Noah threw his flying sword to the ground and jumped onto it, sending Wind energy into the blade and taking to the skies. Below him, Fluffants trumpeted in rage, stampeding after him. He angled straight up, pulling away from the plateau and heading back up to the one he’d arrived on.

The monsters didn’t seem to have any way to attack him from range, so all they could do was trumpet in anger and watch their prey escape.

Cresting the cliff, Noah landed on the moist ground and stumbled off his sword. He wiped the sweat from his brow and glanced over the edge. The monsters were still looking up in his direction, though many of them had lost interest and returned to grazing.

Noah shook his head and walked away from the cliff. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Catchpapers that Moxie had given him, leafing through them. They were all blank. He let out a heavy sigh and returned them.

“Great. That was a complete waste. I guess I did learn that giant fluffy things are indeed too good to be true and are actually beady-eyed geese in cloud form. Seems like they’ve got either a horde mentality or really like the scent of blood. Creepy bastards.”

And they look like they’re resistant to Wind on top of everything. Vibration is possibly the least useful tool against them as I can’t even get close to their bodies with all that fluff, which only leaves Ash – of which I have none. Good job, Noah. Maybe remember to bring something along that lets you use your strongest Runes next time.

Noah took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He was starting to get really frustrated – a lot more than he should have been. The lack of sleep and constant stress from the Hellreaver’s mental attack was really getting to him, but losing his cool wasn’t going to help.

One step at a time.

He slowly turned around and edged back over to the cliff, looking down at the Fluffants below. They’d completely forgotten him once he got completely out of sight.

But they weren’t the only ones that had forgotten something.

I haven’t used my Master Rune at all. It’s been a good bit since I last tried accessing its power, and I feel a lot stronger now. I wonder if I’d be able to use any of Sunder’s abilities yet.

Noah sat down, crossing his legs, and sent himself into his mental space. His Runes bloomed in the darkness around him, all nearly full aside from his newest Vibration rune, which was now just a little over a quarter full.

Above him loomed Sunder. Its intimidating form crackled with dark energy, looking down on him like the scarred eye of a giant. Sensing his intention, the massive rune lowered. Force pressed down on Noah’s body, but he’d gotten used to it by now.

As used to it as one could, that was. It still felt like the world itself was grinding down on Noah’s shoulders and trying to drive him into the ground. But, despite the pressure, it also felt like that very power that was oppressing him could be turned and called forth once he figured out how to handle it.

Noah extended a single finger, pressing back against the Rune’s energy. He moved slowly, trying to see if he could draw any power from Sunder without actually touching it. Unfortunately, nothing came.

Guess I’m going to have to make contact if I want to try it this way. The only other way would be to try channeling it outside of my Mental Space, and I feel like testing it here and potentially giving myself some soul damage is better than testing it outside and giving myself both soul damage and blowing myself up at the same time.

Okay, I guess that wouldn’t actually be that different. Unless calling the Master Rune and dying while using it somehow interfered with its passive effect. Hm. I better be careful about that, actually. It’s not an unrealistic bet to assume that opposites cancel each other out.

Noah drew in a breath and let it out slowly. He was stalling for time. Steeling his nerves, Noah pushed the rest of the way up to the rune and let his finger brush across it. What felt like a distilled bolt of lightning erupted from the rune and slammed into him, coursing through his hand and into his chest.

Pain erupted inside Noah’s body as the energy bounced around his soul form, electrifying his skin and fighting to escape his body. He gritted his teeth, desperately trying to contain it. Noah wasn’t even sure how he was meant to contain it. He just tried. The seven Runes around him shuddered with effort, the pressure coming off them intensifying and pushing back against the overwhelming force of the Master Rune.

And, even as pain burned in his stomach and down the base of his spine, Noah’s eyes slowly opened and the darkness of his mindspace fell away from him, replaced with the Windscorned Plateau.

Sickly grey ran through the veins of his arms, pulsating faintly with his heartbeat. Noah swallowed heavily. His entire body felt heavy, like he’d put on a hundred pounds out of nowhere. He pushed himself upright with a significant amount of effort and glanced around, searching for a target.

Noah’s eyes landed on a flower. It wouldn’t fight back, so it was good a choice as anything. He trudged up to it, dragging his feet through the dirt, and laid his hand on a plump petal.

Releasing the Master Rune’s magic was easy. Easier than he’d expected. It slipped out of his palm without even the slightest resistance, and then it was gone. The heaviness faded away and Noah’s veins returned to their normal color.

He frowned, pulling his hand back and looking at his palm. It looked normal. The plant hadn’t changed at all either. Noah scratched his cheek.

“Well, I suppose progress is progress. Even if it didn’t do anything, at least I managed to call on it. Maybe I’ll actually be able to do something with it once I reach Rank 2.”

The flower quivered. Noah immediately took a step back, lowering into a fighting stance and gathering wind in case something lunged at him. He watched the flower warily as it peeled down the middle and splattered to the ground, split into two perfect halves. He couldn’t even see where it had been cut. The line running through the flower was perfectly straight, without even the slightest variation or imperfection.

Noah stared at the flower, then looked down at his hands. He flexed his fingers, then let a grin creep across his features.

