Moxinian pursed his lips and furrowed his forehead. "You're disgusting."

"What? I just wanted to ask some questions about runes. Anyway, I'm the one who killed the skinwalkers. Isn't there anything rewarding to do so? You're going to make me lose my faith by doing that. ”

Mossinian was silent for a moment. "What's the problem?"

"I'm not sure yet, I haven't figured it out yet. I may have been hit hard and my head was a little blank. ”

Moxinian's eyes narrowed tightly. "What?"

"Hey, I'm the one asking the question, not you. Tomorrow you'll have ten minutes, and you'll come to my room and answer all my questions, and I'll pretend that the skinwalker thing never happened. ”

"Absolutely impossible. I'm not going to tell you everything I know about runes. ”

Noah rolled his eyes. "Great. Nothing is a rune that is yours. ”

"What? So what's the point? ”

"It's not about you. Deal or Stop? ”

Moxinian bit her lip slightly. "Deal."

"Charming. See you tomorrow. Noah retreated back to his room, and the door slammed shut. He turned the cylinder and clutched one hand to his chest, trying to calm the pounding of his heartbeat.

God, why are there abominable skinwalkers running around the school? Shouldn't this be a safe place? What happened?

Noah heard Mosinian's footsteps drifting away. He waited a few more seconds, then nudged the door. His eyes were fixed on the doorknob.

Can any other teacher open the key to their door? I need an extra lock. When we first met, Moxie didn't seem to recognize Hulu, so I didn't think she was the one who came to kill me. But she can always disguise herself well.

Noah opened the gourd and walked into the bathroom. He knelt down, pulled open the bottom of a large cabinet, and hid the gourd inside. If someone attacks him while he is asleep, it is safer to hide in a cupboard than to resurrect in the center of the room.

Then he returned to the bed with a heavy weight and collapsed on it. As night fell, he decided to at least take a break from the comfort of his bed before anything else disturbed him.

In just a few seconds, he began to snore regularly.

A knock on the door woke Noah. He blinked tiredly, tossed and turned, burying his face in the soft pillow. After a few moments, he came to his senses, sat up from the bed cursing, grabbed the coat he had worn the day before, draped it over his shoulders, and staggered to the door, rubbing his eyes.

When he reached out to pull the doorknob, Noah suddenly stopped. He narrowed his eyes, knelt down, and peered through the crack in the door. Shoes outside the door – well, women's shoes.

Actually, I'm not sure what I'd expect to see. Perhaps leather walkers love a certain type of sandal.

"Who is it?" Noah shouted and stood up at the same time.

"What do you think, idiot?"

"Ah, oh, hello, Moxi," Noah said, turning the handle to open the door. His gaze swept sharply across the floor of the doorway. "If you will, you'd better get around the traps I've carefully set on your way in."

Moxie stepped into the room and glanced at him. "You have ten minutes to ask questions. After that, there was no more lackluster between us. ”

"Great," Noah said. He walked behind Moxie, closed the door, and sat down in a chair next to his desk, spun around, facing the other teacher. He had no intention of being polite—he felt that doing so would only offend Moxie.

"Satisfied?" Moxinian asked. "Your question time begins."

"Question 1: Why are there monsters in schools? It's supposed to be safe and sound, right? ”

Moxinian squinted and turned his gaze to Noah, as if to judge if he was making fun of him. When she realized that he was serious, she shook her head slightly. "It's relatively safe here, but it's not absolutely safe. Leather walkers are a new issue, but it's not uncommon for monsters to break into campuses. They crave our runes as much as we crave their runes. ”

"You mean the energy we get from killing them."

Moxinian rolled his eyes. "Of course. The power stored in the runes is two-way. Otherwise, the whole concept doesn't make any sense, right? ”

"Well, judging by what you say, we should be able to get runes directly from monsters."

"Unless they're rune master-level monsters. How did you not know this? Vermeer? Moxinian squinted at Noah. How badly did you get hit in the head? The question you asked, while in line with what I expected from you, and while I hoped it was just some kind of humiliation, it wasn't. ”

"It's just that some old memories have become blurred. It's really vague. Noah said, waving his hand disdainfully. He tapped his fingers on his legs.

