Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 886: Preferred Strategies

Noah couldn’t help himself. He choked.

“What?”

Fist sent him a confused look. “What do you mean, what?”

“That’s what the whole tournament is for?” Noah asked in disbelief. “They’re going through all the hassle of bringing god-knows how many people here in a massive tournament, just so they can pick out one or two new disciples? Is there really not a better way to go about doing that? Why go through all the hassle? And why bring all of Obsidia together for something like this? Wouldn’t it be better to have it isolated to the individual factions?”

Fist raised her hands defensively before herself. “That’s like… a dozen questions. Can you choose one or two, or at least ask them one at a time?”

Noah coughed into his fist. “Start with the first, maybe?”

“This isn’t just for one or two disciples,” Fist said. She shook her head. “At least from what I know, there isn’t a specific limit to it. Becoming a disciple isn’t a reward for winning the tournament. It’s just something that can happen if you perform well enough. Catch the attention of the Faction Heads and one of them will probably come knocking. That’s the point. They’ll probably take a few dozen each.”

“Who wants that many disciples?” Noah asked. Even though he really didn’t give much of a shit about the Faction Heads, he couldn’t help his curiosity. The idea of taking on a dozen new students was terrifying. Just making sure his current ones were all taken care of was more than enough work.

“Well, you’ll need a few backups, I’d reckon,” Fist said. “Most of them are going to get killed in some way or another. Either by opposing forces or during training. Can’t just take one and put all your eggs in the same basket, can you?”

Noah stared at her for a long second. “The opposing forces in question…”

“Yeah. Probably the other factions.”

“Which is a fantastic segue into my second question.” Noah resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose between two fingers. “Why have they decided to bring the entirety of Obsidia together for this thing? Surely it would have been smarter to hold individual tournaments where everyone isn’t at each other’s throats.”

“Maybe,” Fist allowed. “But I think I can venture a guess as to why they didn’t. Not all the best fits for every Faction Head are going to reside within their faction. They’ve got to make sure they look as far and wide as possible. Thus, they call a truce. Kind of. Once one of them makes it clear that they’re interested in a disciple, I’d reckon the others will immediately try to get rid of them.”

Of course. Why wouldn’t they? What a lovely group of individuals.

“They really couldn’t just… look in their own factions?” Noah asked through a sigh. “They’re so picky that they have to see everyone, then risk loosing their disciples anyway?”

“I think you’re drastically underestimating just how important this is,” Fist said. “The opportunity to learn from one of the most powerful mages in the world is not one to turn down easily. They’re not going to offer it to anyone less than the perfect candidate. There’s a chance that not a single person from this tournament is chosen.”

“I see.” Noah glanced back out the window to look down at the people on the arena floor far below. “That’s… prestigious. I guess. Great to know. Are you aware of what they’re looking for in a disciple?”

“No,” Fist said. “Power, probably. But if anyone knew more, that information would be incredibly valuable. I wouldn’t be going around spilling it like afternoon tea. I’d be selling it and getting rich. I don’t know how you weren’t aware of this. You thinking it might be time to try harder?”

No. I’m thinking I need to make sure those bastards stay the hell away from my students. They better not be looking for any Rank 4s.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Yeah,” Noah drawled. He rocked back in his chair. “Definitely. I’d love nothing more.”

***

“Well?” Moxie asked, the rumble of the crowd loud above her as the timer overhead ticked closer and closer to zero. She leaned against Grim, her arms crossed over the top of the massive grimoire as she pointedly ignored all the mages trying to recruit each other into groups around her.

“Nothing,” came Grim’s whispered response. “But he is here. I am certain of it.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Moxie said. She pulled her white cloak tighter around herself, letting her fingers dig into the soft fur. It felt comforting in her grip. “It’s not about if Noah or any of the others made it. I know they did. The problem is finding them.”

“Even I have limits,” Grim said. “My senses are clouded by this wretched city. If you were to feed me more—”

“Not happening,” Moxie said. “We both remember what happened when you managed to convince me to feed you extra.”

