Return of the Runebound Professor
Chapter 4: Arbitage

Noah flopped down against a tree. He couldn’t remember what time of day it was, and his head hurt too much to look up at the sky to replace the answer. He squeezed his eyes shut and massaged his temples, trying to push some of the pain away while he recovered.

He wasn’t sure how much time passed as he sat there, but a distant noise reached his ears. Noah blinked, letting his eyes crack open. His head was still thundering in pain, but he could have sworn –

“…somewhere here.”

Holy shit, people.

Noah scrambled to his feet and yelled as loud as he could. “Help! Over here!”

A moment passed and he strained to hear if anyone had picked up his calls.

“Hello? Please, I’m lost! I need help!”

Two men floated into view above the trees, each standing on a long piece of ornate metal. Both wore sleek black robes with hoods that cast their faces in shadow, even from the angle he was at. Noah stared up at them, his eyes wide.

“Gods, what are you doing?” one of the men asked as they lowered, touching down in the clearing across from him. “What happened to you?”

Noah opened his mouth then froze.

I can’t tell them anything. I don’t know what Vermil was doing here. I don’t even know who he is.

“I… I’m injured,” Noah said lamely. “I got hit on the head pretty hard by some giant monkey, and my memories are all screwed up. I don’t know where I am or how I got here. All I know is that my name is Vermil.”

The men exchanged a glance as Noah pulled the small metal badge out of his pocket and held it out. One of them pulled his hood back, revealing a grizzled salt and pepper beard. He took the badge from Noah and studied it.

“He’s a teacher at Arbitage,” he said, glancing back at his partner. “Must have been quite some monkey. Was it the Hellreaver?”

“Of course it wasn’t,” the other man said with a scoff. “He’s alive and not scorched to a crisp. Was probably one of the Maulers. Do you really think he’d be walking around if he ran into that flaming demon? Let me guess. Was it a big ugly bastard, about this high?”

He held his hand up above his head. Noah frowned.

“No. It was about twice that high.”

“Slasher,” the bearded man said, grimacing. “Tough buggers. I can see how that might have done some damage. You don’t look cut up, though. Didn’t you have any healing potions?”

Noah grimaced and patted his waistband. “I don’t remember. All I’ve got is the badge on my uniform and my book. Look, can you get me back to… Arbitage, was it? I’m sure they can help me. I might collapse if I have to stand much longer, though.”

“We’ll take you. It’s not too far,” the man said with a nod. “It’s an ill omen if Slashers are getting strong enough to beat teachers. Not a good sign at all. Come stand on the back of my board. I’m Fredrick.”

“Thank you.” Noah staggered over, still barely able to believe his luck, and stepped onto the metal plate. He steadied himself on the man’s shoulders as it shimmered and lifted into the air.

“Hold on,” Fredrick said. “And at least warn me if you think you’re going to fall off. I don’t want to have to deal with explaining that one of Arbitage’s teachers leapt to his death while I was ferrying him around.”

Noah grunted his assent. Fredrick’s partner floated into the air as well, and then they were off, rocketing through the sky just above the burnt treetops. Noah clutched Frederick’s shoulders for dear life, squeezing his eyes shut to keep his already throbbing head from imploding.

His consciousness fluttered in and out, and it took everything he had to keep his hold on Frederick. Noah wasn’t sure how long they hurtled through the air, but it felt like it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds.

Someone nudged him, and he realized that the howling winds had stopped. He slowly let his eyes open, grimacing at the sudden bright light that pierced into his skull. Noah squinted, raising a hand to block out the sun.

They’d landed on the grass before a tall, ornate stone building. Large pillars rose along the sides of the buildings. Statues of monsters clung to them, as if trying to claw them apart during their climb toward the top.

The letter ‘T’ was emblazed upon each of the pillars in shimmering gold, each one roughly the size of Noah’s head. Noah squinted at it.

Actually, I don’t think that’s the literal letter T as much as the closest translation to English. Egh. This is just making my head hurt even more.

“You’ll be in good hands,” Frederick said. Noah glanced around for any sign of Frederick’s partner, but the other man had somehow vanished without him noticing.

I suppose that probably wasn’t too difficult to do in my current state.

“Where are we?” Noah asked.

“Arbitage, the Fourth Bastion,” Frederick replied. He saw the blank look on Noah’s face and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. If there’s anything that can be done, you’ll be fixed up. Any moment now–”

A pair of double doors with a chimera carved into them swung open, and a short man strode out following after Frederick’s still unnamed partner. He wore plain white robes and carried a small wooden staff in his hand, though he didn’t seem to be getting much use out of it. The two of them hurried over to Noah.

A frown passed over the short man’s features and he slowed, losing nearly all of the panic that had been originally on his face.

“Magus Vermil. You appear... injured.”

“Uh… hi. Are you a healer?” Noah asked, rubbing the back of his head to try to force the pain and fog away.

“I was informed that you suffered from a bout of memory loss,” the short man said. “Do you remember who I am?”

Noah shook his head. “I – no. Not at all. I’m sorry. Should I know you?”

“My name is Richard. I am specialized in healing Runes.”

Richard paused, studying Noah’s face. It remained blank. They stared at each other for a few moments.

“Nothing?” Richard asked.

“I’m afraid not. I don’t recognize you in the slightest.”

Richard chewed his lower lip. He stepped toward Noah and raised a hand, pressing it to his chest. "Where did you replace him?"

"In Scorched Acres," Frederick replied. "I know what you're thinking, but I don't think he's been replaced. He's too... helpless."

