Marley’s rapier hissed as it flicked out and found nothing but air for what must have been the hundredth time. It wasn’t that he was particularly bad with the weapon – though Noah was confident that both Isabel and Alexandra were better – it was just that he was nothing in comparison to the monsters he’d been training against.

The boy was fast, but he wasn’t as fast as a rock thrown by a Chucker monkey. His sword might have been sharp, but Slashers had five of them on each hand. There was no kind way to put it. Marley just wasn’t a worthy opponent.

If Noah drew his flying sword and used it for, ironically, the one purpose he was pretty sure flying swords weren’t meant to do, the fight would have been over. He made no such moves. His goal wasn’t to beat Marley.

It was to completely waste the boy’s time. Their fight had already been going on for almost five minutes, and he could see the anger in Marley’s eyes fading. That was the thing with anger – it could only last so long.

And, once it wore off, the only thing that remained were the consequences of one’s actions. Noah grinned at Marley.

“You seem to be slowing down a little. You can’t be giving up, can you?”

Marley grit his teeth. He was starting to get winded and was smart enough not to waste words on Noah. Marley lunged once more, trying to catch Noah off-guard mid-sentence. The rapier passed by Noah’s chest as he twisted, then smacked the blade away with a flick of a finger.

“You know, this would be a lot more effective if there was more than a single sharp bit on this thing,” Noah observed.

Or if you actually knew how to use it. I reckon a rapier would be pretty dangerous in the hands of a master. But, even still, everything I know about rapiers imply they’re dueling weapons, not killing weapons.

“Is this meant to be some kind of joke?” Marley demanded, drawing in a sharp breath before thrusting his blade again.

Noah leaned back and let the rapier pass over his nose, then twisted his body and swept Marley’s legs out from under him. They boy rolled as he hit the ground, coming up and driving the sword for Noah’s chest.

It certainly didn’t seem like he was just going for grazing blows. If he stood still, Noah was pretty certain the rapier would have run him straight through the heart. He spun, letting the rapier pierce through his spinning jacket.

Noah kicked Marley’s hand, ripping the rapier from his grip and sending it spinning across the room. It clattered to the ground and skidded up to the foot of a professor and his students.

“You lost your sword,” Noah observed.

“Enough of this,” Jakob ordered. “Do you feel no shame, Vermil? You are a professor.”

“And I am teaching,” Noah snapped back. “Something which you seem to have failed to do.”

“You call this teaching?” Jakob sneered and held his hands out. “You’re a perverted man gloating over his victory over a child two ranks his lesser.”

“Am I?” Noah asked, tilting his head to the side. “I haven’t used my runes once, so our ranks hardly matter. My domain doesn’t affect a sword. And more importantly, you seem to have failed to teach your student something vital, you bald, bumbling idiot.”

“Don’t speak about my teacher like that!” Marley jumped at Noah with a snarl, his hand disappearing into his coat. A flash of silver caught the light as he drew a dagger – and Noah’s foot planted itself firmly in his chest. Marley let out a pained grunt as he tumbled back across the ground much like his rapier before him.

“Do you see?” Noah asked with a shake of his head. “This is pathetic. Marley might know how to swing his sword, but he can’t control his emotions in the slightest. You never taught him how to fight. All he can do is swing.”

“Shut your mouth,” Marley snapped. He scrambled over to his rapier and scooped it off the ground, pointing it at Noah and pressing his lips thin.

“You can’t make me, can you?” Noah asked. “And that makes you angry. It’s frustrating to not be able to do anything. So what will you do? Are you going to keep trying the same thing over and over? Will anger rule your movements? Maybe you just aren’t angry enough yet. If you got angrier, I’m sure that would work.”

Marley ground his teeth. A vein bulged in his neck – and then his eyes sharpened. Noah glanced over his shoulder. Yulin was standing behind him, having just mouthed something.

“You’re goading me on,” Marley accused.

“Of course I am,” Noah said with a laugh. “And it’s been damn easy at that. Just a few crass words at Yulin and you were frothing at the mouth. I sincerely hope your runes are much better than your fighting instincts.”

“You can’t seriously be claiming that you were only acting like a lecherous scumbag,” Marley said. He started toward Noah, keeping his rapier level and ready to thrust. “Nobody is stupid enough to believe that.”

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“See, there’s another problem,” Noah said. “Jakob, why am I doing your job for you?”

Marley lunged. Noah twisted. The blade passed by him and he brough this hand down on Marley’s sword arm with a loud crack, sending the rapier clattering to the ground. Noah brought his knee up into the boy’s stomach with just enough force to send him staggering backward with a pained wheeze.

“Again and again. The same mistake,” Noah said. “You’re so concerned with what others think that you can’t even focus on yourself. Your emotions are a mess. You’re easily manipulated. I reckon I could literally make you pass out just by saying a few creepy things about Yulin’s figure. She’s of age, you know. I’m not being that creepy, am I? Maybe she likes it.”

Marley pushed himself to his feet, his hands clenched at his side. “You son of a–”

“He’s playing you,” Yulin said, stepping out from the crowd and walking past Noah. “Stop, Marley. Vermil hasn’t looked at a single part of me other than my eyes and my sword throughout this entire time. He assessed my ability and immediately dismissed me.”

