I leaned back in my chair, watching as the class reluctantly got to work.
Wallace stood at the front, arms crossed, eyeing the group like a man sentenced to death. "Alright, listen up. If you mess up your runes, I suffer. So if you don't want me to descend into madness, do it right the first time."
Julien grinned. "Sounds like a you problem."
Wallace sighed. "I hate this class."
"You're stalling," I pointed out. "Start the lesson."
Wallace grumbled but turned to the board and began drawing the first rune. The class, miraculously, paid attention—for about ten seconds.
Then Felix, still looking mildly traumatized, poked Leo. "Hey. You ever wonder if runes have feelings?"
Leo stared at him. "What?"
Felix gestured at the board. "Like, we carve them, force them into rigid formations, then expect them to work perfectly every time. Maybe some runes don't want to function. Maybe they just want to be free."
Wallace dropped his chalk. "I—what?"
