《The Fusionist》
Book 1 Chapter 1
The satisfying *thunk* of his axe sliding into the pale wood of the tree ahead of him caused Larek to smile as he hit it precisely where he had aimed. A large chunk fell out of the wedge he was creating in the lower trunk, adding yet another to the scattered piles he had already cut away. Each of his subsequent strikes against his upright target was perfectly calculated to remove exactly what was needed to ensure it was weakened enough to crack when he was ready for it. He had already carved out a portion of the other side of the 3-foot-wide trunk, so it was only a matter of time before the other side was ready. With a final swing with his steel-bladed axe and another piece of the tree removed, he judged that the time had come.
Aiming at his next victim, he pulled back his arm and swung it forward, releasing his best friend so that it flew through the air. Rotating only once, the force of his throw caused the head of the axe to bury itself 6 inches deep into the trunk of his new target, while he walked around the one he had already spent the last 10 minutes on. Taking another quick look at his handiwork, the clean lines of his strikes making two perfect sideways Vs, he realized that he probably should¡¯ve carved another inch out of one side to ensure there was less splintering when it fell, but in the end he figured it probably wouldn¡¯t matter all that much. His sister was going to shape it for transport anyway, and a few splinters wouldn¡¯t make a difference in the end.
Besides, they were behind schedule, so Larek needed to hurry and fell as many trees as possible before dusk. They weren¡¯t going to fall on their own, after all.
Standing to the left of the large, 60-foot-tall tree, he reached out and began to push the trunk with his right arm. His muscles strained slightly as he had to push a little harder than usual ¨C probably because of that extra inch ¨C but he quickly felt it move under the pressure of his push. As he saw it start to topple exactly where he had been expecting it, he took a quick hop backwards and away from the tree as he heard the tell-tale *crack* of a falling tree, as the wounds he had made in the wood split it in half.
Almost immediately after the *crack*, the reverberation caused by the breakage caused a kickback that jerked the entire trunk to the rear by nearly a foot. Thankfully, Larek was out of the way, as his experience had taught him to stay out of the way of such a danger. Most novices to Logging, unless told otherwise, all thought that a falling tree simply fell over once its trunk had been carved up, and simply stood behind it; their thought was that if it didn¡¯t fall on them, then there was nothing to be worried about. Unfortunately, the kickback was something that he''d seen jump up to 6 feet before, and a few Loggers had been killed or maimed over the years because of that.
His father was one such in the latter category. An extraordinary kickback ¨C caused by a tree he was felling getting tangled up in the branches of an adjacent monolith of nature ¨C managed to slam into his leg nearly a dozen feet away, permanently crippling it to the point where he could barely put weight on it. Even three years later, it hadn¡¯t healed past a certain point, so he was relegated to directing the mule teams rather than participating in the action of felling the actual trees.
Fortunately for his father, he had a son who could easily do it all by himself.
Larek turned away even as the tree continued to fall, not even bothering to warn anyone else nearby. His family all knew him well enough that the tree wouldn¡¯t fall, except for where he wanted it to, and they were cognizant of his route for the day. Besides, they were still dragging away his former victims using the mule teams, where Marco and Kendee, his younger brother and sister, would trim the branches off; from there, Larek¡¯s father would use the teams to bring each log down to the river, where they would join the dozens of others floating downstream. The Rushwood sawmill, located on the outskirts of the nearby Rushwood village, would direct the incoming logs into a holding area, where they were cut and sliced into thick planks for easier transport. The barges were then loaded with the finished product, which would disappear further down the river¡ to somewhere.
Larek didn¡¯t really care all that much where it ended up, because it ultimately didn¡¯t matter to him. He was doing what he loved, cutting down trees, and such things were of no concern to his mind. It wasn¡¯t like he was planning on visiting far off places anytime soon, nor did he wish to; all he needed was his best friend, who he walked over to grab from where it had impaled the tree, and he got to work carving out more wedges into the trunk before him.
Soon enough, Larek got lost in the rhythm of his swings and the monotony of the work he was doing. It gave him plenty of time to think about things, though in all honesty he didn¡¯t really have a lot to think about; his life was simple, plain, and easy ¨C which was just the way he wanted it. His job as a Logger would last him until he was too old to swing an axe, if he was careful about it, especially considering that they were located on the edge of the Rushwood Forest ¨C as evidenced by the quite simple name of the village nearby. The Rushwood trees of the Forest were fast-growing and invasive, spreading wherever their roots could reach underground, which necessitated the need to cut them down before they overran the nearby villages and towns. They weren¡¯t necessarily dangerous, but they could start to punch up through the foundation of a house if they weren¡¯t culled periodically.
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A sudden chime inside of his head broke his concentration, causing him to slip slightly in his swing, and it hit a few inches higher than he was aiming.
Axe Handling has reached Level 76!
Another increase? That¡¯s twice in the last month, I believe.
Then again, he realized, he had spent more time out in the forest than normal, unfortunately due to the death of a neighbor. The majority of those living around Rushwood Forest were Loggers, just like his own family, and they all worked together to keep the edge of the trees to a manageable line; when someone was temporarily sick or hurt, the others had to pick up the slack and work a little harder to get it done. When someone died, through accident or disease (rarely old age, as the profession was dangerous), it meant that the others had to get ahead of their normal Logging zones, so that they could all contribute a day or two every few weeks to push back the zone normally covered by the one who had died. Of course, it wasn¡¯t usually this bad, as the Cordens¡¯ entire family had perished when their house collapsed on them, due to an unseen Rushwood root burrowing underneath the corner of their foundation. Every member of the Cordens¡¯ family had participated in the Logging work in one way or another, and it was difficult to recover from something like that.
Again, it wasn¡¯t as if he cared. Oh, sure, he vaguely knew of the Cordens, but he had only seen old Jim Corden, the patriarch of the family, once from a distance; he didn¡¯t even know the names of the others¡ nor how many of them there were, in fact. Kendee had cried for hours when they heard the news, and Larek vaguely remembered that she had been friends with one of the family. Exactly who she was friends with, though, he didn¡¯t know.
All he knew was that it allowed him to stay out later each day so that he could fell more trees with his best friend.
He felt the slight tingle throughout his body that indicated his Axe Handling Level-up, though at this point it didn¡¯t really do much for him. Each Level in a Skill gave him a 5% increase in the effectiveness in his handling of an axe; at Level 76, he was currently 380% better at wielding the sharp-edged tool than someone who had never picked up an axe. In all honesty, he hadn¡¯t seen any real difference since Level 20, when he hit 100% effectiveness, as all the further increases really did was help him hold the axe with perfect form, reduce the strain and energy on his body that was required to swing it, and allow him to strike exactly where he was aiming.
He knew that some Skills, such as Cooking, could actually provide benefits to the result even at Levels higher than 20, but he didn¡¯t really know of anyone who had those kinds of Skills. Larek¡¯s own Cooking was at Level 1, mainly because he barely did any cooking for himself; his mother had a Cooking Skill at Level 9, and she had been cooking for the family for as long as he could remember. Normally, repetition was all that was needed to improve the Level of a Skill, such as his Axe Handling, but others needed something different to advance ¨C which was probably why his mother had been stuck on Level 9 for years. At least, that was according to what she had told them, because it wasn¡¯t as if Larek could actually see that about her for himself. No one could see anything like that about another person, as far as he knew.
After his Skill Level-up, he got right back into what he was doing before being interrupted. One tree blurred into another as he chipped away wedges of wood non-stop, his body continuing to work automatically despite his mind being somewhere else. Larek wasn¡¯t thinking of anything in particular, just letting his thoughts meander wherever they wanted. They tended to do that quite frequently, until time passed so quickly it was as if none had passed at all.
¡°LAREK! QUITTIN¡¯ TIME!¡±
His sister¡¯s shouts echoed through the now-empty part of the forest he was in, startling him. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t been in the middle of swinging his best friend, but had been in the middle of rotating around to the other side of the arboreal monolith he was working on. A second after he heard Kendee shouting, he realized that dusk had fallen a bit before, and the light was rapidly bleeding away from his environment; he must have kept working despite the encroaching darkness, which just meant that he was enjoying himself.
Sadly, he had also worked hard enough that his stomach was practically growling in anger at him. While his Axe Handling Skill thankfully reduced the energy needed to swing the axe, he still expended great amounts of energy over the course of the day.
Holding the axe against one of his shoulders, he left the tree he had been in the middle of carving up where it was as he headed back home.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 1
¡°Did you hear?¡±
¡°Hear what?¡±
¡°That The Fusionist is actually half¡ª¡±
The door to the warehouse in Thanesh where Larek and Nedira had made their home together closed on the murmurs of the crowd outside, and he felt himself being gently lowered onto his bed a few seconds later.
It seems as though the news has already spread throughout the city. I should¡¯ve figured that the fact that I¡¯m half-Gergasi wouldn¡¯t stay a secret for long after it was discovered.
¡°Thank you. You can put my brother on this bed, as well,¡± Larek heard his betrothed say to the Volunteers that had helped to carry them inside, and as soon as they were gone, back out the door and to the crowd outside, he felt himself relax.
Or relax as much as he could, given his condition. If it was any consolation, Norde wasn¡¯t any better, though he had something else the matter with him. Nedira¡¯s brother had suffered from the effects of a mind-controlling bug for who knew how long before a Gergasi, Chinli, had come along and used her Dominion magic on him. The two forms of control warring over his mind had messed him up, and while he¡¯d been conscious for a short time after he had both forms of influence banished from his head, he¡¯d been unconscious ever since. Granted, it had only been approximately 12 hours since the southeastern Calamity had been closed, freeing all of the subservient Apertures in its territory while also ending the threat it posed with its expansion, but those hours felt like weeks to Larek in his current state.
¡°Don¡¯t worry, everything will be alright,¡± Nedira told him softly as she sat next to him on the bed, gently brushing the hair out of his eyes as she smiled down at him. All he could do in response was grunt, and she continued as if he had urged her to explain. Strangely enough, she seemed to understand that his grunt actually was for her to explain. ¡°All the people who now know your secret? That you¡¯re half-Gergasi? It won¡¯t change how they already see you.¡±
Larek wasn¡¯t so sure of that. He¡¯d seen how they had reacted back when Chinli had deliberately shared his lineage with all of the Volunteers that had come with him into the Calamity to search for the missing Mages and Martials, and while they hadn¡¯t been outright hostile, he was sure it was only a matter of time. Their opinion would only be compounded by the fact that, at the time, they had just discovered around two thousand massacred bodies of Mages and Martials, all perpetrated by a full-blooded Gergasi; he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they associated all that death with him. He¡¯d been the subject of so much hatred in his life that it seemed inevitable by this point.
¡°I see that you don¡¯t believe me,¡± his betrothed said with a sad smile. ¡°I know you¡¯ve had more than your fair share of unfair prejudice against you in your life, and I don¡¯t want to say that there aren¡¯t those who will see you in a poorer light because of this secret coming out, but the vast majority will actually see this as a positive.¡±
He minutely shook his head, the most he really moved at the moment. It had been that way for hours, and he was beginning to worry that it might be permanent.
¡°Ah, you didn¡¯t see how the Volunteers we brought with us to the Calamity reacted after you killed a Gergasi,¡± Nedira noted as she playfully booped him on the nose. ¡°Sure, they might have been more than a bit unsure after Chinli revealed who you were, but after they felt themselves resist her Dominion magic and watched you fight and defeat one of the hated figures of legend that many of them had never actually seen before, almost every Volunteer was looking upon you with something approaching reverence. In fact, I think you should be even more worried about many of them idolizing you even more than before.¡±
Great. That¡¯s just what I need. But if she¡¯s correct, then I guess that beats them trying to kill me.
¡°Kimble, Verne, and the rest of the Volunteers from the expedition into the Calamity have already begun spreading the news that you killed one of the Gergasi; you just haven¡¯t heard it yet. As the saying goes, bad news always travels the fastest, but your other actions will help to alleviate that ¡®bad news¡¯, which isn¡¯t really bad news to begin with. Being half-Gergasi should be viewed not as a detriment, but as a benefit, and I believe that most people will recognize that.¡±
I sure hope she¡¯s right. The last thing I need is an angry mob storming our home while I¡¯m incapacitated.
As she held his hand for a short while before getting up to see to her unconscious brother, Larek kept replaying the fight with Chinli over in his mind. The incredibly quick way she moved, the sheer power of her physical attacks, and the variety of magical spells she slung out at him had been terrifying, and he knew for a fact that if he had mistimed his defenses for even a second, he wouldn¡¯t have survived. He had thought he was strong going into the confrontation, but that had proven to be an illusion; he had only managed to ¡°win¡± against her through the application of his newest ability to make clones of himself, and from tricking her into destroying a powerful Fusion at point-blank range.
And the result was that he had stressed his body and mind to the point where he couldn¡¯t move nor speak, and even bringing up his Status was impossible. Just to keep himself alive through the battle had been hard enough, but victory was turning out to be nearly as bad as defeat, especially if his worries came true and he would never be able to move again.
Needless to say, he wasn¡¯t feeling so good about everything right now, even though their expedition was technically a success. They had closed the Calamity, they had found Norde, and Larek had managed to kill the same Gergasi that had taken him away from his friends years ago ¨C all of which, independently, could be considered a positive, but as there had been no change in his state since surviving the explosion, his personal outlook was pretty dismal and depressing.
Nedira puttered around their home for a few hours before turning in for the night, as it had been a while since either of them had gotten any sleep. No one came to visit them from outside, leaving them in a world all of their own for now, for which Larek was grateful; he couldn¡¯t stand not being able to speak with anyone, and while Nedira seemed to somewhat understand what he was trying to say with his random grunts, he couldn¡¯t rely on her to translate them forever.
He needed to get better, but he wasn¡¯t sure if anything but time would do it ¨C if it ever did. No, don¡¯t think like that. I¡¯ve got to stay positive; at least, that¡¯s what Nedira told me.
He stared up at the ceiling of their home for hours that night, unable to sleep despite being bone-tired throughout his entire body, but even sleep wasn¡¯t a blessing once he finally passed out. Visions of the massacre of Mages and Martials that Chinli had propagated, along with his own fight with her, gave him nightmares, and as a result, his sleep was largely restless.
The days seemed to turn into a blur after that, as it was all more of the same with no apparent change in his condition. Nedira stayed near his side almost every hour of the day, though she left him with Kevara every once in a while, his Fusion-crafting assistant more than happy to look after both him and Norde, who also had yet to wake up.
Finally, after what he estimated to be approximately 6 days after he arrived, Larek suddenly woke up in the middle of the night after struggling to get to sleep. He groaned at the abrupt interruption of his rest, bringing his hands up to rub his temples to massage the headache that accompanied his interrupted sleep¡ª
¡ªmy hands! I moved them!
It turned out to be more than that, as slowly removed the sheet that was covering him and gingerly swung his legs over the side of his bed. He felt a little unsteady at first as he sat there on the edge of the mattress, but after a minute or so of simply sitting there, he began to feel better by the second. Finally standing up, he wobbled for a moment as his weight stabilized on his feet, but that quickly faded as he felt the strength he was used to coming back to him.
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¡°Larek!¡± he abruptly heard from behind him, and a body flung itself into him, hugging him around his upper waist. Twisting his head around, he found Nedira plastered to his side, and he smiled down at her; it was only when he noticed just how far down she was that he realized she was much shorter than normal.
Or he was simply taller.
¡°Thank you for taking care of me,¡± Larek told her softly, his voice a little hoarse from disuse. He hugged her back for a few more minutes before they parted, only for her to drag him back down to the side of the bed where she could more easily talk to him.
¡°I had a feeling that, given enough time, you would be just fine, but I have to admit that I was beginning to worry once a few days had passed,¡± she said, tears in her eyes as she stared at him, her hand on his arm possessively, as if she was afraid something would happen if she let him go. ¡°I¡¯m glad to see that my faith was well-placed and that you¡¯re back.¡±
Larek nodded. He was certainly back on his feet, but whether or not he was ¡°fine¡± was another matter. For days, he had been essentially trapped in his non-functioning body, unable to do anything but observe the world around him; he couldn¡¯t even do anything to investigate his body and what had happened to it, as his internal senses had basically shut down. Now, though, he felt as if he was finally well enough to take a look.
Holding her as she abruptly snuggled up against him, the Fusionist mentally dove into his body and internal pattern for the first time since just after the battle with Chinli.
The first thing he noticed was that his body, despite being locked down for nearly a week, was in fairly good shape. He wasn¡¯t exactly in the best shape right now, as he was still feeling a bit weak, but his body was rapidly restoring itself to the level it had been before the fight, and he suspected that once he got some good food in his belly ¨C as he¡¯d been fed nothing but liquids during his convalescence ¨C he would be back to normal in a few hours.
Unfortunately, his internal pattern was a different story. In short, it was a mess. He wasn¡¯t precisely sure how it had looked just after the fight with Chinli, but even after a week of repairing itself, it didn¡¯t look good. It was torn in various places, practically shredded in others, and thin enough that it took him a few minutes to actually look at it all, as there were portions of it that he thought that it was gone completely before he caught sight of it. It was the worst damage and stress that he¡¯d ever done to it, and he knew that he was lucky to be alive.
Thankfully, even as he investigated every part of it, he could see that it was repairing itself, if a bit slowly. With all that he¡¯d learned about Aetheric Force over the last month or so, he thought that he might be able to find a way to apply it toward helping it heal a bit faster; but for now it was so delicate that he was worried that anything he tried to do to it would only make it fall apart. It had literally been holding itself together by a few threads, and any disturbance to it before it had a chance to recover at least a little bit might push it too far.
Extracting his focus away from his internal pattern, he told Neidra, ¡°I¡¯m not completely well yet, but I¡¯m getting there. I just need some time.¡±
She nodded into his side, before pulling away and looking up at him. ¡°You¡¯ve got some time, but things are happening out there in the wider world that we¡¯re going to need to address as soon as possible.¡±
The Naturalist had been a bit sparse on information while he had been essentially paralyzed in his bed, as if she hadn¡¯t wanted to worry him while he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. Now that he was able to move around and interact with her, she must¡¯ve thought he was ready for it.
¡°Like what?¡±
She sighed as she let him go, looking toward the still-unconscious form of Norde nearby. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see. I guess I should at least tell you what¡¯s been going on since you¡¯ve been¡ unavailable,¡± she began. ¡°First, all of the Apertures inside the former Calamity had essentially been closed for the first few days after we took down the Calamity, which gave Kimble and the Volunteers enough time to strategize on keeping them culled in the future so that this doesn¡¯t happen again. Dozens of teams have been assigned throughout the area to cover a swathe of Apertures, and with the help of their staves and new abilities ¨C thanks to your Gradual Aetheric Purification Array ¨C they have been instrumental in keeping monster numbers down and the land around them relatively safe.
¡°Because of this, there have been thousands of people slowly spreading throughout the region with the intent to reestablish towns and even cities that had been abandoned, using them as hubs to grow more food, take advantage of the local natural resources, and be a stopping point for the Transport crews to visit while they¡¯re in the area. These efforts are still in the early stages yet, of course, but over time they will be invaluable to keeping the land safe for even more people to move back to the area.
¡°Which brings us to our first problem,¡± she continued. ¡°We already had a bit of an issue with the surrounding towns and cities run by different Factions, as they didn¡¯t care for us trying to barge in and take over¡ªtheir words, not ours. Unfortunately for them, the fall of the Calamity did nothing to stop the spread of the mind-controlling bugs that plagued us at the start, and we¡¯re beginning to see dozens of places becoming overwhelmed ¨C and yet, the leadership vehemently opposes any help from us. A few, uh, inquisitive Volunteers have snuck into a few towns to investigate why this may be. While they haven¡¯t found anything definitive, the general consensus is that the SIC is involved somehow. It could be that they¡¯re still angry about what they tried to do to Thanesh and the people here, and rightfully so, but I have a feeling that they might be onto something.
¡°We already knew that the SIC was going to be more of a problem sooner or later, and while that doesn¡¯t necessarily mean they are going to try and strike at us again anytime soon, they still have an enormous amount of influence with those not under Volunteer control. In fact, that influence has led to a few attacks on our people as they approached to help, though fortunately there weren¡¯t any casualties. If left unchecked, however, either the SIC will convince them to strike at us for real, or they will be mind-controlled by bugs who will inevitably attack us anyway. Kimble and the other Volunteers in leadership positions are thinking about adopting a wait-and-see position, where it might be better to let those people be taken over by the bugs first before we swoop in to save them, but there are risks to this, of course.
¡°First and foremost, there is the risk that the spread of these bugs will grow out of our control. They seem to be able to replicate rather quickly, as we¡¯ve seen around the Calamity border, but now it seems as though they aren¡¯t limited to securing that border anymore. As such, they could spread throughout the entire Kingdom and potentially even further than that in a matter of months. Are we looking to send out Volunteers everywhere around the world? Because that might be the only way to eventually stop them, when everyone has one of your Fusions in their heads to eliminate them completely. Unless you can start pumping out thousands of them a day for the next few months or years, I don¡¯t believe you¡¯ll be able to keep up.
¡°More than that, the interruption in the efforts against the monsters and Apertures covering the land, even for a few days or a week, could set back all the efforts we¡¯ve made to contain them. Sure, we have this section of the Kingdom marginally organized and will only become better over time, but the same can¡¯t be said for everywhere else. Rumors have it that the territory for the former northwestern Calamity is still struggling to keep up with the changes, though it¡¯s thought that they will eventually get it all together and handle the mess we inadvertently left them. But any major interruption risks another Calamity forming as Apertures are neglected while most of the people tasked with keeping them culled are controlled by creepy mind-bugs.
¡°And then, of course, there are the Gergasi.¡±
Larek felt more than a little whiplash at all the problems being heaped upon him. ¡°Gergasi? What do you mean?¡±
She stared at him. ¡°You killed one of them, Larek. While I can¡¯t claim to know much about them other than what I¡¯ve heard as a rumor, I highly doubt that they¡¯ll just let that kind of thing go. Whether or not they know you did it is something we can¡¯t be sure of, but I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll send someone to find out eventually. We have to be ready for such an eventuality, and better prepared, to boot; you barely survived the last fight with one, but what if they send two Gergasi? Or three?¡±
Larek had thought the same thing, and he realized she was right. However, as it was right now, he was basically useless until his internal pattern healed again; after that, he ¨C as well as everyone else ¨C had to get stronger. None of them might ever be able to go toe-to-toe with a Gergasi, but they also had numbers on their side; that had to count for something.
¡°That¡¯s¡ a lot to think about,¡± he eventually said to her, as he wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. With one problem completed, it seems like there are ten more popping up in its place. Nedira might think he had the answers, but he was still struggling to recover from his ordeal. With a yawn, he realized he needed a decent sleep before he could make any important decisions, or even decide if he was the one to make them; since it was still in the middle of the night, it didn¡¯t take much coaxing for Nedira to join him.
As he lay there, closing his eyes and yet unable to fall asleep right away with all of what he¡¯d been told on his mind, he decided to see if his Status was finally working. At first, nothing happened, but with some flickers and stuttering, he finally got a response¡ though, he wasn¡¯t sure if it was good fortune or not that everything seemed to be operating again, as he was suddenly bombarded with notifications.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 2
Magical Detection has reached Level 82!
¡..
Magical Detection has reached Level 90!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 94!
¡..
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 98!
Mana Control has reached Level 97!
Mana Control has reached Level 98!
Dodge has reached Level 51!
¡..
Dodge has reached Level 67!
You have reached Level 54 and have 34 available AP to distribute!
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 57!
¡..
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 71!
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 74!
¡..
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 89!
Body Regeneration has reached Level 54!
¡..
Body Regeneration has reached Level 71!
You have reached Level 55 and have 69 available AP to distribute!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 5!
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 7!
Pattern Restoration Skill has been unlocked!
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 1!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 20!
You have reached Level 56 and have 101 available AP to distribute!
Beast Control has reached Level 51!
¡..
Beast Control has reached Level 65!
Leadership has reached Level 22!
¡..
Leadership has reached Level 35!
Congratulations!
Due to your superior and instinctual application of patterns of nearly any shape or size, you have unlocked the Complete Patternal Specialization!
Requirements:
Knowledge of 4 Pattern-related Skills
Intellect of at least 20
Acuity of at least 20
Pneuma of at least 20
The Complete Patternal Specialization also provides these benefits:
Enhances the strength of all spells, Fusions, or pattern constructs by 10%
Do you wish to accept the Complete Patternal Specializ¡ª
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Pattern Prodigy Specialization!
Requirements:
Complete Patternal Specialization
Pattern Master Specialization
Pattern Restoration Skill of 20
Pattern Formation Skill of 20
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 20
Pattern Recognition Skill of 20
Fusion Skill of 20
Intellect of at least 50
Acuity of at least 50
Pneuma of at least 50
The Pattern Prodigy Specialization also provides these benefits:
Ability to utilize Pattern Cohesion in unique ways
Ability to manipulate up to 40% of your Pattern Cohesion outside of spell patterns and Fusion formations
Heightened ability to manipulate your internal pattern
20% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all spells and Fusions
Enhances the strength of all spells, Fusions, or pattern constructs by 15%
The Pattern Prodigy Specialization automatically replaces the Complete Patternal and Pattern Master Specializations!
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Larek was glad that he was lying down, as the sudden influx of notifications nearly knocked him out. It was the greatest quanity of Skill Level-ups that he¡¯d ever experienced, and on top of that, he not only unlocked a new Skill and Leveled-up himself three times, but he also gained a new Specialization. As for the new Skill, he instinctively understood what it would do for him, as it aided in repairing his internal pattern ¨C as well as keeping it together; he wasn¡¯t sure if he had unlocked the Skill in response to what he¡¯d done to himself, as if he had triggered some sort of life-threatening threshold, but he knew without a shadow of a doubt that Pattern Restoration was the only reason he was up and around right now.
And it was still actively trying to restore his internal pattern. Before he looked too closely at anything else, he immediately spent just over 47,000 of his accumulated Aetheric Force into raising its maximum Skill Level, as it was maxed out right now at 20, bringing it all the way up to Level 100. Almost immediately after doing so, he got another notification letting him know that it had Leveled-up again, so he was glad to have done it as soon as he was able. In addition to restoring his internal pattern, he also had a feeling that the new Skill would allow him to do something else with it, but that feeling was a bit vague at the moment; he figured it would become more clear as it increased in Level.
Once that was done, he looked at the current status of his Skills.
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 21/100 (1,000 AF)
Pattern Recognition Level 70[80]/100 (1,000 AF)
Spellcasting Focus Level 76[86]/100 (1,000 AF)
Magical Detection Level 90[100]/100 (1,000 AF)
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 93/100 (1,000 AF)
Fusion Level 93[100]/100 (1,000 AF)
Pattern Formation Level 93[100]/100 (1,000 AF)
Focused Division Level 95/100 (1,000 AF)
Pattern Manipulation Level 98/100 (1,000 AF)
Mana Control Level 98[100]/100 (1,000 AF)
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10/70 (700 AF)
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]/70 (700 AF)
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15/70 (700 AF)
Throwing Level 29[39]/80 (800 AF)
Dodge Level 67[77]/90 (900 AF)
Pain Immunity Level 20/20 (N/A)
Body Regeneration Level 71[81]/100 (1,000 AF)
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 71[81]/100 (1,000 AF)
Stama Subjugation Level 89/100 (1,000 AF)
General Skills:
Cooking Level 8
Writing Level 11
Bargaining Level 13
Saw Handling Level 15
Reading Level 17
Long-Distance Running Level 20
Speaking Level 25
Leadership Level 35
Listening Level 44
Beast Control Level 65
Axe Handling Level 94
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 5/6 (60,000 AF)
Aetheric Authority Level 7/7 (70,000 AF)
Apart from the new Skill, Larek¡¯s other Skills related to fighting, as well as the creation of his clone Pattern constructs, had increased dramatically. He already knew that Skill development speed was greater when he was either creating something extremely complicated and difficult or facing a monster that was extremely powerful, but this was on a different level entirely. Given who Chinli was, though, it made sense that his Skills had shot up so quickly; almost dying multiple times in a matter of a few minutes would do that, he supposed.
For his new Specialization, it appeared to be centered around his new Skill. Complete Patternal seemed to acknowledge that he had four Skills related with patterns, and that his list of them was now ¡°complete¡± ¨C which he took to mean that he¡¯d unlocked everything about patterns that he could. The fact that he didn¡¯t have any other ¡°complete¡± Specializations made him believe that there might be more Skills about Fusions that he was missing, which made him curious about what that could possibly be.
But it was the Pattern Prodigy Specialization that replaced Complete Patternal and Pattern Master that made him excited. The relatively ¡°low¡± requirements for the Specialization made him confident that the Specialization could probably be upgraded as he improved Pattern Restoration, though he would have to wait and see.
As his mind came down from the sudden shock of so many Skill Level increases, as well as personal Level increases, he began looking at where to spend his newfound wealth of AP. With 101 AP to distribute between his stats, he had a lot of options.
Available AP to Distribute: 101
Strength: 247 [494] (+)
Body: 247 [494] (+)
Agility: 257 [514] (+)
Intellect: 250 [500] (+)
Acuity: 250 [500] (+)
Pneuma: 4,446 [8,892]
Pattern Cohesion: 88,920/88,920
The first thing he did was bring up both his Strength and Body to 250, inserting 3 AP into each¡ª
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to your unique nature, you have unlocked the Skilled Guardian Specialization!
Requirements:
Novice Guardian Specialization
Any Mage Skill at or above 40
Any Martial Skill at or above 40
Intellect of at least 250
Acuity of at least 250
Pneuma of at least 250
Strength of at least 250
Body of at least 250
Agility of at least 250
Knowledge of at least 7 spells
Knowledge of at least 7 Battle Arts
The Skilled Guardian Specialization also provides these benefits:
10% reduction in Mana Cost for all cast Spells
10% increase in the magnitude of all cast Spells
10% increase in the range of all cast Spells
10% reduction in Stama cost for all Battle Arts
10% increase in effectiveness of all Battle Arts
10% increase in duration of all Battle Arts
The Skilled Guardian Specialization automatically replaces the Novice Guardian Specialization!
A while ago, he had somewhat hoped that something significant would happen when he hit 250 in each of his stats, but he had forgotten about it; as a result, the sudden new Specialization had surprised him.
Looking it over, he saw that it basically doubled all of the benefits of the Novice Guardian Specialization, which only really affected his Battle Arts; bonuses to his spells were basically useless, given that he couldn¡¯t cast any. Nevertheless, he supposed that it was better than nothing, as there weren¡¯t any other notifications that came to him with his increase to 250 in each of his stats.
With 95 AP left, he thought about the fight with Chinli and what might¡¯ve been beneficial to have so that he wouldn¡¯t have been so outmatched. Looking back at the dangerous confrontation, he could tell that she was fairly powerful, both in Strength and in Body, but where she really outshined him was in her speed. There were multiple instances where he had barely survived an attack, and he was fairly certain that it was only his mental speed that allowed him to create a Pattern construct to block the blows she rained down on him. Boosting his own Agility and using Battle Arts had leveled the playing field a bit, but even that had barely been enough.
Greatly increasing his Agility to better be able to survive another attack by a Gergasi might be the way to go¡ if every Gergasi was like Chinli, of course. While he hadn¡¯t seen anyone else other than his father from their race, he had to believe that not every Gergasi was the same, just as not all Mages or Martials were the same. Chinli had prioritized Agility without seeming to specialize in anything in particular, as she used some Battle Arts and spells equally; his father had seemed like he had been more inclined to focusing on Strength based on what little Larek saw, but he could be wrong.
Regardless, there had to be Gergasi who would fight with weapons if they were forced to, while being expert spellcasters with devastating spells that could devastate a massive area ¨C and the opposite was likely true. If they Leveled-up just as he had, at least as far as distributing AP toward stats, then they would tend to be better suited toward one thing or another, or else they would be average at everything. His worry was that Chinli had been more ¡°average¡± than most, with just a focus on her speed more than anything else, and that every other Gergasi he would see in the future would be much more dangerous as they specialized in one thing or another.
Taking that into consideration, he knew that there wasn¡¯t much he could do to protect himself against everything they might dish out. Given how many years they¡¯d been alive, the amount of AP they¡¯d been able to accumulate, and their fighting experience, he was never going to match up to them, even one-on-one ¨C because he couldn¡¯t expect to get lucky in every fight. While it might seem the right play to keep his stats fairly even so that he wasn¡¯t deficient in one thing or another, which was what he¡¯d been trying to accomplish lately, he realized that he was going to have to play to his own strengths and personal advantages.
What were those strengths and personal advantages? As always, it was his Fusions and his ability to manipulate patterns that had seen him through, time and time again. Sure, learning how to really fight and defend himself against monsters and people had been important, and increasing his Martial stats made him able to take on even the toughest opponents, but it was all thanks to Fusions that made it all possible.
He was a Fusionist, after all, so he was going to lean into that going forward. That didn¡¯t mean he was going to completely neglect his Martial side, of course, but it wasn¡¯t going to be as much of a priority as it had been lately. Why? Because he had no illusions that he¡¯d be able to take on all of the Gergasi by himself, especially after his near-disastrous confrontation with Chinli. He might personally be able to grow strong enough to go toe-to-toe with another Gergasi, but that wasn¡¯t his strength; it had ultimately been his Fusions and Pattern Manipulation that had seen him through the fight alive, not his physical speed and strength ¨C though they certainly helped him survive long enough to take her out.
Therefore, after some consideration, he distributed another 10 AP to Strength, 30 AP to Body, and 3 AP to Agility, bringing them to 260, 280, and 260, respectively ¨C a moderate increase in two of those stats. The reason Body got more than the others was because it also increased his Pneuma, which was important toward his Pattern Cohesion total. The remaining 52 points he split between Intellect and Acuity, adding 26 to each of them, bringing them to a total of 276. The increase in his Pneuma shot his Pattern Cohesion to over 100,000, which he was sure would be extremely helpful when it came time to design some new, powerful Fusions.
Because that was what it was going to take to win against the Gergasi. If the Fusions he¡¯d made already had allowed him to survive so far, then he¡¯d have to make even stronger ones to not just survive if they came looking for him, but actually to take the initiative and go after them. Granted, he didn¡¯t expect to be able to do that until he was a little stronger and had developed some Fusions that could succeed in such an objective, but he was determined to see it through.
And a large part of that success would be getting help from others, just as the Volunteers had helped to close the Calamity. He was only one person, after all, and if his Fusions were going to be the most effective, he needed them in the hands of as many people as possible. The Gergasi might be powerful, but they were limited in number; the people in the Kingdom might be relatively weak in comparison, but there were many, many more of them. If his Fusions could help them even marginally mitigate the strength differences between them, then there was nothing that could stop them.
Now all he had to do was make sure that nothing got in the way of that plan. There wasn¡¯t much he could do to stop the Gergasi from coming after him again if they chose to do so, but there was another organization that Nedira had mentioned just before she went back to sleep. If they were going to fight against the people that had formerly enslaved the population and had caused the world to be in the danger it was right now, then they would have to be united against them.
In other words, the SIC had to go.
As he settled back down to sleep, finally adjusting to his increased stats, Larek brainstormed ways to go about that.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 3
The recovery of Larek¡¯s internal pattern was remarkable. By the time he woke up the next day, his Pattern Restoration Skill had not only repaired more than half of the damage that he had observed the day before, but he felt like the newly restored pattern was stronger somehow, as if it was more resilient to damage in the future. He wasn¡¯t sure if this was actually the case or not, but he likened the change to his pattern to having scar tissue or calluses toughening up its overall structure.
Even better, the speed with which the restoration happened was only increasing, which was all due to his new Skill bumping up in Level.
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 38!
Larek was thankful for the new Skill, which he was sure would continue to increase as it helped to restore his internal pattern, as it meant he wasn¡¯t going to be ¡°down¡± for weeks or longer like he had originally thought. Before he used any of his Pattern Cohesion for constructs or Fusions, he was planning on letting his internal pattern fully heal, but he suspected that it would only be a few more hours at the rate it was going.
As he ate breakfast a short time after waking up, the Fusionist was a little more aware of his body and the changes happening to it than he had been the night before. With a better focus that he could apply to the new Skill, he discovered what it was that it was doing.
Somehow, it was taking his reservoirs of Mana and Stama, combining them with minute quantities of the natural Aetheric Force drifting throughout the environment around him, and then using this combination to regrow his pattern. Closing his eyes, he was able to concentrate on the process as it happened in real-time; it was fascinating and almost miraculous how the Skill was able to do it, and he wanted to figure out how to do it himself.
Focusing his attention on it, he was soon consumed with watching the actual combination process between the different energies, which was done in a way that he¡¯d never seen before¡ and he had no idea how it was being done. Still, he spent what felt like seconds watching it work ¨C but was more than an hour; just when he felt like he was starting to understand it a little better, his focus was broken when shouting suddenly interrupted his work.
¡°Hold on, he¡¯s still recovering¡ª¡± he heard Nedira responding to someone near the door, and he opened his eyes to look in that direction.
A Volunteer was standing just inside next to the Naturalist, appearing frantic in his motions as he shuffled from foot to foot. ¡°But we need him now! The SIC, they¡¯ve gone and¡ª¡±
¡°Wait just a moment and we¡¯ll be out!¡± Nedira irritably shouted back at the man, pushing him through the door. With her new Strength stat, she was much stronger than she was before.
Now that his concentration was broken, Larek couldn¡¯t focus on the restoration process of his internal pattern anymore ¨C especially as he heard mention of the SIC. ¡°What was that about?¡± he asked.
Nedira twitched a little in surprise at his voice, as she had likely expected him to still be lost in thought, but she recovered quickly as she moved toward him. ¡°I¡¯m not exactly sure, but from what little I overheard, it seems as though the SIC is on the move.¡±
¡°Already? I thought we might¡¯ve had a few months before they started making problems again.¡± Larek finished the remains of his breakfast, which was now cold, before he stood up. Grabbing the Void Pocket bag nearby, which he¡¯d spied earlier, he quickly checked to see if what he needed was inside. Thankfully, his halberd was easy enough to pull out and store again, as were a few things such as his staff; his faithful axe was still clipped to his belt, as it was the first thing he made sure was available to him as soon as he woke up.
While he hoped not to get into another fight right now, as he felt like he was still recovering from the last one, he wanted to be ready just in case it was inevitable.
Nedira snatched her staff from where it was leaning against the wall and also belted on a flanged mace, which she slipped through a loop. It seemed like she was ready for a fight, as well.
Both of them quickly raced outside, and as soon as they opened the door, Larek could tell that something major was going on.
¡°Move! I need to get to¡ª¡±
¡°¡ªwhat if they come here next?¡±
¡°Watch where you¡¯re going!¡±
¡°¡ªjust stop them!¡±
Members of the Volunteer Militia for Freedom, both fighters and those who kept the city of Thanesh fed and operating efficiently, were running around everywhere. He had forgotten how busy the city had become while they had been freeing everyone from the mind-controlling bugs, and even with people moving out into the cleared Calamity territory, there were reportedly still tens of thousands of people living there.
¡°The news really gets around quickly here, doesn¡¯t it?¡± he asked Nedira, looking around at the chaos. Thankfully, no one was acting like they were being actively attacked, so he wasn¡¯t too worried, but who knew whether that would change.
Taking a few steps out of his doorway, he could see his appearance becoming known to those on the street, as they stopped and stared at him. Remembering that he was now at his original height and not the condensed version where he was shorter, he was prepared to face the angry, disdainful looks that he was used to from the population of the Kingdom¡
¡but that didn¡¯t happen.
Instead, while there were a few who saw him and looked away quickly, their expressions thankfully neutral instead of hateful, everyone else smiled when they saw him, giving him nods or even bowing as they moved along ¨C which was frankly a little disturbing to see. A few even waved, as if excited to see an old friend, and he numbly waved back, confused at this turn of events, while at the same time grateful. While he didn¡¯t expect that his days of being an object of fear or anger were behind him, it seemed as though the people who had been freed from the mind-controlling bug and cleared of any vestiges of Dominion magic that might have lingered in them throughout their bloodline had chosen to either embrace him as one of their own or at least accept him.
Or that was the impression he got at first glance. Only time would tell if that was the case among all of them.
¡°Come on, let¡¯s get to Headquarters,¡± Nedira told him, grabbing his arm and directing him to join the flow of traffic. ¡°They¡¯ll know better than anyone else what this is all about.¡±
He let her direct their pathway through the crowd, and as he listened to the conversations around him, he was starting to get a better understanding of just what was going on.
Listening has reached Level 45!
However, Larek didn¡¯t want to jump to conclusions without an official report; but if what he heard was true, then he knew that they would have to act quickly. This altered the tenuous plans he¡¯d come up with the night before, and while this situation likely wasn¡¯t ideal, he could see a way to take advantage of it. He was already formulating how to incorporate this development into those plans as they approached the headquarters building up ahead of them, which appeared just as busy as he¡¯d ever seen it, if not even busier. There was even a line leading into the building, with impatient-looking Volunteers of different types waiting to get into the main entrance, with both those who had unlocked their potential and those who appeared to be Messengers ¨C and even a Farmer.
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¡°Hey, you can¡¯t just cut¡ª¡± one of those up front said as Nedira started pushing her way through the line. The man snapped his jaw shut as he looked behind her to see Larek right behind her, and soon enough a way was made for them without a word.
If he had been uncomfortable with how the Volunteers had acted around him before, the awe he could practically feel emanating from them at the moment was somehow worse. He might have been seen as a savior before, freeing them from the mind-controlling bugs, but he could see that his revealed nature and the fact that he had killed one of the Gergasi had elevated him into another realm entirely. At any second, he half-expected some of them to get on their knees and prostrate themselves in his presence. Fortunately for him, no one did that, but the emotions he could practically feel exploding from them made him feel extremely uncomfortable. In fact, their reactions were completely different from those he passed on the street, to the point where he wondered what the difference was.
No one stopped them getting inside, where they found that the chaos wasn¡¯t just restricted to the streets. The large crowd of Volunteers rushing around and calling out to each other was a bit nerve-wracking, as he didn¡¯t feel comfortable being around so many people ¨C especially with his height making him tower over them all ¨C but Nedira dragged him up the stairs quickly enough that it didn¡¯t bother him too much. Larek tried not to look at the stares sent in his direction, as well as refraining from listening to the comments focused on him, and he largely succeeded because there was an edge of urgency to everyone that overrode much of the feelings they felt toward him.
Less than a minute later, the both of them managed to make it to the top floor of the building, where they found even more Volunteers rushing around chaotically, but they also found those they expected to see.
¡°Good; you¡¯re here,¡± Kimble said as soon as he saw them, the leader of the Volunteers waving toward Larek and Nedira, inviting them into his office. Looking past him, Larek could see that Verne, Teena, and Bartholomew were already inside. It only took a few seconds to cross the distance and walk inside, and Kimble closed the door behind them, blocking out the majority of the noise from the Volunteers outside.
¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve heard, but we¡¯ve got a problem,¡± Verne blurted out before the Fusionist even sat down.
¡°So I reckoned,¡± Larek responded, sitting down on one of the large, comfortable chairs that Kimble had brought in at some point. It was larger than the others and actually fit him, making him immediately understand that it might have been specifically created with his new ¡°old¡± height in mind. The size made it appear a bit throne-ish, but its relatively nondescript upholstery lessened the effect. ¡°I overheard some things on the way here, but why don¡¯t you start from the beginning.¡±
Kimble took over smoothly before the fidgeting form of the excitable Verne could say anything else.
¡°To begin with, we had thought that the attack by the SIC a short time ago was only a probing attempt to take over this city and the Volunteers, integrating themselves as a powerful force that could protect them. However, it seems as though it was only the beginning of their strategy for this region, and the time we had thought we had before they tried anything else was sorely mistaken.¡±
¡°What do you mean? What did they do?¡± Nedira asked, though Larek had heard enough on his way up to have a fairly good idea.
Kimble sighed. ¡°It appears as though they¡¯ve mobilized the different Factions in the area, and perhaps even beyond, to fight against the spread of ¡®chaos¡¯ ¨C their word, not ours ¨C throughout the region. They are taking the knowledge of the mind-controlling bugs, which they have obviously learned about, and are spreading misinformation about them, making it seem as though the infestation was caused by us. As a result, they¡¯re making it seem as though the closing of the Calamity was some sort of devious plan to spread our influence, where we won¡¯t stop until the entire world is under our control.
¡°The fanaticism with which the Volunteers operate has only seemed to reinforce this false narrative, as to outsiders it appears as though they are still mind-controlled, but are controlled by a central figure. Namely, you,¡± Kimble stated, nodding in Larek¡¯s direction. ¡°We¡¯re not sure how they are disseminating this information out to all the towns and cities outside our perimeter, but they are now extremely hostile toward us, to the point where they¡¯ve killed dozens of Volunteers and destroyed an entire Transport down by the town of Lakeside. The resulting explosion, when the Fusions were damaged beyond stability wiped out half of the town, which was seen as yet another attack on our part, despite not being the reason behind the explosion.
¡°In short, things are falling apart. The mind-controlling bugs have continued to spread, panicking the Factions, as they likely believe that we¡¯re attempting to subvert them from the inside. Our teams have been tracking movement throughout hundreds of nearby towns and cities not under our control, and it appears as though they¡¯re actually preparing to attack us at some point ¨C as little good as that would do them.¡±
As Kimble wound down, Verne spoke excitedly. ¡°But that¡¯s not all,¡± he started, speaking quickly. ¡°As you no doubt are aware, the SIC had been preparing to close the northeastern Calamity for a while now, even before we closed the northwestern one. Apparently, spurred on by our efforts, or because of them, they¡¯ve now begun the process, sending thousands of Mages and Martials into the northeastern one.¡±
¡°It was always the plan,¡± Bartholomew interjected, causing everyone to look at him. ¡°I helped to develop some of it, in fact, as the process is comprehensive enough to need the input of dozens of people. However, we were prevented from implementing it already because we had many other parts of the Kingdom to factor into our logistics, as the SIC couldn¡¯t abandon the help we provided to those on the outskirts. It wasn¡¯t as much as we would¡¯ve liked, but it was enough that concentrating all our forces on one Calamity was a huge ordeal. But now, with two of the Calamities closed and the SIC moving into the northwestern region to take over after you ¡®left it a mess,¡¯¡± he said apologetically, ¡°they have more power concentrated in the north since the Kingdom was whole. They are going to use it to consolidate their influence and expand downwards after the northeastern Calamity is closed.
¡°The closure of the Calamity here was unexpected, I¡¯m sure, but their existing plan to try and make us the enemy here can still work unless we do something about it. Everything is still in the early stages, and we have teams venturing out further to see what¡¯s going on elsewhere, but now is the time to act before too many people die. We¡¯ve already lost too many, and if we want to keep as many people as we can safe, we need to stop this infighting and turn our attention to the real threat: the Gergasi and the Apertures.¡±
Larek was a little taken aback at Bartholomew¡¯s speech, as he hadn¡¯t expected such to come from the man. Still, that the former Noble had been part of the SIC was an asset that they could rely on going forward, as it gave them a glimpse into the plans of the Corps that would otherwise be absent.
And right now, the issue that was most pressing upon Larek was the SIC. As much as he wanted to immediately march toward the Enclave with the support of the army of Volunteers at his back, that support would crumble if the SIC started attacking Thanesh or any of the other towns and cities into which the Volunteers had spread throughout the southeastern region. Besides, he ¨C and they ¨C weren¡¯t yet strong enough to stand up to the Gergasi yet, so going right now would be a mistake. Instead, they would deal with the problems at home first, building up their strength as well as their influence, free more people from the mind-controlling bugs, and deal with the SIC once and for all. The organization had been beneficial when the Kingdom was whole, but in its current fractured state, and with the current threats that assaulted it, the way that the Corps operated was not only outdated, but dangerous. Their horrendous actions lately had proven that they were trying to grasp at their dwindling power in the Kingdom, and while he could somewhat understand that they were supposedly doing it for the greater good, he couldn¡¯t excuse the strife, fear, and death that were perpetuated upon those that they pretended to help.
¡°I agree,¡± Larek said, nodding toward Bartholomew. ¡°I believe that it¡¯s time we turn our attention to the SIC. We¡¯ve only been reacting to what they¡¯ve done or tried to do to us; I think it¡¯s time to be proactive to end the threat that they represent.¡±
¡°What exactly are you saying?¡± Bartholomew asked warily. To Larek, his caution was understandable; while he didn¡¯t directly work for the SIC anymore, he probably knew plenty of them well enough that he didn¡¯t want them to all be killed in Larek¡¯s proclamation to end the threat they represented. That wasn¡¯t what Larek wanted, either; he could only assume that many of them wanted to simply protect people, and killing them all would only hurt the defense of those people against the Apertures and the monsters they spit out.
¡°I¡¯m saying that we should do exactly what they¡¯re accusing us of. It¡¯s time to take over the defense of the entire Kingdom.¡±
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 4
Thankfully, none of those listening to Larek had any objection to his statement.
¡°Uh, alright, but what exactly does that mean, and how exactly are we going to make it happen?¡± Kimble asked.
It quickly became clear that just stating his objective didn¡¯t automatically make it easy to accomplish, so Larek began to reveal the barebones skeleton of his plan. The next few hours or so were spent hashing out the details, with dozens of messengers coming in and out of the main office to get Volunteers started on specific tasks that they came up with. By the end of their planning session, the Fusionist felt nearly as mentally worn out as he had after the fight with Chinli, but fortunately he didn¡¯t have to spend a week recovering.
¡°So, we¡¯re all in agreement? This is definitely the route we¡¯re going?¡± Nedira looked around at everyone as she asked the questions, getting tired nods in return. She sighed, before turning her attention to Larek. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous, ambitious, and likely to fail at one of many different points along the way. That being said¡ It¡¯s the only way I can see that will allow the most people to survive. It¡¯s asking a lot of you, though.¡±
He shrugged. ¡°I know, but it¡¯ll be worth it to get the SIC off our back for good, while also helping everyone in the Kingdom.¡±
¡°Before we break, for now, at least, let¡¯s go over everything one more time for clarification,¡± Kimble proposed. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of different pieces, after all.¡± When no one objected, despite wanting to be done with it all for the day, the Volunteer leader continued. ¡°First, the Volunteers are going to finish disseminating throughout the former Calamity¡¯s territory, establishing a routine of clearing and closing the Apertures that are now our responsibility. This was something that was already being done, and the majority of it should be completed within a few days, with additional improvements and changes rolled out as necessary. Of the 126 Transports and their respective teams that are available, this duty will only require 40 of them to maintain the region in a state of equilibrium. These teams will be traded out weekly to provide them a period of rest, while also allowing other teams to acquire the Aetheric Force necessary to keep developing.
¡°Simultaneously, we will continue training new and existing Volunteers in their Mage-related Skills, as they continue to be more difficult to advance in comparison to Martial-related Skills. We have noticed that, once they are able to actually start casting spells, their progress speeds up dramatically, so that will be our goal for all new and existing Volunteers before they are released into rotation.
¡°In addition, Larek has agreed to begin teaching how to create Fusions to those with the aptitude, of which I¡¯ve already heard of dozens that I believe would be suited toward that end. Diversifying our abilities and allowing the Volunteers to contribute their own Fusions is imperative if we don¡¯t want to rely on our resident Fusionist to supply every Fusion for tens or hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Kingdom. It is also our belief that, while any new Fusionists may not have the same sort of ability to create insanely strong, permanent Fusions as Larek does, the simple fact is that having access to the entire gamut of potential will nonetheless improve their abilities. We¡¯ll just have to see just how much of an improvement this is after some experimentation.
¡°While all of that is ongoing here and around the former Calamity region, the remaining teams of fighting Volunteers will be continuing our current campaign to liberate the towns and cities that have already fallen or are in the process of falling to the mind-controlling bugs. If we can get ahead of the spread, that would be great; most likely, at least from the information we¡¯ve gathered, it¡¯s already too late to completely quarantine the region, as there are reports that it has spread so far that there is basically no stopping it without drastic measures that would only play into the narrative that the SIC is spreading around about the Volunteers.
¡°As such, we are left with only two choices: Let the bugs spread on their own and liberate everyone afterward, or take action immediately to stop the spread, putting us directly against the SIC and the Factions that they have convinced that we are trying to take control of them. In the former, we run the risk of something such as what happened with the Mages and Martials around the southeastern Calamity happening again, and the last thing we need are thousands of our people getting slaughtered again if the Gergasi ¨C or even the SIC ¨C decide that they are a threat.
In addition, the defending that each town and city does against surrounding Apertures would be interrupted, leading to another Calamity expanding or potentially new ones forming, and we¡¯d be playing catch-up the entire time. Even if this whole process went smoothly, we¡¯d still be under assault by the SIC and the Factions, as they wouldn¡¯t stop their crusade against us even as their numbers dwindled. When you add in the fact that there is no guarantee that the Mages and Martials we freed would even be thankful for their freedom, as unlike those we¡¯ve freed around here, they weren¡¯t ¡°abandoned¡± by the SIC; as such, they might be personally thankful, but would work to undermine us as agents of the SIC.
In the latter, as explained before, we would be going directly against the SIC and Factions in a head-to-head battle on hundreds of different fronts, which is not an ideal outcome. No matter who wins, we all lose, as the lives of those who are killed in the process would then not be able to help against the Apertures, and the survivors on the other side aren¡¯t likely to want to work with us if, no, when we win.
¡°It is our belief that the SIC desires the latter outcome, as no matter what happens, their position will only be strengthened if we are seen as the aggressors. Whether they believe the threat from the first is real or not is up in the air, but it really doesn¡¯t matter. What does matter is the choice we make in what we do next, as neither of the options presented to us is really viable.
¡°Therefore, at Larek¡¯s suggestion, we¡¯re choosing option three. In other words, we¡¯re going to do something a bit more drastic.¡±
Larek looked over at Bartholomew, and the stony expression on the former Noble¡¯s face pretty much summed up how the man felt about the plan. Yet, he didn¡¯t object, as it was largely because of his input that this plan would either succeed or fail.
¡°This option is a bit more dangerous because it will have multiple moving parts, any of which is subject to failure at any time,¡± Kimble went on, either oblivious or simply ignoring Bartholomew¡¯s expression. ¡°First, we have to address the SIC close to home. Rather than attack them before they can attack us, which would neutralize the threat they pose but would both put the people they are defending in danger and play into the SIC¡¯s hands, we simply make the Factions change their mind. How? By making them prioritize what is more important to them: Attacking us, or fulfilling their duty to protect their people.
¡°This all depends on whether Larek can deliver the Fusion he¡¯s promised, but I have no doubt that he can achieve whatever he puts his mind to. That being said, if it all goes to plan, the nearby Factions being spurred on by the SIC to attack us will have no choice but to stick close to home, as they will be too busy to think about assaulting the Volunteers. At the same time, we¡¯re going to train small teams to infiltrate the stubborn towns and cities arrayed against us, with the intent to liberate those who have already been infected by the mind-controlling bugs. We may not be able to completely stop their spread, but we will do everything we can to slow it down.
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¡°But that doesn¡¯t really solve the entire problem with the SIC. Even if they are kept busy around here for a while, it¡¯s only a matter of time before another force coming directly from their main headquarters comes after us. Most likely, once they finish their closure of the Calamity to the northeast, they will then turn their full attention to us, and getting out of a protracted fight will be difficult at that point. Therefore, the most dangerous part of this third option is to stop that from happening.
¡°In other words, we need to strike at the SIC leadership, ¡®cutting the head off the snake¡¯, if you will. With the speed at which our Transports can move, getting to SIC headquarters isn¡¯t that long of a journey, so Larek and a hand-picked strike squad will be going personally to¡ take care of this.¡± Kimble cleared his throat. ¡°Once, uh, the SIC leadership has been dealt with, new orders will be passed down the chain, designed to retract the SIC¡¯s position regarding the Volunteers and to order them to work with us. Ideally, the objective would be to merge our two organizations, where a cohesive whole is better than the sum of its parts, but whether or not that happens will have to wait until we¡¯re in a position to make that objective a reality.
¡°There are more details regarding each of these parts of the plan, but that sums it up fairly clearly, I would say.¡±
As Larek had noted, this approach was dangerous, drastic, and ambitious, but it was also the only plan that had the potential of working. Anything else they did would only solve some problems while creating others simultaneously, and Larek thought it would be better to be proactive than reactive, as either of the two options originally presented to them would be.
And as Nedira had pointed out, there was a lot riding on the Fusionist. First, he would be leading a team toward the SIC headquarters to ¡°take care¡± of the organization¡¯s leadership; while it hadn¡¯t been expressly stated, he was 99% sure that the others figured that it meant he was going to go in and kill them all and take over. However, he had some other ideas of how to go about eliminating the threat of their leadership which didn¡¯t involve simply executing them all ¨C though if that was what it took to get their objective done, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do it.
They had ordered the attack on Thanesh which killed innocent people, after all, and it would only be fair if Larek reciprocated.
At the same time, the leadership of the SIC was in charge for a reason. Most likely, it was because they were high-Leveled and strong, but they could also lead; they would know their people, would be aware of where everyone was located, and were cognizant of their relationship with the Factions. There were reasons why eliminating the leadership would significantly affect the organization, as they were important to its running.
Then there was the potential of those slightly further down the chain of command becoming a problem as they attempted to take control of the SIC after their leadership went down, meaning that Larek would have to kill even more of them in order to handicap the organization. At that point, where would it stop? Again, if it was necessary, he would eliminate as many as necessary, but there had to be a better solution ¨C and he was already thinking of ways to get what he wanted. The only drawback was that he might need to tap into his Dominion magic, which was something he¡¯d rather not touch again; once he started down that road of using it to get what he wanted, rather than as a reactionary impulse such as what he¡¯d done with the SIC members who had attacked Thanesh, he wasn¡¯t sure if he would be able to stop. He was just thankful that he couldn¡¯t use it against his friends and the Volunteers¡ unless he altered their Fusions to make his own Dominion magic an exception.
But just the thought of doing something like that made him sick to his stomach. Going down that road was almost worse than what the Gergasi had done, and he wanted no part of it. Instead, he would have to figure out a different way to get what he wanted out of the SIC leadership; if it didn¡¯t work, then plan B would necessarily be in effect until they could figure out the issue.
But that was for the future. Larek wasn¡¯t planning on leaving tomorrow or even the next day to go ¡°take care¡± of the SIC¡¯s leadership, as there were more important things on his plate. First and foremost, he had to finish recovering from his recent ordeal, which he thought would happen within the next few hours with the way his new Pattern Restoration Skill was automatically healing his internal pattern. After that, he needed to make a lot more Fusions for the Volunteers, as they were still expanding in both numbers and area as more places were found and liberated from the mind-controlling bugs, and the necessary Fusions ¨C such as the Illuminated Free Will Fusions imperative to eliminating those bugs ¨C were becoming scarce, even after all he¡¯d made before they tackled the Calamity.
After spending some time ¡°restocking¡± the Fusion supplies of the Volunteers, Larek would start teaching some potential Fusionists how to create Fusions, thereby starting them on the pathway to an exciting field of study and creation. While he wasn¡¯t necessarily hoping that they would someday be able to completely replace him and his Fusions, having others share the load would be extremely helpful.
But the most important project he would be working on wasn¡¯t teaching or even duplicating his existing Fusions to replenish the ones that had been used by the Volunteers. Instead, it was to create an entirely new Fusion ¨C or Fusions ¨C that would work to keep the Factions contained where they were. To do that, he needed to find a way to make leaving the people they protected untenable.
In other words, Larek had to design a Fusion that would make the Faction members stay to defend the town or city they were in. What was the biggest threat to their people? The answer was fairly obvious: monsters. Unfortunately, a small team of Mages and Martials could easily keep the local Apertures culled and closed while the others left to attack the Volunteers, so they weren¡¯t too much of a threat. A Calamity was much more a concern, but with it recently closed, there were now extraneous Faction members who had nothing better to do than to attack the Volunteers.
So, if the local Apertures around these Factions areas weren¡¯t enough of a deterrent, they would have to import a threat to provide a bigger deterrent.
Fortunately and unfortunately, experience and observation showed that monsters coming from Apertures didn¡¯t typically leave their territory; the only exception to this was when they were from a subservient Aperture inside of a Calamity, and were then able to leave when the Calamity identified a threat. Unlike the older Scissions, the area outside of an Aperture¡¯s territory was relatively safe, as the monsters inside patrolled the territory rather than venture out.
But that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t. From what he understood of the relationship between monster and Aperture, the Aperture simply couldn¡¯t directly control the monsters once they ventured outside of its territory. But the monsters wouldn¡¯t die or suddenly freeze up if they ventured outside; instead, they would simply attack anything nearby, as was their nature.
It was this fact that they were going to take advantage of, as Larek was planning on finding a way to capture and then transport monsters out of Apertures and place them in these Faction-led areas, forcing the Mages and Martials there to stay near their people to protect them. Sure, it sounded counterintuitive to transport monsters away from Apertures where they could easily be killed by the Volunteers, threatening the lives of innocent people in the process, but they all considered that the risk was worth it. The teams tasked with moving the monsters could also release the monsters with an accuracy that ensured minimal direct danger to civilians nearby, but they were still enough of a threat that the Mages and Martials charged with protecting them would have to respond, perhaps even sending out teams to protect farmers and the like.
Was it a complicated plan that was likely to fail at some point? Absolutely. But it was also the best one they had, and it represented a compromise between directly attacking the Factions and waiting for the Volunteers to be attacked. Besides, if things went well with the other part of the plan with the SIC leadership, the whole transportation of monsters toward Faction towns forcing the defenders there to stay put wouldn¡¯t last that long.
Now all he had to do was figure out a Fusion that would allow them to do that.
¡°We all good to go?¡± Nedira asked. When everyone nodded, they broke up and left, each person to their own assigned duties.
It took about 20 minutes to get through the crowded Volunteer headquarters building and back to their home, both Larek and Nedira silent as they thought about what needed to be done over the next few days. Therefore, as his mind was elsewhere, he was caught off-guard when they entered and Nedira suddenly shouted, ¡°Norde! You¡¯re awake!¡±
It seemed as though her brother had finally recovered from his own ordeal.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 5
The Fusionist watched as Nedira practically flung herself at her brother, lifting him up and swinging him around; the obvious surprise on his face at being so easily manhandled by the diminutive woman made Larek smile. That smile faded away as he saw Norde¡¯s expression morph into one that made his heart jerk in reaction.
¡°When did you get up?¡± Nedira asked just before setting him down again. When she stepped away from him, her hands now clutching her brother¡¯s, she looked up at him and began to ask another question, but she interrupted herself. ¡°Whoa, what¡¯s wrong? Are you alright?¡±
Larek could see tears in the young man¡¯s eyes as he practically collapsed on the bed he appeared to have just gotten up from. Instead of answering, he only shook his head as his face crumpled from an expression it took the Fusionist a few seconds to identify.
Grief. Despair. And all that was taking a bath in a lake of horror.
Oh.
¡°I¡ I saw it all happen¡ and I couldn¡¯t do anything!¡± Norde finally spat out, closing his eyes as if it could make the scenes that were likely playing over and over in his mind go away.
Nedira took her brother into her arms as he wept and shook, looking at Larek still near the doorway with an expression that mimicked her sibling¡¯s. The two of them shared a mental understanding of what was going on, and he immediately knew what he needed to do.
Nodding, he said softly, ¡°I¡¯ll be back.¡±
Passing back out of the door and into the crowded city, he couldn¡¯t help but think about what Norde must¡¯ve been going through. It wasn¡¯t necessarily the mind-control by the bug in his head that had done this to him, nor was it explicitly the Dominion magic that Chinli had forced upon him. Instead, it was the absolute horror of watching thousands of Mages and Martials being massacred by the Gergasi and being unable to do anything but watch as it happened.
Those types of memories didn¡¯t fade overnight, if ever, and there was nothing that Larek could do to help. Even if he had enough control over his Dominion magic to erase memories like the other Gergasi could, he wouldn¡¯t do that to his roommate from back at Copperleaf Academy. Two violations of his mind by others was more than anyone should have to suffer, and while he would be doing it for the young man¡¯s benefit, it would only camouflage the problem, not get rid of it entirely.
Instead, Larek knew that what Norde needed was time to come to terms with it, along with friendly faces nearby. And there wasn¡¯t any face friendlier than Verne¡¯s, his old friend from the Academy, which was who the Fusionist was going to go get to help.
Joining the crowd outside and jogging through them when he had space, he turned the corner leading to the Volunteer headquarters building, his thoughts only on finding Verne and getting his other friend the help he needed. Which was why he was taken by surprise when a barrage of arrows impacted his back, shattering the plates of ice that attempted to stop them from his Automatic Ice Repulsion Field. They were slowed down enough from piercing through the ice that the projectiles didn¡¯t punch all the way through his body, but they hit him hard enough that he pitched forward, nearly falling on his face as he hit the ground.
The pain from the impacts flared temporarily before his Pain Immunity Skill kicked in, as his mind shifted from Norde, Nedira, and Verne to his current situation. Based on what he could feel on his back, it appeared as though six arrows had somehow broken through his defenses and still had enough power to punch through the Multi-Resistance Fusion on his shirt, and then cut through his tough flesh enhanced by his Body stat, pushing anywhere between an inch to two inches inside his body.
What is going on, and how did those arrows actually hit me?
