Their time in the Windscorned Plateau came to an end as the morning sun rose. Both groups of students spent their last hours trying to come up with a new plan to lure Lee to them, but in the end, none of them managed to come up with anything before the transport cannon summoned them back to Arbitage.

Noah was the last to reappear in Tim’s room. He blinked the last remnants of the transportation away, wiping his eyes as he rose to his feet and took a look at the small crowd gathered around him.

“Did you have a good trip?” Tim asked.

“I’d say it was educational.” Noah chuckled at the glares that earned him from all the students. “Thanks again, Tim.”

“Any time,” Tim replied. They all stepped onto the elevator and bid the elderly operator farewell as it shook and rattled, lowering them down to the lower floor.

“So nobody won?” Todd asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Noah replied. “How do you know Isabel or James didn’t win? I didn’t see your groups meet up before we got pulled back.”

“Because she’s got the same look on her face that I think I’ve got,” Todd replied as the group headed down the stairs.

“Ah. Well, you’d be right. You all lost.”

“How were we supposed to win?” Alexandra asked, sending a look back at Lee, who stuck her tongue out. “Lee’s way too fast. Is she seriously a Rank 3?”

“That was for you to figure out.” They reached the bottom of the stairs and Noah turned around, copying one of Moxie’s specialized arched-eyebrow expressions. “Did you really think earning a Master Rune would be easy?”

That mollified all of them pretty quickly.

“Was there actually a way to win?” Isabel asked. “It felt like we weren’t even close.”

“There’s always a way,” Noah replied. “Why don’t we talk about what went right and what went wrong? There were definitely some clever moves I saw.”

“Baiting Lee with food?” James said, not sounding all that sure of his own words.

“Taking advantage of a weakness you know about.” Noah nodded. “Sure, Lee was playing into it a bit, but that was clever. Both groups did that without much hesitation. What else?”

“Grouping up,” Todd said. “We wasted a ton of time trying to catch Lee on our own. We should have grouped up earlier, but grouping up at all when you implied this was a solo event was probably a good move.”

“That might have given you a chance to set up a better trap or plan things through better,” Moxie put in. “But yes, it was definitely a good move. You stood no chance alone against Lee.”

“Anything else?” Noah asked. Nobody spoke for a few seconds and he shrugged. “Okay. We’ve already started, so keep going. Tell me about about the things you did wrong.”

“I think we should have probably spent more time figuring out what we could do.” Emily said, scrunching her nose. “I knew Todd’s basic abilities, but Alexandra actually got a bit close to Lee. If I knew she was that fast, it might have been better to have her be the surprise attack rather than me.”

“Knowing what your allies are capable of is definitely a big one.” Noah gave Emily an approving nod. “You asked if there was a way you could have won. Do you think there is?”

“Me personally? I’m not sure. But… I’d imagine we might have had the best chance if all five of us were working together.”

“You most certainly would have,” Noah agreed.

“But what’s the point of that?” Alexandra demanded. “We were meant to be working against each other!”

“Technically, I never said that. I just said only one person gets the point.”

“That’s basically the same thing.” Alexandra frowned, crossing her arms. “Unless we could have split the point or something, there’s no scenario where everyone is happy.”

Yes there is. It’s the one where the people that don’t actually need the Master Rune make the choice to give it up so one of their allies can get it, knowing that their allies will do the same for them in the future.

I don’t think I can expect Alexandra to have come to that conclusion this early on, though. She’ll get there. And, from what it looks like, all the other kids literally only worked in two teams because they were trying to prove something and avoid stepping on each other’s toes rather than because they desperately wanted the Rune.

Isabel and Todd were the only ones other than Alexandra who actually wanted it, and they just chose to work separately so neither would feel bad about winning. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“Your silence is telling me that we’ve missed something.” Emily chewed her lower lip and shook her head. “I don’t know what it is, though. Was there a trick to it?”

“Who knows.” Noah shrugged, grinning at the annoyance on her features. “There will be more chances to get points in the future. There will be more prizes as well – it might be a bit early to say this, but I think this strategy will work.”

“You mean you’ll have more Master Runes for us?” Todd asked, squinting at Noah. “What, do you just have a farm of them somewhere?”

“Don’t worry about where the rewards come from.” Noah waved a hand dismissively. “For now, just keep your focus on improving. That’s the most important part.”

Every one of the students nodded, which brought him more than a measure of satisfaction. None of them were mad about their defeat. The expressions on their faces told Noah that they were all just determined to find a way to win next time, which was exactly the attitude he wanted.

“Is class over, then?” Alexandra asked. “I think I’ve got a lot to practice and work on before our next one.”

“Yeah,” Noah said.

“Before you leave, let’s chat,” Moxie said. “Vermil and I work pretty closely together, so even if you’re in his class, I’ll be working with you a lot.”

Alexandra looked slightly surprised to be getting called out alone, but she just nodded and followed Moxie away.

“I’ll be heading off, then,” James said, watching the ladies leave before turning back to the others. “I need a shower.”

