Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 405: The Groundbreaking Question

Chapter 405: The Groundbreaking Question

Well, Noah said as Moxie stared at him over the top of her book, at least you dont need to try to figure out what Wizen was after anymore.

She let out a mixture between a long-suffering sigh and a laugh. Shaking her head, Moxie closed the book and tossed it onto her bed. How do you do this? Are you cursed? Do you just have a nose for trouble and a burning desire to follow after it?

I wanted to see where Tim went.

And so logically your first thought was to break into restricted Arbitage property. Moxie burst into laughter. I suppose that tracks. It sounds like its a good thing you did. Nobody was seriously injured other than Barb?

Yeah. Brayden and Tim are both okay. It didnt look like Barb was trying to kill Tim and Brayden had some nasty cuts but nothing too significant. He basically shrugged all of them off when we walked out of the tower. They werent anything a healing potion wont handle.

Moxie rose from her chair and ran a hand through her hair. And the artifact that Wizen was after a key to the Damned Plains?

Yeah. I couldnt even begin to hazard a guess as to what he wants with it. Theres no way hes after the same thing that Father was with when he tried to summon Azel and got me instead, right?

If he was, this would be the absolute worst way to go about it. There are much easier methods to summon demons, Moxie said. Such as the one that Father had Vermil try. Vermil only barely screwed up. If hed been more competent or actually knew anything about demons, theres a decent chance he might have pulled it off.

I was thinking something along the same lines. It doesnt really make sense to get a whole ass key straight to the depths of hell just to go knocking on the door of a random demon to ask them to come help out, Noah said. He hesitated for a moment as a disturbing thought struck him. Unless Wizen is after a demon thats too powerful to summon normally?

That could be a possibility. I dont know why hed even bother with something like that, though. It seems like an enormous amount of overkill. If he needs the key to speak to the demon in the first place, chances are the demon will be stronger than him and all Wizen will get for his efforts is killed.

They were both silent for several seconds. Then Noah clapped his hands against his knees and cleared his throat as he rose to his feet.

Whelp. At least we know one thing.

And that is?

He probably doesnt care about you anymore.

Moxie burst into laughter. You really do have a one-track mind on certain issues, dont you?

Yes.

Are you not even slightly concerned about the greater effects of this? If Wizen is completely insane, he could be planning to just release all the demons in the Damned Plains into the mortal realm or something like that. I mean, that seems ridiculous, but who knows. He could want anything.

I dont feel like thats his goal. Who knows. I could be wrong but Wizen strikes me as someone with a plan. I dont think hes just trying to destroy things for the sake of it. Barb was fairly decent, actually.

Moxies brow furrowed and she tilted her head to the side. Decent? Whats that mean?

She didnt seem insane. Or evil, for that matter. She was just determined. I mean, she never tried to hurt Tim even though she could have probably used it against us. The only time she did anything that could have hurt him was when she basically blew the entire room up to buy herself time to get away.

Youre saying you dont think shed be working with Wizen if he was a madman? You havent forgotten the part with the mind control runes, have you?

No, of course not, Noah said. He rubbed his chin. But you remember how Alexandra was, dont you? She was forced to be there. It was clear she didnt have a choice. Barb was completely in control. It was voluntary.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Interesting, Moxie said. She rocked back in her chair and drummed her fingers against her knee. That isnt really complete proof that Wizen isnt insane, but I see where youre going with it. It doesnt change the fact that Wizen now has an immensely powerful artifact that could do a lot of damage.

Oh, definitely not, Noah agreed. But it does mean hes probably not going to bother us in the near future. Well probably have to work on getting rid of him once the Enforcers actually find something marginally useful to work with, but at least we wont be getting jumped by puppets in the middle of the night or whatever else it is that Wizen would have done to get the information he wanted from you.

Thats true. Moxie let a small smile cross her lips. All we had to do was let him make off with an important artifact. Though, to be fair, Arbitage were the idiots keeping it sitting around almost completely undefended. What were they thinking?

Probably that the best defense was being forgotten, Noah said. Did you find any information about a key while you were looking through artifacts?

No. Granted I wasnt looking for anything along those lines, but it certainly wasnt somewhere easy to find.

Brayden only found it shortly before Barb showed up, and I suspect he didnt do it entirely as legally as he made it sound. It sounds like Arbitage went through a lot of steps to try and make sure it was forgotten, Noah theorized. Not that Im saying that was the best way to store something that powerful, but it gives me a slightly different thought. Maybe were thinking about things the wrong way. What if it isnt that Arbitage is keeping its best artifacts just sitting around relatively undefended, but

That wasnt their best artifact at all, Moxie finished. She ran a hand through her hair and blew a puff of air out from her lips. Shit. It makes sense, but thats pretty concerning. It would definitely explain a lot. You think Arbitage is holding onto a ridiculous amount of powerful artifacts and the key was basically overflow?

Thats the only thing that comes to mind. Maybe stuff that was made before the what was the event where the super strong Great Monsters showed up and caused the Bastions to be made?

The Long Night.

Yeah. What if theyve got a bunch of stuff from before the Long Night stored away in Arbitage? That could be why its such a shit school. Its not really meant to be a school at all. If theyve actually got a ton of weapons and stuff, the school might just be a front to keep idiots from trying to steal things.

Having noble families send their students here would also be a good way to make sure none of them tried to make a move on everything, Moxie mused, her face losing a shade of color. The kids arent here for training. Theyre collateral.

How is it that I dislike this place more the more I learn about it? Noah asked.

We dont know for sure that we read it right, Moxie said, starting to pace around the room. We could just be making things up. Were drawing quite a bit from just a single piece of information.

I dont think hunting around to find more would be very wise. It seems like a good way to get on Arbitages shit list.

Wizen would probably know. If he found out about the key, then I bet hed know if there was more.

Noah shot Moxie a sharp look. Youre spending too much time with me if youre starting to think we should approach him and ask for advice.

I wasnt thinking that. But when we inevitably do run into him again while trying to take the key back, it cant hurt to ask. Wasnt he pretty talkative in the fight against Silvertide?

Thats a good point, Noah allowed, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Yeah, he was. And speaking of which, Silvertide might know something as well. He strikes me as someone who has a good grasp of things behind the scenes.

You can ask him before the meeting with the enforcers, maybe?

It got pushed off until day after tomorrow, but yeah Ill ask him then.

Moxies pacing finally came to a stop beside her bed. She picked up the book shed tossed onto it and moved it back to her desk.

That works. Honestly I dont even know what Id do with the information if we had it. Ive just been starting to wonder what Arbitage actually offers. Im hoping the advanced track will start providing more value than trying to attack us randomly.

I reckon well find out tomorrow night with the next meeting, but Im in agreement. It feels like the only thing Arbitage has provided is housing and exams that we could do ourselves. Its not like theyre even giving us resources though the advanced track has mentioned thats on the table. We should focus on making sure everyone is ready to handle that first exam coming up so they perform well against the other advanced track students.

A grin passed over Moxies face and she held back a laugh. Can you imagine the looks on their faces if our students completely walk all over the kids that have been in the advanced track for a while longer?

Id much prefer to see it in person than imagine, Noah replied. Well have to scope out what were up against tomorrow night but thats a problem for tomorrow night.

Which implies theres something more important that we have to deal with first? Moxie tilted her head to the side. I dont really need any more groundbreaking revelations today, but now youve got my curiosity. What is it?

We have a date tomorrow, and I havent figured out where you wanted to eat.