It didn¡¯t take more than a split second for the answer to become clear, as his Magical Detection Skill ¨C which he¡¯d reined in while in the city with so many people ¨C spread out, finding a half-dozen powerful magical signatures on the roof of a building behind him, all of them clearly ¡°Martial¡± in feel to his senses. That almost immediately ruled out some sort of betrayal by the Volunteers, as nearly every fighter had now unlocked their full potential for being both a Mage and a Martial, nor was it ¨C as he had first feared ¨C another Gergasi that had somehow snuck up on him.
Ruling those options out, that really only left two possibilities. The first, and less likely of them, was that these were Martials from the nearby Factions that were making a preemptive strike against him and the Volunteers. It was easy enough to rule that out, however, as he could feel the sheer strength of the Martials even from nearly 80 feet away, and he thought it was unlikely that this type of people would be a part of one of the nearby Factions. If there were one or two of them, perhaps, but six of them all together, specifically targeting the person responsible for putting together and arming the Volunteers, which led to the closing of the southeastern Calamity?
Not a chance.
This has to be the SIC. But does the SIC have assassins? Because I can¡¯t imagine that these Martials are anything but that type of people.
Their professionalism was on display as, despite each of their attacks hitting him and causing him to nearly faceplant, they were already beginning to charge up for another shot at him. While he couldn¡¯t see them specifically from where he was on the ground, he could feel them pumping large amounts of Stama from their bodies into their arrows, which told him how they had broken through his defenses in the first place. He couldn¡¯t gauge exactly how much Stama was infusing their shots, but it was a lot. He suspected that these assassins could only make two or perhaps three attacks with that amount of Stama before they drained themselves dry, making each of their shots extremely powerful.
He could only imagine that it probably took just a single arrow filled with thousands of Stama from a Battle Art to kill just about anyone, as it seemed to be able to pierce through just about anything. There were some out there that might be able to survive being shot, which was likely why these assassins weren¡¯t taking any chances and were charging up to fire again; they seemed to know that Larek was strong enough to survive and were attempting to finish him off before he could really defend himself.
Unfortunately for them, Larek wasn¡¯t just powerful¡
¡he was now extremely angry.
All of these thoughts flowed through his mind in just the time it took for him to hit the ground and bounce slightly, as his Acuity and Agility sped his sense of time up, making everything seem to happen in slow motion. A quick activation of his own Battle Arts, including Fleetfoot, which increased his Agility, and Tactician Mind, increasing his mental stats, he activated Furious Rampage. While he was made more vulnerable because of this, as his Body stat was reduced by 30%, he wasn¡¯t planning on being hit again.
Ignoring the arrows stuck in his back, he pushed off from the ground in mid-bounce, throwing himself backwards even as he twisted around mid-air to look behind him at the assassins on the roof. Even though he knew where they were thanks to his Magical Detection Skill, they were hidden by some sort of ability that made the area in front of them look slightly hazy, preventing them from being seen by the naked eye. That didn¡¯t matter to him, though, as they couldn¡¯t hide from him.
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Creating a Pattern construct under his feet as he was still in mid-air, he felt a twinge reverberate through his internal pattern because it hadn¡¯t healed completely. If he hadn¡¯t acquired the new Pattern Restoration Skill earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this, but fortunately it was strong enough that he wasn¡¯t going to make it any worse by this point.
His reaction seemed to surprise the assassins, both the fact that he wasn¡¯t incapacitated by the attack and how fast he was moving, but their professionalism was evident in how they tracked him nonetheless as he flew toward them. They fired their shots prematurely, without the same sort of force they had in the initial attack, though it was still enough to burst the angled pattern construct wall he threw up in front of him to deflect the barrage. Thankfully, even though they broke through his defense, the arrows were deflected enough that they didn¡¯t even come close to him, and he didn¡¯t even have to dodge.
Even getting closer to where he could sense them, whatever it was they were doing to obscure themselves was still powerful enough that he still couldn¡¯t see them, but the answer to that came in the form of a seventh source of magic that popped up, approximately 20 feet behind the assassins. It was a powerful Mage, and they were maintaining some sort of illusionary screen in front of the group, hiding them from everyone.
Everyone but him, of course.
With a thought, and another twinge throughout his internal pattern, Larek formed another construct near the Mage and filled it with Aetheric Force. By the time he cut it off from himself, he was already at the top of the roof and had brought his trusty axe to his hand, which was rarely ever apart from him. Normally, he¡¯d have rather had his halberd because of its reach, except that he didn¡¯t have it with him; he hadn¡¯t brought his Void Pocket sack with him when he left earlier, believing that he wasn¡¯t going to need it.
But for this kind of work, getting up close and personal was probably preferable to him, considering that he was planning on killing those who tried to kill him.
The assassins were quick enough that they got off another round of sporadic shots at him before he arrived, but he didn¡¯t even bother blocking them with a Pattern construct; he could tell that they weren¡¯t enhanced by any Battle Arts, and they were all stopped by his ice plates before they even got close to him.
Dropping their bows as he landed amongst the figures, which he could finally see as he passed through the illusion hiding them from his sight, all six of the assassins ¨C dressed in nondescript, earth-toned clothing that made them largely unremarkable ¨C pulled out shortswords and attacked him, but it was already too late. Utilizing all that he¡¯d learned from Torge in training and his recent experiences fighting monsters, as well as Chinli, Larek used his long reach to decapitate one woman who overextended in her first attack, his sharp axe blade and Strength making it so easy that there was very little resistance. The other five only hesitated for a split-second at the sudden death, but that was more than enough for Larek to throw himself at them, putting them on the backfoot immediately.
They were fast, just barely avoiding his attacks as he swung, but they had nothing on Chinli or any other Gergasi. Using small Pattern constructs to trip them up as they attempted to dodge, he split another assassin from shoulder to crotch. A third was detached from his lower body by a full-on horizontal strike through his torso, and a fourth had his head split from the crown all the way down to his lungs. Kicking the corpse off his Logging tool, he dodged a slice at his lower back, kicking out with his foot to catch the woman who attempted to hit him in the hip, and he heard all the bones inside crunch with his strike. She fell with a cry, unable to stand up anymore, even as the final assassin attempted to flee. A thrown axe in the back cut all the way through his spine, and it fell out of his chest, only to be shoved back inside as he fell on it when his legs wouldn¡¯t work anymore.
He was almost dead before he hit the ground, but the axe blade through his heart finished him off.
While he was already aware of what happened, Larek looked at where the Mage had been, only to see a headless, robed corpse on the floor of the roof where his clone construct had suddenly appeared and decapitated the illusion-making individual.
But all the assassins weren¡¯t dead yet. The woman whose hip had been shattered by his kick was attempting to drag herself away, the pain of the injury showing on her face, revealing that she didn¡¯t have the Pain Immunity Skill. Walking over to her, he stomped down on her hip, causing her to cry out in pain even as she attempted to stab him with a knife she pulled from somewhere hidden on her body.
¡°STOP.¡±
The order, enhanced by his anger and his Dominion magic, froze her in mid-strike, the knife blade inches from his thigh. He might not wish to use his Dominion magic on his friends, but this particular assassin wasn¡¯t his friend ¨C and he was planning on killing her afterwards.
He just needed some information first.
¡°Who sent you?¡±
Surprisingly, the woman resisted his Dominion magic for a few seconds before she broke. He wondered if her high Level or something else made her more resistant to being controlled, but he wasn¡¯t curious enough at the moment to investigate. In the end, it didn¡¯t really matter, as he felt his magic take complete hold of her.
¡°General Maxwell,¡± she eventually replied through gritted teeth.
¡°From the SIC, I presume?¡± A simple nod was the response he got. ¡°Are you some sort of assassin squad?¡±
She chuckled at the question, even as a trickle of blood dripped out of the side of her mouth. ¡°We¡¯re not just assassins. We¡¯re part of the shadow branch of the SIC, each of us capable of killing even the most powerful targets.¡±
¡°Obviously, you¡¯re wrong about that,¡± he told her. ¡°What is this ¡®shadow branch¡¯ you mentioned?¡±
¡°We¡¯re the remnants of the Unspoken Response,¡± she stated clearly, as if he should know what she was talking about. He had no idea, so he demanded for her to explain. ¡°You really know nothing, do you? You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re getting into¡ª¡± She was somehow fighting his Dominion magic, so he pressed down further to get her to answer. The defiance in her eyes faded after a moment, turning glassy as she spoke in a monotone voice. ¡°The Unspoken Response was the contracted arm of the SIC used by the Nobles and the Great Ones to execute those who fell outside the normal bounds of their authority. While we¡¯ve lost more than half of our number since the Kingdom fell, the SIC still employs a dozen full teams of the Unspoken Response for any matters that require our particular touch.¡±
A dozen full teams? ¡°So, I can assume that there are another eleven teams like yours out there?¡±
¡°Not like ours. We were the newest additions to the Unspoken Response, but we just happened to be in the area when the orders were passed through. The others are stronger, deadlier, and more elite than we could ever hope to be. They will be your death. There is no escaping their reach.¡± She stated all of this as if it was the truth, and he supposed that to her, it was.
¡°Are there any other teams in the city? Do you know of any other plans to attack outside of assassination? What is the SIC doing about¡ª?¡± Under his foot, the assassin suddenly bucked, spasming as her head whipped backwards, snapping her neck as her skull impacted with bone-crunching force against the hard surface. He attempted to heal her with his Healing Surge Fusion on his clothes, but it was too late. A greenish foam spilled out of her mouth, tinged with red from the blood that was already inside, and he realized she had somehow poisoned herself.
Great. Looking around, he saw that none of the other attackers were still alive, though the one he had cut in half at the torso had held on for a little while afterwards, but had bled out a short time ago. Sighing, he felt the anger that had been maintaining his focus dissipate, and it was only then that he discovered that the arrows he¡¯d been shot with were still lodged in his back. Ordering his clone over to him, he had it pull them out one by one before healing himself. Once that was done, he sent his clone away to look for any other teams of assassins that might be lying in wait for him, though he doubted there were any nearby. Stretching his senses out to the fullest, he couldn¡¯t feel anyone of the strength that these particular individuals possessed, let alone anyone stronger.
Bringing himself back down to ground level, he was soon aware that his attack hadn¡¯t gone unobserved, as there were now dozens of fighters with staves congregating around the area, and he could see Kimble, Verne, and Bartholomew making their way through the crowd to where he touched down.
¡°What happened?¡± Kimble asked as soon as he was close enough.
Larek pointed back toward the roof. ¡°Assassins. Said they were something called the Unspoken Response?¡± Neither Kimble nor Verne reacted, but Bartholomew¡¯s face suddenly went pale. ¡°Does that mean you¡¯ve heard of them?¡± he asked the former Noble.
¡°Uh, yeah, sort of. They were supposed to be a myth, though. I had no idea they were real.¡±
¡°Well, we have a lot to talk about, then, because I need to know as much as possible about these people. But first,¡± he turned to Verne, ¡°Norde needs your help. He¡¯s awake and¡ not so good. I think you might be able to cheer him up.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll head there now. You coming with?¡±
Larek shook his head. ¡°No. I want to sweep the city first just to make sure there are no more assassins¡ and then we¡¯ll have to have that talk,¡± he added, looking at Bartholomew. As Verne took off toward Nedira and Norde, the Fusionist made another Pattern platform under his feet as he took to the air, looking for any sign that another threat had found its way into the Volunteer city.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 6
¡°So, is anything really changing because of this?¡±
Larek looked over at Nedira¡¯s question, the exhaustion of the last few hours making the movement difficult. ¡°What do you mean?¡±
¡°I mean that, while it is an additional obstacle, does the presence of this ¡®Unspoken Response¡¯ organization change our plans?¡±
The Fusionist snorted in disbelief, wondering how things could not change now that he knew assassins were being sent after him. But before he could tell her that, he stopped and thought about it from her perspective ¨C as well as the perspective of the Volunteers as a whole.
Sure, these assassins were a huge danger to him, but from what little information he¡¯d been able to gather about them from the woman he¡¯d attempted to control as well as from Bartholomew, they weren¡¯t technically a danger to anyone else. Unfortunately, the woman had died before he could get any more information on what exactly their plans were beyond killing him, and the former Noble wasn¡¯t much more help.
¡°They were more of a cautionary warning than anything that I would consider real. Like, ¡®Treat your citizens well or the Unspoken Response will see to it that someone who will do it properly will take your place.¡¯ The only thing I really learned about them, other than them actually being authentically real, was that they took contracts from the crown and the SIC, and that they would only target a single person at a time. In other words, they weren¡¯t an army that could be hired to attack a rival Noble¡¯s domain, nor to act as an additional defense against a Scission¡¯s monsters. They were¡ problem solvers, or so I¡¯ve heard them referred as, and they removed specific, individual problems with a carefully executed response.
The only other thing rumored about them was that once they had a target, there was nothing that target could do to prevent their death ¨C and they never failed. The fact that you survived their attack is probably one the first time that they didn¡¯t succeed in eliminating their target, or at least the first time anyone has lived to tell about it. I¡¯m sorry I couldn¡¯t be of more help.¡±
That was all that Larek had gotten from his old bodyguard, which was unfortunate, but understandable. The Unspoken Response assassins sounded like they were a relatively secretive bunch, so not everyone would know about them unless they were in a high position of power. But the fact that he didn¡¯t know any more about them even while working closely with General Maxwell to help plan the closing of the northeastern Calamity told the Fusionist that there were only a few people who knew about them, which meant that there were only a few people who could rescind the contract out on Larek¡¯s life.
It just made their entire plan to take out the SIC leadership even more important than it was before, if only because he didn¡¯t want to die.
Fortunately, a flight around the city with his senses stretched to the max revealed no more of the assassins hiding anywhere, unless they had some way to camouflage or alter their magical signatures. While he hadn¡¯t seen anyone able to do that, at least against his high Magical Detection Skill, he wouldn¡¯t put it past a band of highly trained, professional assassins. Given that the female assassin had admitted that she and her team had been the worst of their shadowy organization, he wasn¡¯t going to discount anything. A further check of the land for about 10 miles outside the city walls in every direction didn¡¯t reveal any other assassins, either, so the woman¡¯s claim that they were simply the closest to the city also seemed to be true. He would¡¯ve liked to venture even further out in his sweep, but by the time he finished with what he¡¯d already done, he was exhausted.
Of course, it was probably because his internal pattern hadn¡¯t fully recovered at that time. His new Skill kept the damage to it from getting any worse, but it had still been only two-thirds of its full functionality, and he had pushed it to fly him around everywhere, as well as during the fight with the assassins. Fortunately, the recovery of his internal pattern restarted when he finally came back and talked to Bartholomew, before heading home when he was done.
He came back to find that Norde was asleep again, despite having just woken up¡ a few hours before, he realized. Nedira told him that he was feeling somewhat better but was drained from the emotional stress he¡¯d been under, and while he wasn¡¯t exactly alright yet, she had confidence that he would be. Larek considered that to be good news, as he really wanted his friend back; seeing him like that earlier had almost been worse than being nearly killed by professional assassins, as strange as that was to think.
Resetting his focus back on his betrothed and her question, he finally shook his head. ¡°I¡ guess it doesn¡¯t really change anything, other than to potentially speed up our timeline. Though with everything that needs to be done, we¡¯ll be cutting it tight already, so I¡¯m not sure how much leeway we¡¯ll have to speed it up.¡±
Rushing toward the SIC headquarters to deal with the leadership there wouldn¡¯t help anything at the moment, as there were things that had to happen before that. Plus, he wasn¡¯t quite ready with an alternative to slaughtering everyone there, as much as he currently would prefer that outcome after the day¡¯s attack.
¡°So, we continue as we¡¯ve planned, though I think you now have some extra work,¡± Nedira said, poking him in the stomach playfully.
Larek was confused. ¡°Extra work? Is it not dying? Because that¡¯s an ongoing goal of mine, I¡¯ll have you know.¡±
¡°Not precisely, but it¡¯s definitely related,¡± she said seriously, sitting down in front of him and staring at him. ¡°I know you already have a lot on your plate, but this is important.¡±
¡°What are you talking about?¡±
In response to his question, his betrothed suddenly pulled her hand up from underneath the table and threw a knife at him. He was so shocked and exhausted that he didn¡¯t even try to move. The projectile was thrown quickly, but not quickly enough to get through his Automatic Ice Repulsion Field, which deflected it away.
They sat there looking at each other, Nedira with a raised eyebrow looking like he should know what that was all about, while he continued to be shocked and confused. After a few seconds, however, the import of what she¡¯d just done finally dug through his exhaustion and clawed its way to the forefront of his thoughts.
¡°Ah. I see. Good point.¡±
¡°Exactly. Now, you better get some rest, because I can see that you¡¯re about to drop as it is,¡± she admonished as she came around, helping him up out of his chair, leading him to his bed. ¡°It¡¯s been a bit of a stressful day for everyone, and I care for you too much to see you push yourself too far unnecessarily.¡± Within seconds, he was in his bed, feeling the comfortable mattress under his body, thankful to be lying down again. He now understood why Norde was already back asleep, though his own stress had been more physical than emotional.
As he closed his eyes and began to fall asleep, he thought about what Nedira had said; more accurately, he thought about what she¡¯d just done.
She wasn¡¯t actually trying to hurt him with the knife when she threw it at him. Instead, she was not-so-subtly demonstrating that there was a huge difference between someone like her, a Mage with relatively new Martial stats and therefore weaker in that department, and someone like the assassins or even the Gergasi. Both situations had shown him pretty clearly that his current defenses, consisting of his plates of ice and his Multi-Resistance Fusion on his clothing, were sorely lacking when it came to fighting against more powerful individuals. Even against stronger and faster monsters, his defenses hadn¡¯t been quite as useful as he¡¯d liked, but he had always been able to overcome those obstacles, despite them not holding up.
But now that he was going up against the SIC and then eventually the Gergasi, it was inevitable that his defenses would catastrophically fail again. He¡¯d been lucky to have survived thus far, but that wouldn¡¯t always be the case unless he did something to change the status quo.
Clearly, he would have to find another way to defend himself as well as others. While it might be convenient to think that anything he might come up with was solely designed to protect himself, if there were other people ¨C such as his friends and the Volunteers ¨C who were going to face opponents who had many more years of experience and development, then he would need to protect them, as well. Chinli¡¯s massacre of around 2,000 Mages and Martials in the Calamity was proof that there weren¡¯t many people prepared to fight someone of her strength, and based on the powerful attacks of the assassins, it was likely that there were some strong individuals in the SIC that they had never seen yet.
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Falling asleep soon after these thoughts flowed through his mind, Larek resolved to start on all this work waiting for him the next morning.
* * *
Stretching lazily as he woke up, Larek smiled as he felt thoroughly rested and ready to face the day. However, just as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, preparing to get up, he was surprised by a wall of notifications.
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 43!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 55!
You have reached Level 57 and have 36 available AP to distribute!
Congratulations!
Due to your expertise of everything pattern-related, you have unlocked the Pattern Professional Specialization!
Requirements:
Pattern Prodigy Specialization
Pattern Restoration Skill of 50
Pattern Formation Skill of 50
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 50
Pattern Recognition Skill of 50
Fusion Skill of 50
Magical Detection Skill of 50
Mana Control Skill of 50
Intellect of at least 100
Acuity of at least 100
Pneuma of at least 100
The Pattern Professional Specialization also provides these benefits:
Ability to utilize Pattern Cohesion in unique ways
Ability to manipulate up to 50% of your Pattern Cohesion outside of spell patterns and Fusion formations
Ability to impart any Pattern-related Skill to those with the capability
Heightened ability to manipulate your internal pattern
25% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all spells and Fusions
Enhances the strength of all spells, Fusions, or pattern constructs by 20%
The Pattern Professional Specialization automatically replaces the Pattern Prodigy Specialization!
It took him a few seconds to read through the information regarding the new Specialization, and at first it didn¡¯t seem too much better. Sure, it gave him an extra 5% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements and enhanced the strength of spells, Fusions, and pattern constructs by a further 5%, as well, but those were minor changes considering the requirements. It wasn¡¯t until he saw something about a new ability along with the benefits that he thought he understood what this new Specialization was all about.
I can ¡°impart any Pattern-related Skill to those with the capability¡±? What exactly does that mean?
¡°Good morning! I hope you got enough rest,¡± Nedira said, sitting down next to him on the bed.
Larek nodded absently, before he suddenly focused on her. ¡°You already have Pattern Manipulation, correct?¡± he asked.
Confused at the sudden question, she paused for a moment before confirming that she had gotten it after Larek had taught her about it, but she hadn¡¯t advanced it much.
He took her hands in his and thought about what he wanted to do. At first, he had no idea how he could simply ¡°impart¡± the knowledge of a Skill to her, but after a few seconds, he just went with his instincts.
Looking inside of himself, he discovered that his internal pattern had been completely restored; if anything, it was even more resilient than it was before. Seeing this, he manipulated a small portion of his internal pattern and pushed it slowly out through his hands, where it leaked into Nedira¡¯s until it interacted with her own. Nothing happened at first, other than their patterns brushing up against each other, completely unmixed and staying away from each like oil and water. With a thought, his pattern reached out and grasped Nedira¡¯s pattern, causing her to gasp in surprise as he forced them to briefly mesh together.
This temporary joining was exactly what he was looking for, even though he wasn¡¯t aware of it before then, and all it took was a simple push of knowledge about his Pattern Restoration Skill through the connection. Once he was done, he unwound the two patterns from each other and withdrew, before looking up into Nedira¡¯s surprised eyes, which mimicked her open mouth.
¡°Wh-What did you just do? I unlocked a Skill? How is that even possible?¡± she whispered, her vision looking through him as she looked at her own notifications.
Chuckling at her reaction, but also pleased that it worked, Larek explained what had changed about his Specializations, revealing that he could now impart Pattern-related Skills to others with the capability. He assumed this meant that only those who had Mage potential could learn them, but fortunately that included just about everyone he knew.
¡°This is incredible! It¡¯ll make learning about patterns so much easier, especially as Pattern Manipulation is extremely difficult to acquire in the first place.¡± The Fusionist had to agree with that, given that he only learned it because of desperation, and teaching it to others required a dedicated period of time to develop it. It would certainly come in handy when he began instructing potential Fusionists in the Volunteers in the future.
Of course, this whole imparting Skills development didn¡¯t help with his current workload, which was what he started shortly after breakfast. Norde joined them for the meal, having woken up just after Larek, and while the young man wasn¡¯t back to his normal self, he certainly looked better than he had the day before.
¡°I missed you, Larek. I know I couldn¡¯t even remember you until you helped to free my from that¡ª¡± Nedira¡¯s brother started to say during the meal, cutting himself off before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. ¡°Anyway, thank you for taking care of my sister. I don¡¯t know what I would do without her.¡± A grin lit his face for a moment. ¡°I also heard that you¡¯re betrothed? Is that right? Should I be calling you brother now?¡±
Larek chuckled at that thought. ¡°Only if you want to. But I would be honored to call you brother, as well.¡± He got up and gave Norde a quick hug, which he broke off quickly when he could sense that some of the emotional stress was seeping back into the young man.
I wish I could kill Chinli again for what she did to him. I guess I¡¯ll have to settle for enacting justice on all of the other Gergasi.
Nedira took Norde out after that, leaving Larek alone for a short time before Kevara, his assistant in his Fusions, arrived. As he settled himself into his veritable throne of pillows, ready for another day of creating Fusions needed by the Volunteers, he rechecked his internal pattern to make sure it was ready for the work session. He kept checking on it because its recovery was almost impossibly miraculous, as he knew how incredibly close he¡¯d come to destroying it completely. Again thankful for his new Skill, he withdrew and opened his Status, as he had just acquired another 36 AP to use. It was going to be a while until he hit Level 58, as he had to increase his Skill Levels another 35 times, so he wanted his points to be placed where they could do the most help right now.
Since he was going to be creating Fusions, including some brand-new ones, he decided to stick 14 in both Intellect and Acuity, bringing them both to 290, and then threw the last 8 in Body, bringing it to 288 and his base Pneuma to 10,368 when he was wearing his boost Fusion. The additional mental stats would be beneficial for the next little while, as he had a lot of Fusion-creation on his schedule, and as soon as he felt the changes settle into him, he pulled out the list of Fusions he had been given of the Volunteer Militia¡¯s needs.
¡°Kevara, do we have any more of the thin steel wafers¡ª¡±
¡°Right here, sir. While you were, uh, incapacitated, I took the liberty of acquiring and preparing plenty of materials for you,¡± his helpful assistant informed him, waving around the large, warehouse-like room.
For the first time, Larek really looked at everything around him, and he saw that the different wood and metal staves, blocks, and plates that he used for many of the bulk Fusions were neatly organized and ready for him ¨C and that there were, in general, more than he¡¯d seen before.
Looks like I¡¯ve got a lot of work ahead of me.
Rather than him seeing it as being a chore, as he had dozens of steel wafers that were used as a medium for the Illuminated Free Will Fusion (which was the one in the most demand) arrayed in front of him already on his lap desk, he eagerly began preparing the familiar Fusion formation. With a responsiveness and control that shocked him at first, his Pattern Cohesion quickly flowed out of him and almost seemed to snap into place with a thought. As he recovered from the abrupt change in the normal creation process, he checked it over to make sure it was correct, as he hadn¡¯t even consciously placed all the lines into the formation. After triple-checking it, not only for accuracy but also for consistency, he couldn¡¯t see even a single flaw in its creation. It was as if his thoughts had treated the complicated Fusion formation as a pattern construct, which he¡¯d grown quite adept at creating by that point, and it instantly formed.
Of course, he still had to fill it with Mana and focus on the different Effects that it needed to accomplish, but even that went quicker than expected, as his Mana seemed to flow more smoothly than ever before, and there was almost no downtime as it filled completely within 20 seconds. Overall, it only took him a minute to create a dozen of the Fusion, and that was only because he spent some time looking it over and ensuring that the formation had snapped together correctly. He could now create even more than that with his Focused Division Skill, but he wanted to start relatively slowly, since it had been a little bit since he¡¯d made any Fusions.
As soon as he was done with them and the Fusions snapped into place, he again checked them over to see if they were done correctly. From what he could tell, they were perfectly fine despite the formation having been formed almost instantly. As Kevara took them away to a newly formed ¡®completed¡¯ pile, Larek shook his head, amazed at what his new Specialization had done for him. He figured that it couldn¡¯t be anything else, as this hadn¡¯t happened before now, but he supposed that it was normal for a Pattern Professional as he was now.
Maybe this won¡¯t take nearly as long as I was expecting.
He sure hoped it wouldn¡¯t, because he knew he would need all the extra time he had to figure out designs for the new Fusions he had to create.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 7
Letting out a sigh of satisfaction, Larek moved the last of the Fusions he¡¯d just created to the side, Kevara having left a while ago to get some sleep. The Fusionist supposed that he should be doing the same, as he was aware that he¡¯d been going at the Fusion-creation process for a while now, but he didn¡¯t feel tired at all; instead, he somehow felt energized from all the work he¡¯d done.
Looking around the room, the stacks of materials that had seemed so impressive before he started were largely gone, though there were some of each left in case they were needed for some reason. Groups of Volunteers had periodically shown up during the day ¨C and night ¨C to pick up what Kevara organized after Larek was done with them, and it was all she could do to keep up with his production.
Not only was he able to snap the formations together with a thought thanks to his practice with patterns and his new Specialization, but the Pattern Cohesion costs were 25% less, which also affected when he created multiple Fusions simultaneously through Focused Division. When he added in his Pool of Pattern Cohesion, which was now over 100,000, there was a point where, with some of the less expensive Fusions, he was able to make 150 of them at a time. His focus was barely enough to keep so many together, which was why he didn¡¯t push past that, even though he was fairly sure he could do even more if he needed to.
He hadn¡¯t kept count, but if he had to estimate how many Fusions in total he¡¯d just spent the last day and night creating, he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he had reached nearly a million.
The number of Fusions that actually added up to boggled his mind, as it would¡¯ve seemed like an impossibility even a few months ago, but he had one thing in particular to thank for his speed: Pattern Restoration. He already knew that his Specialization had made snapping together Fusion formations almost instantaneous, to the point where all he had to wait for was adding Mana to the Fusion to complete it, but that was only half the secret. His new Skill was the other half, as in addition to maintaining his internal pattern despite using it so much to make so many Fusions, it also increased the regeneration of his Pattern Cohesion. His regeneration had always been fast compared to anyone else, but with the new Skill, it was so much faster; it wasn¡¯t on the same Level as his Mana regeneration, but even at 10% to 15% of that speed, that meant that his 103,000 pool of Pattern Cohesion could be refilled completely within 10 seconds or less. In essence, there was very little downtime in between Fusions, as it took slightly longer than that for Kevara to take the finished products and bring in new materials.
Peering at his internal pattern after all that work, he was more than happy to see that it appeared just as strong and healthy as it had been when he started. Even after a million Fusions made in large batches one after another, no lasting damage or even potential damage could be seen throughout the entire thing. It had held up better than ever before, and he couldn¡¯t be happier.
Standing up to stretch a little, as he¡¯d largely been in the same spot for many hours ¨C other than a few brief breaks to eat and use the bathroom ¨C he estimated that it was the really early morning hours of the next day, which was probably why he saw Nedira and Norde still sleeping. Truth be told, he couldn¡¯t actually remember when they came back, nor when they had actually gone to bed, as he had been so focused on getting the Fusions done that everything else hadn¡¯t been able to catch his attention.
Larek was too full of energy at the moment to head to bed himself, so after grabbing a small snack that he took back to his comfortable throne of pillows, he ate it while he pulled up the notifications he¡¯d been ignoring while he was working.
Fusion has reached Level 94!
¡..
Fusion has reached Level 97!
Pattern Formation has reached Level 94!
¡..
Pattern Formation has reached Level 97!
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 56!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 58!
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 94!
¡..
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 97!
Focused Division has reached Level 96!
Focused Division has reached Level 97!
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 77!
¡..
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 79!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 6!
For all that he¡¯d created, his Skills hadn¡¯t gone up dramatically like he was hoping, though they did improve. Even his Energetic Transmission Skill, which he was fairly sure was responsible for being able to transfer Mana into the formations so smoothly, had gone up a Level, which he now knew was difficult to accomplish with his Guardian Skills.
And yet, he still hadn¡¯t been able to push anything up to Level 100, which was what he was semi-hoping would happen, but he was left disappointed. Then again, he¡¯d been creating Fusions that he¡¯d already created many times before, not something new and challenging, so he thought he was lucky to get what Level increases that he did.
Perhaps with the new Fusions I¡¯m going to create?
Skill Levels aside, what was more important to him was designing the Fusions so that they performed exactly how he needed them to. Theoretically, he was supposed to start teaching potential Fusionists either later today at the earliest or even the next day, so he didn¡¯t have a lot of time; he¡¯d rather spend this relative ¡°downtime¡± thinking about what he wanted to accomplish ¨C and how to do it with a Fusion.
The first Fusion he needed was one where it could be used to capture and then transport monsters somewhere else. With the SIC and the nearby Factions gearing up to attack them, the plan was to make the area around their towns and cities a bit more dangerous by introducing these monsters, causing the Mages and Martials that would otherwise attack the Volunteers to stay close to home and help protect their people instead. It would be a bit complicated in execution, as there were a lot of moving parts associated with the plan, but it was the only one that anyone could think of short of preemptively attacking these same people. That, as they had discussed, would be a poor idea, as they didn¡¯t want to kill the people whose duty it was to protect the normal citizens of the Kingdom, and who had gone astray because of what the SIC was telling them about the Volunteers.
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Besides, it was only supposed to be a temporary measure until Larek could handle the SIC leadership, so it wasn¡¯t something that would be needed forever.
With this in mind, he turned his focus on how this monster transportation could be accomplished. His first thought was designing some sort of cage made of hardened air that could be dangled underneath the Volunteers¡¯ Transports, where they would simply drop the monsters off where they wanted them by deactivating the Fusion. But even if that worked, that didn¡¯t help with the most important detail: Capturing the monsters in the first place.
There was a reason why many of the Volunteers still used the staves they were given to kill monsters, even as many of them were branching off into different attack methods as they developed their Mage and Martial Skills. Attacking from range was safe, preventing the need to get up close and personal with something that could kill them if they weren¡¯t prepared for it. But capturing a monster rather than killing it would likely require the Volunteers to be a bit closer, as capturing one from afar seemed more difficult.
Or would it be?
He¡¯d originally been picturing a group of Volunteers throwing ropes around some sort of dangerous monster, wrestling it to the ground while tying it up, and then throwing it in some sort of cage made of hardened air walls. But that seemed unnecessarily complicated, as there was no real need for that kind of process when there were much better alternatives.
Thinking about the staves that the Volunteers already used, as well as his idea about a cage made of hardened air, he considered the possibility that he could create a Fusion that would form a simple air cube around a distant target. He already used a proximity detector that could determine distances well enough in his Variable Elemental Destruction Fusion, which caused explosions near the object it was pointed at, so why not a portable cage instead of an explosion? It could then be turned on and off with mental phrasing, and it would follow the tip of the staff as it was moved around, allowing whoever was using it to direct the monster toward a larger cage of air designed to hold more of these monsters for transport.
The idea behind it seemed simple enough in theory; a group of Volunteers could fly into an Aperture¡¯s territory on a Transport, aim their staves down at the monsters below, capture a few dozen of them and deposit them in a holding cage, fly the Transport to where they needed to release the monsters, and then repeat this with all the towns and cities that were threatening to march toward Thanesh for an attack.
As he really dug into the plan, already designing in his mind some Fusions that could make this happen, he stopped when he realized that this plan wouldn¡¯t necessarily work ¨C though the reason wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with his Fusions. He was fairly confident that what Fusions he made could accomplish what he designed them to do, but the logistics of using them could be a problem. Sure, they could transport monsters into an area where the Factions would have to eliminate them; the problem with that was two-fold, however.
First, there was the danger of killing innocent people with the sudden appearance of those monsters, as none of them would be expecting them. He thought about what might happen if a bunch of monsters suddenly showed up in one of the nearby farm fields near Thanesh; sure, the farmers could easily kill the monsters, but how quickly would they be able to do that? And would it be before someone got hurt or killed? If some people were killed, then how did that make them any better than the SIC who came inside the city not so long ago and killed Volunteers while making it only look like monsters had attacked them?
Secondly, even if no one got hurt, what if someone saw what they were doing? The Transports could camouflage their presence by doing such movements at night, or he could make a modified version of the Camouflage Dome to work better while moving, but there was every chance that they would still be spotted shipping in monsters. Again, thinking about it from the perspective of the Volunteers and Thanesh, if he saw the SIC shipping in monsters to attack them, he would be understandably angry and would want to get back at those responsible for this act. That would defeat the purpose of going to the SIC leadership and getting them to call off the attacks, one way or another.
While this plan had seemed like it could work while they had been discussing different strategies, upon further reflection, Larek didn¡¯t think it would work the way they wanted it to. That being said, the objective of keeping the Factions too busy to attack the Volunteers was still a valid one, and there wasn¡¯t any better way to do that than with monsters endangering their charges.
Or at least the threat of monsters attacking. But what would that look like?
Thinking about threats toward a town or a city had him reflecting upon the past as he tried to recall what had worked in the past. Roaming monsters were still present nowadays, but were very rare; they were typically remnants of when Apertures hadn¡¯t been seen yet, as the randomness of the Scissions¡¯ appearances plagued the land¡ª
Wait. That¡¯s it. Scissions.
For a thousand years, Scissions had been the main threat to the Kingdom, causing the towns and cities throughout the land to huddle behind their walls, protecting them from the hordes of monsters that would flow out of the Scissions that seemingly appeared at random. It was when the Scission Interception Corps had been a driving force of protection, rather than whatever it was today, and every Mage and Martial belonging to the organization would have been willing to give their lives toward protecting the citizens they were responsible for.
Larek had seen the heroism and selflessness that they displayed on the walls multiple times, after all.
While not all of that heroism and selflessness was gone, the motivations of the Factions ¨C and the SIC ¨C were different now. Though Apertures technically presented just as much of a threat, if not more, than Scissions ever did, that danger was contained in the Aperture¡¯s territory; it didn¡¯t directly assault the walls of nearby towns, unless it was allowed to expand uncontrollably. This had given the ones doing the defending of when and how they would handle their defense, and if culling was kept up at a sustainable rate, it was actually much safer than before. It was this safety that would allow the Factions to spare a good portion of their forces to send against the Volunteers.
But if a Scission were to appear again somewhere outside their walls, I can only imagine that they would be much more reluctant to leave their people defenseless.
Of course, such a thing was impossible, as there weren¡¯t any more Scissions popping up anywhere in the Kingdom, nor in the entirety of the world, as far as he knew. Larek knew that he couldn¡¯t just hope that a Scission might appear and threaten the Factions; what he had to do was make it happen¡
¡with a Fusion.
He almost immediately dismissed the thought of artificially creating a Scission, as the last thing the world needed was another hole leading into the world of Corruption. But as the notion took hold in his head, he couldn¡¯t get rid of it entirely. Over the next hour or so, as the morning sun appeared in the sky and peeked through the skylights overhead, causing Nedira and her brother to stir, his idea of a Scission morphed from a hole leading to the world of Corruption to one that was only based in this world. It would be less a tear in the fabric of reality and more of a hole that connected two specific points in space together, allowing the transfer of things from one point to another.
¡°You didn¡¯t go to bed last night, did you?¡± Nedira asked, coming up next to him and flopping down next to him in his pillow throne. Laying her head on his lap, she yawned as she continued to wake up, even as he absently ran his fingers through her hair, his mind on his project.
Pulling himself away from his intense focus for a moment, he smiled down at her and shook his head. ¡°No. Been too wound up from all the Fusions.¡± Nodding to himself as he came to a conclusion, he continued. ¡°I need to see an Aperture.¡±
She didn¡¯t even look surprised anymore at this sudden change in subject. ¡°Which one?¡±
The Fusionist shrugged. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. Though, preferably one that is still ¡®open¡¯.¡±
Groaning as she stood up, she looked toward Norde, who was already looking better than he did the day before. ¡°Give us a few minutes to wake up, and we¡¯ll be on our way.¡±
Larek nodded absently again, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. While he knew what he wanted to do now, he by no means knew how to accomplish such a thing. He had a few inklings of ideas, but he was fairly certain he would know more when he saw an Aperture in action.
It wasn¡¯t like he hadn¡¯t seen plenty of Apertures before, of course, but he¡¯d never really looked at them closely enough to figure out how they worked. He wasn¡¯t sure if he ever would, really, but with an understanding of patterns better than ever before and a heightened Magical Detection Skill, he was convinced that at least some of the answers he needed would lie within an active Aperture.
¡°You coming?¡±
Time seemed to fly as the two siblings got ready to go, so much so that he didn¡¯t even realize they were already at the door waiting for him. He quickly extracted himself from the pillow throne and followed them outside and into the city, where they led him toward where The Hopper, their reliable Transport, was docked.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 8
¡°We¡¯re landing here,¡± Larek told everyone in the main deck of The Hopper, which was more than he had planned to bring. But with the sudden assassination attempt not so long ago, it seemed as though he couldn¡¯t go anywhere without a bodyguard of Volunteers 20-strong. Not that the Fusionist thought that they could actually do much to prevent an attack by the Unspoken Response if they showed up, but if it made them feel better, then he was fine with giving in on letting them come with them. Besides, they weren¡¯t going toward any particularly predictable place, so it was unlikely that anyone would know to ambush them there.
¡°Why here?¡± Nedira asked.
Larek set The Hopper down while he answered. ¡°Because this Aperture was still a part of the Calamity not so long ago, and so, it is unlikely that anyone we don¡¯t want to see will show up here. That, and the monsters are weak enough that I don¡¯t have to worry about anyone getting hurt.¡±
There was another reason that he didn¡¯t explain to her, as he thought that it really only made sense to him. Quickly disembarking from The Hopper, the Fusionist was joined by Nedira and Norde, along with 20 Volunteers armed with both staves and melee weapons of one sort or another on their belts or strapped to their backs. While those who had the Gradual Aetheric Purification Array now had access to their Martial stats, most of them still relied on the range that their staves gave them as a first line of defense.
Almost immediately, the monsters of the newly reopened Aperture arrived, hopping along in their effort to bite the infiltrators. Needless to say, the Wilde Mushdooms didn¡¯t get closer than 50 feet before they were obliterated by the Volunteers, who took the protection of their charge very seriously.
Larek quickly led the team toward the central location where the Aperture was visible in the distance. It only took a few minutes and a short jog to arrive, as the territory of this Aperture ¨C along with all of the others that had originally been a part of the Calamity ¨C was kept small without allowing it to expand. If he understood correctly from the information he was given while looking for an Aperture to visit, this one had opened only that morning and was due to be closed again by a team of Volunteers the next day. He was going to throw the schedule off a little bit with his actions there, but he was sure they would be able to figure it out.
¡°What exactly is it that you need to see?¡± Nedira asked as they approached the small, floating, multi-colored sphere that comprised the heart of the Aperture. ¡°You¡¯ve been a little circumspect when I asked you before.¡±
Realizing that he¡¯d been a little too focused on his objective to explain what he was doing, he thought about what he wanted to say before he opened his mouth. His hesitation was because he finally looked at what he was going to try to do from an outsider¡¯s perspective. I¡¯m going to make an artificial Scission? I want to create one of the things that had threatened and terrorized centuries of people throughout the Kingdom? Will she think I¡¯m a genius, or will she stop helping me because this is a crazy idea? He wasn¡¯t sure if he wanted to know the answer to that last question, though he also didn¡¯t want to lie to her about what he was doing.
But that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t be a little more gentle in his words about such a sensitive topic.
¡°I need to look closer at the Aperture to determine something,¡± he began to explain. ¡°I¡¯m hoping that it will give me the answers I need to enact the next stage of the plan.¡±
¡°How will that help? You¡¯re talking about moving monsters, right?¡±
He nodded, even as he came to a stop about 20 feet from the Aperture. The Volunteers were almost done with clearing out any of the Wilde Mushdooms that were hanging around the Aperture in small groups, and they were vigilant in standing guard in case any more appeared. ¡°About that,¡± he began, before explaining his reasoning of why their intention to pick up and move monsters to the cities using the Transports and some Fusions wouldn¡¯t necessarily work. ¡°So, I¡¯ve thought of a different method. Instead of moving them one-by-one or in groups, I¡¯m thinking more of a¡ doorway between here and wherever we want it to end up. In other words, a connection where we can send monsters through it from here and have it end up near a town or a city.¡±
She was silent for a moment as Larek shuffled a little closer to the Aperture. He didn¡¯t want to get too close and walk into the field around the sphere that tended to stop ambient Mana from being absorbed into his Fusions, as that would eventually break them. Fortunately, he could detect where the field was based on the movement of the energy in the environment, and he was able to get to about 10 feet away before he stopped.
¡°Are you talking about some sort of¡ what? A portal of some kind?¡±
Again, he nodded at Nedira¡¯s question as he peered into the Aperture, flexing his Magical Detection Skill and tapping into his new Pattern Professional Specialization.
¡°That sounds suspiciously like a¡ you¡¯re not trying to make a Scission, are you?¡±
She was quick, he¡¯d give her that. With a shrug, he told her, ¡°Not¡ exactly. It isn¡¯t going to connect to the world of Corruption, after all, but I¡¯m hoping that I can use some of the same principles behind it to create what I¡¯m thinking about.¡± He held up a hand slowly, not wanting to be rude, but he also needed to concentrate. ¡°Now, give me some time to observe this thing.¡±
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Nedira looking at him in disbelief, but she soon seemed resigned toward whatever he thought he was doing as she folded her arms across her chest. At least she doesn¡¯t look mad.
Now that he could fully devote his attention toward the Aperture, he realized that the sphere that pierced through the veil separating two different worlds was a lot more complicated than he thought. He¡¯d seen and closed plenty of them in the past, but he was now convinced that he¡¯d never actually seen them for what they were.
The first thing of note, which he already knew, was that they weren¡¯t Fusions. He would¡¯ve noticed before this if they were, as he had a special relationship with Fusions that he, with no false modesty, had to admit was unlike that of anyone else in the world. That being said, for the first time since he¡¯d seen either Scissions or Apertures, he could see that there was an internal structure embedded in the form of the sphere. It was subtle and hidden by the multicolored outer shell, but once he focused on it long enough, it quickly became clear to him.
Of course, even though he could see it now, that didn¡¯t mean he understood it immediately.
The second thing he noticed about this structure was that, contrary to his expectations, it wasn¡¯t a pattern. In other words, it wasn¡¯t the same as his Pattern Cohesion or internal pattern, nor was it a spell pattern, Fusion formation, nor even anything constructed of Aetheric Force. It was unlike anything he¡¯d seen before, making it otherworldly in appearance, and yet¡ it was familiar in a way that it took some time to understand.
¡°It¡¯s made of¡ everything,¡± he whispered when he finally comprehended what he was not only seeing, but feeling from the Aperture.
¡°What?¡± Nedira asked, but Larek was too deep in his focus to respond.
When Larek said that it was made of everything, he didn¡¯t mean that literally. Instead, what he meant was that the structure that comprised the Aperture was made of the same energies he was used to seeing. But unlike when he had considered Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, and Aetheric Force to be different energies, this was a combination of all of them, molded together to create something entirely new.
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He had first observed this phenomenon when his Magical Detection Skill had risen high enough to see the density of energy in the environment, seeing strands of light that he had assumed were bundles of Mana, Stama, and even Pattern Cohesion. At the time, he understood that the denser the light strands were in the environment, the faster his resources would regenerate. This still held true, but what he didn¡¯t realize at the time was that these bundles of energy were missing something crucial.
Aetheric Force.
To be more specific, a mixture of both Pure and Corrupted Aetheric Force.
Based on his recent observations, natural Corrupted Aetheric Force was all around them because it was ejected from Scissions and Apertures, and it was left over from the monsters that emerged from them. This Corrupted Aetheric Force was what triggered the change in people to become Mages and Martials, and the density of it had slowly risen over the years, leading to more people with potential, but also bringing with it stronger Scissions and monsters.
Of course, that was all knowledge that he¡¯d already theorized as he began to understand the nature of Aetheric Force and how it reacted to the world around them, but what was inside the Aperture was different. The closer he looked at it, as well as the environment around him, he began to observe something that he hadn¡¯t seen before.
There wasn¡¯t just Corrupted Aetheric Force floating around him; there was also Pure Aetheric Force, as well. Once he finally identified it in the air, its presence was undeniable, and it seemed to clash with the Corrupted AF, constantly at war with it like fireflies buzzing around each other, with neither being able to do anything to the other.
Looking at himself as well as at Nedira and the Volunteers, he could see that miniscule amounts of Corrupted AF were absorbed by them, before being released as Pure AF a short time later. He¡¯d never realized this was happening before at such a steady rate, as he hadn¡¯t been able to see the minute amounts in the environment before, and it made a few things a whole lot more clear once he turned his attention back to the Aperture.
While energy was expelled out of the sphere, acting as a conduit to the world of Corruption, none of that energy was Pure AF. However, when he deduced that the Aperture¡¯s structure was made of all energy, he found that while it was sending out Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, and Corrupted AF, it was pulling in Pure AF from outside of it. It then took this incoming Pure AF and somehow combined it with the Corrupted AF it already had nearby, mixing it with all the other energies to become something different, something stronger and with a signature of energy that was unmistakable. Larek suddenly understood that it was this energy that people could feel coming from Scissions and Apertures, even if they were miles away from them.
What he couldn¡¯t understand was why this powerful energy came into existence in the first place, especially if the Aperture was from the world of Corruption and somehow utilized Pure Aetheric Force, which he thought would be anathema to it. Rather than spend any more time trying to deduce the whys of the whole thing, he turned his attention more to the how.
It wasn¡¯t until he saw the process in which another group of Wilde Mushdooms appeared and were spat out of the Aperture that he finally got a chance to see how the structure was able to somehow combine both Pure and Corrupted AF together. The entire sphere seemed to flash in his vision for a split-second, but he was able to see how miniscule amounts of both energies were melded together in an instant, and the release of some sort of power ran through the structure. This power seemed to execute a process that ¡°opened¡± ¨C for want of a better word ¨C a small tunnel in between this world and the world of Corruption. He had to speed his perception of time up a bit to see what happened next, but he was fortunately able to see a half-dozen chunks of Corrupted AF arrive through the tunnel before they were changed by the Aperture¡¯s structure, where they took on the form of six Wilde Mushdooms, which were immediately cut down by the Volunteers. That same Corrupted AF that had just recently come through the tunnel was absorbed by those who participated in the killing, though he did notice that very tiny portions that of AF were left behind, dissipating into the environment.
Huh. That¡ changes things.
He ¨C along with everyone else, he assumed ¨C thought that the world of Corruption was filled with billions of monsters, and only through the means of Scissions and Apertures were they allowed through to his world. But if what he saw there, as well as what he¡¯d observed in the Calamity with the large trees that were birthing Ghost Ravens at a distance from the central Aperture, then there weren¡¯t any monsters in this other world. It was simply a bunch of Corrupted AF floating around, which only took form when it passed into this world, thanks to the processes within each Scission or Aperture.
They weren¡¯t doorways at all; they were conduits that transferred energy from one place to another, where it was then converted into something else.
The Fusionist¡¯s mind was reeling at this revelation, so much so that he suddenly felt dizzy and had to sit down. He felt Nedira by his side and heard her ask him what was wrong, but so many truths suddenly crashed down on him that he was overwhelmed for a time.
Scissions were created when the density of Pure Aetheric Force in an area rose to the point where it interacted with the Corrupted Aetheric Force already present; this was more prevalent in larger population centers, which was why small villages were typically safe from their threat, as there weren¡¯t as many people. When the Scission was formed, it would initially create its structure, and then gradually build up an army of monsters as Corrupted Aetheric Force was transferred from the world of Corruption, before releasing it all in waves.
Apertures are different, as they are more permanent. When they are closed, they do something similar to what the Scissions did and gradually build up enough of an army to release them upon opening. To expand, an Aperture must obtain enough Pure Aetheric Force that is incorporated into their structure, as it can be used for that rather than as opening the conduit to the other world for more Corrupted AF. It¡¯s why an Aperture can never expand if its monsters are culled regularly, as it will never have a chance to do so.
And the reason the Apertures can never be fully destroyed is because of this combination of all the energies together, which is stronger than anything I¡¯ve ever seen before. I can only assume that Scissions were the same, as no doubt someone in the past attempted to destroy one of them before it could spit out monsters, only for their efforts to fail completely. I¡¯ve blown one up with an enormous explosion before and all I did was close it, so I know that to be a fact.
As for why hitting the Aperture closes it temporarily, it seems as though we¡¯re not actually damaging the structure; instead, we¡¯re dissipating the volatile energy around it that is keeping the structure contained. The multicolored appearance of the sphere isn¡¯t the actual structure; it¡¯s more of the glue that keeps it from falling apart as it grows larger. As the glue is diminished, the structure shrinks in order to keep itself from collapsing into pieces, which is why it gets so small when it¡¯s closed. That is what I would consider to be its dormant state, where it hasn¡¯t expanded at all, and only when it is able to open and bring the glue back can it expand to its normal, operating size.
These thoughts were almost too much for him, as they fundamentally changed his view of the entire world, and especially the world of Corruption, forevermore. However, over the next few minutes, he was able to rein his mind in from the multiple tangents it had been going on and focus on the task at hand. He wanted to somewhat replicate what the Aperture could do with energy, though perhaps with a material being rather than a bundle of energy.
Getting to his feet with a reassuring smile toward Nedira, who still looked worried, he concentrated more on the Aperture¡¯s structure, attempting to delve through its confusing formation to discover its secrets. Hours passed as he stared at it, observing every little portion of it until he could recreate it on his own with Pattern Cohesion, and he felt he was getting closer and closer to learning how the two different Aetheric Forces were melded together and combined with every other energy to produce something that was apparently indestructible.
Finally, it was just starting to make sense. He needed to watch it for a little longer before he really understood what was¡ª
Larek¡¯s focus was blasted apart as he felt something that sent a shiver of fear down his spine. The sudden wrenching of his attention made him wobble a bit on his feet, but he quickly regained his sense of balance and was able to orient on what it was that had interrupted his observation of the Aperture.
Oh, no.
The unmistakable and overwhelming feel of a Gergasi in the distance had him scrambling his halberd out of his Void Pocket bag. A quick thought had a clone of himself forming as a pattern construct a few seconds later as he got ready to fight. However, it was only a short time later that he looked at Nedira and the Volunteers, screaming at them to run to The Hopper so that they could flee.
It wasn¡¯t because the Gergasi he could feel in the distance was marginally stronger than Chinli, though that did worry him a little bit.
It was because there wasn¡¯t just one Gergasi; there were two.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 9
The rushing air was deflected from his body as Farmas flew south at his top speed, Syrlia a few dozen feet to his left, keeping pace with him. The faux wings that grew out of their backs didn¡¯t actually do anything to keep them aloft, but they were an affectation that most Guardians used while they were flying, as that felt more appropriate than simply rushing through the air without any means of propulsion. It harkened back to the days when they used to spend more of their time around their slaves, as it served to make them seem more regal, perhaps even angelic, to the masses; perception was sometimes as important as Dominion magic in controlling the population, after all. And while they hadn¡¯t really spent a lot of time among the slaves over the last five or six centuries, most of the Gergasi ¨C including himself and Syrlia ¨C had continued to use them, nonetheless.
With his eyes searching the ground, Farmas allowed his senses to reach out in all directions as he attempted to find the source of Chinli¡¯s death. Well, that wasn¡¯t entirely true, as the two of them had located the source of the unfortunate Guardian¡¯s death approximately a week ago, but the trail had gone cold after that.
It had taken nearly a half-day to finally leave the Enclave after Vilnesh had ordered them to go search out the reason behind Chinli¡¯s demise, as the entire Enclave had been in an uproar after everyone felt her perish. Vilnesh had taken control, at the Grand One¡¯s direction, and told the others that a plan was already in place to investigate, which was where Farmas and Syrlia came in, but the delay in their departure was a result of different factions within the Enclave vying for control of the investigation. As a result, they didn¡¯t actually leave until just before the southeastern Calamity was closed.
Which was just as much of a surprise as when the northwestern Calamity had closed not too long before. Farmas was somewhat glad that the slaves had finally taken responsibility for their own messes and were cleaning them up, but both of the closures were unexpected and from unknown sources. That was unlike the northeastern Calamity, which was being overseen directly by the SIC organization, which was originally set up by the Nobles nearly a thousand years ago at the direction of the Guardians, and which was still nominally run by those directly under their control. Of course, it wasn¡¯t common knowledge that the much-depleted Scission Interception Corps was still under Gergasi control, as they were careful to be largely hands-off so that no suspicion was cast upon their slaves, but the push to close the Calamities was at their direction. Not that Farmas or Syrlia had anything to do with that, as that whole facet of the Kingdom was run by a trio of other Guardians, but the information had filtered out to everyone in the Enclave over the last few days as the SIC was pushed to close the northeastern Calamity, so as not to be left behind as a result of the others closing.
If Farmas had his way, he would¡¯ve taken it upon himself to close all the Calamities himself, but unfortunately, that was not possible. For a reason that no one had been able to determine, even the simple presence of a Guardian from the Enclave inside the territory of the Apertures dotting the landscape of the Kingdom caused it to react abnormally. Some thought it was the sheer strength of the ¡°invaders¡± that crossed into their territory that made them react that way, while most figured it had to do with the amount of Pure Aetheric Force that leaked out of them, mixing with the Corrupted Aetheric Force that poured out of each Aperture.
Regardless of the reason, what the presence of a Guardian did was cause the Aperture to expand rapidly, while at the same time reinforcing the Aperture¡¯s spherical form to the point where it couldn¡¯t be damaged, no matter how strong they were. Even the Grand One, who was the strongest of all the Gergasi, could barely inflict more than slight damage to an Aperture, which was negligible when it continued to expand while they were inside.
As a result of this, they had to rely on the slaves to close the Calamities and maintain the other Apertures in the Kingdom, which was why they were pushing to close yet another Calamity in the northeast. Letting all the Calamities grow to the point where they were was a mistake, as it had widened the breach near the Enclave on a daily basis, and it was only a matter of time before it became too unstable to keep contained. The closure of two Calamities had, at last report, not only slowed down but shrunk the breach by a miniscule amount, which was a good sign that the Gergasi could keep things in control in the future. All they needed was the SIC to regain control, after the last few years when communication had broken down, and they would be able to work toward stabilizing the amount of Corrupted Aetheric Force in the world.
But they couldn¡¯t have the saviors of the world being killed before that could happen, which was why they were out searching for whatever had killed Chinli. Revenge for her death was also at the top of the list of reasons why there were out searching for her; while Farmas had never cared for her personally, she had been one of their much-diminished family for over a thousand years. One doesn¡¯t just let something like her being killed go if they could do something about punishing those responsible.
Fortunately for their search efforts, the closing of the Calamity had given them a starting point, as they suspected, with it happening so soon after Chinli¡¯s death, that the two events were related. Therefore, when they flew toward the previous center of the Calamity¡¯s territory, they discovered the aftermath of some sort of catastrophic battle, at least according to the lingering traces of magical residue left in the area.
First, and most obvious, was an enormous explosion of some sort that had likely been the culprit behind Chinli¡¯s death. It had been so incredibly large and powerful that it had practically obliterated the Guardian, though they were able to find a shattered skull fragment nearly a mile away from the magical explosive residue, tracked down with the lingering traces of the connection that all Gergasi shared with each other. Even that find had been nearly pure luck, as the connection was almost gone, and Syrlia had barely sensed it as they were flying above the site. Regardless, it was more than enough proof for them to say that it had been the explosion that had killed Chinli.
The second thing they noticed from the battlefield were traces of many dead slaves, with random body parts and dried blood littering a field near one of the Apertures. All of the intact bodies had been taken away by whoever had closed the Calamity, they suspected, but there were still remnants of them leftover on the field which were likely left in their haste to depart. There were still faint traces of Chinli all over the area where these bodies had been at one time, but they were so faint that it was hard to tell what exactly had happened ¨C though the two of them suspected that she had killed many hundreds of people.
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Were they there to try and ambush her and failed? Or was it something else?
He wasn¡¯t sure, but the field of body parts and blood was a bit of distance away from where the explosion had taken place, which had also been in the middle of the air high above the ground ¨C which most likely ruled out any slaves being the ones to kill her.
Lastly, there were traces of something else that confused them at first, as it almost felt like another Gergasi. However, they dismissed that thought because it was extremely weak and might have just been their imagination, and it had dissipated shortly after they arrived, so they couldn¡¯t investigate it any further.
For all that they discovered where Chinli had died, along with hundreds of slaves, Farmas and Syrlia couldn¡¯t find any trace of who or what had done the deed. There was evidence that more people, likely slaves, had been in the area, and there were circular indentations in the grass just outside the territory of what was likely the central Aperture of the Calamity, but that was it.
From there, they went back to the Enclave to make their report to Vilnesh, who had sent them back out to actually find whoever or whatever was responsible. Recently, they had spent weeks combing over the former territory of the Calamity, searching for any sign of the group that had closed it moving around, but they couldn¡¯t find even a single trace. They had to be careful to avoid the many Apertures scattered around, as they didn¡¯t want to cause one to expand uncontrollably by flying through it, but they were still able to cover quite a bit of ground in their search.
Their break came the day before in the form of a flying, wooden, circular box that they witnessed landing near the border of an Aperture, where dozens of slaves rolled out and began attacking the monsters inside ¨C likely with the intent to close the Aperture inside. Unfortunately, as they got close, the slaves seemed to sense them coming and retreated back inside the circular wooden box, which took off to the east before they arrived.
What was the most shocking of the entire encounter, other than seeing a circular impression on the ground similar to what they saw near the explosion that killed Chinli, was that the wooden contraption was faster than the two Guardians. They flew after it, but it was lost to sight within a minute, and no matter where they flew, they couldn¡¯t see it anywhere. Unfortunately, it had been near the end of the day at that point, and with the sun setting soon afterwards, they decided to head back to the Enclave for the night, where they had been staying after their searches during the day. It was much more difficult to search for what they were looking for in the darkness, and they hoped to pick up the trail the next day.
Which was what they were doing now. They were a bit to the south of where they had lost the flying wood box the day before, believing that it had perhaps turned south when they expected it to keep fleeing east. They had their eyes focused on the ground and in the sky, hoping to see more of those flying contraptions so that they could get some answers ¨C because Vilnesh wasn¡¯t telling them anything. Both of them suspected that the powerful Guardian knew more than he was letting on, but they also professed not to have any other information than what they already knew, and that was even with Syrlia asking point-blank the night before, when they got back, if Vilnesh knew something that could help their investigation.
¡°Stop. Do you feel that?¡±
Farmas stopped his forward momentum and circled back to where his companion was hovering in the middle of the air. He looked around, trying to see what she could be talking about, but the land and air around them was virtually empty of anything but grass, a few rocky mounds, and clouds in the sky. When he closed his eyes and concentrated on what he could feel around using his Magical Detection Skill, the only thing he could sense were the few Apertures that were a few miles away in different directions.
¡°I don¡¯t feel anything. What is it?¡± he asked, knowing that her own ability to detect magical residue was slightly better than his own. His focus had always been a bit more physical than the magical side of Guardianship, meaning that his magical Skills were a little bit lower than hers, but it wasn¡¯t like he was lacking in anything. He would beat her in a straight-up fight, after all, especially if he was able to hit her with his Onyx Bone Warhammer, forged from the bones of an Onyx Dragon he¡¯d killed centuries ago, as there wasn¡¯t much that could stop it from getting through to hit what he was aiming at.
She shook her head, the dark green ringlets framing her face bouncing everywhere. ¡°I¡¯m¡ not sure. I could¡¯ve sworn I felt something familiar, but now I don¡¯t sense anything. Let¡¯s go back a little to see if I can pick it up again.¡±
He shrugged, relying on her heightened senses in this case. It wasn¡¯t like they had any other leads to go on, so they might as well look into whatever she felt, even if it didn¡¯t turn up anything. The day was still relatively young, so if they didn¡¯t find what she was looking for, it wouldn¡¯t be much of a loss.
He followed her as she floated slowly back along where they had just flown, her eyes closed and her senses flared to their utmost. He kept his own eyes open but also extended his Skill to the limit, but again he didn¡¯t feel anything out of the ordinary.
It took about five minutes of searching before she finally stopped, turning in the air toward the southwest, lifting her arm to point off into the distance. ¡°I think what I felt was there, but I can¡¯t be sure.¡±
¡°What is it? Another one of those wooden boxes?¡±
She shook her head again. ¡°No, at least I don¡¯t think so. It¡¯s more akin to what we briefly felt back at the site of the explosion. Like an extremely weak Guardian, but different.¡±
¡°That¡¯s the best lead we¡¯ve had so far, so let¡¯s go!¡± he said, shooting through the air in the direction she had pointed. She joined him a half-second later, and he let her take the lead because she seemed to know where she was going. After approximately a mile, his senses finally picked out what hers had already.
Syrlia was right; it was the same quasi-Guardian signature they¡¯d felt before, but it was so faint that he barely picked it up. He couldn¡¯t believe that she had noticed it at such a distance.
When they arrived at where the fading traces of it were the strongest, he immediately spotted a familiar circular indentation on the grass beneath them, along the edge of an Aperture¡¯s territory. Looking around, in the far distance, he spotted something in the sky, and he immediately knew it was another of the wooden flying things they had been looking for. He pointed it out to his companion, but she had already seen it; both took off after it, pushing their spells to their limit, but it quickly disappeared from sight, even faster than the one the day before.
Farmas began to slow down, realizing that they had lost it, but Syrlia kept going. When he caught up to her, she shouted through the rushing air around them, ¡°I can still track it! Follow me!¡±
He wasn¡¯t going to argue, because he felt the thrill of the hunt flow through him, and he smiled even as he brought his warhammer off his shoulder and held it at the ready in front of him. While he¡¯d lost the scent, he could rely on Syrlia to track it to the end of the world ¨C as long as the scent didn¡¯t fade too much.
It¡¯s time to find some answers¡ and hopefully beat in some heads while we¡¯re at it.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 10
¡°I think they¡¯re gone,¡± Nedira announced. ¡°I don¡¯t feel them anymore.¡±
Larek stretched his senses out to their utmost, the flaring panic that had flowed through him at the first hint of the Gergasi having faded to a mere ember. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was the thought of facing two of them at the same time that had made him race toward The Hopper with the intent to flee, or if it was simply the memories of his near-death at Chinli¡¯s hand that spurred him on, but there was no denying that he was scared of the potential confrontation.
He might have killed one of the Gergasi before, but he wasn¡¯t anywhere near ready to take on another ¨C and definitely not two of them at the same time.
Fortunately, he had been pretty sure that they could get back to the wooden vessel in plenty of time to run, especially as he¡¯d felt the powerful figures at a distance heading toward the southeast. He was relieved to know that they weren¡¯t on an interception course with him, because that would¡¯ve been alarming; as it was, it seemed as though the Gergasi had somehow learned that Chinli had died and were searching for the one responsible. The Fusionist wasn¡¯t aware of where they actually knew who he was or not, but at the moment, that didn¡¯t matter; all that mattered was leaving as soon as possible.
