The next few days passed in a happy blur. Weights were lifting off Noah’s shoulders like they’d all decided to take flight. He had his artifact. Karina was out of his hair. Evergreen had been dealt with. He, Moxie, and Lee could finally relax – and that was exactly what they did.

Granted, their idea of relaxation might have been just slightly different from the norm, but it wasn’t like relaxing was a competition. For some people, it was kicking back at a beach with a cool drink and enjoying the sun as the waves lapped against the sand.

For others, it was tearing through monsters and splattering blood across the dirt, pressing their abilities to their absolute limits as they rejoiced in their newfound freedom. Sure, one of the two outlets might have been a bit messy.

Getting sand out from a shoe was always a pain in the ass.

Regardless of their chosen method of relaxation, Noah continued to make good progress with his research. In the mornings, he would spend some time researching and testing formations – considerably more careful now than he had been before. He’d then spend a few hours hunting monsters with Lee and Moxie. And, when night rolled around, he would play his violin for Lee and Moxie.

Every day, the cycle repeated. All the monsters Noah killed were promptly harvested of their Runes, which were donated to his grimoire. It ate every Rune he offered up greedily. Noah was pretty sure it would have eaten Runes he didn’t offer it if he hadn’t kept it so well fed.

All the power he was feeding the artifact did mean his Natural Disaster Rune wasn’t getting much extra energy. Sundering the monsters converted all the power he would have gotten into their Runes – and those seemed to be vanishing into the black hole that was his artifact.

It didn’t bother Noah much. He needed the Runes far more than he needed energy in Natural Disaster. His goal was to completely remake it, so most of the energy stored within it was likely to convert poorly.

Granted, all of that relied on his artifact actually giving him some of the Runes he fed it back, but he was pretty sure that it would cooperate when the time came. He’d been very strict about which Runes it could eat and which it couldn’t.

At least, he hoped he had been. No matter how he framed it, he was still talking to a semi-sapient book, not a real living creature.

After a little over a week of travel, Noah’s flying sword set them down on the side of a heavily forested mountain. They’d finally arrived. Even though they’d been hunting for the last week, Noah rubbed his hands together and failed to conceal an eager grin.

“You look excited,” Moxie said as she got off the flying sword. Lee fluttered out from Noah’s bag and he held her clothes up, turning away as she transformed back to her human form and dressed herself.

“I’ve been looking forward to this,” Noah admitted. The vines that had been holding Lee’s axe to him pulled back and he handed it to her. “There’s a Great Monster just sitting around here, waiting for us to come after it. And, this time, nobody is going to get pissed off about it. Isn’t that great?”

Moxie shook her head and laughed. “As much as I don’t love your strategy of killing yourself to brute force things, I think I’ll be letting you handle the first fight against it yourself. We don’t know how strong the Great Monster is, so it could either be a complete pushover or well beyond our capabilities.”

“Only one way to find out.” Noah grinned. “And, even if it’s stronger than expected… things have a way of working themselves out when you smack your head against the wall hard enough.”

“That,” Moxie said, pointing a finger at Noah, “is not the lesson we’re going to be giving our students.”

Noah grimaced. “Fine, fine.”

“But when it’s just us…” Moxie trailed, off, then shrugged. “Well, you’re an adult. It’s your choice.”

“Go kill yourself!” Lee gave Noah a huge grin and a thumbs up. “We’ll be cheering you on. Just remember that if it’s not too strong, I want in.”

That’s got to be the first time anyone’s told me to kill myself and genuinely meant well by it.

“Well, we’ve got to find it first,” Noah said. “And there are a whole bunch of monsters waiting around in the area that we can fight in the process.”

Lee cracked her neck. “I know. I can already smell them. I can’t wait. This is the best vacation ever. Aside from the casino. And Evergreen. And Karina. And–”

“Isn’t this your first vacation ever?” Moxie butted in.

“Yep.”

“Then it has to be the best one,” Moxie pointed out. “No need to nitpick.”The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Okay! It’s the best one. Can we kill more things now?”

Noah grinned and pulled Natural Disaster’s power to his fingertips. “Race to see who can get to ten kills first?”

***

Jalen was in one of the places he hated most in the entire Linwick Estate – his office. It was drab, boring, and chock full of paperwork that he had absolutely no desire to complete. He’d reached the pinnacle of Rank 6 years ago. Seven nearly perfect Runes, all completely filled to the brim.

His lifespan was enormous. He had the power to do literally anything he wanted. Nobody could force him to do anything. Even the strongest mages in the highest ranked families respected him.

And, with all that freedom, he chose to remain and play petty politics with a bunch of spoiled children. Jalen rubbed his forehead, leaning back in his chair as he examined the records laid out on the table.

The only – and he did mean only – reason that he hadn’t abandoned the Linwick family was the very one before him. Upon occasion, someone of interest popped up. It wasn’t often, and they usually got themselves killed before he noticed them, much less before he acted.

