After an hour of practice on their patterns, Lee and Moxie both broke off to hunt monsters and work on filling their runes so they could reach Rank 4 as soon as possible. Lee was probably considerably closer to it than Moxie was, since all of her runes had already been completed and all she had to do was get the last of the energy to ready herself for advancement.

Moxie had a bit more work, as she only had three flawless Runes made and would need to either duplicate them or gather more Runes to push the rest of the way through Rank 3. If not for the events at the Torrin Estate, she’d have been equally matched to Lee if not already at Rank 4. Neither of them could complain about that, though – those events had been the way that Moxie had finally broken free of Evergreen’s grasp.

As far as both Noah and Moxie were concerned, it was a worthwhile trade. But unfortunately, that meant while Lee and Moxie were out hunting monsters, Noah didn’t have a good excuse to join them.

Sure, getting more power would have been a good idea, but there were more pressing matters he could still deal with. He needed more practice with using his violin to simulcast magic, and figuring out the lesson plan for tomorrow was important as well.

So, while Lee and Moxie headed out to fight, Noah spent his time preparing. He didn’t particularly mind it – Moxie had been working hard for so long that she deserved some form of break from proper teaching, and he’d missed being able to teach a class of students that were actually interested.

There would always be more things to fight and kill, after all.

Hours slipped by, and the day sank into night. Noah worked through the darkness, preparing both for the upcoming class and for the meeting with the other members of the advanced track that would be happening the following night.

The muted song of his violin, its voice muffled so that nobody would hear it, just barely tickled at his ears. Power coursed through the instrument as he inserted and removed runes from within its strings, growing more and more used to operating it properly.

Noah didn’t stop working until it was well into the night. Just around the time when he was slipping into bed, the door to the room cracked open with a soft click. Noah, who had been midway through getting into bed, glanced over as Moxie crept in, likely trying to avoid waking him.

They locked eyes and she snorted, stepping the rest of the way into the room and closing the door behind her.

“Why are you awake? It’s the middle of the night.”

“I was practicing,” Noah replied with a grin. He covered a yawn as Moxie pulled her jacket off and hung it over the back of her chair. “How did hunting go? Make good progress?”

“Really good,” Moxie confirmed, shaking her head and laughing quietly. “Lee is an absolute monster. It’s ridiculous that she’s a Rank 3. I’m pretty sure her Runes are already full with the way she fights. We must have killed nearly a hundred monsters.”

“A hundred? This quickly?” Noah let out a whistle. “That’s pretty scary. Strong ones?”

“Rank 2 and 3. We were in an area called the Ardent Desert. It wasn’t really that much of a desert if I’m being honest, but it still had a lot of monsters to fight. Definitely a little too advanced for most of the students.”

“Was there a Great Monster in the area?”

“Probably. They did have some patterns in how they fought, but I’m not quite as good at picking them up as you are,” Moxie replied, stepping through the bathroom door and poking her head back out. “Give me a second. I need to freshen up before getting ready to sleep.”

Noah got the rest of the way into bed and propped the pillow up against the wall so he could sit at an angle. A few minutes later, Moxie returned to the main room, her hair wet. Noah pulled the covers to the side and she got into bed, scooting up to lean against his chest and pressing her wet hair to his chest, drawing out a curse.

“Damn, that’s cold,” Noah complained, dialing up the heat from Combustion internally.

“You’ll live,” Moxie said. The bedsheets pulled themselves up of their own volition and Moxie snuggled in, ensuring that her hair was scattered over Noah as much as possible before settling down. “Did you need help figuring out what we’re doing in class tomorrow?”

Noah tried to move some of Moxie’s hair away from his face, before realizing it was a hopeless task and settling for wrapping his arms around her waist. “I think I should be fine. You’ve earned yourself a break from worrying about that stuff. I’ll just be doing some combat training with patterns, seeing if the kids can use patterns while they spar. Alexandra sounds like she already pulled it off against Gero, so I’d rather get that started before they do it on their own.”

Moxie let out a murmur of approval and rolled over so that her cheek was pressed against Noah’s chest. She wrapped her arms around his back and let out a content sigh, speaking in a drowsy, satisfied tone. “Thanks. I’ll be caught up to Rank 4 soon enough, I promise.”

“I know you will,” Noah said. “That’s a problem for tomorrow, though.”

Moxie made another noise of agreement and gave him a small squeeze, not even bothering to form words. Noah slipped down so they were laying back and let his eyes close, letting himself drift off to sleep.

***

The next morning, Lee met Noah and Moxie at their door when they set off to go to class. She stretched her arms over her head, arching her back and letting out a loud yawn before smacking her lips.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Good morning, Lee,” Noah said. “What did you end up doing last night?”

“Just wandered around mostly,” Lee replied. “I didn’t really feel like sleeping, and we killed so many monsters that I didn’t need to. I already had breakfast. Do you want some?”

Noah nearly said yes, but narrowly managed to stop himself in time. Lee’s idea of breakfast was definitely a squirrel.

“I’ll probably grab something later,” Noah said diplomatically. “Or I’ll just kill a few monsters when we all go out to train in a bit. No need to keep the kids waiting.”

“Oh, yeah. Are we gonna stretch today?”

“Sure,” Noah said as the three set off down the hall and toward the transport cannon. “Why not? It’ll be a good way to warm up before we get to sparring.”

The students were all sitting at the base of the tower when they arrived, discussing something with each other in hushed tones. James, who was keeping watch to make sure nobody wandered too close to their group, nodded in greeting as they drew up, and the other students all looked over.