They were approximately a half-mile from the edge of the Wilde Mushdoom Aperture¡¯s territory when he suddenly sensed that the two powerful figures had stopped moving. Urging the others to hurry, they ran with everything they were worth before climbing aboard The Hopper. Larek jumped to the top, taking Nedira with him in his arms for speed purposes, and then assisted the others up as quickly as possible. In what felt like hours but was only seconds, the last of the Volunteers were on the ladder leading to the top deck when he took off, the others helping those still not up yet to the top. There was no time to waste, and he took off toward the west, wanting to get as far away from the Gergasi as possible.
Unfortunately, the sense he got from the two powerful figures as they were running was that they were heading back in his general direction, as if they had detected an interesting scent and were coming to investigate. The Gergasi were getting closer and closer by the time he lifted off, and Larek and his companions had only gotten a few miles away, still barely in visual distance, when he finally saw them. They were two dots at the very edge of what he could actually see, but looking back at them, he could practically feel their eyes on The Hopper.
It quickly became obvious that Larek and the escapees had been spotted when the figures started flying toward them, but Larek increased their speed to the maximum it could go, and soon enough, the Gergasi had all but disappeared from sight.
At that point, the Fusionist had started to calm down and think without the panic setting in on him, and he began to plan out how to escape the Gergasi. Based on the fading sense of them in the distance, he knew that he could outfly them with The Hopper, but he wasn¡¯t sure if they would still be able to follow him. In order to test that possibility, he turned abruptly when he could barely feel them at the edge of his senses, heading south at full speed, before turning southeast and then east again. After about 20 minutes and hundreds of miles of travel, he couldn¡¯t feel even a hint of the Gergasi anymore.
Larek sighed in relief as he agreed with his betrothed. ¡°You¡¯re right. I think we lost them.¡±
¡°Do they know about you? What about the Volunteers and Thanesh?¡± Nedira asked, worry evident in her voice.
The Fusionist had no idea, so he just shrugged in answer.
¡°We need to get back and check on the others. If the Gergasi show up there, they won¡¯t stand a chance against them.¡±
¡°I agree,¡± he said, looking out the side of The Hopper toward the direction they came from. He couldn¡¯t see anything, of course, as he hadn¡¯t felt the Gergasi in a while, but he couldn¡¯t help but check anyway. ¡°We¡¯ll stay here for just a few more minutes, however, as the last thing I want to do is lead them back to Thanesh ¨C especially if they don¡¯t know about it already.¡±
¡°But what if they¡ª¡±
Larek held up a hand to stop her as he closed his eyes. He felt something right on the edge of his awareness, and he hoped he was wrong, that he was just being paranoid. Unfortunately, after a few more seconds of sensing the rising cascade of power emanating from a source to the west, almost perfectly in line with where they had just come from, he curled his hand into a fist and punched his thigh in frustration. ¡°Damn. They¡¯re still coming.¡±
¡°What? I can¡¯t feel them.¡±
¡°They¡¯re still a ways out, but they¡¯re following us somehow. I don¡¯t know if they are tracking me or if they have some other way to pinpoint our location, but they¡¯ll be here before too long.¡±
Turning toward the Volunteers, who appeared slightly sick at the prospect of the Gergasi somehow following them, he quickly told them, ¡°We have two options. One, we all stay together and lead them away from the other Volunteers and Thanesh, where we¡¯ll likely have to fight them. I can tell you right now that I¡¯m not strong enough to take on two of them. If there were one, I¡¯d say it would be a toss-up whether or not I would survive,¡± he said, though he wasn¡¯t even sure if that was true, ¡°but there¡¯s very little chance of survival against two of them. That would almost inevitably be the same fate for whoever was with me.
¡°The second option is for me to go off by myself and hopefully draw them away¡ª¡±
¡°NO! You¡¯re not leaving me again!¡± Nedira shouted, smacking him on the arm with her staff. It didn¡¯t hurt, but she definitely got her point across.
¡°I don¡¯t want to, either, but I think it¡¯s our only chance. Besides, Thanesh and the other Volunteers need to know about the Gergasi and the threat they pose, especially if more come looking for me.¡±
¡°Then send the others and bring me with you. I already told you, you¡¯re not going anywhere without me.¡±
Larek wanted to protest, as he didn¡¯t want to put her into more danger than she was already in, but he held his tongue. He knew that he wouldn¡¯t be getting out of taking her with him, or else he wouldn¡¯t hear the end of it ¨C if he survived, of course. Besides, he felt a little better having her with him, as he would know if she was alright or not, and sending her away would only make him worry.
¡°Then it looks like you¡¯re coming with me.¡± Larek quickly moved to the Fusions that controlled The Hopper, altering the formations with his Pattern Cohesion so that they would listen to Frynth, a familiar face who he saw was with his Volunteer bodyguard.
¡°We should really come with you, too. It¡¯s our job,¡± Frynth stated, as Larek turned over control to the Volunteer.
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¡°If I could bring you, I would, but we¡¯re going to have to move fast. Besides, I need to know this thing is going to be in good hands while you head back to Thanesh.¡±
¡°But¡ª¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have time to argue,¡± he interrupted the man, who looked semi-relieved at not having to stay and face the Gergasi. Any other scary monster, even a Calamity-sized one, would be fine; a Gergasi, not so much. ¡°Take a roundabout route back to the city just in case there are more of them, but my hope is that it is just these two. We¡¯ll try and draw them away while you flee for your lives.¡±
Frynth just nodded, and the Fusionist waved toward the stairs leading up to the top deck. She quickly followed him up, and he stood on the decking with her near the railing, looking off to the west. It only took a few seconds before she said, ¡°I sense them now. How are they tracking us?¡±
¡°I don¡¯t know, but I suspect that they can sense me just as I sense them, though it¡¯s obviously not as strong.¡± That was the only explanation he could come up with after giving it some thought. It would explain how they knew to stop and come back to investigate where they were by the Aperture, and he could only assume that he gave off some sort of magical residue that they could follow. Even as he thought that, he peered around him, looking for any evidence of that, when he suddenly saw it.
Very faint bundles of Pure Aetheric Force were being expelled away from him, barely visible, but when he concentrated on one of them, there was a sort of resonance to them that was familiar. That familiarity was explained when he realized it was his own magical signature, and he knew he was correct regarding how he was leaving a trail for them to follow. Even as he watched, he saw that his magical signature didn¡¯t stick around long, as it was already fading within seconds, but it would be more than enough for any Gergasi with heightened senses to follow him no matter where he went.
I have to figure out how to stop it from coming out of me.
He wasn¡¯t going to do that right now, however, as he could finally see two dots in the distance in the air.
¡°Are we going?¡±
Larek shook his head. ¡°No, not yet. I want to make sure that both of them follow us, leaving Frynth and the other Volunteers in The Hopper alone.¡±
It was going to take another 30 seconds or so before they arrived at a close-enough proximity that they could lead them away, so he took the time to look at the notifications that had been trying to get his attention.
Magical Detection has reached Level 91!
¡..
Magical Detection has reached Level 98!
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 80!
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 71!
¡..
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 90!
You have reached Level 58 and have 36 available AP to distribute!
It seemed as though he had Leveled-up faster than he expected, thanks mostly to Pattern Recognition shooting up from Level 70 to Level 90. He hadn¡¯t thought that the structure he had been studying inside the Aperture was considered a ¡°pattern¡±, but apparently whatever governed the Skill thought otherwise. Then again, when he really considered it, the structure was a mix between a pattern construct and a Fusion formation, with elements of both, as well as a bit more thrown in there.
Regardless, he wasn¡¯t going to complain, as he now had another 36 AP to distribute to his stats. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get a chance to do that quite yet, as the Gergasi were arriving faster than he expected, and it was time to go.
Forming a Pattern construct box underneath the two of them, as well as a shield in front of them to block the air that was just about to slam into them once they started moving, he glanced at the two Gergasi, who were close enough for him to see a few minor details. The first thing he noticed was that there was a male and a female Gergasi, both of them incredibly tall, and the male was dressed in bulky armor and was holding what looked like some sort of black-colored warhammer that had a head the size of his torso. The other was wearing dark green robes that matched the hair he saw on the top of her head, and while he didn¡¯t see a weapon visible, he could only assume that she had one somewhere.
¡°We¡¯re leaving! Get ready to run!¡± Larek shouted down the stairs, before lifting off the top deck. The Fusionist directed his Pattern construct away to the south while The Hopper went north, the two of them splitting up so quickly that they were practically a blur. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a bundle of crackling energy form in front of the Gergasi woman even as she continued to fly toward him, and he shot his Pattern box up even as he formed a third construct to block the enormous bolt of lightning that passed through where he had just been a split-second ago. His construct was shattered immediately, as if it wasn¡¯t even there, and he knew that if it had hit the box, they would¡¯ve been electrocuted to the point where Nedira might¡¯ve died.
That¡ was incredibly powerful.
Thankfully, the speed at which he could move his Pattern box was even faster than The Hopper could move, so while the two of them huddled toward the back of the box as he pushed their speed to incredible heights in an effort to flee, they left the two Gergasi behind before they could attack the two of them some more. He monitored them as they paused for a moment, which he interpreted as them deciding which group to follow, and he breathed a short breath of relief as the pair of Gergasi took off after Larek and Nedira. He had been worried that they might split up and follow both groups, but that fortunately didn¡¯t seem to be the case.
His relief was short-lived as he remembered that they were still following him, and he now knew that just the woman alone was a much more powerful Mage than Chinli ever was. The lightning bolt spell she¡¯d cast had been a few magnitudes of strength higher than anything he¡¯d ever seen from the Gergasi he¡¯d killed, though it was entirely possible that he never got to see what the despicable woman could actually accomplish if she was taking the fight with him seriously. Either way, if the warhammer-wielding Gergasi was just as strong, then he didn¡¯t stand much of a chance in a one-on-one fight, let alone a two-on-one as it was.
If there was anything good to be said about seeing the Gergasi, it was that Larek was 100% positive that neither of them were his father. It was another worry that he¡¯d had the moment he¡¯d felt the Gergasi in the distance back at the Aperture, and while it wouldn¡¯t make much difference if they ended up catching him, he still had no desire to face the one that had contributed to his existence.
As the sense of the two Gergasi began to fade behind them, giving them some distance, he finally slowed down, Nedira grunting in pain from the way she had been practically flattened against the back wall of the box construct.
¡°Sorry about that,¡± he apologized, making sure she was fine. He saw her heal her aches even as she caught her breath, before waving it off.
¡°I¡¯d rather undergo a bit of discomfort than be caught by them,¡± she told him. ¡°Speaking of that, what are we going to do to ensure that doesn¡¯t happen?¡±
That¡ was a good question. Unless he could find some way to prevent the trace amounts of magical residue coming off of him from leaving his body, it was likely that the two Gergasi would eventually catch up to him. He wasn¡¯t sure how long they could fly while tracking him, but he could only assume that it was longer than he could keep his Pattern box construct going, at least as far as maintaining his focus went.
Larek didn¡¯t answer right away, as he continued fleeing south, though at a pace that he thought he¡¯d be able to maintain for a long time, which was perhaps slightly faster than he¡¯d seen the two Gergasi fly. The two of them watched the landscape pass by, moving over one Aperture and then another, as they tried to think of a solution.
After about ten minutes and multiple plans dismissed from his thoughts, he slowly turned to the west.
¡°Where are we going?¡±
While Larek wasn¡¯t entirely sure where the thought came from, something popped up in his mind, born from his recent experiences in looking at the Aperture not so long ago.
¡°Tell me this. Why, if the Gergasi are so powerful, don¡¯t they close the Calamities by themselves? Why let them get as bad as they were, and as they are, right now?¡±
Nedira was silent for a few seconds. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯m assuming that you think you do?¡±
He shrugged. ¡°Perhaps. Shall we go find out if I¡¯m correct?¡±
¡°I guess we¡¯ve got nothing better to do, so why not?¡± she chuckled, wrapping her arms around his waist as she leaned into him, even as they turned a little north from their westward direction.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 11
While they headed for the southwestern Calamity, Larek took the time to distribute the 36 AP he had just earned.
Strength: 260 [520] (+)
Body: 288 [576] (+)
Agility: 260 [520] (+)
Intellect: 292 [584] (+)
Acuity: 292 [584] (+)
Pneuma: 5,184 [10,368]
Pattern Cohesion: 103,680/103,680
Since he was trying to outrun the two Gergasi chasing him, and what he was hoping to do was somehow find a way to camouflage the unique magical signature that came out of him automatically, he thought it would be a good idea to increase his mental stats once again to see if he could deduce a way out of his current mess. Sticking 8 AP in both Intellect and Acuity brought them both up to 300, 12 AP in Body brought it up to 300, as well, and the remaining 8 AP he split up between Strength and Agility, adding 4 AP to each.
As if he had hit some sort of threshold, Larek felt his mind expand more than he expected, and it was so sudden that he nearly lost the focus needed to maintain his Pattern constructs. Fortunately, he caught himself before he could let them dissipate, but afterward he resolved to never again increase his stats while they were flying through the air at high speed; it was too dangerous otherwise.
Once he recovered, the world took on a whole new layer of detail that he couldn¡¯t believe he hadn¡¯t seen before. Coupled with his Magical Detection Skill, he found that he could look inside of his own body and see the processes that produced the Pure Aetheric Force that leaked out, providing a trail for the Gergasi to follow.
Of course, just because he could see it, that didn¡¯t mean he knew what to do about it. Regardless, he was one step closer to figuring it out, now that everything was becoming a lot more clear. This was even more evident when he looked outside of the Pattern box construct and the world around him, but especially the Apertures that they passed along the way.
In short, he was able to visually witness the flows of energy moving in and out of the different territories like never before. Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, and different degrees of Corrupted and Pure Aetheric Force seemed to pulse as they interacted with the Apertures, the multiple streams of energized particles looking more like the blood vessels in a body than the current magic-infused environment it actually was. It was almost as if the energy that moved around the world through the Apertures was some giant ecosystem of concentrated nodules, all working together for some mysterious purpose.
Like the whole thing was alive.
He wasn¡¯t sure what exactly he was going to do with that new information, but he knew it was important. As they continued to move toward the Calamity, this knowledge and enhanced view of the world was only added to as he saw how the massive territory they were approaching affected the energy of the world to an even greater degree. Even hundreds of miles away, he could see a general flow of Pure Aetheric Force, automatically emerging from people they passed over in various towns and cities, being pulled toward the Calamity. Even his own was starting to be pulled past him, though not enough to disturb the trail he was still leaving behind him, but it made him hope that actually entering its expanded territory might make a difference.
That matched up with what he suspected when he first proposed their destination, but his suspicion was becoming more and more of a fact now that he could see it happening.
¡°Are they still following us?¡± Nedira asked after a bit of time had passed. She didn¡¯t have as good of a Magical Detection Skill as he did, so he stretched out his senses to check; he quickly located the two Gergasi following behind them at a distance, and told her so.
¡°What exactly are you hoping will happen when we get to the Calamity?¡±
Larek took a few seconds to formulate his answer, putting all he¡¯d learned into a¡ªhopefully¡ªcomprehensible concept.
¡°Apertures are constructed from a combination of energies, many of which flow out of their connection to the world of Corruption, but there is one energy that comes from our world: Pure Aetheric Force. You¡¯ve heard me talk about it before, so I won¡¯t go over it again, but the Apertures somehow absorb it from the environment and use it to stabilize their internal structure and expand after they¡¯ve gathered enough. Think of Pure AF as food that they need to eat to survive and grow stronger.
¡°Now, the spherical Apertures don¡¯t just randomly absorb the Pure AF that just happens to float through the environment nearby; instead, they actively absorb it at the same rate it expels Corrupted AF and other energies. When it is larger, and therefore has a bigger territory to draw from, the rate in which it absorbs Pure AF increases to keep up with its growth. This wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue for most people, as the amount of Pure AF that they produce and expel naturally into the world is relatively insignificant ¨C at least individually. But someone like myself and other Guardians that have unlocked their full potential, but especially the Gergasi behind us, naturally expel a lot of Pure AF; though my own and yours are only small streams compared to the flood that a Gergasi produces.
¡°My hope is that when we get inside the Calamity, it will pull away the majority of this Pure AF that you and I expel naturally, thereby eliminating the trail that the Gergasi can follow.¡±
She thought about what he said for nearly a minute before she asked, ¡°If Pure Aetheric Force is what the Apertures feed on, what happens when a feast of it arrives in the form of the two Gergasi?¡±
¡°That¡¯s what I want to find out.¡± Larek wasn¡¯t sure what would actually happen, as he didn¡¯t know exactly how an Aperture would react to a sudden influx of Pure AF. Given that this was a Calamity, which was many times larger than the other Apertures they passed by, he was sure the result would be dramatic.
Remembering the odd way that the southeastern Calamity had acted once Chinli had shown up, with how the monsters from the gigantic Aperture suddenly stopped spawning, he had to assume something similar would happen with this one. But it also begged the question of why the woman didn¡¯t close the Calamity if she could¡¯ve reached it at any time. That was certainly a mystery, but it was one that he hoped he might be able to solve once these Gergasi passed into its territory.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
In a shorter time than he expected, he could feel the border of the southwestern Calamity approaching, and he stretched his vision to see what it looked like. For some reason, he had never actually asked in detail what this particular one was like, but he put it down to the fact that he hadn¡¯t really been interested in knowing. It hadn¡¯t really been a priority at any time, but now that they were going into it, he wished he had asked ahead of time.
There was a clear delineation between the land outside of the Calamity and the land inside. On the outside, the environment was green, vibrant, and alive; a few steps away, the land was a mixture of brown and black, and the landscape was barren of any life whatsoever. The overall physical appearance hadn¡¯t changed, as there wasn¡¯t the onyx-like stone ground like the Steel Slime Calamity, nor were there massive trees and grassland for miles like the Ghost Raven Calamity. Instead, it simply looked like a wave of death had spread from the center, killing all life in view.
As they passed over the normally invisible threshold into the Calamity, which was now visible to his own perception as a slightly hazy dome ahead of them, he could feel an aura of death slam into his senses, assaulting not only his body but his mind.
¡°Whoa. What is this?¡±
Nedira looked at him in confusion, before she chuckled. ¡°You didn¡¯t do any research about this Calamity, did you?¡± When he shook his head, she took some time to explain as he went deeper toward the center of its territory. ¡°The central Aperture has a powerful Bone Wraith monster that creates this aura of death, slowly killing everything within its reach. Plants, bugs, animals ¨C they¡¯ve all been killed off. You¡¯ll even find that it will kill you if you don¡¯t have a defense against it.¡±
Even as she spoke, the nauseousness he felt almost immediately going through his body slowly settled down until it didn¡¯t bother him too much anymore. At the same time, he could tell that it was also hurting him, though very slowly; it barely affected him, however, as his Body Regeneration was more than up to the task of counteracting the effects. Looking at Nedira, he could see that she was also being affected, appearing a little worse off than him, but she wasn¡¯t exactly dying.
¡°It¡¯s a good way to increase my Body Regeneration Skill, at least,¡± she said with a tinge of discomfort in her tone.
A persistent aura of death that slowly kills you while you¡¯re in the Calamity¡¯s territory? How unfair is that? ¡°This is rough; how do the defenders around the border manage to operate inside the Calamity?¡±
¡°Very carefully, and with specialized teams. I don¡¯t know the exact breakdown, but I¡¯ve heard that at least 90% of the defenders around this Calamity are Martials; Mages don¡¯t survive that long without Body Regeneration to keep them alive, and those that do go inside are typically some sort of Healer Specialization.¡±
Hearing that, Larek was amazed that it hadn¡¯t expanded more than it had with those kinds of restrictions.
Distracted by the Calamity for a moment, he focused on the reason they were there in the first place. A quick observation on the trail he was leaving showed that even more of the Pure Aetheric Force was being pulled away, but it wasn¡¯t yet enough to camouflage his movements completely. He thought he would have to get closer to the center in order for it all to be sucked by the enormous Aperture, where he would then be able to make a break for it. If there wasn¡¯t any of his magical signature left in the environment, the two Gergasi wouldn¡¯t be able to track him.
In the next minute, he sensed the Gergasi disappear from his senses behind him. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was interference from the Calamity that was messing with his Skill or something else, but when he backed up about a half-mile toward where he¡¯d come from, he felt them again.
¡°They¡¯ve stopped,¡± he told Nedira by way of explanation of his actions. ¡°I think they¡¯re on the border.¡±
¡°Are they going to follow us in?¡±
He waited to see what the two powerful Gergasi were going to do as his senses detected them at the furthest reaches of his sensory range. He couldn¡¯t visually see them, but he imagined that they were hesitating to follow him inside, which was yet another indication that something odd would happen if a Gergasi entered an Aperture.
As Larek and Nedira hovered in the air, waiting for whatever the two pursuers chose to do, the Fusionist sensed something else. ¡°We¡¯ve got incoming from below.¡± Looking down, he saw what appeared to be a dozen skeletal figures covered in ragged black cloth with a hood covering their heads, leaving their faces concealed in shadow. They all floated slowly upwards, moving at a little more than a fast walk, but their objective was clear.
¡°Bone Wraiths,¡± Nedira informed him. ¡°Their touch will slowly sap the strength of their victims, while they are also strong enough to rip and tear flesh with their bony appendages. They are relatively weak defensive-wise, but they can reconstitute themselves if their bodies aren¡¯t largely destroyed. Fire works well enough for that purpose.¡±
With that said, the two of them angled their staves downward and unleashed a barrage of flaming balls toward the dozen monsters, lighting them on fire while also bursting apart their skeletal forms. As they fell back down to the dead land below, Larek felt and saw a small amount of Aetheric Force enter his body from their deaths, while some also went toward Nedira. It was purified by his internal core within seconds, showing him that he¡¯d gained approximately 10 AF to use. Looking at his Status, he was grateful for the additional resources, as he saw that he was getting low. While nearly 40,000 AF still sounded like a lot, during the time when he¡¯d been creating so many Fusions, he¡¯d spent a chunk of it increasing his maximum Skill Levels for quite a few of his Skills that were nearing the limit, as well as having used a bit on animated constructs, such as his clones. Increasing maximum Skill Levels really depleted his store quickly, especially considering ones such as Energetic Transmission and Aetheric Authority required tens of thousands of AF for a single maximum Level increase.
As it was, he thought he could probably create a dozen or so animated clones of himself with his current reserve, which wasn¡¯t a lot if it came down to a fight with the Gergasi. Accumulating more while they were in the Calamity was potentially a good idea.
Even as the Bone Wraiths were destroyed, Larek kept his senses on the two figures in the distance that were pursuing him, which was why he felt it when they eventually disappeared from his senses completely. Cautiously moving the Pattern construct they were flying around in back toward the border, he was confident he was in visual range of where he¡¯d last felt them ¨C but they were nowhere to be seen. Stretching his senses to the max, he couldn¡¯t feel them anywhere. Still, he was wary of a trick, as he wasn¡¯t sure if they knew how to camouflage their presence and were just waiting for the Fusionist to let his guard down to attack, but the more he floated there without a single indication of there being an ambush set up, he began to let himself relax a little.
And killed another few dozen Bone Wraiths that attacked them as they waited.
¡°Do you think they¡¯re gone for good?¡± he eventually asked Nedira.
She shrugged, which was basically his own response. ¡°Maybe? They could be lying in wait for us to leave, but I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯d be able to tell.¡± She turned to him. ¡°What now?¡±
That was a good question. He¡¯d really been wanting to see what would happen if the two Gergasi passed into the Calamity¡¯s territory, but it seemed like the threat of doing that outweighed the need to hunt him down. Still, he wasn¡¯t simply going to exit out of the same place that they entered, as that was just asking to be ambushed. ¡°Let¡¯s go further into the Calamity, kill some monsters, and get some more Aetheric Force while we¡¯re at it. I¡¯m getting low, and I think I may need more for the Fusions I¡¯m going to make in the future.¡±
¡°Aetheric Force? Really?¡±
He shrugged, mimicking her actions from shortly before. ¡°I think so. Regardless, I think it would be best if we kept moving for now. We¡¯ll exit the Calamity somewhere else, before making our way back to Thanesh.¡±
¡°I sure hope they¡¯re alright.¡± She hesitated for a few seconds before she asked, ¡°Do you think the Gergasi will be able to track the city down, now that they know about you?¡±
¡°I have no idea, but I don¡¯t think so. I think if they really knew who I was, they would¡¯ve gone there immediately instead of randomly finding me outside of Thanesh.¡±
With a moment of thought, she nodded and agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s go, then. The sooner we¡¯re back, the better I¡¯ll feel.¡±
The Fusionist in him couldn¡¯t agree more. He¡¯d learned a lot on this expedition, and while there had been some unexpected developments with the Gergasi chasing them, he was looking forward to experimenting and developing the Fusions that he hoped would prove to be exactly what they all needed.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 12
The two of them stayed around the outskirts of the Calamity for the next few hours, killing monsters indiscriminately along the way. Larek was getting tired from maintaining his focus on the Pattern box for so long, especially after having to push it so hard at the beginning, so the both of them felt that it was better to not go too close to the center of the Calamity where it might become too dangerous for just the two of them. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t think he could flee if they ended up in trouble, but he¡¯d rather not have to chance it if he didn¡¯t have to.
Thankfully, it only took traveling about 100 miles into the territory for the Pure AF naturally flowing off of him to be completely sucked up by the central Aperture, meaning that he was now untraceable if the Gergasi changed their mind and entered the Calamity. Once he felt a bit safer ¨C which was ironic, given that they were technically in dangerous territory and were frequently attacked by Bone Wraiths, along with a number of flying monsters from subservient Apertures ¨C he started looking a little bit more at how he might be able to permanently prevent his magical signature from leaking out from his body. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t focus on the problem too much, or else he risked losing control of his Pattern box; he debated whether to try and make it an animated construct, so that he didn¡¯t have to worry about it as much, but he hesitated to do that while they were still being hunted by the Gergasi.
Why? Because in his experience, his animated constructs weren¡¯t quite as responsive as the constructs on which he kept his focus. Larek could move his active constructs, such as his box, as fast as he could think about it, while animated constructs, such as clones, took a slightly longer time because they were ¡°disconnected¡± from him. The difference wasn¡¯t too significant, at least not normally, but thinking about how close to him the lightning bolt spell the female Gergasi had been able to send his way, he knew it was only the speed of his reaction time that allowed them to avoid being blasted with it. He didn¡¯t think that he would¡¯ve been able to move in time if the box had been an animated construct.
They had entered the Calamity upon its eastern border, and whether or not the Gergasi were still waiting for them there, Larek and Nedira decided that it would be better to exit the Calamity from a different direction. As they made their way around it, going southwest and fighting monsters along the way, they estimated that they were close to the western border of the Calamity within a few hours. They kept going, however, as they didn¡¯t want to exit directly across from where they entered, as that might be too obvious of an exit if the Gergasi were waiting for them, eventually deciding to leave via the Calamity¡¯s northwestern border. It would be a bit far away from Thanesh and the Volunteers once they left, but that was a good thing since they didn¡¯t want to lead their pursuers back home if they could help it.
¡°Shall we start heading out?¡± Larek asked, seeing that they probably had about another hour until the sun set completely. It had been an eventful and, he wasn¡¯t going to lie, scary day, and he didn¡¯t want to be inside the Calamity once night fell.
Seeing as they were about 50 miles from the northwestern border, Nedira nodded. ¡°Absolutely. I don¡¯t know about you, but I could use a break from the box. I forgot how uncomfortable it can be for long periods of time.¡±
Larek knew what she meant. He thought about making chairs or something next time, so that they wouldn¡¯t have to stand the whole time or wedge themselves down on the floor to sit down. It would require more Pattern Cohesion to create something like that, as it would by necessity be a larger box, but he thought he could probably maintain it easily enough.
¡°Alright, I¡¯m heading out. I¡¯ll take it slow, checking for those two along the way, just in case.¡±
True to his words, he moved relatively slowly, though ¡°slow¡± was still about 80 miles per hour. At that speed, he could still sense the Gergasi from quite a distance away, while still being able to flee, if necessary.
They were approximately 20 miles from the border when Larek abruptly stopped.
¡°What is it?¡± his betrothed asked nervously.
It took him a few seconds to answer, as he wasn¡¯t quite sure. The only thing he knew was that what caught his attention wasn¡¯t the Gergasi. ¡°There¡¯s¡ something odd over¡ there?¡± It came out as a question as he pointed where he thought the strange sensation was coming from.
¡°Is it the Gergasi?¡± At his head shake, she asked, ¡°What could it be, then?¡±
Again, he didn¡¯t know, but he was going to find out.
He took it a little slower than before, going only about half the speed as before, wary of an ambush or something else unexpected. It only took about 30 seconds for them to make out the likely reason for his feeling, as he could see a large group of 3 Mages and nearly 30 Martials down below them, fighting monsters from a relatively large, nearby subservient Aperture.
To be more accurate, they weren¡¯t exactly fighting; they were fleeing.
From where it seemed they had come from, Larek saw a few unmoving shapes on the dead, dirt-filled ground, which he assumed were bodies of unfortunate members of the group that had to be left behind, while there was only one corpse of a monster that he could perceive. The rest of them were chasing after and trying to kill the Mages and Martials, and they unfortunately outnumbered them, approximately two-to-one.
¡°Felis Stalkers,¡± Nedira noted of the monsters that seemed likely to overwhelm the group at any moment. Larek was already heading toward them to help as he looked closer at the Felis Stalkers, and he supposed that they deserved their name with how they seemed to flow over the ground with a grace that belied their large size. When they were standing upright, which wasn¡¯t often as they were almost always low to the ground even as they sped after the few Mages and Martials, he estimated that they would be approximately 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Given that they were approximately twice that in length, the dark-furred, cat-like monsters were powerful opponents for any team of fighters, but when there were nearly 60 of them attacking simultaneously, there weren¡¯t many people who could handle them.
They moved quickly and had vicious claws that he witnessed nearly split a steel shield into pieces when one of the Martials blocked a blow during their obvious retreat, only for a different Stalker to pounce and land on top of him, knocking him to the ground. Another swipe of claw nearly tore his head off as his helmet was ripped away, exposing a panicked-looking young man behind it, who seemed to be bracing for the next attack that would take his life.
Suddenly, a barrage of sharp icicles slammed into the Stalker¡¯s side, piercing through its fur and flesh with enough force to knock it off the panicked Martial, saving his life momentarily, which he nearly lost the next second as another Stalker attempted to chomp down on his face with jaws that could nearly swallow his head whole. An armor-covered forearm that he hastily threw above his head was all that saved him as the jaws clamped down on the arm, breaking his bones as the steel plating was massively deformed as a result of the bite. He screamed in pain as the monster yanked at the appendage, attempting to get its teeth unstuck from the armor. Before the Stalker could rip his arm off in its efforts, the giant cat¡¯s head was neatly severed from its body, falling on top of the downed man, who could only look at it in confusion and agony as it further wrenched at his arm.
And then Larek was within the melee, swinging his halberd as quickly as he could, lopping off limbs and tearing large gashes in the sides of the Stalkers that managed to get out of the way in time. He kept his focus on the Pattern box containing Nedira, which was 50 feet above the ground, as she rained down projectiles and explosions along the back line of the monster horde, taking care to avoid the Mages and Martials that were just now starting to realize something had changed about their doomed retreat.
Once he had established himself into the defense, the Fusionist pulled out all the stops. Activating his Tactician Mind and Fleetfoot Battle Arts, he started moving and thinking even faster, allowing him to start tearing through the Stalkers. He took the time to create two clones even while he fought into the thick of the monster pack, drawing most of their attention to him, until he was surrounded by nearly 40 of them.
As the clone constructs jumped into the fray, he created another active Pattern construct in the shape of a jagged, circular saw blade like he¡¯d seen used at the sawmill back home, and he spun it rapidly while it rotated around his body at a distance of approximately 15 to 20 feet, 2 feet above the ground. With it angled horizontally, he used it to absolutely obliterate the low-crouched Stalkers that were getting ready to pounce on him, blasting it through skulls and forelegs alike. It shattered once when it hit a Stalker harder than he planned, causing him to reconstruct his impromptu weapon, but when he pumped more Pattern Cohesion into it next time, nearly 20,000 at that point, it stayed intact.
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He and his clones killed more than half of them, with Nedira launching her own attacks from above wiping out another 10 to 15, when the Mages and Martials that had been running away finally rejoined the fight, picking off the stragglers by working together quite efficiently. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw that while the people he¡¯d just saved seemed young and he didn¡¯t feel a lot of strength in most of them, it seemed as though they were used to the teamwork they displayed in helping to kill off the rest. He wasn¡¯t sure what had happened that made what appeared to be most of the monsters in the subservient Aperture to suddenly attack them en masse, but he was positive that they could¡¯ve easily handled much smaller groups with no problem at all.
Once the last of the Felis Stalkers was dead, he brought Nedira down to the ground and absorbed the Pattern box construct, before turning to the group of surviving Mages and Martials. A quick count showed that no one else had died once the two of them had arrived, but there were a half-dozen who were heavily injured ¨C all of them Martials who had been hurt while defending the three Mages in their retreat. Despite their efforts to protect them, the Mages looked ragged, as if they were already on the brink of death, and he was fairly certain that they were perpetually low on Mana.
Healers of some kind, I assume. Nedira was right; it¡¯s mainly Martials who fight in the Calamity due to the aura of death that fills its territory.
Quickly taking out a few Graduated Parahealing Fusions, he handed them to Nedira when she moved up next to him, and he nodded toward the three Mages who were on their last legs. He figured that they had spent most of their Mana keeping the others alive, and that they were just barely holding on with the persistent death aura eating away at their bodies; they would benefit from the Fusions, but he¡¯d have to see about getting them some stat boosting Fusions so that they wouldn¡¯t run out of Mana as quickly.
¡°Who are you?¡± one of the Martials marched up across from him, his tone suspicious and slightly angry at the same time. The Kingdom man was wearing beat-up iron-plated armor and was wielding a short sword and shield, but he also looked like he wanted to fight Larek. Why is he so hostile¡? Oh. That¡¯s right.
I¡¯m tall. Stupid inherited prejudice is at it again.
¡°Look, we were just passing through and thought you could use some help,¡± he explained, not wanting to go into specifics. He knew from experience that the man wouldn¡¯t necessarily see reason if he was already predisposed to hating him, despite the fact that he had saved all their lives. At that point, Larek was planning on helping to heal those injured in the fight and then leave, as he didn¡¯t want to risk these people recognizing who he was. From the reports the Volunteers received, he knew that the information regarding his description had circulated pretty far, but he wasn¡¯t sure if it had permeated all of the Factions around this Calamity yet.
¡°Where did you come from? Why are you here? What Faction are you from?¡± the man continued to demand, his right hand tightening around his sword¡¯s hilt as he spoke, as if he was just about to try stabbing the Fusionist. When a dozen other Martials who looked like Kingdom residents started walking up on either side of him, staring daggers in his direction, Larek began to think it was time to go. He thankfully caught the eye of Nedira, and she immediately understood what was going on, rushing back toward him after quickly delivering the Fusions.
If these people aren¡¯t grateful for us saving their lives, then there¡¯s no point sticking around.
But the man wasn¡¯t done. ¡°When did you enter the Cal¡ª¡±
¡°Balent, you dumb piece of sheep¡¯s dung, shut up! Why the hell are you accosting the people who saved our asses out here?¡± came a voice from behind the line of Martials, and it immediately sounded familiar to him.
¡°But he looks like one of the¡ª¡±
¡°I don¡¯t care if he looks like the ugly nightmare monster that ate your mother, you don¡¯t treat our saviors like this!¡± the voice shouted again, and he looked to see who it was, but they were on the ground, likely one of the injured he¡¯d briefly counted after the fight was over.
¡°This is Kingdom business; you wouldn¡¯t understand. You know, on account of you being a Jaroupa and all¡ª¡±
That¡¯s who it is! ¡°Penelope? Is that you?¡± he suddenly asked, and silence settled over the dead field. Well, silence other than the few groans of pain coming from the Martials who were still injured.
¡°How do you know my name?¡± the woman asked, and Larek was now 100% positive that it was her. Unfortunately, it seemed as though the Dominion magic that Chinli had placed upon her to forget him was still active despite her death, so she had no idea who Larek was.
Thankfully, just like when he had recently found Kimble and Verne, Nedira was with him. He was now doubly glad that she had insisted on coming along with him, despite the danger to her.
¡°Penelope! It¡¯s Nedira!¡±
¡°Nedira? How¡ª? Move out of the way, you imbeciles! Hold on; Viv, help me up.¡±
Viv? Is Vivienne still with her?
The Martials who had been accosting him reluctantly moved to the side, their grumbles audible to his hearing, but he didn¡¯t really care about them anymore. Instead, his attention was on a familiar Kingdom woman dressed in leathers with a bow around her right shoulder, who indeed appeared to be Vivienne, assisting another woman with dark skin wearing a set of leather and chainmail off the ground. A steel helmet covered the majority of her blue hair, which was probably why he hadn¡¯t noticed her before when he was looking everyone over. It was a slightly different look than he¡¯d seen the Martial woman in before, but when he saw the oversized sword she started to use as a crutch, he knew it was her.
Unfortunately, the now-confirmed Penelope had an extremely bad gash along her right leg, which had cut through the chainmail and leather that had originally protected her, and which was deep enough that he was fairly certain he¡¯d see bone if there wasn¡¯t so much blood. Despite the injury which was still bleeding, she hopped along with the assistance of the Ranger at her side. Both of them had eyes trained on Nedira once she was visible to them, and Larek could see them smile when they recognized her.
Of course, when those gazes shifted to Larek, neither of them recognized him. Thankfully, despite Vivienne being from the Kingdom, she didn¡¯t look with disdain upon the Fusionist; if anything, she was indifferent.
Then again, she had almost always seemed that way in the past, so he supposed it was a normal reaction. Penelope, on the other hand, looked at him with her head cocked to the side, as if he was some sort of puzzle she was trying to solve.
¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to figure out who he is; you won¡¯t be able to,¡± Nedira said with a smile on her face as she walked forward, pulling a few things out of her Void Pocket bag as she did so. One of them was a medallion with a Healing Surge Fusion on it, which made sense; the others, though¡
He wasn¡¯t sure what she was planning, but he was ready to support her if the already-tense situation with the other Martials became a problem; he had a Pattern construct ready to go if it was needed.
¡°Nedira, it¡¯s really you! Where did you come from? Why are you here?¡± Penelope asked, wincing as she put too much weight on her leg.
¡°Those questions can wait. Here,¡± she said, grabbing a few more Healing Surge Fusions from her bag and handing them to the hostile Martials she passed on the way to Penelope and Vivienne. ¡°These are healing Fusions for those who are hurt; can you help your friends for me?¡± she asked without stopping or waiting for a reply. ¡°Thank you so much.¡±
¡°You have healing Fusions? How? I thought they were all confiscated after¡ something?¡± The blue-haired Martial shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m having trouble remembering¡¡±
¡°Like I said, don¡¯t worry about it. Use this to fix up your leg, and we¡¯ll have a chance to talk soon.¡± Nadira handed the medallion to Penelope and the Martial immediately activated it, even as she screamed out in pain from it working. Larek knew from experience that with wounds that bad, there was always an initial round of pain that tore into them at first, but it would eventually get better as the healing was completed.
The other Martials tensed up a little at the scream, but they could see that it was already working, helping to stop the bleeding and to regenerate the torn flesh. When they saw this, the Martials who were given the healing Fusions dispersed to help their comrades, while the others stood around uncertainly.
Within 30 seconds, Penelope was able to stand on her own, looking relieved and more than a little tired from the healing. She took off her helmet and her long blue hair spilled out, wet from sweat, and she shook her head a few times with a smile on her face.
¡°Thank you, Nedira. That feels so much better. Now, tell me, what are you¡ª¡±
¡°I¡¯ll get to that! I haven¡¯t seen you in years; come on, group hug!¡±
Larek barely held in his chuckle at Nedira¡¯s happy attitude, especially when he remembered how much she had hated the woman when she thought Penelope was trying to steal Larek away from her. The two Martials also looked slightly weirded out, but they shrugged a few seconds later and were enfolded into her hug.
That was, of course, when she struck. With her arms around the two Martials, she reached up and slapped a thin Illuminated Free Will Fusion on the back of both of their heads.
They immediately reacted to the sudden ¡°attack¡± by pushing Nedira away, who stumbled backwards but thankfully didn¡¯t fall, while they began to investigate the brief pain on the back of their heads. Fortunately, it was already too late.
¡°What did you d¡ª¡± Penelope asked, before she suddenly collapsed, her legs going slack as she immediately lost consciousness. Vivienne fell to the ground a half-second later, even as she began to pull out one of her knives. The two of them were lying in a heap in a flash, before anyone could react.
Of course, when they were able to react, it was just as bad as Larek thought it might be.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 13
¡°What did you do to them?! I will kill you!¡±
The same Martial who had been so distrustful of Larek, Balent (if he remembered the name correctly), shouted and then sprinted toward Nedira, who was now looking at Larek. Just as the man swung his sword at her, the Fusionist created a Pattern construct in front of his betrothed, which prevented the sword from doing anything but creating a *thunk* as it slammed into the barrier.
The angry Martial was only deterred for a moment before he attacked again, but by that time the others were reacting; 20 additional Martials, which were essentially those who hadn¡¯t been previously injured, swarmed not only toward Nedira, but toward Larek, as well. While he created another construct that acted more as a dome than as a single barrier over Nedira, the Fusionist caught the look she gave him as she glanced back toward Larek¡¯s two unconscious former bodyguards. Sighing, he nodded even as an arrow powered by a Battle Art attempted to hit him in the chest, only to be largely stopped by his Automatic Ice Repulsion Field. The force behind the attack was surprisingly enough to pierce through the ice and impact his shirt, but the Multi-Resistance Fusion on it, as well as the toughness of his own skin, meant that the projectile didn¡¯t do more than press sharply on his rib.
Jumping over the heads of the half-dozen melee-oriented Martials who surrounded him, he used another Pattern construct under his feet to take him toward Penelope and Vivienne. He acted fast enough that his attackers couldn¡¯t recover from his sudden escape to stop him, as he scooped the two of his friends up in his arms, before lifting them into the air. With a thought, he manipulated the dome of Pattern Cohesion surrounding Nedira and turned it into a sphere, which he then brought upwards, joining him nearly 150 feet above the surface. A third, larger Pattern construct in the shape of a rectangular box appeared just below them, straining his focus a bit with its size and with the fact that he was maintaining his other constructs, before he canceled those keeping him and Nedira aloft, dropping everyone inside the box.
¡°Uh, so, what exactly was your plan here?¡± Larek asked even as he quickly extended the sides of the construct when an arrow launched by one of the Martials down below exploded along the side, threatening to injure one of them.
Nedira appeared calm, despite the situation they had found themselves in, which had deteriorated quickly as additional Battle Art-powered projectiles slammed into the bottom of the Pattern box. He lifted it further into the air to avoid any more attacks, which was a little bit of a strain on his focus, but it wasn¡¯t too bad.
¡°This, essentially,¡± she finally said. ¡°I just knew that we needed to fix their memories as soon as possible, before they began to look into you too far,¡± Nedira explained further. ¡°I still remember what happened to Kimble when he began to figure out who you were, and I wanted to prevent that.¡±
He looked at her closely. ¡°Are you sure it wasn¡¯t because you wanted to smack a certain someone upside the head?¡±
Her innocent look didn¡¯t fool him as she said nothing in response. Sighing, he looked down at the two unconscious Martials at his feet. ¡°How long do you think they¡¯ll be out?¡±
¡°Hopefully not long; Bartholomew wasn¡¯t out particularly long when he had his Fusion added to him, after all. Kimble and Verne were different because there were other extenuating circumstances going on, as you no doubt remember.¡±
He agreed, as that was absolutely true. Kimble had been trying to kill Larek and possibly himself as his mind was nearly torn apart from what Chinli had done to him with Dominion magic, and Verne had been suffering from the destruction of his unique spell that was innately connected to him.
¡°Alright. Then what are we going to do about them?¡± he asked, pointing below the Pattern box construct. ¡°They¡¯re understandably angry at us right now. I don¡¯t think it would go over well with the people trying to contain the Calamity if we were to take off with them.¡±
¡°I honestly didn¡¯t really think that far in advance,¡± Nedira admitted. ¡°I guess we can try to convince them¡ªfrom afar¡ªthat we mean no harm and that what we did is for their own good?¡±
¡°Sure, you can certainly try that, but it might be better to wait until they wake up.¡±
Larek¡¯s betrothed decided to try her hand in convincing those below that what she had done was for the best, explaining that Penelope and Vivienne had traces of Dominion magic from a Gergasi in their heads. Of course, as soon as they descended a little so that they could hear her, the Pattern box was fired upon without hesitation, only allowing her to get a few words out as she leaned over the side before she had to pull her head out of the way of the barrage. Thankfully, it appeared as though the three Mages down below weren¡¯t getting involved, either because they didn¡¯t have the Mana to do so or they had decided against it, so they didn¡¯t have to worry about any spells coming their way.
In the end, as essentially every Martial screamed obscenities and threats at them from the ground, they ended up simply waiting until the two former bodyguards woke up. Unluckily for the group down below, the Calamity wasn¡¯t so patient, as dozens of monsters ¨C many of whom came from Apertures that Larek and Nedira had attacked before they arrived to help ¨C attacked them as reinforcements were spawned. It helped to tone down the rate of threats sent toward Larek and Nedira, as they were forced to fight the monsters off, but it didn¡¯t get rid of those threats entirely.
It was when the sun was in danger of falling below the horizon that an unexpected decision was apparently made among the members of the group.
In other words, they left.
¡°They¡¯re going?¡± Larek asked, confused. For some reason, he had expected them to keep trying to get their people back, or at least harass them until Larek or Nedira did something about it.
¡°I can only assume that they don¡¯t want to be around here at night. Something about that is familiar, but I can¡¯t remember why.¡±
Without being harassed by a massive horde of Felis Stalkers and with everyone healed up, the group could move quite fast. The three Mages were literally carried by the Martials as they ran at their max speed, which was surprisingly quick, showing that most of them had high Agility stats and also had a speed-enhancing Battle Art to increase it even further. Rather than leave them behind ¨C as he did want to return Penelope and Vivienne to them, if only to explain what they had done ¨C Larek followed them overhead.
The group avoided any other Apertures on their path toward the border, and they were moving fast enough that no other monsters caught up to them. Despite this fact, Larek sent the Pattern box lower and was able to see the worried and stressed faces among those who had just been threatening to kill them, and an unsubstantiated worry began to invade his thoughts.
Why do they look scared?
He even attempted to get low enough to ask the fleeing Martials and the few Mages of the group, but none of them even seemed to notice him anymore; they were wholly intent on running as fast as their abilities could carry them.
¡°You don¡¯t remember hearing what this is about?¡± the Fusionist asked his only other conscious passenger, but she simply shook her head.
¡°I may have heard something in passing, but most of my information about this Calamity came from before it had grown to its current size,¡± she revealed. ¡°If there¡¯s something new about the night here in the Calamity, then it¡¯s knowledge that I don¡¯t possess.¡±
Larek thought about it for a moment. ¡°Should we help? I probably have enough Boosts in my bag for all of them.¡± He wasn¡¯t necessarily inclined to help them, given their attitude toward him and reaction upon Nedira¡¯s ¡°assault¡± upon Penelope and Vivienne, but he also didn¡¯t necessarily want them harmed. Sure, their prejudice against his height sucked, but he understood it; even their demand for blood from Nedira was understandable, even if he thought they were blowing the whole thing out of proportion ¨C especially since they wouldn¡¯t listen to a reasonable explanation.
Neither of those things deserved death, however.
Nedira hesitated for a few seconds before she shook her head. ¡°No, I think it would be better to wait and see what they are running from. Giving them the Boosts might make them a bit more dangerous to you and me, and I don¡¯t particularly want to be blasted out of the sky.¡±
She had a point. Arming their current foes with much stronger stats wouldn¡¯t necessarily be conducive to safe interactions between them, but he would try it if it became necessary. Besides, if there was some sort of danger after nightfall, Larek was confident he could handle it. He¡¯d killed a Gergasi, after all¡ªeven if his success had only been by the skin of his teeth.
The sun descended beneath the horizon a short time later, leaving the group below at least five miles away from the border. They were moving quickly, but it was going to be another fifteen minutes or so before they reached it, but Larek didn¡¯t really think it would matter. He had been keeping watch all around the environment, and other than some small, random groups of Bone Wraiths scattered around the area, there didn¡¯t appear to be much threat to worry about.
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The Martials below seemed to think otherwise, as they somehow dug deep and increased their speed even more, the terrifying panic they were experiencing clear in their movements. It didn¡¯t make any sense to Larek, and he even looked at Nedira to see if she had any clue to what was going on, but she just shrugged.
It was at that moment, only seconds after the sun fell beneath the horizon, that Penelope woke up. ¡°That stupid bitch! I¡¯m going to kill her!¡± she screamed as she sat up abruptly, her eyes wide as what appeared to be memories flowed through her mind. He could only assume that she now remembered what Chinli had done to her to suppress her memories, erasing all knowledge of Larek and what he was ¨C and she was obviously angry about it.
¡°Welcome back,¡± he said, squatting down and offering his hand. She quickly took it and he pulled her to her feet, though she had already turned to Vivienne, who was just starting to stir on the floor of the Pattern box.
Seeing that Vivienne seemed to be fine and just needed to regain full consciousness, Penelope turned to Larek and smiled. ¡°Ooh boy, I missed you,¡± she said, before her look turned murderous. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill that bi¡ª¡±
¡°Larek already killed her,¡± Nedira interrupted with a smirk, causing the blue-haired Martial to turn toward her.
¡°Nedira! You sneaky little¡ª¡± Penelope began, before she seemed to freeze in place. ¡°Uh¡ where are we? Please don¡¯t tell me we¡¯re still in the Calamity.¡±
Larek exchanged a confused glance with Nedira. ¡°Well, yes, we¡¯re following your group as they¡¯re leaving. See, we had to take you away while you were unconscious, because they really didn¡¯t like what Nedira had to do to you to get rid of the Do¡ª¡±
¡°We need to leave, right now!¡± she shouted. Before anyone could do anything, though, an unnatural darkness fell over the territory of the Calamity like a wave, originating from the center and pushing outwards. It was as if full night had fallen within a matter of seconds, but there was no moon or stars to illuminate even a portion of the area around them. ¡°Too late,¡± Penelope said into the sudden silence that accompanied the darkness, her resigned tone causing the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.
They were accompanied by the rest of the hair on his body sticking straight up when terrifying screams seemed to echo through the void of light, with no discernable source; it simply washed over them from all sides, as if they had suddenly found them in some sort of torture room where thousands of people were being tortured simultaneously.
Larek was just covering his ears when the screams abruptly stopped, and everyone in the box ¨C including Vivienne who had pulled herself to her feet ¨C stared at each other in mounting horror. The glow from his Pattern box was the only thing that allowed them to see each other, and he could see the unsubstantiated terror in all their eyes. He felt it too, but he ignored it for the most part, as he had no idea where it was coming from; it almost felt like some sort of raw, primal effect related to Dominion magic, but it wasn¡¯t focused and was more like a generalized fear than anything else.
¡°Penelope¡ what is this?¡± he finally asked.
He didn¡¯t think she would answer, as she appeared to be frozen in fright, but she thawed enough to choppily say, ¡°Don¡¯t know. Started after last expansion. Causes overwhelming fright for a short time. Resurrects all dead monsters from the day. Makes them twice as strong. Fast. Disappear at daylight.¡±
He thought he understood what she was saying, even all broken up like that. Whatever this darkness thing was, it started after the last expansion of the Calamity¡¯s territory, and would cause everyone to be afraid for a short interval of time. After that, or perhaps while everyone was consumed with fear, it would resurrect every slain monster within the territory, boost them so that they were extra powerful and fast, and they would hunt down any invaders ¨C such as the group down below them. Thankfully, it seemed as though the resurrected monsters disappeared at daylight, but that wasn¡¯t for many hours yet.
Larek pulled one of his Graduated Illumination Strong Fusions out of his Void Pocket sack and placed it on a small Pattern construct platform he created for just that purpose, before sending it out ahead of them. The light it provided was bright, and it cut through the darkness without too many problems; he was just glad that it wasn¡¯t like his experience down in the tunnels of Lowenthal with the Umbral Demons, as that unnatural darkness had been thick and fought against any source of light with determination.
As the others were still locked up in fright, Larek didn¡¯t ask anything else as he sped ahead, continuing on his path out of the Calamity. He couldn¡¯t see too far into the distance, only about 500 feet, in fact, so he couldn¡¯t visually see the border, but he was able to direct himself using his awareness of the central Aperture as a means of orientation.
Only about 15 seconds into the flight, he came upon the group of Martials that had come with Penelope and Vivienne, all of them sprawled out on the ground, frozen stiff as the fear caught them in mid-step. ¡°I¡¯m assuming you want me to save them?¡± he asked, looking at both Penelope and Vivienne. There was no hesitation as they forced themselves to nod.
With a sigh, Larek swooped his Pattern box down to the ground, absorbing it a moment later. Closing his eyes, he visualized what he wanted, and wincing at the upcoming strain to his focus that he was about to incur, he pulled a large chunk of his Pattern Cohesion out of his body and constructed a much larger box than he¡¯d ever created before. It was a relatively simple 30-foot by 30-foot square box with 4-foot-tall sides, and he was amazed at how easy it had been to construct it; there was no strain like he expected, which he attributed to all of his Skills and Specializations making it much easier.
Of course, he wasn¡¯t moving it with more than 30 bodies on board, so he figured the stress was yet to come.
A real quick lifting of the upright Nedira, Penelope, and Vivienne into his new creation was all it took to get them on board. Then, using his speed and strength, he quickly picked up and tossed all the Martials into the box, bringing it with him as he went through the group; he didn¡¯t bother being gentle with them because he knew that even the weakest Martial could handle being thrown a dozen feet or so without harm. He was getting to the last 10 or so, including the Mages, when he felt a magical disturbance heading his way. Knowing he only had seconds, he picked up and threw another three of the Martials on the ground, before pulling his staff out of his bag where he¡¯d stored it earlier.
It was just in time, as out of the darkness came a dozen mangled-looking, white-colored bears, dried blood and missing limbs clearly showing that these monsters had been dead not so long ago, but apparently even missing a head wasn¡¯t enough to deter them. A quick glance at them made him realize that, unless they were missing so many limbs that they couldn¡¯t move, the dark, magical power surrounding them would force them to obey whatever orders it gave them to carry out.
Larek, of course, was in a hurry and wasn¡¯t going to wait for them to get close, so he shot an explosive detonation right in the middle of the pack with his Variable Elemental Destruction staff at Magnitude 10. They were right on the edge of the Fusion¡¯s range, but he could still feel the shockwave as the bears were sent flying from the explosion, a few of them practically torn apart, while others were missing even more limbs than before. Without looking to see the final results of his attack, he grabbed the rest of the Martials and flung them inside, before picking up all three Mages in both arms and jumping into the Pattern box himself, his left foot landing right on the crotch of a particularly annoying Martial in the process.
He liked to think that it was a happy accident that Balent inadvertently got a taste of his displeasure over his conduct.
Taking them up once everyone was on board, he looked around to see two groups of Bone Wraiths converging together, moving at least twice as fast as they had before. Dropping the Mages in his arms, who coincidentally fell on top of Balent, cushioning their fall, he whipped his staff out again and shattered a boulder in the middle of the group, tearing their formation apart.
Without waiting any more, Larek urged the box forward, straining his focus to move as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, it was only a fraction of the speed he could normally obtain, moving only about 20 miles per hour, but at least they were moving.
Looking on the ground, he saw that the bears he had blown up had largely been damaged so much that they weren¡¯t moving anymore, but for those who still had the ability of locomotion, they pursued the Pattern box with a relentlessness that was a bit disturbing. They weren¡¯t the only ones, either, as even more resurrected monsters joined the pursuit, keeping up with their relatively slow speed easily; the only saving grace was that most of them were landbound and couldn¡¯t reach them.
But not all. More Bone Wraiths were joined by something that resembled a flying, 3-foot-wide, pebbly skin-covered sphere with teeth, and it was all he could do to blast them out of the sky before they could get too close. He felt even more magical signatures closing in from nearly all directions other than the one he was heading, and he began to think about ditching the majority of the people in the box so that they could move faster.
Fortunately, before he had to make that sort of decision, there was a sudden cessation of the fear that had been trying to affect him but he¡¯d ignored; at the same time, it seemed to free the others, as well.
¡°Hurry! To the sides of the box ¨C we need to fend off the incoming monsters!¡± he shouted as they began to stir. Larek pulled out two bundles of staves from his sack and handed them to the still-recovering Penelope, who took them with a quick training of how they worked. Fortunately, she was familiar with the general concept already, thanks to seeing them before when they traveled together, so she was able to pass them out to the Martials, who were looking out into the darkness with trepidation. Penelope snapped at them until they focused on what was important, which was defending their ride out of the Calamity, and they shuffled to the sides, ready to blast whatever got close.
It was just in time, as monsters came in waves, both the flying variety and those that could jump high, as Larek was only able to maintain a height of about 30 feet above the ground because of the strain. While their defense was a bit sporadic at first, Nedira moved quickly around to everyone with a new staff in their hands and helped them use them at least semi-effectively against the resurrected monsters coming to take their lives, and they started to get the upper hand.
Without having to devote any attention to defense, Larek was able to speed them up a little more, until they were moving at about 30 miles per hour. It still wasn¡¯t blisteringly fast, but he knew that every little bit would help them in their escape.
Their freedom from the darkness happened so fast that it shocked him, as one moment they were in enveloped in a dead void where they were fighting to stay alive, and the next they broke through to a living, vivid world that was just now starting to darken as the last of the light from the day disappeared. Moving another thousand feet or so away from the edge of the Calamity, Larek set the Pattern box down and let it collapse while exuding a sigh of relief. A quick check of the area ¨C and into the distance ¨C revealed no sign of the Gergasi, which elicited yet another sigh of relief.
At least until he looked to see a little more than 30 angry faces staring at both Nedira and him, most of them armed with his VREP Fusion staves ¨C and they looked like they were prepared to use them.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 14
¡°Put it back in your pants, Balent,¡± Penelope said as she smacked the man she was talking to in the back of his head. ¡°The rest of you, too. He just saved our lives, so stop being a dumbass.¡±
Even with how they seemed to defer to her, as if she was in charge, the Martials staring at Larek and Nedira didn¡¯t seem to want to back down. ¡°That may be, but they also hurt the two of you and took you away; that¡¯s not something we can forgive. Besides, he looks like one of those¡ª¡±
¡°Balent, shut your mouth before I shut it for you,¡± Penelope barked, cutting him off. ¡°If you had even the slightest bit of sense in your head, you would realize that I¡¯m fine and they were actually helping me and Vivienne. But no, you just let that stupid prejudice everyone in the Kingdom seems to have spout out of your mouth like some sort of ignorant toddler, and you need to knock it out.
¡°As for who he might look like? If anything, he¡¯s the opposite of one of those giants you¡¯re wetting your pants over. That thing that knocked us unconscious? It removed the commands placed upon us by one of those same giants years ago¡ and I bet you attacked them because of it, didn¡¯t you? Are you working for the Gergasi now?¡±
For the first time, Balent took a step back in surprise. ¡°What? Are you crazy? Of course we¡¯re not working for them!¡±
¡°Well, it certainly looks like you are, all up in arms and threatening the people who saved your asses from the Calamity. You all know it¡¯s rare that anyone escapes its territory once night falls, so you should count yourself lucky that you¡¯re alive.¡±
Larek was taken aback at how quickly Penelope came to his and Nedira¡¯s defense, but that was only overshadowed at how fast Balent and the other Martials from the Kingdom seemed to fall in line at her words. The Fusionist could tell that they weren¡¯t exactly ready to trust him fully, and they still gave him suspicious looks, but none of them appeared to be threatening to attack either of them at that point.
¡°For my part, I apologize for the abrupt ¡®attack¡¯, as you were calling it,¡± Nedira spoke up. ¡°It was something that was necessary because the command that the Gergasi placed upon their minds might have defended itself by triggering dangerous actions, dangerous either to other people or to themselves. It wasn¡¯t ideal, by any means, but it was what needed to happen. In addition, it will also make you completely immune to the mind-controlling bugs that are spreading throughout the Kingdom.¡±
Only somewhat mollified by her apology, it was the last part of her statement that caught their attention, including Penelope. ¡°The rumors are true, then? There¡¯s a group out to the east near the former Calamity that is using some sort of creepy bugs to control people?¡±
¡°Is that what the SIC is telling people?¡± Larek asked, appalled at what he was hearing.
Everyone looked at him then, including those who were still suspicious of him, but they at least didn¡¯t appear ready to fight. ¡°Are you saying it¡¯s not true?¡± Balent asked.
¡°No, it¡¯s not true,¡± Nedira answered for him, ¡°at least not fully. There is a self-propagating swarm of mind-controlling bugs that we believe originated from a subservient Aperture inside the southeastern Calamity, but there aren¡¯t any organizations controlling these bugs. Instead, those who have been freed from the bugs¡¯ control have banded together in defense against the Calamity when the Factions and the SIC pulled all of their support and abandoned everyone along the border of the Calamity¡¯s territory to die. They call themselves the Volunteer Militia for Freedom, and it was with their help that they were able to finally close the Aperture in the center of the Calamity. Banding together, they now control and regulate nearly the entire southeastern portion of the Kingdom, maintaining the Apertures there to ensure that none of them have the chance to expand out of control again.¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t seem possible,¡± Penelope argued. ¡°With how spread-out they would be, there¡¯s no way that anyone could organize so many people in so short of a time. Unless this Volunteer group has been hiding itself for a long time now?¡±
Nedira chuckled, shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s a lot that has changed, Penelope. Our favorite Fusionist has figured out how to provide fast travel with large Transport vessels, allowing for people to travel across the entirety of the Kingdom in less than a day. Those staves that you¡¯re using have also allowed even normal people to fight against the monsters that come from the Apertures, so there are tens of thousands of Volunteers ready to take on that duty to keep themselves safe.¡±
¡°So, they¡¯re kicking out all the Mages and Martials, then?¡± Balent sneered. ¡°They can¡¯t possibly think that these staves are all they need to fight against every monster out there.¡±
¡°Not¡ exactly. While it¡¯s true that there are very few Mages and Martials that are part of the Volunteers,¡± Nedira said with a knowing smile, ¡°that doesn¡¯t mean that they¡¯re gone. They just aren¡¯t only Mages and Martials; instead, they¡¯re something different. What was it that the system calls them, my love?¡± she asked as she turned to Larek.
¡°Uh¡ Guardians?¡± He wasn¡¯t sure if that was precisely what they were, at least not yet, but he was fairly certain that the system that governed his Status would consider them Guardians once the Aetheric Force inside their internal cores was purified enough.
¡°That¡¯s right: Guardians.¡±
¡°What does that even mean?¡± Balent asked impatiently.
With a grin, Nedira said, ¡°Oh, just this.¡± And then she displayed her stats for everyone to see. Both her Mage stats¡ and her Martial stats.
There were gasps all around, as well as protestations of disbelief. They all stared at Nedira as if they were looking at an impossibility, which was understandable given that it would¡¯ve been impossible for most people approximately a month before. Penelope and Vivienne, however, were staring at Larek, and he winked at them with a nod.
¡°This has to be a lie, an illusion! No one can be both a Mage and a Martial!¡± Balent protested, looking angry again. Larek was beginning to think that was his default emotional state.
¡°No, I think it¡¯s real,¡± the blue-haired Martial stated, causing everyone but Vivienne to look at her as if she was crazy. ¡°Just take a look at the staves you all are carrying, as well as those healing Fusions a few of you used to fix up your wounds. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me to learn that the one who made them could figure out a way to give different stats to Mages and Martials.¡±
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Somehow, Penelope seemed to get that Larek didn¡¯t want everyone to know that he was the one who created the Fusions in the first place. In fact, he was fairly certain that she hadn¡¯t even used his name yet.
¡°It¡¯s not just Mages or Martials with existing potential,¡± Nedira corrected her. ¡°Anyone can now become a Guardian, with access to Martial and Mage stats, as well as spells and Battle Arts.¡±
¡°Unbelievable! Faking your stats is one thing, but now you expect me to believe that anyone can become a Mage or Martial? What do you take me for¡ª?¡±
Nedira moved quickly, far faster than a simple Mage would be able to, and slammed her staff into Balent¡¯s face, making him stagger backwards in surprise and pain as his nose was broken from the blow. ¡°You¡¯re an ignorant moron who doesn¡¯t know when to keep his mouth shut. Is that about right?¡±
Thankfully, before he could retaliate, Vivienne was next to Balent and smacked him in the back of the head similarly to what Penelope had done earlier. ¡°She¡¯s right. Shut your mouth, or I¡¯ll shut it for you.¡±
The angry Martial still seemed to want to fight, but Penelope shouted, ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough! We¡¯ve all just had a traumatic experience from which we barely escaped, and now it¡¯s time to get back to Dreenwood before we have to stumble around in complete darkness. Let¡¯s get moving, soldiers!¡±
The Martials ¨C and trio of Mages ¨C assembled into a column fairly quickly at her order, and while Balent gave Nedira dirty looks as he got into his place, the rest of them seemed more eager to get home rather than expend any energy on being angry. In fact, from the conversations he overheard, they were talking about the whole ¡°Guardian¡± surprise more than anything else, as they wondered if they would be able to have access to that kind of thing.