But, when he did manage to arrive in time, he occasionally got a little bit of entertainment for a short stretch of time.

It wasn’t the greatest set up, but Jalen didn’t mind it. He usually just ignored his responsibilities and did what he wanted regardless. It wasn’t like anyone could force him to do anything.

Today was different. Ever since he’d gotten back to the Linwick Estate, he’d been steadily getting more and more annoyed. Whoever had infiltrated the catacombs had well and truly gotten his attention. Somehow, they hadn’t taken their hand off the Records of the Damned a single time in the past week.

Did they melt it into their skin? What is this? Are they truly this determined to stay unnoticed? If they are, they shouldn’t have opened the damned book past the first page. This has gone beyond impressive and is now just stupid. Are they going to clutch the blasted book to their chest for the rest of their life?

A knock on the door broke Jalen from his thoughts.

“Come in,” Jalen said through a yawn.

It swung open and a middle-aged man stepped through. His features were plain, and Jalen couldn’t be bothered to remember his name. It was just another attendant. Every time he returned, it was a new one. Committing their names to memory wasn’t worth the effort.

“Magus Jalen,” the attendant said. “Is now a good time?”

“There is never a time like the present. I hope you bring interesting news,” Jalen said. He pushed a stack of papers off the desk, sending them crashing to the floor. He was pretty sure they were all requests from different branches of the Linwick family for various different amounts of funding, and he planned to grant absolutely none of them.

“I looked around to see if I could find anyone that could answer your inquiry, and I believe I have gathered some information that may be of use as a starting point.”

Jalen sat slightly straighter and gestured for the attendant to continue.

“There are quite a number of people that fit the age range you mentioned, but when I narrowed it down to ones in the immediate area without direct alibies, there were fewer targets to investigate. I was able to narrow it down significantly, but…”

“But what?” Jalen arched an eyebrow. “You couldn’t find people within our own house?”

“It’s not that. It’s more that none of them are going to admit to doing anything wrong. There are easily twenty-five people that fit your criteria that were close enough to be suspects. I spoke to some of their branches and was unable to discern anything of use, but others outright refused to give information for free.”

“Refused?” Jalen snorted, but a dangerous glint flashed through his eyes. “They refused me?”

The attendant took a step back and swallowed nervously. “Technically, they cited an old family rule stating one could not take something in exchange for nothing, even when in the position of power.”

That gave Jalen a moment of pause. He didn’t care much for any of the Linwick family rules and barely remembered them himself, but if someone was quoting them, then they were almost certainly of an older generation.

“They wanted to bargain?”

“They did. They said they had information on one of the suspects.”

“Which one?”

“A woman by the name of Karina. She’s been out of the city for some time now and has yet to return. Her estate was actually reclaimed by the family just a few days ago.”

“Reclaimed? Why?”

“She was the only remaining descendant of her family branch. Both of her parents were inducted into the Main Branch, but they were killed to the north of the empire whilst hunting a monster. Their wills stated to spend all their remaining coffers on their funerals, and there was nothing left to pay tax on their lot.”

For several moments, Jalen could do nothing but stare at his attendant. Then he burst into laughter.

“What vile little creatures. Why were they allowed into the Main Branch?”

“They were capable mages, Magus Jalen.”

Jalen rolled his eyes. “Evidently not. They’re dead. Karina… tell me more about her. I trust you gathered more information?”

“I did, Magus. She is in her early twenties and is a Rank 3 mage. She has not achieved anything of significant importance and has been in secluded up until just a month or two ago. Her only strong ties are with Father’s family branch. They had good relations last I know. Karina was betrothed to Vermil, the youngest of Father’s sons.”

“Father… wasn’t he making a bid to get his entire branch elevated to the Main Branch?” Jalen asked. “I believe I was unfortunate enough to be subjected to some rumors of it.”

“He was, Magus. It is incredibly likely he will succeed. All his competitors have stepped away. His branch is small but competent, and he has made significant improvements to the living quality of all those who have pledged themselves to him.”

“Let me guess. Father is the one offering up information?”

“He is, Magus. Would you like to meet him?”

“Not a chance.” Jalen cackled at the surprised expression on his attendant’s face. “I don’t know Father, and I don’t care to. I’ve met his type. He plans to use my meeting with him to demonstrate that he has my backing, even if we fail to come to an agreement. I have no need of his information. I already have everything I need.”

The attendant inclined his head. “Of course, Magus Jalen. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yes. Tell everyone that’s sent me a letter that I won’t be responding,” Jalen said. He stood up and brushed his backside off – it had been so long since he’d sat in his office chair that there was dust on it. Dust that had now migrated onto his nice pants. “I’m going to find this Karina and have a little chat with her. Put out feelers in case she manages to slip my notice – let it be known that the family head wishes to speak with Karina.”