Chapter 2 - Return of the Runebound Professor

Screaming in agony, Noah’s soul split apart from his body. The desecrated corpse pitched to the ground; its top half cut into ribbons. He stared down at it, the pain fading now that he no longer had a body with which to feel.

No. It can’t end like this. I can’t go back to that damn line.

Invisible energy tugged at his chest, pulling him away from the world. Noah’s heart clenched. After everything he’d gone through—thousands of years of endless monotony, barely surviving a fight between gods, all just to show up and get immediately killed by a damn monkey.

If Noah’s soul form could cry, then he would have been weeping, but he was denied even that. Something wrapped around his throat. Noah’s ghostly eyes bulged and he choked—something he hadn’t thought actually possible for a spirit. A black ribbon materialized around his neck, leading back off into the clearing.

The force pulling him away from the world vanished as the black ribbon yanked him back down to the world. Pain erupted throughout him once more and his eyes snapped open, drawing in a ragged gasp and clutching a hand to his thundering heart. He was in a body once more.

His head slammed like an entire orchestra had been trapped within it. Noah groaned in pain, unable to even move from his spot. It was several minutes before he gathered the energy to push himself upright.

There was no sign of his clothes. He was completely naked, and pain still racked his head. But, despite all that, Noah let out a sob of relief. He didn’t know how—or why—but he was still alive.

He doubled over, his hands digging into the blackened dirt just to remind himself that it was actually there, as tears poured down his cheeks.

Another chance. No matter what I have to do, I won’t go back. Not today. Not ever.

Noah pushed himself upright. A heavy fog still hung around his mind, but he needed to get his bearings.

He had returned to the same clearing that he’d first arrived in. The gourd of poison still sat on the ground where he’d left it. In the all too close distance, Noah could hear crunching noises from the direction of where he’d run. Swallowing heavily, Noah crept up to the pool of water and peered inside it.

The face of the man whose body he’d stolen looked back at him. He’d kept it, somehow. Unfortunately, the clothes didn’t seem to be part of the package deal.

“Why this guy again? It can’t be the same body—a monkey is eating the old one. Did I somehow steal his visage?” Noah whispered to himself. He touched his face, just to make sure it was there. A roar split the forest behind Noah and he paled, launching himself into the lake. He swam down as deep as he could go and latched onto a stone at the bottom, holding onto it for dear life.

He wasn’t sure how long he waited there. Time had lost most of its meaning during his stay in the afterlife. Noah didn’t dare release the rock until his lungs burned so much that he could hardly feel them and shadows danced before his eyes.

His body barely managed to propel him back up to the surface of the lake. He gasped for air, slumping over the edge as his lungs desperately pulled oxygen in. Suppressing a groan, Noah rolled over and glanced around.

The clearing was empty. His head still felt like mincemeat, but it was better to feel it than to actually become mincemeat…again. Noah pulled himself the rest of the way onto dry land and pushed himself upright.

I can’t rest. Something gave me another shot at this, and I won’t let it go to waste. I need to be able to defend myself from those monsters.

Noah lifted his hand, trying to form a Wind Rune above his palm. His brow furrowed. Nothing happened. If anything, the headache pounding against his skull only grew stronger and the fog clouding his mind thicker.

A cold breeze rustled by him. He shivered and tilted his head to the side, listening as hard as he could. He couldn’t hear the monkey anymore. That didn’t mean it wasn’t still there—he hadn’t forgotten how silent it could be when it wanted to be.

If I just sit around here forever, something will kill me again. I need something to work with. That dead guy had to have something useful on him, right?

Noah swallowed, his hands clenching at his sides.

If he doesn’t, I might just get killed hunting for what amounts to nothing more than pants.

What do I want more? Pants and a chance of something more? Or take my chances sitting around naked?

The answer didn’t take him long to find.

Noah crept into the burnt woods.

He hadn’t made it far in his previous escape attempt, and he spotted the bottom half of his corpse lying in the tussled dirt between several trees. There was no sign of his upper body or the monkey.

To his delight, his pants and some of the dead man’s belongings were still on the remains of the corpse.

Noah crept up to his former legs and quickly tugged his pants and belt off. Noah pulled them on, grimacing at the still-warm blood covering them. A small book clipped to the belt thumped against his side as he pulled it on. As soon as his legs were through the holes, Noah shuffled off into the trees, tying his belt with numbed, fumbling fingers as he walked.

Despite his best—and largely ineffective—efforts to be stealthy, Noah winced at every dry branch that cracked beneath his feet. He threw glances over his shoulders every few feet, jumping at the slightest winds.