¡°So, Larek, it seems as though you¡¯ve done the impossible yet again,¡± Penelope said in a low voice as she moved up next to him near the rear of the column. ¡°You apparently killed a Gergasi, learned how to give potential to everyone, and figured out how to transport people great distances in nearly no time at all. What exactly did I miss while I was under the influence of that nasty woman?¡±
¡°I, uh, helped to close two Calamities? Other than that, I haven¡¯t done much, other than try and figure out a way to free my family from the clutches of the Gergasi.¡±
Nearby, Vivienne snorted. ¡°Yeah, for some reason I don¡¯t believe that.¡±
¡°It¡¯s¡ a long story. Not one I want to go into right now, though. But what about you? What are you doing here?¡±
The two Martials looked at each other for a second. ¡°Well, I graduated from Fort Ironwood and joined Viv as we tried to plug holes in the sinking ship that became of the Kingdom, only to be largely cut off from the SIC after a few years. They¡¯ve reestablished communications over the last few months, promising help in the future, but for now we¡¯ve been working for the Defend Faction working out of Dreenwood, doing our best to keep the Calamity from expanding any further. Unfortunately, it feels like it¡¯s getting harder and harder every day to accomplish that goal, as we can¡¯t move in further than we can backtrack to leave when it gets dark, greatly curtailing how many monsters we can kill.
¡°Normally, Viv and I are team leaders and take a 40-person squad into the Aperture at dawn, where we move in as far as possible and kill everything along the way. We¡¯ve rarely run into issues like what happened today, however; it was almost as if something stirred up the Apertures today, causing them to bunch up and attack us all at once ¨C which is where you found us. Thanks again for the rescue; I was almost certain that the majority of us wouldn¡¯t make it out.¡±
¡°You¡¯re very welcome,¡± he choked out, cognizant that it was more than possible that his and Nedira¡¯s presences in the Calamity were what had caused the change that killed a few of their party. He didn¡¯t say anything, though, nor did he torture himself with the feeling of responsibility; it wasn¡¯t something that they¡¯d intended, after all, and he had no idea anyone was even nearby.
¡°I know you don¡¯t want to go into where you¡¯ve been lately, but at least tell me what you were doing in the Calamity. I don¡¯t see a team with you, so what were you doing? Scouting it out, perhaps?¡±
The Fusionist shook his head. ¡°Not exactly. We were fleeing from two Gergasi who we think were a little mad about me killing Chinli. Fortunately, I don¡¯t feel them anywhere around here.¡±
¡°That sounds like a whole other story I¡¯d love to hear, but it can wait. Can you stay a while? We¡¯d love to have you around for a bit, and not just because of your Fusions.¡±
Larek looked at Nedira, who shook her head. ¡°We can stay the night, but we really have to get back as soon as possible,¡± Nedira answered. ¡°Tell me, what have you heard from the SIC about us?¡±
Penelope chuckled. ¡°It would be easier to say what we didn¡¯t hear about you two. From what we were told, there is a rogue group of people who are using mind-controlling bugs to take over the Kingdom as they push out from the southeast. Apparently, they¡¯re some sort of cult that are using unknown magic to slaughter innocent people, and the entire southeastern region is devolving into chaos as we speak. Oh, and they are led by someone called The Fusionist, who is in control of these bugs and looks to style himself as the new King once everyone has been infected or dead. Death, famine, and all that fun stuff are coming from the area, so¡ yeah. I¡¯m assuming that¡¯s all a lie? Other than there being mind-controlling bugs, as you said earlier.¡±
Nedira nodded. ¡°Pretty much. We assembled the Volunteer Militia to help free as many people as we could from the bugs, but it¡¯s now turned into a massive organization of tens of thousands of people that have taken it upon themselves to protect their land from monsters and the Apertures, using Larek¡¯s Fusions. Unfortunately, the SIC doesn¡¯t want to lose what control they have, and so, they have attacked us in the past, but now they¡¯re turning the Factions against us, spreading lies and half-truths that are designed to rile up the nearby population to try and fight back against our ¡®tyranny¡¯.¡±
Penelope and Vivienne were silent for a few seconds. ¡°I have to say, the SIC is rather devious in this respect. If I didn¡¯t know you two, I would¡¯ve believed everything they told us. Hell, up until you arrived, I did believe what we were told, as we¡¯ve come to expect the worst to happen after all the stuff that¡¯s occurred over the last few years. It¡¯s going to be hard to convince anyone that it isn¡¯t true.¡±
That was what Larek and the rest of the Volunteer leadership were worried about. It was why they were planning on taking out the SIC leadership, so as to correct the information being spread from the top of the chain.
¡°Is Balent or anyone else going to be a problem?¡± Larek asked softly.
Fortunately, Penelope knew what he was getting at. ¡°He¡¯s a hothead, but he normally has a good head on his shoulders. I think you¡¯ll be fine, but stay away from him just in case. I¡¯ll have you put up away from Faction headquarters for the night.¡± She paused for a moment. ¡°Can you really give me Mage powers? I¡¯d really love to be able to fling spells around.¡±
Larek nodded. ¡°Of course. I have a Fusion that can give it to anyone. I even have enough in my sack here,¡± he said, gesturing to the bag on his belt, ¡°to handle a couple of hundred people, and I can make some more. The only thing is¡ I¡¯m hesitant to give it to anyone who might use it against the Volunteers, if they are convinced to attack.¡±
¡°Understandable. But for Viv and I? Please?¡±
Larek chuckled at the way she was practically begging. ¡°Of course. In fact, would you be interested in joining the Volunteers? We¡¯re looking to expand, and once the SIC situation is handled, we¡¯ll probably be looking into closing this Calamity before we take on the Gergasi.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ a bit to ask. I want to say yes, but I also don¡¯t want to leave the Faction here in a lurch. We¡¯ve been barely hanging on as it is, and with the recent losses¡ let¡¯s just say that if we were to leave, the relatively stable situation we have going on will likely change for the worse.¡±
¡°Ah, but we have Kimble, Verne, and Norde with us ¨C plus your favorite Martial in the world, Bartholomew, to help us,¡± Nedira added.
¡°You found Barty? What hole did he climb out of?¡±
¡°The SIC. Fortunately, after we saved him from a bug in his head, he¡¯s on our side now. You really should consider it, Penelope. We could turn this Dreemwood into an outpost for the Volunteers and supply your people with the Fusions to really make a difference.¡±
She didn¡¯t answer right away, nor did she get a chance to immediately after that, as Larek could see a town coming into view ¨C and there was a large group of Mages and Martials heading their way from that direction.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 15
The welcome committee consisted of not only the Faction members stationed in Dreenwood, but also from the next nearest town, Wilfirth. The original reason for their congregation ¨C as they quickly discovered ¨C wasn¡¯t necessarily because of Larek, Nedira, Penelope, or any of the Martials she was in charge of, but it was related.
¡°Did you feel that presence of power that moved through here a little over an hour ago?¡± a female Mage in a dark blue robe came up to Penelope as soon as they joined with the group coming out to see them. ¡°It¡¯s got everyone up in arms because no one could tell what it was. Those from Wilfirth came as soon as they felt it to discuss what to do about it, when Cralin saw you coming from the walls.¡±
The blue-haired Martial shook her head. ¡°No, we didn¡¯t feel anything, Nance. We were too busy running for our lives inside the Calamity.¡±
¡°You were inside when the sun went down? Were you right on the edge or something?¡±
Penelope briefly glanced at Larek for a moment. ¡°Something like that,¡± she said after a moment. ¡°But why is everyone out here?¡±
¡°Jyrdyn is somehow convinced that you ¨C or something related to you ¨C are somehow connected to what we felt,¡± the Mage, Nance, explained. ¡°You know how he is, always thinking he can see to the truth of the matter despite rarely ever being right. But when the Faction Leader wants to go out, we go out.¡± The woman shrugged. ¡°Regardless, he wants to see you when you get back.¡±
The Fusionist listened to all of this as the rest of the Martials who had been marching in formation began to disperse into the group that had come out to see them. He could already see and hear that the details of their little adventure inside the Calamity were being shared, and it was looking more and more like they were going to have a problem. Bold-faced stares mixed with surreptitious glances were sent in their direction, and it wasn¡¯t only Nedira and himself that were getting the treatment, but Penelope and Vivienne, as well.
¡°Fine, then let¡¯s go.¡±
Her abrupt decision made everyone start moving back toward the town, and Larek couldn¡¯t help but share a look with his betrothed. He could see it in her expression that she was feeling just as worried over this as he was, but she didn¡¯t say anything. At least, not yet.
Larek almost took Nedira with him in another Pattern box right then and there, launching them into the sky so they could leave all these petty Faction issues behind, but he restrained himself. Now that they had freed his two old bodyguards from the Dominion magic that had affected them, he felt somewhat responsible for their well-being ¨C if only to the point where he would take them away from there if they wanted to leave.
He had no real fear of any of the other Faction members with their suspicious looks, nor did he fear for Nedira¡¯s safety, so he decided to see where this was going before he made any move. That, and the fact that it sounded like the two Gergasi had passed overhead at some point in the last hour or so made him slightly wary of taking off right now, as he didn¡¯t want to run into them. He could only hope that they were looking somewhere else right now, and that they would stay away long enough for the trail in his magical signature in the Pure Aetheric Force his body gave off to dissipate. There was still the possibility that they could detect it while he was in town, but they would likely have to get close in order to do that; while it didn¡¯t exactly blend in with so many other people around, it would at least be muted with the presence of the others.
And what Larek really needed was a place to rest, as he¡¯d strained his focus over the last few hours. That, and he wanted some time to reflect on everything he¡¯d learned since he left Thanesh, and to look into any potential methods for camouflaging his magical signature.
It didn¡¯t take more than 15 minutes to arrive at the gates leading inside the town of Dreenwood, and they were all let in without any trouble. Larek and Nedira followed after Penelope and Vivienne, as they seemed to know where they were going, and they were accompanied by the entire group that had come out to meet them. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that they were acting more as guards that were ensuring that their prisoners were going where they were supposed to than fellow Faction members simply heading toward the same place.
¡°Penelope, is everything going to be alright?¡± he asked in a low voice as he walked up next to her. They were entering a relatively narrow street that ran up to what appeared to be a central open space in the town, but he could see a large building that had a few other Mages and Martials waiting outside its entrance, which he could only assume was the Faction headquarters. He¡¯d rather know a little bit more of what they were getting into before they arrived, if that was possible.
She put on a fairly convincing fa?ade, but he could see by the set of her shoulders that she was worried. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine. The Faction Leader is a bit strange when it comes to some things, and this is just him being strange again. We¡¯ve got nothing to worry abo¡ªambush!¡±
The announcement came just in time as shadowy figures dropped down on Larek from above, so silent that he didn¡¯t even hear them until they were already on him. As he reached out with his senses to discover who they were, he was shocked when he couldn¡¯t feel them; it was as if they didn¡¯t exist. His first split-second thought was that they were an illusion, but that was dispelled as a matte-black sword blade cut toward his neck as its owner fell past him. His ice-based defensive Fusion activated and was able to diffuse a portion of the blow¡¯s momentum, but the strength behind the attack was so great that it shattered the ice and kept going.
Fortunately, despite the surprise attack, he was able to dodge slightly out of the way, and the blade only nicked his jawline, easily cutting through his skin and into the flesh below. Even as the cut was happening, he could feel a magical residue that had covered the blade seep into his body, and he realized that he¡¯d been poisoned. As a numbing sensation spread through his face, he rapidly activated his Healing Surge Fusion, and it thankfully neutralized the poison before it could move anywhere else through his body.
Oh, that¡¯s not good.
That was the least of his problems, it turned out, as it wasn¡¯t just that attacker that suddenly surrounded him. Two others dressed in greyish-black clothing that broke up their outline in the relative darkness that suffused the town, and he felt yet another blade break through his ice-based defenses and slice into his left thigh, while a third attempted to stab him in the stomach, but he brought his arm up in time to deflect it off to the side, though it took a wound in the process.
Both of these new wounds were poisoned, as well. A quick activation of his healing Fusion once again neutralized the substance, but he quickly deduced that the numbing sensation it caused was actually some sort of paralyzing agent; if he hadn¡¯t been able to get rid of it, he would¡¯ve been paralyzed and at the mercy of these attackers.
Or assassins, as he rapidly began to suspect they were.
Those three assassins were even now following up their initial strikes with additional ones. Whether they believed their paralyzing poison was working or not, they didn¡¯t hesitate to go for the kill, angling their blades upwards toward his neck or toward his heart, both from in front and from behind. Larek immediately formed a strong dome of Pattern Cohesion around his body, and the Battle Art-enhanced blows slammed into the barrier, damaging it more than he expected, and it nearly shattered.
While he reinforced it, giving him some room to think, the Fusionist barely glimpsed four other figures standing on top of a nearby roof, which he immediately assumed were with the three assassins currently attacking him. This was proven as they began to cast spells, their execution so fast that it was almost a blur, and from that moment on, chaos began to erupt all throughout the street.
That was because the spells these assassins cast weren¡¯t designed to only target Larek; instead, they were extremely powerful and damaging wide-range effects designed to cause as much damage as possible in the shortest amount of time. A roiling blanket of flames materialized near the roofline and rapidly dropped upon the nearly 150 people inside the narrow street, which was accompanied by a rain of boulders that shattered explosively when they came into contact with any surface, a cyclone of hardened air blades that started from one end of the street and moved toward the other, and a wave of water that began on the opposite end and crashed into the cyclone, sweeping away everything in its path. It was as if a magical apocalypse had suddenly manifested in the street with the intention of killing everything in its way.
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Only a few of the Martials present were fast enough to even begin to respond, but that response was only to start moving and get in the way of the others, all of whom were surprised enough at the sudden ambush that they panicked and were clearly unsure of what to do. Unfortunately, the chaos was only made worse when the spells started falling upon them, as they had no time to prepare or defend themselves against the assault.
As for Larek, he had about two seconds to act, but at that point he couldn¡¯t see any way to stop what was already happening with the spells. Instead, he absorbed his dome barrier, sent out three Pattern constructs shaped like sharp saw blades similar to the one he¡¯d made while saving Penelope¡¯s Faction members in the Calamity against the Felis Stalkers, and sent them flying toward the three melee assassins around him. One of them managed to avoid his counterattack and flipped backwards, but the other two took the spinning saw blade constructs through their chests, and they cut through their dark clothing, skin, flesh, internal organs, and spines before exiting out of their backs.
The last assassin was too close to effectively use his stored halberd, so he instead grabbed his Logger¡¯s axe from his belt and held it out in front of him, just before he reabsorbed his saw blade constructs and created a larger barrier which he placed over himself, Nedira, Penelope, Vivienne, and even Penelope¡¯s friend, Nance, who was standing nearby. They were all beginning to react to the attack when his dome-like shield appeared around them, and it appeared just in time.
Because the combined magical attacks were devastating. If he¡¯d had warning, he might have been able to find a way to shield more people, or even given them some additional Fusions that might have been able to save their lives; but as it was, they didn¡¯t stand a chance. Burned alive and impaled by shattering stone shards, those who weren¡¯t killed immediately were torn apart by the cyclone of hardened air, or their bodies were shattered by the force of the water wave that slammed into them that acted more like liquid stone than water when it hit them.
Larek¡¯s Pattern-based barrier nearly shattered when a rain of boulders impacted it, but he found that he was able to reinforce it with another injection of Pattern Cohesion, which he had to do twice more when the cyclone and wave of water slammed into it. Thankfully, being burned with the blanket of fire didn¡¯t actually harm it that much, as it was less of a physical impact than it was an effect of a higher temperature.
In less than five seconds since Penelope had screamed, ¡°Ambush!¡±, everyone from the Factions other than those inside of his Pattern barrier were dead. Their mangled and charred bodies were scattered all around the narrow street, piled up in places like fallen leaves in Autumn, and Larek could only stare in shock for a second as he tried to come to terms with what had just happened.
However, his attention was pulled away as something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention; a disturbance in something on the ground pulled his focus to it, mainly because it was coming from a Fusion. One of his Fusions, to be exact, and he immediately saw what was wrong.
Despite the material of the staves he¡¯d passed out to the members of Penelope¡¯s group being exceptionally strong, they weren¡¯t invulnerable. The spells that the Mage assassins had cast had done enough damage to at least one of the staves to cause it to break, and so too did the Fusion that had been placed upon it. He attempted to reach out and try and fix it, but the damage to the wood was so great that there was no fixing it; a quick attempt to try and somehow absorb the formation that was rapidly becoming unstable showed that it was impossible to do in time to make a difference.
Oh, crap.
Even though it ended up hurting them, Larek manipulated the barrier around those he had saved from the devastating spells, which picked everyone up in a large bubble and shot up into the air at an angle away from the street. Another powerful spell that involved a shattering boulder nearly popped his bubble as he fled, but he managed to get far enough away before the Fusion ruptured.
The assassins, as well as the majority of the town, weren¡¯t so lucky. It wasn¡¯t that the single VREP Fusion on the broken staff was particularly powerful; it was that there were approximately 30 other staves in close proximity to it when the formation ruptured completely. The initial explosion ripped through more than half of the street they had just left, obliterating the buildings on either side, but that was just the beginning. A chain reaction began in less than a second from the original explosion, which produced a blindingly bright flash of light that tore through the rest of the town, leveling the buildings and collapsing half the wall surrounding its perimeter in the process, killing everyone inside.
The shockwave from the chain reaction explosion was so great, despite being about 500 feet into the air by that point, that it ripped through his Pattern bubble, shredding it completely, but fortunately the majority of the force had been mitigated by his construct. As a result, while they were now falling through the air, they hadn¡¯t been completely ripped apart ¨C though it did appear as though they had been knocked unconscious, despite their relatively hardy bodies. Only Nance appeared to have suffered a bit more damage than the others, as one of her legs had been forcibly bent out of shape, but he could tell that she was still alive.
A bit disoriented from the explosion, it took Larek until he and his friends ¨C as well as Nance ¨C had nearly hit the land outside of the town before he could reform two smaller Pattern bubbles to contain their falling bodies. A few seconds later, he landed both constructs and absorbed them, catching Nedira in his arms as he did. He quickly healed her with his Fusion, and she opened her eyes, blinking up at him in confusion.
¡°What¡ª,¡± she began before clearing her throat. ¡°What happened? Everything happened so fast that I could barely comprehend what was going on. Where are we?¡±
¡°I¡¯ll answer that as soon as I can, but I have to make sure the others are alright,¡± he told her. She looked around for the first time and saw that they were outside of the town and that Penelope, Vivienne, and Nance were lying on the ground, unconscious. Scrambling down from his arms, she went to help the Mage, who appeared the worst off of them all, while Larek once again woke up the two team leaders ¨C who now had no team to lead.
¡°Wha¡ªambush! Where are they? Who are they?¡± Penelope shot awake once the Fusionist healed her enough, only to look around. ¡°Wait¡ where are we?¡±
Sitting down on the ground, the exhaustion from the day finally getting to him, Larek recounted what had happened, from the spells cast upon all the Faction members to the explosion as a result of his Fusions. He debater whether or not to tell her about the Unspoken Response assassins, but figured it wouldn¡¯t really matter at this point if she knew or not. While it wasn¡¯t exactly his fault that they had killed everyone, he was almost positive that they were only there because he was there. There was just one thing that didn¡¯t make sense.
How did they know I would be here? I didn¡¯t even know until a few hours ago.
But there were even more questions he had, such as how they had managed to hide from his senses. He had thought that it was impossible for something like that to occur, because he could sense pretty much everything. It was only toward the very end, when the initial explosion ripped through the street and the nearby buildings, that he finally felt the assassins that were still alive, but it had only been for a brief split-second. He could only assume that it was some sort of spell that hid their presence from him, and it had been canceled when one of them had died.
¡°Have you heard of these assassins that the SIC supposedly control? The Unspoken Response?¡± Penelope asked her companion, Vivienne, once he was done with his recounting.
She nodded, before going on to explain what she knew about the assassin group, which was even less detailed than when Bartholomew recounted his own knowledge. In other words, it wasn¡¯t much.
¡°Whatever they were, they¡¯re likely dead if the town exploded like that. We need to go search for survivors, however, because there might still be some townspeople or some from the Faction left alive in there.¡±
With a sigh at his exhaustion, he nodded even as he got up, joining the shocked and disbelieving companions as they ran back toward the destroyed town of Dreenwood. While Penelope had thankfully taken charge once she recovered, the others were still reeling from what had happened ¨C not that he could blame them.
When they arrived at the town, it was worse than Larek expected. Half the town walls had been blown down, and they were the most intact portion of the town that still existed. As they stood on the outside and looked in at the devastation, he could see the tears running down the faces of Penelope, Vivienne, and Nance, and even Nedira looked to be on the verge of breaking down at the sheer devastation and senseless loss of life.
The Fusionist led the way inside, picking through the rubble and extending his senses to see if he could detect any sort of life still existing underneath it all. The others followed behind him a moment later, but he could tell that they didn¡¯t hold out much hope of success.
Larek just felt numb. He¡¯d seen so much meaningless death lately that he was having a hard time processing it all. The only thing he knew for certain was that it was the SIC and the Gergasi that were responsible, and that both groups needed to be stopped. Fortunately, there was already a plan for the former, and once that was done, they would take care of the latter.
As they ventured further inside, the numbness that had infused him was burned away by a rising anger that he didn¡¯t bother tamping down. It was the anger of righteousness, and he let it simmer as he began to plot and plan how he was going to take down the SIC once and for all. He¡¯d originally been thinking about using the leadership to help steer the SIC toward a better path than the one they were on now, but after this¡
¡after this, he wasn¡¯t going to let a single one of them live.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 16
The camp was relatively subdued later that night, with good reason, as Larek finally got a chance to rest. They had moved approximately 100 miles away from Dreenwood after searching the destroyed ruins of the town, using Larek¡¯s Pattern box construct for transport, and they had made their camp just outside of an Aperture located in a dense forest. The Fusionist thought the proximity would help to camouflage his presence if the Gergasi came looking for him again, though he had no doubt that if they looked hard enough, they could find him.
Everyone else was nearly as exhausted as he was, though his exhaustion was more due to the focus he¡¯d stressed bringing everyone there after the search ¨C because it had been semi-successful. He didn¡¯t have to make as large of a box as he had when escaping the Calamity, but it was still larger than he was used to in order to fit Larek, Nedira, Penelope, Vivienne, Nance, and the eight survivors they managed to find trapped underneath the rubble. From what he could tell, most of them had only survived because some of the buildings had basements that they just happened to be in at the time of the explosion, and while the main structure had collapsed above them, they just happened to be in a place below where nothing managed to fall right on top of them.
8 out of 735 people. That was what Penelope said that the population of the mid-sized town used to be, and that didn¡¯t even include the Faction members that protected it. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t find a single member of that Faction alive other than Penelope and the others, which also included Faction members from Wilfirth, the nearest town. Thankfully, Vivienne mentioned that not all of the Faction members from the other town had been there, though their numbers were now cut dramatically from what they were before.
Everyone they had found, which included 1 man, 2 women, and 5 children under the age of 10, were now safe, healthy, and fed, but they all looked lost and devastated from the events that happened in the town. The only fortunate thing about it all, if there was anything, was that they were traumatized enough that they had absolutely no problem collapsing once they landed in the forest and fell asleep almost instantly, which was sorely needed by everyone involved. Vivienne volunteered to keep first watch while everyone else got sleep, followed by Nance and Nedira, the only two people who hadn¡¯t been injured during any of the fights or as a result of the explosion.
Larek didn¡¯t argue, as he really needed to sleep the entire night through.
He didn¡¯t think he even dreamed as he slept deeply enough that time seemed to pass in an instant, but by the time dawn was poking its way into the world, he felt extremely refreshed from the rest and ready to take on the day. Once he was wide awake, he checked his notifications, something that he didn¡¯t have the energy to do the night before.
Magical Detection has reached Level 99!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 99!
Dodge has reached Level 68!
Body Regeneration has reached Level 72!
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 59!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 65!
The results weren¡¯t as impressive as some of the times he¡¯d checked his notifications, but for the first time he was able to push two of his Skills to Level 99. He felt like there was a large hurdle between Level 99 and 100, though he was sure that he would get there eventually.
As he continued to lie on the bedroll he had used the prior night, cognizant of Nedira keeping watch on the camp nearby, Larek finally let himself think about what had happened in the town of Dreenwood. At least, he thought about everything before the explosion, as he didn¡¯t want to bring the horror of what he¡¯d seen while sifting through the rubble to the forefront of his mind.
His first thoughts were the same ones he¡¯d had the prior night about the presence of the Unspoken Response assassins ¨C or at least he assumed that was who it was. There wasn¡¯t any proof, at least none that had survived, but he couldn¡¯t think of anyone else that would deliberately attack him in such a fashion. But what concerned him the most about the whole thing was how they had not only managed to track him down, but to be in a place where he would¡¯ve thought was impossible to predict. Just as he¡¯d thought last night, even Larek didn¡¯t know he was going to Dreenwood before they were already on the way, as it likely wouldn¡¯t have been on their previous path out of the Calamity if they hadn¡¯t met up with Penelope and Vivienne¡¯s Faction group.
Could they have unknowingly been directed inside by the assassins? Had the Faction Leader in charge of Dreenwood been working with them?
Neither of those seemed likely, as it would¡¯ve taken knowing not only that Larek had entered the Calamity, but where he entered it and the reason he entered it in the first place, before then deducing where he might leave it. Then, even if they discovered all that, they would have to somehow know that Larek personally knew Penelope and Vivienne and considered them friends, who then could be used to lure the Fusionist to follow them out. But then they would¡¯ve had to have known that Larek would enter the Calamity that morning, as Penelope and her group had been inside since just after dawn. At dawn, Larek hadn¡¯t even decided to leave to visit an Aperture yet, so that seemed so implausible that it beggared belief.
Even allowing that all of that was somehow known, and that Penelope and her group just happened to be sent out as a lure for Larek, the assassins would still have needed to get to Dreenwood in time for the ambush. For all that they should¡¯ve known, Larek was supposed to still be in or around Thanesh, which was nowhere near the town he ended up in last night ¨C so that, again, seemed impossible.
All of which made him believe that there was no way they would¡¯ve been able to predict and arrange all of that just to ambush Larek. Instead, the only way he thought they might have been able to be in the right place at the right time was that they were tracking him somehow. Not only that, but they had a means of transportation that was extremely fast in order to get there in time for his arrival, because it was extremely doubtful that one of the Assassin teams just so happened to be nearby at the time. It wasn¡¯t impossible, of course, but it was very, very unlikely.
It wasn¡¯t a mystery that he could simply think about to solve, however, so without any other information on how they did it, he was forced to move on and simply keep it in the back of his mind. If he simply considered that they were tracking him and could appear at any time, then he would always be on guard against them.
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Speaking of being on guard against them, his senses had failed to find them in the first place. Or, more likely, they had been able to do something that obscured their presence from his senses, meaning that he had no idea they were even there before they attacked. The previous team of assassins had relied on illusion and the fact that he was distracted in order to get the drop on him, but by the admission of the woman he¡¯d captured, they were the worst of the bunch. At this point, he could only assume that any other Unspoken Response assassins could also hide themselves from his senses.
But how? Is it a spell? A certain technique unique to the Unspoken Response? A hidden Fusion that I didn¡¯t detect?
He doubted it was the latter, as he was fairly confident he would¡¯ve found something like that with his senses even before they attacked, so he figured it was something else entirely. But that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t adapt the idea of hiding one¡¯s presence from the senses of another into a Fusion. While he normally relied on using and altering the principles behind some of the spells he knew in order to design an Effect for a Fusion, there were other cases ¨C especially in some of his newest ones ¨C where all it needed was to see a practical application of the Effect and then to replicate it in a Fusion formation.
As he began to think back at exactly what he saw and sensed during the admittedly short fight with these latest assassins, he began to pick out certain details that hadn¡¯t occurred to him at the time. First and foremost were the spells that the Mages on the roof had cast. While he had visually seen them casting, the spell patterns forming blindingly fast in front of them, he realized that he hadn¡¯t actually sensed their Mana flowing through the pattern to initiate the spells. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was absolutely, 100% positive that they were there, he could almost believe that what he had seen was an illusion, as nothing seemed to have a substance to it.
The few body parts they had managed to locate that belonged to the assassins appeared to agree that they were physically present, as well.
Extending his memories from there, he also realized that not only did they not have any magical presence to his senses, but ¨C at least for the assassins that directly attacked and poisoned him ¨C they also didn¡¯t seem to absorb the energy in the environment around them¡ or so he was meant to believe. Everyone, even those without potential, affected the energy around them simply by passing through it ¨C even if the effect was very minimal ¨C though it was only those with potential that actually absorbed it. He¡¯d seen it enough times that he was nearly blind to it by that point, but he knew it well enough to know what it looked like when different people passed through the natural energy around them.
The problem with how the assassins interacted with that energy was that it was almost a perfect recreation of what a normal person without potential would look like if they were passing through it. But that recreation couldn¡¯t stand up to greater scrutiny, as it quickly became clear to someone like Larek that there was something else going on ¨C and it was one that he wouldn¡¯t have noticed unless he was looking for it. It was also something that, if he was able to apply it to his Fusions, could fundamentally change his understanding of a certain aspect of Fusions that he thought was impossible.
In short, the assassins he saw weren¡¯t absorbing energy from directly around them, like a normal person with potential would do, including himself. Instead, they were pulling it from somewhere else, and it only seemed like they weren¡¯t disturbing the energy around them as someone with no potential.
Looking back at his memories as they played through his mind, he remembered seeing something small that hadn¡¯t been important at the time, but now that he could focus on it, that little thing could make all the difference. When he had been looking at the Mages on the roof, he had also technically been looking above one of the assassins¡¯ heads at the time, and he observed a disturbance in the energy approximately 40 feet in the air. While he hadn¡¯t gotten a good look at it, as his attention had necessarily been elsewhere, what he remembered of it looked exactly like a Mage or a Martial absorbing large amounts of energy from the environment ¨C and it shifted when the assassin shifted.
Now, he wasn¡¯t sure exactly how it was possible, but it appeared as though those who belonged to the Unspoken Response had found some way to absorb energy from a distant point other than their body. He wasn¡¯t looking hard enough to know how that energy was actually transferred for their use, but the fact that it seemed to work was proof enough that it was happening.
Extrapolating from this new information, the Fusionist concluded that this technique ¨C or whatever it was ¨C used in reverse was likely how they also hid themselves from his senses. If they could absorb energy from a distant location, what would prevent them from expelling their magical signature to an equally distant location¡ or even locations? If he was able to figure this out, he could imagine being able to send his signature out to dozens or even hundreds of small locations all around him, dispersing it until there wasn¡¯t enough to provide a solid chunk of it to detect easily.
It also made sense that he had only been attacked in a city or a town, as dispersing a relatively powerful magical signature throughout an area where there were dozens or hundreds of people with potential, their signature would be so diluted that it would be essentially unnoticeable. They could sneak through an inhabited town or city, appearing like a normal person without any potential, and no one would be the wiser; Larek certainly hadn¡¯t been the night before, as he had been completely blind to their presence, despite being slightly on edge because of their current circumstances with the Faction. He had been prepared for a surprise attack by the Faction, even if he didn¡¯t think it would happen, but he had his senses roaming for any abrupt attacks; that obviously hadn¡¯t been enough when the assassins had basically been invisible to him.
Of course, that same dispersion of their magical signature wouldn¡¯t be as beneficial outside of a town or city, as Larek ¨C or any other target that could detect magical disturbances ¨C would be able to detect it when there weren¡¯t many other people nearby; he figured that was why they hadn¡¯t been attacked in their camp, especially if the Unspoken Response organization had some way to transport people quickly from one place to another. He would¡¯ve felt them coming, otherwise.
Even though he was pretty sure he¡¯d solved that mystery, he still had to figure out how to apply it to himself. He thought that, if given enough time, he might be able to naturally do it like the assassins seemed to be able to, but his initial attempts to absorb energy from a distant location were a failure. He¡¯d already tried hiding his magical signature by trying to alter it as it was naturally expelled from him, and even though he knew it could be done now, he was no closer to learning how it was accomplished.
Therefore, logically, he decided to turn this problem over to his Fusion-focused specialty. Knowing what needed to be accomplished with its Effects, he began designing it in his mind, creating something brand-new from scratch. There was a lot to consider, and because he didn¡¯t exactly know how it all worked, he was forced to adapt some other principles he did know about in order to get it to work.
But before he went about trying to alter how he absorbed and expelled energy, he needed a test to see if the Effect could even be replicated. He didn¡¯t want to inadvertently harm himself or someone else with an unknown and untested Fusion that he was relatively dubious about, so he figured he might as well be cautious now, rather than sorry later.
As a result, he turned to one of the easiest and simplest Fusions he could think of: Illuminate. In this case, he was going to add a Fusion to a simple stone he found on the ground nearby, but there needed to be one particularly huge difference to it. The Effect, Magnitude, and Activation Method were going to be exactly identical to its original formation. He¡¯d played around with these sections in the past in other Fusions in a number of ways, but there was one section that he¡¯d really only altered once in the past: Mana Cost. The Fusion in his body, surrounding his Stama pool, had been changed to work with Stama rather than Mana, but that was a relatively simple switch compared to what he was going to be doing now.
Because now he was going to try and fundamentally change how a Fusion absorbed ambient Mana.
Nedira came by at that moment, having seen that he was up already, and quietly asked what he was doing. Not wanting to wake the others, who were still asleep, he told her he needed to try an experiment, something that would hopefully help him escape detection by the Gergasi if it worked.
Getting up and moving slightly through the trees to put some distance between him and the others, just in case something went wrong, the Fusionist sat down and stared at the stone in his hands, feeling like he was on the cusp of something new and incredibly exciting.
With a deep breath, he began to fundamentally change the way he thought about Fusions forever.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 17
The general idea was relatively simple, but actually executing that idea was a bit more complicated. Fortunately, Larek wasn¡¯t a novice Fusionist, so he had plenty of experience with developing Fusions to do what was previously thought impossible. As a result, he was able to apply everything he¡¯d learned over the years creating Fusions to make this work for him.
Normally, all he needed for a basic Illuminate Fusion was the illumination Effect, an Activatable Activation Method to allow it to be turned on and off, a Magnitude (which he was keeping at 1 because this was going to be simply a proof of concept), and a Mana Cost. The first three components he kept exactly the same as he would normally, but the Mana Cost section was something he altered dramatically.
In general, Mana Cost didn¡¯t really change all that much from Fusion to Fusion (apart from some of the unique Fusions that he¡¯d created), as it simply altered itself slightly to reflect the ambient Mana needed to power the formation. There were multiple elements that he could add to help regulate Mana flow and intake, which were important in most powerful Fusions that other Fusionists designed, but it had been a while since the strength of his own formations actually required such things. They still helped to manage Mana flows through the formation to ensure there were no bottlenecks, so he still used them, but none of them actually modified the Mana Cost section significantly.
It was about time to change that.
Normally, an area of ambience around Fusions let him visually see the range within which the Mana Cost section (or sections) would pull in ambient Mana. This area of ambience was what forced him to be a bit conservative in his Fusion placements on things such as his clothing, which had Multi-Resistance, Healing Surge, Automatic Ice Repulsion Field, Skill Boosts, and Omni Boost Fusions spread throughout the different pieces, arranged in a manner so that they wouldn¡¯t interfere with each other. When areas of ambience crossed over with each other, at least for long periods of time, neither Fusion would get enough Mana to sustain itself, leading one or both of them to deteriorate and break after a while.
It was this reason that he didn¡¯t have extremely strong Fusions on his clothing, even though he was capable of creating them; they were currently balanced with the highest Magnitudes he could get without their areas of ambience crossing each other. But with this new technique, he was hoping to make those limitations a thing of the past.
Focusing most of his intent on the Mana Cost section as he prepared to fill the basic formation with Mana, Larek envisioned the normal area of ambience around the Fusion shifting from directly around the stone he was placing the formation upon, to somewhere else, which would then make the Mana flow toward the Fusion. As a test, he pictured the area where the Mana Cost would be pulling energy from to be 2 feet above it, which would change depending on where its orientation was. Satisfied with his focused intent, he finished the process by adding Mana to it ¨C or at least that was what he attempted to do.
As soon as he attempted to add Mana to it, the formation collapsed in upon itself, causing the rock to shatter into half a dozen pieces. It happened so quickly that he had only been able to see the results and not the reason for its failure. Despite there not being any Mana inside of the formation, the reaction was unexpectedly violent, so he was glad that he had decided to start small instead of a full-strength test.
Seeing that he wasn¡¯t injured in the least from the failure, he did the exact same thing again with another stone, this time using his stats to the fullest to see what was happening when the formation collapsed. Slowing down his perception of time with his Agility and Acuity, which allowed him to both see and understand what he was seeing at higher speeds, the confused Fusionist finally saw what went wrong.
As soon as his Mana attempted to enter the Mana Cost section, it wasn¡¯t absorbed at all; instead, it slammed into the Mana Cost section like a rock through a glass window, which somehow destabilized the formation, despite the fact that his focus was keeping it intact. Everything he knew about Fusions and the strength of not only his Pattern Cohesion but his hyper-focused ability to keep formations together was suddenly turned on its head with this strange phenomenon, as it made absolutely no sense. He¡¯d never had his Fusions fall apart so completely before.
How could adding a small amount of Mana to the formation, even if it wasn¡¯t being absorbed, be strong enough to make it violently collapse? That shouldn¡¯t be possible.
Larek conducted his experiment a third time with the same exact results, followed by a fourth, fifth, and sixth attempt. It wasn¡¯t until his tenth violently collapsed formation that he finally had a theory about what was going on¡
¡and he was fairly certain he knew how to fix it.
While he¡¯d never really had this problem with his Fusions before, he knew about it from his original class on Fusions all the way back at Crystalview Academy. In short, when a Fusion formation didn¡¯t have enough Mana to stabilize it during the creation process, it would then consume itself ¨C usually to the unfortunate detriment of the Fusionist creating it. This typically meant that the Pattern Cohesion that came from the Fusionist would be consumed, along with the Mana that did manage to get absorbed into the formation, creating a violent explosion and potentially harming or killing its creator.
In this particular case, the formation he was trying to create was consuming itself so quickly and causing the stones to crack because there was no Mana, for want of a better word, to cushion the process. It wasn¡¯t harming him because his Pattern Cohesion was used to being manipulated outside of his body and occasionally being lost; otherwise, what he had been doing might have been detrimental to his pool of Pattern Cohesion. His Pattern Restoration Skill also helped to mitigate any damage that was being done, to the point where no harm was done.
But the biggest question he had was: Why was it collapsing immediately when he attempted to add Mana to it? The answer to that was a fault in his original intent when he focused on the Mana Cost section. He had originally envisioned the ambient Mana being absorbed from further away from the Fusion, but at the same time, he had inadvertently made a mistake.
Larek had focused so hard on no Mana entering the Mana Cost section from directly around it that when he attempted to do just that, the formation immediately broke as he tried to ram it home. If he thought of the formation as a small house, normally the Mana Cost section acted as an open ¡°window¡± that would let in fresh air, i.e. Mana, which would cool off the inside of the house, allowing everything to work properly; but in his formation, he closed off the window by essentially boarding it up. When his Mana impacted the previously open window with the strength of a sledgehammer, as his Mana Control was that strong, it immediately shattered not only the boarded-up window, but the entire house in the process. Normally, the Mana strengthened the formation, keeping it from coming apart, but without that Mana there, even his powerful Pattern Cohesion invested into the Fusion couldn¡¯t stand up to that kind of force being blasted against it. It wasn¡¯t a Pattern construct, after all, despite being made of his Pattern Cohesion.
But it wasn¡¯t necessarily the strength of his Mana flowing toward it that was the problem, nor was it the boarded-up window, nor even the entire ¡°house¡± in general. No, the problem was that he hadn¡¯t opened any other access points for the Mana to enter the Fusion. The way the Mana Cost section was being altered, it could pull ambient Mana toward it from a distance away, but if there wasn¡¯t a way to get that Mana inside of the formation, then it was useless. What he needed was a way to get Mana inside without it having to be in physical proximity.
And it was the way he stated that problem in his mind that led him to the solution.
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Why am I thinking of Mana being physical? Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, and even Aetheric Force aren¡¯t physical, they are energies. What we ultimately do with them can produce physical effects, such as spells, Pattern constructs, and even Fusions, but they are ultimately energies and don¡¯t exactly conform to the same limitations of physical objects. As such, it should be simple enough to¡
As this revelation flowed through his mind, Larek wasted no time in altering what he had previously created. The Mana Cost section now had a new focus, one which copied what was there previously, but there was one crucial difference: Instead of the Mana being simply absorbed in an area of ambience 2 feet above the Fusion, which would then flow toward the formation so that it could be absorbed by the actual Mana Cost section when it came into close proximity, he envisioned that there was an invisible connection between the area of ambience and the Mana Cost section. It sounded simple enough in hindsight, but he wouldn¡¯t have thought to do it this way until he ran into the problems that he had.
In essence, he wasn¡¯t opening up another window or even a door into the ¡°house¡±; he was pumping cool air into the closed house directly. There was no need for Mana to be absorbed from outside of its formation, as it could pull from the area of ambience with a direct, connected line. In other words, he was able to power the Fusion from afar, without having to funnel or transfer Mana between the formation and the area of ambience; the connection was so complete that they were essentially one and the same.
It was when he came to actually infusing the formation with his Mana during the creation process that it all *clicked* in his head. The same principle in connecting the Fusion¡¯s area of ambience and the formation could be applied to his own Mana ¨C but not just Mana. Larek already saw the principle in action when he controlled his Pattern constructs and gave orders to his animated constructs from afar, so he knew that it also likely meant that he could control energy such as Aetheric Force from afar.
But he was getting ahead of himself. Using the principle he¡¯d just discovered, he was able to let the Mana flow out of his body and connect with the area of ambience he had designated to be 2 feet above the formation, where it would instantly be transferred without having to physically funnel it up there. A little experimenting showed that he could make his Mana appear wherever he wanted it with a thought ¨C even underground or in other places he could at least visualize, if not actually see, such as in the middle of a tree.
Finishing off the Fusion successfully this time, he held it in his hand as he activated and deactivated it over and over, watching the Mana 2 feet above it be slowly absorbed in a defined area of ambience. There was no visible connection between it and the Fusion formation below, but the energy was transferred between them without any issues that he could see. In the end, it simply looked like he¡¯d plucked the area of ambience that would normally be around the Fusion and stuck it somewhere else.
So, of course, he had to test some of the limitations of this new technique. The first thing that he learned was that it was nearly impossible to remove the Fusion from the stone without breaking it completely. Normally, he¡¯d be able to ¡°starve¡± the Fusion by blocking the Mana Cost section from absorbing any Mana, where it would then cannibalize itself by eating all the Mana infused into it; that proved to be a challenge when the Mana flowing into it was coming from somewhere else and not directly absorbed by the Mana Cost section. Theoretically, it was possible to cut off its new area of ambience from any Mana getting to it, but it wasn¡¯t easy or practical; it was easier to modify the formation itself to break it, though with stronger Fusions, this could prove to be problematic when large amounts of Mana would be suddenly released.
So, therefore, his Fusions would essentially be permanent. Other than deliberately destroying them, anything he created would have to stay that way. That wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing, but it would limit a little bit of experimentation in the future when he messed with different Magnitudes.
The second thing he pushed the limit on, after selecting a few more stones, was distance. How far could he send the area of ambience out from the Fusion and still have it work? After a few more experiments, which stressed his awareness to the limit, he couldn¡¯t reliably say that there was a limit to the distance between the area of ambience and the formation. The connection was there, no matter how far away it was, it seemed, with the only limitation being his own, as he couldn¡¯t visualize having his Mana enter the area of ambience past approximately a mile or so.
Lastly, he wondered if he was restricted to only having a single area of ambience. Since he was already moving it, why couldn¡¯t he split it into two or more smaller areas of ambience? This was a little more difficult to test with the smaller Magnitude Fusion he was using, as the area of ambience for a Magnitude 1 Illuminate Fusion was already fairly small; and while he was able to split it into three equal parts, they were so small that Larek had difficulty finding where they were to insert Mana into them to complete the Fusion. Fortunately, a Magnitude 6 Illuminate Fusion was much easier to work with, and he found that he could easily split up the areas of ambience into 20 different areas of ambience that were perhaps the same size as the Magnitude 1 version. He could also spread them out in all directions, with some underground, some high in the sky, and others only a few dozen feet ahead of him.
The whole technique was amazingly versatile ¨C and would become more important as he used it on stronger Fusions that required a lot of ambient Mana to keep running properly.
As much as he wanted to start replacing the current Fusions on his clothes with new, stronger ones using this Mana Cost alteration, he had more important things to work on; namely, trying to hide his presence from those who could track him down, such as the Gergasi. He still wasn¡¯t sure how the Unspoken Response had managed to know where he was and get to him so fast, but at least he could deal with one issue, now that he had some new knowledge to work with.
Closing his eyes and sensing the Pure Aetheric Force that his body automatically produced and leaked into the environment, which gave his Gergasi pursuers a way to track his location, he could sense his magical signature practically permeating the area around him. He found that it was extremely difficult, if not impossible, to reach out and gather what had already leaked out of him, as it was essentially part of the environment now; but the newly produced Pure Aetheric Force was something else entirely.
He couldn¡¯t stop the production of this Pure AF with his magical signature, as it was a necessary byproduct of his internal core, and instinct told him that messing with the release of it would cause major problems. But just like he could direct his Mana and Pattern Cohesion somewhere else, he could do the same with this. It took a conscious thought to take hold of the newly produced Pure AF, while it was still in his body and therefore a part of him, and then transport it somewhere else. At first, he thought about simply dispersing it out into the air around him at different distances, but figured he might as well go with something a little more hard to trace: underground. Spreading it approximately a mile beneath his feet and over a distance of a half-mile, he reached out with his senses to see if he could detect it.
It took him a little bit to cut through the interference around him, but when he was able to get past it, he was satisfied with the way he could barely sense his magical signature anywhere. Of course, since he knew where he put it, he could find it by looking in specific places, but he was fairly certain that no one else would be able to.
He thought about changing the way he absorbed Mana, similar to how the assassins had done it, but he decided against it for now. Simply moving his Pure AF away from him required a bit of conscious thought at the moment, and while he figured it would eventually become something he could keep doing automatically, right now that wasn¡¯t the case; he didn¡¯t want to add in something else and not be able to reliably count on them both working when he was under pressure. Besides, it wasn¡¯t really needed, as he wasn¡¯t attempting to hide in plain sight by making it seem like he was just an ordinary person.
With the tracking by the Gergasi problem at least somewhat resolved, Larek got up and went back to the camp, seeing that most of those within were waking up, though he could see the tragic expressions on their faces when they fully realized that the horror of the day before hadn¡¯t been a dream. While he could sympathize with them and knew that they had gone through a traumatic experience, they really needed to get moving before the Gergasi tracked down their campsite; there was no camouflaging his magical signature there, after all.
While Larek waited for them to get ready, he checked his notifications to see if anything had changed. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was disappointed or not when there were only two, though both of them were significant.
Mana Control has reached Level 99!
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 8!
It wasn¡¯t too long after the sun was up that they were airborne again, traveling toward Thanesh with all the speed he could muster from his Pattern box, hoping that everyone in the city was safe. More than that, though, he was eager to get back home so he could continue his work with everything he¡¯d recently learned, from the Apertures to this new area of ambience technique.
It was about time to start putting their plans into place, and to do that, he was going to have to stretch the limits of what a Fusionist could do.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 18
¡°What do you mean? His magical signature is so thick here that I can practically wade through it! And you¡¯re saying there¡¯s not a trace of him leaving here? That¡¯s impossible!¡±
Farmas was livid. Their prey had escaped them time and time again, somehow moving faster than them, despite clearly being much weaker. The magical signature that they had been following was strong enough to linger for hours, which meant that their target was amazingly strong for a slave, but compared to one of the Gergasi, they were so far beneath their Level that it was a joke. And yet, somehow this ¡°joke¡± had managed to evade them handily, which led to hours of teeth-grinding frustration at their inability to catch him.
¡°I don¡¯t know what you want me to say,¡± Syrlia snapped back. ¡°He was obviously here, but now he¡¯s gone without a trace; it¡¯s as simple as that!¡±
¡°But for the magical signature to be this thick, he couldn¡¯t have left more than an hour ago,¡± Farmas insisted, which he thought was in quite the reasonable voice. ¡°Surely you¡¯ve missed his route out of here; it¡¯s not like he could just up and completely disappear!¡±
¡°If you think you can track him, then you do it! And good luck with that, because you¡¯re practically hopeless when it comes to this stuff; you always have been, and always will be!¡±
Fury had the Onyx Bone Warhammer in his hands and angling toward her head before he could blink, but it was stopped by a wall of ice so thick that his blow only cracked it halfway. Farmas was then blasted backwards with a Fireball that was cast so quickly it seemed to appear almost instantly, and he rolled with the impact, ricocheting off a tree as he got back up and rushed toward her.
¡°Enough! We don¡¯t have time for this!¡± she shouted at him, throwing up another wall of ice in his path. He couldn¡¯t help but be annoyed at her spellcasting ability, which was much more developed than his own, as there were a few spells that she had cast so many times over the years that they became almost instinctual. These two spells were of that variety, though she could handle even stronger spells if given enough time to cast them. He could also cast strong spells, as he wasn¡¯t a slouch, but not with the ease that she did.
His fury and annoyance hadn¡¯t faded enough to save the wall, as he crashed through it with his body, the few sharp edges of the ice as he passed through failing to penetrate his skin. The wall of ice was only a distraction, however, as Syrlia had used it to camouflage her next cast, which was an extremely powerful blast of continuously flowing air that slammed into him from above. She had pushed so much Mana into it that he smashed into the ground, skidding to a halt as he was trapped beneath the assault. The force produced by the air was so powerful that he struggled to even get to his feet, even as he started casting his own spell to block the air from hitting him.
His slower creation of his spell patterns was to his detriment, as he felt something interfere with its formation, slashing through it before he could send his Mana through. Grunting in frustration, he tried a second time, only for the infuriating woman to do it again.
¡°Fine! I¡¯m done now.¡±
Farmas could have easily gotten himself out from underneath the continuous blast of air, using his Battle Arts to increase his Strength so that it would be nothing more than a gentle breeze, or simply utilizing every iota of his natural abilities to push through, but the sudden face full of dirt and struggle afterwards had cooled off his anger slightly. He had worked with Syrlia long enough to know that she wasn¡¯t actually trying to hurt him, not that she would have an easy time of it even if she tried, and that she was attempting to deescalate the situation.
That didn¡¯t mean he had to like it, however.
Still, she was correct; they didn¡¯t have time for the good, old-fashioned fight between them that he was yearning for. It had been decades since he¡¯d been in a serious duel between himself and any other Gergasi, and he was itching to test himself in combat against someone who could hold their own. While Syrlia wasn¡¯t able to easily go head-to-head with him in a melee fight, dueling against her was an excellent way to utilize some of his long-unused spells and Battle Arts that worked best when fighting against a spellcasting specialist.
¡°Good. Now, give me a second while I double-check everything around here,¡± she said matter-of-factly, letting the air spell elapse and turning away from him. She knew him well enough that he wouldn¡¯t use that to his advantage and get in a cheap shot; he had more honor than that, after all. Besides, she wasn¡¯t the real reason he was angry, even with her previous words.
That designation belonged to the target they had been hunting.
At first, they hadn¡¯t really understood who it was they were following, as the magical signature had simply been unique and stronger than just about anything else they¡¯d found in the Kingdom. But there was a hint to the signature, a ¡°flavor¡± to it, that had seemed familiar. When they finally saw the abnormally tall ¨C though not as tall as a full Gergasi ¨C individual on top of one of the flying wooden contraptions, both of them suddenly understood why it had been so familiar. Even though his mental stats weren¡¯t as high as Syrlia¡¯s, they still worked plenty fast to deduce what was going on.
The one they were chasing was a half-breed.
There weren¡¯t many secrets among the Enclave, and the fact that a half-breed had not only appeared in the Kingdom but was also fathered by the illustrious Vilnesh¡ Well, that was not a secret that could be kept by anyone. Vilnesh had attempted to claim the spawn but had failed when the half-breed had escaped, only for Chinli to have him in her possession a short time later ¨C wherein it had been said that he had unfortunately been killed.
That, at least it seemed likely, was a lie. The now-deceased Chinli had obviously let the half-breed escape, for what reason, Farmas didn¡¯t know, but he could guess at what happened next. The child had apparently shown up again in the Kingdom after laying low for years, and her network of informants had told her where he could be found. Going to retrieve him and try to restore some of the respect she had lost when she came back empty-handed before sounded just like Chinli to him, but obviously something went wrong with her plan.
In short, she died.
And how that was even remotely possible now made slightly more sense when they knew that it had been a half-breed that had done the deed. Of course it was someone that was even part Gergasi, as there was no way that any slave would¡¯ve been able to accomplish such an act, though how the woman had managed to screw up so much to actually get killed by what was no more than a child was beyond him.
But they were going to make sure such a thing didn¡¯t happen again. While Vilnesh might¡¯ve wanted the half-breed alive, as it was proof that reproduction was at least somewhat possible in the future, there was no way either Farmas or Syrlia would risk bringing the child back to the Enclave. While it was doubtful the half-breed would be able to accomplish a similar deed in the future, with the state of the Kingdom and the world as it was, there was no reason to risk it right now. They could study his corpse later, if it was even necessary.
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But unfortunately for the two Gergasi, trying to actually catch the half-breed, and the small woman he had with him, was proving futile. Their target had somehow used a spell to create a floating box that could move faster than anything they had ever seen before, and Syrlia was at a loss to how it worked. At the time, she had mentioned that it had felt like it was like a solid spell formation, which didn¡¯t seem possible, but she maintained her assessment afterwards.
They had lost their prey when he deliberately flew into the Calamity, and they were reluctant to enter. As much as they wanted to catch and punish the half-breed for what he did to Chinli, as incompetent as the woman was, either one of them entering the Calamity might end up making matters in the Kingdom worse if the Aperture in the center started growing at a rapid pace.
Unfortunately, finding him where he exited proved just as difficult, especially as darkness fell. They didn¡¯t return to the Enclave, but instead spent the entire night on the move, looking for any trace of where they might have emerged. It wasn¡¯t until that morning that they located a town near the border of the Calamity that had been practically obliterated, with fading traces of the half-breed¡¯s magical signature all over it. Syrlia had managed to track where they went next, though it was difficult because the magical signature was so faint that Farmas couldn¡¯t even detect it, but fortunately his companion could.
Which brought them to what was obviously a camp of some sort, which had been abandoned not that long before they arrived. The magical signature of the half-breed was so strong there that he was sure they would be off and after their prey within seconds, but that hadn¡¯t proven to be the case when Syrlia announced that there was absolutely no trail to follow. It didn¡¯t make a bit of sense to him, but he was also aware that his companion wouldn¡¯t tell him that unless it was true. She wanted to find the Gergasi-killer just as much as he did, so if she said the trail went cold, then he was forced to believe that.
¡°Any other signs of where he might have gone?¡± he asked as soon as he got up from where he had been held down by her spell. Brushing off his clothes, he looked around to see if there was anything obvious, but he saw not a thing.
Syrlia, however, was already walking slightly away from where the majority of the magical signature was concentrated, to a spot a little further through the trees. He followed her and looked down at the ground where she eventually stopped, seeing what appeared to be an indentation in the scattered leaves and dirt. Farmas wasn¡¯t necessarily the best physical tracker out there, but he knew enough to determine that this was where their quarry had sat down, his back against the tree while he¡ did something.
¡°These are odd. What do you make of this?¡± his companion asked, squatting down to look at some pieces of rock that appeared to have been shattered from a larger stone. He shook his head, not sure what she was getting at. At least, not until she picked up what appeared to be a whole stone, which appeared to have some sort of spell pattern embedded into it.
¡°Ah. This is a Fusion.¡±
Farmas was confused for a moment, before he remembered. ¡°Those things the Mage-slaves can create? Those things are practically worthless. A waste of time.¡±
She held the stone in her hand, and the next moment, it suddenly shone with a weak light. As he had thought, it was barely enough to marginally light up a dark room, let alone being actually useful. It would be much easier to use a spell.
¡°Are you seeing what I¡¯m seeing?¡± she asked suddenly.
Again, shook his head. ¡°Seeing what? That¡¯s like a little toy that he probably discarded after seeing how much of a waste of time it was to create.¡±
She smacked him on the side of his head, which he didn¡¯t bother to dodge, as it didn¡¯t hurt him. ¡°No, look at it closely. Come on, I know you¡¯re not as ignorant as you¡¯d have others believe.¡±
He grunted but did as she asked. At first, he had no idea what she was talking about, but then he saw it. The pattern that was fused into the stone was, as much as he could admit, perfect. There wasn¡¯t a single flaw, as if it was meticulously created and perfected over hours and hours of work. After enough experience with casting spells, spell patterns didn¡¯t need to be more than the general shape than they needed to be, as the intent behind them counted more for a successful cast than anything else. It was how those like Syrlia were able to cast so quickly, because their spell patterns were so basic by the billionth cast that they could be created in a fraction of a second.
But this pattern was on the opposite end of that spectrum. While he had never fully gotten into the whole ¡°Fusion¡± craze once it passed through the Enclave, who investigated it for its potential worth (only to be discarded as fundamentally a waste of time after a few decades of study), he couldn¡¯t remember seeing anything quite like this. In fact, this was more than just perfection; the sheer strength inherent in the lines of the grid-like pattern stood out as even more astonishing ¨C which was not a feeling he wanted to associate with the half-breed they were seeking to kill.
¡°Aha, you see it!¡± Syrlia said with satisfaction. ¡°But do you see what else is strange about it?¡±
He looked closer, delving his senses into the Fusion to try and see what she was talking about, but after nearly 30 seconds of seeing nothing ¨C other than being reluctantly impressed by its formation ¨C he shook his head. ¡°No.¡±
She smirked at his failure, but he didn¡¯t care; he just waved at her to get on with it. ¡°Where is the Mana coming from to power this thing?¡±
He knew from the study the Enclave had done on Fusions that ambient Mana was used to power these things, taken from the environment. But when he went to look for any Mana being funneled into it, he didn¡¯t see a single thing. It was only when he glanced around in confusion that he noticed something happening a few feet above her hand. There was a small disturbance in the Mana flow at a specific point, which he could see was being pulled into itself, as if something was there and absorbing it.
Reaching out his hand, Farmas passed it through the disturbance without feeling any resistance. He did it again, though he rested his hand inside of it this time, but again he felt¡ nothing. Or at least nothing physical. He was fairly certain that mana was being absorbed into empty space, and he couldn¡¯t figure it out.
¡°Again, you found it! You had me worried for a moment there.¡±
Staring at that point where Mana seemed to be absorbed, he ignored the condescension in her tone as he asked. ¡°How? And what does this mean?¡±
¡°For once, I have no idea. It reminds me of something, though.¡±
Tearing his gaze away, he looked at Syrlia. ¡°Reminds you of what?¡±
¡°Just something I¡¯ve heard about one of our earlier projects,¡± she answered with a shrug. ¡°The Unspoken Response, remember?¡±
¡°They¡¯re still around? I thought they were all executed shortly after the Apertures appeared and we pulled back our control of the useless Nobles in the Kingdom; did some of them survive?¡±
Syrlia shrugged again. ¡°I have no idea. That wasn¡¯t my responsibility. But I know someone who might know.¡±
It took him a moment to understand who she meant. ¡°Oh. Her. Yeah, I think we should bring this to her and ask about all this. In addition, as much as it might be a mistake, I think we should let the Grand One know about the half-breed. I¡¯m afraid Vilnesh will try to keep it quiet, and I¡¯d rather not take the fall for his and Chinli¡¯s failures.¡±
She thought about it for a moment before nodding. ¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea. Especially since, if I¡¯m correct about this,¡± she added, pointing toward the place where the Mana was being absorbed into thin air, ¡°then our target has likely developed a way to avoid being tracked.¡±
¡°That bad?¡±
¡°Not necessarily bad, but it¡¯ll severely hinder our ability to find him. We need more information from Vilnesh about this half-breed, which I¡¯m sure he¡¯s not about to share without some¡ prompting from the Grand One.¡±
¡°Alright, then let¡¯s go. Being this close to the Calamity here is starting to make me itch. I don¡¯t like there being a challenge that I can¡¯t face, and I¡¯d rather leave it behind rather than think about it too much.¡±
Without another word, the two of them lifted into the air, leaving behind the campsite, and the last traces of the half-breed that got away.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 19
Setting The Hopper down in the field outside of the walls, Larek was relieved to see that Thanesh appeared relatively normal ¨C and not like they were recovering from a sudden attack by the Gergasi. The flow of Transport traffic going in and out of the designated field for it was extremely busy, as were the gates with all the crowds moving through them in both directions, but he was beginning to see that this was ¡°normal¡± for the city. What he thought was wild was the fact that they had large groups of Volunteers moving through the region and reestablishing smaller, abandoned towns to help with handling the former Calamity area, and yet there seemed to be even more people living in the city than before he left. Then again, he hadn¡¯t really been paying attention to much and had been focused on what he was wanting to learn from an Aperture at the time, so it might have been this busy and he hadn¡¯t noticed.
When they exited The Hopper, Larek jumped down and was immediately stopped by a Volunteer with a clipboard and a put-upon expression on her face. He didn¡¯t recognize the woman who came from the Kingdom ¨C at least based on her appearance ¨C and he was immediately sure that she didn¡¯t recognize him. He could feel that she had only had the Fusion in her head that helped prevent her from being controlled by bugs or by Dominion magic, but there wasn¡¯t the newer Gradual Aetheric Purification Array in her chest that would unlock her potential. Based on that, he could only assume that she was a new arrival and had likely never seen him before; with how many tens of thousands of people that were now part of the organization, it wouldn¡¯t surprise him to learn that no more than a quarter of them even knew who he was ¨C with those who had seen him personally being even fewer in number.
¡°Excuse me, where do you think you¡¯re parking that Transport?¡± she demanded, looking between her clipboard and The Hopper, before focusing on him. ¡°This spot is reserved for leadership only, which means that you¡¯ll have to move it immediately. In addition, I don¡¯t see a designation icon on the outside of the Transport, something that should¡¯ve been installed during construction, so you need to check with the Transport Supervisor to get that problem resolved. Also,¡± she continued, completely oblivious to who she was talking to as she looked at the others climbing down the side of The Hopper, ¡°I don¡¯t see any of you wearing the new security badges that you should¡¯ve been issued as soon as you were in contact with the Volunteers, as they denote that you¡¯ve obtained at least the Fusion to eliminate the mind-controlling bugs.¡±
Looking back to Larek, who was staring at her in a mixture of amusement and confusion over some of the things she was saying about designation icons and security badges, she seemed exasperated when he didn¡¯t respond. ¡°You do know what a Fusion is, right? You should¡¯ve had one of them installed in your head when you were rescued.¡±
Grumbling to herself for a moment, he thought he heard her say something like, ¡°Seriously, what are they telling these people nowadays?¡± before she continued in a lecturing voice. ¡°From now on, you must wear your security badges at all times as a precaution; we don¡¯t want anyone from the SIC or the hostile nearby Factions to easily infiltrate our city, after all.¡±
Before the Fusionist or anyone else ¨C including Nedira, who had walked up next to him ¨Ccould say anything, she looked at them all suspiciously. ¡°In fact, this entire thing,¡± she said, pointing to him and the others, ¡°is very suspect. Where did you say you came from? Actually, first, can you show me your security badges? I need to report this incident to my supervisor, as this is all completely against regulations.¡±
¡°I¡¯m sorry, we don¡¯t have any of these security badges,¡± Nedira abruptly spoke up when Larek was still trying to figure out how to respond. He nearly created another Pattern box construct so he could fly everyone to the city, as this was all too much for him and he had other things on his mind, but his betrothed put her hand on his arm as if she could tell he was about to do just that. ¡°The last time we were here, which was just yesterday morning, I hadn¡¯t heard about any security badges.¡±
¡°That¡¯s unlikely, as they started to be implemented a few days ago. In fact, that sounds exactly like what an infiltrator would say if they hadn¡¯t heard about our precautions, so I¡¯m going to have to report you immediately.¡± She lifted an object tied to a string around her neck and blew into it, and it quickly became obvious that it was some kind of whistle as a loud, piercing note reverberated through the field. ¡°SECURITY TO LOT 1!¡± she then shouted in a surprisingly loud voice.
Sighing, he looked down at Nedira, who he could tell was trying to hide a smile. ¡°Do we need to stay here for this? Let¡¯s just go already and be done with it. We can talk to Kimble later.¡± Glancing behind him, he saw Penelope and Vivienne looking both wary and amused at all the ruckus. ¡°Besides, they¡¯re embarrassing us in front of our friends.¡±
She giggled lightly at that and patted his arm again. ¡°Have a little patience, if you would. I¡¯d actually like to see what all this is about, as this was all likely implemented because of what the SIC and the Factions have been doing. It would be nice to see if they¡¯re taking all the reasonable precautions that they can.¡±
He crossed his arms across his chest, slightly exasperated, but giving in just the same. In reality, he was lightly curious about what exactly the Volunteers were doing with all this security business, but not quite curious enough to want to go through with it. But he would, if only for Nedira¡¯s sake.