"If I didn't understand, I might think you're an idiot." Mossinian crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow to one side. "Even an idiot can be smarter than you, though. Well, go ahead. I don't know what your intentions are, but I will cooperate. Do you still have questions? ”

Rune Master? If that means more power, then my armor-piercing rune is most likely one of them. I'm not sure if it's worth trying, but now that I'm in it......

"Are there any monsters around here with master runes on them?"

"Of course I hope not." Mo Xinian frowned, his face full of worry. "The last thing I want to do is fight those creatures. It depends on their strength, but some monsters are even able to counteract arbitrage. There's no way you want to challenge one - the closest thing is the Hell Predator Ape, and even then, it will crush you to pieces. It was a second-order monster, roughly equivalent to the strength of the third order, with master-level runes. While the Linwick family may not care too much, it's just too risky. ”

"No, there is no such intention." Noah stood up and began pacing around the room, forcing Moxie to turn around and look at him. The corners of her eyes twitched, with some elusive anger, but he didn't notice. "Okay, I know you're not going to talk about your own runes, but the books I got don't have information on how to make new ones. What should I do? ”

Moxinian stared at Noah, silent. He stopped and tilted his head slightly to look at her.

"Hurry up. That's fair question, you've wasted ten minutes of my time. ”

"Either you need to find an existing rune that has been infused with power to be able to learn it. Either you need to find runes that form naturally in the world. Much of the research involves a combination of basic runes - although these are ultimately top secret, and only the families who pay for the research can own them. Do you know why these academies come together? I don't know, how can you ask me that question when you put all the research results – though I'm sure they're worthless – in the magic book by your side? ”

Noah held up a finger. "Can't I learn by studying the runes drawn?"

Moxinian rubbed his temples and looked at Noah's face with a carefully observing expression, something that Noah couldn't decipher. It's almost like understanding – or maybe consciousness. "Well, let's say you have a rune pattern. An ordinary person cannot perceive its power. It's just a pattern. Runes are containers, but what they hold is power. And, unfortunately, in order to truly store energy, the runes themselves need some energy. ”

"Okay," Noah nodded. "It's like the impetus to start. Without some energy, things cannot be activated. ”

"Exactly. Therefore, inject. Mages draw their familiar runes on special surfaces that store energy, and in the process, they deplete some of their own energy. Then, when someone tries to learn a rune, they use some of the stored energy to activate it. If they find runes in the wild, those runes are already charged and don't need any other help to learn. ”

"Ah," Noah nodded smartly. "Alright, one last question. Do you know who doesn't like me? ”

"It might be simpler to make a list of people who like you, maybe just one or two names. I don't know how many people you've offended over the years. There's no need to waste time thinking about it. ”

"Well, so be it." Noah smiled.

Mossinian crossed his arms over his chest. "Really? Are you just trying to kill my precious time with your questions? After all this time, can't you think of a deeper question? ”

"No more. That's all I care about right now. ”

I've probably shown my ignorance too obviously. Now is not the time to ask more questions. Getting stronger is the key.

"I thought you'd ask me how I'm going to prepare for next month's class exams," Moxinian laughed dryly. "I guess I should have been clearer. Well, the debt was paid off. ”

Noah resisted the urge to ask the obvious question. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders. "I'll be fine."

"And what about your serious injuries and amnesia from the proving ground?"

Ah, what Vermeer is doing.

"Just an accident." Noah shrugged. "I'm pretty much recovered. It's just that some memories need to be filled. Thank you for your time. ”

He opened the door and glanced down the hall. Moxinian looked at him with a smile and walked out.

"Don't forget—don't mention the Skinwalker anywhere," Moxie warned. "If you don't remember what happened when you me off, I strongly encourage you to make an effort to recall."

Noah closed the door and did not respond. He waited a few minutes before reopening the door. Moxinian is gone. Noah turned around, picked up the gourd from the bathroom, and walked outside.

He looked for the map sign again, and when he arrived at the sign's location, he looked around at the buildings around him. If he's not mistaken-

Oh, right there. Transport cannons. It may sound like the most unsafe mode of transportation, but he believes it will be a little better than it looks.

The building is located in a tall tower on the edge of the main ring of the campus. Noah walked in that direction and had seen it before he arrived. The tower looms over its surroundings and consists of heavy metal beams and a winding staircase that leads to various elements leading to a small enclosed elevator. The elevator runs up the center and eventually stops in a huge cube room at the top of the tower. A turret made of bronze metal protrudes from the base of the cannon and points to the sky. It travels through the clouds, only occasionally allowing the person below to fully see it.