He didn’t allow himself to calm down until he’d been walking for so long that the sky started to darken and night fell. Noah slumped against a scorched tree.

“This is not how I saw my afterlife going,” Noah said to himself in a low whisper. He shivered as a cold wind dragged its chilly fingers across his bare chest. The fog covering his mind had only just started to peel away a few minutes ago.

I need to see what this guy had on him.

He dug through his pockets. They were empty aside from a single metal badge with the name Magus Vermil embossed on it.

Right. A book, a badge, and some torn up pants. That’s it. Not bad considering I didn’t even have a body yesterday.

Noah unclipped the book from his pants and flipped it open. Detailed notes drawn in tight, flowing handwriting covered many of its pages, each of which was dedicated to a single, complicated pattern similar to the one he’d drawn in the air a few hours ago.

A Rune.

The words drifted to his mind of their own volition. Noah frowned. Runes certainly felt like the right way to describe the feature, but he was quite certain the thought wasn’t his own.

Did I somehow retain some of Vermil’s memories? I can’t feel anything other than the ability to read, but I won’t complain. Anything is better than nothing.

Noah flipped through the pages, searching for the Rune he’d envisioned while fighting the monkey. His efforts were rewarded by an old page near the very back of the book. It was covered with dozens of sketches of plants and animals that he didn’t recognize, along with descriptions of each one.

“Wind Rune,” Noah read, tracing the pattern with a finger. He raised his hand from the book, picturing the Rune in his mind.

Something inside his body shifted. Warm energy coursed through his chest and through his arm, gathering at his palm—but nothing happened. Noah’s brow furrowed, and he sent his thoughts back to when he’d first used the power.

I didn’t really think about anything other than trying to protect myself by⁠—

A thin blade of wind leapt from his palm and carved deep into the brittle trunk of the tree in front of him. Noah scrambled to his feet, eyes darting around to see if anything had heard him. He stood still for several seconds. Nothing came. He crept over to the tree, inspecting his handiwork. The magic had carved a deep cut into the rough bark.

He envisioned the Rune again, this time pointing his palm at the ground. Another blade of wind leapt forth and bit into the earth. The weariness grew stronger, but the fog didn’t encroach on his mind again.

Noah looked up at the night sky. Bright stars twinkled far above, glowing with faint golden light. Despite his situation, he let a small breath of awe slip out from between his lips. It was beautiful. Nothing like the dull, smog-muted stars that he could make out through his apartment window back on Earth.

I can’t let myself start daydreaming. Even if I get out of this forest. Someone killed Vermil by poisoning his healing potion—I suppose I owe whoever did it thanks. If Vermil hadn’t died, I don’t know if I could have taken his body.

But when they find out that Vermil is still walking around, I don’t imagine they’re going to just give up. I need to be careful. I need to be powerful. Even if I got a second chance, I don’t know if I’ll get a third.

He looked back down at his book, determination etching itself into his features.

“First things first. I need to get to civilization.”

* * *

Noah didn’t sleep that night. He just walked, trying to move in a straight line as much as possible. It was as good a direction as any, and the last thing he wanted to do was wander in circles.

The crunch of dead and burnt foliage beneath his feet was the only noise in the still night. Windy gusts slithered through the trees, but despite their stark chill, they were nearly soulless. The trees had no leaves with which to rustle.

Noah came to an abrupt halt as he stepped around a tight group of scorched trees and found himself face to face with a monkey. His breath caught in his throat and a tiny yelp slipped out of mouth before he managed to silence it. The monster’s eyes were closed in sleep. It hung upside down from a blackened branch with its hind legs.

He swallowed heavily, taking a slow step backward. This monkey was roughly the size of the ones that had been lying dead in the clearing when he’d arrived in this world, but that didn’t make its claws and teeth any less deadly.

A branch cracked beneath Noah’s heel. The monkey’s eyes snapped open, instantly catching onto him. It hooted, dropping from the tree and landing on all fours. Noah cursed, scrambling backward and thrusting a hand toward it.

Wind whipped from his fingertips, and a thin blade of white magic carved into the monkey’s chest. It screeched in pain and blood splattered across the ground from a deep wound. The monster threw itself at Noah and he dropped to the ground.

It flew over his head, slamming into a tree behind him with enough force to crack the wood. He bolted upright and sprinted in the opposite direction of the monster as fast as he could. Loud whooping yells followed Noah, growing closer at an alarming rate.