“Okay, more progress than I thought. Not quite cleaving Runes from nothing, but it’s a step and a half in the right direction.”

Noah looked back down at the Fluffants roaming around on the ground far below him, then back to the flower. The most logical next step would be to test Sunder on the monsters, but it took so long to gather that he wasn’t confident he’d be able to draw it before something killed him.

Drawing its power before he flew down seemed like an even more unrealistic option. There was no way he’d be able to pilot his temperamental flying sword while he was holding the power of the Master Rune.

Ah, screw it. The worst that could happen is that I die. Not really that big of a deal. Hopefully the Fluffants have a very short memory. If they recognize me, there’s no way I’m going to be able to call the power of the Master Rune in time before they take a bite out of me.

Noah unhooked his gourd and grimoire, setting them on the ground before adding his travel bag to the pile. After a moment of consideration, he added the papers that Moxie had given him as well. Statistically, he was pretty sure something was going to go wrong. It had been too long since the last mistake. He stepped onto his flying sword and rolled his shoulders before sending a pulse of magic into it and launching off from the ground.

He whistled down toward the plateau below, pulling up when he drew close and doing a wide circle above the Fluffants to gauge their reaction. They didn’t even glance in his direction. Evidently, he’d been relegated back down to scenery.

That worked for Noah. He flew down, cutting the magic going to his sword well before he got into range, and took several large steps once he hit the ground to keep himself from tripping. He then turned back and collected his sword. After checking the area to make sure no Fluffants had been bothered by his arrival, he sat down and reached into his mental space once more.

The energy came no easier this time than it did the last. If anything, it was even harder to call on. All Noah’s other runes felt like they’d been heavily drained of their energy after having to contain the miniscule speck of Sunder’s strength.

Noah’s eyes forced themselves back open a few minutes later, his veins pulsing a greyish black once more. Every movement arduous, Noah braced his hands against the ground and shifted up to his knees, then clambered upright one leg at a time.

He gritted his teeth and forced himself toward the nearest Fluffant. The monster was happily drinking away from one of the large blue flowers, completely uninterested in him. He trudged up to the Fluffant.

As soon as he got close, the monster finished its meal and lumbered away to another flower. Noah’s eye twitched. He forced himself after it, his brow furrowed in concentration and annoyance.

He extended a hand, reaching for the monster’s fluffy side. Noah didn’t want to risk the Master Rune only giving it a haircut instead of killing it, so he wanted to make contact with its body.

His hand pressed through the fluff and kept going. The Fluffant didn’t seem to care. Noah kept reaching deeper, struggling to keep his arm straight as the increased force pressing on him fought to make him drop it.

Finally, Noah felt his hand connect with something hard. The Fluffant stiffened instantly. Noah didn’t wait to see what it would do. He released the magic, letting it flood out from his fingertips and into the monster.

A wave of exhaustion passed over him. Every single one of his runes sputtered, unable to properly resist the energy from Sunder as it coursed through his body. An instant passed and Noah blinked in surprise. It didn’t hurt.

Huh. I’ve gotten so used to agony when things go wrong that it’s a bit weird to –

All over his body, spikes of pain erupted within Noah. Bruises formed beneath his skin as blood welled all over him and the strength flooded from Noah’s limbs. He staggered, coughing blood up onto the ground before him.

Goddamn it. There it is.

Before him, the Fluffant crashed to the ground, split perfectly in two. Noah got a perfect look at the monster’s innards for a second before blood realized that it was no longer contained within the monster and started to flow. A moment of victory was all Noah got before he doubled over, hacking more blood onto the ground. Energy rushed into his body, but not nearly enough to replace what he’d lost.

Shit. I think I just cut myself in a dozen important places internally. That can’t be good for my health.

A dozen loud, trumpeting calls rose into the air. Noah raised his head, watching the Fluffants all turn toward him, their eyes blaring red. He grimaced, ignoring the pained pulses that tore through his body as he lurched toward his flying sword.

His runes were nearly completely drained, but he’d gotten a little energy back from the kill. Not nearly enough for any of them to recover enough to be of significant use, but it would be enough.

Noah’s left arm refused to cooperate with his mind – something important must have gotten severed. He didn’t have time to worry about it. He grabbed the sword with his other hand, hissing in pain as he reared back and hurled the blade, sending what little Wind magic he could scrounge up into it.

The flying sword shot off toward the plateau. Unfortunately, his aim hadn’t been the best. Instead of sailing on top and landing safely, the blade buried itself in the cliffside about twenty feet below the edge.

Noah didn’t get a chance to be disappointed in his aim. A Fluffant slammed into him from behind, ripping his soul free of his body as he died instantly. His body flailed as it rolled across the ground before sliding to a stop beside a flower.

“Well, at least it works,” Noah said, crossing his translucent arms. One of the Fluffants reached down, hooking Noah’s body with its trunk and pulling it toward its mouth. Noah sighed.

“Lovely. Take me back now, if you would? I don’t need to see this. I’m ready for my extra-bad headache.”

Almost as if it heard him, a band of energy tightened around Noah’s throat. He shot away, hurtling up toward the gourd waiting for him at the top of the cliff together with his promised headache.