Absorbed by the Stacks (open)

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[attr="class","monody"]

they charge me for years I can no longer pay.

The day had gone relatively smoothly for Professor Ghislain. None of his many students had caused him any trouble, the Headmaster had stayed out of his hair, and he wasn’t buried under a pile papers and tests to grade or reports in need of writing. Such a rare occasion was deserving of a proper reward. Unfortunately, this month’s salary was spoken for this month, so there would be no forays into lovely Dagos to try his luck in a game of poker or two. Unfortunately, his monthly salary was already spoken for due to the need to pay bills and other such expenses—something Emiko had been drilling into his head over the course of two weeks now.

Bereft of an opportunity to engage in his favorite pastime, Reese decided that a trip to the University library was in order. A nice long adventure novel would be a pleasant distraction to close out a hard day’s work. He strolled through the grand hallways leading to the library, humming to the tune of one of his favorite swing songs. A few of the students roaming the halls greeted him and he replied to each in turn. Some of the younger students gave him an all too familiar look that he’d seen several times in his career. He was aware that he was a sort of celebrity among many of the female members of the student body; there’d even been a few over the years that openly confessed to him. Not that he minded overly much as it was a good boost to his self-confidence and he’d even gained a few lasting friends from various encounters. More importantly, it was a way of gaining a small victory over the Royal Asshole in his ivory tower.

That alone was worth the risk.

Still, he had to maintain some manner of professionalism and he let each hopeful partner down as gently as he could. Reese had the method down to a science. There’d never been a time where he’d broken a heart beyond all hope of repair and he even did his best to help mend them. In a way, it helped him deal with his own heartbreak dealt to him by the loss of his wonderful fiancé. It was why he enjoyed gambling and other methods of escape to the degree he did.
Reese arrived in the library with a pep in his step and a stack of finished books nestled under his arm. He shot a wink at one of the staff members as he set the books down to return them. Then, he made his way directly to the fiction section before stopping at the sound of a victorious shout.

The professor blinked in confusion. The library was supposed to be a place of quiet, but someone apparently didn’t seem to get the memo. A quick search revealed the source of the disturbance in the form of one Dehlia Senka. Reese shook his head as head bemusedly approached the young woman. She was a good student by all accounts, but also a bit of a ditzy one.

“Having some trouble following the rules again, Miss Senka,” Reese asked quietly.

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[attr="class","monody"]

they charge me for years I can no longer pay.

Reese treated Dehlia to an easy grin that had stolen more than a few young hearts in its time. “Relax, Miss Senka. I’m only joking with you. You’ve been nothing but a good student in my classes, even if your enthusiasm makes you raise your voice a tad too much.” He looked around suspiciously before leaning in closer as though he might share some secret with the girl. “Though I can’t exactly say that the library staff would be very appreciative of you shouting too much. Bad for the people that are actually here for some peace and quiet.”

He gave the young woman a wink as he set his sights on the pile of books arranged before her. He chose one at random and examined it. The title seemed to denote it as a historical record regarding a cult devoted to the goddess of war and its fall from glory during the Golden Age. Reese recalled a time when he’d perused its contents while he wrote a thesis regarding the ancient cult. Several weeks of research and fact-checking had gone into that piece and it happened to be a favorite subject of his.

“So, tell me, Ms. Senka, what’s gotten you so excited that you’re disrupting the peace and upsetting our poor librarian, hmm? I’m aware that learning is a favorite pastime of yours, but I have a hard time imagining that this is what’s got you riled up. Or is whatever’s playing through those headphones of yours the culprit?”

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[attr="class","monody"]

they charge me for years I can no longer pay.

“Oh?” Reese said, eyebrows arched with interest. He listened patiently to Dehlia as she explained her reason for being in the library. Ever the chatterbox, it took the young woman much longer to explain her thoughts cohesively than it should have, but Reese had grown accustom to that particular quirk; part of being a teacher was knowing how to pick out the most important snippets and give the best answer possible and that was a trait he was exceptionally proud of.

“Well, that all depends on what you need,” Reese began. “If you’ve been paying attention in my class, you should know that runes usually have a purpose beyond the textbook description.” He took a seat next to Dehlia and set the stack of reports he carried with him on the table. “For instance, let’s talk about some basic apprentice runes: Natah and Kabed. Simple things, right? Make something bigger and heavier so it packs more of a punch. Let’s say that you want to . . . I don’t know . . . turn a pebble into a lethal weapon. You’d just take said pebble, slap a rune on it with delay, and toss it at whomever annoyed you enough to do that. Suddenly, you’re hitting them with a two ton bolder rather than a tiny rock.

“It’s all in how you create the circle and combine runes for interesting effects, so just apply the concept and anything becomes a weapon.” Reese paused to give Dehlia time to ponder the impromptu lesson. Sure, it concept itself was basic, but the basics were just a stepping off point towards greater understanding.

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[attr="class","monody"]

they charge me for years I can no longer pay.

Reese snapped his fingers. “Know you’re catching on,” he said. “Your creativity is the best weapon when dealing with runes, so experiment away. Juuuuust don’t blow yourself up in the process. I’d rather not have to explain that one to the headmaster.” That wouldn’t be fun for anyone involved and would likely end with him writhing on the floor in agony; it had happened more than once before and it would likely happen many more times until he finally found a way to free himself or was set free. Besides, he’d seen a few too many students loose limbs or an eye because of the tiniest mistake when writing a rune.

“Well, for the bullets to ignite you’d have to Kiinyol with Morah to focus the rune onto them,” Reese explained. “Otherwise you’d have a burning gun and nobody wants that unless you’re looking to burn your hand off or something like that. My best advice is review the runes you know now until you understand how each of them work. Then, try and think about how each of them would interact with one another before you even make the first mark. It’s basically using the scientific method.” He paused and arched a questioning brow. “You do remember the scientific method, right?”

He fully expected that she did, but Reese was firmly set in professor mode now and this was a lesson. After all, there was never a time where you couldn’t teach someone something new; there were always little tips and tricks to be learned.

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[attr="class","monody"]

they charge me for years I can no longer pay.

Reese shrugged at Dehlia’s monolog and her odd way of talking with her hands. Everyone had their quirks and he’d seen more than a fair share in his time. It was part of the territory when it came to teaching at one of the most prodigious universities in the world; you tended to get the weird ones at a certain level of intelligence.

“Well, I’m glad that you understand that much,” Reese said. “Glad I could help you out.” His expression became strained and worried as he leaned in closer. “S-seriously though, d-don’t . . . blow yourself or anything else up, ‘kay? We’re still trying to fix up one of the labs from the last time that happened.” That little disaster hadn’t been a happy occasion for anyone. A pair of students didn’t take the proper precautions and nearly destroyed an entire laboratory with an explosive rune. No one was seriously injured—thank the gods—but it still caused quite the stir among the staff, especially when a professor was punished for allowing the incident to happen in the first place. He doubted the student’s in question cared in any sense of the word; they didn’t even know what their action resulted in.

Reese looked down at his watch. “Huh. Guess the time really got away from me with that one.” He looked back to Dehlia with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, but it looks like I’ve got to bounce. Anything else you need to ask before I go? I swear I’ll get an answer to you as soon as I can.”