It didn¡¯t take long before he could feel nearly 300 Volunteers with their potential fully unlocked speeding toward their location, melee weapons and VREP staves in hand. More than half of them moved fast enough that, within seconds, Larek¡¯s small group was surrounded, the hostile faces of the security bunch staring at them behind staves pointed in their direction. He thought that it was interesting to see that each of these Volunteers had on dark grey pants and shirts, covered by a similarly colored chestpiece of leather, with an interesting badge emblazoned across the front in white. It looked like a large ¡°V¡± in shape, which he figured stood for Volunteers, and one side of the ¡°V¡± appeared to be a wooden staff with the other a sword. It was actually fairly creative, he thought, though his mind was more on the fact these people were surrounding them threateningly.
Just in case someone had the foolish idea of actually attacking him, he reached out with his Pattern Manipulation Skill, where he was ready to alter every Fusion on the staves pointing at them to make them stop working. He didn¡¯t think it would come to that, but he wasn¡¯t going to take the chance that those in his care would be harmed.
¡°Hands up! Drop any weapons you possess, because we¡¯re taking you in for questioning! Make any sudden moves and we won¡¯t hesitate to kill you!¡± a young man who seemed to be in charge of the others shouted unnecessarily loudly, as if he wasn¡¯t 15 feet away from Larek and the others and was instead a few hundred.
The Fusionist glanced down at Nedira, who was watching the events unfold with a slightly pleased but also worried expression. He cleared his throat, taking over the conversation. ¡°No, we won¡¯t do that,¡± he stated clearly and loudly, still with his arms crossed. He wanted Nedira to be happy with what she desired to see about this security response, but he wasn¡¯t willing to put everyone else into danger. When the large security force tensed up at his declaration, he continued. ¡°Look, just bring Kimble here and we can get all of this cleared up quickly. He can vouch for me and the others.¡±
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The leader of the security force sniggered as if Larek had said something funny. ¡°Yeah, like we¡¯re going to disturb someone that important. I don¡¯t think you understand how much trouble you¡¯re in if you don¡¯t comply with our orders. Now, DROP YOUR WEAPONS!¡±
The shout was louder this time, and he felt a slight use of Stama being used by the security force leader. When he looked closer, he saw that the man had somehow figured out how to infuse his lungs and vocal cords with Stama like a Battle Art, which seemed to increase his volume and added a hint of something else. The closest thing he could think to equate it to was a sense of ¡°authority¡±. It wasn¡¯t anything like Dominion magic, which made someone follow orders whether they wanted to or not; it was more like an extra bit of persuasion in the tone that would try to convince someone that they should follow orders.
Huh¡ fascinating. I wonder how he developed that?
Because he saw it happen in real-time, he unexpectedly picked up the new Battle Art.
New Battle Art learned!
Command Shout
Effect: Increases voice volume and infuses a thread of authority into the tone, increasing the likelihood of orders being followed
Duration: 5 seconds
Base Stama Cost: 30
Ah, looks like I was right.
Unfortunately for the security force leader, even this ¡°authority¡±-type effect was largely negated by the Illuminated Free Will Fusions that he¡¯d created, so it wasn¡¯t more than a loud order shouted at them. To those without the Fusion, it would probably be a little more effective.
Even as he was thinking about how he might be able to incorporate this new Battle Art into combat, there was a rustle amongst the security force when no one near Larek moved to obey the order. He could feel the rising tension throughout the crowd surrounding them as if it was a physical force, and he thought that he would have to end up breaking all their staves, after all.
¡°Ah, looks like our fun is over,¡± Nedira said softly, her eyes tracking something coming from the city gates. Larek immediately caught on to what she was alluding to, and he couldn¡¯t help but slump in relief. It was about time.
¡°Last chance! Lay down your weapons and come peacefully, or we¡¯ll be forced to kill¡ª¡±
¡°Barty! I was told you were alive, but I barely believed it,¡± the Fusionist heard from behind him as Penelope spotted Bartholomew pushing his way through the assembled security force. Even he was wearing a similar outfit, but his ¡°V¡± was created in silver rather than white.
¡°And I thought I told you that the name is Bartholomew, Penny,¡± Larek¡¯s old bodyguard and apparently influential person within the security ranks to merit a fancier ¡°V¡± replied, humor in his voice. That humor disappeared as he walked up to stand next to the individual who had been threatening them. ¡°What seems to be the problem here, Donal?¡±
Donal, the spokesperson for the security force, turned to Bartholomew and pounded his fist against his leather chestpiece right where the ¡°V¡± was located. ¡°Sir! We were just about to take these infiltrators into custody until we could determine who they were. They have no security badges and wouldn¡¯t comply with our orders, which is against regulations. Furthermore¡ª¡±
Sighing as the man spoke, Bartholomew shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily before cutting him off. ¡°And did you not, even for a moment, wonder why someone without a security badge arrived here in a Transport, and then parked it in a spot reserved for Volunteer leadership and important couriers? Did you even ask who he was? Or any of these people?¡±
¡°No, sir! We were called here by Sweeley, so I can only assume she had determined these things before we arrived.¡±
Hanging his head in disappointment, Bartholomew looked at Larek. ¡°Sorry about all this,¡± he apologized. ¡°We¡¯ve had to make some dramatic changes to security after some Faction members snuck in and killed a half-dozen people yesterday, which only compounded the problems we¡¯ve had with the new regulations and security badges that we¡¯ve been rolling out. We would¡¯ve gone over it with you once you got back, but I guess something slipped through the cracks.¡± Larek just shrugged, glad he could be done with all this.
Turning back to Donal and Sweeley, the woman with the clipboard, he sighed again. ¡°We¡¯re going to have a bit more training on proper procedures and protocol coming up soon, but for now, try to be a bit more inquisitive when investigating potential infiltrators. I fault myself for not updating the list of approved persons without badges in a timely manner, as well as not telling those on that list that they were approved. But, this reaction to a clearly non-hostile group controlling a Transport, which is reserved for those with the knowledge and authority, was blown way out of proportion. I won¡¯t have this type of thing happen again, do you understand?¡±
¡°No, I don¡¯t understand, sir; who are they?¡± Donal spoke up, appearing slightly demoralized at being reprimanded in front of everyone, but also confused about why.
Bartholomew paused for a moment, before gesturing toward Larek. ¡°This is The Fusionist and his betrothed, Nedira. If that name doesn¡¯t mean anything to you, just know that he¡¯s the one that created all of the Fusions you have in your head, chest, and staves, and that he is my boss.¡± Waving toward Larek, inviting him to follow, he added to the now pale-faced Donal, ¡°Oh, and just so you know, he could¡¯ve killed all of you within seconds and there would¡¯ve been nothing you could do about it. Just be glad that he¡¯s not one to do that for a slight such as this; he''d have been more likely to simply take off and leave you behind than hurt you, and there wouldn¡¯t have been anything you could have done to prevent him from doing that. Thankfully, I got here before we had any serious incidents, as the last thing we need to do is fight amongst ourselves, especially over something as stupid as ignorance.¡±
This statement caused everyone to stare at Larek as he followed after Bartholomew, some with a bit of fear, but most with what he unfortunately recognized as respectful worship. He did his best to smile and wave at those who seemed fearful, as he was strangely happy to see that they weren¡¯t afraid of him because of his height and who he may or may not be related to, but because of what Bartholomew had said about being able to kill everyone there.
That thought soured his mood from happy to get all the nonsense done with so he could get to work on more important things, to one where he was pretty sure that his old bodyguard wasn¡¯t exaggerating. It only took a second of thought to realize that he could kill every single person that was part of the security force in a matter of a few minutes or less, and not because he could deactivate all of their Fusions. He was simply much stronger, faster, and had an unparalleled ability to cause destruction with his own Fusions and Pattern Cohesion that none of them could match. Even his friends, who were, to varying degrees, much stronger than most of the other Volunteers, wouldn¡¯t be able to stand up to him for long.
It wasn¡¯t that he was ever contemplating attacking them, but he couldn¡¯t help but compare himself to even a single Gergasi. If one of them decided to attack the city and kill everyone inside, it was doubtful that any of them would be able to survive if he wasn¡¯t there to defend them. There was simply too large of a gulf in between them that they couldn¡¯t cross.
At least, not yet. What they lacked in Levels, stats, Skills, and experience using their abilities they made up with sheer numbers, but that would only get them so far. Fusions would help to make them stronger and give them weapons to fight with, but that could only get them so far. What they needed was the opportunity to continue growing, developing their Skills, and becoming relatively powerful in their own right. In short, they needed time.
Unfortunately, everything lately seemed to be in need of a solution immediately, and there had barely been enough time to get it done. His friends had done wonders with helping to build up the Volunteers, which even led to the closing of the Calamity, but against the Gergasi? They weren¡¯t ready to face them.
When it comes down to it, I¡¯m not ready to face them, either.
Nevertheless, he and the Volunteers would be ready ¨C he¡¯d make sure of that. But to ensure they had enough time to get there, Larek had to work hard to keep everyone else off their backs.
First, it appeared as though the nearby Factions were ramping up their attacks and needed to be handled first, before he could then concentrate on taking out the SIC. Once they were all under control, the Volunteers would have plenty of time to train and develop themselves to take on the Gergasi¡
¡and for Larek to finally free his family.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 20
¡°So, the gang¡¯s all together again, huh?¡± Penelope remarked, after everyone had somehow squeezed into Kimble¡¯s office in the Volunteer headquarters building. ¡°Tell me what you¡¯ve been up to here.¡±
Larek stretched in his chair as he looked past the others, his mind focused on what he was going to work on later as his friends shared what they¡¯d been up to over the last few years. He contributed a little bit here and there, but he¡¯d already told Penelope and Vivienne most of what had happened to him since he¡¯d seen them last during their trip to Thanesh; everyone else present already knew that information, so this was more for everyone else than him.
Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m happy that everyone is all together again, but I¡¯m itching to get working on these new Fusions. He knew it wasn¡¯t fair to Penelope and Vivienne, who were still adjusting to what had happened back at Dreenwood and being brought to join the Volunteers, but he was getting impatient.
Fortunately, everyone else whom they had rescued from the rubble had been handed off to a few Volunteers shortly after arriving in the city, where they would find a place to live and something for the adults to do for work. There was always plenty to do, so he felt sure that they would quickly find their place in their new homes, even if the change was unexpectedly abrupt. All of them had their Illuminated Free Will Fusions implanted in their heads, at least, so there wasn¡¯t a risk that they might accidentally end up with a bug or a Gergasi trying to control them.
¡°¡and so we¡¯ve been experiencing an increase in Faction activity, including the horrific attack yesterday,¡± Kimble was saying, which brought Larek¡¯s attention back to the impromptu meeting. ¡°We¡¯ve had to step up our ongoing security plans because of it, with a few other things in the works to make it even more safe. Whether it works or not is going to be irrelevant if we don¡¯t take care of the underlying problems, though.¡±
Larek abruptly nodded, levering himself out of his chair. ¡°Which is exactly what I need to be working on. Unless you have something else for me, I need to start.¡±
The Fusionist ignored the ill-concealed smiles of his friends as they could see the impatience practically emanating from his body. ¡°Yeah, sure, we¡¯re done with you for now. Don¡¯t be a stranger now, and don¡¯t forget that you¡¯ll be teaching your first class on Fusions¡ Well, it was supposed to be today, but we can push it until tomorrow. Does that work?¡± Larek nodded quickly at Kimble¡¯s question, as he made his escape. Nedira stayed put, telling him that she¡¯d be by later to check on him, and he fled outside the office. Seeing the stairs leading upwards nearby, he decided to take a shortcut and practically sprinted to the roof. When he arrived, he jumped off and used his Pattern Cohesion to make a platform under his feet, which took him back to his home he shared with Nedira. And Norde, probably, as he wasn¡¯t sure if her brother had recovered enough to find his own place.
I¡¯ll check in with him later, along with everyone else. For now though, I can¡¯t concentrate until I get all of the thoughts on my recent discoveries out of my head and into a Fusion or two.
It felt like it had been weeks since he¡¯d stepped foot in his home with all that had happened lately, even if it had only been a little over a day. So much had occurred that it seemed like much more should¡¯ve passed, and it was a little shocking how familiar everything was inside the large, single room where he slept and made his Fusions.
That wasn¡¯t to say that it was unchanged since he and Nedira had left the morning before. Where once there were empty shelves and bins that had held the materials used for the Fusions he¡¯d made, some of those materials had been refilled, including stacks of steel plates, round and flat stones, a barrel of wooden staves, a number of cloth shirts and pants, a few leather chestpieces, and a variety of random metal bracelets, armlets, anklets, and rings. Added all up, it was only a fraction of what had been in there when he¡¯d begun his Fusion-creating session a few days before, but it was enough for his purposes.
After grabbing an armful of materials he thought he might need, he sat down in his comfortable throne of pillows and placed his lapdesk over his lap, wiggling his body to find the most comfortable place he could.
And then he closed his eyes and brought everything that had been on his mind to the surface so he could review what he¡¯d learned.
Larek¡¯s visit to the Aperture had revealed to him the nature of how they were constructed as well as¡ªmostly¡ªhow the monsters came into being, through the means of a conduit to the world of Corruption. He had been interrupted by the arrival of the Gergasi before he obtained a full understanding of its different mechanisms, such as exactly how the Aperture chose which monsters to spawn and the precise method of forming those monsters in the first place, but that was relatively small compared to what he did learn.
First, the structure of the Apertures was made of a combination of every type of energy he knew about, forming a new type of semi-malleable energy that was¡ªas far as he could tell¡ªindestructible, but could also expand and contract when needed. In addition, monsters were created when Pure Aetheric Force from the environment met with Corrupted Aetheric Force sent to this world through a conduit inside the Aperture connecting it to the world of the Corrupted. The combination of these two Forces allowed for the production of monsters, though exactly how that occurred was still shrouded a bit in mystery.
But everything else about the process was something he understood well enough. He¡¯d observed the conduit of energy to the world of Corruption, how it interacted with this world, and the means by which the Apertures would eventually be able to grow and expand. Coupled with his recent discovery of moving around Mana and Aetheric Force to another location, he thought that he might be able to replicate the process. Why replicate it? Because he was hoping to create something that would transport monsters from one place to another instantly; if it worked with monsters with no ill effects, then it might even be able to work to transport people.
Instantaneous travel between one place and another? That would change the world and would make defending against incursions of monsters so much easier. It wouldn¡¯t make the current Transports that the Volunteers used obsolete, of course, but it would be another tool in the arsenal against not only Apertures but also the Calamities that currently existed or may exist in the future.
But for more immediate purposes, it would allow them to move monsters from an Aperture to places near the towns and cities of the Factions that were currently threatening them. Once they were too busy with safeguarding their own people, then Larek would see about stopping the attacks at the source.
Taking a steel plate from the stack he¡¯d placed nearby, Larek set it on his lapdesk and thought about what he wanted to create. While he hadn¡¯t been able to observe a Scission from up close with his Magical Detection Skill high enough to see what was occurring, he thought that the vertical, circular opening was a better model to replicate than an Aperture¡¯s spherical appearance. It seemed more logical to him to push monsters through a large, circular portal, rather than try and throw them into a sphere.
Before he got too far, he realized he probably needed to have two of these portals linked together, so he grabbed a second steel plate and put it next to the one on his lapdesk. Now, with his supplies in hand, he got to work theorycrafting his new Fusion.
His initial obstacle was the fact that in order to create a stable conduit linking one place to another, at least based on what he¡¯d learned from the Aperture, he needed to employ every energy he knew about together to construct something strong enough to handle the sheer power involved in the process. It was this energy that he needed to be able to replicate in order for it to work, which meant that he had to figure out how to combine Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, Corrupted Aetheric Force, and Pure Aetheric Force together ¨C which seemed impossible. Fortunately, he was able to observe enough of the substance and process in which it was created in the Aperture, and he was fairly certain that he could artificially recreate it with a Fusion.
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All of his different Fusions he¡¯d made in the past, as well as his recent discoveries, would be necessary to get this to work.
Ideally, he would love to be able to take all of those different energies and throw them all into a Fusion and hope that it would work, but that wasn¡¯t possible. Sure, he had Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, and even a bit of Pure Aetheric Force to spare, but Larek didn¡¯t have any Corrupted Aetheric Force available; anything that his internal core absorbed from monsters was purified fairly quickly, and it wasn¡¯t something that he could pluck out of the air and throw into a formation.
At least, it wasn¡¯t something that he could pluck out of the air. A Fusion, though, he thought would be more than capable of doing that.
Therefore, he designed his new formation by abandoning the old grid format that he typically started with for most of his Fusions and went for a circular formation, with an empty space in the middle, mimicking the portal shape he wanted to form. In equidistant sections of the circular formation, he placed what he was going to call ¡°Cost¡± sections, which included two separate Mana Costs, as well as singular Stama Cost, Pattern Cohesion Cost, Pure Aetheric Force, and Corrupted Aetheric Force sections. The only one that he deliberately routed through the entire formation was one of the Mana Costs, as it was going to be needed to actually empower the initial Fusion, ensuring that it didn¡¯t fall apart ¨C as well as some secondary Effects that were necessary.
From there, he added a number of Stabilizers and Equalizers that linked all but one of the different Cost sections together, which would help to stabilize the intake of the different energies, ensuring that they were all equal when they were applied to the sections that would enable the Effect he wanted. This was important because, from what he¡¯d seen in the Aperture, the combination of the different energies had to be equal in order to maintain its stability, and these sections would absolutely make sure that happened. The other Mana Cost, as previously indicated, would be responsible for keeping the actual formation and auxiliary Effects sufficiently powered.
There were two Reactive Activation Methods, one which required a relatively simple mental phrasing of ¡°Activate Portal¡± to initially activate all the Effects; but to turn them off, a second Reactive Activation Method would require a much more complicated string of mental phrases to deactivate them, as he didn¡¯t want someone to accidentally shut the whole Fusion down. For this first, experimental Fusion, it was relatively short and easy at ¡°Larek, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,¡± but future ones would be a bit longer.
For Magnitude, at least for the main Effect, he kept this initial experiment at 1, as he wasn¡¯t sure how expensive it would be to create it. If it was a success, he would have to work his way up to a much larger Magnitude once he saw the requirements. There were other Magnitudes he was going to include that would be linked to the different auxiliary Effects, but they were relatively negligible compared to the main Effect.
Once all of that was handled, he dug into the auxiliary Effects he wanted. First, because once one of these portals was placed somewhere, he didn¡¯t want the Fusion to be destroyed, he was going to add a Strengthen Effect with a Magnitude of 15 in the final version. It was a bit expensive, but when steel was strengthened by such an amount, there was very, very little in this world that could even bend it, let alone break it ¨C which he hoped meant even an attack by a Gergasi, though he couldn¡¯t be absolutely sure. For now, though, he only added a Magnitude 1 Strengthen Effect, which was plenty for his current experiment.
But there was also the possibility that someone might get it into their head to move the steel plate from where it was placed, which would basically negate its purpose for being where it was in the first place. To prevent this, he took the Effect that was used in the Transports and The Hopper to reduce its weight in the Buoyant Sphere Fusion, and he created the inverse of it. In essence, instead of reducing the weight of the material it was attached to, he was increasing the weight. Again, he was only going to have a Magnitude of 1 for this experiment, but later versions would have a Magnitude of 10 or more, to the point where even the strongest Gergasi would have no chance to pick it up or shift it. Ideally, he would like it to weigh as much as a mountain, but anything just short of that would also work.
Hmm¡ that could be an interesting method of attacking someone or placed in a trap of sorts; making someone weigh 100 times their weight or more might be difficult to recover from.
Pushing that thought into the back of his mind until a later time, the Fusionist then came to the primary Effect: the portal itself. This one took him nearly an hour of contemplation to put together, but in the end he thought it should work.
Using the five other Cost sections ¨C which weren¡¯t connected to the auxiliary Effects ¨C he fed them all into an Effect that would project the combined, equal energies above the surface of the steel plate to form a thin circle suspended in the air. This circle would be, he hoped, the same indestructible but malleable energy that the Aperture¡¯s structure was composed of. Initially, this circle would be relatively small, as it was more of an outline of what it would eventually be.
The problem he had been running into with his creation of this Fusion was that he wouldn¡¯t be able to activate the Fusion and have the portal spring into place instantly. Why? Because he was doing something a bit different with the gathering of the energy needed to produce the ultimate Effect. While the separate Mana Cost section would be used to stabilize and finalize the overall Fusion, as well as powering the auxiliary Effects, the other Cost sections would gradually build up energy absorbed from the environment, which would in turn strengthen and expand the portal until it was at its largest size. He took the idea from how he recognized the Apertures expanded, but he put his own twist on it.
In order to accomplish this gradual process, sets of Amplifiers, Equalizers, and Limiters worked in conjunction with the Cost sections to ramp up the overall output of energy going into the Effect, to the point where there were four stages. The first stage would be the initial formation of the floating ring made of indestructible energy. The second stage would be the expansion stage, as more energy was absorbed and fed into the ring, growing it until it hit its max size, which was the third stage. The fourth stage was the most important, as it then converted the combined energy into what was essentially the same ¡°glue¡± substance keeping the Aperture¡¯s structure together, which was permeable and would allow objects to pass through it. This ¡°glue¡± would then coat the inside of the ring in a flat plane, which would theoretically look very similar to the outer appearance of an Aperture, completing the portal.
At least, that was the theory.
Once that was done, he realized he needed a secondary Effect that would be triggered via an Input and Variable set that would perform something that he had just recently learned about. In short, it would treat itself as one and the same. Just like one of his Fusions absorbing ambient Mana from a distance because the Mana Cost section and the area of ambience were one and the same, this Effect would treat anything touching the plane of permeable energy inside the circle as being in the same place. In other words, if he focused on the Effect correctly, sticking one¡¯s hand through one plane would allow it to come out the other side of the portal at a distant location.
Theoretically, this should work.
Now it was time to test it.
After double- and triple-checking the formation in his mind, Larek got to work. Creating the circular formation with his Pattern Cohesion, he made the depth twice as thick as necessary and took meticulous care to ensure it was perfect as it rapidly constructed itself from his mind¡¯s eye. It took approximately a minute for it to fully form, if only because he deliberately slowed down the process while he checked everything over.
When everything seemed as perfect as he could make it, he started to funnel Mana into the specific Mana Cost section that would stabilize the formation and power the auxiliary Effects. The area of ambience for it was, as he¡¯d played with the Illuminate Fusion earlier that morning, located approximately 3 feet above the surface of the Fusion that he held suspended in the air, though it took much more Mana than the Illuminate Fusion to fully power it. He estimated that he fed nearly 50,000 Mana into it before he felt it stop absorbing any more. With it fully powered and ready to be placed on a steel plate, he used his Focused Division Skill to split it in two, creating two identical copies that were paired together, which he was hoping meant that the portals they created would be linked, making them one and the same.
Taking care to place them on the steel plates, he made sure they were perfectly aligned before he let them *click* with the inaudible sounds of complete Fusions.
First, Larek was relieved to see that he was successful in the fact that the Fusions didn¡¯t fall apart halfway through the process, and that they didn¡¯t appear to be in any danger of exploding in their inactive state. He hadn¡¯t truly thought something might go wrong with his process, but when he was experimenting with something completely new like this, it was always a possibility.
Second, and most importantly, as he started to reach for the steel plates so that he could take them outside of the city to actually test them, he froze for a second before he was knocked backwards in his pillow throne, as he was subsequently bombarded with notifications he couldn¡¯t ignore.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 21
Accompanying the notifications was a feeling , as though his entire body had been set on fire from the inside, a burning that scoured through his flesh and bones that his Pain Immunity Skill did absolutely nothing to mitigate. His vocal cords locked up when he attempted to scream out in pain, and all the muscles in his body were straining as if they were trying to break free from the skin that contained them.
Just as he thought his head and heart were going to burst, the pain began to lessen; it was gradual at first, but soon enough it drained away like a river through a broken dam, and he was left feeling drained and weak from the traumatic experience.
Panting as he recovered his wits, his vision was filled with the notifications that had been staring him in the face the entire time, but he had been unable to concentrate on them until now.
New Fusion Learned!
Traveling Gate +1
Activation Method(s): Reactive
Effect(s): Strengthens steel
Effect(s): Creates a rectangular box made of condensed air that increases the weight of everything contained in its interior
Effect(s): Gradually forms a filled circular hoop away from the Fusion that combines Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, Pure Aetheric Force, and Corrupted Aetheric Force to create Primal Essence
Effect(s): Entangles two identical constructs together so they act as one
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, activates or deactivates Activatable Activation Method upon detection of mental phrasing by individual in direct contact with object
Variable(s): Mental phrasing ¡°Activate Portal¡±, ¡°Larek, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten¡±
Variables(s): Stage 1 Primal Essence, Stage 2 Primal Essence, Stage 3 Primal Essence, Stage 4 Primal Essence
Input(s): Primal Essence Levels
Magnitude(s): 100% stronger steel, 1,000% weight increase, 6 inch diameter
Mana Cost: 50,000
Pattern Cohesion: 350
Fusion Time: 6 hours
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 66!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 70!
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 81!
¡..
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 85!
You have reached Level 59 and have 37 available AP to distribute!
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 91!
¡..
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 95!
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 98!
¡..
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 100!
Fusion has reached Level 98!
¡..
Fusion has reached Level 100!
Pattern Formation has reached Level 98!
¡..
Pattern Formation has reached Level 100!
Focused Division has reached Level 98!
¡..
Focused Division has reached Level 100!
Mana Control has reached Level 100!
Magical Detection has reached Level 100!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 100!
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 90!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 7!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 8!
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 9!
Primal Essence Mastery Skill has been unlocked!
Primal Essence Mastery has reached Level 1!
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in a Mage Skill and have unlocked the Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 1 Mage Skill of at least 100
The Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +5 to all stats
5% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in three Mage Skills and have unlocked the Multi-Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 3 Mage Skills of at least 100
The Multi-Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +15 to all stats
10% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Warning! The Specializations Sage and Multi-Sage are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Multi-Sage Specialization to replace¡ª
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in six Mage Skills and have unlocked the Omni-Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 6 Mage Skills of at least 100
The Omni-Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +25 to all stats
15% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Warning! The Specializations Multi-Sage and Omni-Sage are mutually exclusive!
Omni-Sage Specialization automatically accepted!
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to your unique nature, you have unlocked the Adept Guardian Specialization!
Requirements:
Skilled Guardian Specialization
Any Mage Skill at or above 60
Any Martial Skill at or above 60
Intellect of at least 300
Acuity of at least 300
Pneuma of at least 300
Strength of at least 300
Body of at least 300
Agility of at least 300
Knowledge of at least 8 spells
Knowledge of at least 8 Battle Arts
The Adept Guardian Specialization also provides these benefits:
15% reduction in Mana Cost for all cast Spells
15% increase in the magnitude of all cast Spells
15% increase in the range of all cast Spells
15% reduction in Stama cost for all Battle Arts
15% increase in effectiveness of all Battle Arts
15% increase in duration of all Battle Arts
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The Adept Guardian Specialization automatically replaces the Skilled Guardian Specialization!
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to obtaining all of your specialized Guardian Skills, all Skills now have their maximum Skill Levels removed and any Aetheric Force spent on them refunded.
Requirements:
Adept Guardian Specialization
Energetic Transmission Skill unlocked
Aetheric Authority Skill unlocked
Primal Essence Mastery Skill unlocked
Congratulations!
Due to your mastery of everything pattern-related, you have unlocked the Pattern Savant Specialization!
Requirements:
Pattern Professional Specialization
Any 2 Pattern-related Skills at 100
Remaining Pattern-related Skills at 70 or higher
Fusion Skill of 70
Magical Detection Skill of 70
Mana Control Skill of 70
Intellect of at least 200
Acuity of at least 200
Pneuma of at least 200
The Pattern Savant Specialization also provides these benefits:
Ability to utilize Pattern Cohesion in unique ways
Ability to manipulate up to 75% of your Pattern Cohesion outside of spell patterns and Fusion formations
Ability to impart any Pattern-related Skill to those with the capability
Heightened ability to manipulate your internal pattern
30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all spells and Fusions
Enhances the strength of all spells, Fusions, or pattern constructs by 25%
The Pattern Savant Specialization automatically replaces the Pattern Professional Specialization!
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Supreme Fusionist Specialization!
Requirements:
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Fusion Skill of 100
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
The Supreme Fusionist Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
25% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
25% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist and Supreme Fusionist are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Supreme Fusionist Specialization to replace Martial Pattern Fusioni¡ª
Congratulations!
Due to your unique and persistent nature, you have unlocked the Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization!
Requirements:
Pattern Savant Specialization
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Fusion Skill of 100
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 70
Pattern Recognition Skill of 70
Pattern Restoration Skill of 70
Intellect of at least 200
Acuity of at least 200
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
The Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
25% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
25% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist, Supreme Fusionist, and Supreme Savant Fusionist are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to replace Martial Pattern Fusionist with Supreme Savant Fusio¡ª
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to your unique and persistent nature, you have unlocked the Fusionist Scion Specialization!
Requirements:
Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 70
Fusion Skill of 100
Pain Immunity Skill evolution
Body Regeneration Skill of 70
Stama Subjugation Skill of 90
Intellect of at least 300
Acuity of at least 300
Pneuma of at least 300
Strength of at least 300
Body of at least 300
Agility of at least 300
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
Unlocked at least 3 different Weapon Expertise Skills
Access to at least a combined 35 Spells and Battle Arts
Has externally used Pattern Cohesion in a combat environment to kill a target
The Fusionist Scion Specialization also provides these benefits:
75% increase to manipulatable Pattern Cohesion when used in combat
30% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
30% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all cast Spells
25% increase in the magnitude of all cast Spells
25% increase in the range of all cast Spells
20% reduction in Stama cost for all Battle Arts
20% increase in effectiveness of all Battle Arts
20% increase in duration of all Battle Arts
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist, Supreme Fusionist, and Supreme Savant Fusionist have been overridden by Fusionist Scion!
Fusionist Scion Specialization automatically accepted!
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Fusion Skillsage Specialization!
Requirements:
Fusion Skill of at least 100
Pattern Formation Skill of at least 100
Mana Control Skill of at least 100
Intellect of at least 250
Acuity of at least 250
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 20 spells
Knowledge of at least 40 Fusions
The Fusion Skillsage Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% efficiency for the Fusion, Pattern Formation, and Mana Control Skills
30% increase in Fusion, Pattern Formation, and Mana Control Skill improvement speed
Warning! The Specializations Fusion Skillsage and Magical Skillmaster are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Fusion Skillsage Specialization to replace Magical Skillmast¡ª
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Magical Skillsage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 4 Mage Skills at or above 100
Intellect of at least 250
Acuity of at least 250
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 25 spells
Knowledge of at least 40 Fusions
The Magical Skillsage Specialization also provides these benefits:
30% efficiency for all Mage Skills at Level 100 or above
40% increase in Mage Skill improvement speed
Warning! The Specializations Magical Skillsage and Fusion Skillsage are mutually exclusive!
Magical Skillsage Specialization automatically accepted!
Wha¡ªWhat? I¡ I don¡¯t even know what just happened.
To help make sense of it, he brought up his Status and looked at his Specializations, stats, and Skills.
Larek Holsten
Adept Guardian
Omni-Sage
Fusionist Scion
Pattern Savant
Magical Skillsage
Generalist Spellcaster
Healer
Striker
Basher
Ranger
Level 59
Advancement Points (AP): 24/37
Available AP to Distribute: 37
Available Aetheric Force (AF): 1,632,998
Stama: 6180/6180
Mana: 6900/6900
Strength: 309 [618] (+)
Body: 345 [690] (+)
Agility: 309 [618] (+)
Intellect: 345 [690] (+)
Acuity: 345 [690] (+)
Pneuma: 6,210 [12,420]
Pattern Cohesion: 124,200/124,200
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 70
Spellcasting Focus Level 85[95]
Pattern Recognition Level 95[105]
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 100
Fusion Level 100[110]
Pattern Formation Level 100[110]
Focused Division Level 100
Mana Control Level 100[110]
Magical Detection Level 100[110]
Pattern Manipulation Level 100
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15
Throwing Level 29[39]
Dodge Level 68[78]
Pain Immunity Level 20
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 71[81]
Body Regeneration Level 72[82]
Stama Subjugation Level 90
General Skills:
Cooking Level 8
Writing Level 11
Bargaining Level 13
Saw Handling Level 15
Reading Level 17
Long-Distance Running Level 20
Speaking Level 25
Leadership Level 35
Listening Level 45
Beast Control Level 65
Axe Handling Level 94
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 8
Aetheric Authority Level 9
Primal Essence Mastery Level 1
The first obvious thing he got from all the notifications was that he had improved quite a few of his Skills; not only that, but the Fusion he had created had pushed many of them related to Fusions and patterns all the way to Level 100. Not just one or two, either, but a full seven Mage Skills were now Level 100, which was reflected in the surprise Specializations that he¡¯d apparently unlocked. Sage, Multi-Sage, and finally Omni-Sage were unlocked back-to-back, and with each one he received a bonus to his stats.
All of his stats.
Each one went up by a total of 45 points, which he thought was why it felt like his body was burning from the inside. Never before had he abruptly had 270 stat points shoved into him simultaneously, and the sudden surge of changes sweeping through his body had nearly killed him with its intensity. As a result of those stat point increases, it pushed him over the threshold of 300 in every stat, which in turn unlocked the next Guardian-based Specialization, Adept Guardian.
There weren¡¯t too many changes in the benefits of having the new Guardian Specialization, as they mostly affected spells and Battle Arts, but anything was better than nothing.
But that wasn¡¯t the last of the changes.
Due to the nature of the Skills in which he had reached Level 100, he also unlocked the next stage in the Pattern-based Specializations, which upgraded his Pattern Professional to Pattern Savant, greatly increasing the benefits. The biggest change was the ability to manipulate up to 75% of his Pattern Cohesion outside of his body, an increase of 25%, and with his higher Pattern Cohesion from the stat increases, that meant he could wield over 93,000 Pattern Cohesion for his Pattern constructs.
With a barrier construct at that strength, for instance, he was fairly certain that even a Gergasi couldn¡¯t break through it with one hit. Making a huge transport box construct would be easy enough to do, as well, and thinking about the recent experience in the Calamity when he helped to evacuate over 30 people at once, it would¡¯ve been so much easier, as he would¡¯ve been able to move it even faster. There were also bonuses to the strength of Fusions and pattern constructs by 25% and a 30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion costs for Fusions, which wasn¡¯t anything to sneeze at, either.
After that, he unlocked Supreme Fusionist, a step up from Martial Pattern Fusionist, followed by Supreme Savant Fusionist as it took into consideration his Pattern-based Specialization. But both of those were overridden by something called a Fusionist Scion, which brought with it a host of benefits. The most important was that he could manipulate a further 75% of his Pattern Cohesion while engaged in combat. He intuited that it didn¡¯t necessarily stack with the previous Specialization, but it would allow him to use up to 75% of the remaining 25% not allowed by Pattern Savant. In other words, most of his Pattern Cohesion would be available during combat, to use as he saw fit.
The further 30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements and 30% reduction in Mana Cost for Fusions was also a nice bonus that he was sure he would take advantage of in the future.
The last Specializations that he unlocked were the Fusion Skillsage and Magical Skillsage, the latter of which overrode the former. They were unlocked because of his new Level 100 Skills, and the benefits reflected those increases, as they gave a 30% efficiency increase to all Mage Skills over Level 100. The 40% increase in Mage Skill improvement speed wasn¡¯t too shabby, either.
That wasn¡¯t even all of the changes to his Status, as there was one other that was courtesy of a new Skill he unlocked, which related to the Fusion he¡¯d just created. Apparently, Primal Essence was the substance he¡¯d observed in the Aperture that was created from a mixture of every energy he knew about, and he ended up unlocking the Primal Essence Mastery Skill because of it.
But that wasn¡¯t the most important part to him, despite how monumental the discovery was. Nestled in the middle of his notifications was one congratulating him on unlocking all of the Guardian-specific Skills available, which rewarded him with a removal of all maximum Skill Level limits and got rid of the cost to increase those maximums. Fortunately, or unfortunately for his part, along with the removal of max Skill Levels, all of the Aetheric Force was returned to him. Normally, this wouldn¡¯t have been that big of a deal, but when his internal core of Aetheric Force was abruptly shoved full of the energy along with his stat changes, the combination only amplified the horrific feeling of his body wanting to explode from the inside.
As a result of those removals, his Skill lists looked much cleaner, and the possibilities for development seemed endless. As he slowly recovered, gradually getting used to the changes in his body, he began to wonder how high the Skills of the Gergasi were and if there was any limit to how high they could climb. Which inevitably led to thinking about the kinds of Specializations that the Gergasi had access to that he didn¡¯t even know about.
Are there additional Specializations for getting Skills to Level 150? Level 200? Higher? Is there an equivalent Specialization for Level 100 Martial Skills? Are there other Specializations that give stat point bonuses?
He couldn¡¯t help but think that there had to be, as the Gergasi were extremely powerful all by themselves. Sure, with access to Fusions and his Pattern Cohesion, Larek could somewhat hold his own against a single weaker Gergasi, but his stats ¨C even boosted by his Fusions ¨C were barely able to keep up with them. By this point, he was fairly certain that they must have started with much higher stats during the transition, in order to have such high stat thresholds for the Guardian Specializations; but after that, they must have discovered additional methods to keep increasing them, apart from Leveling-up their personal Levels.
It was something that he knew he¡¯d look into eventually, but for now, he was satisfied with what he¡¯d earned ¨C and all because of the Fusion he¡¯d just created. Speaking of that Fusion, he looked again at the description and saw some new and some unfamiliar words. The first was the acknowledgement of Primal Essence being the combination of five different energies, which he thought was either a new type of energy, or was simply the original form of energy in the world of Corruption.
The second was the word ¡°entangled¡±, which appeared to be in reference to the connection between the two Fusions. He supposed that it was this ¡°entanglement¡± that he had also used in the absorption of energies from the environment, as he had focused on making each of the different cost sections pull their specific energies from a different location. While the two Fusions weren¡¯t activated right now, he knew that he¡¯d see 6 different areas of ambience separated from the formation in the air, each of them pulling in what the Fusion needed to operate successfully.
At least, that was his intention. The fact that the notifications were sent to him about Skill Level increases was enough proof to him that his idea had been successful, but that didn¡¯t mean it would do exactly as he¡¯d intended. Picking up both steel plates with the new Traveling Gate +1 Fusions on them, he got up from his throne of pillows and headed for the door. Because it was possible that these new Fusions could be somewhat unstable, and because they used a method similar to the Apertures around the world, he didn¡¯t want to test them inside of Thanesh.
He wasn¡¯t going to go too far, of course, but out in a field somewhere close by was better than risking something going catastrophically wrong and blowing up a portion of the city.
If this works how I think it will, then this should help stem the attacks by the Factions, leaving me to focus on the SIC. With a pleased smile on his face, he exited his home and took off into the air, a Pattern construct platform appearing under his feet with a thought and an ease that would¡¯ve surprised him a few weeks ago. At this point, it was almost as easy to create as breathing, and he flew away at a speed that most people would have difficulty maintaining, but with his newest increases to his Strength and Body, Larek was more than capable of withstanding the forces pushing on him as he moved.
The new Fusionist Scion touched down approximately a half-mile from the walls of the city, where he placed down the two steel plates of his Traveling Gate Fusion on the low grass of the field he was standing in, setting them 20 feet apart. When they were in the position he wanted, he took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and mentally spoke the words to initiate the start of the Fusions.
¡°Activate Portal.¡±
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 22
Chapter 22
Both Fusions activated simultaneously, but Larek could feel that it wasn¡¯t because both of them heard his mental command. Instead, as the one nearest him activated, the other one was also activated, as they were ¨C as the Fusion details described ¨C entangled together; when something happened to one, so too did it happen to the other.
The Fusionist could visually see at least one of the auxiliary Effects enable, as he watched the steel plates sink further into the short grass, crushing it underneath its greater weight; as for the strength of the steel being increased, it wasn¡¯t something that was physically visible, but he could see the actual Effect with his Magical Detection and saw that it was working.
Scattered around in different places were six separate areas of ambience, each of them absorbing a different type of energy. The absorption for all but the Mana Cost section powering the overall Fusion were even, if relatively slow, but already he could see the ring of Primal Essence forming that would define the ¡°Traveling Gate¡±. At six inches in diameter, the perfect circle was suspended just above the Fusion, its lower portion approximately an inch away from the steel.
At first, the circle was a bit insubstantial in appearance as the energy necessary for its creation was gradually pulled in and combined together, but eventually it became more distinct. It wasn¡¯t as fast as he was expecting, as it took nearly a minute before enough energy was gathered to fully materialize the ring, but by all accounts, it seemed to be working.
What he hadn¡¯t necessarily expected was the fact that he could sense the coalescing Traveling Gate apart from the Fusion and areas of ambience. Closing his eyes as he turned away and concentrated on it, the feeling both Gates gave off was reminiscent of the Scissions that used to plague the Kingdom, though it was much, much weaker. In addition, whereas the Scissions used to give off an almost ominous and wild tinge to the power they exerted, this felt tame and sterile in comparison. It was almost like the Scissions had ¡°bad intentions¡±, whereas the Gates he had constructed had no intentions whatsoever.
It took another minute for the slowly materializing curtain of Primal Essence to cover the internal portion of the rings, and when they were finally complete, there was a sharp spike in the feeling of power they gave off, before it settled back down. In fact, as he looked at the areas of ambience that were powering the Gate, the rate of absorption had been reduced dramatically, with their original areas of ambience being a little bit bigger than his fist, with the new areas being no bigger than his thumbnail.
Huh. I guess that is used to maintain the Gate¡¯s existence? It was interesting to see that his focus during the creation of the Fusion had included that into the equalization and the steady rate of energy transfer, as he hadn¡¯t necessarily planned for it to work like that.
Regardless of how all of those things came together, the fact of the matter was that it was working ¨C at least he hoped so. He still had to test it, of course.
Taking a small stone from the dirt underneath his foot, he bent slightly to line up his aim, before tossing it perfectly into the Gate nearest him. There was a very slight resistance as the stone touched the multi-colored curtain of Primal Essence, which reminded him of the appearance of most Apertures, but it wasn¡¯t slowed down much as it disappeared. Having been watching both Gates, he was easily able to see the stone emerge from the other one, its momentum slightly less than when he threw it, but there wasn¡¯t too noticeable of a difference.
It works!
He grabbed another rock and did it all again, but this time he was looking at something else. As he had thought, the areas of ambience that powered the Gate slightly increased in size, and therefore their absorption rate, as the stone passed through it. It was barely noticeable and only lasted for a second before reducing to its previous flat rate, but it was enough to tell him that there was some sort of cost involved in transferring an object from one Gate to the other.
Next, he dug out a clump of dirt and grass from the field and tossed it through; it was slightly larger in size than the stones he¡¯d tossed, and there was a little bit more absorption from the areas of ambience at that point, but it wasn¡¯t too significant. The test wasn¡¯t necessarily to see if the size of the areas of ambience would increase with larger objects, though that was good to know; rather, it was to see if living things ¨C such as the grass ¨C could survive the journey.
When he picked up the clump from near the other Gate, he was pleased to see that it seemed just fine. He was worried that it would show that all the life was sucked out of it or something, but it looked as normal as it had before he threw it. Of course, there was a difference between grass and an animal or a monster ¨C let alone a person ¨C so he still needed to test that. Thankfully, the field he was experimenting in wasn¡¯t devoid of life, and it wasn¡¯t long until he used his battle awareness to locate a field mouse cowering in the grass approximately 50 feet away from where was standing.
After a quick chase that the mouse had no chance of escaping from, he was leaning down toward the Gate with the mouse clutched firmly in his hand. With his eye on the other Fusion, which he had fortunately angled in such a way that he could see the exit, he pushed the head of the mouse through. He felt the slightest resistance, as if he was pushing the mouse through a spiderweb, but it didn¡¯t seem to hurt the animal. As he watched the head emerge from the other Gate, he let the mouse go as it looked around and seemed to decide that it had ¡°escaped¡± Larek and was trying to get away. It pushed off his fingers and shot through the rest of the way, emerging through the Gate without any noticeable negative effects. He watched it immediately disappear in the grass, getting as far away from the giant who had shoved it through a strange hoop.
With the successful test, it was, of course, time to try it himself. As he knelt down near the Gate, intending to push his hand through, he stopped when he sensed a Transport heading in his direction. Sitting back on his heels, he waited for it to land approximately 50 feet from his position, and he smiled when he felt who was inside. Or to be more accurate, he felt the many people who were inside.
Volunteers came bubbling out of the top of the Transport before they jumped down to surround the area, their staves thankfully not pointed at him, but at the two Gates. They were followed by not only Nedira, whom he first felt, but all of his other friends.
¡°Why does it not surprise me to find you at the center of this?¡± his betrothed asked with her hands on her hips and a smile threatening to break loose on her lips.
¡°He really hasn¡¯t changed, has he?¡± Penelope asked, coming up beside her as they looked down on what Larek was doing. ¡°Still doing the impossible and freaking everyone out as a matter of course.¡±
They were joined by not only Vivienne, Norde, Verne, Bartholomew, and Kimble, but Teena and Esmer, as well, two of the more recent additions to their group. The Aeromancer and the Illusionist seemed confused at what Penelope was hinting at, but they¡¯d seen enough strange things that they caught on.
¡°You really scared us with¡ whatever this is, you know,¡± Kimble said, even as he and the others jumped down. Previously, they would¡¯ve climbed down, but with unlocking their Martial potential, they had enough stats to jump off a greater height without hurting themselves. ¡°We could feel it all the way at the Transport fields.¡±
Verne quickly sprinted over, squatting next to Larek as he looked at the floating ring next to him. The excitement was practically exuding from his old roommate as he bounced up and down slightly. ¡°This looks amazing! Is this what I think it is?¡±
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¡°Uh¡ maybe?¡± The Fusionist wasn¡¯t sure what he thought it was.
¡°Sounds like a yes to me! Have you tried it yet?¡±
He could only assume that he was asking whether Larek had experimented with some objects yet, so he nodded. ¡°Yes, some¡ª¡±
Before Larek could stop him, Verne shot his hand forward, slipping it through the Gate like he was trying to punch it, his hand and arm disappearing up to the elbow. There were gasps from everyone watching, as it appeared as though he¡¯d just cut off his arm, but Larek was already looking at the other Gate, where Verne¡¯s hand was spasmodically waving around in all directions. It was strange enough that he thought something might be wrong with Verne¡¯s connection to his arm, but the smile and giggle on his old roommate¡¯s face showed that he was just enjoying it as he tested out the gate.
¡°It won¡¯t cut my arm off if I touch the edge, will it?¡± he asked, but again before Larek could react or respond, Verne was already banging his arm against the inner size of the ring. Fortunately, all that happened was that his arm was stopped by the edge as soon as he pressed up against it, as if the ring was simply a smooth piece of metal or something equally innocuous.
I guess that answers that question.
¡°W-What? How? What did you do?¡± Kimble asked, stepping up close to get a better look at the Transfer Gate as everyone seemed to finally see Verne¡¯s arm at the other one. He couldn¡¯t tell what most of the Volunteers were thinking, but their silence and blank looks seemed to indicate that he might have broken a few of them. His friends, on the other hand, took the development largely in stride, though they had the wide-eyed looks of those who couldn¡¯t believe what they were seeing.
Larek stood up, gesturing toward the steel plate. ¡°This is a Transfer Gate, at least according to the Fusion description,¡± he explained. ¡°Obviously, this one is quite small, but I needed to test the theory out before I made one full-scale. They come in pairs, as you can see, and should be exactly what we need to occupy the Factions so that they can stop worrying about us and worry about the monsters we¡¯ll send through here.¡±
Kimble was nodding, still staring at the multi-colored circle that Verne continued to play with. As he opened his mouth to speak, there was a cry from Larek¡¯s old roommate as he touched the outer edge of the ring of Primal Essence with his hand, and two of his fingers were lopped off without any resistance at all.
¡°Verne! What happened?¡± Norde asked, as he ran up to his friend, but the still-excited young man calmly picked up his detached fingers from the ground, held them up to his bleeding stumps, and activated his Healing Surge Fusion. Within seconds, the fingers had reattached themselves; and besides the blood that covered his hand, there was no sign that anything had happened to it. He even flexed his fingers a few times with a satisfied smile on his face.
Larek wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d have been as calm if that had happened to him.
¡°Wow, that is impossibly sharp,¡± Verne noted, looking closer to the edge of the ring, but he was notably a bit more cautious about getting too close to it. ¡°That¡¯s even sharper than your axe. What is this made from?¡±
¡°Huh?¡± Larek asked, still a bit taken aback at the bloody scene. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s Primal Essence. It¡¯s a combination of Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, Pure Aetheric Force, and Corrupted Aetheric Force. Being able to create it is apparently the final Guardian Skill, as I now have Primal Essence Mastery,¡± he said matter-of-factly. ¡°Ooh, did you know that this is what the Apertures¡ªand likely the Scissions¡ªare constructed from? It¡¯s slightly different from this, however, as they are basically a conduit for Corrupted Aetheric Force that is sent here from the other world, and it converts that Force¡ªalong with some other energy¡ªinto monsters. Don¡¯t ask me how exactly that works, because I don¡¯t know for sure; I was interrupted by the arrival of those two Gergasi yesterday, so I didn¡¯t complete my investigation.¡± He hadn¡¯t been paying attention to everyone as he spoke to Verne, but he could sense that everyone had just gone really quiet.
¡°Is¡ that true? This is similar to an Aperture? And there aren¡¯t monsters coming from the other world¡ just energy?¡± Kimble asked, with disbelief reverberating in his voice.
Larek nodded. ¡°As far as I can tell, yes. I might be able to detect even more now that my Magical Detection Skill just hit Level 100, but I don¡¯t think it will tell me anything differently.¡±
¡°You got a Skill up to Level 100?!¡± Nedira asked, her shock reflected on the faces of everyone else, even Verne.
¡°Uh¡ yes? Actually, I just hit Level 100 in seven different Skills when I finished this Fusion,¡± he added, again gesturing toward the steel plate.
Everyone had frozen where they were at this revelation, at least for a few seconds. That was when Penelope suddenly started chuckling, before turning into bent-over laughter that seemed to break the tension that infected everyone listening. ¡°You¡ you¡ you just casually mentioned something that no one in the Kingdom has ever achieved,¡± the blue-haired Martial managed to squeeze out between laughs, ¡°as if it was no big deal! That¡¯s the funniest thing I¡¯ve ever heard!¡±
Larek didn¡¯t necessarily see the humor in it, but the others apparently did, as they joined in the laughter with her, along with a bunch of shaking of their heads. He just shrugged, a smile of his own tugging at his mouth at the sight of everyone apparently enjoying themselves. He even felt himself begin to relax a little bit, as a weight that had been weighing on him for days seemed to melt away. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t realized that he¡¯d been operating in a hyper-focused state ever since he¡¯d thought about investigating an Aperture, as almost every second he¡¯d been wanting¡ªno, needing¡ªto express his findings in the form of the Fusion he¡¯d just created. While there was still the process of scaling the Traveling Gate up so that it could fit at least average-sized monsters through its opening, he didn¡¯t feel the same sort of pressure that had been unconsciously itching at him the closer he got to home.
¡°What are your plans now?¡± Kimble asked as the laughter died down. ¡°Are you making these things bigger? What is their range? How many can you make? Are they only available in pairs, or can they link more than just two together? How long will they stay open?¡±
Larek held up his hand to stop the flow of questions as he began to answer them. ¡°Well, I¡¯m planning on making these bigger so we can test them for safety. As far as I can tell, the entanglement between them doesn¡¯t have a maximum range, so they should theoretically work all the way across the world, as long as there is enough energy around to produce Primal Essence. I can only make these in pairs and only one pair at a time, as they need to be split using Focused Division in order to produce the entanglement.¡±
He had already thought about trying to create additional Gates instead of them just in pairs, but he instinctively knew it wouldn¡¯t work; he might be able to entangle them so that they connected two places into one, but three or more would likely rip whatever crossed the threshold apart, if it didn¡¯t catastrophically explode upon activation.
¡°As for how long they will stay open, they should stay open indefinitely, as long as enough Primal Essence can be produced. However, they can also be shut down if needed and moved somewhere else. Which, coincidentally, is something I still need to test.¡± Looking down at Verne, who was still staring at the Gate, he said, ¡°Would you mind moving away for a moment? I need to shut it down, and I¡¯m not exactly sure what it will do.¡±
His old roommate nodded and quickly moved away, and everyone else followed his lead and backed up at least 100 feet from the nearest Gates. Larek was a little closer, at about 15 feet, but he mentally gave the deactivation mental phrasing to shut the Fusions down.
Immediately, he saw the Fusion stop absorbing every type of energy and the formation on the steel plate shut down. The Gate, however, didn¡¯t suddenly disappear; it continued to be suspended slightly above the surface of the Fusion, looking largely unchanged.
¡°Isn¡¯t it supposed to close or something?¡± Nedira asked, still at a distance, looking at the Gate with worry written all over her face.
Larek thought about it for a moment before he shrugged. ¡°I think so? Oh, yes, I see it now. It¡¯s bleeding energy back out into the environment, but it looks like it will take a while. It might take longer for the Primal Essence to break down than it took to gather it,¡± he conjectured, before turning toward his friends. ¡°Which is another slight limitation to the Gate I forgot to mention. For as relatively small as it was, this one took a little over two minutes to fully form, as it had to gradually pull energy from the environment at a constant and even rate. For one that is a lot larger, such as one that could fit people or one that would work for bigger monsters, the establishment of the Gate will likely take a lot longer. Hours? A day or longer? I¡¯m not quite sure, which is something we¡¯ll definitely have to test.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ actually not so bad,¡± Kimble mused, his hand on his chin as he thought about it. ¡°I can only imagine that if we felt this small Gate a little over a half-mile away, that a larger one will have a much more intense and stronger feeling to it. It would be more than enough to give warning to the Faction towns and cities we need to distract that they need to prepare, and it will give them that time so they aren¡¯t suddenly caught out.¡±
Larek hadn¡¯t really been thinking about that, but he supposed that it was probably for the best.
¡°Of course, there are other things to consider, such as how to get monsters to go through these Gates in the first place, but I¡¯m sure we can figure it out,¡± Kimble continued, looking at the others, but Larek had already shifted his mind to some of the possible Fusions he¡¯d thought about a few days before. While they hadn¡¯t exactly been difficult ideas to execute before, now that he¡¯d Leveled many of his Fusion-related Skills to 100, they seemed like they¡¯d be almost easy to create.
And he couldn¡¯t wait to get to it.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 23
Chapter 23
¡°You all know why you¡¯re here, I suppose?¡±
Larek looked around at the faces staring up at him from where they were sitting, each of them in their own miniature throne of pillows that mimicked his own, though on a much smaller and more compact scale. It was something that he had suggested as a necessity for his students, if he were to start teaching the Volunteers about Fusions, along with the portable walls that they could place around themselves, which held Muffle Sound Fusions that he¡¯d created a few days ago (during his marathon of Fusion creation), all of which would aid in limiting distractions. Not that he expected that they would be starting on even creating any Fusions today, as many of his students were still getting used to working with their Mana to shape spells. While some of them had already successfully cast a spell by this point, the others were still learning.
What Larek was trying to do today was give an overview of what Fusions were and the basics of how they were constructed. He thought back on his first days at Crystalview and tried to remember what Professor Annika had taught him and the other students in the Academy, modeling his approach somewhat after that ¨C though with some large changes.
Who¡¯d have thought that I would be teaching students of my own, as if I was some sort of trained Professor? Not something I thought I¡¯d ever do.
Granted, he¡¯d taught some things to other Mages before, including other Professors when he discovered his Focused Division Skill, but that felt different from this situation. Everyone he¡¯d taught before was experienced with being a Mage, and they were, if not experienced, at least knowledgeable about more than a few spells and Fusions, even if they weren¡¯t very adept at the latter. These students, on the other hand, were practically new to the whole situation of having potential, and while they¡¯d been practicing spellcasting ¨C in addition to Martial-type training ¨C in other classes, this was their first interaction with Fusions on an academic level.
Simply using the Fusions that Larek had made wasn¡¯t the same as actually knowing how they functioned or how they were created in the first place.
Thankfully, unlike at the Academy, where everyone had to take classes on Fusions, Larek¡¯s classroom was filled with those who actually wanted to learn about Fusions. He hoped it would help with their enthusiasm and speed of learning about the formations and procedures that made them so versatile and wonderful.
Everyone nodded at his question, their comfortable-looking, matching dark grey shirts and pants reminding him a little of his few years at the Academies he attended, though the dress code wasn¡¯t as enforced as it was back then. Still, the fact that they all appeared similar seemed to give them a sense of belonging, as if it was a deliberate choice to bring them all together toward a common goal. He supposed that that philosophy was what the entire Volunteer organization was about, so it made more sense when he saw it that way.
¡°First, I¡¯d like to introduce myself properly, because if we¡¯re going to be working closely together to learn Fusions, I¡¯d prefer for the tone to be a lot less formal than in the Academies where I learned. With that said, you may call me Larek; no honorifics are necessary or even wanted within this classroom, as they tend to make me uncomfortable.
¡°Second, here¡¯s a little bit of background about me that I think you should know. As you¡¯ve no doubt heard, I¡¯m both half-Human and half-Gergasi, not through any choice of my mother, who is full-blooded Human. I didn¡¯t discover my heritage until after I had already entered Copperleaf Academy a few years ago, and I vehemently oppose the Gergasi and their mind-controlling magic with every fiber of my being. That¡¯s why, in addition to clearing your head of bugs that would otherwise try to control you, the Fusion you all have in the back of your head also prevents the Dominion magic that the Gergasi can use from taking hold of your mind.
¡°I tell you all this because I want you to understand what a Fusion can do for you, if you know how to leverage your focus, and if you design it the way you desire. How? Well, I was once told that the symbols that are used in Fusions are only placeholders for the Effect we intend, and I¡¯ve found that to be one of the truest statements I¡¯ve ever encountered.
¡°Even now, as I¡¯ve broken through to the Fusionist Scion Specialization because many of my Fusion-related Skills have topped Level 100, I¡¯m consistently finding opportunities to utilize Fusions in new and unique ways that I never considered before. There is no limit to what you can achieve with Fusions, and it is my hope that you apply the knowledge you learn here to aid your fellow Volunteers, to save those who need your help, and to change the world for the better. It¡¯s what I¡¯ve endeavored to do from the moment I created my first Fusion. And while my priorities have changed over the years, I¡¯ve always wanted my Fusions to be used by those who could benefit from them the most, and not for any particular monetary gain.
¡°To that end, I¡¯m going to come around and impart some knowledge to you, which will help you on your way toward mastering not only Fusions, but also the integral Skills needed to advance your ability with Pattern Cohesion.¡±
As Larek began to move through the classroom, which was filled with 32 students, none of them particularly familiar to him, he touched each one on the head and willed into them his knowledge of Pattern Formation, Pattern Recognition, Pattern Manipulation, and Pattern Restoration. Many of them already had Pattern Formation or Pattern Recognition due to their experience with spellcasting and spell formations, but no one had the latter two that he¡¯d had to discover on his own. While he imparted these Skills to them, he began to describe the most basic knowledge they needed about Fusions, Fusion formations, and the different sections of a 2-by-2 grid, which included Effect, Activation Method, Magnitude, and Mana Cost.
The initial nervousness he¡¯d felt walking into the class disappeared as he kept talking, as he got lost in the descriptions of each section and how they worked together in the formation to produce the Fusion they desired. The importance of focus and intent was stressed upon, as well as the dangers of letting one¡¯s focus waver while creating a Fusion, before he launched into the different types of basic Fusions that they would soon learn how to create.
Then he went into a practical demonstration of these basic formations as he used his Pattern Cohesion to visually show how they were created, moving around the room as he created them, though he didn¡¯t actually feed Mana into them yet. The Pattern-related Skills that he¡¯d imparted allowed them to see his process better than they would¡¯ve been able to see without them, and he could see the light of comprehension in every single student by the time class was finished. He ended his demonstrations with a finished Illuminate +2 Fusion on a piece of wood he had brought with him, allowing them to see how he funneled Mana into the Mana Cost section to finalize it, before it snapped into place.
¡°Any questions?¡± he asked at the end, which was a mistake when all of them had their hands raised. He spent another half-hour answering their questions to the best of his ability or deflecting them to be answered later when they had their next class. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough for now,¡± he told them, cutting off any further questions. ¡°Over the next few days, I want you to practice manipulating your Pattern Cohesion to start making the basis of Fusion formations, but do not add any Mana yet! I would like to monitor your process before you start actually feeding them with Mana to power them up, and I don¡¯t want anything to go wrong. Oh, and study the symbols on the papers that were handed out at the beginning of class, as those will be the most common ones that will make it easier to learn. Eventually, you¡¯ll be creating your own symbols to connect with your intended Effects, but for now, these symbols will be imperative to getting the basics covered. See you next class.¡± He nodded to them, pleased with how attentive they had been during the entire three hours of his lecture, and started collecting his stuff from the desk up front.
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¡°Thank you, Professor Larek!¡± they all shouted in near unison, before they started to get up. He winced at the ¡°Professor¡± part, but he ignored it while he waved to them as they were leaving. When they were all gone, Larek sat down on the edge of his desk and let out a heavy breath, amazed at himself that he¡¯d actually gotten through the class without any problems. He¡¯d been nervous earlier going into the class, as he still didn¡¯t see himself as any sort of teacher, trainer, or especially a Professor, but he quickly discovered that when he was talking about Fusions, his lecture seemed to come naturally to him.
Taking his leave of the large complex that the Volunteers had been using to train the budding Guardians, which he supposed was still the best term for those with full Mage and Martial potential, he lifted himself into the air with a Pattern platform construct under his feet, which speedily brought him back home. He entered and Nedira greeted him just inside the door, giving him a huge hug as she led him inside to the table for lunch. Realizing he was starving, he dug in and consumed enough for three people, and it was only when he started to slow down that Nedira spoke to him.
¡°The first one of decent size finally activated an hour ago¡ and it works! The larger ones are still forming, but we should hopefully know some more results by the end of the day.¡±
It took him a second to realize what she was talking about, but when he did, he smiled happily and nodded, glad that they had worked out. He¡¯d spent almost all of the day before carefully creating larger and larger Traveling Gate Fusions, after the success of the smallest one, and Verne along with Norde had taken it upon themselves to do the testing of them a bit further away from the city, so as not to startle anyone.
While Larek didn¡¯t have many doubts that they would work, they were supposed to have done a full-person test today with one of the larger Magnitudes, and apparently it was successful.
¡°Which Magnitude was it?¡± he asked.
Nedira thought about it for a second or two. ¡°Magnitude 4, I believe? I think 2 and 3 were too small.¡±
The Fusionist brought up the description for the Magnitude 4 version of Traveling Gate to see how large it was.
Traveling Gate +4
Activation Method(s): Reactive
Effect(s): Strengthens steel
Effect(s): Creates a rectangular box made of condensed air that increases the weight of everything contained in its interior
Effect(s): Gradually forms a filled circular hoop away from the Fusion that combines Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, Pure Aetheric Force, and Corrupted Aetheric Force to create Primal Essence
Effect(s): Entangles two identical constructs together so they act as one
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, activates or deactivates Activatable Activation Method upon detection of mental phrasing by individual in direct contact with object
Variable(s): Mental phrasing ¡°Activate Portal¡±, ¡°Magnitude four, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten¡±
Variables(s): Stage 1 Primal Essence, Stage 2 Primal Essence, Stage 3 Primal Essence, Stage 4 Primal Essence
Input(s): Primal Essence Levels
Magnitude(s): 400% stronger steel, 4,000% weight increase, 4-foot diameter
Mana Cost: 2,500,000
Pattern Cohesion: 14,000
Fusion Time: 150 hours
The Magnitude 4 version of the Gate Fusion had a 4-foot diameter opening, which he supposed was enough to fit someone through it. Larek would have to be bent over double in order to fit through, but most others would simply have to duck a bit. As he looked at the Fusion description, he remembered how expensive in terms of Mana these particular Fusions had been, and they would only go up a little bit as he changed the Magnitudes on the auxiliary Effects in the future. For these test ones, they were kept at the same Magnitude as the rest of the Fusion for the sake of consistency, but he was still planning on increasing them dramatically in the future to ensure they weren¡¯t destroyed or moved by someone whom they didn¡¯t want moving them.
¡°Excellent. How long did it take the Magnitude 4 version to fully open?¡±
Nedira didn¡¯t have to think about it too long before she answered. ¡°Approximately 16 hours. I believe Magnitude 2 took 4 and a half hours, and Magnitude 3 opened at around 10 hours.¡±
Hmm¡ doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s a full linear progression; but then again, neither were the Gate diameter sizes.