Before any of them could say anything, he disappeared in a shimmer of light. Noah’s tremorsense tracked James as he walked off until the boy left his range.

“Interesting guy,” Noah said.

“He’s just a bit unused to big crowds,” Emily said, a note of defensiveness entering her voice.

Noah chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, he seems decent enough. Anyone who managed to withstand Revin for as long as he has can’t be all that bad. He’s got good timing, though. I need to speak with the three of you.”

“Did we actually win something?” Todd asked, his eyes lighting up.

“No, you lost. I would have told you if you’d won. This is about something else.”

Todd’s expression quickly turned serious, but it was Isabel that spoke next.

“About us?” Isabel put extra stress on the last word and it took Noah a moment to realize she was probably referring to how she and Todd had been blacklisted from the noble houses and their subsequent plot of revenge against the people that had killed their families.

“Not the two of you in particular. All three of you,” Noah said. “We should do this somewhere private, though. Lee, could you–”

“I’ll come along to make sure we aren’t disturbed,” Lee said, giving him a nod.

“We could go to our room?” Todd offered.

“That works,” Noah said. “I’m just going to need to stop by a potion shop on the way there.”

***

About ten minutes and three Mind Meld potions later, the four of them stepped into Todd and Isabel’s room. Lee remained outside to ensure nobody overheard their conversation.

This was the first time that Noah had seen Isabel and Todd’s lodgings, and he had to admit that it felt a little odd.

They hadn’t spent much effort decorating. Their room was plain, with just a single large bed in the center and a desk beside it beneath a window. They’d split the closet on the other side of the bed between themselves, and their bathroom was plain but clean.

“So what is it?” Emily asked, leaning against the wall. Based on the casual way she stood, Noah suspected this wasn’t the first time she’d been in here. Clearly, they’d been spending some time together on their own.

Good. The closer they are, the better.

“The two of you already know a good bit about my secrets,” Noah said, nodding to Isabel and Todd. “But not all of them.”

“We’d gathered that,” Isabel said. “You’re just going to be telling us about yourself?”

“You don’t have to sound so disappointed.” Noah chuckled and shook his head. “But that’s not why I brought you here, no.”

“I take it that the thing you have to discuss is so dangerous or important that the only way we can learn it is through speaking in our minds?” Emily asked, her eyes lingering on the potions Noah had bought on their way over. “That seems a bit… excessive.”

“Moxie is in support of it,” Noah said simply.

“Oh. In that case, sure,” Emily said. “Why didn’t you say that first?”

Noah resisted the urge to laugh. This was meant to be a serious matter.

“I want to impress on you how important it is that we never talk about any of this,” Noah said, keeping his features firm. He reached up to the grimoire and took it off his back, setting the huge book against the wall.

“Does it have something to do with that giant thing?” Todd asked as he eyed the book. “I was wondering what it was.”

“I thought it was a shield,” Emily admitted. “Why do you have such a big book?”

“It’s my new grimoire.” Noah patted the top of the book. “And that’s all I’ll be saying for the time being. I’m not going to make any of you swear a Rune Oath, but you’ll need to promise me that you won’t share anything you see or learn here with anyone – under any circumstances.”

“Why?” Emily asked suspiciously. “What is it about? You didn’t say if this had to do with the grimoire or not.”

“Nor will I, until you agree.” Noah shrugged and gestured to the door. “I won’t force you to do anything, Emily. That’s why I haven’t made you swear a Rune Oath. This is so important that I won’t even say it out loud. We’ll be using a Mind Meld potion to take things from here. If you aren’t comfortable, then please feel free to leave. You can ask Moxie about this and do it later if you’d prefer.”

Emily glanced from Noah to Todd and Isabel, chewing her upper lip. Several seconds passed. Noah caught Isabel and Todd exchange a look.

“I trust you,” Isabel said simply, breaking the silence and holding Noah’s gaze. “I promise to keep this all secret.”

“Me too,” Todd added. “Imagine that. I’ll drink the potion if you want me to, if only because I’m too interested to say no. I’ll keep everything to myself.”

Emily let out a small huff and gave Noah a nod. “Fine. I’ll do it as well. I promise not to say anything.”

“Thank you. I don’t think any of you will regret this,” Noah said. He took one of the Mind Meld potions and held it out to Isabel. “Would you like to start?”

Isabel took the potion from him. She studied it for a moment, then popped the cork off.

“Only drink your half,” Noah advised. “Then give me the potion and lie down immediately so you don’t fall over. This will take us about thirty minutes, so just go ahead and sit around until then. Don’t touch either of us until we wake up.”

The other students nodded. Isabel tipped the glass vial back, drinking half of its contents before quickly handing it out to Noah. He took it from her and tilted it back, pouring the rest of the potion into his mouth.

Isabel laid down on the ground and Noah propped himself up against the wall. A familiar buzzing sensation ate at the back of his mind as he opened his grimoire and rested his hand on the pages.

Then the feeling consumed him. The potion took hold and the world was plunged into darkness.