“Morning, Teacherman, Moxie. You too, Lee,” Todd said, raising a hand. “What are we doing today, and how do I win?”

“You win by settling for second place,” Isabel quipped with an easygoing smile. “Are we doing more patterns today?”

Noah took a moment to let his domain sweep over all of them. He highly doubted any had been replaced, but it was important to check just in case. Fortunately, they were all as normal as could be.

“How’d you guess?” Noah gave them a wry grin. “We’ll be putting everything we’ve covered so far together and doing some sparring where you try to work your patterns in. As usual, no trying to use any magic in your patterns.”

Isabel, Emily, and Alexandra both exchanged an excited look whilst James and Todd both frowned. Noah hid a laugh. It was pretty easy to tell who had patterns that were going to be directly beneficial to fighting and who didn’t.

I’m not worried about Todd or James though. They’re both far more capable than they let on. I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do.

“But first we’re stretching!” Lee proclaimed. “You can’t spar without being properly warmed up.”

Everyone other than James and Alexandra shuddered. Noah just chuckled and led them all up the tower and into the elevator. Tim was waiting at the top in his normal chair when they arrived, a merry grin on his face.

“Good morning, Vermil. Windscorned Plateau again?” Tim asked.

Noah paused a moment to let his domain sweep over Tim. To his relief, the man’s heartbeat was present. He didn’t know what he would have done if the kindly old man had been turned to a puppet, as unlikely as it might have been.

I want to find a way to fix his runes, but how do I get around to it without revealing my powers? Maybe I have to knock him out in the middle of the night or something? It would be like a reverse robbery. I take all the crappy Runes, then replace them with equivalent ones from my book and use the Fragment of Renewal to fix the damage. I don’t know where he sleeps, though. There’s no way he just stays in the tower, is there?

“You know, I’ve only ever seen you here,” Noah said. “Not that I object, but don’t you ever take breaks to sleep or take a day off?”

Tim chuckled and stroked his long beard. “A day off? Oh no. Who would run the transport cannon if not for me? I prefer not to take long pauses. The service is just too important.”

“Can’t disagree there, but nobody can run like that forever, right?” Noah pressed.

“When you’ve got nothing better to do with your life, it doesn’t hurt. I just get enough sleep to get by. Meeting old friends and new people is just too exciting.” Tim let out a cackle and let his hands fly across the controls of the transport cannon.

The tube shuddered as it shifted, changing directions and locking into place. Tim gave Noah an encouraging wave.

“It’s ready for you lot.”

Noah considered pressing the matter, but he decided to let it drop with a laugh. Pushing too hard would make it obvious. He had to find a way to help Tim without implicating himself, which was the very same problem he’d had ever since first deciding he wanted to help Tim. Unfortunately, Noah still had no idea what the best way to go about doing it was – but he made a mental commitment to find one before the first exam this year. “Sounds good. Thanks, Tim. Be seeing you.”

Moxie laid down in the cannon and vanished in a blur of blue energy a few moments later. The rest of the students and Lee followed after her until only Noah and Tim remained in the room.

After pausing for one more second, Noah laid back onto the cold metal as well.

“Have a good trip!” Tim called from behind his desk. A moment later, energy slammed into Noah and his body was turned into a flash of blue light that went streaking across the sky in pursuit of the others.

***

Tim watched the last traces of Vermil’s energy fade, then smiled and shook his head. The man was hardly fit to be a Linwick, but he and his group were a pleasant change of pace from the usual people that frequented the cannon.

He leaned back in his chair, looking out one of the windows onto the campus below. Watching all the tiny people mill about it below was one of his favorite ways to let the days pass. It was a bittersweet feeling.

Tim could remember the days when he’d been one of the students below, hopes of becoming something great still fresh in his mind. Fate had other plans, though. All the money he’d gathered was only just enough to pay his way into Arbitage, and nowhere near enough to buy him the Runes he needed to advance.

If he’d been a bit better of a fighter, he could have become an adventurer. Unfortunately, the mere idea of hurting something made him grimace in distaste. Tim went to take a sip of his tea, but his hand missed the handle and he knocked the cup off the table.

Tim cursed and lunged, grabbing the cup from the air before it could hit the ground. It lost the majority of its contents, but at least it didn’t shatter. Tim leaned back with a small chuckle and set the cup back on the desk.

“Another reason why I couldn’t be an adventurer,” Tim muttered to himself. “Clumsy as sin.”

He stood, moving to find a towel so he could clean up the floor, and froze in place. A man stood on the other side of the room, a cloak pulled low over his head. Tim hadn’t heard the elevator activate, nor had he heard anyone arrive.

“Whoa there,” Tim said, smiling in greeting. “I didn’t see you there. What can I do for you?”

“Keep the cannon in its current location,” the man replied. “Send me after the people that just left.”

Tim’s smile slipped away. “I’m afraid that kind of thing is confidential. I can’t be sending you after others unless you’re a staff member. Do you have a badge?”

“No,” the man said. “I don’t need one. Is the cannon still pointed in the right direction?”

Tim’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t be answering that question. Is there somewhere in particular that you’d like to go? If not, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

For a second, the man didn’t respond. Then he reached up to his hood, pulling it back. “I’m to ask one last time. Send me after them.”

Tim’s eyes went wide.

A minute later, another streak of blue flashed through the morning air and the transport cannon was silent once more.