78 Experiments

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.