Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 440: Karma

Noah and Tim arrived at the transport cannon just a short while later. It was, predictably, empty. Tim went right over to the controls and his hands played across them like he was a musician plucking the strings of a harp.

Energy hummed within the control panel and light flickered to life along it as the transport cannon turned on. Tim continued to adjust the levers, his brow furrowed in concentration. Its a bit harder to control everything now that the cannon isnt what it used to be anymore.

How much harder? Noah asked, a flicker of worry passing through him. He wasnt keen on getting ripped to shreds by the cannon midway through his trip to wherever it was that Tim was going to send him.

Don t worry, Tim said with a laugh. He pressed his palm into the control panel and it emitted a loud hum. Go head over to the entrance and lay down. Im more than capable of controlling the cannon, even in this state. Just be aware you wont be out for as long as usual due to the restrictions.

Do you know exactly how long itll be?

Three hours at most. Weve got to ration the energy since its being filled by hand.

Noah sat down on the metal of the cannon as the humming in the tower grew louder. Tim adjusted a few more settings and Noah grimaced as the sound reached an uncomfortable level.

Will you be here when I get back? Noah called over noise.

I can be, Tim called back. But why? Im not needed to pull you back. The cannon will do that on its own. Im setting everything up to make sure you return before it runs out of power. If its reserves get low enough to risk a failed recall for any reason, itll just immediately summon you back and use the rest of its power. Theres no risk of you being left behind.

Its not that. I trust you to use the cannon, Noah replied and held his travel bag up, shaking it to draw Tims attention. Ive got a potion in here for you. After I get back.

Tims eyes widened. Are you sure?

Why not? I like to finish what I start and its been far too long.

Tim gave him a sheepish smile. Well, if youre going to insist, then I certainly wont object. Ill be here when you get pulled back. Now, get yourself ready. Im sending you to a location called the Bleached River. It should be a safe area to land in, but its got stronger monsters than a lot of the other areas the transport cannon has sent you to before, so make sure youve got your wits about you.

Noah nodded his understanding and lowered the bag, holding it to his chest and laying back in the cannons tube. It was a bit of a challenge to get himself to fit with the grimoire on his back, but he managed it anyway. The buzzing reached a crescendo. Power crackled all around Noah and flashed before his eyes in arcs of blue light.

Good luck! Tim called.

A burst of energy swallowed Noahs response and body alike. The world dematerialized and he shot off, a streak of blue energy carving across the sky and leaving Arbitage in its wake.

***

The world slammed back to normal abruptly. Noah landed on his backside and skidded across white sand for a foot before coming to a stop. He muttered a slew of curses and shook his head off, pushing himself upright and shaking the sand out of his pant legs.

He hadnt gotten a chance to ask Tim why the location he was being sent to was called the Bleached River, but that question looked to have been answered. He stood on the bed of an enormous, rushing riverbank. Water crashed up against the jagged rocks lining it and splashed over to land on top of the pure white sand that stretched as far as he could see.

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I dont think theyve actually got bleach in this world, so I guess thats the best translation that Vermils knowledge of language could give me. Definitely lives up to the name, though.

Noah turned in a circle. There was nothing immediately visible on the horizon and the sky was completely empty aside from a few clouds and the harsh sun bearing down on his back from above.

It had only been a few seconds since hed arrived, but it was already heating the shoulders of his jacket to a decidedly displeasing temperature. He got the feeling it wouldnt be long before he was soaked through with sweat.

Good thing theres a convenient river right over here to cool off in. Im sure it totally wont be full of ugly monsters.

He extended his senses into the ground to check for vibrations. The sand around him and the rushing water just a short distance away didnt make that easy, but as far as he could tell, there wasnt much around him or at least, if there was, it wasnt within the sand.

His powers were completely useless with regard to the river. The whole thing was moving, so it was basically one giant wall of information that provided absolutely nothing. It was also the most likely location to house monsters given the locations name.

Thats fine with me. I dont need to go around killing anything yet. If Ive got three hours before I get pulled back, Ive got enough time to test out Crumbling Space. Im not going to be relying on it in a fight yet and the opportunity to see what I can do with it is too useful to pass up.

Noah extended his hand and focused his thoughts before reaching out to the new Rank 4 Rune. He drew power from it, letting the energy course through his arm and into his palm. Tingles broke out along his skin and pressed against his fingernails like a nest of ants trying to break free of his veins.

Cant say I love the feeling of this rune. Sunder is much smoother. Even the Fragment of Renewal is a lot nicer to use. I wonder if thats due to Space Magic Ive got in this or if its because I made a Rank 4 Rune rather than a Master Rune.

Noah shrugged to himself. For the time being, it didnt matter. What did matter was just how far he could push the rune. He drew out every last scrap of power the rune had to offer. It wouldnt work with less. There was no reason to hold himself back. His eyes narrowed and he pointed his hand at the air before him, picturing the white cracks shooting out in a straight line rather than in the spiderweb pattern that theyd taken the first time hed tested Crumbling Space.

The power ripped out from his hand. Cracks of white nothingness ripped out through the air before him, but instead of following his desires, they just shot off in every direction, making the rough shape of a sphere.

Every direction unfortunately included his own.

Noah hurled himself out of the way as the air collapsed in on itself. He hit the ground with a grunt and rolled over to watch the energy fade from the air. There wasnt anything there to break, so the magic faded without a single sound.

He stared at the air for a few seconds. Then he muttered a curse and pushed himself upright, brushing the sand off himself. His brow furrowed as he played the attempt back in his mind.

Thats rather odd. It straight up just ignored what I wanted. Ive never had a Rune completely disobey me before. I didnt get any feeling of Crumbling Space actually not wanting to obey my commands. I dont think Runes have that much autonomy so did I just imagine things wrong?

That hardly seemed likely. Hed been pretty straightforward about his desires. If that was the case, it meant hed literally just asked the rune to do something it couldnt manage, either due to its normal limitations or due to a lack of energy.

That orb did seem like a default expenditure of power, just releasing it all in one point. Only way to find out why that happened would be to go find some monsters and fill this thing up so I can test it some more.

Noah let out a huff and glanced around. His eyes landed on the river once more. He wasnt too keen on striding over to it as he was. It wasnt that he cared all that much about dying. Dying was fine but if he died with all his stuff on him and something dragged him into the river, then he wasnt getting it back.

He used Natural Disaster to raise a platform from the sand, then stacked his grimoire, travel bag, and gourd on top of it. Noah turned toward the river.

Wait. Did I ever get a second set of clothes after I got killed in Birds Space Monster Wonderland?

Noah spun and pulled his bag open. He let out a groan. It didnt have a change of clothes in it.

That left him with two options. The first was to hope he didnt get killed and head out as he was. If things went poorly, that meant hed be showing back up to meet Tim as naked as the day he was born.

The alternative

Goddamn it. You have to be kidding me. This is karma for what I told Bird. I shouldnt have tempted fate.

Noah took his clothes off.