Isabel’s soul was a barren mountain. Cold wind bit at Noah’s skin as his body formed upon a jagged rock. A single Rank 2 Stone Rune floated in the empty sky, too far away to reach without plummeting off the edge of the steep mountain.

But, even though there was only one Rank 2 Rune before him, pressure bore down on Noah’s shoulders like an anvil. It was a sensation he recognized well – the presence of a Master Rune.

He turned away from the edge of the mountain and looked up. Brilliant, glowing blue energy made up a massive Rune in the air at the peak of the mountain. It was calm, but the power stored within it was intense.

Soul. What a name for a Rune. I think I can see why the noble families tore Isabel’s father apart to get their hands on this. I don’t even want to think about what a Soul Master Rune would be capable of doing. It feels pretty close to Sunder’s level of intensity, though I don’t think it’s quite there.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you before,” Isabel said. Noah tore his gaze away from the Master Rune as he spotted Isabel standing on the rocky path beside him.

“What, about the Master Rune?” Noah asked.

Isabel nodded, her shoulders slumping. “You’ve shared so much with me and Todd, but I couldn’t afford telling you before. It was too dangerous. I–”

Noah burst into laughter. Isabel froze, staring at him in confusion.

“I’m sorry,” Noah said, forcing himself back under control and clearing his throat. “You haven’t done anything wrong, Isabel. I already knew you had this.”

“What? You did?”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I kind of figured it out after you infused your armor with the glowing blue energy that you use for your swords. You can only call on one Rune at a time, remember?”

Isabel blinked, deflating like the sail of a boat headed straight into the wind. “Oh. I thought I kept it subtle enough that nobody would pick it up. A lot of people use Stone or Earth magic to make armor and then just leave it there. How did you know I wasn’t doing that? I could have been alternating.”

“You could have been,” Noah agreed. “But I still suspected it, and Silvertide did too. When he came to speak with me, after he determined that I was trustworthy, he mentioned his thoughts. It’s fine, Isabel. I don’t fault you for not sharing the full extent of what you could do. This is a dangerous secret.”

Isabel was silent for several seconds. “I guess I didn’t do as good a job of hiding it as I should have. It was hard. I wanted to go all out when we practiced, but using the Master Rune was just so dangerous. But, if I didn’t use it, I fell behind.”

“I already told you I don’t fault you for it,” Noah said. “If you need private lessons with just you and Todd or something like that, just let me or Moxie know. We’ll accommodate you. You shouldn’t have to leave something like this untouched. But, out of curiosity, what does it actually do?”

“I don’t know the full extent of its power,” Isabel admitted. “I can form its energy into shapes, like weapons or armor. They aren’t really that powerful, but they’re versatile. I think the passive is reinforcing my body and magic.”

“Reinforcing – ah. That’s how you were lifting that huge shield and armor?”

“Yeah. It made them lighter and me stronger. I suppose that means the opposite of the soul is the body. A bit odd, if you think about it.”

“And yet, I think I see it.” Noah tilted his head to the side thoughtfully. “Regardless, that’s a powerful Master Rune. I can tell from the pressure that it’s no slouch. It doesn’t seem right that you feel its offensive abilities aren’t that good – you might be missing something.”

“I probably am. I really haven’t had much chance to really test it. I’ve been too scared someone will realize what it is, so I’ve been severely limiting my use of it to forms that could be explained by a normal rune. My sword resembles something an Energy Rune could make.”

“We’ll look into it, but unfortunately, our time here is limited,” Noah said. “We’ve only got thirty minutes.”

“To do what?” Isabel asked.

“Fix that Rank 2 Stone Rune of yours.” Noah nodded at the Rune floating over the side of the mountain. “Bring it over here.”

“Fix it?” Isabel’s brow furrowed, but she followed Noah’s instructions and held a hand out. The Stone Rune approached them, coming to a stop just beside Isabel. “You can’t fix a Rune, and this is the only Rank 2 I have. There’s no way for me to get rid of it without seriously crippling myself. Besides, it isn’t that bad. It was fifteen percent full.”

“It’s only got Stone in it?” Noah confirmed.

Isabel nodded. “Yeah. Just stone. My intent wasn’t the best when I made it, unfortunately.”Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“Then that’s an easy fix. You won’t even need a new Rune.”

“I’m not sure you heard anything I just said.”

“You aren’t the only one with secrets,” Noah said simply. “Now, listen closely. There are two important things to share, and they’re dangerous enough secrets that you can never mention them outside the safety of your mind.”

Isabel gave him a cautious nod. “Okay.”

“First, a perfect Rune isn’t what you think it is. It’s less obvious with a Rune that only has the same kind of energy within it, but it becomes more apparent later on. To have a real perfect Rune, the pressure coming off it must remain the same no matter what or how much energy you’re drawing from it. On top of that, your early Runes should be simple. The more specific you make them, the harder it is for them to be perfect in early stages.”

Isabel looked from Noah to the Rune. To her credit, she realized what he was talking about almost instantly. It took several seconds for it to properly set in though. She drew in a sharp breath.

“Damned Plains. Are you serious? That means making a perfect Rune is much harder than I thought. The chances of getting it right are almost zero.”

