Todd placed his hands together, cupping a marble of flame between them. He stretched them apart and the flame swirled, condensing into a spinning red ball. It streaked away, catching the Slasher in the eye as it roared.

The Slasher’s roar turned into a scream of pain. Instead of staggering away or processing the pain, it charged. Todd stood his ground, watching the monster with careful eyes. It reared back with both hands and lunged.

Noah’s chest clenched despite all the training they’d gone through. Todd dove forward, sliding under the monkey’s arms and springing to his feet behind it, sending a beam straight into the back of the monster’s neck.

The magic seared deep into the Monkey’s fur, burning a hole out the other side, beneath its chin. Surprise flickered in the dim eyes of the Slasher, but it wasn’t down yet. It spun, lashing at Todd with one claw.

Todd dropped to the ground, letting the attack pass over him, then fired one last bolt of fire into its other eye. The magic carved through the rest of its brain and the Slasher staggered before pitching to the ground and lying still.

“Yes!” Noah crowed, pumping a hand in the air. “That’s how you do it!”

Edward nearly missed his own Slasher’s attack as it leapt at him and brought both of its hands down toward his head. Allen barked out a warning and Edward reacted just in time, just barely managing to summon his Shield to protect him before the Slasher crushed him.

“Keep it up,” Noah told Todd. “No reason to stop now. Congratulations on passing, though. We’ll have a pizza party when we get back.”

“Hold on!” Allen barked. “If they leave together, they could cheat. One stays with us or another professor.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. There weren’t any other professors in the immediate area and Allen knew it.

“Go, Todd. Isabel, you can wait for the next Slasher that shows up. Allen seems to think you’re going to need help fighting these.”

Todd gave Noah a sharp nod and jogged off into the forest. Noah turned back to Allen and crossed his arms. A crash shook the forest as Edward narrowly avoided getting crushed.

“We aren’t going to wait around for much longer,” Noah said. “Can he wrap things up?”

“Enough of the commentary,” Allen snarled. “Edward, enough playing around. Kill the Slasher.”

Edward gritted his teeth, and Noah repressed a smile. He couldn’t even be bothered to repress his amusement. He didn’t want the kid dead, of course. It was wrong to wish for the failure of others. He was still a teacher, after all. It was best if everyone succeeded and –

Ah, screw that. I didn’t spend thousands of years dead to pretend like I cared about bullies. I hope you fail, you little brat. That’d teach you to talk shit.

To Noah’s mild disappointment, he didn’t get his wish. Edward’s shield blocked yet another attack and he unleashed his water, carving the Slasher in half. He doubled over, breathing heavily and catching his breath.

“Wow,” Noah said, his tone as dry as Scorched Acres. “Very impressive. Talking about Edward this time, by the way. Not the shield.”

“Can I get the next one?” Isabel asked, shifting from foot to foot.

“Sure you can. It looks like Eddy needs some time to catch his breath.”

“My name isn’t Eddy,” Edward snarled, pushing himself upright. “And I am perfectly fine.”

“You’re wheezing like my grandma, except I think she’d have whooped your ass six ways to Sunday and still have looked to be in better shape,” Noah said curtly. “Don’t get yourself killed to prove a point. How many Slashers could she possibly kill while you recover?”

Edward glanced to Allen, who gave a curt nod.

“We’ll stay here while he rests,” Allen said.

“Sure. Isabel and I will go find a monkey, then.”

“No. As stated, you need to remain with me so that I can confirm if she actually defeats the monsters on her own.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “And how long does Edward need to rest?”

“As long as it takes until he recovers,” Allen replied, the smugness in his tone palpable. “You may leave, of course, but I will consider any kills that Isabel makes in this time moot.”

Noah resisted the urge to grind his teeth. He refused to give Allen the pleasure. There was no doubt in his mind that the man was petty enough to have Edward sit around for the rest of the exam. After all, one was more than zero.

And, while Noah was more than confident to let Isabel hunt on her own, he wasn’t about to leave her together with Allen and Edward. If they planned to try anything, they’d have to do it while he was watching.

"What about a Rune Oath?" Noah asked. "They could-"

"Absolutely not," Allen said through a snort. "I would not tie myself to them and risk my Runes."

What is he talking about? Can't really press on it without giving away too much though. I'll need a different angle.

As he tried to figure out how to circumvent Allen’s terms, the holler of a Slasher came from the forest. Todd burst through the tree line, a huge grin on his face as he sprinted over to stand beside Noah.

“I thought you might have difficulty finding another monster, so I got one for Isabel.”

Isabel’s eyes lit up. She readied her sword and took a step toward the darkness beyond the trees. An instant later, a Slasher lumbered out. Its eyes fixed on Isabel and it snarled. Then it froze.

A blueish white sheen crawled over the Slasher’s skin as a layer of frost enveloped the monster. It tumbled forward, thudding into the ground and rocking back and forth, chilled solid.

“I cannot allow Slashers to attack my student while he is resting.” Allen covered a yawn. “Since he is not actively fighting them, it is my duty as his professor to ensure that he does not have to be in undue duress.”

“You’re a cheating–”

Noah clapped a hand over Todd’s mouth before he could finish speaking. Todd glared at him, but Noah shook his head slightly. Todd let out a hiss as Noah released him.

“Go find another one,” Noah said, a cold note beneath his words. Allen wasn’t even trying to hide what he was doing. And, thanks to his encounter with Moxie that morning, he was more than aware he stood no chance against a Rank 4 mage. Not playing fair, and maybe not even while cheating.

