Isabel opened her mouth, then closed it again. She exchanged a confused glance with Todd.

“What do you mean?” Isabel asked, a tiny amount of the defiance in her voice draining away.

“You know what a Rune does,” Noah said. “I gather everyone can tell me the definition that you just gave. But what is a Rune? We cannot truly utilize a tool until we understand exactly how it works.”

Take that. I might not know what the hell a Rune actually is, but I sure as hell do know that nearly nobody actually understands how things work at their basic level.

“I… don’t really know,” Todd admitted reluctantly.

“Neither do I,” Isabel said. “Does that matter?”

Noah grinned. “A good question, Isabel. Let’s talk about magic as a whole for a moment. What can magic do?”

“Anything,” Isabel replied.

Noah cocked an eyebrow. “Anything? There isn’t a single limit to it?”

Seriously?

“You can only use one Rune at a time,” Isabel put in after a moment. “If you have a Fire Rune and an Ice Rune, you have to let go of the energy from the Fire one in order to call on the Ice.”

“It also can’t bring back dead people,” Todd said. “At least, I’ve always heard that.”

“Fantastic,” Noah said, nodding. “So it cannot do anything. It has limits.”

It most certainly can bring back dead people, but noted.

“I guess,” Isabel said. “So what?”

“Well, if something has a single limit, would you not think it has more?”

“Even if it does, how does that matter?”

“Because if you don’t know what you can’t do, then you don’t truly know what you can do,” Noah said. He tapped his chalk on the board to emphasize his point. “And the beginning of understanding stems from knowing the most basic building blocks of what you are working with. So, answer your own question – why does knowing what a Rune is matter?”

“So we know what we’re capable of,” Todd said slowly. “But nobody knows what Runes really are. You can’t be implying that you do.”

Good to know. Runes are still subjects of research.

“Anyone who says they know exactly how something works is either a liar or delusional. There is always something more to learn,” Noah said. He flipped his book open and picked a page at random, sketching the Rune from it onto the chalkboard.

When he turned back to his students, they were both leaning forward in their chairs, their eyes as wide as saucers.

“I – is that your Rune?” Isabel stammered. “You just… drew it?”

“It is a Rune,” Noah allowed carefully, trying to figure out what exactly he had just done. “And it was in my book.”

“You’re just letting us look at it? For free?” Todd asked, his mouth hanging askew.

“The job of a teacher is to inform his students, is it not?”

“Someone must have hit him on the head,” Isabel whispered, but the room was so quiet that Noah still heard her perfectly fine.

“No whispering in my class,” Noah said instinctively. He had no idea how long it had been since he’d last taught, but evidently some things had stuck around. “And yes, I was hit on the head.”

Isabel jerked back to her seat. “Sorry.”

There’s a little respect. That’s more like it.

“Now,” Noah said, tapping his Rune. “What is this?”

“A Lesser Rank 1 Fire Rune,” Todd said, still staring at it in awe.

Runes have ranks too? Noted.

“Ah, I see. So I can cast magic with this right now?”

“Of course you can’t,” Isabel said. “You just sketched it. You didn’t Imbue it.”

“But you just told me it was a fire Rune, and a Rune is simply the ability to cast magic. If this cannot cast magic, then how is it a Rune?”

“You’re just nitpicking,” Todd said, shaking his head. “If you’d Imbued it into the board, then you’d be binding it to yourself. That’s casting magic.”

“So Runes exist to Imbue things.”

“That’s obviously not true. You can also cast magic through them,” Todd said, but some of the confidence in his voice had drained away.

“Ah. Imbuing and casting magic are different, then.”

“Well, yeah,” Todd said.

“Then you have already proven that Runes are more than just tools to channel magic, have you not?”

“Okay, fine. I’ll change my answer,” Todd said. “Runes allow you to Imbue objects or channel magic. Happy?”

“That may be what a Rune does, but you still haven’t told me what it is.”

Todd pursed his lips. Both he and Isabel fell silent as they tried to make sense of Noah’s words. He was quite happy with that. In the end, his questions were more for himself than they were for them.

Runes are a conduit to use magic. They can be used to either cast magic directly, like I did in the forest, or to somehow connect to an object. Interesting. I wonder if that’s really all they can do, though.

“I… don’t know,” Todd said, breaking the silence. “What is a Rune?”

“I don’t know,” Noah replied with a wry smile. “But not understanding is the first step to rectifying the problem, isn’t it?”

Todd blinked, then gave him a slow nod.

Noah pointed at the Rune on the board again. “Let’s take a look at this one. A fire Rune, right?”

Todd nodded again.

Noah flipped his book to another page and drew a second Rune on the board, ignoring the surprised breaths that both of his students took. This one was a good bit more complex than the previous Rune had been, but he’d chosen it for a reason. It took several minutes, but the room was completely silent aside from the scratch of his chalk on the board.