"We shall see," Richard said. “Stay still for a spell.”

Noah obliged, and what felt like a cold spotlight filled his insides. It traveled throughout his entire body, starting at his stomach and running up his spine and into his head before slowly dispersing throughout the rest of him.

The small cuts that remained on his body from the fight with the monkey sealed over and faded away. His headache didn’t abate in the slightest, though. If anything, Noah was pretty sure the fog in his mind got even thicker.

“He's indeed human. But... strange. I don’t see anything physically wrong with you beyond some minor injuries, but it’s quite clear that your memories are not intact.”

“Really? How can you tell?” Noah asked.

And, more importantly, can you tell that the old Magus Vermil is dead and gone?

Richard snorted, which Noah felt was quite the odd thing to do in the face of such a question.

“No reason in particular, Magus Vermil. You may simply need to spend some time resting, but there is nothing a healer can do for you. Your mind and body are as intact as they have ever been. If anything, better.”

“Better?”

“Never mind that,” Richard said, shaking his head and failing to suppress a small smile. That only served to confuse Noah even more, but he wasn’t about to press his luck. The less people questioned his supposed memory loss, the better.

“I see,” Noah said. “That’s… unfortunate.”

“Quite,” Richard said dispassionately. “Frederick, thank you for delivering the good Magus. We’ll ensure that your efforts are properly rewarded.”

Frederick touched the edge of his cowl. “Any good man would have done the same. Best of luck, Magus.”

He hopped back onto his board and shot into the air. Noah watched them for as long as his throbbing eyes would allow, then turned back to Richard. He raised a hand to block the sun from poking needles into his sore eyes.

“I’m afraid I have absolutely no idea what I’m supposed to do,” Noah said. “I really can’t remember anything.”

“That’s quite all right. I’ll let the headmaster know you were injured. I can lead you to your room for the time being, so you can get some rest,” Richard offered.

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Richard just nodded in response. He headed back toward the ornate building, and Noah followed after him.

The halls were a vague blur to him, and Noah wasn’t exactly sure where in the building they went. He recalled walking up several stairwells and traveling through halls lit only by the light outside, but everything melded together in his addled mind.

They finally came to a stop before a plain stone door with a keyhole in its center. A metal plaque to its side read Magus Vermil. Richard sent Noah an expectant look.

“Key?” Richard asked.

Noah stared blankly at him. Richard sighed.

“Override it is, then.” He pressed his hand to the door and thin lines of white energy stretched out along it, illuminating a pattern hidden within the rock. The door clicked and swung open smoothly.

“I’ll have someone sent to check on you soon,” Richard promised. “I suggest you remain here until then. Perhaps some of your memories will be jogged.”

Noah nodded absentmindedly and stepped inside. A small frown flickered across his lips. The room was a complete mess. Piles of papers covered a large wooden desk and had fallen to the floor around it. A metal key sat on top of the desk beside an unlit candle.

This is probably for the door. Why did Vermil leave it behind?

The bed was messy and unmade, and the window behind it was covered with grime and dust. A small door in the side of the room led into a bathroom, which wasn’t in much better shape.

There was a soft thud as Richard wordlessly closed the door behind Noah. He glanced over his shoulder.

Something tells me he doesn’t like me much.

Noah pushed the haze and pain to the side. He walked up to the desk and leafed through the papers, trying to see if there was anything that could be of any use.

“Skinwalker group spotted in the area. Be wary of colleagues or students that you recognize that speak or move in an odd manner, especially those that have been missing for more than three weeks,” Noah read aloud. He tossed the paper to the side.

He leafed through a few more, then paused as something caught his eye.

“What the hell is this?” Noah asked, picking one of the papers up. It had been a while since he’d seen something of its like, but he’d filled out more than enough of them in the past to recognize the key features. It was an extension request for some sort of assignment.

A signature had been scribbled across the bottom, along with an extra line. Noah’s mouth dropped open in disgust as he read it.

Meet me in my room an hour after class if you want the extension. Wear something cute.

Magus Vermil

Noah looked back over the note, desperately hoping he’d misread something, and this was meant for the man’s lover. There was no such luck. Without a doubt, this note had been submitted by a student. It even had their year number beside their name.

“Shit. The last bloke in this body was a creep. No wonder someone killed him.” Disgust washed over Noah’s face. He leafed through more of the papers and some of the blood drained from his face. “Wait. He was a teacher. Am I supposed to teach people magic? I don’t even know how to use it myself.”

Noah ruffled through the rest of the papers, desperately trying to replace out if there was any semblance of order to them. Unfortunately, Vermil must have taken some degree of pride in the complete mess that was his room.

Half of the papers were ruined by water stains – at least, Noah hoped it was water – and the others were either outdated, worthless, or just made absolutely no sense. He did his best to organize them, filtering out the most useless papers of the lot and stacking them by the door.

Before he realized it, nearly two hours had passed. His headache finally receded somewhat, though some of the fog remained. The fruits of Noah’s work was a fairly clean wooden desk and somewhat dusted floor. Noah sat down in the chair across from the desk and chewed his thumb.

“Okay,” Noah said to himself, rocking back slightly in his chair. “I can work with this. I’m good at teaching. It’s not like I ever had all that much time to prepare myself on subjects back on Earth. There’s got to be some sort of reference packet, right?”

The back of his hand brushed against the book hanging from his belt. He unhooked the book and flipped it open. His head throbbed again and Noah pressed his hand to his temple. He lowered into his chair, studying the pages.

Maybe, if he could make some real sense of its contents, he could pass his memory loss off and avoid detection.