Return of the Runebound Professor

Chapter 902: Orlen Problems

Sievan’s response didn’t come quickly. The Lord of Death stood silently for at least a few seconds before he did anything at all. And even still, the first response he gave Noah was an age-weary sigh.

“Orlen is as mad as he is powerful,” Sievan replied. “Were his mind all in one place, he would be one of the most dangerous mages in all of Obsidia — in some ways.”

“What does that mean?” Noah asked. “In some ways?”

“Orlen… he was a visionary.” Sievan’s lips thinned. “There’s no word to describe him other than genius. He was a natural Chaos magic user. He advanced entirely on his own, without the support of any of the Factions or so much as a family. I am not deeply aware of his early years, but I know his foundations were incredible. He was apparently on track to reach Rank 8. The peak of it — and entirely independently.”

“Damn,” Noah said. “Did he have a trick? Some kind of—”

“No,” Sievan replied. “He did it entirely on his own. No Master Rune. No aid. It was pure talent. But that is all secondhand knowledge. To be honest, I was not aware of Orlen in his younger years. It was only later in his life that his name first reached my ears. The first time I heard of Orlen was when he accomplished what quite literally everyone believed to be impossible. Orlen formed a Pure Rune.”

“A what, now?” Noah frowned. “What, are you telling me there’s a whole rank beyond Flawless?”

“No. Not that kind of purity.” Sievan shook his head. “I am not talking about the quality of the components or how strong the intent going into the combination was. I am talking about the components themselves. Sievan created a Rank 6 rune composed entirely of basic Chaos Runes. That’s it.”

Noah froze. “What? But doesn’t that—”

“Cause immense unbalance within the soul,” Sievan confirmed. “Yes. It should be impossible. Nobody had ever managed to make it to Rank 6 with a completely pure rune before. Especially not one formed at the level that his was. Even though I never saw it myself, I have no reason to doubt the sources of my information.”

“They claim it was Flawless?”

“They do,” Sievan confirmed. “And Sievan was still sane. He had no other Runes within his soul. It was a monumental discovery… eclipsed only by his creation of a Pure Rank 7 just a few dozen years later.”

“Shit,” Noah breathed. A Rank 6 composed entirely out of one element was already going to throw anyone ridiculously off balance. The sheer scale between it and Rank 7 was immense. Magnitudes of order. He couldn’t even begin to think how powerful a rune that focused would be — or how dangerous it would be to hold within one’s soul. It would be like trying to walk around with a giant needle inside a balloon.

One sharp move and the whole thing would pop.

“Surely that had… adverse effects. At some point or another,” Noah said. “His Truthseekers definitely don’t seem all that sane.”

Sievan sent him a wry smile. “Surprisingly enough, there were no negative effects. Not at first. Sievan was perfectly sane. I even spoke with him, a long time ago. He came to the Damned Plains in continued pursuit of knowledge and power. We had a very enlightening conversation. And… he was normal. There was nothing askew with his personality, and his domain was powerful. Incredibly so. It did not feel lopsided or weak.”

“And then?” Noah asked. It wasn’t hard to tell where this particular story was going.

“As one can expect, something went wrong,” Sievan replied with a shrug. “Orlen was a Rank 7 the last time I knew him. I believe he had managed to solidify multiple more Pure Rank 7 Chaos Runes within himself. Perhaps he even had 7 of them. I do not know. But something changed. He vanished. Nobody could find him. It was a safe assumption that his research had gone awry and his soul had imploded. That was what I myself believed. Everyone decided that Orlen was an anomaly whose tendencies toward Chaos had been enough to take him far… but there are no shortage of dead geniuses. We all decided he had pushed too far and killed himself — until he came back.”

“He failed the Rank 8,” Noah guessed.

“Perhaps,” Sievan allowed. “When Orlen returned, he was different. He was erratic. Dangerous. People that considered themselves his allies went missing. When it became clear he’d gone mad, he’d already vanished again. At least three different Rank 8 mages went missing trying to find him for one reason or another.”

Noah’s eyes widened. “How high into Rank 8?”

“Not too high,” Sievan allowed. “Early. But that was more than enough to make people realize that something had changed. Rank 8s do not vanish every day. It is rare that they die at all. Some tried to track Orlen down. They all died. And that was roughly when the Truthseekers came into being. They were initially just fools that believed Orlen had somehow managed to ascend partially into godhood. But it seems he allowed for their presence. He trained them, giving some Chaos magic — and they promptly became an enormous pain in the ass for everyone. The Truthseekers are fanatics. They attack and fight indiscriminately under terms and goals that nobody knows. They don’t ever seem to have a real purpose beyond destruction. And, when armed with Orlen’s Pure Chaos Runes, they are quite successful at causing it.”

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“All the Truthseekers have Pure Chaos Runes?” Noah asked. “He’s just handing them out like candy?”