“Now, what’s this?” Noah asked, finishing his work and stepping back.

“A Rank 1 Greater Fire Rune,” he breathed.

Lesser, Greater. So there’s a worse version of every kind of rune?

“You seem a good bit more interested in this one than the other,” Noah observed. “Why? It’s just a Rune, isn’t it? And the same one at that.”

“It’s not the same!” Isabel exclaimed. “How could you say a Lesser quality Rune is equally as good as a Greater one?”

“I’m just going off your own definitions,” Noah replied with a shrug. “Why would quality matter?”

“Higher quality Runes mean you can draw more magic and have better control over it. They also store more energy, though they take longer to refill.”

“They’re also a lot harder to draw,” Noah observed. “Wouldn’t I be better off just drawing a bunch of slightly worse Runes?”

“Of course not,” Todd said, as if it were the dumbest question in the world. His eyes darkened. “You only get seven spots for Runes in your soul. Seven usable ones, at least. Having a bunch of terrible Runes will result in your abilities being seriously crippled when you combine them.”

Aha. There we go. Seven Runes to fill every Rank, and I’m Rank 1 right now. I guess the rank of the Rune correlates with the rank of the person. So if I can combine my Rank 1 Runes into a single Rank 2 Rune, I can get to Rank 2. Then I combine the Rank 2s to get to Rank 3 and so on. Simple enough.

“It seems to me that Runes are a lot more than just magical conduits,” Noah said, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you think?”

Todd and Isabel both slowly nodded. Their earlier annoyance was still there, but a nice portion of it had been replaced by genuine confusion. Perhaps it wasn’t quite interest yet, but that could come in time.

“Runes are… a foundation, I guess?” Todd said. “The better Runes you get every rank, the better Runes you can combine them into at the next level. They also gather the energy. Once you combine your runes, you’re stuck with them, though. That’s why it’s so important to make sure you know what you’re doing before you commit to moving to the next rank. I think.”

“You don’t sound very certain.” A grin traced across Noah’s face. “You’re learning.”

“Well, you haven’t been much of a teacher before,” Todd muttered.

“Better late than never,” Noah said with a wry smile. “Why don’t you think on this for a little? Bring me an answer next class. Until then, let’s move on. Keeping in the same vein – how do you access your Runes?”

And this is the only question that really matters right now. How many Runes did Vermil actually have access to? He had way more than seven in his book, which means there’s some form of selection process.

“You just imagine sinking inside yourself,” Isabel said after a few moments. She paused, then frowned. “I think. Maybe there’s more to it.”

Todd didn’t even bother answering. He looked lost in thought, trying to figure out what angle Noah was trying to get at.

Sorry. I don’t have any deep lessons here. Only ulterior motives. I guess that’s a lesson, if you think about it. Just not one I’m about to tell them about.

“Perhaps we should take some time to look again. Gaze with the eyes of an inquisitive child who has no idea what they look upon,” Noah said, interlacing his fingers and leaning against the wall. “Go on. Seek out your Runes and tell me what happens when you finish. I will do the same.”

Both Todd and Isabel closed their eyes. Their breathing stilled and their heads lowered, as if in deep meditation. Noah sat down at a desk, chewing his lower lip. It was one thing to talk, but it was another to just… feel magic.

He closed his eyes.

Right. Magic. Runes. Where would those be?

Noah’s brow creased slightly in concentration. He pictured the Runes he’d drawn on the board, but nothing happened. Pursing his lips, he dug deeper inside of himself, trying to see if something felt magical.

Some part deep inside himself didn’t expect to find anything. After all, he’d tried to meditate more than a few times in his life. Sure, there was no doubt in his mind that magic existed. But even if he was in someone else’s body in another world, it was another thing to actually do said magic himself.

There should have been nothing to find. Just his own company and silence. Instead, there was more. A tiny marble, deep in the core of his consciousness. It felt like a slightly sore thumb, completely unnoticeable until he was focused on it. But, now that he was, it was impossible to ignore.

Energy bloomed in the darkness. Even though Noah’s eyes were closed, he could see. In the endless black of his mind, glowing sigils carved themselves through the air. One by one, they slammed into him like a punch to the gut, forcibly announcing their presence.

The first five of them were Wind Runes. They were formed of swirling white and blue energy that cut through the shadows like sun on a cloudy day. The Runes were exactly the same as the Rune that had materialized before him in the monkey forest. All of them were Lesser, according to what Vermil’s book had said.

The next two Runes were considerably more complex. Instead of white and blue, they glowed a dull grey. Noah recognized these from the book as well – Ash Runes.

So I’ve got five Wind and two Ash. The Wind Runes aren’t very good, but the Ash ones seem to be. I wonder if I can upgrade or change the Wind Runes. God, there’s just so many things I need to find out. What if –

Noah staggered as a wave of force slammed into his chest and constricted around his heart. Primal fear welled up in his throat and his hands shot up to his throat as an invisible force tightened around it.