“Getting it right on the first try,” Noah corrected.

“There aren’t second tries. Nobody can afford to just take massive amounts of soul damage every single time they mess up a combination, and that’s not even counting all the energy you’d be wasting shattering Runes left and right.”

“And that leads us to my second secret,” Noah said, crossing his arms before his chest. “I can cut your Rune back into its Rank 1 components.”

Isabel stared at Noah. “What?”

“Exactly what I said. You aren’t the only one with a Master Rune, Isabel. I think you can see why I put so much stress on this remaining a secret. As long as I’m around, you’ve got infinite tries to combine your Runes. I can keep cutting it apart, and the only real cost to you will be a slight energy loss if you don’t work fast enough.”

Isabel swallowed heavily. “That’s how you advanced so quickly?”

“Guilty.”

“What Rank are you now?” Isabel asked. “A few months ago, you were a Rank 1. Are you–”

“Just three, but I’ll be Rank 4 soon enough,” Noah said. “I’ve remade my Runes more times than I can count. They’re all perfect – and in the real sense of the word.”

“Damned Plains,” Isabel muttered. “What do I have to do? I don’t think I can afford–”

Noah’s eyes narrowed and he cut Isabel off with a sharp gesture before she could continue. “I didn’t ask for pay, Isabel. I just told you what we’d be doing. We have a limited amount of time and I only bought three Mind Meld potions, so we won’t have more time today. Gather yourself. I’m going to split your Rune apart, and you’ll have to work quickly to reform it.”

Isabel slapped her cheeks with her hands and shook her head, drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She then gave Noah a firm nod. “Okay. I’m ready. I’ve been thinking about what I messed up since I combined my Runes. I think I should be able to repair it if you can split my Runes apart.”

“Fantastic,” Noah said. “Just focus. Remember to work fast and draw on the excess energy floating around. Take in as much of it as possible, but don’t stress too much. Even if it doesn’t work the first time around, we can do it again.”

Isabel nodded. The determined look on her face told Noah everything he needed to know. She was ready. He stepped up to the Rune, reaching out as he called on Sunder. Noah’s veins turned jet black as the icy power of the Master Rune flooded through his body.

He placed his hand on the surface of the Stone Rune, feeling the power coursing within its lines.

Sunder surged from his palm, black energy carving straight through the Rune in a flash. A loud crack split the still air as the Rune shattered. From within it bloomed seven Rank 1 Runes, swirling out in a cloud of magical power.

Noah didn’t even have to tell Isabel to get started. She stepped forward without hesitation and he moved to the side, allowing her space so she could concentrate. Isabel’s eyes closed and she held her hands up, pressing her lips together.

The Runes barely had any time to enjoy their separation before she exerted her will upon them. With a shudder, seven became one once more. Energy swirled around the center of the newly forming Rune like a vortex.

Noah turned away a moment before a flash lit up Isabel’s mindspace. He looked back just in time to see her newly formed Rune before the excess energy started to flood into it.

Ten percent full. Well done, Isabel. Only needed one more shot at it.

Only when all the excess energy had been absorbed did Isabel let her eyes open. She gazed at the new Stone Rune, her mouth hanging slightly askew.

“Not bad,” Noah said. “Second time’s the charm, huh?”

“Just like that?” Isabel muttered. “How can you treat it so lightly? I thought I’d be stuck with a subpar Rune for a long time. I can’t even believe I’m calling it subpar – it was a good Rune. Most people have worse ones.”

“And now you’ve got a better one.” Noah shrugged. “The world isn’t fair, Isabel. You and Todd know that more than most. Ergo, you might as well take advantage of it when you can. Just remember my other warning as well. With a single-element Rune like this you don’t have to worry much about balancing energy. But, when you get up to combining multiple elements, you’ll need to make sure the pressure it puts off is identical no matter how you’re using it.”

“Trust me, I won’t forget,” Isabel said. She swallowed. “Do you realize that you could probably earn hundreds of thousand gold for even a single usage of this? You could literally make the most powerful mages in the empire far stronger than they already are.”

Noah scrunched his nose in distaste. “Bleh. Why would I do that? I don’t need the money. I’ve got enough right now, and the moment this power got out, I’d never be a free man again. I think I much prefer helping myself and the people I care about.”

“I swear I’ll never breath a word of this,” Isabel promised. “Your secret dies with me.”

“I’d much rather it live with you,” Noah said idly. “Either way, whenever you combine a Rune and you feel like it didn’t turn out as good as you hoped, let me know. Just don’t do it too often or the Mind Meld potions will bankrupt me.”

“I promise–”

Noah took Isabel by the shoulders and she blinked in surprise.

“Relax,” Noah said, keeping his tone gentle. “You aren’t in my debt. Don’t treat me any different than normal, please. Just keep being how you were.”

“Define what point in time you’re referring to.” A small grin flickered across Isabel’s face. “Do you mean back when you first started being a real teacher?”

“Maybe just go back to before summer,” Noah suggested with a wince.

Isabel laughed. “Okay. Fine. I think I can do that. But… thank you.”

“My pleasure.”