“Vermil Linwick,” the middle-aged man said, his voice as coarse as sandpaper. “I hear you have had an altercation with my apprentice.”

“I’m afraid I’ve got no idea what you’re talking about. An altercation implies there were two equal parties. What happened was that Edward requested a lesson and I provided it.”

“A lesson that involved striking my apprentice in the face?”

“He specifically requested it. I obliged his request.”

“Don’t play games with me, Vermil,” the man spat. “You aren’t even part of the main branch. You’ve let your ego run unchecked for far too long if you think you can hit Edward and bluff your way out of it.”

“See, this is a problem,” Noah said. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours. You appear to have forgotten to wear your nametag.”

“You don’t know who Magus Allen is?” Edward asked. “You really must be hiding under a rock to ignore the rest of the world. Did getting surpassed by everyone else in the family hurt that bad?”

“About as much as your nose did, I’d presume.”

“I see what you were talking about, Edward,” Allen said, adjusting the cuffs on his sleeves. “Vermil has sprouted an ego that far eclipses the dirt foundations of his position.”

Noah’s smile fell away. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my patience with your apprentice, Magus Allen. He was actively insulting one of my students. Normally, I’d leave such arguments to them for resolution, but he went to strike my student when she was not fighting back. I find that unacceptable, so I intervened.”

Allen’s scowl flattened. His gaze shifted down to Edward, whose smug smile froze solid.

“He’s lying, Professor. We were just talking.”

“And my fist just happened to be in the space where your nose was. I had no idea you’d walk into it, especially with a shield. It’s depressing, really.”

“Vermil!” Allen snapped. “Control your tongue. And Edward, we will speak of this. Extensively. For the time being, Vermil has still brought affront to you and, through you, me. It was not your place to discipline my disciple, Vermil.”

Noah rolled his shoulders. “I didn’t realize you were going to stop him from hitting Isabel. Or were you going to bow and ask her forgiveness had I not intervened? The way I see it, I’ve saved you the humiliation of having to apologize to a girl beneath your station.”

Allen’s eyes narrowed. He studied Noah closely for several moments. Edward gaped at him.

“Professor, you can’t possibly mean to just forget this. He punched me in the nose! It broke!”

Allen pressed his lips together so tightly that they turned white. “I am now left with a sour taste in my mouth, but the family rules are very clear. An affront to Edward’s honor cannot be ignored. It was not your place to intervene.”

Noah curled his lip in distaste. “Let’s get on with it then. What do you want?”

“A duel!” Edward exclaimed.

Noah’s kept his face identical as he called on his magic, drawing on all the energy his Vibration Rune had to offer. The moment Allen made a threatening move toward him, he prepared to unleash the entirety of the spell into the man.

He doubted that would stop the professor, but he didn’t expect it to. All it had to do was distract the man for long enough for Noah to run him through with his flying sword.

“A duel is not appropriate for this level of insult,” Allen said with a scowl. “The incident was not witnessed by anyone other than the two of you and Vermil’s student. Bring her here.”

“No.”

“I’m sorry?” Allen asked.

“I believe I said no. I will not be involving her in this. She did nothing to require her presence.”

“She’s the reason I got punched,” Edward said.

“No, you’re the reason you got punched,” Noah corrected. “I will not be getting her.”

“You refuse a direct order from a superior?” Allen’s words grew colder. “Are you certain?”

Noah shrugged in response. He adjusted his stance, watching Allen closely for any signs of aggression.

“From my understanding, this student of yours has no standing in any noble house. What’s gotten into you, Vermil? Your stay as a teacher here is already tenuous at best. If the house withdraws its support for you–”

“I’m afraid that this is becoming a conflict of interests,” Noah interrupted. “As a teacher at Arbitage, it is my duty to ensure my students can learn unobstructed. Bringing my relationship to the Linwicks into this will interfere with my duties. As I am currently an acting teacher, I must choose those duties first.”

Allen’s eyes narrowed. “You place great importance on your apprentices. Very well. If you wish to act a fool, I will oblige you. As this argument started between our apprentices, why don’t we let it end with them as well? During the exam in the coming weeks, they will both attempt to defeat as many Slashers as possible. The winner is the one that kills the most on their own.”

“How does that solve anything?” Noah asked.

“Those with strength are in the right. If your student wins, Edward will admit that he was mistaken and will drop this issue. If he is victorious, then she will apologize to him.”

Noah pursed his lips. “No.”

“I’m sorry?” Allen asked, his eyes bulging.

“My student is already in the right and stands to gain nothing from this. If we win, you give us a Greater Rune from your collection.”

“Why would I possibly agree to such a deal? This argument is not worth a Greater Rune,” Allen spat.

“Ah. You’re that confident Edward will lose, then?”

“What? Professor, I’m not going to lose to gutter scum! She probably doesn’t even have anything other than Lesser Runes.”

“I’ll give you a Greater Rune from my own collection if we lose,” Noah offered.

“I already have all of yours. You took them from the family,” Allen said.

“It’s been a while. I’ve learned some new ones.”

Allen studied Noah’s face for several moments. Edward glared at Noah from beside the older professor.

“Very well,” Allen said, shaking his head. “I agree to your terms.”

“Lovely. It was wonderful catching up with you,” Noah said. “If you don’t mind, I’ve got a lot to accomplish. Are we done here?”

Allen put a firm hand on Edward’s shoulder and gave Noah a curt nod. “We’re done.”

They strode off. Noah watched them leave, then let out a slow sigh and closed his eyes. Only once they were out of sight did he allow himself to release the energy he’d gathered from the Vibration Rune.

When he opened his eyes again, Noah jumped. Moxie was standing in front of him.

“God, woman. Make a little noise when you sneak up on me.”

“Scared, Vermil?”

“I nearly blasted you into a bunch of quivering little bits.”

Moxie snorted. “Right. Because you walk around channeling your Runes–” Moxie trailed off, noticing Noah’s expression. “You were channeling your Runes?”

Noah shrugged. “It looked like he might have been planning to challenge me to a duel.”

“And you thought you could defeat a Rank 4 professor? Did you not see the stripes on his jacket?” Moxie asked, aghast.

“Sure I saw them, and no, I didn’t think I could defeat him normally. That’s why I was going to attack the moment he started the duel.”

“Your magic wouldn’t have broken his shield.”

Noah patted the hilt of his flying sword. “I know, but this might have.”

“You were going to stab him?”

“…yes?”

Moxie burst into laughter. “That’s a good one. Something’s seriously wrong with you, Vermil. There’s no way you were always this funny. You might have been tolerable before if you were.”

“Was that a compliment I just heard? Or are my ears simply failing me?”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Moxie said. She turned on her heel. “Well, thanks for the show. I didn’t expect you to actually go and try to make a fool of both yourself and your students, though. That’ll be fun to watch.”

“We’ll see,” Noah replied, smiling softly as Moxie strutted away.

Did you really just come all the way here to watch me and Allen meet? You could have at least brought some popcorn to share.

I really wish I got my hands on that damn book before the snot-nosed brat took it. Maybe I’ll steal it off him during the exam.

Noah chuckled to himself and took off, heading for his rooms. He had some more thoughts on magic to work through before the day was over, and he needed to make sure to get a good night of rest before he went back to the Scorched Acres the following day to meet his new Skinwalker ally.