Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 890: Zeth

Mages popped into the masquerade hall in huge swathes. Vivian didn’t remember exactly how many outfitters they’d hired for the tournament, but it had been somewhere in the hundreds. Getting this many bloodthirsty mages that had come to Aqua Terra for a fight packed into their fancy clothes and shipped off in short manner would have been next to impossible if she’d brought anything less than a small army to get the job done.

It was a relief to see that her investment was working. Over three quarters of the expected mages had already arrived. After a few more minutes, everybody would be here and ready for the party to officially start.

Of course, it had started in actuality some time ago.

Not just for the mages that were looking for their next student or recruit, but also for the combatants. The keen among them were more than aware that this wasn’t just an opportunity to greet their potential future benefactors. It was also a chance to analyze who they were up against.

Sure, there were restrictions. Aqua Terra’s domain suppression was still active here. With the addition of masks and anti-magic clothes, people’s power and identity would be pretty well hidden. But there were always ways around such things.

Some of the combatants were simply different sizes. It didn’t matter how effective one’s robes were when they towered five heads over everyone else in the room. While there were more than a few veritable giants amongst the combatants, wise mages would be looking for any information they could get. And that wasn’t all.

The masquerade was rife with opportunities for anyone intelligent to pick up information about their opponents. A great deal of knowledge could be learned through conversation or observation. Some mages would probably be arrogant enough to remove their masks in order to eat, revealing their identities.

And even if people were masked, there was nothing stopping them from sharing information. The mages could easily exchange what they knew about powerful opponents participating in the arenas and who to watch out for. Anyone without valuable information to trade could learn quite a bit simply by silently listening.

As a matter of fact… that was exactly what Vivian planned to do.

While she waited to see if the Beyond-user would activate their power to taunt her again, she could learn quite a bit indeed simply by listening to what people were speaking about. It might have been a bit early in the tournament to draw any strong conclusions about who the true best competitors were. But, at the end of the day, the collective tended to have a surprisingly good eye for who the best candidates were.

Whatever rumors passing around today would be quite useful in identifying who to watch — and who the other Faction Heads were likely already keeping an eye on. While all of them probably had some mages they’d been open with each other about having interest in, they’d be trying to keep their true targets as close to chest as possible.

Vivian let her gaze pass over the scattered mages. While many of them were still aimlessly milling about the hall, some had already figured out the game. Groups were forming all around the room as mages poked and prodded for something useful while trying to avoid saying anything too valuable themselves.

It wasn’t hard to pick up on any of their conversations. Vivian could hear anything in the room with little more than a flicker of her attention. But even for her, following every single conversation was impossible. Her mind couldn’t split in that many directions at once.

Instead, she simply listened for patterns. Repeated mentions of names — people who the groups were speaking about more than others. She wasn’t expecting to find much quite yet. It was too early in the tournament for anyone to have really made a huge impression.

But as the night went on, some people would make themselves more evident. A few would even…

Vivian’s thoughts trailed off.

Then a frown crossed her lips behind her mask. There was a considerable commotion coming from the direction of one of the dining areas. One far larger than she would have expected this early in the night. Fortunately, she didn’t have to move to investigate it. She simply cast her mind’s eye out toward the sound.

A few gluttons might have made their way over to the food immediately, but that doesn’t sound like just one or two people. What is going on here? Did someone start a fight? Or—

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Vivian’s thoughts sputtered out.

Her consciousness watched in stunned disbelief — as well as a small amount of awe — as a small mage yanked a tablecloth beneath dozens of plates stacked high with food, dragging the entire thing off the table and sending it crashing to ground with a cacophony of shattering plates and squelching meat.

A flash of anger cut through Vivian’s mind.

You think you can vandalize my hall? Who do you…

And then, for the second time, she trailed off.

The short mage had bundled up the large tablecloth stuffed full of ruined food and was actively jumping up and down on it, stomping everything into a messy paste within the cloth. They then nodded to themselves and stepped off their impromptu artwork. The mage made sure the end of their makeshift bag was twisted shut. They pulled their mask off and tossed it to the ground at their feet, revealing the features of a young woman. She hoisted her bag of smashed up plates and squashed food into the air.