“I can control myself.”

“You said you said the same thing last time,” Moxie said tersely. “We both know how true that was. You ruined an entire ruins full of knowledge. What a waste.”

“I also killed the group trying to take your life,” Grim said despondently, not too dissimilar in tone from a pouting child. “How many others could kill multiple Rank 5 mages with such ease? I helped you. You should be thanking me.”

“You said you’d control yourself,” Moxie said. “I don’t see how destroying century old knowledge is controlling yourself.”

“I didn’t destroy it. It’s still around inside me.” Grim’s pages fluttered. “Somewhere, at least. I’ll find it eventually. Stop bringing that up. It only happened once.”

“That’s because I only gave you the extra energy once,” Moxie said. “I don’t plan on making the same mistake again. Besides, we’re not trying to kill everyone here. We just need to make it to the next round.”

“That won’t be sufficient,” Grim said. “We must draw attention. Simply surviving will not help anyone find us. If we kill everyone in our melee, the word of our power will spread. That is the fastest way to find the others.”

“That would definitely go against the rules,” Moxie said. She glanced up at the timer. There were just two or so minutes before the round begun. “They said to avoid excessive murder. And we don’t know who we’re up against. There could be some Rank 6s scattered around. I’m not going to stand a chance against them. Not while having to hold back half of my power.”

“You would if you let me—”

Moxie didn’t even say anything. Her eyes just narrowed. Grim cut himself off.

“What was that?” Moxie asked. “Were you saying something?”

“I miss Noah,” Grim said. “Bring me back to him. He was more fun.”

“That’s because he’s an idiot who acts first and then figures out how to deal with the consequences of his actions later,” Moxie said. A small smile pulled across her lips. “But you’re right that just surviving isn’t going to be enough. We’re going to have to find a way to help the others figure out that we’re here.”

“Get far enough in the tournament and then shout our tavern and room number as loud as you can?” Grim offered.

“That is a remarkably horrible idea,” Moxie said. “It would just get a bunch of creeps to come knocking. We’ll just play things quietly for the first few rounds. Avoid drawing any attention early. It won’t matter with all the noise. There are too many other people trying to make a name for themselves right now, and with the sheer number of competitors and people in the tournament, the only thing we have to worry about is making it to the rounds where more people are watching.”

“What a well thought out and utterly boring strategy,” Grim said.

“Do you have a better one?” Moxie asked. “One that doesn’t involve me using magic that gets another… well, you know?”

“No,” Grim admitted. “My preferred strategy would be to kill everyone and consume their magic. It won’t matter if there’s a Rank 6 mage if I’m fed by the lives of everyone else on this platform. The power of so many Rank 5 Mages…”

Can Grim actually get that powerful?

A flicker of unease passed through Moxie. She wasn’t actually sure what his limits were. There was a very real chance that Grim was right. But even if he was, this wasn’t the way to test it. She didn’t need to go showing off his abilities yet. Those would be best saved for an emergency.

I can’t use half my magic right now. If I even touch any Death Magic, then I imagine the Prophet will sense it and I’ll have a bunch of her dogs breathing down my neck within seconds. That makes things a lot harder… but I can definitely make it pretty far, even without it. I’ll just have to be smart about things.

Moxie drew on her magic. The counter above had dipped below a minute. Only seconds remained before the start of her melee round. The mages in her area had given up trying to get her attention. They’d all moved on, forming into a smattering of small groups.

There was only a single mage other than Moxie in the area that hadn’t joined up with anyone. A lizard man of dull green scales, shirtless, with tarnished golden bangles hanging all along both of his arms. The man’s tongue flicked out to taste the air as his eyes caught Moxie’s.

A small smile crossed his lips.

Then he turned, stepping into the milling crowds of mages and vanishing behind them.

Weird.

Then the timer in the sky finally ticked down to zero.

“Begin!” Baun roared from overhead. “Let’s see what you’ve got!”

Moxie’s round had started.