you?” Noah asked. He sheepishly cleared his throat. “I was about to pass out. Damn near did. I’m way worse at handling my drink than you are.”

“What?” Brayden’s brow furrowed. “But you… I fell asleep in your room. I remember. It’s how you figured out what Father’s goals with Vermil were, wasn’t it? How did you get that information if you were as drunk as I was? I barely even remember what it was we spoke about.”

“Killed myself to sober up. Lee ate the body,” Noah replied.

Brayden started to laugh. Then he stopped as he realized that Noah wasn’t joking around anymore. He stared at him for a moment. Then he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You have a problem, Noah. A big one.”

“Hey! That was a while ago. I’ll have you know that I’ve been death-free for quite some time now. I’m very proud of it.”

“You have?” Brayden blinked. “Then… what about Father? I know you said you’d talk about this later, but how did it take you so long to get back to us? Don’t tell me you’ve been fighting him this whole time in some kind of time loop or something.”

Noah let out a burst of laughter. “No. Nothing like that, fortunately. I killed him months ago. There were just… other unexpected complications that delayed my return to Aqua Terra. But I’m back now. And this time, I don’t have to hide who I am. Not from any of us, at least. I’ll tell you everything I can once we get to somewhere private where we don’t have to worry about someone overhearing our conversation.”

That seemed to be enough to satiate Brayden. “Okay. That’s enough to sate me for now. I… damn. I still can’t believe this happened. What a coincidence. The gods must be looking out for us. Maybe they feel bad that you had to deal with Father without their help.”

Something tells me this had absolutely nothing to do with the gods.

A coincidence of this scale… I get the feeling the fingers of a certain moonlight-loving demon are buried up to the palm in this pie.

“Maybe so,” Noah agreed. Even if Yoru had orchestrated this, he wasn’t going to complain. He didn’t know why she wouldn’t just come and say hello herself. Maybe he was just seeing shadows where there were none. But if he was right, then there was probably a reason Yoru hadn’t shown up in person yet. She might not have even yet been in Aqua Terra. But that could be dealt with at a later time. His emotions were a bit too muddled up at the moment.

“What were the two of you up to?” Brayden asked. “You want to go sit down and catch up?”

“Over breakfast?” Lee offered. “I’m hungry.”

“That does sound quite nice,” Brayden agreed. “Assuming it doesn’t interfere with anything, that is. I assume the two of you were on your way to follow your badge, right? Mine lit up this morning.”

“We were,” Noah confirmed. “How about we go figure out whatever bullshit this thing wants us to do so we don’t get booted out of the tournament on a technicality, then go get breakfast together?”

“That sounds like a plan,” Brayden said with a smile. He bumped a fist into Noah’s shoulder, but managed to restrain himself enough to avoid knocking Noah through a wall. “Let’s do it. It’s been too long.”

“Yeah,” Noah said with a smile of his own. “It has.”