Noah quickly discovered that, while he did have an unsurprisingly high pain tolerance, he wasn’t flexible in the slightest. He was about as stiff as a board in the desert. Todd and Moxie weren’t in much better spots. Isabel and Emily were considerably better off, but their victory was short lived as Lee immediately doubled the intensity of their stretches, pushing them harder than Noah would have dared.

He wasn’t sure if it was because Lee just didn’t understand or care about the ways the human body was actually supposed to bend, but she consistently managed to press them into positions that were just a step beyond what Noah thought possible before stopping.

Lee ran them through a dozen different stretches, swapping to a new one whenever they were all unable to go any further. She kept at it for several hours, cycling back to the first set of stretches when she apparently ran out.

When the time for class to finally end, Noah’s entire body felt like one long, overcooked noodle. He was simultaneously sore everywhere and also the most relaxed he’d been since he’d gotten into a body again.

“This feels weird,” Todd said, dangling his arms at his sides. “I feel light. And sore. Mostly sore.”

“Do the full rotation of stretches when you wake up,” Lee instructed. “If you go at it with this intensity and duration, you’ll make progress very quickly.”

“Assuming we don’t seriously tear something first,” Emily said.

“That’s what healing potions are for,” Lee replied. “You’re going to need to do this on your own time, though. I’m not going to spend entire classes on stretching any more. We’ll still stretch at the start, but we’ll be focusing on imbuing and fighting.”

“I’ll make sure not to eat anytime before class from here on out,” Todd declared. He shook a leg off and shuddered. “Ugh, that’s tingly. I still don’t know if I like it or not.”

“Don’t be a baby,” Isabel said. “Thanks for the class, Lee.”

“Likewise,” Moxie said. “That was educational. I can’t say I enjoyed it, but it highlighted just how much I’ve been neglecting some aspects of my training. And well done bringing her in for help, Vermil. She seems very capable.”

That’s probably the most approval Moxie’s going to give a Skinwalker. Can’t ask for more than that.

“I knew she’d be a valuable addition to the class. On some personal business, have you had any luck with the location of other thing we were looking for?”

Moxie inclined her head. “We can talk once the students leave. You’re dismissed, Emily. I’ll see you day after tomorrow.”

“In our normal room?” Emily asked hopefully.

“No.”

Emily sighed. “This one, then. Thanks for the class, professors.”

She trudged off. Isabel and Todd waved before heading off as well. Lee watched them go with a thoughtful expression on her face.

“Well done, Lee,” Noah said. “You’re a natural. Mostly. Just avoid the insults and you’ll be a pretty solid teacher.”

“I’ve never taught anyone before,” Lee mused. “It’s kind of like bullying, but they appreciate it.”

“That is definitely the wrong attitude,” Noah said. “We’ll call it a work in progress. So, Moxie, about that request…”

“Yes, I found where it is,” Moxie said. “Is there a rush?”

“Any time I’m waiting around is time I’m not getting stronger. So, yes. Not a major one, but there’s still a rush.”

Moxie reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of parchment. She held it out to Noah. He reached for it, but Moxie pulled her hand back before he could grab the paper. Noah tilted his head to the side.

“I can’t go today,” Moxie said.

“Why not?”

“I have some work for my noble house I have to take care of. I was planning to go later. Are you sure you can’t wait until I can come with you?”

Noah scratched the back of his head. He didn’t want to outright say it, but going on his own was the best possible outcome. If Moxie went with him, he’d have to completely hide Sunder’s abilities. And, if it was a new area, there was a pretty good chance something caught him off guard and he died.

“I’d rather not wait, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Figured. In that case, I’m not giving this to you for free. If you’re going to take my work, I expect payment.”

“I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but I’m pretty much broke. I figured you knew with how you tried to get me in your debt by loaning out too much money to me.”

“I still thought – never mind. Sorry about that.” Moxie reddened and averted her gaze. She held the paper out and Noah took it from her. “Can you just promise to share the Greater Wind Rune if you get your hands on it?”

“Sure, that’s fine with me,” Noah replied. He paused for a moment. “Ah…”

“You don’t know how to get it, do you?”

“I didn’t say that.”

Moxie arched an eyebrow. Noah cleared his throat.

“Let’s pretend you’re teaching a class,” Noah hedged. “And you’ve got a student that has forgotten that particular aspect of Runes. There are a lot of aspects to it, you know. Easy to forget. Can’t blame the student, really.”

“Right,” Moxie said. She pulled a second piece of paper out of her pockets, a smug grin playing across her lips. “Lucky you. I had a slight inkling that I’d run into a student such as the one you’re describing. If I did, hypothetically of course, I’d remind them that they just have to have a piece of Catchpaper on them when they kill the monster that has the Rune they’re looking for.”

Noah’s brow furrowed. “Catchpaper? They couldn’t think of a better name? How does it work?”