¡°And how does it¡ feel?¡± he asked.
¡°Definitely different from the one you activated. It¡¯s both more intense as you go up in Magnitude and it can be felt further away.¡± She thought about it for a moment. ¡°It¡¯s somewhat similar to a Scission, but it doesn¡¯t feel as¡ hmm¡ menacing, I guess would be the word I¡¯m looking for.¡±
¡°But they¡¯ll catch the attention of the Factions?¡±
Nedira nodded. ¡°Oh, yes, definitely. The Factions won¡¯t be able to ignore them.¡±
¡°Good. Which Magnitude do you think will work best? You¡¯ll trade off size with the time it takes to fully open the Gates, as you know. I¡¯d like to get those done before I start on my next projects.¡±
His betrothed tapped her finger against her lips as she considered what he asked. After a few seconds, she said, ¡°Based on the timeline they are expecting for Magnitude 5, which should be a little under 24 hours, I think that one might be best. What was the size of that one again?¡±
Larek pulled up the description for it. ¡°It¡¯s got a 7-foot diameter. As a reminder, Magnitude 6 has a 12-foot diameter, Magnitude 7 has a 20-foot diameter, and the Magnitude 8 one is all the way up to 34 feet.¡±
The last two had taken him almost an hour together, as it required 30 million Mana for Magnitude 7 and 50 million for Magnitude 8. As for the Pattern Cohesion required for them, the former was 70,000 and the latter 105,000; the only reason he was able to even create them ¨C due to having to create two simultaneously using Focused Division ¨C was solely because of the reduction in Pattern Cohesion cost from his Specializations. He didn¡¯t dare attempt a larger Traveling Gate at Magnitude 9 or higher, as he wasn¡¯t sure that even his extraordinarily high Pattern Cohesion could handle it.
¡°Hmm¡ Perhaps a mixture of Magnitude 5 and 6? Guesstimates put the Magnitude 6 at two days to fully open, while the larger ones will take much longer.¡±
¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea, not to go too big, as I¡¯m assuming that it will take a lot of energy to keep it open. Magnitude 5 and 6 won¡¯t be as big of a drain, despite the fact that I¡¯ll be setting their areas of ambience far enough away that it shouldn¡¯t matter all that much. How many pairs do you think we need?¡±
This time, she had her answer almost immediately. ¡°To cover all of the Faction towns and cities that are a direct threat to us, we need 47. We could also use another 30 or so of Magnitude 5 versions to help set up a network between Thanesh and our border towns.¡±
Larek did some quick calculations. His experience with creating the different Magnitudes of Traveling Gates the day before helped to speed up his creation of them, but at the moment his limit was how fast he could fill the formations with his Mana. A Traveling Gate +5 Fusion, for instance, required 5 million Mana as a base; with his Specializations bonuses, that was cut by 45% to nearly half of that. With preparation and ensuring that he kept his focus on everything properly aligned, he estimated that he could get a single Magnitude 5 Fusion done in about 5 minutes when funneling approximately 12,000 Mana into the formation every second. His Mana regeneration and his Mana Control were great enough to maintain that pace, and he might be able to push it a little further than that, but to be safe, 5 minutes was approximately how long each one would take.
A Magnitude 6 Gate Fusion, at 12.5 million Mana, would take about 12 minutes on the safe side.
If I created 15 Mag 6 versions, that would take me about 3 hours. If the remaining 62 were Mag 5 versions, that would take me a little over 5 hours. I guess 8 hours total isn¡¯t too much time to safeguard the Volunteers from the Factions ¨C but I¡¯d better get to work.
Letting out a contented sigh as he sat back down in his pillow throne, he took the first stack of steel plates and got to work. The first thing he did was alter the auxiliary Effects to make them stronger, and since he didn¡¯t have to worry too much about exceeding his Pattern Cohesion limit on these Magnitude 5 and 6 versions, he ramped them all the way up to Magnitude 15. He¡¯d found that after Magnitude 10, the increase in their effectiveness was more exponential than linear, so he expected each plate to weigh the equivalent of 50,000 pounds or more, and their strength would be in the realm of needing someone stronger than a powerful Gergasi to damage it.
After the first one was done, he discovered that he added another million Mana to its cost and another 15,000 to its Pattern Cohesion, but both of those were well within his limits. It would add another few hours to his time, but he didn¡¯t think that was too big of a deal. Once he finished, he was planning on sleeping for the night, anyway.
Tomorrow, though, was devoted to creating some new Fusions. He needed to work on a method of moving monsters into the Gates once they were set up, but after that, he was planning on having some fun with some offensive and defensive Fusions that could potentially save some lives.
He had another Fusion class in a few days that he had to teach, and he wanted to be done with his new Fusions by then. Because after that class, it was finally time to deal with the SIC.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 24
Chapter 24
In addition to developing a way to move monsters through the new Traveling Gates he¡¯d finished late the night before, there were two major problems that Larek needed to solve. First and foremost among those problems was finding a way to survive an attack against a Gergasi. Not only was this important for himself, as he was fairly certain he would¡¯ve died if he had confronted the pair of Gergasi that had been chasing him a few days before; but if the Volunteers were attacked while the Gergasi were looking for him, the carnage would be catastrophic. Granted, it wasn¡¯t like he could protect everyone, but he could at least try to do what he could to save as many of them as possible.
And even if the Gergasi didn¡¯t end up finding Thanesh and attacking it in an effort to find Larek, there was still the threat of the Unspoken Response to deal with. He still had vivid memories of the death and destruction they had caused back in Dreenwood, and he didn¡¯t want the same thing happening to his people here. There were just too many abnormally strong groups out there that could pose a danger to the Volunteers, as well as his friends, and he needed to start thinking about defense before he went out and dealt with other issues like the SIC.
The last thing he wanted to do was leave Thanesh again and come back to find it a smoking ruin because one group or another decided that the city and the Volunteers needed to be destroyed. The assassins hunting him had already proven that they didn¡¯t care about innocent casualties, and the Gergasi had never been known for their gentle nature when it came to people they considered slaves.
After some sort of strong defense came, obviously, a strong offense. Just because someone could temporarily weather an attack by one of these groups didn¡¯t mean they would survive, especially if the threat wasn¡¯t eliminated as soon as possible. Now, he didn¡¯t reasonably think that he could find a way to kill any Gergasi that came snooping around the city, but he figured he could develop some sort of offensive Fusion that could at least make them think twice about sticking around. The same went for any powerful groups that tried to attack the city and its people; he¡¯d prefer to eliminate them so there was a guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t be back, but he would settle for chasing them off and presenting a front that was too risky to attack.
But before he dug into those types of Fusions, he had to complete his project with the Gates. With at least the bare minimum completed to stop the Factions from attacking, he had to figure out a way to move monsters safely. His first and most obvious idea that he¡¯d originally had, back when they were putting together this plan, was to use some sort of container made of hardened air to transport them, but that wasn¡¯t necessarily needed with the Gates working the way they should be. However, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t still an idea he could expand upon, especially with his experience using air, and especially buoyancy, in his past Fusions.
Taking the basic concept of his offensive staves, in particular the Variable Elemental Destruction variety, he eliminated the destructive effects, such as the shattering stones and explosive detonations, but he kept the targeting system he¡¯d developed for them. By aiming the orientation of the Fusion toward a distant object, it would lock onto that object and¡ªnormally¡ªcause the Effect to appear and explode or whatnot. Instead of that type of destruction, what he wanted was for a bubble of buoyancy to appear around the target, reducing their weight by 99%. True weightlessness wasn¡¯t a necessity, especially with how he would design the method that would then move the objects inside the bubble.
Air gusts.
On The Hopper and the other Transport vehicles that the Volunteers used, Buoyant-Thrusters were placed along the outer shell to move the entire structure, which worked well enough on something that large. For his new Fusion, he would have to do something similar, but it would have to be contained within the same formation as the bubble. In short, by using the activation of the buoyancy bubble as a trigger, the Fusion would then create an invisible, secondary bubble inside of that one that could project air gusts dependent upon the orientation of the Fusion formation. In other words, if it was on a staff, then moving the staff to the left would create gusts of air that would blow from the right-hand side of the interior bubble, making the nearly weightless object move to the left because of the air blowing against them. If the staff was angled upwards, a gust from below would blow the object into the air. It would also attempt to stay at the same distance from the Fusion location, so someone could drag it along with them simply by moving away.
It was a more intuitive design than the ones that the Transport used, and he wished he could retrofit all of the airborne vehicles with this type of Fusion, but that would have to wait. He somewhat wished that he¡¯d thought of this way back when he was creating those Fusions in the first place, but it hadn¡¯t really occurred to him until recently. He could only thank his recent Skill Level increases, as well as the stat points he¡¯d received not only from his Specializations, but from his work in creating so many of the Gates the day before.
Strength: 320 [640]
Body: 375 [750]
Agility: 320 [640]
Intellect: 375 [750]
Acuity: 375 [750]
Pneuma: 6,750 [13,500]
Pattern Cohesion: 135,000/135,000
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 73
Spellcasting Focus Level 87[97]
Pattern Recognition Level 97[107]
Magical Detection Level 101[111]
Pattern Manipulation Level 105
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 105
Focused Division Level 105
Mana Control Level 106[116]
Fusion Level 108[118]
Pattern Formation Level 108[118] Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15
Throwing Level 29[39]
Dodge Level 68[78]
Pain Immunity Level 20
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 71[81]
Body Regeneration Level 72[82]
Stama Subjugation Level 92
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 9
Aetheric Authority Level 11
Primal Essence Mastery Level 5
He was now Level 61, having increased his personal Level twice over the last day, and with the AP he¡¯d gained after reaching Level 59, he had been able to spend a total of 112 AP on his stats. The distribution was fairly easy for him to decide, as he still wanted to largely focus on his mental stats because of his Fusions, but he didn¡¯t want to completely neglect his Strength and Agility. Still, he added 30 AP to Body, Intellect, and Acuity, with the remaining 22 split evenly across his other Martial stats. They were lagging behind the others by 55 now, but he thought it was more than worth it. He could feel the extra mental stats helping him think of new Fusion designs and execute them with a speed that he never would¡¯ve dreamed of before, as different Effects and how to accomplish them with his formations seemed to snap into place with a few thoughts.
As for his Skills, it seemed as though getting past the Level 100 barrier helped his development immensely, as Fusion and Pattern Formation were already Level 108, with the others related to Fusion creation not too far behind. His Guardian Skills also shot up again, now that there was no barrier to maximum Skill Level anymore, though in general, they seemed to be more difficult to raise.
All of which meant that his creation of a Fusion that applied similar Effects to those he¡¯d used before, and which didn¡¯t need the more complicated combination of Primal Essence as one of its energy sources, was fairly simple to design and whip together in a formation. In total, he spent no more than 10 minutes thinking about what he wanted it to do, as well as the limitations and methods that needed to be applied to make it happen, before designing the whole thing in his head.
Taking one of the wooden staves he¡¯d brought over from the barrel to his pillow throne, Larek started creating his design but stopped.
He shook his head as he looked at the long piece of wood. ¡°No, not a staff. Too easy to get confused with the others.¡± Taking his axe off his belt, he chopped off about a foot¡¯s length of the staff and put the rest aside. With a much shorter piece of wood, it would be much more recognizable as something different than the destructive staves that most of the Volunteers still primarily used.
No more than 30 seconds later, he had his new Fusion in his hand.
New Fusion Learned!
Portable Lifter +8
Activation Method(s): Activatable, Reactive
Effect(s): Camouflages Fusion using a void carrier shroud
Effect(s): Creates a sphere made of condensed air at a distant target that reduces the weight of everything contained in its interior
Effect(s): Forcefully pushes against nearby contained objects using gusts of wind in a circular formation
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, activates or deactivates Activatable Activation Method upon detection of mental phrasing by individual in direct contact with object
Effect(s): Strengthens wood
Variable(s): Mental phrasing ¡°Lift¡± and ¡°Release¡±, sphere diameter of 5 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet, and 25 feet, relational angle of air gusts with 50%, 100%, 200%, 300%, 400%, and 500% strength
Input(s): Directional orientation in a narrow beam, relational orientation and speed of formation, identification of distant targets, size determination, mental phrasing
Magnitude(s): Targets up to 150 feet away, 99% weight reduction, sphere diameter of up to 25 feet, 25% to 500% elemental air gust strength, 1,000% wood material strength
Mana Cost: 425,000
Pattern Cohesion: 8,100
Fusion Time: 100 hours
Fusion has reached Level 109!
Pattern Formation has reached Level 109!
The Portable Lifter +8 Fusion was exactly what he had designed, though of course he still needed to test it. Taking it in hand, Larek threw one of his nearby pillows on the floor in front of him before aiming his new creation at it. Thinking, ¡°Lift¡±, he felt and saw the Fusion activate, the area of ambience absorbing Mana nowhere in sight as he designed it to be located approximately a mile up above his location.
He frowned in consternation when nothing seemed to happen to the pillow, despite observing a 5-foot-wide sphere of magically moving air around the pillow, the size of which had been automatically determined by the Fusion; it could grow up to 25 feet in diameter, at least in this version. It wasn¡¯t until he twitched the wooden rod in his hand that it moved when a small gust of air blew it sideways, the weight reduction causing it to skim over the floor. Delighted that it was working, he played around with it, finding that his idea of smaller movements of the wooden rod creating smaller air gusts and larger movements subsequently creating larger gusts had been a success. After a few minutes of experimentation, he found that he was able to flick the pillow up and pull the rod toward him, before thinking, ¡°Release¡±, which launched the pillow back toward him, where he could then place it back into his comfortable throne.
Huh. This could actually be a handy tool for use in other jobs unrelated to chucking monsters through a Traveling Gate. Imagine how much easier it would¡¯ve been to move trees back in my old job if I had one of these.
Of course, in order to move one of the giant trees he¡¯d cut down, he would need the sphere to be much larger, or perhaps one that was simply cylindrically shaped and longer, instead.
Just when he finished with that and was about to start making copies, Kevara walked in, the smile on her face matching his own.
¡°Just the person I wanted to see!¡± Larek said, beckoning his Fusion assistant over. When she arrived, he asked her to start cutting down a bunch of the wooden staves to the same length as the rod he¡¯d used for his new Fusion. As an afterthought, and noticing that the potential in her had been unlocked, he touched her arm and imparted some of the Pattern-based Skills to her that she didn¡¯t have.
¡°Whoa! What¡ª? Oh. What was that for?¡± she asked, taken aback at the sudden unlocking of three new Skills.
¡°Have you thought about taking my Fusions class? You¡¯ve seen me do this so many times that I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll pick it up quickly.¡±
She chuckled and waved his question away. ¡°I thought about it, but the competition among all the Volunteers who wanted to get into your class was fierce. I didn¡¯t want to stick my hand into the figurative brawl and pull back a nub.¡±
Larek hadn¡¯t realized that his Fusions class was all that popular. It hadn¡¯t really been that way in the Academies, after all.
¡°Oh. Do you still want to take it, though?¡±
Kevara nodded. ¡°Absolutely. But I think I can wait until your next round, as I can learn quite a bit simply by watching you.¡±
¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure? I can probably get you into it if you want; I know the one teaching it, after all,¡± he said with a chuckle.
¡°No, it¡¯s fine. The others who managed to make their way into your class will be much more devoted to it than I will; I was thinking about Fusions as more of a side project than my main focus. I¡¯m more interested in casting spells, especially any that have to do with healing and nature.¡±
¡°That¡¯s a great focus,¡± the Fusionist remarked. ¡°Let me know if you change your mind about the class, though, but for now, you can just watch me. In fact, I¡¯ve just made a new Fusion that I need to make a bunch of copies of, so you¡¯ll have plenty of opportunity to study what I do ¨C though it will be faster and more complicated than would be easy to learn from.¡±
He felt a bit of warmth in his chest when he thought about teaching Fusions to not only his students in class, but his assistant. It felt like he was adding to the knowledge base of those who never would¡¯ve had the opportunity to learn, and if he could pass on as much as he could to what were ostensibly ¡°his people¡± in the Volunteers, then it was like a little bit of him was passed on, as well. He wondered if this was how trainers and Professors felt to pass on their own knowledge to the next generation, and if so, he could now see why they did it.
Of course, if he wanted them all to have a safe and decent future, he had to keep working to achieve that for them¡
¡which meant making copies of the Fusion he¡¯d just made, before moving on to the ones still on his list.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 25
Chapter 25
The only thing that prevented Larek from making tens of thousands of copies of the Portable Lifter Fusion was the lack of materials available to him. Kevara did her best to keep up with his production of Fusions by chopping up the wooden staves that were stored in the barrels, as well as getting a quick delivery of more an hour later, but he only ended up creating just under 1,000 copies. He kept a dozen of them or so for his own use and stuck them into his Void Pocket sack, as he could imagine quite a few uses for them. The rest went to Kimble, who came by briefly for a quick overview of how the Fusion worked, before taking them all for use by the Volunteers who had already started setting up the Gates near random, scattered Apertures.
Larek¡¯s old Pyromancer bodyguard also took a stockpile of his trap Fusions, which he was planning on placing and activating near the Aperture side if any Faction members decided to brave the Gates and step through them. It was a bit of an extreme measure, but they didn¡¯t want to risk them shutting down the whole operation before they could really get it running.
¡°I think this will work, Larek,¡± Kimble assured him. ¡°Already, we¡¯ve gotten reports of the Factions preparing for an attack by manning their walls, looking out at the Traveling Gates that we¡¯ve dropped off approximately a half-mile from the towns. They¡¯re wary of it and seem to have held back from beginning any journeys toward Volunteer-held towns, so I¡¯d call it a win already.¡±
The Fusionist was glad to hear that the plan seemed to be working so far, and the new Portable Lifters should facilitate the rest of the plan once they were fully activated.
As he loaded up the last of the rods into a small cart he had brought for that purpose, Kimble asked, ¡°What¡¯s up next for you?¡±
¡°Offense and defense,¡± Larek replied quickly, his mind already switching from the Portable Lifters to more Fusions. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know what I come up with.¡±
¡°I¡¯m excited to see them. Thank you again for these; from what I¡¯ve been told of the first few that have been tested, they should work perfectly for our purposes.¡±
He just nodded, turning toward the small, circular piece of glass sitting on his lapdesk as he vaguely heard Kimble leave. Kevara was sitting off to the side, waiting for him to ask for any help, but at the moment, he was too engrossed in his Fusion ideas to need anything.
He wasn¡¯t sure why he chose the small glass circle to add some sort of defensive formation to, but for some reason it seemed like the right choice to put him in the right frame of mind.
Thinking about ways to defend himself or others, he¡¯d already tried air in the form of his Personal Air Deflection Barrier and frozen water with his Automatic Ice Repulsion Field, and he had the Multi-Resistance Fusion on his clothes to help with both light elemental attacks and piercing damage. Against most monsters, especially those that weren¡¯t evolved like he saw coming from heavily expanded Apertures, these defenses were perfectly fine. Even against some larger and deadlier evolved monsters, they were adequate enough, in combination, to keep him alive if he ended up getting hit.
But against the assassins that had been sent to target him, as well as against a Gergasi, they were practically as useless as paper armor.
The only thing that had been relatively useful against them had been his Pattern constructs, and while his Skills and Specializations had made his constructs even more durable and useful, he was fairly certain that even his strongest Pattern shield construct would crumple under the assault of that Gergasi with the warhammer he¡¯d seen a few days before.
What he needed was something stronger and better able to withstand just about any attack thrown at it. Of course, based on his recent Fusions, he immediately thought about designing something that was made of Primal Essence, as the energy had proven to be fairly impervious to damage, as the Apertures had shown. He mentally thought about how to apply the energy to some sort of shielding or barrier, perhaps something that could conform to someone¡¯s body, and he went through some designs in his head.
The first problem he ran into was powering the Fusion with the different types of energy that went into creating Primal Essence. After making the Traveling Gates and some additional Skill Levels in Primal Essence Mastery, he began to have a much better idea of how the different energies bonded together to create Primal Essence, complete with its benefits¡ and weaknesses. First, the larger the amount of Essence that needed to be created, the longer it would take to gather the necessary energy from the environment; that much he had quickly learned directly after testing the Gates. For something like a full-body barrier made of the stuff, he estimated that the energy draw to initially power it would be equivalent to a Magnitude 5 or possibly 6 Traveling Gate, if only because it would have to be similar to the rigid ring that was similar to condensed Primal Essence, instead of the malleable curtain in its center, which was more ¡°free-flowing¡± ¨C if that term worked for an energy like this.
If it was the case that it took that much energy to form, then it would take two-thirds of a day to a full day to coalesce into existence, and from there it would need to have a constant stream of energy to maintain it. There was one main issue with this, and it had to do with Pure Aetheric Force. In short, the amount of Pure AF in the environment was the limiting factor in how fast Primal Essence could be created, and finding enough of it to fully power of bunch of Primal Essence shields in a limited area, such as the city of Thanesh, would be difficult, even if he spread out the areas of ambience to pull from as many different places as he could.
That being said, it was still possible, but the general density of Pure AF in the area would start to decline rapidly, meaning that it might eventually make keeping them all powered nearly impossible. It was already going to be a strain if the Volunteers placed numerous Gates in or near the city to act as a travel hub to different towns around the region, but that was almost nothing compared to keeping the Primal Essence shields of 1,000 or more people running all the time.
The second problem he encountered, which basically killed the idea before he could fully flesh it out, was related to the rigidity of Primal Essence. From what he had learned about it, Primal Essence could be condensed in a number of different ways, but pared down a bit, there were two basic states it conformed to: rigid and malleable. If it was malleable, like the Gate curtains and the overall ¡°glue¡± of the Apertures, it wouldn¡¯t prevent much or any damage, as it was too soft to do much. When it was rigid, it would prevent pretty much any damage from passing through it, but it was inflexible; the issue here was that it would essentially act like a bubble around someone that nothing could pass through, meaning that whoever was ¡°protected¡± inside of it, they would be essentially be cut off from the rest of the world. They wouldn¡¯t be able to move around without the shield running into things, they wouldn¡¯t be able to touch or pick up objects such as something as basic as food or water, and it was also possible that they might not be able to see very well through the shielding, let alone be able to attack back at anyone trying to attack them.
Overall, though, the problem with this idea was one of powering the defensive Fusion utilizing Primal Essence ¨C at least from the environment. Theoretically, he thought that it might be possible for someone to create Primal Essence without needing a Fusion, or even to aid in supplying the Pure Aetheric Force to speed up the process, but he hadn¡¯t figured that out yet. There was a balance that needed to be maintained between the different types of energies involved in its creation, and attempting to do that while pulling from different sources was an obstacle he wasn¡¯t sure he could overcome at the moment.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
With Primal Essence being out of the running, at least for now, for a potential solution to a defensive Fusion, he turned to some other options.
For some type of elemental defense, creating a shield made of stone had issues akin to those of his Automatic Ice Repulsion Field, in that it was slow to form and wasn¡¯t necessarily strong enough to stop or deflect some of the most powerful strikes that could be sent against it. Not only that, but having a wall of stone in front of someone would not only block their sight, but if it was shattered by a strong blow, the shrapnel from the destroyed barrier could cause as much as, or even more damage than, the blow it blocked.
As for some sort of fire-based defense, he wasn¡¯t even sure how that would work. Creating a super-heated wall of flames might make someone think twice about moving through it, but it didn¡¯t have the tangibility to stop many attacks, making it nearly useless as an actual defense. Natural defenses, such as ones that stemmed from something like the Wall of Thorns spell, could be altered to have stronger resistances and would stop some attacks, but they were also constrained by their material, which tended to be largely living materials of some kind, which weren¡¯t necessarily going to prevent a huge sword swung by a Gergasi, or a deadly explosive spell cast by an assassin.
Light and illusion¡ well, he couldn¡¯t think of a way to turn light into a defensive Fusion, other than to blind someone so that they couldn¡¯t see you. An illusion might do something similar, but neither of those would actually prevent someone from being hurt by an attack. Healing and/or paralyzing someone nearby would also be limited in effectiveness, as all it would take was someone casting a spell from afar or firing off a projectile to make it not do much of anything. Extending the range of these ¨C as well as some others ¨C might be possible, meaning that they could reach someone 100, 200, or even 500 feet away, but then there would be an issue with harming allies nearby, which would sort of defeat the purpose of the defense in the first place.
What he needed was something that could be brought close to the person being defended, wouldn¡¯t interfere with or harm allies, allowed them to move without being locked down, could be utilized near-instantly or even consistently to repel attacks by incredibly fast enemies, and didn¡¯t need to be formed of different energies like Primal Essence. It was a tall order, and he wasn¡¯t sure if there was a perfect solution that would work for every situation.
So, he branched out into different possibilities, getting away from strictly elemental defenses.
The first one he thought about was Pattern Cohesion, which was a versatile energy that could be manipulated in multiple ways, as evidenced by his constructs. Now that he knew that he could have a Fusion absorb it from the environment before using it for a certain purpose, he thought there might be a way to utilize it as a resource in a Fusion. This was his go-to protective method, and while it worked to keep him safe most of the time, it wasn¡¯t exactly the strongest defense. Still, he took the time to design a Fusion that could potentially utilize Pattern Cohesion to form barriers to stop some attacks, which he then tied to the Pattern Manipulation Skill. Just as Healing Surge relied on a person¡¯s Body Regeneration Skill to heal them, this particular Fusion would use the Pattern Manipulation Skill of the user of the Fusion to direct where and what kind of construct they wanted to form out of Pattern Cohesion absorbed by the formation.
Unfortunately, he decided that how effective it would be depended upon their Skill Level, and while it would still technically work even if they were at Level 1, the strength of the Pattern constructs were reliant on the Skill, so it wouldn¡¯t be that strong. For someone like Larek, it would be similar to what he could form now by himself, but would be much stronger; despite that, it still wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop a powerful attack. Regardless, he stored this idea in the back of his mind for a later date, as he had a feeling that a Fusion that could make Pattern constructs out of nothing but the will of the user could be useful in other ways.
He also thought about something that might alter the person using the Fusion, not like a boost would alter their stats, but something like the Tree Skin Fusion he¡¯d learned back at Copperleaf Academy from Nedira. At the time, the design of that particular formation had been more of a novelty than anything else, as while it worked, at higher Magnitudes it basically turned someone into an immobile tree. A strong, durable tree, but immobility wasn¡¯t what he was looking for. But what if he could change the skin of someone into something not so rigid?
Primal Essence would be an ideal material, but he had already decided that malleability in the substance would be relatively useless. The same went with stone, metal, and wood, as he couldn¡¯t think of a way to make those materials flexible enough to allow someone to move about freely while still being strong enough to defend against an attack. He could certainly Strengthen a material to incredible heights, so he was fairly sure someone covered in stone or steel skin with a Magnitude 20 Strengthen Effect would be nigh invulnerable, but would that even allow them to move? Not likely, but it was still an idea he figured he might want to pursue.
Along those lines, he thought about how Stama was used by Martials ¨C typically through Battle Arts, but also through directing it toward where they needed it ¨C to temporarily enhance their speed, strength, or especially durability. It wasn¡¯t usually enough to make them invulnerable by themselves, but what if he found a way to boost the amount of Stama they were able to apply to their body, using their Stama Subjugation Skill to direct it where they needed it? It was definitely something he¡¯d have to try eventually, but he was wary of pushing anyone¡¯s body too far; he still remembered when he recently had 270 stat points added to his body all at once, and pumping that much Stama into a relatively weak person¡¯s body might do more harm than good.
Unfortunately, none of those ideas appeared to be the one that would solve his defensive problem, though he thought that perhaps if he combined enough of them together? He still wasn¡¯t sure whether that would work, but he would be willing to try it if he couldn¡¯t think of anything else.
Looking at his Fusion list for any ideas that he might have overlooked, he nearly closed it when he saw one on the very end that he hadn¡¯t even considered until now.
Void Pocket.
His understanding of the void had grown extensively since he¡¯d applied his knowledge toward developing a way to store items in an expandable pocket of the void. He¡¯d originally created it simply so that he could transport food and other things when he was journeying around the Kingdom with Nedira, but it had been an integral part of his repertoire ever since. Other than using a curtain of void to disguise the presence of his Fusions from prying eyes, he hadn¡¯t really used it for any other purpose since then.
He thought it was about time to change that.
The void was a tricky substance to work with, as it wasn¡¯t exactly a material or an energy; instead, it was basically an absence of everything, including time, which was why he could store things like food or Fusions in his Void Pocket and they would be exactly the same as they were when he put them in when he eventually took them out. Fortunately, despite the void being what was essentially an amorphous mass of ¡°nothing¡±, it could still be contained by Pattern Cohesion, which was how he¡¯d been able to utilize it in the first place.
Therefore, why not try to use it for a different purpose? A defensive shield, for instance.
Some problems arose immediately upon his first considerations of how to put such a defense together. First and foremost, if he was containing the void with a net of Pattern Cohesion, what was to prevent that net from being destroyed by a simple attack, unleashing the void everywhere into the world? Next, if the void was surrounding someone to protect them, how would they be able to see through the inherent darkness of the substance that represented an absence of light? Lastly, it seemed like there was a similar issue with it that Primal Essence possessed, which boiled down to how would someone counter-attack if they were enveloped in a void?
He began working through each problem one-by-one, trying to find a different solution for them all, but a combination of his previous ideas turned out to be what he was looking for. His final design was wild and revolutionary, and he wasn¡¯t sure how well it would work for those who didn¡¯t have the Pattern Manipulation Skill, but he wouldn¡¯t really know until it was run through some tests.
Triple-checking through the design in his head, he made absolutely sure that he¡¯d included every single Effect that it needed to function properly, before he started on the real thing. Larek smiled to himself as he began laying the formation onto the circular glass blank on his lapdesk, realizing that it was a relatively fitting material for his new Fusion.
Once it was complete, Larek would move onto the offensive Fusions he was planning on creating, and with all the thinking he¡¯d been doing lately, he had some awfully devious ideas¡.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 26
Chapter 26
Like a child receiving presents on a special holiday, Verne looked at the variety of items in his hands. ¡°Ooh, new Fusions! What are these supposed to do?¡±
Larek looked around at his friends that he¡¯d assembled in one of the fields outside of Thanesh, each one holding similar packages he¡¯d put together for them, and he grinned as he took the first one he wanted to demonstrate out of his Void Pocket sack.
He lifted up the circular, glass medallion that Kevara had managed to place in a neat metal frame, which was then added to a chain that could be placed around the neck. He slipped it over his head, and the others copied his movements, before he started to explain what it did.
¡°This is my newest defensive Fusion, which is much more powerful than anything I¡¯ve created before. Go ahead and activate it with a simple touch and an intent; if it works the way I designed it, you shouldn¡¯t have to ever deactivate it.¡± Larek followed his own words with an activation of the Fusion, and he both sensed the formation surge to life and saw a temporary distortion of his vision.
Norde hesitated. ¡°Hold up. Am I to assume that you haven¡¯t tried this yet?¡±
¡°Uh, well, no, but everything about the Fusion looks correct and exactly how I designed it.¡±
Just to make sure, he pulled up the description of his new Protection of the Void Fusion.
Protection of the Void +7
Activation Method(s): Activatable, Reactive
Effect(s): Camouflages Fusion using a void carrier shroud
Effect(s): Using the user¡¯s internal pattern, creates a pair of flexible nets of Pattern Cohesion that closely embed themselves into the top layer of the user¡¯s skin
Effect(s): Creates a pocket of pure void between flexible Pattern Cohesion nets
Effect(s): Bends light around the shape of the Pattern Cohesion net on both sides, displaying a visual representation of the environment outside of the void
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, the Pattern Cohesion net will expand or retract in specific areas when prompted or required by the user
Effect(s): Cools or heats the temperature around a designated space using air infusions
Effect(s): Strengthens glass
Effect(s): Absorbs and converts Pattern Cohesion from the environment to fortify internal pattern
Input(s): Mental communication, temperature measurement, light detection, movement detection
Variable(s): Ambient temperature, light fluctuations, mental evaluation
Magnitude(s): 2,800% increase in glass strength, light fluctuations of up to 7,000 lumens, 2,100 degree difference
Mana Cost: 1,860,000
Pattern Cohesion: 60,000
Fusion Time: 1,417 hours
It looks fine to me.
Norde eventually joined the others, which included all of his friends and former bodyguards, in activating their own Fusions, and he could see them all sway a little and blink as their vision was thrown off a little bit before it stabilized.
¡°Whoa, what was that?¡± Nedira asked, even as she looked around herself. Larek did the same, trying to spot any flaws in the transfer of the visual display that the Fusion was showing him. In effect, the Fusion created a pair of nets of Pattern Cohesion fueled by the person¡¯s internal pattern (which was strengthened and replenished by absorbing Pattern Cohesion from the environment), which sat inside the top layer of the skin and every other external portion of the body ¨C including the eyes. There was a very thin layer of void that sat in between these nets, which blocked off all visual sight both outside the body and inside the nets in the skin. As a result, no one would be able to see outside of the void if his Fusion didn¡¯t convert a visual representation of the outer environment into a signal that the eyes could interpret. The same went with the outer layer of the void, as anyone looking at someone wearing a Protection of the Void amulet would essentially see a large blob of darkness, so a moving representation of their appearance was projected along the outside of the outer Pattern Cohesion net.
¡°Anyone having any issues seeing? No? Good. That was the Fusion converting the visual stimuli outside of the protective layer around your body into something your mind could interpret. Now, someone hit me with an attack¡ª¡±
Penelope, never one to hesitate when it came to testing Larek¡¯s defenses, brought her large sword off her shoulder where it had been resting, and she crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, slicing down at his head. As soon as her sword came within a few inches of splitting him in half, Larek¡¯s Protection of the Void Fusion reacted to the attack, expanding the void as it stretched the Pattern Cohesion net toward it. The blade cut through the net and entered the void, disappearing completely from view as the blue-haired woman stumbled slightly when there was no resistance to her attack. Instead of being stopped, the blade followed through, vanishing into the void as it seemed to sink to the hilt through Larek.
In reality, the blade simply entered what was essentially a limitless void, which bypassed his form completely because it couldn¡¯t reach the end of the empty space. When Penelope caught her balance and pulled the sword back out of him, she looked in amazement as it and Larek were completely unharmed.
¡°What? How¡ª? Never mind, I don¡¯t think I will understand it even if you explain.¡±
The Fusionist chuckled, before he readied himself to explain to her ¨C and the others ¨C what exactly was going on. He wanted to tell them how the net of Pattern Cohesion, because it was tied to the person¡¯s internal pattern and was being constantly replenished by the Fusion, would automatically repair any damaged portions of the net and restrain the void from escaping, as well as how the Fusion automatically brought in fresh air while it regulated the temperature around their body, as well as how they could mentally order the Pattern Cohesion net to withdraw in places around their bodies, such as their mouths when they wanted to eat as well as their hands as they held their weapons. It wasn¡¯t a perfect solution, as there was a slight danger of being injured in their extremities when holding such things, but if they were attacked while holding a staff or a sword or whatnot, they could simply cover themselves up again, though their weapons would disappear into the void. They were connected enough to them that they wouldn¡¯t necessarily lose them, but it wasn¡¯t the most convenient of the Fusion¡¯s attributes. Energy in its different forms was different, as he had adapted the net of Pattern Cohesion to aid in the transfer of Mana, Stama, and other forms of energy into and out of the body, meaning that they could still cast spells or use Battle Arts, as well as regenerate their internal resources, without any interruptions ¨C thanks to his relatively new knowledge of how convenient it was to transfer energy from one place to another.
Unfortunately, before he could explain all of that, Larek watched a barrage of Stama-infused arrows rain down upon the entire group.
His mind and body reacted immediately, stretching his Magical Detection Skill out to its fullest. Within a half-second, he felt a very subtle illusion spell blocking his sight of multiple people located on either side of them; now that he was actively looking for them, he could detect their presence, but his unconscious mind had somehow ignored them before. Belatedly, he realized he¡¯d been distracted by showing his friends his new Fusions, and the feeling of the people he¡¯d inadvertently dismissed had been without any magical presence at all ¨C which should¡¯ve been enough to alert him anyway, as there were very few people around Thanesh that didn¡¯t have at least a smidge of magical presence around them, if only in the form of a Fusion. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
He berated himself for his inattention even as he began to act, his mind automatically reshaping the net around his hand so that he could reach into his Void Pocket bag, pulling out a few more of the new items that his friends had in their possession. At the same time, he was relieved to see that, despite the ambush, none of the arrows did any harm to his friends, as the projectiles sank into their new void protections and disappeared from sight.
Of course, that was just the prelude to the rest of the ambushing attack, as Larek could feel a huge quantity of Mana being fed into a barrage of powerful spells, and his senses were going crazy with the approach of multiple enemies that were camouflaged from his sight.
All told, he detected around three dozen individuals surrounding them. It seemed as though the assassins weren¡¯t playing around anymore, considering their earlier failures.
Gripping a short, smooth, steel bar in his hand that had been bent at the halfway point at a 45-degree angle, Larek glimpsed the word ¡°Heavy¡± etched into the metal as he aimed it where he felt the nearest enemy approaching the group. With a mental command, the Fusion activated, and he heard a cut-off scream as a shape suddenly appeared out of seemingly nowhere, 20 feet to his right. It was difficult to tell what exactly he was looking at, because all he could see was a sphere of compressed flesh, bones, blood, cloth, and metal that was only about 2 feet in diameter.
¡°I wanted to show you all my new offensive Fusions, as well,¡± Larek announced, even as his friends started to react. ¡°This particular one is similar to the Portable Lifter I created for moving around monsters, but it does the exact opposite. Instead of making things weightless, it creates a sphere that increases the weight of everything inside by so much that it condenses malleable material upon itself, with the result you can see here. It wouldn¡¯t work as well against monsters made of stone or metal, and inorganic targets might or might not be heavily affected.
¡°It¡¯s called Heavy Load.¡±
Picking out another one of the new offensive Fusions, which was a glass sphere approximately 3 inches in diameter, he activated it and flung it up in the air. When it reached approximately 20 feet above his head, it suddenly stopped as its buoyancy was equalized with the nearby air, and tiny jets would keep it stabilized until it was deactivated. A half-second later, an extremely powerful light burst out of the glass sphere, which was so bright that most people would instantly be blinded by looking at it; even those with higher Levels and stats would be heavily affected, but the blindness wasn¡¯t necessarily the main purpose behind the Fusion. Instead, the light that was sent out in a 200-foot-wide spherical shape was both a paralytic and acted as a way to distribute a large amount of pure heat. The area immediately became scorching hot, as if the sun had just descended from the sky and was burning everything within range.
Thankfully, Larek and the others were completely safe, as the blinding light was filtered out by the Protection of the Void Fusion and their temperature was regulated within its boundaries. He was also pleased to see that their Pattern Cohesion nets automatically expanded to cover their clothes and even what they were holding in their hands, lest they burst into flames from the heat.
The assassins, on the other hand, were immediately affected. While they also didn¡¯t burst into flames, they all cried out as they were blinded and burnt with varying degrees of intensity, and the illusions that had been shielding them from sight dissipated as whoever was casting the spell was affected by his glowing Fusion.
¡°As you can observe, Blinding Heat is designed to work with your new defenses, as it will incapacitate your attackers and hopefully set them on fire,¡± Larek explained waving toward the assassins, who were in various states of distress. ¡°Granted, it won¡¯t be this effective against everyone, but it¡¯s still a good way to cover a wide area so that you can regroup and figure out what to do next.¡±
Taking his next new Fusion in his hand while the assassins were suffering from blindness and the blazing heat, he showed it to the others, but he didn¡¯t activate it. ¡°This one, which you can see is colored a dark blue instead of the clear glass of the one up in the air, is almost identical to Blinding Heat, but does the opposite in terms of temperature. Blinding Freeze will drop the temperature down to levels similar to my Frozen Zone, freezing everything inside to the point where even their blood will turn to ice in their veins.¡±
He put it back in his sack since he wasn¡¯t going to use it right now, before turning to his last offensive weapon. ¡°And finally,¡± he announced, holding the simple-looking copper rod in his hand, which had the word ¡°Danger!¡± etched along its length, ¡°we have something that I nearly didn¡¯t create, as I contemplated whether it was too dangerous to exist, but I decided that we needed every advantage we could get when it came to killing powerful individuals such as these assassins,¡± he said, waving toward the dead and dying members of the Unspoken Response group that ambushed them, ¡°or even the Gergasi.¡±
Before he could demonstrate the Fusion, it seemed as though one of the assassin Mages had managed to finish his spellcasting before succumbing to the Blinding Heat effects, and a massive ball of flaming stone suddenly appeared above Larek and the others, slamming down in the midst of their group with incredible speed and force. As the meteor-like spell crashed into them, as it was at least 20-feet wide and was able to encompass most of them, he watched it explode into thousands of fiery pieces as burning shrapnel bombarded them from almost every angle, and the sheer weight of the magical projectile was so tremendous that the ground shook greatly from the impact, making more than a few of them stumble and fall in the process.
Other than that minor effect, being slammed by a giant meteor did absolutely nothing to any of them, as everything else was absorbed by the Protection of the Void Fusion.
The spell also had the side-effect of knocking the Blinding Heat Fusion out of the way temporarily, allowing a slight reprieve to the dying assassins, but it wasn¡¯t nearly enough for them to recover after Larek got his bearings again.
The Fusionist dusted himself off, even though there was no dust on him. ¡°Anyway,¡± he said to his friends who were picking themselves up and looking at the destruction around them, ¡°as I was saying, this is an extremely dangerous Fusion because it deals with Aetheric Force, or more specifically, the core of Aetheric Force inside of a person. It won¡¯t work against monsters, as they don¡¯t necessarily have a core to mess with; but theoretically it should work against any other person ¨C even the Gergasi, but I¡¯d have to test it.¡±
Pointing the copper rod at one of the nearby Martial assassins that seemed like he was on the verge of recovering, Larek mentally activated it and winced when he saw what happened next.
A swirling mass of energy suddenly emerged from the assassin¡¯s body before lifting into the air and breaking apart, dissipating into the environment. At the same time, the assassin froze and twitched like he had just been hit by lightning, and his skin turned grey and lifeless, before he collapsed dead on the smoldering ground.
¡°What did you do?¡±
Larek shook himself as he just comprehended what he¡¯d done. Sure, he¡¯d ended up killing the assassin, but somehow, this seemed worse. After a few seconds, he finally answered Nedira, who was looking at the collapsed man in horror. ¡°Just like I had figured out how to give potential to anyone, I figured out how to take it away. Transfer Potential does just that; it yanks the internal core out of someone and lets it dissipate into the environment.¡±
The silence stretched between them all as his friends started using Heavy Load to finish off the assassins who were still alive. Finally, Verne spoke, looking down at the ¡°Danger!¡±-etched copper rod in his hand. ¡°Larek, I don¡¯t know about this. It seems¡ wrong, somehow. I know it¡¯s killing them all the same, but this is¡ different.¡± He suddenly held it out toward the Fusionist. ¡°I don¡¯t feel comfortable using this.¡±
The others seemed to agree with him, as they passed back their Transfer Potential Fusions to Larek over the next few seconds.
He couldn¡¯t really blame them. Just using it once made him feel dirty, almost like when he intentionally used his Dominion magic. ¡°I somewhat agree. I¡¯ll keep them with me, then, as these are the only copies I¡¯ve created. When it comes to the Gergasi, however, I won¡¯t hesitate to use them.¡± They all nodded, as if that was obvious.
Nedira looked around as she walked up next to him, grabbing his hand in hers. He was pleased to see that his Protection of the Void effect seemed to retreat at her touch, so that there wasn¡¯t anything in between them. ¡°How many more assassins are there, do you think?¡±
Larek shook his head. ¡°I have no idea. But there can¡¯t be that many more of them, I would hazard to guess. Still, it¡¯s good that these things work,¡± he said, tapping his new Fusion around his neck, ¡°because otherwise we might have been in trouble there.¡±
¡°Very true. Can you make enough of these for everyone?¡±
He thought about it for a moment. ¡°Not for everyone. At least, not yet. But I can probably make a few thousand before I teach my next class, as well as a few offensive Fusion copies. Plus, after all of this,¡± he said, waving around at the destruction and bodies around him, ¡°I have some other ideas for offensive Fusions that might work just as well as these ones did. They may have to wait until later, though, because I¡¯m heading north to deal with the SIC after my class is over tomorrow.¡±
As they all gathered near Larek, who formed a Pattern box construct to take them back to the city, they left the devastated battlefield behind them.
His attention was on what he was doing next, and not on the bodies of the assassins that had been killed, which was why he missed seeing the abrupt, twitchy movement of the one who¡¯d lost his internal core to Larek¡¯s Transfer Potential Fusion.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 27
Chapter 27
¡°Good! Tighten up those lines right here¡ here¡ and here¡ and you should be able to complete it. Remember, keep your focus on what you want to happen with the Fusion while you feed it with Mana, but also ensure that your formation doesn¡¯t fall apart.¡± Larek helped to set up the portable walls around his student¡¯s spot on the pillows, activating the Muffling Fusions on them as soon as the young woman told him she was ready. ¡°Good luck; I¡¯m looking forward to seeing your first complete Fusion!¡±
This particular student was the last one of those attempting to create a Fusion in his second class ever, as all of them walked in with extreme confidence in their ability to create a Fusion formation. At least that confidence was well-placed, as it didn¡¯t seem to be borne of arrogance; they all showed an impressive control of their Pattern Cohesion and development of their formations. In fact, he¡¯d only lectured for a short time before the first of them asked to make a Fusion, and Larek supervised him as he started the process, before leaving him to his efforts behind the muffled walls. They were tall enough to block out distractions, but when Larek walked by, he could peer in on the students to ensure they were doing fine, and so far everyone who had begun a Fusion was doing amazingly well. They weren¡¯t exactly prodigies, like he had been when it came to Fusions, but for them to have understood the whole process and to start creating them in less than a week, that was quite impressive.
What was even more remarkable was the fact that their formations, or more specifically their Pattern Cohesion, was more substantial and seemed stronger than the Pattern Cohesion from nearly any other Fusionist he¡¯d met before. Only his old Professors had ¡°better¡± Cohesion than these new students, which was definitely saying something.
There were two main reasons he could think of for this difference. First, each of his students had all four of the pattern-related Skills that he could share with them. Pattern Formation, Pattern Recognition, Pattern Manipulation, and Pattern Restoration all built upon each other, naturally granting an understanding of patterns that most Mages didn¡¯t possess. From personal experience, he knew how much of a difference it had made when he unlocked the newest Skills about patterns, and it seemed to have made a huge difference with everyone who also possessed them.
The second, and potentially more impactful reason, was because his students had unlocked their full potential. None of the other Fusionists he¡¯d ever met had their Martial stats unlocked as well, and the relationship between his Body and his Pneuma had boosted his Pattern Cohesion to incredible levels. He¡¯d asked Nedira and his friends if they saw a direct correlation between their own stats similar to his own, but none of them appeared to have the same boost to their Pneuma.
But that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t a correlation, though ¨C only that it didn¡¯t reflect in the same way as his own stats. He thought that the quality and strength of the Pattern Cohesion he was seeing being manipulated by his students was proof enough that there was a relationship between them, and it made sense: A stronger physical body could only help to make a person¡¯s internal pattern stronger.
¡°Prof¡ªLarek?¡± he heard from behind him, and he turned to see Lamarn ¨C the first student to start creating Fusions ¨C had finished and was standing up with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. ¡°I did it!¡±
¡°Congratulations! Let me take a look at it,¡± Larek said, quickly moving to his side. The Fusion that Lamarn presented to him on the wooden block was well-constructed and complete, though he saw a few areas where he thought his student could improve upon the formation. As he communicated this to Lamarn, Larek couldn¡¯t help but experience a feeling of pride in his student for accomplishing something that many Mages had felt was difficult, back in his days at the Academy.
¡°Pro¡ªLarek?¡± he asked, forgetting to call Larek by his name instead of Professor. ¡°I have a question. When I learned the new Fusion, there was something different in the description compared to what you told me to expect.¡±
Confused, Larek asked what it was.
¡°Well, you said that the Illuminate Wood +2 Fusion required 5 Pattern Cohesion to create, correct?¡± Larek had to think about it for a moment before he nodded. There was a fairly predictable progression of Pattern Cohesion costs when it came to increasing the Magnitude of Fusions. There was some variation on some of the more complicated ones he¡¯d created, but for the most part, if a Magnitude 1 Fusion only required 1 Pattern Cohesion, then Magnitude 2 required 5 Cohesion, Magnitude 3 required 10, Mag 4 was 40, and so on.
¡°Well, mine said that it only required 2 Pattern Cohesion,¡± Lamarn explained. ¡°Did I do something wrong?¡±
Larek¡¯s mind screeched to a halt. It took him a few seconds for it to start working again, but when it did, it was running at high speed. ¡°It¡¯s only 2 Pattern Cohesion? Not 5?¡± he asked, wanting to be absolutely sure he¡¯d heard the young man correctly.
¡°Yes, that is right. Why is it different?¡±
Rubbing his chin in thought, Larek stared through Lamarn as he tried to work through the situation. For some reason, the Pattern Cohesion requirement for his Fusion is significantly lower than mine, but why? Is it just his, or will all of my students see a change? Even if it¡¯s just him, how is this possible?
Just then, an older woman caught his attention from across the room as she finished her own Fusion. ¡°Congratulations, Mardyn!¡± He walked over to her, waving Lamarn to follow, as he inspected the Fusion. Just like the young man¡¯s, her Fusion and the formation were quite well-made for a first attempt, simply with different sections that needed to be improved in the future compared to his. After he was done, he asked her what the description told her, and when she had the same result of only 2 for the Pattern Cohesion, he started putting things together.
¡°I think I see what¡¯s happening here,¡± he said slowly out loud to his students. ¡°From what I suspect, you¡¯re encountering the true cost of creating these Fusions, which should have been like this from the start ¨C at least for those who aren¡¯t a Gergasi, or even half-Gergasi. The Humans in this Kingdom were the ones who discovered Fusions in the first place; unfortunately, until now, no one other than the Gergasi has had their full potential unlocked, meaning that creating Fusions was subjectively more difficult than they should¡¯ve been. But now that your bodies, and therefore your Pattern Cohesion, are much stronger than any Mages¡¯ in the past, the true cost of creating these Fusions is finally being seen.¡±
¡°Are you saying that they are even less expensive in terms of cost to create for us than what you have to expend for them?¡± Lamarn asked, his face and voice clearly shocked.
He waved his hand back and forth. ¡°Sort of. I have a lot of bonuses to reduce the resource costs, thanks to my Skills and Specializations, but take those away¡ yes, it is much less than what I ¨C and every Mage who hasn¡¯t unlocked their Martial side ¨C have to pay. Tell me, what are the Mana Cost and Fusion Time listed on the description you received?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
¡°Uh, it says 20 for the Mana Cost, and 7 minutes for the Fusion Time. What does yours say?¡±
I guess I was right. ¡°75 for Mana Cost and 25 for Fusion Time.¡± There was a significant difference there.
But there was still a question as to why there was such a difference between him and the others ¨C which Mardyn asked about a second later.
¡°I¡ can only assume that it¡¯s something about the Gergasi that is affecting the costs. I can only assume that it might be even more expensive for a full Gergasi, as I haven¡¯t heard of a single Fusion being used by them ¨C or at least none that they have created directly. Plus, with the way they cast spells, at least from what I¡¯ve seen, they barely even use their Pattern Cohesion to any significant degree. If I had to guess, their Fusions would last a fraction of the time that previous Fusions created by Mages would last. It¡¯s still to be seen how long yours will stick around, though I imagine they will last for quite a while. Maybe they will not yet be permanent, but I have no doubt that at some point you might get there.¡±
¡°What do you mean? Aren¡¯t these Fusions permanent? Yours don¡¯t seem to be degrading or anything.¡±
Larek chuckled at that. ¡°Ah, well, mine have always been a bit stronger than an average Mage¡¯s. I think that I borrowed some of my Human heritage with the stronger Pattern Cohesion while also inheriting the detrimental costs from my other side. The combination inside of me is a bit broken, I believe, though not necessarily in a bad way when it comes to Fusions. Spells, on the other hand, are impossible for me to cast.¡±
Both of them inhaled in shock. Apparently, that was news to them, and he realized that he hadn¡¯t gone over that when he introduced himself during the last class. ¡°You can¡¯t cast spells?¡±
Larek shook his head. ¡°No, my spell patterns are too strong, and I can¡¯t regulate them to be less permanent.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ unfortunate. But you can use Battle Arts and create Fusions without any difficulty?¡±
He hesitated for a moment before he explained, ¡°Well, I do have issues controlling my Stama properly, even with my Stama Subjugation at a higher Skill Level now. I had to create a special Fusion around my Stama to allow it to be controlled more easily; otherwise, handling it was more than a bit wild.¡±
¡°I see. So, what you¡¯re saying is that the Gergasi, despite being physically and magically stronger, are less able to create Fusions with any expertise, while those such as the people of the Kingdom are weaker, physically and magically, but can produce stronger and more effective Fusions? And that you got a mixture of both the benefits and drawbacks to both races? Does that mean that other races might have other special qualities?¡±
Larek shrugged. ¡°That sounds about right, though I have no idea about other races. I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ve had their potential for long enough to know, but there is a good chance that is true.¡±
As the other students finished their Fusions one-by-one, he checked in with them to see if their resulting Fusion descriptions were similar to the first few that he¡¯d talked to, and they all, invariably, were exactly the same. Unfortunately, there weren¡¯t any students in his class that came from outside the Kingdom, so he couldn¡¯t test the theory that other races might be different, but he thought he might ask Verne to create a Fusion to see what his said. Larek knew that it hadn¡¯t been any different for him back when they were at the Academy, but now that his Martial side had been unlocked, he wondered if it would be different.
¡°Well done, everyone! I¡¯m extremely proud of all of you, and I¡¯m excited to see what you can all accomplish when you continue to learn in this class and beyond. Did anyone raise their Skill Levels as a result of your Fusion today?¡±
Everyone raised their hands, with grins on their faces.
¡°Excellent! Continue building up those Skills, because they will be imperative to learning how to tackle more advanced Fusion concepts and formations.¡± He looked around at the rapt attention of the individuals who had surprised him with their accelerated development and abilities. ¡°I mentioned this to some of you while we were looking over your Fusions, but I want to recap what we¡¯ve recently learned¡.¡±
Larek went on to explain to everyone what they had discovered about the abilities of the people of the Kingdom and the Gergasi, as well as expanding upon his own special qualities and limitations. Some of them already knew about this, such as Lamarn and Mardyn, but to most of the others, this was news to them.
¡°So, what does this mean going forward, you may ask? The most obvious development from all of this is that it should be much easier for you to create Fusions than any other Mages in the history of the Kingdom, which, in turn, will lead to faster Skill increases, and therefore, stronger Fusions. But what it ultimately means is that the future Kingdom will be forever changed by what you do. Yes, I¡¯ve made quite a few Fusions in my time here, but I¡¯m also only one person. I can only imagine what you will accomplish when you have the opportunity to experiment and develop your own unique Fusions, many of which will likely compare to or surpass anything that I¡¯ve created.
¡°I look forward to that day.
¡°That being said, there is still a lot for you to learn about Fusions, especially Intermediate, Advanced, and more complex varieties, but you¡¯re already well on your way to success with what you¡¯ve done today. I¡¯ll be passing out some formations for you all to study in just a moment, and I want you all to continue creating Fusions on your own time, as long as you feel like you can do it safely. Don¡¯t push yourselves to the edge of your capabilities right now; just work on repeating the Fusion you¡¯ve created today and perhaps increasing the Magnitude, or even one of the other Fusions on these sheets. I can tell that you all have a fairly solid grasp of the basic concepts of formations, so I trust you to take that grasp, couple it with your instincts, and raise those Skill Levels!
¡°We will have more classes in the future, though I¡¯m not exactly sure when that will be. I¡¯ll be leaving here tomorrow, and I¡¯m not sure where I¡¯ll be back.¡±
Lamarn raised his hand. ¡°Where are you going, P¡ªLarek?¡±
Chuckling slightly at his student¡¯s inability to remember not to call him Professor, Larek answered. ¡°I have to go deal with the SIC. I don¡¯t know how long that will take, however, which is why I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be back to teach you more. Fortunately, I¡¯ve left you all enough information to get by for a few weeks at least, and I want to see all of you at Level 25 in all of your Pattern-related Skills by then.¡±
He wasn¡¯t sure if they could reach that Level in such a short time, but he figured it was good to have a goal. Well, as long as they don¡¯t push themselves into dangerous territories by doing too much, too fast. For some reason, though, he didn¡¯t worry about it too much; observing them at work, he could see that they had an instinctive control over their Pattern Cohesion that even he didn¡¯t have at that point in his educational career. Besides, he was sure they had enough knowledge by this point that they could forcibly halt a Fusion that was beyond them without permanently injuring themselves or others.
Whether or not they figured they could reach Level 25 in four different Skills seemed irrelevant as he dismissed the class, because all of them had the enthusiasm to see that it got done. It wasn¡¯t the enthusiasm of youth, as they were a variety of different ages, or even arrogance, because they had the ability and the knowledge to back up their confidence; rather, it was more of the enthusiasm of what lay ahead of them in the future.
He was now doubly glad that he had started teaching Fusions to the Volunteers, as now there would be a legacy that he could pass on to later generations. While being the only one in the world to make such powerful Fusions was a bit of an ego boost, once he was gone ¨C hopefully far into the future ¨C the world wouldn¡¯t be bereft of those who could do something similar to what he could do. Of course, it would likely be a while before they got to that point, and whether or not they had the same instinctive sense of Fusions that he possessed was still to be seen, but he could only hope that they could rise to the same expertise in Fusions that he enjoyed.
At the very least, he might actually have a group of colleagues to talk to who loved Fusions as much as he did. Other than Grandmaster Fusionist Shinpai, he hadn¡¯t really met anyone who had the ability to keep up with the ideas and concepts behind the Fusions he¡¯d created or ones he had plans to create ¨C which he hoped to eventually cultivate within the students of his class. It might be a little selfish on his part to want someone to teach people enough so that they could trade Fusion ideas with him, but that was just the way it was.
Heading home, he realized it was still early enough to see about finishing a few more of those ideas he had for offensive Fusions before he had to finish making copies of the Protection of the Void Fusions, and then to get some good sleep.
Because tomorrow, he was finally going to pay a visit to the SIC leadership.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 28
Chapter 28
He didn¡¯t even bother telling his friends that he should go alone to confront the SIC. It wasn¡¯t that he knew that they would insist on coming with him anyway, because they no doubt would. Nor was it because he was worried for their safety, because he wasn¡¯t ¨C especially because they all had one of the Protection of the Void Fusions equipped. No, it was because he was going to need their help, something that he no longer denied needing.
However, Nedira, Norde, Bartholomew, Penelope, and Vivienne joined him, as Kimble and Verne elected to stay behind and ensure the Volunteer organization was kept running. Bartholomew was on the fence as well, but Larek convinced him to come, as he was the one with the most knowledge of the SIC, seeing that he had worked closely with the leadership until a short while ago.
There was also a squad of 20 Volunteers along with them inside The Hopper as they made their way north, all of them equipped with VREP staves, melee weapons, and the new Heavy Load weapons, as well as possessing Protection of the Void Fusions. If they didn¡¯t have the latter, he likely would¡¯ve left them behind, but fortunately Larek was able to produce thousands of copies over the last few days. It wasn¡¯t enough to protect all of the fighting force of Volunteers that were part of the organization, but it was definitely a start.
¡°If you would, give us a brief recent history of the SIC, as well as where exactly we¡¯re going and what we should expect to see there,¡± Larek asked of Bartholomew, as everyone gathered around to listen. His friends already knew from the former Noble where they were going and what they were getting into, but he thought it would be good for the Volunteers to be on the same page.
Clearing his throat, Bartholomew addressed the group while Larek maintained their speed as they shot across the sky. ¡°Alright, the Scission Interception Corps, otherwise known as the SIC, used to be headquartered in the capital, but ever since the Apertures fractured the Kingdom, it was relocated to be closer to the territory claimed by the very first Aperture to be classified as a Calamity.
¡°The city of Kilvering is located exactly 3 miles from the northeastern Calamity¡¯s border, which is also approximately 268 miles to the northeast of the capital. It is this proximity that has meant that the majority of the SIC¡¯s focus has been on that particular Calamity, to the greater detriment of the others, as they concentrated the majority of their resources there to keep it from expanding and overtaking Kilvering. Even before I left the organization, the other Calamities were more of an afterthought when it came to priorities, and while they maintained a network with many towns and cities, they didn¡¯t have as much influence over the other regions there as they did in the northeast. That, apparently, had changed with the recent spread of misinformation to the Factions all over the Kingdom, as they likely saw the rising power of the Volunteers as a threat to reclaiming what they considered to be their rightful duty.
¡°And make no mistake, they see the safety and protection of the Kingdom as a whole as their responsibility, and they take that very seriously. When I worked for the SIC, this had led to the suppression of any Factions around the northeastern Calamity, as they maintained their vigilance against the monsters spawned by the Apertures, and they weren¡¯t afraid to enforce their duty violently, if it came to it. Yet, the SIC rarely had to do more than threaten those who would try to seize power, as the Corps¡¯ name and reputation was usually enough to maintain their power without conflict. The Factions in other regions were allowed to exist and rule in their places and were seen as necessities ¨C at least until the SIC could regain a foothold against the rise of the Apertures and spread their influence once again.
¡°The closure of the northeastern Calamity, therefore, had been their main focus until just a short time ago. Years of preparation and logistics had gone into their plan to take it down and restore order to the region, and after-conflict resolutions were put into place to reignite the spread of their power through the rest of the Kingdom, as they worked to stabilize each region one-by-one, until they gained control of it all again. The Factions that they had allowed to exist until they had time to deal with them would then be incorporated into the SIC once again, giving individual towns and Factions a measure of independence as long as they worked directly under the Corps in matters of Kingdom-wide threats. I worked on some of these plans while I was there, and in general, they were all done for the good of the people, even if it ended up giving those in charge of the SIC a hefty amount of authority that they didn¡¯t have previously.
¡°Of course, many of those plans were understandably interrupted when the northwestern Calamity was abruptly closed right under their nose. Instead of taking it as a win for the Kingdom, the SIC leadership decided to exert what influence they had to villainize the ones who had closed it, and then offered their services to attempt to stabilize what was left over after the entire region was left unprepared.¡±
Bartholomew nodded toward Larek and Nedira, as they were the ones who had been affected the most by the SIC¡¯s decision.
¡°This is where I left the SIC, so I don¡¯t know any insider information after this point. You all know what happened in the southeastern part of the Kingdom soon after that, with the founding of the Volunteers, the closure of the Calamity, and the death of a Gergasi, but the motivations of the SIC are a mystery to me now, after all that occurred. The activation of the powerful organization of assassins targeting our resident Fusionist, for example, is completely outside of my experiences with the SIC, so I have no idea what they¡¯re thinking or what they might do next.
¡°What I can tell you is what we can expect to find when we arrive. Knowing the context behind our destination and the people there is important, because going in there and simply killing everyone we see is not the way we are going to do this. Many of those involved in the SIC are decent, honorable individuals that have the safety and well-being of the Kingdom and its people foremost in their hearts and minds¡
¡°¡but not all, of course. I believe that it is largely the leadership that has perpetrated the recent attacks and has subverted the SIC¡¯s original course to one that does not adhere to the same standards as it used to. In other words, we need to cut off the poisoned portion of the SIC¡¯s body in order for the rest of the organization to live.
¡°As for ¡®poisoned¡¯ targets we need to ¡®cut off¡¯, there are a number of them that we should be able to find within or around the city of Kilvering. First, there are a dozen Lieutenants that handle the day-to-day operations of the Corps, with most of them working directly out of the headquarters there. From my own experience and knowledge, there are a few of them that are genuinely good people, and if we can turn them to our side, it would be highly beneficial to the running of the SIC afterwards. The others, however, should be considered hostile and eliminated if it isn¡¯t possible to convert them.
¡°Secondly, there are the advisors who don¡¯t necessarily have a ranking within the Corps, or who didn¡¯t when I was there, but they are highly influential and dangerous, nonetheless. These include the Noble Liaison, Elaine Blackwind, who uses her still-significant power to control what she can of the SIC from inside the organization, as well as Wilburt Ventoro, the former Dean of Crystalview Academy, who has risen higher in power as he had been slated to take control of every Academy and Fort in the Kingdom.¡±
Larek was personally looking forward to dealing with Dean Wilburt.
¡°Finally, there are two Generals that we need to deal with. The first is General Auran, who leads the Mage branch of the SIC. She is a powerful Elementalist and Archmage, meaning that she doesn¡¯t just specialize in one element or type of magic, but all of them; if she wouldn¡¯t be absolutely crushed by the confrontation, she could probably teach the Gergasi a thing or two about casting spells. For all of her power, though, my interactions with her showed that she was firm but fair and not necessarily prone to rash decisions, which is perplexing when I consider what she¡¯s allowed the SIC to do under her watch.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
¡°And then there¡¯s General Maxwell, my former boss. He¡¯s extremely powerful and likely the highest-Level Martial in the entire Kingdom, and he has an attitude and arrogance to match his inflated stats. Despite that, he has a devious mind, and his strength isn¡¯t necessarily in his muscles, but in his mind He¡¯s invested heavily in Agility and has the Specializations to match his speed, and while he¡¯s fast and hard to pin down, he also has the strength of arm to back up his Martial abilities. Just like General Auran, I believe that if he was able to go toe-to-toe with a Gergasi in a straight-up melee fight, he might be able to survive long enough to actually deal some damage to his opponent; but since that isn¡¯t likely to happen, it¡¯s a moot point.