In the air above him, black lines infused with faint purple light slithered across the sky. They formed into one final Rune, hundreds of times larger than the other seven. The sheer force of its presence threatened to crush Noah beneath its weight, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let himself fall.

The Rune finished drawing itself, and its meaning slipped into Noah’s mind as he instinctively translated it.

Sunder.

A tremor ran down Noah’s spine, almost as if the Rune was glad that he’d recognized it. The overwhelming force pulled back, but the enormous Rune remained in the air above him. More than anything else, it reminded him of the monster that had attacked the Waters of Life and Renewal.

I wonder if that’s the reason I keep getting new bodies when I die.

Noah swallowed. He peeled his eyes away from the massive Rune above him. A few tiny specks of light at the edges of the darkness around him caught his eye. Noah mentally willed himself toward them.

Small portions of what he assumed to be his mind had chipped and broken away, revealing an empty white void. A faint buzzing noise filled Noah’s mind as he grew closer. He stopped, squinting at the strange scene. They filled him with a sense of wrongness, like something that should have been there was missing.

As he watched, a single speck of darkness reappeared at the edge of one of the white chips, sealing over a miniscule portion of it. He let out a faint sigh. Whatever the damage was, it was healing – just very, very slowly.

Noah peeled his eyes away. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, and it would be awkward if he was zoned out through the rest of class. The darkness faded, and he opened his eyes to find himself standing in the classroom once again. His students both stared at him with rapt attention.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I got caught up,” Noah said, gathering himself and straightening his lapel. “How did your experiences go?”

“It just felt like looking at my Runes,” Isabel said, glancing at Todd. He nodded.

“Yeah. But you – ah, never mind,” Todd muttered.

“That’s quite all right. Please continue to ponder on your Runes in your free time before next class,” Noah said, slipping back into his teacher voice. “Now, one last question for today. While we’re on the topic of Runes, let’s discuss why having good ones is so important. We can only have seven per level, yes?”

Both students nodded.

“So, what happens when we go up to the next Rank?” Noah asked, watching their expressions carefully to make sure he’d read the situation correctly. When neither of them looked overly confused, he gave himself a mental pat on the back.

“You combine all seven of your Runes into a single one,” Todd said slowly, choosing each word with care. “Or you try to, I guess. If you succeed, you get to become the next Rank and can start making Runes of that Rank from scratch. That’s how you go from general Runes like Fire or Wind to specialized ones like Mist.”

“But if the combination doesn’t work, your Runes can shatter,” Isabel added. “Then you’ll be permanently crippled until you can fix them, which can take years. It’s why combinations that actually work are guarded so closely.”

I see.

“So, let’s summarize what we know,” Noah said. “Runes are kind of like buckets. The energy we fill them with is like water. Lesser Runes are smaller buckets than Great ones. When we get all seven buckets full, we can merge them into one better bucket. Sound about right?”

Isabel and Todd both nodded slowly.

“So,” Noah asked. “Is that everything runes are?”

Both Isabel and Todd narrowed their eyes and didn’t respond.

“Good,” Noah said with a grin. He raised a finger. “We don’t need to answer that yet. We’ve had a great discussion so far, and I don’t want to overload anybody. Let’s call class here for today. When we reconvene, we’ll resume our discussion.”

Todd and Isabel both blinked. Isabel squinted at Noah like he’d grown an ear from his forehead.

“Okay,” she said, drawing the word out. “Just how hard did you get injured? You’re nothing like what you were.”

Noah cleared his throat. “That’s hardly relevant. I think I quite like myself right now.”

“Yeah, me too,” Todd said under his breath. “You almost seem respectable.”

Noah shot him a sharp glare, and Todd just shrugged in response. Todd and Isabel rose from their desks and headed toward the door.

“Oh, one last thing,” Noah said before they left. They both turned back to him. “When’s our next class? I can’t remember.”

Isabel let out a snort of laughter. “Are you sure you aren’t a Skinwalker that killed Vermil and stole his body?”

Noah cleared his throat. “I got checked by Richard when I got back to campus. You can speak with him if you’re worried.”

“As if a Skinwalker would spend time teaching class. They can barely string a sentence together,” Todd said, rolling his eyes.

“Class is in 2 days, at the same time as today,” Isabel said with a shake of her head. “And I think I will be doing that.”

“Right. Thanks,” Noah said. “See you then. On time. Don’t be late. I won’t be either.”

She studied Noah for a moment, then gave him a small nod. She and Todd left the room. Noah waited for several seconds, then leaned on the podium and ran a hand through his hair as he mentally reviewed everything he’d learned.

There’s so much to consider. So many options. I need to know more.

A grin stretched across Noah’s lips and he rubbed his hands together despite himself.

Oh man, I’m excited. Magic, huh? This is going to be fun.