When Noah arrived, there was a small line at the bottom of the cannon. A worker led them up the stairs one by one. Noah was behind the others. The team moved quickly, and it only took him a few minutes to get to the front.

"Go on," the worker said, waving his hand and yawning at the same time. "The operator is ready for you."

"Thank you," Noah said, walking up the stairs. He slowed down slightly on his ascent and took a second look at the campus through the gap in the stairs – the same one he had seen the campus the first time he was in extremely poor physical condition. Arbitrage is wonderful.

Huge trees, dozens of times thicker than any he had ever seen on Earth, stretched out into the sky and dotted the entire campus. Huge branches run through the building, and colorful leaves cast dappled shadows.

Winding paths crisscross the entire campus, almost forming an artistic pattern. Noah stared at it and saw that the paths were very similar to the lines of the runes.

"Please keep going!" The worker shouted at him below.

Noah cleared his throat, retracted his gaze, and quickly ascended the remaining stairs. He walked into the elevator, which was actually just a cube made of metal fences, rattling from a chain.

The elevator made a muffled noise, rapidly increasing in speed, and finally stopped at the top of the tower with a rattling sound. There is a large hole in the wall, and the turret is connected to the room, through which Noah can see the sky in the distance. Papers and maps hung on every wall, and a flickering lantern hung from the ceiling, illuminating a skinny man who sat behind a wooden desk and bent over to look at a book about the thickness of Noah's forearm.

Noah stepped out of the elevator, which rattled down behind him. A trapdoor slammed shut on the floor it passed, and with a loud thud struck the old man from his book.

"Oh, Professor," he said, arranging his white beard to reveal a name tag that read "Tim." "Where can I send you today?"

Just one glance at the person and his surroundings gives a sense of his love for his work. The corners of Noah's mouth rose slightly.

It's perfect.

"I haven't used this in a while," Noah said casually. "Can you tell me how it works? I'm curious. ”

As he had guessed, Tim's eyes lit up. "Ah, you must be a newbie. This is the "Instant Travel" tower. This is the fastest way to teleport you anywhere around the arbitrage. ”

"I see," Noah said, his gaze drifting to the barrel of the turret. "But, is it safe?"

"Much safer than anything else," Tim said, puffing out his chest and tucking his thumb into his belt. "I've used it hundreds of times and never had a problem. Actually, as far as I know, no one has come across it. Exactly, although it is marked as a cannon on the map, it is more like a giant slingshot. ”

"Oh?" Noah asked. "Why do you say that?"

Tim got up from behind the table and walked to the entrance to the turret, patting the wall next to the bed as if he were petting a pet. "This guy will record your signature before projecting your body into the astral plane and sending you wherever you want to go. Then, a full twenty-four hours have passed, and it will bring you back again. There isn't any chance of getting lost or any problems happening. ”

"Sounds ...... It's safe," Noah made up a lie. "But only twenty-four hours?"

Tim nodded. "Yes, it can be a bit inconvenient if you need to deal with something long-term. I wouldn't recommend it for short trips or long hunting, but it's very practical if you're just going to take a class or just looking for something specific and you're going to check out an area. Much faster than flying back and forth. ”

"You're right."

"As much as I'd love to talk more, we have a team waiting down there," Tim said. "Where do you want to go?"

Noah scanned the map on the wall and stopped at what looked like it had been destroyed by fire on a tree a few blocks away from Arbitrage. He swallowed. However, holding back will not accomplish anything.

He pointed to the location on the map. "Can you teleport me here?"

"Scorched earth? Absolutely," Tim replied. He raised his hand, and energy poured in from his palm, pouring into the tower. The turret rumbled, then rotated to a position a few degrees lower and slightly tilted to the right. "Just slide yourself into the tube and I'll take you away."

"Is there anything else I should know?" Noah asked, approaching the turret and examining it quizzically.

"Nope. Get in there! You'll love it. ”

Noah wasn't so sure, but he needed to do something. If he just sat there reading a book and trying to figure out what was going on, he would have been locked up for years – and he felt like he didn't have that much time to waste. Noah climbed into the turret and lay flat on the cold metal.

"What now?"

"You squeeze," Tim said with a wry smile.

Make a loud whirring sound.

The world exploded.