There was a crack.

Her jaw unhinged like that of a snake, revealing two rows of razor-sharp teeth.

Then she dropped the whole bag down her gullet.

She didn’t even chew a single time.

The small mage just grinned, her tongue running along her lips as she let out a satisfied sigh, having just eaten the meals of at least ten different people in a single bite. All the other mages in the area stared at her in disbelief. It didn’t seem like she’d noticed.

Vivian’s eye twitched. She wasn’t the best at remembering faces. She saw too many mages, far too of which were beneath her notice. But something about this mage almost felt slightly familiar. Almost as if she might have seen them before. But before she could even think about traveling farther down that rabbit hole, a deeply unsettling sight made itself known to her.

What the— oh. No. Oh, no. Don’t you dare.

The young woman had turned her eye toward the nearest table… and she still looked hungry.

You cannot be serious.

***

Zeth resisted the urge to let his tongue flick out to taste the air. It wasn’t going to do him much good with a mask covering his face. The only thing he’d get to taste would be the back end of his mask. A part of him wanted to tear the damn thing off and toss it to the side.

But it was the only thing keeping his disguise even somewhat functional. Robes were meant for normal humans. People with flesh and short, flat faces. They didn’t work so well if one had a snout and scales. Gloves helped, of course. But it wasn’t a perfect solution. Without his mask, the magical shadow cast by his hood wouldn’t be anywhere near enough to hide his true form from anyone.

Still, it’s better than nothing. I would be displeased if I had to wander around all these wretched, vile stains that excuse themselves as mages. Even among filth are some that are worthy of respect. Those are the ones I’m here for.

And that was the reason he was here in the first place.

Zeth glanced around. He stood near one of the corners of the large hall, in front of a wooden table with two chairs with faded red padding. Two glasses of frothing liquid had already been set out on the table, even though there wasn’t anyone seated at it. His eyes narrowed. Everything was exactly as he’d been told it would be.

There were a number of other tables scattered throughout the room. And beyond that, the masquerade hall was beyond massive. He was certain that there were dozens upon dozens of small tables scattered throughout it. For someone to have gotten the description so accurate meant they were either somehow tied incredibly close to the tournament or that something far more curious was going on.

That was interesting. Very, very interesting.

This was the second of the two predictions that had been right.

He approached the table and pulled one of the chairs out, quietly seating himself. Mages were already milling all about the room. A few of them glanced in his direction, but nobody made to sit down at the table across from him.

Zeth made no move to drink from the mug beside his hands. Given how much his mysterious benefactor had already manipulated, he had absolutely no desire to find himself poisoned. Perhaps it was paranoia. There were very few poisons that would have worked on him… but Zeth did not underestimate his opponents.

A loud crash from one of the dining areas caught his attention. His eyes flicked to the side instinctively. There were too many mages in the way to see what had happened. But, in the tiny sliver of time in which his eyes had been pulled away, someone had sat down at the table across from him.

They were shorter than he’d expected. A hooded cloak, not too dissimilar from his, covered their entire body. Gloves kept so much as a single strip of exposed flesh from showing on their hands and arms. The only difference in their outfits was the mage’s mask.

Instead of an animal, they had gone with a fair plainer option. It was white ceramic, with a pale blue eye painted in the center.

“I’m glad to see you made it,” the mage said in a distinctly female voice.

“I couldn’t refuse such a polite invitation,” Zeth replied. He didn’t bother hiding the hissing amusement in his voice. This woman had long since figured out his identity. “And it’s quite a way to make an impression. Two predictions, both right. First with the red-haired woman. Then with this table. You wanted my attention. Now you’ve got it. But I must know. Do you think me incompetent? Or do you believe that I could not have gotten here without your aid?”

“If I thought you incompetent, do you think I would have gone through all the effort of meeting here?” The woman asked. There was a faint note of amusement in her voice, but it was distant. It didn’t quite sound human. “You are capable. Neither of us would be sitting here were that not the case.”

“I am inclined to agree,” Zeth said. His eyes narrowed behind his mask. “But if your words are the truth… tell me. Why did you decide to give me a tournament badge?”