¡°As for Kilvering, the heavily defended city is smaller than Thanesh and has a lower population. That population, at least while I was there, was comprised of nearly half Mages and Martials, with thousands of them in residence at one point or another as they waited to be sent out to help against the Calamity in different locations. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t speak for what it looks like now, as the SIC has apparently mobilized all their forces to close the Calamity.¡±
¡°What makes you so sure that the leadership will still be in Kilvering, then? Won¡¯t they be in the Calamity, as well?¡± Nedira asked.
¡°Because that wasn¡¯t in the plan,¡± Bartholomew explained, shaking his head. ¡°Leadership was supposed to stay behind to coordinate from outside of the Calamity, as it is the only reliable way to manage the incredible amount of logistics needed for such an enterprise. In addition, in case something goes wrong, having the leadership of the SIC available and¡ªmost importantly¡ªalive is needed to pull their forces out and recover from the potential disaster, as they are the ones that the local people listen to, not the rank-and-file of the Corps.¡±
Larek didn¡¯t understand that at all, as he would¡¯ve expected that the strongest members of the SIC would be the first ones into the Calamity, to spearhead the way toward the center. Then again, this whole ¡°plan¡± of theirs was something that had been years in the making, so he supposed that it made sense to someone.
¡°So, what is our plan, then? Barge our way through the gates of the city and demand to see the SIC leadership? And what do we do when we find them?¡± Penelope asked.
Larek chuckled darkly. ¡°Barge through the gates? You¡¯re thinking too much like a Martial. We can fly right into the city, remember? I¡¯m going to land right on top of their headquarters building before they can even react.¡±
¡°Ah. Yes. That would make it much easier, wouldn¡¯t it? But that still doesn¡¯t answer my other question.¡±
The Fusionist was silent for a moment before he finally answered at a measured pace. ¡°At first, when I realized we needed to deal with the SIC, I was hoping to find a solution that would convince the leadership to join with us without too much bloodshed, as we want them to work with us. Then they sent the Unspoken Response assassins after me, which was bad enough, but when they started killing innocent people ¨C from Factions that were ostensibly on their ¡®side¡¯ ¨C I felt that they all had to go. I¡¯m not sure what to do about the Lieutenants that we find, as Bartholomew will have to tell us if they can be trusted or not, but the others he told you about are done. They¡¯ve all crossed the line, and I can¡¯t allow them to live after what they did.¡±
¡°Absolutely,¡± Penelope agreed vehemently, followed almost instantly by Vivienne. No one else seemed to object.
¡°As for any of the other members of the SIC that we encounter, incapacitate them if we can and ignore them if we can¡¯t,¡± Larek added. ¡°For the most part, they aren¡¯t the enemy here, and unless they do or say something that changes that fact, then there¡¯s no justification for killing them. We¡¯re here to eliminate those in charge who¡¯ve perpetrated the atrocities we¡¯ve experienced, not wipe out a potential ally in the fight against the world of Corruption.¡±
The Fusionist still wasn¡¯t exactly sure how they would convince the rest of the SIC to follow the lead of the Volunteers, as there would no doubt be pushback from the SIC leaders in the field, but it would have to wait until they took out their targets. He had a few ideas, and he would have to lean on his friends a bit to get them done, but it would likely be messy and fraught with danger.
Then again, it seemed as though just about everything nowadays was messy and fraught with danger, so that wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise.
Bartholomew then took some time to describe the exact SIC headquarters building inside of Kilvering, but Larek had already obtained that information from his old bodyguard earlier. Instead, he looked at his Status, seeing the Level-up increases in many of his Skills from the last few days of Fusion-creation, and he was pleased at the progress he¡¯d made.
Level 62
Advancement Points (AP): 20/39
Available AP to Distribute: 0
Available Aetheric Force (AF): 1,632,998
Stama: 8100/8100
Mana: 9630/9630
Strength: 324 [810]
Body: 385 [963]
Agility: 324 [810]
Intellect: 385 [963]
Acuity: 385 [963]
Pneuma: 8,667 [21,668]
Pattern Cohesion: 216,680/216,680
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 75
Spellcasting Focus Level 90[100]
Pattern Recognition Level 99[109]
Magical Detection Level 103[113]
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 110
Focused Division Level 110
Fusion Level 115[125]
Pattern Formation Level 115[125]
Mana Control Level 112[122]
Pattern Manipulation Level 115
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15
Throwing Level 29[39]
Dodge Level 68[78]
Pain Immunity Level 20
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 71[81]
Body Regeneration Level 72[82]
Stama Subjugation Level 95
Larek had even gained another personal Level, slotting 10 AP each into Body, Intellect, and Acuity, with the remaining 8 AP split between Strength and Agility, but that wasn¡¯t the biggest change in his stats. That actually came from an update to his Omni Boost Fusion on his clothing, which he hadn¡¯t changed for quite a while. Instead of only a magnitude of 10, he had increased it to 15, which boosted every stat by 150% over its base, so his Strength ¨C for example ¨C wasn¡¯t just doubled from 324 to 648, but another 50% increase was added to it to make it 810. The new Omni Boost had greatly affected his Pneuma and therefore his Pattern Cohesion, shooting it past 200,000 all the way to just over 216,000 with just the application of the new Fusion.
While the Magnitude 15 Omni Boost would¡¯ve been expensive for him to create even a year ago, it was only a fraction of his Pattern Cohesion ¨C even at its base without any Fusion boosts. Theoretically, he was fairly certain he could produce a Magnitude 20 Omni Boost Fusion without too much trouble, but he held off at 15 for a reason.
The pain as his body reacted to the sudden increase of stats had nearly been enough to incapacitate him, as it wasn¡¯t something that was reduced by his Pain Immunity Skill. It reminded him of his recent increase in stats thanks to his new Specializations, though not quite as bad; he thought that if it had been a permanent increase instead of temporary through the Fusion, then it might have done some serious damage or possibly even killed him. As it was, he didn¡¯t think his body could handle any higher of a Magnitude right now, though that could change in the future as he continued to add to his base stats.
It only took a few hours to reach the area that Bartholomew had told them about, and with another 15 minutes or so to orient The Hopper toward Kilvering, they had arrived. As soon as Larek saw it approach in the distance, he slowed down, as he wanted to be aware of any defenses they may have in place, though he wasn¡¯t sure what they could possibly have against an aerial assault like they were.
¡°Something¡¯s wrong,¡± Bartholomew announced as soon as he spotted the outer walls in the distance.
¡°What do you mean?¡± Penelope asked, before she seemed to see it as well. ¡°Oh. Yeah, that doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±
It only took Larek a glance to notice it as well. ¡°There¡¯s no one on the walls. Didn¡¯t you say it should still be defended, even with the majority of the SIC assaulting the Calamity?¡±
¡°Yes,¡± Bartholomew said, nodding. ¡°But this looks like it¡¯s practically empty.¡±
As they flew over the city, it didn¡¯t take them long to see that Bartholomew was both right and wrong. Kilvering wasn¡¯t exactly empty, as there were still hundreds of people moving around, including dozens in the outside fields, but Larek couldn¡¯t detect or visually see any Mages or Martials down below. It wasn¡¯t until they slowly drifted over the walls and made their way toward the center of the city that he finally found something.
¡°I¡¯m taking it down,¡± he told everyone, heading for the roof of the headquarters building that Bartholomew had told them about. ¡°I¡¯m detecting magical signatures¡ but not nearly as many as there should be.¡±
Larek wasn¡¯t sure what had happened that led to the emptying of the entire city of its SIC members, but he was going to find out.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 29
Chapter 29
¡°Target is arriving in Kilvering.¡±
Prime steepled his fingers as he sat back in his chair, looking around at the assembled members of the Council. This was the moment they were waiting for, but after the failures of every other team they¡¯d sent against their contracted target, he hesitated to give the order.
Never, in over 478 years, had he even thought about hesitating; and yet now, as much as the very fiber of his being rebelled against it, he held his tongue.
He couldn¡¯t help but think that his mentor, gone these last few centuries, would be ashamed of his prot¨¦g¨¦.
¡°Shall we proceed?¡± one of the Council prompted. Prime looked at Air after she finished speaking, and he still couldn¡¯t proceed with the go-ahead.
Not once, through the glorious and shadowed history of the Unspoken Response, had there been a contract such as this particular one, and he was reluctant to send even more of their number to their deaths. It wasn¡¯t the first time that he regretted taking the contract from their contact with the SIC, and even now he couldn¡¯t believe that he had done it anyway, despite his misgivings. Blasted honor; just because we¡¯ve never refused a contract doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t make an exception.
That exception should¡¯ve been made, once it was known that the target was potentially half-Gergasi, but the Council argued that every instance of a half-Gergasi that was known to them was sickly and weak, so this target should be easy enough to eliminate. He was only halfway convinced by their arguments; the other half came from the pressure to take any contract, as it had been years since they had been utilized to their fullest extent.
¡°We need to transport our teams now,¡± Earth stressed, ¡°if we want to ensure that the target does not get away.¡±
Looking around the table, Water, Fire, Nature, and Shadow seemed to be in agreement, though Light appeared to not be paying attention. Not that he could blame her, as she was the one who was maintaining the sight of their target, as she instinctively connected to anywhere the light in the world shone. Having such a broad perspective tended to make her appear disconnected from the goings-on around her.
Prime was thankful that he didn¡¯t have that particular gift. His own was more of a general expertise and perfection in any spell he cast, which boosted its effects to levels that very few could match. Only those among the Council could best him in their particular magical element, but since he wasn¡¯t limited to a single one, he was therefore stronger than any two or three members combined. If they all teamed up against him, he¡¯d be in serious trouble, but they hadn¡¯t had a reason to do that.
At least, not until now. Showing weakness in the middle of a Council meeting was like dripping blood in the water; it was only a matter of time before the sharks came to investigate.
¡°Why are you hesitating? This time, there¡¯s no possibility that the target will surv¡ª¡± Fire spoke angrily, before Prime cut him off with a slash of his hand, causing the woman to snap her jaw shut. When Prime moved or spoke, there were very few who could maintain their stance against the very weight of his power.
Because at that point, it didn¡¯t matter that each and every single member of the Council was a prodigy in their own right; none of them could contest him on their own. As it so happened, Fire was the youngest of them at only 105 years old, having come into her own less than a century ago, before she was ¡°killed¡± during the defense of a city against a particularly deadly Scission. Rather than letting her waste her superior talent with the element of Fire in the mundane protection of the Kingdom¡¯s citizens, the Unspoken Response had recruited her to be on the Council, as they had a slot to fill when the previous member was killed in an accident.
An accident of greed, as it turned out, as he had attempted to secretly subvert the control of a Barony a decade or so before, and the decision was made to have the older Council member permanently removed. Unfortunately, all the Fire Council members were hotheads and prone to making rash decisions, which Prime figured was an unfortunate side-effect of their element.
Fortunately, none of the other Council members, despite being connected to their elements in an intrinsic way, had such failings. For instance, Nature was a middle-aged-looking woman who was actually nearly 900 years old, and she had a relatively gentle demeanor about her. It was her that they had to thank for their longevity, as she had discovered how to extend the lifespan of anyone indefinitely, and she had been a part of the Council since she was recruited centuries before Prime was even born. Water was a century or so younger than Nature, and the others were more varied in age, with some slightly older than Prime and a few younger; but as stated before, Fire was the youngest. In fact, there were quite a few members of the Unspoken Response teams that were older than her, though in general there weren¡¯t very many older than 220 years or so.
No matter how powerful those that they recruited from the ranks of the SIC were, their job inevitably had dangers that came with the territory. In addition, if they managed to survive for 200 years, they were allowed to retire in luxury in a foreign nation, as having such powerful individuals living amongst the people of the Kingdom was too tempting for them to cause trouble and bring attention to the Unspoken Response organization. None of them complained about having to relocate somewhere else, as the alternative was to keep working or to die.
Now I sometimes wish I could¡¯ve joined them years ago. Unfortunately, with the rules that were passed down since its founding, being a member of the Council is a job for life.
¡°I¡¯m not ignorant of the time constraint we¡¯re working under here, but I¡¯m also not confident that our teams will be enough to complete the contract,¡± Prime finally said after a few seconds. ¡°Our target has proven to be particularly adept at eliminating our operatives, and I have no doubt that we would simply be wasting our time, as well as our dwindling forces, if we sent them into Kilvering.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!
¡°Oh? So what would you have us do? Renege on our contract?¡± Fire snapped out.
Prime shook his head. ¡°Of course not. But we may need to consider a different approach in order to ensure success.¡±
¡°A different approach? It¡¯s already different, because we¡¯re sending sixty Responders to kill one man ¨C something that we¡¯ve never had to do before!¡± The temperature in the room began to rise as Fire stood up and pointed accusingly at him, as if this was somehow his fault.
Nature, ever the calming influence, spoke before Prime could take out his rising anger on the impetuous Council member. ¡°While I agree that caution in this situation may be warranted, what exactly are you talking about, Prime?¡±
Nodding in thanks toward the veteran Council member, he said the only thing that he thought might actually work. It had never been needed in all the years that the Unspoken Response organization had been in existence, but it appeared to be needed now.
¡°I believe that the only way we can complete this contract is if the Council becomes directly involved.¡±
Silence greeted this proclamation, which he knew was well-warranted. Only once in their vaunted history had a single Council member been sent with a team of Responders to eliminate a target, and from what he remembered, it had only happened because the Council member was related to the contract target. There wasn¡¯t necessarily a ¡°good¡± relationship between the Council member and the target, so it was more of a need to ensure it went smoothly, so it was thought to be warranted at the time.
But never had the entire Council been needed.
¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. We don¡¯t get personally involved with contracts¡ª¡± Fire began, but Air cut her off.
¡°That¡¯s because there has never been a need for such an act, you ignorant girl. There¡¯s no hard rule about it, however.¡± Air then looked at Prime before shaking her head. ¡°That being said, I don¡¯t think there is any need for our involvement. The contingency plan we¡¯ve put in place in case our target traveled to Kilvering should be more than enough to eliminate him. Let our Responders do their job, Prime.¡±
The others seemed to think about this as well, before agreeing with Air, and of course Fire ¨C who looked triumphant. Prime could overrule their decision, of course, but doing so would begin to fracture the solidarity of the Council, which was something he would strive to avoid, if at all possible. Besides, he knew the real reason they didn¡¯t want to face the target of their contract.
They were worried that they¡¯d lose.
After most of them had lived for multiple centuries, the thought of dying wasn¡¯t something that any of them could comprehend seriously, but the potential that their lives could end if they faced their target had frightened them. If he was being honest with himself, it frightened him, as well, but he also knew that he would go through with it if it was necessary. He was devoted to the Unspoken Response, heart and soul, and if his death was needed to fulfill a contract, then so be it.
There was no greater sin to a Responder than backing out of a contract once it was accepted. While it might save his life to do so, he couldn¡¯t live with himself afterward. To do so was to violate his very purpose in life.
It would be nothing more than a death sentence hanging over his head; it might not be immediate, but the guilt of betraying the basis behind the organization would eat him up inside to the point where it would be the same as dying. In other words, the only way out of this mess was to go through it, which meant to eliminate their target or to die trying. Anything else would be a failure of the highest capacity.
At the same time, he was willing to bow to the wishes of the Council at this time, if only to conserve the stability of the Council¡ and, he supposed, because a small part of him hoped that the Responders would succeed. If they failed, which he really didn¡¯t want to contemplate but had to be realistic, that would mean that more than 80% of their forces had been slain by their target; there were just over two dozen held back in reserve, but they were going to be sending the best of the best of them with this strike. If they couldn¡¯t do it, then it would be up to the Council to follow through with the contract. Once they succeeded, they could work, over the next few decades, to build their forces back up, though he thought it would take at least a century or so before they were back to the point they were before the contract was accepted.
¡°Fine then; I agree. Send the teams in, Earth.¡±
With those words, Earth closed his eyes and placed his hands against the stone table, which was embedded into the stone floor beneath it. While he could only sense a portion of what he was doing, Prime knew that the Earth prodigy had connected to the stone all around him, including the large preparation area nearby, where the Responders were waiting for their chance to complete their assignments. He vaguely felt as the stone beneath them seemed to melt into a mud-like substance, which sucked the 60 Responders down within seconds; none of them would panic at what was happening, however, as it was all part of the powerful spell that Earth was casting.
Once they had been sucked underground, the spell would shuttle them through the stone and dirt of the Kingdom toward their destination, moving them much faster than any other type of transportation, and they would arrive within minutes of leaving. The only way Prime knew they had made it to Kilvering was when Earth collapsed onto the table, his face ashen as he gulped in deep breaths, but thankfully Nature was by his side, already pumping him full of healing energy. The Stone-To-Stone Transport spell took a lot out of the man, especially at the distances they¡¯d had to transport their Responders recently, and it didn¡¯t help that he had just moved more people than he ever had before in memory.
Normally, he¡¯s able to do that every week or so, but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if he¡¯s unable to do that again for at least a month. Earth looked horrid, as if part of his life had been sucked away with the spell, but Nature was already helping to improve his health. The recovery would be slow, but he would recover eventually.
¡°The teams have arrived,¡± Light announced, though it wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, as they could all guess that after seeing Earth collapse. ¡°Target is entering the SIC headquarters. Responders are heading toward designated locations for when the contract departs. Ambush should be set up in two minutes, forty-two seconds.¡±
It seemed as though their delay hadn¡¯t compromised the plan, fortunately, and now it was only a matter of time before they could see if it had all been enough.
Prime sat back as Light cast an illusion spell above the table, allowing them to see what she was seeing, though there wasn¡¯t much to see. He watched as the Responder teams moved into position, but apparently Light was unable to obtain a view from inside the building, or at least anywhere the target was located. In addition, there was no sound transmitted through Light¡¯s distance-viewing, and large surges of magical power tended to disrupt it; it was why they didn¡¯t exactly know why their previous attempts at eliminating their target had failed so spectacularly, as most of the fights had been obscured until it was all over.
Therefore, the only thing left to do now was to wait for things to happen, which he always thought was the hardest part of his position, and he silently complained about it in his head every single time.
As proud and confident as he was in his own abilities, Prime just hoped he didn¡¯t have to personally see to the contract being completed; he had a bad feeling that his prior complaints would be petty in comparison to the hellstorm he would face if he went up against this so-called Fusionist.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 30
¡°Barty, you¡¯re in first.¡±
Larek sighed when Penelope called Bartholomew by the nickname she had given him all the way back at Fort Pinevalley, but his old bodyguard deigned not to notice. He had evidently come to the conclusion that the blue-haired woman wasn¡¯t going to ever call him by his proper name, so he simply ignored it ¨C which the Fusionist thought was probably a good idea by that point. He also thought that Bartholomew going first was also a good idea, as the former Noble knew the people of the SIC better than he did, and he didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill someone who didn¡¯t deserve it.
Not that there was too much chance of that, as he could tell by the magical signatures down below that there weren¡¯t any particularly strong individuals inside the building. There was always a possibility that he was wrong, but he didn¡¯t believe that was the case.
Having parked The Hopper so that it was slowly bobbing up and down approximately 10 feet above the roof of the SIC headquarters building, which was a sprawling, 8-floor structure that could house thousands of people, Bartholomew dropped down through one of the holes used for attacking monsters down below the vehicle, and the rest of the Volunteer squad followed quickly after him. Larek and his friends took up the rear, letting the others go first, as he didn¡¯t really expect them to run into anything that would harm them. If the building had been full, he might have gone in right after Bartholomew to deal with any major issues that may have made themselves known; but as it was, he didn¡¯t think there was any need.
Still, he didn¡¯t hesitate to quickly follow everyone down the roof hatch that Bartholomew ripped open with a surge of Stama through his arms and a stab of his Sharpen-edged spear to break the lock. When they descended the ladder leading to the roof, Larek found that they had emerged into a large, mostly empty room that had a locked door as the only entrance or exit. The walls were constructed of finished planks of wood, and a bit of nostalgia flowed through him as he recognized it as Rushwood, just like the trees he used to fell during his life as a Logger.
His attention was pulled away from the memories of that time, as well as the nascent thoughts of his family, as Bartholomew again used his spear to cut through the lock on the door, in fact carving out the entire handle, before kicking it open.
Through the now-open doorway, Larek could see an enormous, open space hundreds of feet wide and deep, with structural columns made of stone arranged in rows that held up the roof, with magical lights created from crude, Basic, Magnitude 1 Illumination Fusions attached to the columns inside an iron sconce. He was somewhat surprised to see them, though he felt slightly disgusted at how poorly they were constructed, but he supposed that the SIC had always utilized Fusions in small capacities ¨C just not on the same level as his own creations.
Tables and chairs were set up, all throughout what appeared to be a large meeting space, which was designed to hold a thousand people or more, but all of them were vacant; they weren¡¯t just empty, but many of the tables and chairs were knocked over, as if a whirlwind had gone through everything ¨C or many people had left in a hurry and didn¡¯t care about what kind of mess they left behind. From all that he could see, he thought it was more likely to be the latter.
Around the perimeter of the large, jumbled space were a series of doors set into the walls. From a general perspective, he expected these to be the offices of the higher-ups in the SIC leadership that Bartholomew had mentioned ¨C and it was also from there that he felt the strongest magical signatures. As Bartholomew started heading for what Larek assumed was one of the General¡¯s offices, the Fusionist got his attention and pointed to a different door, one that was still closed while the others were open. He could feel two distinct magical signatures behind the door; there were about a dozen much weaker signatures down below, scattered throughout the building, but he figured that they would get their answers from whoever was still up here.
Smoothly switching his destination, Bartholomew navigated his way around toppled tables and chairs, the Volunteers following after with only about half as much dexterity, but his old bodyguard didn¡¯t arrive too long before the others caught up. When they were all ready, Bartholomew kicked open the door, ripping it completely off the hinges as he led the way inside.
By the time Larek and his friends managed to squeeze themselves inside, Bartholomew and the other Volunteers had their weapons pointed toward two individuals, a man and woman with the Kingdom¡¯s features prevalent in their appearance. They were backed up against the far wall, their hands up and away from the staff that the man had dropped at his feet and the pair of shortswords attached to the woman¡¯s belt.
What was strange about the whole situation, however, was that the two of them ¨C instead of looking scared or angry at the sudden intrusion and threatening stance of the intruders ¨C appeared relieved for some reason.
¡°Mygor? Paluna? What are you two doing here? Where is everyone else?¡± Bartholomew asked, even as he seemed to relax his stance a little bit. None of the Volunteers moved from where they were, but Larek could feel a slight loosening of the tension they felt at the situation, thanks to the fact that Bartholomew apparently knew these people ¨C at least according to his tone.
Friends of his, perhaps? Or just acquaintances?
¡°Barkus? Is that really you?¡± It took Larek a moment to remember that Bartholomew had gone by a different name in the SIC while he attempted to distance himself from his Noble heritage.
Bartholomew nodded. ¡°Yes, it¡¯s me. What happened? What¡¯s going on here?¡± He seemed to remember the presence of the Volunteers nearby, so he turned to them and gestured for them to put down their staves and other melee weapons pointed threateningly at those he was addressing. ¡°It¡¯s fine; these are two of the Lieutenants that I mentioned before, and they are also in the small group whom I couldn¡¯t see following all their orders blindly.¡±
The two Lieutenants put their arms down as soon as the Volunteers withdrew their weapons, visibly sagging in relief. ¡°Thanks,¡± the woman, Paluna, said after a moment. ¡°Barkus, how did you survive? Last I heard, you were caught in the whole fiasco down south, perhaps even ending up with a bug in your head. That¡¯s not to mention rumors of some sort of organization trying to take control of the region¡ oh. This is that organization, isn¡¯t it? ¡®The Volunteers¡¯ or something like that?¡±
¡°Something like that. Suffice it to say that I¡¯m with them now,¡± Bartholomew replied, before getting back to what was more important. ¡°Ultimately, what happened to me doesn¡¯t matter; what does matter is what happened here,¡± he said pointedly.
The two Lieutenants looked at each other before they shrugged, almost in unison. ¡°The Calamity is what happened,¡± the Mage name Mygor finally said.
Larek walked up, gently pushing aside the Volunteers in his way. ¡°Explain,¡± he demanded. The seeming dodginess of these people was making him trust them less and less.
¡°Uh¡ whoa. Wait, you¡¯re him, aren¡¯t you? The Fusionist? I had heard you were a Gergasi, but I didn¡¯t believe it,¡± Paluna stated, her mouth open in shock. Larek just stared at her, not wanting to explain himself yet again, and the weight of his stare seemed to knock the shock right out of her as she shook herself. ¡°Yes, well, uh, the Calamity. Where to begin?¡±
She took a deep breath before she turned back to Bartholomew, telling him rather than Larek, as if that would make her feel better.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
¡°First, shortly after you left, Barkus, plans for the closure of the Calamity sped up dramatically. The closure of the Steel Slime Calamity lit a fire under the Generals, and they knew that the only way they could maintain their power was to discredit those who closed it, while also closing one of their own ¨C while leaving this region well-prepared for the aftermath. Since the majority of the planning and preparation had already been done, General Maxwell pushed to begin the process immediately, and the orders were communicated all throughout the border region that the timeline had been pushed up.
¡°This was our first mistake, and it definitely wasn¡¯t the last; we moved too fast, too soon, but the General was beyond caring about the danger at that point.
¡°Though the majority of those within range of Kilvering were as prepared as they could be, not all of the regions were ready when the call to go was issued. Initial estimates put at least 10% of the northeastern border as having been caught completely off-guard, and they only received the communication to mobilize hours or minutes before the attack actually commenced, which left a large chunk of the Calamity free to cause havoc.
¡°And cause havoc, they did. Through Aeromancer-based message updates delivered here, we learned that the Apertures that were unopposed in the northeast sent out their monsters immediately upon the neighboring sections, who barely got the call in time to mobilize, but still weren¡¯t as prepared as most other sections. As a result, while they were attempting to close down one Aperture, they were suddenly assaulted by an entire contingent of monsters from another, leading to significant casualties.
¡°For all that the northeast was on the verge of collapse, both Generals chose to push on, as the rest were on schedule and performing above expectations. Orders were sent out, designed to coordinate the teams in the Calamity, informing them of the challenges they would be facing, and everything we got back from them confirmed that they would be able to have things in hand going forward.¡±
Paluna paused as she closed her eyes, letting out a heavy sigh. ¡°That was two weeks ago. All communication abruptly stopped at that point, which didn¡¯t worry us too much, as they were starting to really make some progress and were pushing toward the center. But after two days of not even a single message, General Auran and General Maxwell began setting up an investigative team that would search for information on what was happening.
¡°Then we finally received a communication from inside the Calamity. It was disjointed and somewhat unclear, but the gist of it was that they were in trouble and needed help; they were apparently very close to success, but needed reinforcements, or else their entire endeavor to close the Calamity could result in the complete annihilation of the SIC¡¯s forces. This, obviously, spurred the Generals to provide those reinforcements, and they left within the hour, taking not only themselves along, but almost the entirety of the contingent here at headquarters.¡±
¡°I thought the plan was for them to stay here no matter what, which would allow them to coordinate a retreat if it was needed and to recover from the failure?¡± Bartholomew asked.
¡°It was, but when they got a message from a very trusted source within the forces sent into the Calamitym saying that they better help or nearly ten thousand SIC members would die, they didn¡¯t have any other choice. If everyone died within the Calamity, it would not only leave the border nearly undefended, but it would cripple the SIC to the point where it might not even exist afterwards.¡±
¡°So, why are you here and not with them?¡±
¡°We,¡± Paluna answered, gesturing to herself and Mygor, ¡°were instructed to stay here in case any other messages were received, and Mygor was to relay them to the Generals. I¡¯m here as the Martial liaison, in case there is need of my expertise, but there hasn¡¯t really been anything for me to do.¡±
¡°I¡¯m assuming you didn¡¯t get any messages after that final one?¡± Bartholomew queried.
Mygor shook his head. ¡°Oh, no, I received at least a dozen of them.¡±
¡°What did they say?¡±
¡°That¡¯s the thing,¡± the Mage responded, his eyes looking haunted as he stared at Bartholomew, ¡°I don¡¯t know. They were all jumbled up and a mess, like I was hearing a foreign language. Except that it wasn¡¯t a foreign language, as some words were recognizable, but they were distorted to the point where I could only guess as to their meaning. The only thing that came through clearly was the word ¡®help¡¯, which was used multiple times in each message. But then the messages stopped, with the last one coming two days ago. It¡¯s been completely silent ever since.¡±
That¡¯s a bit ominous. I don¡¯t really care about the Generals and the other leadership that they brought with them, but for over 10,000 SIC members to suddenly lose contact, with the potential of being dead, is a horrific thing to think about.
From what he could see and hear from these two Lieutenants, they had told them everything they knew about the whereabouts of the SIC and its leadership, but there was something else he needed to know. ¡°Who was it that sent the Unspoken Response after me?¡±
Both of them looked confused at Larek¡¯s question, as if they didn¡¯t know what he was talking about. But then comprehension seemed to dawn on them. ¡°The assassins? I thought they were a myth. Are you telling me they¡¯re real?¡± Paluna asked.
Larek didn¡¯t need to be able to tell if someone was lying or not to determine that neither of these Lieutenants knew anything about the Unspoken Response, let alone who had sicced them on him. He debated about trying to ask them if they had any idea where the mysterious organization might be located, but he didn¡¯t bother; it was clear to him that they had absolutely no idea where they might be.
It looked like he was going to have to get his answers from the Generals and possibly their advisors, such as Dean Wilburt, who was currently at the top of his list of suspects. Of course, that would also mean venturing into the Calamity, which he hadn¡¯t necessarily planned to do, but it appeared to be an inevitability at this point. As much as he hated the SIC for what they¡¯d done lately, not only to him but to the Volunteers and Factions, he also didn¡¯t want thousands of them to perish if he had the chance to do something about it. Granted, he would still kill the leadership once he rescued them all and discovered who sent assassins after him, but that was just the price they¡¯d have to pay.
¡°Let them die; it¡¯s what they deserve for what they¡¯ve done,¡± Penelope stated, and while Vivienne appeared slightly uncomfortable next to her, she didn¡¯t refute her lover¡¯s statement.
The two Lieutenants gaped at the blue-haired woman, while everyone else displayed different stages of indifference, but Larek just shook his head.
¡°I wish that we could, but there¡¯s no way this region will be able to recover with so many defenders being killed. We¡¯d be dooming hundreds of thousands of people to their deaths, regardless of whether we close the Aperture or leave it open to expand. We don¡¯t exactly have the personnel yet to take over this region; we¡¯d need at least a few months to get everything in place, which isn¡¯t time that these people would have if the majority of the SIC members suddenly died.¡±
It was the logical response, and it pained him to say it, as he wanted revenge just as much or more than Penelope and Vivienne after what had happened in Dreenwood. Unfortunately, he had to be responsible and think about the people in the region, who would suffer if they chose to let them die.
His old bodyguard didn¡¯t look happy as she turned away with a swish of her blue hair, but he could see that she understood his reasoning when she didn¡¯t try to argue. Vivienne put her hand on her shoulder in consolation, which seemed to help, so Larek turned back to everyone else.
As he started to give them his plan for going into the Calamity, which would include a brief planning session as he needed to know everything about it that he could, something caught at the edge of his Magical Detection Skill. It took him a few seconds with his mouth open, ready to speak, before he realized what it was, before he shut his jaw with an audible snap.
¡°What is it?¡± Nedira asked, obviously seeing something on his face as his vision was elsewhere.
Whether it was the talk about the Unspoken Response assassins earlier, the lack of magical signatures in and around the city, or simply because he had admonished himself, after the last attack, to do better about detecting another ambush, Larek had sensed a disturbance outside the building. What alerted him at first was the movement and disturbance of entirely too much Stama and Mana in the environment, especially for the amount of those with potential in the city.
It was subtle, but once he locked onto it, he noticed the same sort of absorption patterns he¡¯d seen before in the Unspoken Response assassins, as energy was being absorbed from dozens of different places, though they didn¡¯t coordinate with where people were. Instead, he had to look for the absence of any energy movement, which allowed him to spot what appeared to be 3¡ 4¡ no, 5 dozen sources of energy movement surrounding the building, waiting in ambush.
¡°We¡¯ve got visitors outside. At least 60 of them. I still want to know how they¡¯re doing this, but it looks like they¡¯re ready to attack once we try to leave.¡±
The grim looks on his friends¡¯ faces told him everything he needed to know. They weren¡¯t afraid of these assassins, and it was about time to show them that they weren¡¯t the only ones who could conduct a surprise ambush.
¡°If we can, I¡¯d like to leave one alive long enough to get some information out of them. When we take care of the SIC, I think it¡¯s about time to put a stop to all this nonsense. Permanently.¡±
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 31
The wait was nearly unbearable, but Prime exercised as much patience as he could while staring at the illusion that Light had created above the table. The others also appeared impatient, with Fire especially squirming in her seat, but he ignored them all. It was only a matter of time before the contracted target left the building, and then they would be able to see it completed¡ª
¡°We have movement. Teams are prepared.¡±
The entire Unspoken Response Council watched as a man emerged from the roof hatch leading down into the building, before heading toward the floating wooden contraption that the target had used to travel so quickly. Prime, along with the ambush team, could see that this man wasn¡¯t their target, so they didn¡¯t spring the ambush, but he could see them on the edge of the illusionary projection, just waiting for their opportunity. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t have to wait long, as at the next moment, a much taller figure appeared through the hatch, and it was a match for the contract.
¡°Now! Get him!¡± he shouted, though there was obviously no need. One: Because they couldn¡¯t hear him, and two: The ambush teams were already on the move.
Twenty separate Mana Siphons suddenly appeared around the rooftop, pulling in the ambient Mana in the environment. Not only would these Siphons completely starve whatever Fusions this ¡°Fusionist¡± had prepared, completely wiping out any available ambient Mana within around 300 feet, but they would also absorb any Mana coming from Mages that was sent into spell patterns, making spellcasting useless. A strong-enough individual with a high Mana Control Skill could maintain control of their Mana against one or possibly two Mana Siphons, but not even a Gergasi could handle twenty of them simultaneously. Of course, that wouldn¡¯t really bother a Gergasi all that much, considering that they also had enough Stama and Battle Arts to wipe out the entire Unspoken Response organization with their hands tied behind their backs, but the effect still applied.
The illusionary images that Light was projecting began to distort slightly as the swirling whirlpools of multicolored suction that denoted the Mana Siphons did their work, requiring the Council member to back up her view of the area until they were looking down from a greater distance to get out of the field of effect. It was disappointing to not have as close of a look at the demise of their target than the distance of about 500 feet, but at least the image had stabilized a bit.
And what a view it was. Their target was surrounded by the Mana Siphons, completely frozen in place as all the Mana was sucked out of the environment, as well as starving the Fusions that he might have; he couldn¡¯t cast spells, either, so the only recourse he had was to fight hand-to-hand. Unfortunately for him, they had planned for this, with a force of over 40 elite Martials, unmatched in their fighting skills; and even now they climbed up from the perimeter of the building, emerging onto the roof already at a run.
This is it.
In less than a second, even as the area was suppressed by the removal of all Mana by the Siphons, the 40 Responders converged on the target, a third of them striking simultaneously from all sides, while another third jumped into the air with Battle Arts, creating powerful arcs of pure force produced from Stama, sending them slamming into the target. The last third hung back and would take the place of any who fell in battle, but Prime doubted that they were going to be needed.
The incredible coordination and expertise of the Responders absolutely tore through the target, hitting him so hard that¡ he was absolutely obliterated?
¡°What happened? Where did he go?¡± Fire asked, slamming her fists down on the table.
That was what Prime wanted to know. One second, the target was there, and then the next he was gone. Prime looked for any trace of the target from the culmination of the attacks, but he couldn¡¯t see anything. As impossible as it was, it was almost as if the figure had been the product of an illusion-based spell, but no illusion would¡¯ve held up for more than a second in the face of so many Mana Siphons.
¡°Responder 18 is dead,¡± Nature suddenly announced. Because of the methods she used to extend the lifespan of the members of Unspoken Response, she had a link to each and every single one of them. When one of them died, she could instantly tell when that connection was broken. ¡°Responder 152 is¡ 86¡ 111¡¡± she continued to rattle off names in rapid succession, but Prime didn¡¯t see any of the Martials on the roof down.
The Mages!
¡°Light! Move your vision to¡ª¡± he began, but the Council member was already doing so. It only took a half a second to discover that the 20 Mages that had been a part of the ambushing force, with most of them on standby to bombard the area once the Mana Siphons did their job, were lying on the roofs and balconies of the nearest buildings, unmoving and with pools of blood spreading out from underneath them. From what he could see of their wounds, and with his many, many years of experience leading an organization of assassins, each and every one of them seemed to have had their throats cut and a blade or weapon of some kind shoved through their backs, straight into their hearts.
They were all dead before they hit the floor.
It had all happened so suddenly and with such violence that he felt like there had to be some evidence of what or who had done it, but there was absolutely no trace of the culprit or culprits ¨C at least not in the view that Light provided them. Even the floating wooden contraption had disappeared, shooting straight up into the air and out of sight. What was worst of all, none of the Martials seemed to be aware of their teammate¡¯s deaths, as the Siphons were still active; they only required an initial cast to get them up and running, and they would last for a few minutes before collapsing in on themselves.
Fortunately, there had to have been at least a millennium of experience across the remaining Responders, and as soon as their target ¨C as well as the first man that had come out of the hatch ¨C had seemingly disappeared, they flew into action. Sprinting for the roof hatch, they threw themselves down the ladder, disappearing inside. Unfortunately, Light¡¯s ability to see everything the light touched was limited to sunlight and moonlight, so all they could see inside was the initial entrance, as the rest of the top floor was apparently only lit by magical illumination. At the distance they had to maintain to ensure the stability of the illusionary projection, there really wasn¡¯t much to see.
¡°What¡¯s happening¡ª?¡± Fire screeched, but she was cut off as something occurred in the projection before it was abruptly cut off. An enormous explosion seemed to tear through the top floor and possibly some floors below it, sending fragments of stone blasting in all directions. The strangest thing about it was that it wasn¡¯t a fiery explosion, like he was used to seeing, but one that was virtually invisible, as if it was made of air. When the leading edge of the explosion reached Light¡¯s viewing height, the illusionary image disappeared.
¡°Light! Show us what¡¯s going on!¡± Prime demanded.
Light shook her head for a moment, as if she was dazed and was trying to shake it off. ¡°Hold on. I¡¯m trying to reestablish my link.¡±
¡°Responder 23 is dead. So are 49¡ 101¡ 13¡¡± The list that Nature rattled off wasn¡¯t as extensive as when the Mage Responders had died, but it was still approximately a third of the Martials that had entered the building.
Prime was up and out of his seat, leaning over the table toward Light. ¡°Hurry! We need to know what¡¯s happening to them!¡±
She didn¡¯t even seem to hear him as she had her eyes closed, but a few seconds later, the illusionary projection she had up before flickered into life again. When he could focus on it, he witnessed the remaining 25 or so Martial Responders fighting for their lives ¨C and they were losing.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Badly.
Despite their high Body stats, many of them had been wounded in one way or another, most likely from the explosion, and bloody bodies were scattered all around the damaged top floor of the building. Those who were still on their feet had visible wounds that were bleeding, as well as clearly broken arms, cracked ribs, and damaged legs, and they were being pressed back by an individual who moved like a whirlwind, a halberd in his hands that lopped off appendages with each strike like he was de-limbing a fallen tree.
For as fast as the Responders were, their target was even faster. Strikes against him that managed to get through his defenses, of which Prime was happy to see were quite a few considering the strength and speed of their target, nevertheless seemed to pass right through him as if he was an illusion.
But illusions couldn¡¯t inflict the kind of damage that tore into his forces.
If it was just their target fighting the remaining Responders, that would¡¯ve been bad enough, but it wasn¡¯t just him. Those whom the contracted target had brought along with him were also there, surrounding Prime¡¯s forces and harassing them to the point where they were forced to defend themselves. There were a few Martials included among those attacking his people, who seemed to be the biggest threats, including a man from the Kingdom in full plate armor wielding a sword and shield, a female Kingdom-born archer, and what appeared to be a Jaroupa, a dark-skinned woman with striking blue hair, who wielded a greatsword like it weighed nothing.
None of these three were a match for his Responders one-on-one, if only because they lacked the skills and experience in fighting other people to gain any type of advantage, though they were dangerous in their own right. The majority of the others, however, were pathetic when it came to their Skills and fighting prowess. If he had to guess, they were brand-new Martials that had just barely unlocked their potential shortly before accompanying the target to Kilvering.
Despite their ineptitude, his Responders couldn¡¯t touch them. Instead of absolutely tearing through their numbers, his forces¡¯ attacks either passed right through them all or were absorbed by what appeared to be a shield that surrounded them, making them all appear slightly distorted in the light. How are they doing this?! There¡¯s no Mana in the environment for spells or Fusions!
The Council chamber was silent as they watched as the remaining Responders were whittled down to just a handful. Prime clenched his hands tightly together in disgust when the last three living Martials, each of whom had been with the organization for multiple decades, saw their deaths approaching and attempted to flee. But three of the target¡¯s companions lifted a bent steel rod that appeared slightly familiar, before pointing them at the fleeing Responders. One moment, the three Martials were bounding away, attempting to jump over the heads of the nearest attackers, and the next they were caught by something that caused them to bunch up into a tight ball, which quickly seemed to collapse in on itself, turning them into a compacted sphere of metal, leather, flesh, and blood.
¡°All Responders in the field have perished,¡± Nature said in the deafening silence that filled the Council room.
It had all happened so fast that he could barely understand how it was possible. The other attacks upon their target had all been fast failures, as well, but until this point they had been unable to actually watch it happen. Too much magical interference had prevented them from viewing the actual attack after the initial ambush; this time, he figured the Mana Siphons ¨C despite forcing them to extend their viewing range ¨C would have managed to disrupt the interference enough that they could actually watch.
Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t help; if anything, it just made it worse as a hundred questions ran through Prime¡¯s mind. First among them was how they seemed to be able to cast spells or use Fusions when it shouldn¡¯t be possible for them. Even his forces, which utilized a technique that was developed by Shadow to pull in and expel energy away from their bodies so as to camouflage their magical signature, would be useless if they had to rely on Mana, so how was it possible that something as ridiculous as a Fusion could still work?
Then there was the explosion and how it was created, the way an illusion seemed to work to fool his Responders, the shield or whatever it was that negated damage that surrounded their target, and a number of other questions that he didn¡¯t dive into too deeply into right now. The urge to know the answers warred with the fact that a large percentage of the Unspoken Response forces had just been slaughtered¡
¡and the contracted target was still alive and seemingly in perfect health.
No one said anything as they slumped back in their chairs, watching as the target and his companions searched through the bodies of the Responders for anything that might be of use, before slipping whatever they found into bags hanging off their belts. Despite the disaster of an ambush, Prime perked up when he saw this, as they were shoving long weapons into the bags that definitely shouldn¡¯t have fit, which made him wonder if there was some sort of spatial expansion going on with them ¨C though how anyone could create a stable spatial pocket to store things was beyond him. Then again, they were hunting someone named ¡°The Fusionist,¡± so if anyone could, it would likely be him.
While that didn¡¯t explain how they were still able to use the Fusions regardless of the Mana Siphons that were slowly starting to collapse above them, it ultimately didn¡¯t matter in the long run. What mattered was that their target was even more powerful than they were led to believe, and if they were to succeed in fulfilling the contract, Prime and the rest of the Council would have to get involved. He didn¡¯t see another way.
When the Mana Siphons finally collapsed in on themselves, it was like a lever had been pulled as he looked around at the Council. Everyone but Nature and Earth, the latter of whom had passed out after transferring the Responders, looked sick as they continued to stare at the illusionary projection. They could see the writing on the wall as well as he could, and he held back the urge to say, ¡°I told you so.¡±
Now they had a decision to make. Abandon the contract, forfeiting nearly 1,000 years of rules, honor, and tradition within the Unspoken Response organization ¨C or going out to fight this Fusionist, who seemed nearly impossible to kill by any normal means.
¡°So¡ here we are. Planning for our next attempt has to begin now, before he grows any stronger¡ª¡± he began, but he was cut off by a gasp by Light.
He looked up at the projection, unsurprised to see that she had lowered the viewpoint so that she was only about 50 feet above the ruined building and the massacre of Responders, attempting to glean any information about their target that could be used as a weakness. That was all normal, of course, because 90% of their success in the past had been because of information-gathering and planning, with the last 10% a flawless execution; Prime wasn¡¯t sure how much this would help them, however, given how powerful this individual was.
What wasn¡¯t normal, however, was how their target was looking straight up, seemingly looking Prime straight into his eyes as he sat back. It was almost as if he could see what Light was doing.
The next thing that happened pretty much confirmed that.
While there was no sound, Prime could clearly lipread the words coming out of the target. ¡°Ah. There you are. Clever.¡±
And then he tilted his head slowly, his eyes tracking something in the air, as his gaze turned toward the southwest.
Right towards where the Council and the hidden mountain stronghold of the Unspoken Response organization was holed-up.
The illusionary projection abruptly disappeared as Light gasped again, sounding like she was drowning as she sucked in lungful after lungful of air to catch her breath. ¡°He¡ he tracked me all the way back here somehow!¡± she finally managed to get out as she calmed her breathing. ¡°That should be impossible!¡±
That was a word that had certainly come up more than once in his own mind over the last few minutes, and he wasn¡¯t sure how to respond. If what Light had said was true, however, then it would only be a matter of time before their target came looking for them. He knew his kind well enough; revenge would drive him to correct the wrong that the Unspoken Response organization had inflicted upon him. Normally, Prime saw this in friends and relatives of those who had ended up as a contract, but never had this happened before.
A sense of foreboding settled over the Council as they felt the attention of the Fusionist fall upon them all. Prime knew that it was most likely just his imagination, but he couldn¡¯t help but think that the personification of death had just looked his way and decided that his stay in this world had just expired.
He shivered for a moment before he settled his nerves, his mind working furiously to figure out how to survive this man¡¯s arrival. All of the arrogance of his position drifted away as he considered what he would and wouldn¡¯t do to kill the target and keep his life intact afterward. Abandoning the contract was no longer an option now.
Unfortunately, after almost a minute of incredibly fast contemplation, Prime realized that there was only one way that they could possibly survive the Fusionist when he came after them. It was probably just as dangerous, but it was the only chance he could see that might succeed.
¡°Nature? Do you still have any of our old contacts? I think it¡¯s about time we reached out.¡±
Nature stared at him for a moment as everyone looked at Prime in dawning horror at what he was proposing.
Then she nodded.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 32
Larek turned away from where he saw the strange magical disturbance disappearing into the distance as he took in the situation around him. They had already taken everything of value from the corpses of the assassins, which basically included a few weapons that could be repurposed for some Volunteers back home, but they didn¡¯t bother cleaning anything up. It was too much of a mess right now, and they had to get moving.
¡°What was that?¡± Nedira asked. ¡°I¡¯ve never felt anything like it.¡±
The Fusionist hadn¡¯t either, but at least he had been using his Magical Detection Skill to watch the Mages around the perimeter as they cast it. As a result, he knew that it was something called Mana Siphon ¨C and it was a relatively powerful spell.
New Spell learned!
Mana Siphon
Magnitude: 40-foot diameter
Duration: 3 minutes
Base Effect (Siphon): Creates a vortex of negative Mana that rapidly absorbs Mana in a designated area
Base Mana Cost: 2,000
Base Pattern Cohesion: 50
The spell he learned reportedly used something called ¡°negative Mana¡± to create the swirling vortexes he had observed, which pulled in ambient Mana from the environment. But it wasn¡¯t just ambient Mana; Nedira and a few other Volunteers had attempted to cast a spell just after the multitude of Mana Siphons became active, and before they could fill their spell patterns with Mana, it was forcibly yanked away. It also completely shut down the Fusions that had an area of ambience that wasn¡¯t displaced like his newer versions, which included the Volunteers¡¯ staves and anything else that they had that wasn¡¯t relatively new. Thankfully, the Siphons didn¡¯t last long enough to permanently damage those Fusions as they attempted to cannibalize the Mana invested into them from the lack of ambient Mana, but if they had lasted another 15 minutes or so, he was sure that would¡¯ve been a different story.
As for his newer Fusions, such as the Protection of the Void and his newer offensive selections, they received their ambient Mana from much further away and from multiple locations ¨C far outside the range of the Siphons.
¡°They were Mana Siphons. They sucked in all the Mana around the area,¡± Larek answered absently, as his mind was already on other things.
Things such as the mind he felt associated with the odd trail of magical energy located in the sky. Or wait¡ it wasn¡¯t the sky. It was more like it was attached to the sunlight streaming down, somehow. It was a strange occurrence that he just happened to feel it above them, which he attributed to the lack of ambient Mana in the area; if it hadn¡¯t been for that, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have noticed it unless he was specifically looking for it. Now that he knew what it felt like, he would be looking for it in the future.
Especially since he was fairly certain that someone was using that connection to spy on him and his friends. He didn¡¯t know exactly who it was, as the faint connection with the other mind only felt slightly feminine and surprised, but he suspected that it was the Unspoken Response watching to make sure he was dead. He was able to trace the connection for about a dozen miles before his Magical Detection Skill wasn¡¯t strong enough to follow any further, but at least he had a general idea of where it had gone. There were enough traces still in the air to follow it to its origin, but as much as he¡¯d like to do that right now, he didn¡¯t have time. As it was, if he got closer to the origin point in the future and found the signature again, he thought he should be able to find where it was coming from ¨C and also find where the assassins had their own headquarters.
The Fusionist could only hope that they would stop sending more after him after around 5 dozen had just been slaughtered; while they hadn¡¯t been able to stand up to him and his friends, nearly every single assassin had been a fairly strong Mage or Martial. He couldn¡¯t envision them having hundreds of others like them just waiting to be sent out. Then again, no one really had any knowledge of exactly how large of an organization the Unspoken Response was, so it was possible that they had thousands that they could throw away in their foolish desire to kill him.
I might get some answers to some of those questions, however.
¡°Bring him out.¡±
Two Volunteers pulled something out of the Void Pocket sack he¡¯d created earlier while they set up the ambush, and soon enough a stiff figure plopped out onto the floor of the largely destroyed roof of the SIC building. Larek reached down and touched the assassin on the arm, where a special Fusion had been slapped onto his skin before burying itself inside his flesh. The full paralyzing effect of the Fusion he¡¯d especially made in case he ran into the assassins again had done more than just paralyze him; due to the nature of the Fusion¡¯s proximity, everything in his body had flash-frozen in an instant. Instead of killing him by making all the blood in his body freeze and turn to ice, what it essentially did was suspend his body in a thin void that acted like the equivalent of stopping time around him. Just like items placed in the void didn¡¯t leak or absorb energy, and food was kept as fresh as it was when it was stuck inside his Void Pocket sack, so too was the body of this assassin.
In all honesty, he wasn¡¯t even sure it would work without killing him, as well as sticking him in a larger Void Pocket sack that would allow him to fit through the opening, but as far as he could tell, the would-be killer was still alive.
By touching the Fusion, Larek was able to deactivate the Effect, and the assassin was suddenly moving. Twitching and spasming was probably more accurate, as he flopped around on the ground uncontrollably, with muscles stretched further than looked healthy, before finally settling down after a minute or so. Completely drained of most of his physical energy, the assassin was gasping on the floor like a fish out of water, though unlike that example, he wasn¡¯t going to die from simply being there; his body would regenerate itself because he was a Martial, though at the moment he looked as weak as a newborn.
No, he wasn¡¯t going to die from being trapped in the void; he was going to die by Larek¡¯s hand as soon as he answered some questions.
The anger that always accompanied the thought of what the assassins had done to the town of Dreenwood gave the half-Gergasi enough emotional energy to engage his Dominion magic, and he focused all of it on the assassin at his feet. Larek saw the man painfully stiffen as that magic slammed into him, and a groan was let out as he fought it. The Fusionist felt his control of the assassin establish itself, though his control was tenuous, at best. Just like his experience with the assassin he¡¯d caught back in Thanesh, this one seemed to have some sort of resistance against being controlled like this. It wasn¡¯t complete immunity, but it was fairly potent; he suspected that the only reason he was able to establish even this much control was because of the state of the man¡¯s wracked body.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Even after a few seconds, he could feel his control starting to slip, so he needed to act fast and ask as many questions as possible.
¡°How many more assassins can I expect to attack me?¡±
There was a grunt of defiance before the man answered with a short scream of frustration at the beginning. ¡°Aaaa¡. As far as I know, there are 24 Responders left. Plus the Council, of course.¡± He was shaking his head, trying to fight answering Larek, but the Fusionist still had control.
It was a relief to hear that there weren¡¯t very many more of the Responders that could attack him, but the last thing that the assassin mentioned caught his attention. ¡°Council? Who are they?¡±
Another grunt. ¡°The Council leads the Unspoken Response. We may have failed, but you cannot survive against them.¡±
He would have to ask more about them later if he had the chance. ¡°How are you able to find and get to me so quickly?¡± he asked instead, as that was more of a pressing issue.
¡°Light sees and Earth moves,¡± the man spat out through clenched teeth. He didn¡¯t expand upon this explanation, and while Larek wanted to ask for more details, he could sense that he was nearly out of time.
¡°Who ordered my death?¡± Confirmation that one of the SIC leadership had engaged the assassins against him wouldn¡¯t really change what happened to them, but it would be nice to know who absolutely had to die.
¡°I¡ don¡¯t know¡ Responders don¡¯t handle¡ contract¡ negotia¡ªaaargh!¡± the assassin shouted, surging upward toward Larek as the Fusionist¡¯s control was broken completely, but he didn¡¯t make it more than a foot upwards before a large sword swung in and decapitated him.
Penelope stood over the spasming corpse as the body violently reacted to its sudden death, before she spit on it. ¡°Filth. This was just a contract to them? They killed our friends in Dreenwood for what? Business? I hope you rot here in the sun while birds pick your eyes out of your head.¡± She then turned and walked away, wiping the blood off her sword onto the armor of another corpse nearby.
The vehement words and action she performed were a little shocking, though he supposed that they shouldn¡¯t have been, considering that he knew that Penelope and Vivienne were still emotionally wrecked after what happened to the friends they had made at Dreenwood. Still, he was going to kill the man anyway after he got what information he could from him, which was unfortunately not as helpful as he¡¯d hoped, making him wish that they¡¯d captured more than one of them. Regardless, the deed was done, and no one was too put out that the assassin was dead.
He and the others had been trying to kill Larek and everyone else, after all.
It was shortly after his interrogation ended that Mygor and Paluna cautiously walked up the stairs, pushing through the rubble that had clogged some of the stairwell. It was a messy side-effect of the Vacuum Blast Fusion he¡¯d created the day before as another type of offensive Effect, which he thought worked fairly well. Soon after the assassins had rushed down from the roof, he had activated the Fusion, which rapidly sucked in all the air in an area 150 feet in diameter. Larek, his friends, and the Volunteers weren¡¯t affected because of their Protection of the Void, but all of the murderous intruders were pulled together into a large group from the suction, before it was all violently allowed to re-expand outward.
The shockwave from the expanded air was strong enough to demolish and blow the roof and side walls off, and it also ripped off assassin limbs and did internal damage to many of them in the process. Vacuum Blast killed about a third of them and injured the others, which made killing them fairly easy. It would¡¯ve been even easier if Larek and his friends had simply used their new Heavy Load Fusions from the start and squished them into a sphere of mush, or even Transfer Potential to remove their potential, but he had decided to let his friends and the Volunteers have a little bit of practice against them. With their protections, they couldn¡¯t be hurt very easily, so it was a win-win situation ¨C especially since it had helped to raise a few of his own Skills, as well.
Mana Control has reached Level 113!
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 96!
Dodge has reached Level 69!
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 72!
¡..
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 75!
The increase in Mana Control had come from the Fusions he had used to project illusions up onto the roof, as the images that had been created wanted to destabilize when the Mana Siphons appeared, and he¡¯d had to use his Skill to keep them intact. In addition, the three clones he¡¯d created of himself to aid in the ambush against the assassins had been pulled apart by the spells, despite his attempts at keeping the Mana inside of them. The Siphon spell had a volatile and powerful effect he¡¯d never experienced before, and he was even now thinking of ways to utilize it in future Fusions.
The rest of the Skill increases had come from the fight with the assassins. It felt good increasing those Skills, since it had been a while since he¡¯d had a really good melee fight against opponents; most of the time, he simply used his Pattern constructs or Fusions to kill his enemies, but his Martial Skills were greatly lagging behind now. Being ¡°forced¡± to fight like this was good for him and his development, especially when he wasn¡¯t in any serious danger.
Mentally reaching out to The Hopper, which he¡¯d sent high into the air moments before he activated Vacuum Blast, he pulled it back down to the top of the building, making it hover about 6 feet from the floor. Gesturing for his Volunteers to go ahead and load up, he beckoned to the two SIC Lieutenants from where they stood, staring at the destruction.
¡°You¡¯re coming with us for now. We¡¯re going to need your help locating the rest of the SIC leadership.¡±
Waving his hands in denial, Mygor protested. ¡°Oh, no, I¡¯m not going anywhere near the Calamity! I don¡¯t know what happened to the rest, but there¡¯s no way¡ª¡±
¡°Don¡¯t bother to argue, Mygor,¡± Bartholomew shouted back at him, where he was just about to board The Hopper. ¡°You¡¯ll find it much easier that way. Besides, I vouched for you, so don¡¯t let me down.¡± Just before he jumped into their wooden transport, he added, ¡°Oh, and if that isn¡¯t enough to convince you, then think about unlocking all your potential. I know you¡¯ve always wanted to be a Martial, so now¡¯s your chance to be both.¡±
Mouths gaping open, Mygor and Paluna stared after Bartholomew as he disappeared inside the vessel, before turning toward Larek in disbelief. ¡°What? Was he telling the truth?¡± Paluna asked, clearly in shock.
¡°Yes, but only if you get your butts on board right now. We need to go investigate what happened to the SIC, and it needs to be done yesterday. Come on, we don¡¯t have any time to lose.¡±
Though they still seemed extremely reluctant, the two SIC members shuffled toward the floating wooden disc at a slower speed than he liked, but he didn¡¯t say anything. He¡¯d rather they come at least semi-willingly rather than forcing them, but as it was, he still didn¡¯t trust them completely. If they proved their worth and didn¡¯t betray the trust he was putting in them to lead them to the rest of the SIC in the Calamity, then he had absolutely no problem giving them the Fusion to unlock their full potential.
Jumping through the bottom hole after boosting Mygor up inside, as he didn¡¯t have the strength to pull himself up, Larek looked to the northeast, where he could feel the border of the Calamity not so far away.
¡°Alright, we¡¯re going in. Let¡¯s see what¡¯s happened with the SIC and whether we can salvage what could be a potential disaster.¡±
With that, he shot The Hopper into the sky and took off toward yet another unknown Calamity.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 33
Larek learned that the Calamities throughout the Kingdom were as different from each other as could be. He still remembered the first one he¡¯d helped to close, which had transformed the environment so much that the landscape had been converted into relatively featureless stone and was populated by Slimes of different kinds. The next one he closed was full of flying birds and had large grasslands, separated by enormous trees that acted as conduits for the energy used by the central Aperture to spawn additional monsters. The most recent visit to a Calamity had been to the southwestern one, which had a dead, barren land that was full of undead, though he didn¡¯t go deep enough to see the different kinds of undead past the Bone Wraiths there were.
The northeastern Calamity, which the SIC had been in charge of culling and controlling almost since it appeared, was similar to the southeastern one ¨C if only because the environment wasn¡¯t completely barren of living vegetation. In fact, it was basically the opposite of the undead Calamity, because this one was full of plants as far as the eye could see.
¡°There are a few methods that we¡¯ve developed over the years to move quickly through the environment that populates the landscape all the way to the center,¡± Paluna informed everyone on board The Hopper, ¡°though this method puts them all to shame.¡±
Flying over the border of the Calamity never seemed to get old as the pressure of the giant Aperture could be felt even this far out. The biggest difference in this one was the fact that the air was apparently warm, despite the constant mist that suffused the area, making the air heavy with moisture. Larek and most of the people on The Hopper couldn¡¯t feel the temperature difference or the moisture, but the mist was let through the Buoyant Sphere that surrounded the vessel and accumulated on just about every surface, inside and outside.
Down below, through the fine mist, a jungle-like landscape dominated the view as thin trees only as wide as his leg grew haphazardly around each other, with the large-leaved foliage only slightly blocking what light there was from getting through, which meant that the jungle floor was filled with vegetation so thick that Larek knew it had to be difficult to traverse.
¡°One method is the use of Flame Breath, an easy spell for Mages to maintain for a while to clear out the underbrush, which works extremely well because it is highly flammable for some reason, despite the moisture in the air,¡± Paluna continued. ¡°The trees, though? Not so much. If they need to, Martials can chop their way through dense sections, as the trees may be resistant to fire, but not to the sharp edges of their blades. Sections of the environment cleared like this will actually last for upwards of a week before the Calamity grows it all up again in a matter of hours, so this is commonly what is used for most of the culling for subservient Apertures around the border and up to a day¡¯s journey inside. Because of these pathways that are cleared, it is much easier to reach their destinations without too many issues or delays.
¡°When we need to go further inside, a different method is utilized.¡± She pointed toward the ground, where multiple breaks in the jungle appeared like squiggly lines running through the trees. ¡°The rivers here are relatively wide and fast, and they all flow toward the center, though many of them take a fairly circuitous route. Using sailboats and the application of air-based spells, such as Focused Gale, which produces a fairly continuous stream of air for a limited duration, we¡¯re able to move quite quickly through the Calamity. It was this method that allowed the SIC to have better control over its expansion and to cull the subservient Apertures deeper inside of its territory than most of the other Calamities ¨C though I suppose there are only two others, now that two of them have been closed,¡± she finished with a look toward Larek. He wasn¡¯t sure if Paluna was just indicating that she knew that was him who had orchestrated their closures, or if she was somehow blaming him for the events; he¡¯d have to watch her in the future to see what her real feelings were on the issue.
¡°This method was also used by the Generals and the reinforcements to travel toward the center of the Calamity, allowing them to arrive within days instead of the weeks of travel it would normally take,¡± she continued, pointing down at a particular river underneath them. ¡°If we follow this one here, we¡¯ll be able to track their route and see if something interrupted them along the way.¡±
Larek had been planning on simply flying straight toward the center Aperture and looking for the SIC leadership there, but he figured he might as well do as the Martial suggested and follow the river. It wouldn¡¯t delay them all that much, after all, and he didn¡¯t want to have to backtrack later if it turned out the ones they were looking for weren¡¯t there. He still wanted to save the regular members of the SIC if they were in trouble near the center, but his whole intention of even traveling to Kilvering had been to find a way to get the SIC to stop fighting him and the Volunteers and work together for the good of the Kingdom.
That wouldn¡¯t happen with the current leadership still in charge, but he had to find them first.
While he kept The Hopper following the river that Paluna pointed out, he also had it venturing off the path a bit to check out the nearby subservient Apertures. What he found were large circles of cleared land that the jungle environment didn¡¯t encroach upon, though like most Apertures, their landscape varied differently, depending on the monsters inside. He saw one that looked like a volcano had just erupted, and another that had purple crystalline grasses and trees composing the vegetation. Yet another had large mounds of loose dirt scattered around it, and there was even one that was dark, like a shadowy dome had descended upon the jungle and held secrets inside.
For the most part, the Apertures were empty of any monsters, though he did spot some reinforcements that had recently spawned and were heading toward the center of the Calamity, just as The Hopper was. None of these monsters seemed to even notice Larek or the others, not only because they were airborne and most of the monsters he saw were landbound, but also because their attention was on something else entirely. His experience with closing Calamities told him that these monsters were moving to help defend the central Aperture, which also meant that it hadn¡¯t been seriously attacked quite yet, which would¡¯ve stopped the production of the reinforcements. That didn¡¯t bode well for the SIC forces inside, because if they were under siege by the entire Calamity¡¯s reinforcements, they could be in serious trouble.
¡°What was the plan to control the constant respawning from the subservient Apertures?¡± Larek asked. While he might know a bit more about this Calamity than the others he¡¯d visited, that didn¡¯t mean he knew the plan the SIC had to close it. Bartholomew had filled in some of the details, but his expertise had been focused on other areas while he worked for them.
¡°Small teams were supposed to be left behind from the main groups heading toward the center of the Calamity, which would handle the reinforcements after the subservient Apertures were initially cleared,¡± Paluna explained. ¡°This was why the planning had taken so long to come together, as we needed to ensure that we had as many bodies as possible to stem the tide of monsters while the strongest members assaulted the center. This included recruiting thousands of civilians to act as¡ª¡±
¡°Wait¡ªthey actually went through with that?¡± Bartholomew cut in incredulously. ¡°I thought that idea was abandoned more than a year ago.¡±
¡°It was¡ until General Maxwell reinitiated the program shortly after it was shut down. He believed it was better to be prepared for their help and not have to use it than to be short defenders when it came time to move. Strangely enough, there were plenty of people who were eager to contribute and participate in the program, so it was actually quite successful.¡±
¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Nedira asked.
