Return of the Runebound Professor - Chapter 819

Noah studied the runes floating within his soul. An addition to his own Rank 5 Runes, he had four new ones — two Horizon Collapse and two Crumbling World Shaker. That set him at exactly seven runes. He’d filled the slots in his soul.

Of course, that really didn’t mean all that much to him. Noah had so much space to work with that he was pretty sure he could store several more Rank 5 runes without all that much trouble at all.

Though, right now, he didn’t need more runes. The ones he had would be more than sufficient to work with for the time being. He had no plans of keeping all of the new runes around. Their construction was too shoddy. Noah never would have used any of the four for an actual rune he relied on.

Building a Rank 6 out of these… well, that was the way a Rank 6 monster got killed in a single hit.

But Noah could see deeper the surface. The Rank 5 combinations weren’t anything he had any desire to use. But within them, buried in layers of either mismatched runes or insufficient intent, there was potential.

And that was exactly what he wanted.

That potential might have been completely useless to anyone else — but Sunder wrote its own rules. The magic within the runes was practically begging to be released.

Noah didn’t even have to sit around wondering about how to get started. He already knew the direction he wanted to take it. There was no need for a major deviation from the direction that the runes had already been moving.

He’d been meaning to re-build a proper Vibration Rune for some time. They were incredibly fun to use — and he could think of a hell of a lot more uses for them now than he’d had back when he’d first gotten them at Rank 2.

 Noah was fairly certain that most of the components were already pretty close to where he needed them to be. Really, the dragon had just been missing the pizazz. It hadn’t properly understood vibration, and that had caused it to use a few unnecessary parts and messed up its intent.

That was easy enough to fix.

Still, Noah studied the runes for several minutes. He was pretty sure he knew exactly what his approach would be. That didn’t mean he couldn’t mess up. It was best to make absolutely sure he didn’t miss anything before he got started.

Grim wasn’t with him to hold onto anything. Given the quality of the runes he was working with, he’d have to do a fair bit of deconstruction and rebuilding. That likely meant there would only be one chance at this. A few small mistakes would be fine, but if he messed up a major combination, there would be no coming back from it.

It would have been a massive shame to mess up such an easy rune when it was practically just waiting for him to pop it together. And so he sat there in silence, observing the runes as he pieced together the direction he would take them in once he started splitting things apart.

The faster I move, the more I’ll be able to fill the rune up with the excess energy from breaking the components apart. Four Rank 5s isn’t an insignificant amount of power. Even though they’re not that well made… I could probably fill a significant portion of my new rune up as long as I don’t take too long doing this.

Noah nodded to himself.

There was only so much planning that could be done before actually seeing what he had to work with. The time for sitting still was done — and his patience had run its course. Noah extended a hand toward the sky.

Pressure bore down on him. His runes trembled as Sunder descended. The enormous Master Rune didn’t hold back in the slightest. Sheer strength roared through it, forcing everything else in his soul to tremble under its intensity.

Cold energy sliced through Noah as his finger met sunder. His veins turned jet black. He extended his other hand. The first of the Horizon Collapse runes drifted toward him, a pig marching to slaughter.

Noah studied it for one instant longer.

Then he let his finger brush across its surface.

A black line bisected the rune. It shattered, power bursting forth like oil from a punctured pipe. The rune’s components poured out into the air all around Noah. He examined all of the components but didn’t hesitate to extend his hand toward the second of the Horizon Collapse runes and repeat the process.

Noah did the same thing with the first of the Crumbling World Shaker runes. Only then did he pause. He let himself absorb all the options shimmering in the sea of oily energy expanding around him. His tongue prickled from the sheer amount of magic hanging around.

But he didn’t rush. Even as the power started to dissipate, Noah simply observed the Rank 4s before him. He pieced combinations together in his mind, aligning the options with what he’d imagined. Not a single one of the Rank 4 runes was exactly what he needed. More work was needed.

He studied everything patiently.

Then he got to work.

The first thing Noah did was slice several of the most promising Rank 4 components into Rank 3s. He filled the air around him with a galaxy of Runes. The sheer wastefulness of the scene probably would have made any noble from Arbalest weep tears of anguish.

Noah didn’t even blink. He snapped the Rank 3s back together nearly as fast as he’d torn them apart, remaking them into Rank 4 runes that suited him better. Noah focused on keeping mostly spatial and vibration aspects within the runes. The two of them worked well with his current path and already suited each other quite well.

Everything else was tossed to the side.

The runes in the air around him started to reduce in number. Some of them — discarded — faded away, while others were consumed as he put them into new combinations. He only had to go backward on his work once to repair a poorly combined Rank 4. The delay cost him a few seconds. Noah barely even noticed.

Nothing mattered other than the combination. He was more than willing to sacrifice every single scrap of excess power if it meant bringing the Rank 5 he’d pictured to life.

But it didn’t look like he was going to have to.

One Flawless Rank 4 after the other came together. Before Noah knew it, seven of them shimmered before him in wait — every single one of them stuffed full from the dwindling ocean of energy that still hung around him.

He still wasn’t done.

The hardest combination was the final one.

Noah gathered his focus once more. He thinned his lips and raised his arms. The pressure in his soul increased as he pressed the seven Rank 4 runes toward each other. His eyes narrowed and he layered intent through his will.

Only a single thing mattered. Every single aspect of his being was entirely focused on vibration. On creating a Flawless Rank 5 Rune.

Noah squeezed his eyes shut.

Then brought his hands together.

There was a brilliant flash of light. It cut through even his eyelids as a wave of pressure tore through Noah’s soul. His clothes snapped in the gale and he was pushed a few inches back, skidding across the surface of his mindspace.

His eyes opened before the pressure had even started to fade. The rune was definitely at least perfect — but that wasn’t nearly enough for him. Noah barely even took a moment to read the new rune. Instead, he drew on its strength. He examined its flowing shape carefully.

And within it, he found an imperfection. That wouldn’t do. It wouldn’t do at all.

Noah’s hand raised.

Sunder shuddered.

A perfect Rank 5 Rune shattered. It hadn’t been given even five seconds to enjoy its new existence before its creator deemed it insufficient. There was no room for such a creation within Noah’s mindspace.

He focused himself, then adjusted his intent slightly. Rushing to recombine the rune would only result in the same failure. Noah drew a small breath.

Then his eyes narrowed once more.

And, once more, he brought the components of his Rank 5 together.

He didn’t even close his eyes this time around. He kept them firmly affixed on the seven shuddering Rank 4s as he brought them together. The brilliant flash of light that followed sliced straight into his eyes, blinding him.

Pressure slammed into Noah’s gut. It wormed through his lungs and sent him stumbling a step back. Wind screamed past his ears and whipped through his hair. The only thing he could see was burning white.

But Noah didn’t need to see. He drew on the new rune without even waiting for his vision to return. Sight was an extra sense. A bonus. All that truly mattered was the ability to feel the pressure from his newly made.

He poked and prodded at each aspect of the Rank 5.

The pressure remained constant.

A smile started to cross over Noah’s lips.

He hadn’t even used all four of the components. One of the Crumbling World Shaker Rank 5s remained. But even in spite of that, Noah’s work was done.

His vision slowly started to return. It was almost too late at this point. Noah knew what he would find waiting for him well before he could see.

World Tremor

A new Rank 5 floated in the air, having taken its place equidistant from his other runes.

And it was Flawless.