“Not all. Just some,” Sievan replied with a shake of his head. “I will not bore you with the rest of the details. I do not suspect we have time for them. What matters is that Orlen has faded in and out of history since. Nobody has ever managed to determine where he resides. It is safe to say that he has formed a Rank 8 Pure Chaos Rune at this point. He could not have lived this long had he not. But it has clearly shattered his mind. Whatever he is seeking… I am not even sure if he himself knows.”

“False Heralds, apparently,” Noah said. “We had Truthseekers come knocking, looking for me in particular. Back in Arbalest. I got attacked by some asshole called Og.”

“The demon whose insides you melted a minute or two ago?”

“Yes,” Noah said. “I’m not much a fan of him. But they keep calling me a False Herald. From what I’ve gathered, they’re hoping I go fight their True Herald to make him stronger through competition or something. Og wanted me to ge more powerful, not to kill me. But I’m not really sure what they want beyond that.”

Sievan shook his head. “If I knew, I would tell you. But the destruction wrought by his Truthseekers grows each time they reemerge. The last time they truly made an appearance was several hundred years ago, and they were heavily involved in the creation of a certain Empire that you had a vested interest in.”

“The Long Night,” Noah muttered. “You’re telling me Orlen was the reason Arbalest got created?”

“Not directly. But his influence steeped that war. Much of the events that occurred within it can be attributed to him. His magic was undoubtedly what summoned the immensely powerful Great Monsters that forced the creation of the Empire, and there is a good chance he was similarly involved in the creation of some of the powerful weapons that were once sealed within Arbalest. I don’t know the full extent of what he caused. But make no mistake — the Long Night would not have happened had Orlen not been present. Even if he himself was not physically present, much of Arbalest was created purely because of him.”

Now that I think about it, Wizen controlled the Night’s Shadow using a staff that needed Chaos magic. Wizen himself used Chaos to a small degree. He was connected to Orlen. That’s why he wrote his name for me in the afterlife. Shit. What did he know? Why was Orlen helping him in the first place? Was it really just to destroy with no goal beyond that?

“He sounds like a real asshole,” Noah said finally.

Sievan let out a snort. “Yes. I suppose you could say that. But I have always considered myself a good judge of character. He did not seem malicious when we first met. Whatever that rune did to him… he is changed. It is likely the Chaos warped his soul. That is likely what has caused him to come and go like the ebbing tide. Even still, he is incredibly powerful. If his Truthseekers are fixated on you, then you will need to be careful.”

“What’s new?” Noah asked with a small laugh. “I’ll just have to keep an eye out for his crazed nut jobs. Most of them aren’t all that strong. Og was the only one that gave me any trouble.”

“Not this time, though,” Sievan observed. “It is my turn to question. How did you get through his domain so easily? That mage should not have been weak if he gave you trouble before. I doubt you caught him so badly off guard that he could not defend at all against your magic.”

Noah paused for a moment. Then he cleared his throat.

“Let’s discuss that one later, maybe. It’s something I’m trying to keep really close to chest. No offense to you. It’s just the kind of secret that I really can’t have anyone overhearing. And we’re still technically within Aqua Terra, right?”

“We are,” Sievan said with a nod. “And if this is of that big a scale, then remaining silent is indeed wise. I will not press further right now. I cannot guarantee nobody has a way to overhear our conversation. There are many powerful mages gathered here. But even still, I must ask your plans.”

“That part his hardly secret,” Noah said. “I’m finding Moxie and all the others. Then we’re leaving. That’s it. It’s the only thing I’ve got interest in.”

Sievan stared at Noah for a moment. “You think it will be that easy?”

“Getting far enough to make sure they all realize that I’m here isn’t exactly going to be easy.”

Sievan’s gaze bore into Noah for a long second. Then he let out a small laugh. “You haven’t changed much at all, have you?”

“What’s that meant to mean?”

“Nothing,” Sievan replied. “I will ensure that Tim finds you by the time the tournament ends. Even Vivian cannot contain my senses. Now that we have met, it will be easy enough to track you down again.”

“Great,” Noah said. “Thank you. It won’t be too bad. Don’t worry. I’ll have to put the work in, but I can definitely perform well enough to make sure word really gets out about me.”

“Yes,” Sievan said. “I expect you will.”

“You sound slightly sarcastic,” Noah said. “If you’ve got a problem with my plan, then I’d love to hear a better one. Can you help me track everyone down yourself?”

“It would be unwise. Doing so would require more of my magic, and the less I use, the better,” Sievan said. “I am certain that your method will indeed work very well in drawing attention.”

“Then why are you saying it like that?”

“I suppose we will just have to wait and see,” Sievan said. He glanced up toward the ceiling, as if he could see something that wasn’t there. “Mm. Vivian’s tool is coming.”

“Wait, what?” Noah asked. “Now?”

“Now,” Sievan said. “This is somewhat unexpected, but it’s not a major issue. I’ll deal with it. It would be best if they don’t see you here, though. You’ll have to be repositioned. Best of luck during the tournament. We’ll be rooting for you.”

And, before Noah could say another word, the world transformed into a swirling sea of shadows.

Then he was gone.