The rest of the day and night passed, surprisingly without incident. Noah remained seated in his tree, watching the moon trek through the sky. Monkeys hollered in the distance, their cries echoing through the barren forest and distorting with the wind.
None of them found him. Noah wasn't sure if it was because they were intentionally avoiding his location after the slaughter, or if he'd just gotten lucky. Either way, the sun rose all the same the following morning.
The fog in his head had only just started to show signs of abating when an electric current danced across his skin, running down his spine and spreading throughout his body. Before Noah could even start to wonder what was causing the sensation, a sudden force jerked at the nape of his neck.
The world blurred and took on a vibrant shade of blue as he was shunted backward and sent hurtling through space. Noah instinctively tried to let out a startled gasp, but he couldn't even do that. His entire body rebelled against him, and all he could do was sit and watch as the blue currents swirled past him.
With a violent thud, Noah slammed down inside a metal tube, sliding to the floor and landing with a grunt. He staggered as his feet hit cold ground and he braced himself against the wall, drawing in a deep breath. Tim raised a hand in greeting, but his smile fell away as he saw the state of Noah's blood-covered clothing.
"By the gods, man," Tim exclaimed. "Are you alright?"
Noah grimaced and pushed off the wall, shaking his head. The fog in his head still hadn't completely left, and his mouth felt gummy as he spoke. "I'm uninjured."
Tim's expression relaxed, but his eyes remained incredulous. He shook his head in disbelief. "Looks like you went through quite a few healing potions with all the wounds you're sporting."
Noah grunted. "Yeah, something like that. Sorry. Forgot I was going to get yanked back this quickly."
Tim waved his hand dismissively and gestured to the elevator in the center of the room. "Happens to all of us. It's a bit sudden, and I don't recall you coming by much before. Once you use the system a few more times, you should get used to it."
"Good to know." Noah stepped onto the small lift in the center of the room and Tim shut the grate behind him.
"You might want to rest for a little while," Tim said. "You look like shit."
Noah gave the man a small grin. "Thanks."
"Anytime."
Tim stepped back and the lift rattled down, chains lowering it into the open air. The metal trapdoor shut above Noah with a crash and he winced as the sound pierced his ears. It probably wasn't all that loud, but with his head throbbing after his death, it was like a gunshot set off right beside his head.
The lift lowered Noah down to the stairwell and he stepped off, keeping his eyes low as he strode past the small line waiting to use the travel system and headed for his room. By the time he reached it, his head was almost back to the point where he could think properly.
Noah tried calling on his Runes again to no avail. He sighed and stripped out of his ruined clothes, taking a shower and swapping into a new set of clothes before sitting down on his bed. Even though getting killed had technically cleaned off all the dirt he'd picked up fighting, his ruined clothes were filthy enough to warrant getting cleaned again.
Next time, I'm bringing a spare set. I wonder how much they cost, because I get the feeling I'm going to be running through the rest of my wardrobe pretty quickly.
Noah propped his pillow against the wall and leaned back on it, crossing his arms behind his head. His skull throbbed and he grimaced, massaging his temple. He'd yet to measure the exact amount of time it took him to recover from a death, but the pain was already starting to abate, so he suspected it wouldn't be much longer. He closed his eyes and let himself relax, waiting until his magic returned.
***
Just a little over an hour later, the last of the fog lifted away. Noah felt the headache abate and opened his eyes again. He covered a yawn and sat upright, immediately sending for his Runes. This time, nothing stood in his way and he slipped into his mental space without issue.
Seven Runes shimmered to life in the darkness, floating patiently in a circle around him. Noah immediately looked to the new Vibration Rune. It sat where one of his old Wind Runes had been, shimmering with faint gray energy.
Noah took a step toward it and a faint resistance pushed back on him, as if he were striding into a soft wind. A grin stretched across his face. His efforts the previous day hadn't been wasted. The other Runes had all grown slightly stronger as well. It wasn't a massive difference, but it was noticeable.
His grin faded away as he considered the Vibration Rune. He didn't know exactly how much power it would take to fill it to the point where it could be combined properly, but the light coming from the Rune was so dim compared to the others that he suspected it probably wasn't even one percent of the way to its max capacity.
Noah risked a glance up. The Sunder Rune loomed above him, filling the sky and humming with energy. It wasn't as difficult to look at as it had been the first time, but the pressure washing off what he could only assume to be a Master Rune still made his legs tremble with effort to keep himself standing.
It would probably be pretty stupid to try and do anything with this. I don't know what it does or how it works. All I know is that it's probably the reason I come back to life when I die, and even that isn't certain.
Noah swallowed. There was something tantalizing about the power stored within the massive Rune. As if responding to his attention, it started to lower. Noah couldn't bring himself to pull his eyes away as the Rune floated down until it was just above his head.
It was beckoning him. Asking him to reach out.
Noah obliged it. He extended a hand and brushed a fingertip against the thrumming lines of energy.
There was a burst of static in Noah's ears and his entire body buzzed with static electricity. The world went white.
Then there was nothing.
Noah floated in the emptiness, unable to move or even see his own body. All he could do was observe.
In the white, a dark form materialized. A spear formed first, followed by a muscled body made of pure void. The man that had attacked Renewal when Noah had been waiting at the Waters of Life.
Noah couldn't even flinch back. Luckily, the man didn't seem to be aware of his presence. He extended his jagged black spear, and more color bloomed around him. Grass sprouted up beneath the man's feet, and a hulking monster with jutting teeth and brilliant red skin molded out of the ground before the man.
Its skin was protected by interlocking chitinous plates, and it stood twice as tall as the man. With every breath it took, a rattling hiss slipped out from its armored body. Its mouth opened in a clicking screech and it leapt to bite at the man.
He didn't budge. He barely even seemed to notice the monster was attacking him. With the smallest of motions, he shifted his spear and pointed the tip at the monster, which charged chest-first into it.
A faint clink rang out through the nothingness. The monster froze in place. A black line carved through it from head to toe and, denied even the chance for a final screech of defiance, it split in two.
The two halves of the monster collapsed on themselves. Its armor plates clanged to the ground around it, along with a pile of teeth and claws. A curl of smoke rose up from where it had stood, materializing into seven glistening runes.