Todd nodded and darted off again.

“Edward was in no danger from that Slasher. It was focused on Isabel,” Noah said.

“I can’t know that for sure. It’s a monster. Its actions are unpredictable.”

Edward smirked at Noah from behind Allen.

Alright. If you’re going to be like this, then two can play at this game. As far as I’ve been able to tell, other mages don’t know when you’re about to use magic. It’s more of a body posture thing. So, if you want your apprentice safe…

Noah drew deeply on his Vibration rune. He sent the magic into the ground, not taking his eyes off Allen.

“Are you really going to–” Noah started, then released the magic. The ground bucked beneath them, the hard dirt splitting apart like cracked ice. He stumbled and cried out, tripping over his own feet and landing face first on the ground. Noah scrambled back upright while Edward and Allen both looked around, tensed and searching for what had caused the disturbance.

“We have to get out of here!” Noah said, grabbing Isabel by the arm. “It’s the Hellreaver. It’s massive. That’s the only thing that could make the ground shake this badly. If things cracked, it must be close.”

“Impossible. The Hellreaver–”

Edward didn’t wait for Allen to finish his sentence. He bolted to his feet and sprinted in the direction they’d come. Noah had to fight to keep the laugh from escaping his lips.

“You better follow your apprentice,” Noah drawled.

Allen snarled and ran after Edward. Noah and Isabel followed after him. As they ran, Noah leaned in to whisper to Isabel.

“Edward is probably going to try to fight the next Slasher you see. Let him do his crap, then just steal the kill. The exam doesn’t say anything about how you had to kill the Slashers, just that you have to kill them.”

Isabel’s eyes widened, but she nodded her understanding. They caught up with Edward a minute later when Allen grabbed him by the shoulder and physically restrained his ward.

“There’s no Hellreaver,” Allen snapped. “Stop running.”

“What was that, then?” Edward asked. “It was massive!”

“It was my fellow teacher’s inability to control his own magic. There was nobody else in the area.”

Whoops, he figured that out fast. Was I that obvious? Oh well, it worked once.

“Edward looks to be in fine shape to me, especially if he was able to run like that,” Noah said, walking up beside them with Isabel. “And I’m sure that his Runes aren’t so weak that he’s already used them all up. I think we can resume looking for a Slasher now, yes? Otherwise, I’d have to assume you’re intentionally interfering with the exam.”

Allen squared his jaw. “Yes. We may.”

It wasn’t hard. Before long, they spotted another Slasher resting against a tree, its eyes closed. They were downwind of it, so it was unlikely that it had smelled them either. Edward’s eyes lit up and he summoned his water.

Isabel didn’t even wait for Edward to attack. She launched herself forward. Edward saw her sprint past him and narrowed his eyes, thrusting his hand forward and sending the stream of deadly water shooting straight at her back.

Noah lunged, but he wasn’t anywhere close enough to stop the magic. He opened his mouth to call out a warning, knowing it would arrive too late.

A blur shot from the trees, moving faster than Noah’s eyes could track. Isabel shifted to the side and stumbled, driving her sword into the tree above the Slasher instead of the monster’s head. The stream of water arced past her, passing through where she’d been standing and punching a hole into the ground just before the Slasher.

Noah’s heart slammed in his chest. No part of him had expected anyone to actually try to attack Isabel directly. Interfering with the exam was one thing. But cold blooded murder – fury bubbled in his chest, but he bound it down.

He hadn’t seen what had saved Isabel, but he knew who it had been. Noah gave a nod to the trees, hoping that Lee would see it. He owed the Skinwalker a lot of new clothes.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Noah snarled, stalking toward Edward. Allen shifted, placing himself between him and the boy.

“He missed. Your student jumped in front of his attack.”

“If Edward’s so incompetent that he can’t even aim in the direction of the monster, then he’s no mage,” Noah ground out, his hands trembling from the force of will it took to restrain himself.

“He is a second year student and already at your Rank. He will be a greater mage than you ever were.”

Noah spat on the ground. “I suppose I can’t expect anything more than this from a pathetic excuse of a worm in human flesh.”

“Watch your words,” Allen warned. “Teacher or not, you are intentionally being inflammatory. I will not permit any more of this. Apologize to him.”

“You want to see an apology?” Noah asked. The trees behind him cracked as he ripped the ash away from them and formed a swirling ball above his hand. Allen lowered his stance, something like satisfaction burning in his eyes.

Then Noah punched him. A loud crack echoed through the woods as Noah’s fist connected with the man’s chin, snapping his head back. Allen staggered backward and braced himself against a tree, holding his jaw and staring at Noah with disbelief in his eyes.

“I wasn’t talking about Edward,” Noah said, cracking his neck. There was a roar from behind them, but it sputtered and stopped a moment later. Everyone turned to see Isabel pull her blade from the Slasher’s throat and flick the blood from it.

Noah grinned. “Ah. Would you look at that? One – one.”

Allen rubbed his chin, still staring at Noah like he’d suddenly started chanting in a foreign language. “I – you–”

“You okay there?” Noah asked. “I’m really sorry about that. There was a fly. A really big one. Your chin just happened to jump in the way of my fist as I went to squish it. Can’t blame me for that, can you?”

Allen swallowed his rage and rolled his neck. “Come, Edward. We have more Slashers to kill. Are you prepared?”

“Of course I am.” Edward watched Noah with a mixture of awe and hatred. Noah smirked.

“Good job on passing, Isabel. That was an easy kill, though. Looks like we’re about to find some more, so let’s get going.”

Isabel grinned and nodded.