Grim took a seat in the corner of the Transport Cannon, his back hunched in about seven different spots to keep his head from tearing through the ceiling above. Humans really didn’t have any sense of scale anymore.

If one was to seal out the majesty of the stars above with a roof, then they could have at least had the decency to make the roof grand. He’d have even settled for one that hadn’t been built to house ants.

Unfortunately, he got neither. Grim suspected Noah wouldn’t have been particularly happy if he accidentally destroyed the Transport Cannon. That would have been less than ideal. There were a very select few things that Grim wanted to avoid.

Pushing Noah too far was one of them. After all, he’d never had an easier time getting his hands on good runes in his lives. Grim felt remarkably like what he suspected what one of the fat housecats he’d eaten at some point in the distant past did.

Life was good when you were pampered. Sure, he had to steal an extra rune here or there, but this was without a doubt the easiest any manner of his existence had it in a very long time. It brought back old memories.

Ones so distant that he could barely even recall much more than their taste. But they were ones that he would have given nearly anything to feel again. He — they — were so close. The doors to infinity were just a short few steps away.

Perhaps Noah would already be at them if he didn’t have this… gaggle of creatures following him around. Then again, they seemed to motivate him. Perhaps a purpose was exactly what someone like him needed.

A flicker of distaste passed through Grim. He’d gotten a great deal more of Noah’s memories than he would have liked. Nothing could have prepared him for the immensity of the hellish existence that was stored within the man’s soul.

All those years never should have been allowed to remain in any mortal creature’s mind before it had ascended to the point to process such things. The man’s soul had been warped beyond belief even before it had been blended together with that of a demon.

It was a minor miracle that he still even had the coherence to speak. Perhaps these little ducklings were exactly the reason why Noah was still able to keep himself focused on anything at all.

Grim had seen exactly what would happen without their influence. When everything was stripped bare and the rune that had been soaking within the true essence of Noah’s soul finally started to manifest itself.

The amount of Chaos energy that it had called was terrifying. That shoddy, poorly put together Rune… the fact that it had nearly begun the ascension to godhood was ludicrous. Grim didn’t even want to think about how much potential would have been lost if it had happened, but he couldn’t help but wonder just how powerful Noah would become when he did manage to properly ascend.

I must ensure that happens. There has never been a Herald like this. Even the past one — well, he is of no matter. His mind is scattered to so many different places that any thoughts he has may as well die from one part to the next.

Grim looked across the room. It had filled considerably since he’d last checked. Noah’s damned soul was ruining his already poor perception of time. He’d managed to lose a few minutes just sitting there in his own thoughts.

In that time, Lee had somehow gathered every one of Noah’s little goblins. There were quite a few of them, and even though Grim had really paid the majority of them little attention, Noah’s memories filled in the gaps.

The core group was of the most interest to him. Isabel, Todd, Emily, James, and Alexandra — all of them were leagues above the others in their own ways. They had potential even in spite of their low-ranked runes.

That wasn’t even to mention Lee and Moxie. The two of them stood entirely on a separate level. Their potential was incredible. Grim found his attention drawn particularly to the latter.

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He could sense the power within Moxie in a way that he had never felt from anyone else within this pathetic little petri dish of an empire. Sure, Sievan had been heavily involved in her creation, but the woman had built the rune herself.

She was well on her path to power. Even without Grim or Noah’s influence, it was only a matter of time until she achieved it. Lee likely wouldn’t be far behind her. The small demon’s appetite was so intense that Grim could feel the malicious aura coiling within her like a snake unhinging its jaws.

That wasn’t to say the others were weak. Eline was on the same path as James, just well behind him. Yulin’s path was similar to Alexandra’s, but she didn’t have nearly as much drive as the other girl did.

The demons held some interest for Grim themselves — and that was only partially because he wanted to eat them.

In time, they would make a suitable honor guard.

He just had to make sure they lived that long. Noah was currently busy sleeping off the immense amounts of damage his soul had taken. That was vital for him — but the others couldn’t afford to waste time while he recovered.

So, unfortunately, the task of fulfilling Noah’s duties fell to him.

“Is this everyone?” Grim asked. “Or have we lost a few between the cracks?”

“This is all of us,” Isabel said, caution and worry mingling in her voice. “What’s going on? Lee just said we had to come immediately. Did something happen? Why is—”

“Noah will be fine,” Grim said. “He is simply taking a little rest.”

Isabel sent him a sharp look. “Who?”

Grim tilted his head to the side. His memories weren’t the clearest, but he was pretty sure that —

“Ah,” Grim said. “You are attempting to protect his identity. That is of no matter. Nobody here is capable of bringing harm to him. The Empire will not last nearly long enough for his identity to carry weight.”

“What are you talking about?” Yulin asked.

“The man behind me is not Vermil,” Grim said. “I don’t remember which of you know and which don’t, but Vermil was a pathetic worm with no worth to his name. I will not dishonor the Herald by sullying his name with one of a coward. Your professor is Noah Vines.”

“Did he give you permission to reveal that information?” Tim asked with a frown.

“He gave me permission to do what was necessary,” Grim replied simply. “And it was necessary for me to ensure you all understand exactly who it is you are working with.”

“I knew there was something off about him. He didn’t act like a Linwick at all,” Eline muttered.

“So… he is a demon?” Yulin hedged.

“No,” Grim said. “He is something different. That is not relevant. What is relevant is that we have obtained a few runes that he would like distributed to you. It is generally inadvisable to advance too quickly — but the circumstances call for it. You will simply have to give your souls some time to stabilize once we’re done.”

“Whoa,” Todd said. “What exactly happened? You just found runes?”

“No,” Grim said. “Noah killed the heads of the Torrin and Herron families. I am now in possession of the majority of their runes, which he broke into chunks to distribute among you.”

“He did what?” Yulin asked, aghast. “Biya? He killed a Rank 6?”

“Yes,” Grim said. “Two of them. That is what I just said. He killed them and took their runes. I will now distribute them to you. If you do not yet have a plan for advancing to the next rank, I would strongly suggest you begin thinking about it.”

“Shit,” Yulin breathed. “I can’t believe it. A second Torrin Head dead… so soon after the first.”

“Noah killed her too,” Grim said, no shortage of amusement in his voice. “It seems he has a bit of a habit of hunting Torrins. Is this a problem to you?”

“No,” Yulin said. “I’ve only promised to fight alongside one Torrin, and it isn’t Exal.”

“Wasn’t,” Grim corrected. “But I don’t have the energy to stick around forever. We must begin. Whoever has the strongest idea of what they want their next rank rune to be, approach. Everyone else should think — and quickly — as to what it is they will become.”

There were a few moments of silence as everyone stood, glancing at each other as they tried to figure out who should go first.

Grim’s eyes flicked to Moxie. He could feel the stability coming from within her soul. Even without a domain of his own, there was no doubt that she was the farthest along out of everyone. She certainly wasn’t timid, either.

“Why are you waiting?” Grim asked, pointing a slender finger at her. “You should be first.”

“Me too? I thought we were just pushing the students ahead a little,” Moxie said, her eyes widening. “Wait. How many runes did Noah get?”

Grim smiled. “Enough to make sure every single being in this room has gone up an entire rank by the time Noah awakes. And that is exactly what we will do.”