Oh, goddamn it. I knew she was observant.

“Doesn’t this count as help?” Noah asked, tilting his head to the side.

“I’m not physically interfering in the fight. I’m just giving advice,” Yulin said. “You didn’t make any rules against that.”

Eh. It still wastes time and draws attention. Good enough for me.

“Fair enough. Carry on.”

“I don’t care if he was making it up,” Marley growled. “I’m not going to let him talk–”

“By getting angry, you are letting him talk,” Yulin said. “You can do better than this.”

Marley forced his hands to unclench. He scooped his rapier off the ground and turned back to Noah, his eyes focused. Yulin had brought him back with just a few words.

He certainly changes gears fast. I can respect that. These aren’t just any random students. That said, I wasn’t lying. Marley is a shit warrior. He might be good compared to other students, but it doesn’t matter how serious he gets if this is all he can muster up.

“What’s the point of goading me on like this if it was all fake?” Marley demanded. “What do you gain?”

“What do you think?” Noah asked. “What could I possibly gain from figuring out just how competent my students’ competitors are? I think I’ve found my answer.”

Marley’s knuckles tightened around the hilt of his rapier for an instant, but the anger didn’t reach his face. Yulin’s words had definitely gotten through to him.

“I concede,” Marley said, lowering his rapier. His lips pressed thin for a second before he forced himself to continue speaking. “You’ve made your point rather clear, Vermil. I have a glaring flaw in my abilities and I cannot touch you no matter how badly I want to. I retract the insults I sent your way and apologize for my disrespect – even if you deserved it.”

Several of the watching professors nodded their approval, and Noah caught more than a few assuaging looks sent in his direction. Yulin had pretty effectively rescued his reputation with her revelation.

He was grateful for it, but that hadn’t exactly been part of his plan. If she hadn’t interfered, Noah was pretty sure he would have been able to continue wasting Marley’s time for at least another ten or fifteen minutes before the boy tried to concede.

We’d agreed to continue the fight until we both admitted it was over. I could technically force the fight to run permanently. But, if I do that now, I’m going to lose all the goodwill that Yulin inadvertently bought me back. Right now, I’d expect just about half the professors respect me and the other half still think I’m a vile cretin. If I skew that too hard in any direction, I could be in trouble. Might be time to cut my losses and move to the next steps.

“I’m pleased to hear that I’ve helped.” Noah sent a pointed look in Jakob’s direction before returning his attention to Marley. “Your apology is accepted. Feel free to let me know if you’re in need of a competent opponent.”

“You’d offer to train with a Torrin?” Yulin asked, the suspicion evident in her features. “Why would you want to help us?”

I’ve done a whole lot more than just train with a Torrin.

“My reasons are my own,” Noah said with a dry laugh. “Pleasure to meet both of you. Marley – I’d suggest training a little more before you try your hand sparring against any of my students. I’m not exaggerating when I say I was going easy on you.”

Marley’s jaw clenched. He was backed into a corner. After admitting defeat just seconds ago, he had no way to say that Noah was lying without coming off like a spoiled brat. Noah repressed a grin. Marley evidently put a lot of weight on the Torrin name. He wouldn’t be willing to shame his family that badly.

“I see. Thank you for your warning,” Marley said stiffly, turning on his heel and walking back over to Jakob. The professor’s eyes did their best to burn holes into Noah’s skull, but there was nothing he could say.

Verrud stepped back into the crowd. If he was disappointed, he hid the emotion well.

Jakob inclined his head. Not to Noah, but to Yulin, who stood behind him. She stepped into the crowd, heading toward Emily and the others. That wasn’t much of a surprise. Jakob had two students, after all.

Unfortunately, as far as Noah could tell, Yulin was the more dangerous of the two. She’d read him pretty quickly and hadn’t been involved in the fight. If Noah tried to stop her, then something would clearly be afoot.

Fine with me. I’m not the only line of defense we’ve got set up.

Alexandra rose to her feet, plucking a pear from the table and taking a bite from it as she moved to intercept Yulin before she could get close to the group.

“If you aren’t headed somewhere in particular, might I have a moment of your time?” Alexandra asked, tapping a finger on the hilt of the sword at her side. “You seem to handle yourself well, and I’m always looking for someone to hone my skills against. I’ve heard the Torrin family produces some competent swordsmen and women, but…”

She trailed off and glanced in Marley’s direction before returning her attention to Yulin. The other girl studied her for a second. Pushing past Alexandra and heading straight to Emily would have been a bit much.

Just as Noah had to keep the exact extent of how much he knew hidden, Jakob’s and his students couldn’t just make it completely obvious they were after Emily. A grin flitted across Noah’s face as Jakob’s eye twitched.

“I suppose I could spare a few seconds,” Yulin said. “Who are you?”

“Alexandra.” She didn’t offer any more information about herself. “First blood, swords only?”

“That works for me,” Yulin said.

“I look forward to learning from you.” Alexandra drew her sword and held it out before her, and Noah once again fought to repress a laugh. Jakob’s students weren’t going to have a very good night.

Good luck even leaving a scratch on Body Rune empowered skin, Yulin.