Noah spun, raising his hands to fire another arc of wind into the monster. He had a pretty good head start on it, so he was pretty sure that there should have still been enough room to⁠—

Its face was an inch away from his. Noah screamed, his bolt of magic cutting across the monster’s shoulder an instant before its claws dug into his throat, ripping it out. Agony seared through the wound and he choked, gasping for air that wouldn’t come.

The monkey screeched in victory. It didn’t last long. A final arc of wind leapt from Noah’s numbing fingertips and caught it in the throat, severing the monster’s head from its body. A weak grin flickered across Noah’s lips, even as blood bubbled up behind them.

“Serves you right,” he muttered, but it felt like a hollow victory.

A strange feeling of warmth flooded into his body. For an instant, he felt greater than he had before— but Noah didn’t get time to appreciate it.

Death took him for the second time that day. Noah’s soul slipped out from his body.

What if that was it? If I only got two⁠—

A familiar force tightened around Noah’s neck. He suppressed his relief. It wasn’t just one more chance. He was going to get another shot— which meant now was the time to gather information.

Noah memorized his surroundings as best as he could. The pull grew stronger, and then he was hurtling through the forest. He focused, keeping track of the trees that whistled past him and taking note of anything that could be used as a marker to orient himself.

A few seconds later, reality slammed into him. Cold, wet dirt pressed into his bare back and his eyes snapped open. The empty gourd rested just by his feet, in the same place he’d left it. Heavy fog hung in his mind. His lips felt gummy and dry. His head throbbed and he was naked. Again.

Noah didn’t care. A laugh slipped from his lips despite the pain. A massive weight seemed to lift off Noah’s shoulders.

I can’t die. Damn the line to eternity. I’m free.

But, as quickly as the relief had washed over Noah, it vanished.

Things don’t just randomly happen. I’m coming back to life for a reason. But… what is it?

He turned in a slow circle, trying to see if there was anything that might be causing him to reform here rather than anywhere else in the world.

His eyes fell to the gourd that rested at his feet. The very object that had delivered the killing blow to Vermil—and the one that had opened the path to Noah.

What if it’s not the clearing bringing me back at all?

Noah started to reach for the gourd, but froze midway down as his heart leapt into his throat.

Peering at him from within the darkness at the edge of the clearing were two glistening eyes. A small monkey stepped out, a droplet of saliva dripping from its fangs. Noah swallowed, trying to call on his magic.

His head throbbed violently. No magic came. The monkey bared its teeth and took a step toward him.

Not here. I can’t fight here. If I’m right⁠—

The monkey wasn’t concerned with Noah’s worries. It let out a screech and charged at him.

Damn the magic. I’m done running away.

“Leave me alone!” Noah roared.

Then he sprinted toward the monkey. A flicker of surprise flashed through the small monster’s eyes, but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop it. It leapt into the air, its hands reaching for Noah’s throat.

He didn’t care. His fist whipped forward, slamming into the monkey’s face with all the force that Noah could muster.

Hot lines of pain carved through him as the monster’s claws dug through his flesh, ripping his neck open. Bones crunched beneath Noah’s fist as the monkey slammed into the ground.

He lunged for it, but the monkey was faster. It ripped at his throat again and Noah staggered past it, crashing to the ground as the strength flooded from his body.

Noah’s soul peeled back, rising into the air despite his best efforts to stand back up. He struggled furiously as the monkey sniffed at him, then turned its beady little eyes toward the gourd on the ground.

The only link he had to his potential revivals—and one that might get severed if the monkey got curious and damaged it. Energy tugged at Noah, and this time, he welcomed it.

There was a flash of black, and violent pain ripped through his mind. Noah’s eyes snapped open as he leapt to his feet beside the monkey, staggering as a wave of dizziness washed through him.

The monkey let out a screech of surprise, but it wasn’t prepared for Noah’s fist to slam into its face for the second time that day. It stumbled back, but Noah was relentless. He leapt at the monster, digging his fingers into its eyes with a wordless roar of desperation and fury.

Its head cracked against a rock, but Noah wasn’t done. He slammed it back again and again, each strike a crunch through the otherwise silent night.

Noah didn’t stop until he was taking deep, ragged breaths and the monster was a bloodied mess in his hands. He sat back, wiping his shaking palms off on the dirt, before staggering upright.

A faint trickle of energy rose up from the monkey’s body and sank into his, filling his body with warmth. The exhaustion that had built up relented slightly, and his lips suddenly felt just a bit less parched.

Noah barely cared. He scooped the gourd up like a baby, holding it gently to his chest.

I don’t know if this is the way I come back to life, but I can’t take the risk.

“You’re coming with me,” Noah whispered to the gourd. He looked down at himself, then grimaced. “And I need to get Vermil’s pants back.”