“Don’t ask me. I don’t make it. I just use it. So do you. It’s what your grimoire is made out of, but the grimoire is also made from magic resistant material to keep it from leeching energy when you don’t have it open,” Moxie replied, handing the paper over. It didn’t look any different from normal paper to Noah’s eyes. “They’re popular for Imbuing as well. Using Catchpaper makes it much easier to properly Imbue a Rune since they’re so sensitive to magic. If you just tried to Imbue a random piece of paper, the power in the Rune would probably burn it out really quickly. There’s a special process you’ve got to do to Imbue normal objects, but Catchpaper lets us skip it. Useful stuff. Its sensitivity is great for picking up Runes from monsters you kill and Imbuing other Runes.”

“Interesting. And you just need it on you?”

“That’s it,” Moxie confirmed. “It’ll absorb the energy you would have gotten for killing the monster, though. And that’ll keep happening until you find a monster with a fully filled rune.”

“Any fully filled rune?” Noah grimaced. “Including a Lesser one?”

Moxie pulled out five more papers and wordlessly handed them over. “If you’re going to do this, you’re going to need two Greater Runes, not just one.”

“What? Why?”

“Because there’s a pretty high chance the Rune will fade away when someone copies it down,” Moxie replied. “It varies, but the act of learning the Rune draws energy out of it.”

Noah paused. “You mean you could technically get stronger by staring at Runes instead of killing monsters?”

“There are a lot of ways to gain Runic energy,” Moxie said with a snort. “That one would only work if you were spending hours copying or drawing Runes. I don’t think it would be worth it.”

“I see. What’s the rate of that happening?”

“Roughly fifty percent.”

Noah pulled his grimoire out and flipped through it, struck by the realization that he hadn’t actually looked at it since giving Isabel and Todd their runes. His eye twitched as he flipped to the page covered with information about the Greater Fire Rune – the words still remained, but there was no trace of the rune itself. The paper had warped and burnt around where the rune had been, ruining it. A quick glance at the Stone rune that Isabel had taken revealed that it had remained.

Whelp. I really hope nobody checks this. I should probably try to get a new Greater Fire Rune sometime soon. Maybe I’ll get one from the Hellreaver Ape?

“Make those Catchpapers last,” Moxie said, unaware of Noah’s dilemma. “If those aren’t enough, come back and let me know. And please, don’t lose them. Even if you only get Lesser Wind Runes, they could be worth a good amount of coin. We’ll split the money we earn from selling those, but don’t expect too much.”

“Fair enough,” Noah said with a shrug. He tucked the papers into his pocket. “I’ll do my best.”

“Good,” Moxie replied. “See you day after tomorrow, then.”

Moxie headed out of the room. Noah watched her leave, a small frown creasing his face. Lee peered at it from where she’d been standing, silent.

“You planning to come along?” Noah asked.

“No,” Lee replied. “I don’t really have any desire to wander around fighting things right now. I’d much rather relax. Don’t get killed. Or do. I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Noah rolled his eyes. “Just don’t get caught.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll hang around Moxie to make sure I’ve got backup if something goes wrong.”

“I’m not so sure she’d appreciate that.”

“Who said she’d know?” Lee snickered and slipped into the hallway, vanishing without a sound and leaving Noah alone. He unfolded the first slip of paper that Moxie had given him. It had a rough map of a large, cliffy area. Labeled at the top of the page as Windscorned Plateau, it looked like she’d torn the parchment straight from a book.

Noah added the paper to the growing collection taking form in his pockets and left the room as well, making for the transport cannon. There was still a lot of good time left in the day, and he saw no reason to delay any further.

***

“Scorched Acres?” Tim asked, looking up from his desk as the lift rattled to a halt and let Noah off.

“Surprisingly, not today,” Noah replied.

“Finally done with ‘em, eh?”

“Not quite. I’ve still got some business there, but it’s been put on hold for a little while,” Noah said with a chuckle. “I’m on an errand in the Windscorned Plateau. I don’t suppose that’s in range of the TAINT?”

“Let’s stick to calling it the Travel Anywhere In No Time or transport cannon,” Tim muttered. “I wasn’t the one that chose the name. It’s a curse.”

“Transport cannon it is.”

“Then yes, the transport cannon can get you there. How long are you looking to stay?”

“This one might be longer. Let’s do a full day.”

“Sure thing,” Tim grinned at Noah. The tower shifted as the turret rotated around, moving to point at a steeper angle. “Whenever you’re ready. Have a safe trip.”

“I don’t know if I can promise safe. Let’s go profitable instead. Can’t go wrong with profitable.” Noah entered the turret and laid down on the cold metal. His head thunked a little harder against it than he’d planned and he frowned. “I don’t suppose you’ve got any plans of getting some padding in this thing? I think it’s done more damage to me than some monsters.”

“Messes with the Imbued magic,” Tim said apologetically. After a moment, he snickered. “Also, it’s funny.”

Noah’s response was lost in an explosion of blue light as his body was blasted into particles and sent hurtling through the ether toward the Windscorned Plateau.