Noah stood in the center of his soul and looked over his seven Rank 4 Runes as the Fragment of Renewal wove throughout the darkness, stitching shut the extensive damage that he’d given himself over the course of the last few minutes.

    His soul had expanded considerably from the new additions. Power laid in wait for his call. More than he’d ever had before. For lack of a better word, Noah felt heavier. Like his very existence bore more weight to it — or perhaps he’d just had a little bit too much to eat for his last meal.

    Three new runes. All of them Flawless. I wonder what the heads of the other noble families would do if they could see this. Advancing like this is ridiculous, even for me. I must have destroyed a dozen Rank 5 runes worth of energy to pull this off... but if I wanted to, I could push to Rank 5 right now.

    Noah had no delusions about his chances of making a Flawless Rank 5 Rune with what he had right now.

    To be put bluntly, those chances were zero.

    Even though every single component he had now was at the absolute peak of what he knew to be possible... they weren’t going to combine into a balanced rune. There was a heavy inclination toward spatial affinity in them.

    Probably why Space Runes are so desirable. They’re just so damn useful. Sure, they consume a stupidly high amount of energy and put a lot of strain on the soul, but what’s the point of having a massive soul if I don’t abuse it?

    If I combine the runes now, I know for a fact the combination won’t be at its peak potential. I don’t understand these new runes well enough to truly fuse them. But, even still, a Rank 5 from all Flawless Rank 4 components is going to be very powerful. A lot more powerful than just leaving things as they are right now.

    I just have to make sure the combination is at least average. If it’s too shitty, then the Rune might actually end up worse than the parts that make it up. That would normally be the reason why nobody would be stupid enough to do this, after all.

    Noah’s lips pulled into a thin smile. There would have been a time when he’d have held off for a little longer. Ripping a poorly combined Rank 5 out of his soul, even with Sunder, would cause a fair amount of damage. Spending some time to get to know the new runes would have been a safer bet.

    But from the moment he’d emerged from the Damned Plains to find two members of major families in the Arbalest Empire doing their utmost to kill his students, the game had changed.

    Noah drew in a deep breath. He steadied his mind and soul. Extended his energy to the runes floating around him. Drew them to his front, so they all floated in a glowing pattern before him.

    He reached deep within himself and drew on everything he was. He drew on the joys of teaching his students back on earth. On all the suffering of the line, and the new life that had unfolded itself for him at its end. He focused that knowledge into intent, honed and razor sharp with desire.

    Then he clapped his hands.

    The runes slammed together.

    ***

    “Oh, no. This is quite the fumble. It seems I’ve gone and misplaced my mouth once more,” Lorne said, his lips pursed in great displeasure and nose pinched between two fingers. “I must venture to ask if you’ve happened to lay eyes on it?”

    There was no response.

    The circular cave room around Lorne was empty. The only disruption in the plain, glossy stone surrounding him was the stone chair in which he sat. That didn’t seem to bother Lorne in the slightest.

    “No,” Lorne said with a shake of his head. “No, no. That isn’t right. I’m quite certain I had my mouth a moment ago. I was just speaking with it. It is preposterous to claim that I might have left it back in yesterday.”

    A second of silence dragged by. Lorne nodded along to an answer only audible to him, releasing his nose and kicking a leg up on his chair so he could rest his arm on top of it.

    “Yes, I’m sure,” Lorne said irritably. “And don’t even try to claim it might be waiting for me tomorrow. I haven’t gotten there yet. How could my mouth be there if the rest of me isn’t? I’m beginning to suspect you’re taking me for a fool. You wouldn’t do that to me, would you? Because that would be quite—”

    “Ah, yes. Congratulations to the lovely bride,” Lorne said, scratching the back of his neck. “Very nice indeed. I’m sure she’s a kind insect. I’d love to meet her one day. What was it the Church wanted? Did they send another sacrifice?”

    “No. They are searching for someone.”

    “Your wife?”

    “No.”

    “Ah.” Lorne scratched the side of his neck. “Why not? Is your wife not of interest to them? Oh goodness, she must be quite displeased with you. Don’t let her hear you comparing her to the Repose followers.”

    The man’s hands twitched at his sides. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, as if trying to gather himself. “Please. Could you focus on the now for a few moments? Repose has sent a Rank 8. They are being meddlesome. If they discover the caves, they may interfere with your work.”

    “Yes, yes,” Lorne said absently. He waved his hand as if he were trying to flick an insect away from his face. “No need to be snippy. Today will be today. I can assure you that the church has not sent anyone important enough to be twisting up about.”

    “Your orders were to come promptly if any potential interferences arrived. You were very insistent upon them.”

    “I don’t recall giving any such orders.”

    “It was—”

    “Ah, yes.” Lorne’s features twisted into a frown. “Yesterday. I remember now. How troublesome. I suppose it would be rather problematic if our work was interrupted. I will politely request that the Church locate their nosey little dogs elsewhere.”

    “Thank you. I am sure that will ensure our work continues uninterrupted, as per your orders—”

    Lorne’s hand shot up as his entire body went as stiff as a rod. The man’s mouth snapped shut.

    The air around Lorne vibrated. Purplish-red energy snapped around him as a dozen images of himself overlaid themselves over his body, sliding into place and vanishing within him in an instant.

    Something in Lorne’s expression shifted. Flickers of red light danced behind his eyes. His head tilted to the side — and continued to turn until it was nearly entirely upside down.

    He flicked his hand.

    The space between him and the cloaked man collapsed. The stone room abruptly shrunk as a significant portion of it simply ceased to exist. Where there had once been easily five feet of distance between Lorne and the cloaked man, there was now none.

    A ripple of buzzing red energy raced over the cloaked man. His clothes rippled and snapped like they’d been caught in a violent gale. Then they folded in on themselves, peeling away from his body in jerky, unnatural movements.

    Beneath them was nothing but plain skin. The man before Lorne had no eyes. He had no mouth, no nose nor eyes nor ears. There was only featureless flesh.

    “Did you hear that?” Lorne asked. His voice had changed. The traces of lilting madness that had lingered in it before were nowhere to be found. It was as if the lost pieces of his mind had been found and pulled back.

    “From the Kingdom of Arbalest. Yes. We feel it,” the featureless man replied, even though he had no manner with which to speak.

    “Chaos,” Lorne breathed, all other thoughts forgotten. “A scrap of chaos has been born in the world.”