Mygor took up the explanation. ¡°Civilians were given weapons and a little bit of training in how to use them, with the thought that they could easily handle the reinforcements after the SIC initially cleared out the subservient Apertures on their way toward the center. For the most part, it was believed that they would be absolutely fine because of their large numbers, though the further they went and the stronger the monsters, the SIC would have to leave more of its members there to maintain the safety of these civilian defenders.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
It sounds like they were doing something similar to the Volunteers; unfortunately for these civilians, though, they didn¡¯t have powerful weapons like my VREP staves ¨C and they certainly hadn¡¯t unlocked their potential. I can only imagine that they would suffer horrendous casualties over time, but I suppose that if they didn¡¯t have any other methods to stem the tide of reinforcements, then this was what had to be done.
¡°So, where are these civilians? I don¡¯t sense them anywhere,¡± the Fusionist noted, reaching out with his Magical Detection Skill. While there weren¡¯t any magical signatures that would be given off by those without their potential unlocked, they still had trace amounts of Corrupted and semi-Pure Aetheric Force around them naturally; he could use these traces amounts to locate large groups of civilians, though tracking a single one would be a lot more difficult.
¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯d also like to know,¡± Paluna answered. ¡°There should be at least some of our civilian defenders here on the border, especially near some of these weaker subservient Apertures. Like that one, for instance,¡± she said as she pointed toward an empty Aperture that had a gentle green field as an environment. ¡°It only has Grassland Dogmites for a monster type, and I¡¯ve personally seen a pair of civilians with simple sharp sticks kill one of them before without being hurt. They can be deadly if one is unprepared, but there should¡¯ve been at least a dozen civilians stationed there to handle the reinforcements.¡±
Larek thought back to what he knew about Dogmites, and he seemed to remember that they looked like mutated dogs, but much smaller; they were probably only about the size of a normal cat, if not a little bit bigger. He couldn¡¯t imagine a group of civilians would be threatened by one or two of them; a large pack, maybe, but it was unlikely that an Aperture would spawn a pack of more than 3 or 4 as reinforcements, especially based on the relative size of its territory that he could see.
¡°I don¡¯t see any bodies,¡± Bartholomew added, which made Larek realize that he hadn¡¯t seen any either. That could be because the territory of the Aperture absorbed them, but typically there was at least some trace of them left behind if it happened recently. Of course, they didn¡¯t go to inspect the area, so it was possible that it was there, but the fact of the matter was that there weren¡¯t any visible people nearby.
Larek posed a question to the two SIC members. ¡°Is this an isolated occurrence, or do you think this is happening all over the Calamity? And if so, why do you think all these people aren¡¯t where they are supposed to be?¡±
It took a little while for Paluna to finally respond for the two of them after some contemplation. ¡°If this was anywhere else along the Calamity, I might think it was just an unfortunate and isolated occurrence, but this was the strongest section of the region because of the SIC headquartering in Kilvering. If this section is bereft of civilian defenders, then it¡¯s entirely possible that the rest of the Calamity is in the same state.
¡°However, the fact that there are still monster reinforcements visually heading toward the center means that someone is still alive and fighting. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be on the move. Whatever happened to the civilians, I can only hope that we might find them there.¡± She didn¡¯t seem like she believed in what she was saying, but he knew she was right about one thing.
Someone was still fighting, and it was up to them to save them. No matter how many were left, he had to rescue at least some of them, or else this region would suffer greatly from the lack of defenders ¨C even if they managed to close the Aperture in the center and to collapse the Calamity.
Ideally, and as much as he wanted to be the one to permanently remove the SIC leadership from their positions of power, they would show up to find a large group of SIC members under siege by monsters, with the SIC leadership dead through a valiant-but-fatal defense, which would allow him to swoop in and save the day. He could then help close the Calamity, incorporate the SIC into the Volunteer Militia, and organize a defense of the region with the remaining former-SIC group, providing them with the Fusions and the means to move quickly and fight with greater power behind them.
Naturally, he expected it not to turn out to be as easy as that, but he could at least hope.
The interior of The Hopper was silent after that as they moved further into the Calamity, keeping to the general area of the river that supposedly took the SIC leadership with reinforcements toward the center. No matter where they looked and checked the nearby Apertures, there wasn¡¯t a single sighting of an actual person defending against the monster reinforcements still periodically appearing and moving quickly toward the center.
But there was something else that they didn¡¯t see, either.
¡°Where are the Calamity¡¯s monsters?¡± one of the Volunteers asked at one point. ¡°What were they, again?¡±
¡°It is unlikely that you¡¯d see the lowest evolution of the Calamity¡¯s monsters, even if you were on the ground,¡± Mygor answered. ¡°The Juvenile Dryads that inhabit the majority of the jungle-like environment are very difficult to see, as they camouflage themselves well within the vegetation down there. The reason they were able to expand so quickly at first was because of this difficulty in locating them, as they are strangely hesitant to attack unless they have an overwhelming number of them nearby, so they are more likely to hide than to put themselves in danger of being killed ¨C even when their Aperture is directly attacked. This led to some lazy culling a few years ago, which allowed it to expand, and before we knew it, it had grown to the point where an evolved form of the monster appeared, making it even more dangerous.¡±
¡°You¡¯re talking about the Elder Dryads, aren¡¯t you?¡± Nedira asked.
Mygor nodded. ¡°Exactly. The Elder Dryads have a particular bond with the environment that allowed them to create a physical shield over their Aperture, made of repurposed trees, vines, and other foliage that made it difficult to penetrate. By the time we realized it was a problem, the SIC was still trying to get a grip on the influx of Apertures and attempting to spread out our resources, and none was left over to allocate to closing this newly protected Aperture. When we realized our mistake in not handling it sooner, it was already too late, as it had grown so large that we weren¡¯t equipped to handle it.
¡°Further inside, you¡¯ll find Nature Elementals as the next evolutionary step in the Dryad monster, and they are quite annoying and powerful. Thankfully, all of the monsters are vulnerable to fire, which is why you¡¯ll find many Pyromancers within our ranks, and bladed weapon Skills are a must to chop them up as they attempt to regenerate.¡±
When he didn¡¯t go on, Larek asked the question that he was fairly certain he already knew the answer to, as he hadn¡¯t heard about it yet. ¡°What about the fourth-tier evolution? What¡¯s protecting the Aperture?¡±
Both Mygor and Paluna shook their heads. ¡°No one knows. We¡¯ve never been able to get that close before. But with thousands of SIC fighters pitted against whatever it is, there¡¯s no way we can lose,¡± Paluna said confidently.
¡°It seems obvious now that that isn¡¯t the case,¡± the Fusionist pointed out. ¡°Otherwise, the Calamity would¡¯ve already been closed.¡±
He saw the denial in her eyes, but in the end, she didn¡¯t refute his statement.
As an hour passed by, the subservient Apertures they saw became larger and larger, showing that they were bound to have at least a single evolved monster, if not two, along with their original versions; but just like the ones they¡¯d already passed, their territories were empty apart from a random respawned reinforcement monster here and there. Each and every one they saw also continued to head toward the center of the Calamity, meaning that there was still hope that there were SIC people still alive.
The jungle below them somehow became even fuller than before, with vegetation choking the ground in its spread, and the trees also became taller and their trunks wider, though none of them even approached the trees he was used to in the Rushwood. They might be as numerous, but they couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the ones he¡¯d seen as a Logger.
That was until, through the dense mist of the Calamity, he finally spotted something ahead of them. It wasn¡¯t visible until The Hopper came within about a mile of it, because it was obscured by the weather, but once he caught a glimpse of it, it was the only thing he could see.
It was an enormous tree. Not like the trees that had acted as conduits for Ghost Ravens or the other avian monsters in the southeastern Calamity, however; those had been huge, but they looked like saplings compared to what he witnessed ahead of them. The trunk alone was at least 2,000 feet wide at its base, and as it shot up into the air nearly 3 miles in height, it didn¡¯t taper off that much. The crown of branches at the top was so wide that he had trouble even grasping the scale of it, but he wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it reached at least a mile in diameter.
He could sense the central Aperture nearby, but when he tried to visually pick it out, he couldn¡¯t; it only took him a few seconds to realize that it was inside the tree, protected by the trunk, which could be why it hadn¡¯t been attacked yet. He also sensed quite a few faint magical signatures down below, and he stopped The Hopper as he tried to figure out what was going on. Nothing he sensed from what had to be thousands of people felt normal to him, and he wanted to know why before he took them in further.
¡°I think we found them, but I¡¯m not sure¡ª¡± he announced, even as he searched the jungle-laden ground for what he sensed, but he was cut off when an enormous root ripped itself out of the ground and smacked The Hopper right out of the sky.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 34
The blow had been so unexpected that Larek hadn¡¯t seen the giant root until it was already making contact with The Hopper. The Corruption it gave off was connected to the massive tree, which permeated the entire area so that it was difficult to differentiate any separate parts that it possessed. As a result, he wasn¡¯t able to move their transport out of the way, nor even start to move it before it was too late.
Everyone was knocked off their feet as the wooden disc was hit so hard that it cracked at the point of impact, shattering a good 10 feet of the rounded wall, along with the roof and floor. Time seemed to slow down as his mind sped up his perception of his current circumstances, and even as he was flying toward the new entrance along with everyone else inside, he was already forming a Pattern construct that sealed up the hole. It was just in time to not only catch them, but also to block the explosions as the various Freeze-Delayed Mist Fusions were broken, along with the wall. It took about a second for the Mana to violently erupt out of the three Fusions that were ruptured as a result of the blow, and thankfully The Hopper was already moving away from them when they occurred.
As he and all of the others slammed into the Pattern barrier he¡¯d constructed across the hole, they had a front-row view of the explosions as they exploded right next to the humongous, 100-foot-wide root that had hit them. Chunks of the tree¡¯s appendage were blown off of the root, even as the shockwave of the explosion sent them hurtling away even faster than they already were. The impact and the force of the shockwave also sent them spinning uncontrollably, forcing everyone against the interior of the Pattern barrier as they strained to move.
It turned out that being nearly weightless, and then having their vessel violently flipped over, was much worse than one would think. It seemed as though it didn¡¯t really matter that they didn¡¯t weigh as much as they normally would, as the spinning force continued to act like it would if that effect wasn¡¯t active.
Larek attempted to stabilize The Hopper with the Fusions controlling their thrusting power, but before he could really concentrate on them with everything that was going on at the moment, a deep, penetrating sound that he could see vibrating the vessel reverberated through the area. It took him a half-second to realize that it was coming from the enormous tree, as it was likely a scream of pain because of what had happened with the explosion against its root.
That didn¡¯t help him, though, because the sound was so intense that it seemed to overload the ability for the Fusions on board The Hopper to recognize his mental commands. One out of every ten or so commands were actually ¡°heard¡±, which simply resulted in the vessel wildly flipping in a different direction, as he couldn¡¯t stabilize it well enough. By the time the sound finally faded away, it was already too late, as he heard and saw them slam into the jungle-filled ground, snapping trees from the speed of their impact, before bouncing off the jungle floor.
Fortunately, the weight reduction proved by the Buoyant Sphere Fusion was still active, so The Hopper wasn¡¯t damaged any further, but the same couldn¡¯t be said for those inside. As they settled to a stop after bouncing up and down between the ground and the trees overhead, Larek looked around to see everyone laying on the floor of the wooden vessel, groaning in different states of distress ¨C including himself as his body naturally recovered.
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 116!
Body Regeneration has reached Level 73!
Even with a void-based protective Fusion over their bodies to prevent impacts from hurting them, being violently flipped while being nearly crushed against the Pattern barrier he¡¯d created wasn¡¯t exactly a pleasant experience. More than a few of the Volunteers were actually throwing up as he saw them starting to move and get up, which ended up disappearing into the void, thankfully, and he could feel more than a few Healing Surge Fusions activate to help repair some of the damage their bodies had sustained in the numerous impacts The Hopper had suffered.
¡°Are you alright?¡± he quickly asked Nedira even as he checked her over. A quick look didn¡¯t reveal anything seriously wrong, for which he was thankful, but she was holding her hand up to her head.
¡°Ugh. Just a bit nauseous from being a bit dizzy, but I¡¯ll be fine,¡± she said, waving off his help as she simply sat on the floor.
Glancing past her, he could see the rest of his friends were also recovering from the ordeal, and thankfully none of them were seriously injured ¨C the same as Nedira and the Volunteers. It would take them a few minutes to recover fully, he suspected, but they wouldn¡¯t be any worse for wear.
Mygor and Paluna were another matter entirely. Quickly moving to their sides as they lay in a pile of tangled limbs, he immediately reached out with his Magical Detection Skill and found that both of them were still alive ¨C but just barely. Broken bones and internal bleeding were the least of their worries, as Paluna had a small portion of her skull crushed, and Mygor¡¯s spine appeared to be snapped in two. Even if she had an extremely high Body Regeneration Skill, it was unlikely that Paluna would survive with all the damage to her body, but especially her head, and Mygor was quickly bleeding out.
Pulling out two Healing Surge Fusions from his Void Pocket sack, he slapped them onto the back of Mygor and the head of Paluna as he activated them, and then sat back and hoped that he had been fast enough. Ideally, he would use Graduated Parahealing on Mygor, but it worked much slower and with less urgency than Healing Surge; and if he wanted to ensure the Mage lived, he needed to go with the good stuff. It would likely leave him in a coma for a while, but at least he would survive.
It was at that point, when the two SIC Lieutenants were being healed, that Larek stretched out his senses as he realized that just because they had crashed didn¡¯t mean they were out of danger. He tried to detect if there was another gigantic root that was about to slam down on them and crush the wooden vessel completely, but the same Corruption permeating the environment made it impossible without any visuals. It was possible that he might detect one of those roots once it was close enough, but that wouldn¡¯t give him any time to move The Hopper down within the jungle. He briefly thought about bringing it up above the level of the jungle trees surrounding them, but he didn¡¯t want to make them into a target; he had to imagine that there was a reason they hadn¡¯t been smashed again, and he didn¡¯t want to tempt the massive tree into hitting them out of the sky.
¡°I can¡¯t believe one of these things actually exists at this size,¡± Nedira said as she came up next to Larek, looking down at the two SIC members as their bodies started to repair themselves. Already he could see that any of the excess fat in their flesh was being consumed as part of the healing process, and once they finally healed all the way, they would probably appear extremely emaciated ¨C especially Mygor. Paluna would probably bounce back fairly quickly with some food in her body, but the Mage was another issue. He was probably looking at weeks of recovery, including the coma into which he would inevitably slip once the healing was finished.
¡°What thing? The tree?¡± Bartholomew asked, also coming up to check on his former colleagues.
¡°Of course, the tree,¡± Nedira said, waving her hand toward the giant arboreal presence they could all practically feel guarding the Aperture. ¡°A Verdant Treehemoth. It could be called something else at that size, as the only one seen from a Scission was only a fraction of that size, but it¡¯s the closest to what was described in our classes.¡±
Bartholomew shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t remember that one. Anything useful you can tell us about it?¡±
¡°Not really,¡± she replied, shaking her head as well. ¡°It was destroyed before the SIC could get too much information on its abilities, but it was supposedly mobile and used its roots to attack. That was enough to make the SIC nervous at the time, because those roots were strong and long enough, not only to reach the walls around the capital, but to break it down, as well. The defenders on the wall threw everything they had at it and practically obliterated the Treehemoth, but there was no consensus on what its weakness really was. Fire, though, was ruled out, as it wasn¡¯t necessarily immune; instead it was highly resistant to being caught on fire.¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Larek thought it was good to know at least a little bit of what they were going up against, but without knowing how to damage something the size of the Verdant Treehemoth, he was at a loss of how to even approach killing it. Therefore, he would ignore it as much as it seemed to be ignoring them at the moment, while concentrating his efforts on finding where the SIC had gotten to. He could still feel them out there somewhere, with the sense of them a little bit stronger now that they were basically grounded, but it didn¡¯t tell him where they were or if they were even still fighting.
¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Penelope demanded, making her way over to the others with Vivienne in tow. Instead of answering, Larek reached out and grabbed both of the Healing Surge Fusions from the two SIC members as he deactivated them. Bartholomew helped to rearrange them both so that they weren¡¯t tangled up with each other, and as he had predicted, Mygor looked like a desiccated corpse that was just barely hanging onto life. While Paluna appeared thinner, she wasn¡¯t nearly as bad as the Mage. Both of them were still unconscious, though, and it appeared that it would probably be a few hours before the Martial woke up.
¡°First, is everyone else alright?¡± he asked the entire crew aboard The Hopper. His friends all gave him an affirmative, and the Volunteers all flashed him a thumbs-up, though a few of them still maintained a bit of a rattled appearance. Good enough. ¡°Alright, then. Our priority in coming here hasn¡¯t changed, and that is to find the SIC and rescue them if necessary, while also looking for their leadership. I can feel that there are thousands of magical signatures nearby, as well as quite a few of the non-magical variety, indicating civilians, but they are difficult to pinpoint. At this point, I can only assume that they may have set up some sort of defensive position to protect themselves; but where it is exactly, I don¡¯t know. What we need is more information, such as where the incoming monsters¡¯ reinforcements are heading, as that may give us a better idea of where they might be holding out.¡±
He''d already noticed earlier, just before seeing the enormous tree, that all the rivers that led toward the center of the Calamity had disappeared, sinking into the ground as if the enormous tree was absorbing it all to fuel its growth, but he hadn¡¯t been able to see where all the monster reinforcements had been heading. With so much Corruption infusing the area, it was next to impossible to detect nearby monsters, so he would have to get a better vantage point ¨C which meant taking The Hopper back up.
¡°Is that safe?¡± Nedira asked when he mentioned that.
¡°Probably not,¡± he told her when he thought about it for a few seconds. ¡°You know, it would probably be better if I just went up by myself.¡±
¡°No! I don¡¯t want you risking yourself like that!¡±
¡°It¡¯s the only thing I can think of ¨C unless you want to wander around the jungle and hope that we eventually run into something?¡±
None of them seemed like they wanted to do that, especially after seeing how large the area around the enormous tree was. They could spend days wandering around without seeing anything ¨C if they didn¡¯t get lost in the process.
¡°It¡¯ll just be for a few minutes, and I have much more maneuverability than The Hopper on one of my constructs. I promise, I¡¯ll be as safe as I can be up there.¡±
Nedira didn¡¯t really have any other protests, and he had to promise to not risk himself, which he was more than happy to agree to. The last thing he wanted was to put himself or the others in danger unnecessarily.
It didn¡¯t take long before he was outside The Hopper on a Pattern platform construct attached to his lower legs. With a look at Nedira and the others watching him outside the hole in the wooden vessel, he cautiously lifted into the air, making his way through the overhanging leaves of the trees above, before poking his head out above their level. The sight of the Treehemoth nearly overwhelmed him with its sheer size as he had another look at it, and he had to shake his head to pull his gaze away. The part of him that was still a Logger wondered if he would be able to chop it down if he was given enough time, while his practical side couldn¡¯t even imagine how heavy it would be and whether it would crack the world upon impact with the ground.
Unfortunately, just sticking his head out above the tops of the jungle trees didn¡¯t help him to determine where the SIC was located, nor was he able to see any monster reinforcements from his position. That meant he had to go up higher, which was more than a bit dangerous.
Larek barely lifted fully past the nearest tree when he saw a root approximately half a mile away lift out from the ground, the dirt and vegetation that had been camouflaging its presence falling away as it moved quickly in his direction. Not wanting it to slam down on him like it was squishing a bug, which would put his friends below in danger, he shot up and away from them, with one eye on the root and his other on the ground as he attempted to find any monster reinforcements.
The Treehemoth¡¯s natural appendage was fast as it whipped at him, but he was able to move much faster. He was suddenly glad that he hadn¡¯t brought The Hopper up, as he was fairly certain that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to move it fast enough to make a difference. As it was, he was able to pass above the swinging root as it followed through with its blow, and it took the root a few seconds to stop its momentum and swing back towards him. Larek took that time to try and home in on the sense of magical signatures he felt, and he drifted a bit more toward the massive tree protecting the Calamity¡¯s Aperture.
He dropped underneath the root this time when it attempted to smash into him again, but his attention was caught by movement down below. Moving through the jungle was an 8-foot-tall, grey-furred monster with 6 extremely long legs below a relatively long but thin body, and it sped around the trees with an agility that was surprising because it appeared a bit ungainly at first glance. With his attention now fixed upon it as it headed for the Treehemoth, Larek was still aware enough that he was able to dodge the next root attack, but his distracted focus nearly led to his downfall when he nearly missed a second root that came out of nowhere.
Seeing it coming for him out of the corner of his eye at the last second, he was able to create another Pattern construct below his feet and angled it so that it covered his body. It was a simple, flat square that he created in the nick of time as he lifted himself slightly upwards, and the giant root that hit the angled Pattern construct gave him enough of a boost to lift him further into the air without being hit. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure what would happen if the root hit him even with his Protection of the Void, but he wasn¡¯t willing to test it just yet.
When he was about 400 feet above the ground, he spotted the monster he¡¯d been tracking, but he also saw something else.
A dozen more roots lifted up from the ground, exposing where they had been lying in wait until a threat approached, as they started moving toward him. Not wanting to lose his lead on where the SIC might be, he continued following the monster below him as he dropped down below the tops of the jungle trees, drifting close to the ground as he chased after it. A second after he drifted into the trees, he barely avoided being crushed by a root that crashed down where he had just been, the trees and vegetation beneath the incredibly heavy appendage absolutely obliterated in the process.
Staring above him and out through the few breaks in the trees, he used the speed of his mind to predict where the next roots were going to land, and he barely managed to dodge them as they slammed into the ground with incredible force. The displaced air and debris caused by the impacts flew past him without affecting him or his vision, but he was certainly conscious of how close he came to falling victim to the same fate.
All 14 roots that he¡¯d seen rise into the air to smack into him eventually slammed down as he sped through the trees while he chased the monster reinforcement, creating a swath of destruction that stretched for a half-mile before it stopped. He kept expecting all the roots to continue attempting to crush him, especially as he was getting closer to the Treehemoth, but they seemed to disappear after their initial impacts. It was almost as if they weren¡¯t able to see him clearly while within the jungle trees, considering how poorly they had been aimed, but the last thing he was going to do was complain.
It took longer than he thought to finally arrive at the destination, which appeared to be right at the base of the Treehemoth. Larek stayed on the edge of the jungle tree line as the vegetation tapered off quickly, a clear demarcation of where the environment ended and the monster began. He wasn¡¯t exactly sure if the smaller trees were blocking the Treehemoth¡¯s sight of him or not, but he didn¡¯t feel like testing that theory yet. Instead, he floated there as he watched a hole in the bark of the enormous Treehemoth open up, the hard, ridged surface pulling back to expose a dark passage that seemed to lead down. As soon as the monster passed within, the bark flowed back over the hole and covered it up, so that within seconds it was as if it had never been there.
Looking to his left and right along the base of the tree, he could see additional holes being opened here and there as scattered monster reinforcements arrived from different locations and descended into the giant tree, disappearing as if the Treehemoth was eating or absorbing them. He had no proof of that, nor would it make any sense for it to do that to its defenders, but he didn¡¯t know either way.
What he did know, however, was that the general sense of magical signatures he¡¯d felt before was much stronger now that he was close to the Treehemoth¡
¡and it was even stronger when the hole had temporarily opened along its base.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 35
¡°They¡¯re¡ where?¡± Bartholomew asked incredulously.
The trip back to The Hopper was relatively uneventful, as none of the roots seemed to see him, even when he passed through some of the sections that had been squashed by them earlier. It seemed that if he stayed below the treetops, even in a cleared area, none of the roots appeared to ¡°see¡± him. What was exceptionally strange about the entire flight back was the fact that none of the reinforcement monsters seemed to notice him, and he didn¡¯t see any sign of the monsters inherent to the Calamity. There were no Juvenile Dryads, Elder Dryads, or Nature Elementals anywhere to be seen or detected. He thought he would¡¯ve seen at least one positioned around the Treehemoth in defense, but that didn¡¯t seem to be the case, for some reason.
Unfortunately, that just made him a bit more paranoid with their absence; if they weren¡¯t outside, visibly defending the Treehemoth, then where were they?
Larek waved in the direction of the massive tree. ¡°Inside the tree,¡± he answered. ¡°Or perhaps beneath it, based on where I¡¯m sensing thousands of magical signatures.¡±
¡°There¡¯s something inside? Isn¡¯t it a monster?¡±
Larek could only shrug before looking at Nedira. She looked equally clueless.
¡°Regardless, what that means is that we¡¯ll have to go into one of those holes to investigate,¡± the Fusionist concluded after a moment.
Bartholomew immediately shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. It has ¡®trap¡¯ written all over it.¡±
¡°What are we supposed to do, then? Wait around and see if we can find the SIC members somewhere else? Try and kill the Treehemoth ¨C if that¡¯s even possible?¡± Penelope questioned.
¡°Not necessarily, but walking into the body of an enormous monster sounds like a stupid idea,¡± Bartholomew countered.
As they continued to argue about a proper plan, Larek was already looking around at the Volunteers and trying to decide just how big of a platform he would need to transport everyone ¨C while still being able to navigate his way through the jungle. In other words, he¡¯d already made his decision.
Just then, Paluna began to stir from the unconsciousness forced upon her by the injuries she¡¯d sustained, as well as by the subsequent healing. She groaned weakly as she sat up, and even though she was a fairly strong Martial by all accounts, he could see she was struggling with a bit of weakness soon after waking up.
¡°W-What happened?¡± she croaked, before Nedira knelt next to her and offered her some water. After drinking and expressing her gratitude toward Larek¡¯s betrothed, the SIC Martial seemed to look around for the first time since waking. Did something hit us? Why are we¡ªMygor! Is he alive?¡±
¡°He is, but he¡¯ll likely be in a coma as his body recovers from the healing he had to undergo.¡± Larek quickly detailed the injuries both of them had sustained while also explaining what had happened ¨C and what was awaiting them inside of and underneath the Treehemoth. ¡°I¡¯m leaving a couple of Volunteers here to protect both of you and the Hopper, while we go to investigate,¡± he told Paluna after he was done. ¡°If we¡¯re not back in 24 hours, I¡¯ll have the Volunteers cautiously head back to Kilvering, so that at least you won¡¯t be stuck here.¡±
¡°But I can keep going¡ª¡±
The Fusionist cut her off with a raised palm. ¡°You might be healed, but you¡¯re not recovered quite yet; I need everyone who is coming with me to be at 100%, and unfortunately, you¡¯re not there yet. Besides, Mygor can¡¯t be moved easily, and I¡¯m not going to leave him here alone. You¡¯ve helped us enough by getting us this far ¨C now it¡¯s our turn to see what we can do to extract the SIC from this mess.¡±
The SIC Martial appeared to want to protest further, but her jaw clamped shut when she looked over at Mygor lying on the floor of the Hopper, appearing wasted and drained from the healing. After a few seconds, she nodded as she turned back to Larek.
¡°You¡¯re going in no matter what I say, aren¡¯t you?¡± Bartholomew suddenly asked from behind him, the argument with Penelope having stopped at some point.
¡°Yes. You can stay here if you don¡¯t want to risk it, but I¡¯m going in with anyone willing to come. I need a pair of Volunteers to stay here and watch and protect these two,¡± Larek gestured toward the SIC members, ¡°as well as The Hopper, with orders to leave if we¡¯re not back within 24 hours.¡±
Bartholomew sighed dramatically before carrying out those suggestions, pointing toward two Volunteers who didn¡¯t look happy at having to stay behind, but they also didn¡¯t argue. Larek had already gone back to his platform planning, but soon came to the realization that it would be extremely difficult to stay beneath the top level of the trees in a platform while navigating through them all; they were too close together to make a typical platform that he might design work, and while he might be able to simply chop his way through, he felt that there would probably be a better solution.
The solution was actually a lot more simple than he expected. While, at least lately, he¡¯d primarily used his ability to create animated Pattern constructs to form clones of himself, that didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t still make monster constructs ¨C which required a lot less focus to keep around, especially in larger numbers. With his Aetheric Authority Skill now at Level 11 and Beast Authority at Level 65, he could make a lot more monster constructs than he used to ¨C more than enough to create one for each member of his group, though with what he had in mind, he wouldn¡¯t need one for each person.
Within seconds, he was already at work feeding Aetheric Force into his new monster constructs, and he formed them just outside The Hopper, where they would be ready for his group to ride. In less than a minute, he had more than a dozen formed, so that when they finally arranged to leave, they were waiting right there for them.
¡°So, how are we going to¡ªwhoa! Get back!¡± Penelope exclaimed as soon as they moved outside of the vessel to see 6-foot-tall, 12-foot-long, cat-like creatures with dark fur waiting for them. Their semi-transparent appearance and the subtle glow about them made it obvious that they were his constructs, but their appearance was likely a shock.
Before anyone could attack his creations, Larek spoke up. ¡°These Felis Stalker constructs are going to be our rides. Hop on; two per Stalker,¡± he said, before grabbing Nedira around the waist and setting her on top of the nearest construct, which had sunk down to be easily accessible. The others did the same, and Larek made them all look at the shocked Volunteers as if impatient for them to get moving, and he hid a smile at their reaction.
He thought he would have to encourage them further, but fortunately Bartholomew started moving after clearing his throat. ¡°Alright, mount up! If we¡¯re going to be stupid and rush straight into what is undoubtedly a trap, we might as well do it in style.¡± He easily hopped up onto the back of the Stalker nearest him, which eventually got everyone else to move hesitantly onto the constructs, two to a mount. Larek swung himself up behind Nedira once he saw everyone had managed to get up on top of the cat-like beasts, and with a shouted, ¡°Hold on!¡± he ordered all of his constructs to follow.
The speed that he¡¯d seen the Felis Stalkers demonstrate back in the southwestern Calamity, while attacking Penelope and Vivienne¡¯s group, was in full effect here as they raced through the jungle. With their high agility, they were able to slip through the trees and undergrowth as if it wasn¡¯t even there, nearly blurring with the way they raced forward. Their speed wasn¡¯t as fast as if he was controlling a platform underneath just himself, but it was certainly much faster than any platform he could create that could handle the other people accompanying him.
The flattened portions of the jungle that had been the result of numerous roots trying to crush him in his search for the magical signatures of the SIC were already starting to repair themselves, as the effect of the Treehemoth and the Calamity was working overtime this close to the central Aperture. Fortunately, it was still sparse enough that it allowed him and his group to tear across the largely open area, the cat-like constructs deftly leaping over the felled trees and brush as if it was flat ground, allowing them to make even better time.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
In less than 10 minutes of flat-out racing, with everyone remarkably holding onto the backs of the constructs without any of them falling off, they finally reached the base of the tree where the jungle thinned out and stopped before the enormous trunk. Larek ordered the cat-like beasts to slow down to a stop before quietly telling everyone to dismount.
¡°That,¡± Penelope said once she practically jumped off the Stalker, ¡°was both one of the most incredible and one of the most scary experiences I¡¯ve ever had the pleasure of suffering.¡± Her shaky legs as she stabilized herself on the overgrown jungle floor were mirrored in the stances of many of the others, including Nedira as she desperately held onto him. There were a few, such as Bartholomew, and Larek himself, who didn¡¯t seem too affected, but the majority of them were panting as if they had run the whole length of the jungle themselves.
Despite the incredible speed and sharp movements of the Felis Stalkers, though, everyone had survived and been able to hold onto the constructs without any problems. He couldn¡¯t help but think that if all of them hadn¡¯t unlocked their Martial side, which came with Strength and Agility stats, there might have been more than one that might have fallen off and seriously hurt themselves.
While they recovered, Bartholomew walked up next to Larek and watched as periodic monster reinforcements arrived and were let inside large holes in the bark, which closed after they had entered.
¡°So, what¡¯s the plan? Blast our way inside?¡± the former SIC member asked with a shake of his head, showing that he still didn¡¯t agree with what they were doing, but was willing to do what it took to save the thousands of SIC members nearby.
¡°No; that would probably be considered an attack on the Treehemoth, and I¡¯d rather avoid having to fight my way inside. Instead, I¡¯m going to try something else.¡± He explained his plan to the entire group, and while it was undoubtedly dangerous, no one else had any other suggestions for another method of entry.
It took another minute or so before everyone seemed to have fully recovered from their journey through the jungle, and by that point, Larek had located his mark closing in fast. A large, 6-legged, green-furred bear lumbered up toward the Treehemoth, and Larek followed after it as it arrived. As he expected, a large hole opened in the tree trunk, allowing the bear to enter, but before it could close once it passed the threshold, the Fusionist used his Pattern to form an arch inside the hole, propping it open. Almost immediately, he could feel the pressure of the trunk pushing against his construct, but he held it in place by pumping more of his Pattern Cohesion into it, strengthening it ¨C at least temporarily.
¡°GO!¡± he shouted, straining as he kept reinforcing the arch. Figures blurred past him as his group, remounted on the Felis Stalkers, shot inside, and he followed after them as soon as the last of them were inside. A few feet past the threshold, he stopped reinforcing the arch he¡¯d created, and a second later it cracked and shattered, the thick trunk slamming down with so much force that it shook the ground underneath their feet.
Or, to be more precise, it shook the smooth, wooden tunnel they suddenly found themselves inside. It was dark inside the tunnel, but a few simple Illuminate stones that the Volunteers possessed were all it took to light their way and reveal that their pathway ran straight, but it quickly descended at a fairly steep slope. Before the Illuminate Fusions ruined his night vision, Larek was fairly certain he saw a subtle green glow in the far distance, but he couldn¡¯t be entirely sure.
¡°Alright, we¡¯re inside. Now what?¡± Penelope asked, looking down the steep tunnel.
Everyone looked at the Fusionist, but he deferred to Bartholomew. ¡°I can sense all of the magical signatures down there,¡± he said, but added, ¡°but I have no idea what we¡¯ll find once we arrive. There¡¯s too many unknowns, so I¡¯ll leave it to you to handle the advance.¡±
The former SIC member took charge immediately, arranging everyone as they began moving quickly¡ªbut safely¡ªdown the tunnel. While Larek didn¡¯t think there would be any dangerous obstacles on their way, Bartholomew wasn¡¯t taking any chances and was obviously still convinced that this was a trap. Despite the Protection of the Void Fusions surrounding them all, he wanted to be prepared for anything that might show up.
Contrary to his worries, their travel down the tunnel was uninterrupted, as the smooth, wooden corridor was perfectly uniform, with no alcoves where monsters might be hiding to ambush them, and there weren¡¯t any of the ¡°traps¡± that he was expecting. Then again, Larek couldn¡¯t really blame him for being cautious, as no one had ever entered the body of a giant monster before, so anything was technically possible.
After about 20 minutes of making their way through the tunnel, it became obvious to everyone that something was lighting up the end of their journey downwards, and all of the Illuminate Fusions were deactivated. Once his vision acclimated, the greenish glow that he¡¯d been convinced he¡¯d seen became extremely prevalent, and the illumination from the glow reached all the way up to his group.
At one point, when they were about 100 feet from the end, which didn¡¯t really show much other than a wooden wall across from the opening, with the glow coming from the right, Bartholomew stopped everyone.
¡°Larek, can you send your Stalkers down first?¡± he asked softly, breaking the relative silence that had accompanied them on their way down. Talking or making deliberate noise to alert anything that might be awaiting them down below was conjointly agreed on to avoid as much as possible. ¡°I¡¯d rather they test the waters, so to say.¡±
¡°Sure.¡± Without another word, the Fusionist sent all of the constructs ahead of them and instructed them to investigate what was down below. At the same time, he attempted to see if his own senses could make out what was ahead, but the Corruption coming from the Treehemoth, especially as they were inside of it, was so thick that he couldn¡¯t definitively point anything out. At this point, there were only two things that he could tell for sure. One, the central Aperture was located somewhere above his head, approximately a half-mile or so, indicating that they had descended quite a distance already. And two, the magical signatures of the people ¨C which were a bit blurred at this point with so much Corruption around ¨C were still ahead of them somewhere, but they were much closer than ever before.
When nothing popped out to suddenly attack the Felis Stalkers below, Bartholomew decided that they might as well check it out themselves. Approaching as a group, Larek was as prepared as possible with his Pattern Cohesion for any constructs that he might need to create, and he had his halberd out in his right hand and his VED staff in his left.
At the end of the tunnel, the elevation flattened out, and as they stepped down onto the horizontal surface, they were able to see the source of the greenish glow for the first time. Along the smooth wooden walls were thick, green vines that grew all along the flat surface seemingly haphazardly, with each of them seemingly emerging from the ceiling and disappearing into the floor. Each of them had a steady, external glow, similar to a bioluminescence, and this glow was magnified many times, making the area nearly as bright as the daytime sun outside. With it, they were able to see that the squarish shape of the new tunnel they entered ran off to the right for about 150 feet before it dog-legged to the left. Strangely enough, they could see that the way ahead was slightly darker than the tunnel they now found themselves inside, but there was something else different about it, as well.
Larek¡¯s senses were finally able to marginally make out what was ahead, if only because it felt like a vast emptiness. Not an emptiness of magical signatures or Corruption, but it was as if there was a massive empty space ¨C and it was chock full of magical signatures.
A moment after they reached the bottom, a noise behind them revealed itself to be a large Elk with sharp, metallic antlers barreling at them, and everyone turned around to defend themselves, but before anyone could preemptively attack it, the Elk turned away and shot quickly toward the end of the square tunnel, disappearing around the corner a few seconds later.
¡°Well, I guess that means we¡¯re in the right place?¡± Nedira asked, and Larek could only nod. Without further ado, they all cautiously traversed the length of the tunnel, eventually coming to a stop just before they turned the corner. It was the Fusionist that stopped them this time, however, because the closer he got to the vast emptiness he sensed ahead, the more he felt a wrongness that made him incredibly uncomfortable. It was unlike anything that he¡¯d experienced before, and it made him hesitate to move any closer for some reason.
¡°Does anyone else feel that?¡± he asked softly after he urged them all to stop. Unfortunately, all he got were confused looks and head shakes, and he strained his ears to see if perhaps it was something that he heard that was affecting him, as he knew his hearing was better than everyone else¡¯s. It was only after a few seconds of listening that he realized what was wrong.
Despite there being thousands of magical signatures of what he assumed were SIC members, as well as perhaps tens of thousands of weaker sources of Corruption that he could only assume were the monster reinforcements, or perhaps the Calamity¡¯s own monsters¡
¡there wasn¡¯t a single sound coming from around the corner. The only things he could hear were the breathing and soft swishing as his group stood and adjusted their weight on their feet, and the creak of hands clenching tightly against melee weapons or staves.
Now thoroughly creeped out from the lack of any aural stimuli, he did his best to dismiss his concerns and feelings of uncomfortableness as he nodded toward Bartholomew to proceed. He even sent his Felis Stalkers ahead and around the corner, but again nothing seemed to happen to them.
Moving around the corner as a group, they all arranged themselves across the entrance, peering out into the massive space that Larek had certainly sensed, but nothing could prepare him for what he was actually looking at.
¡°Yep, definitely a trap,¡± Bartholomew muttered as he, too, was caught by the sheer strangeness of the sight before them.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 36
¡°Um¡ what am I looking at?¡± Nedira asked so softly by his side that it was likely that he was the only one who heard her.
Larek didn¡¯t have an answer for her, because he was still trying to figure it out himself.
First, as far as he could tell, the spherical open space they were looking at was huge, reaching at least a half-mile in diameter, and the tunnel they emerged from was located along the bottom of the sphere, with the opening curved to blend in with the overall shape. Turning the earlier corner allowed them to see upwards and across the space, where dozens of other openings could vaguely be seen, other than where they were blocked by what was inhabiting the rest of the area.
Glowing roots.
Stretching from the ceiling high above to the bottom of the sphere were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of thick brown roots that differed in size along their length, from 2 to 3 feet in width, and they weren¡¯t all necessarily straight up and down. Some of them bent and connected to each other, while a lesser number were stretched across the width of the sphere, but they were in the minority. The dark brown roots glowed with a similar green glow as the vines in the tunnel behind them, but instead of a steady, constant glow, the illumination given off by these roots seemed to throb like blood pumping through an artery.
If that was all, it wouldn¡¯t have been that shocking, but that wasn¡¯t what caused everyone in his group to stop and stare up at the enormous tangle of roots.
Instead, it was the thousands of monsters attached to the roots like flies stuck in a spider¡¯s web that made the entire scene confusing. Even as he tried to comprehend what was going on, he watched a few monsters suddenly rush into the space from a different tunnel and rush toward the roots; with shocking speed, as soon as they passed into the sphere, a pair of roots suddenly detached from the floor and shot toward the newcomers, quickly spearing them¡ª
¡ªbut they weren¡¯t killed. Instead, they were stuck to the end of the roots initially, where they seemed to become paralyzed, before they slowly began to rise up the root. It took a few seconds for him to spot them, but it quickly became clear that the exterior of each root was covered in little, finger-length appendages that gripped onto the monsters and could move them all around.
Once he saw this happening, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that all of the monsters he saw were constantly moving in complete silence, very slowly moving upwards like some sort of natural conveyor. The more he watched, especially as he looked further up toward the top, the monsters that he figured had been there the longest, he noticed that they looked worse for wear, with the highest at the point where they were basically skin and bones ¨C or something similar depending on their bodily construction. If they weren¡¯t dead already, they had to be near to it.
While he hadn¡¯t seen anything like this before, his Magical Detection Skill was going crazy,
¡°Well, it looks like the SIC aren¡¯t actively fighting like we thought,¡± Penelope softly noted, pointing toward a cluster of roots off to his right. When Larek turned his attention to where she was indicating, he sucked in a breath as a couple of strange things he¡¯d been sensing finally made sense. He had been wondering why so many magical signatures had been clustered together without seeming to move for a while, but more than that, those traces of them he¡¯d noticed had been weaker than he had expected. He thought it might be because they were simply weaker in terms of their strength, but now it was clear he was wrong.
Thousands of Mages and Martials were attached to the roots in a large cluster, and they were approximately halfway to the top. He hadn¡¯t noticed them at first before because he had been distracted by so many monsters and the sheer size and insanity of the situation ¨C and for the fact that the majority of their clothing and armor seemed to have been eaten away, and their skin had turned greenish-brown, blending into the glow of the roots. They obviously weren¡¯t dead, but he could only assume that the greenish-brown appearance was due to whatever was keeping them paralyzed.
Bartholomew cursed when he saw them, as well. ¡°How did this happen? And how do we free them?¡± Larek wasn¡¯t the only one who had seen the roots attack the incoming monsters, and a few more had been snatched up over the last minute or so that they¡¯d been watching in pure shock; as a result, almost everyone could somewhat understand what they were looking at, though how the SIC ended up there was still a mystery.
¡°I¡¯m not quite sure¡ª¡± the Fusionist replied, but the former SIC member pointed at something that caught his attention.
¡°Even General Maxwell got caught up by whatever this is, it seems,¡± Bartholomew noted, which made Larek pay attention to where he thought the man was pointing. It took him a few seconds, but he thought he could see the General, who ¨C despite being paralyzed ¨C still seemed to have an arrogant expression on his face. The man¡¯s body was physically large, but not fat; instead, the muscle inherent in his frame was startlingly obvious, even though it appeared to have been wasting away from whatever the root was doing to him and the others.
While the Fusionist had absolutely no desire to save the General, nor any of the other Lieutenants in charge, as he wanted to replace the SIC leadership, he still wanted to figure out how to save everyone else. After cautioning everyone to stay inside the opening, only moving to the side in case any other monster reinforcements arrived, Larek leaned on his Magical Detection Skill to help him make sense of what exactly was going on here.
The density of Corruption was so thick inside the space that it was difficult to make anything definite out at first, at least until he focused deliberately on one of the closest monsters attached to a root, as his senses attempted to dig out the secrets of whatever process was occurring. After about a minute of staring at it, while ignoring the shuffling and faint mumbling of his group as they spoke softly among themselves, he finally felt something click in his mind.
Magical Detection has reached Level 104!
¡..
Magical Detection has reached Level 106!
Filtering out the ambient Corrupted Aetheric Force flooding the area, his Skill suddenly allowed him to see what was occurring between the monster and the root ¨C and it only somewhat matched up to what he was expecting. He had originally thought that the glowing root was somehow sucking the life out of the monster ¨C and the SIC members ¨C and using it to feed itself. While that was fundamentally true, it was a bit more complicated than that. The Treehemoth wasn¡¯t using the monsters and the people trapped in its roots as a way to sustain its presence; it was using them to grow ¨C which explained how unbelievably large it was.
The roots weren¡¯t pulling any type of life-based energy from its victims; instead, they were draining them of Aetheric Force ¨C both Pure and Corrupted Aetheric Force. Of course, there was so much Corrupted AF coming from the monsters it had captured that it couldn¡¯t contain it all, which was why the area around the Treehemoth was so thick with the energy. But not all of it was being expelled, as he watched streams of it combine with the purer AF coming from the SIC members before it was sent upwards. His senses could only penetrate so far, but he saw it disperse throughout a good portion of the tree that he could perceive.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.
What was most important, however, was that it wasn¡¯t going toward the central Aperture, which was what he had been expecting. Instead, it was almost as if the Treehemoth had grown to the point where it was acting independently of the Aperture, hijacking almost all of the Pure AF from both the ambient environment and the SIC members that the Aperture would normally need to grow and used it on itself. Whether or not this was the Aperture¡¯s plan all along, Larek didn¡¯t know, but he supposed that it didn¡¯t really matter; it simply meant that the high-tier, evolved Treehemoth monster had grown beyond the bounds of normalcy, and it was only growing larger by the moment. And the saturated environment of Corrupted AF only helped to speed up the process, as it seemed to be pushing against the paralyzed captives, squeezing out Purified AF from them like one would squeeze an orange to make juice.
The more he observed both the monsters and the SIC members, he had to change his evaluation of their status, as well: He had figured the strange appearance of the captive people had been due to the paralyzing agent used to keep them still; but instead, he thought it was actually something that was helping them ¨C or at least keeping them alive. The roots that held the SIC members were the only ones that were different from the others, as there were two streams of energy: One flowing in and one flowing out. The roots holding the monsters only went one way, as they sucked the AF from the beastly captives and didn¡¯t give anything back, while the SIC people had what looked like some sort of sustaining energy being pumped into them, as if they were being fed nutrients to keep them healthy and alive.
It made sense, in a way, because the Treehemoth didn¡¯t want them to die; they were essentially a never-ending source of concentrated Pure Aetheric Force, after all. The monsters, on the other hand, were expendable, because they would continue being reinforced by its subservient Apertures, so there was no reason to keep them alive longer than it took to drain them dry.
¡°This is bad¡¡± he mumbled to himself, before he began explaining in a low voice to his group what he had worked out from his observations. Every single one of them appeared horrified, as it didn¡¯t matter if they didn¡¯t care for the SIC or not ¨C no one should be subjected to the torture they were undergoing, especially being kept alive like some sort of living energy resource.
¡°But that doesn¡¯t help us free them, does it?¡± Bartholomew asked when he was finished with his observations.
Larek started to shake his head, but stopped. ¡°No, but I think I have some ideas. I¡¯m not too concerned about physically freeing them, but I¡¯m worried about what¡¯s being used to sustain them. Will detaching them from the roots kill them once they¡¯re disconnected? Will the Treehemoth react to our presence by killing them rather than letting them be freed?¡±
¡°Those are questions I don¡¯t believe we¡¯ll be able to answer, at least not without more information,¡± Nedira interrupted. ¡°But I have a feeling that if we don¡¯t act soon, something is going to find us here and react before we¡¯re ready.¡±
The Fusionist felt the same way, which meant they had to proactively move soon, or else they would be on the defensive. They had a window of opportunity here that they needed to take advantage of or it would be too late.
¡°Unless that¡¯s exactly what the Treehemoth wants us to think,¡± Bartholomew countered, reiterating his trap theory. While Larek thought it was possible, he didn¡¯t think that was the case. Either way, they had to act at some point, so they might as well do something before they had that choice taken away from them.
¡°Let me try something,¡± Larek eventually said, and he held up his hand to stop any protests. ¡°I¡¯m not going in myself at first, but I want to see if the roots will attack my constructs.¡±
No one had anything to contradict the idea, so the Fusionist ordered one of his Felis Stalker constructs forward. He had it pause just before it passed over the threshold, before he had it jump into the room about 15 feet away, putting some distance between it and the whole group.
Within a half-second of the construct appearing in the room, a root moved toward the Stalker ¨C but it wasn¡¯t one that was the nearest ¨C nor was it one that was anywhere close to it. Instead, one of the glowing roots located where the cluster of SIC members were being held detached from the floor and seemed to elongate to reach the newcomer, hundreds of feet away. Larek made his Stalker dodge the original attack using its incredible speed, but he was surprised at how close it had been, despite expecting the root to come for it. But what was more surprising was the way the root seemed to splay at the end once it missed its original attack, expanding like a giant, webbed hand with dozens of individual fingers, and it swept down on the construct with blinding alacrity.
Even though the Stalker attempted to dodge again, a small portion of its expanded ¡°hand¡± touched the rear leg of the construct and adhered to it like it had the stickiest glue connecting the two of them. Larek watched as a fluid was pumped into the semi-transparent form of the Stalker, which he assumed was some sort of paralyzing poison, but it did absolutely nothing to hinder the construct¡¯s movements ¨C because it couldn¡¯t really be poisoned, obviously. Of course, it didn¡¯t matter too much when the rest of the expanded root flowed over his creation, trapping it inside and sticking it to the point where it couldn¡¯t move. A few moments later, everyone could see a massive bulge in the root suddenly sucked upward, like something large inside of a flexible straw. It only took about a minute before it was far up enough to be near the SIC members, and he saw the exterior of the root split and eject the Stalker, which was now attached to the outside.
It could still ¡°move¡±, technically, but he ordered it to be still.
¡°What did that hope to accomplish?¡± Penelope asked.
Larek was silent for a few seconds before he responded, his focus on his construct ¨C and what was happening to it. ¡°Two things. First, I needed to know if the Treehemoth¡¯s roots differentiated between monsters and sources of Non-Corrupted Aetheric Force, which is what my construct is packed full of; seeing how they had likely captured the SIC was also important at the same time. And second,¡± he said with a smile, watching as a chunk of Pure Aetheric Force was pulled from his construct and sent upwards into the larger tree monster, ¡°I wanted to see if it would take the bait.¡±
¡°Bait? What do you mean?¡±
He held up his hand, before pointing toward the root holding the Stalker. ¡°That, my friend, is what I mean.¡± The glow of the root, which had been pulsing like a heartbeat, suddenly intensified, growing erratic.
¡°What? I don¡¯t understand,¡± Penelope said, even as Nedira chuckled next to him. He glanced down at her with a smirk, seeing that she understood it.
¡°Very clever, Larek,¡± his betrothed commented, before turning toward Penelope. ¡°The Stalker is made from his Pattern Cohesion and filled with Aetheric Force, acting like a bladder filled with liquid. Does that make sense?¡±
Penelope nodded, but still looked confused. ¡°Alright, but what does that have to do with anything?¡±
¡°Well, remember what he told us the Treehemoth is doing?¡± Nedira questioned back. At the woman¡¯s nod, she continued. ¡°Then imagine that the Pure Aetheric Force that can be extracted from most people, even you and I, is like a cheap wine that doesn¡¯t taste all that great, but also contains a small amount of alcohol. Stronger individuals, such as General Maxwell, might provide a better quality wine, but it¡¯s still wine that may have a little bit more alcohol content ¨C but not enough to be harmful. Either of these wines go perfectly with a meal of meat and cheese, which is what you could consider the Corrupted Aetheric Force that it¡¯s taking from the monsters, and both contribute toward its titanic growth.
¡°But Larek¡¯s Aetheric Force is different. Instead of a fine wine, the purity of his Aetheric Force is absolute, which means the tree is drinking pure, unfiltered, unflavored, and harmful alcohol. The Treehemoth is a product of Corrupted Aetheric Force, after all, and while it has learned how to apply combinations of both types of AF to fuel its growth, too much Pure AF can be dangerous for it.¡±
Larek nodded in agreement, looking at his construct. He halfway expected the root to continue ¡°drinking¡± from the tainted source, but it seemed as though it realized its error as whatever was holding the Felis Stalker against its exterior let go, allowing the construct to fall.
As it plummeted a few hundred feet to the curved floor of the sphere, the Fusionist thought he might have a method in which he could free the SIC members: All it would take was essentially ¡°spiking¡± the output of Pure Aetheric Force coming from each one, mimicking the same purity in his construct. It would take a while, and the drop would probably be dangerous once the roots released them, but they could plan for that.
The problem with that idea made itself known a few seconds later as the Felis Stalker approached the floor of the space. Out of the very wood that the root system was attached to, shapes began to emerge, all converging on where his construct would fall.
¡°I guess we found where the Calamity¡¯s monsters were hiding all this time,¡± Bartholomew muttered, and Larek could only nod in agreement.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 37
Thousands of 8-foot-tall, vaguely female figures made of wood emerged from all over the sphere, their long arms ending in thin branches extending in front of them to grab onto the roots near them, swinging or sliding down toward the bottom.
¡°Juvenile Dryads,¡± Nedira pointed out unnecessarily, as Larek figured that was what they were, at least based on their appearance. As they swarmed through the roots toward the falling Felis Stalker, their larger cousins also emerged from the sphere, standing approximately a dozen feet tall and an extra foot in width compared to the Juvenile variety. The Elder Dryads appeared faster and stronger, as well, as despite emerging from the wooden walls of the sphere after the Juveniles, they used their abilities to affect the material around them to pull them forward, extending branches from their bodies to connect with the roots and fling themselves along at incredible speed.
As a result, by the time the Stalker hit the floor of the sphere, it was surrounded by a dozen Elder Dryads and a smattering of Juveniles, who attacked in concert, with wooden projectile javelins formed from seemingly nothing and flung toward the cat-like construct, accompanied by dozens of sharp branches that stabbed like spears. Even if he hadn¡¯t mentally ordered the Felis Stalker to not fight back, he doubted it would¡¯ve survived much longer, as the overwhelming assault was too much even for the strong Pattern Cohesion forming its shell.
In fact, as he observed the attacks, they seemed quicker and hit with more force than he would¡¯ve normally expected, especially from the weaker Juvenile Dryads, and he could visually see a faint dark-green aura around them that hinted that they were being enhanced in some way. He could only assume that their proximity with such a massive tree gave them a boost somehow, as their Nature-based forms would ¡°naturally¡± become stronger in the presence of such a monster.
His construct only survived a couple of seconds before it was destroyed, the Aetheric Force inside of it having been released into the environment, which was absorbed by a number of nearby roots. Larek was able to see them slightly speed up in their rhythmic pulsing, at least temporarily, but it appeared as though spreading out the purity of the AF among multiple roots was enough to make it marginally safer.
That¡¯s good to know.
What was also interesting to note was that the Dryads only stuck around for a few seconds after the construct was destroyed, before seeming to melt into the wooden sphere around them, disappearing without a visual trace. However, now that he knew what he was looking for, he could sense them spreading through the entire outer shell of the spherical space, moving around to cover its entire area with the speed of thought; it quickly became obvious that they could move through the wood faster than they could outside of it, treating it as a medium for transportation rather than an impediment.
What shouldn¡¯t have surprised him, but did anyways, was the fact that there were more Dryads inside the wood surrounding the spherical space than had emerged. Those that made an appearance had only been a fraction of what he could sense, but there were so many hidden in the walls that it was impossible for him to give more than a guesstimate of around 10,000 Juvenile Dryads with another 1,000 of the Elder variety.
But that wasn¡¯t all. There were also dense concentrations of Corrupted AF that were different than that of the Dryads, which he could only assume were the Nature Elementals that had been mentioned to him before as the third-tier monster commonly found near the center of the Calamity, with the Treehemoth being the fourth-tier. As a third-tier, evolved monster, they were supposedly large and dangerous, though he hadn¡¯t gotten a better description than that; the dense concentrations of Corrupted AF he sensed, though, certainly indicated that what he¡¯d been told was probably fairly accurate.
¡°So¡ that just happened.¡±
The Fusionist looked at Nedira, who ¨C like everyone else ¨C appeared shocked at the sudden appearance and subsequent disappearance of the Dryads. He grunted in acknowledgement.
¡°See? It¡¯s a trap,¡± Bartholomew said with a tone of vindication, though there was a note of despair in there as well.
¡°Yes, but we should be able to handle those things, despite their numbers. We have our powerful Fusions, after all, which make us all but invulnerable,¡± Penelope stated confidently.
Larek wanted to refute what she¡¯d said, as they were far from invulnerable, but he stopped as he realized she was largely correct. There wasn¡¯t much that could hurt them, due to their Protection of the Void Fusions, and they had enough firepower in the form of their staves to absolutely devastate whatever attacked them. Still, neither of those things would necessarily help to free the captive SIC members, or at least free them safely.
Fortunately, he hadn¡¯t been idle as they watched all of the events unfold inside the sphere. His mind had been evaluating all of the information he¡¯d gained from watching everything and comparing them to his senses via Magical Detection, and he was fairly confident he had a plan that had a decent chance of working. First, though, there was one more test that he had to perform in order to know for sure.
¡°What are you¡ª?¡± Nedira started to ask as he stepped forward, crossing over the threshold to the sphere. There was no physical barrier that he passed through to cross the threshold, but there was certainly a different feel to the space; it was a hushed, expectant sensation, as if it was just waiting for something to make noise before striking. He tensed up momentarily as he waited for something to either attack him or show some sign that he had been detected, but after a few seconds, nothing happened.
¡°What¡ª? Why aren¡¯t they attacking you?¡± Bartholomew asked, though his voice was muted to the Fusionist¡¯s hearing and he was clearly perplexed ¨C which matched the expressions of everyone else.
Larek walked back over to the group, exiting the sphere, before he spoke. ¡°Sorry for the scare; I needed to make sure I was correct in my assumption.¡± He waved toward the inside of the large spherical space. ¡°I believe that the roots can only detect foreign concentrations of Aetheric Force, which is why they didn¡¯t sense me; our defensive Fusion essentially expels our AF away from us, leaving no large concentrations there for them to latch onto. We¡¯re basically invisible to them, though I don¡¯t believe we¡¯re undetectable; if you notice how silent it is in there, I think that the Treehemoth ¨C or whatever is controlling all of these roots and the monsters in the walls ¨C can sense vibrations, which also includes sound.¡±
¡°So, we just have to be quiet?¡± Penelope asked incredulously.
Larek nodded. ¡°Very quiet,¡± he stressed.
¡°But what about the SIC? How are we going to free them from the roots without making any noise? I assume that cutting them down would likely bring a lot of attention that we would prefer to avoid?¡±
In answer to Bartholomew, the Fusionist grinned.
Nedira barked out a soft laugh. ¡°That¡¯s a bit of an evil grin; what do you have planned?¡±
¡°You¡¯ll just have to wait and see. For now, this is what I have in mind¡.¡±
* * *
Nedira crept along the bottom edge of the wooden sphere, cautiously navigating her way around the numerous roots that seemed randomly placed along its length. She used all of her new Martial stats to move as silently as possible, as making more than a light scuff in the massive space that was pregnant with poised action could throw off their entire plan. It took a few minutes to finally arrive at her destination, and looking up, she saw that Larek had beaten her to his own position across from the entrance they¡¯d passed through ¨C though that wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise. There was very little that he did nowadays that was more than briefly shocking, as his ability to turn the world on its head had forced her to become slightly numb to all of the changes.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Not that those changes were bad; on the contrary, most of them were incredible and would help them and those in the future survive against the Apertures and the monsters they spawned. At the same time, those changes scared her a little with how sudden they¡¯d come about ¨C and Larek acted like doing something ¡°impossible,¡± such as granting people the opportunity to become Guardians, who had both Mage and Martial abilities, was simply just another Fusion that he¡¯d had fun creating. Given his one-track mind when it came to his love of Fusions, however, she supposed that it made sense how he treated his creations.
Each one was just a step toward something greater.
And as crazy and scary as it was, it all contributed to why she loved him.
She flashed a smile at her betrothed, who nodded seriously back; she didn¡¯t mind, because this wasn¡¯t exactly a time for displaying affection. They had a job to do, after all ¨C and it was either going to go smoothly, or all hell was about to break loose. Or both, she supposed, if it goes the way I think it will.
There wasn¡¯t much that she or the others scattered around the space had to do right now, as the next stage in Larek¡¯s plan was all him. As much as she would love to be able to help with whatever mysterious process he was going to engage in, he had briefly mentioned that it had to do with Aetheric Force ¨C which wasn¡¯t something that she could manipulate as he seemingly could.
Still, she braced for what was about to happen, because their part would be coming soon enough ¨C and it was about to get dangerous. She was doubly glad that she had one of the powerful Protection of the Void Fusions covering her body, because they were about to bring about a swathe of destruction at a scale at which she¡¯d never participated before.
Peering through the hundreds of roots toward the entrance, Nedira caught a glimpse of movement. It didn¡¯t take long before she saw a dozen roots detach from a particular cluster, and she witnessed the natural appendages spear into Larek¡¯s Felis Stalker constructs, before quickly enveloping them and sending them up their length to join the SIC members up above as additional sources of Pure Aetheric Force. So far, this was going according to the plan that he¡¯d laid out, but she had no idea what was going to happen next.
It was hard to discern exactly when the constructs emerged again up above, but the abrupt change in the rhythmic, pulsing, green glow illuminating that section told her that the process of sucking the Pure AF from the Stalkers had begun. Just when she was expecting the roots to drop them, there was a sound of rustling and tearing, which was loud in the complete silence of the sphere, and she looked over to see Larek staring upward, his face a study of concentration and determination. She thought she even saw sweat starting to form on his brow from some unseen effort, but it might have been her imagination; regardless, at the sight of his shoulders slightly relaxing and an inaudible but clearly deep breath, he flashed another evil grin.
That was when all hell broke loose.
The pulsing of the glow in that particular cluster of roots suddenly sped up and became blindingly erratic, which was accompanied by a shaking of the entire hollow sphere, and an incredibly loud groaning that sounded like the Treehemoth above was being ripped apart in pain. A second later, figures began to emerge from the wood near Nedira, and she immediately used her VREP staff to blast a stream of flaming balls into the back of the Juvenile Dryad¡¯s head, which blasted apart from the sudden attack. Before it could fall dead to the floor of the sphere, Nedira was already targeting another nearby Dryad with her VREP staff in her right hand, while her left hand held the much more powerful VED staff and pointed off to where she could see even more Dryads emerging from the wood. A Magnitude 4 explosion obliterated more than a dozen Dryads instantly, but there were even more coming out all around her.
Soon enough, she lost all track of what was going on around her as the sphere erupted with the sounds of wood cracking and explosions going off all around, as the others also began the process of defending the center of the space where Larek was now located. Her betrothed had passed out VED staves to all the Volunteers, as those were going to be necessary to handle the sheer number of foes they were about to face; and from her own perspective, it was just barely enough to hold back the tide. Fortunately, each of the staves he had passed out were of the new variety, which absorbed ambient Mana from much further away than the local environment. Otherwise, they would¡¯ve run out of Mana, with everyone using so much in a relatively small area.
Nedira caught a glimpse of Larek near the cluster of roots holding the SIC members, while she shot another trio of Juvenile Dryads in the back as they attempted to get past her, and he was currently using his halberd to slice through the spasming appendages, each of which seemed to be shriveling up and expanding uncontrollably. She also noticed that bodies were falling from above him, which were being caught by angled Pattern constructs that acted like slides, depositing them safely on the floor. The ones she saw were splayed out on the floor of the sphere, clearly unconscious, but they were also somehow alive ¨C and their skin was gradually lightening up as the greenish brown appearance began to fade. She wasn¡¯t sure how he did it, but her betrothed had somehow not only forced the roots to release the captives but also compelled them to remove whatever they were doing to keep them alive with whatever nutrients were being pumped into them. Whether or not the SIC members would still survive once they got them out of there was still to be determined, but so far, so good.
At least, things seemed to be going well, until there was a series of ear-splitting cracks reverberating through the sphere as much larger shapes emerged from the wood. Appearing like enormous stumps with dozens of arms and numerous roots as legs, the Nature Elementals looked like miniature versions of the Treehemoth ¨C but ¡°miniature¡± was only loosely used in this context. In reality, they were a huge step up from the Elder Dryads, which were stronger and faster ¨C but couldn¡¯t handle being exploded very well ¨C as they were each 40 feet tall and half that wide, and they flowed along the wooden interior of the sphere wall with incredible speed, so much so that Nedira was barely able to react before she was hit with a barrage of branches and roots.
Or she would¡¯ve been hit by them, if it wasn¡¯t for her Protection of the Void. Instead, all of them appeared to pass right into her, but they were really sent into the void surrounding her; the Nature Elemental apparently wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to work out what happened, because it continued to try to impale or smash her with its powerful limbs ¨C right before she hit it with three Magnitude 5 explosions point-blank, sending it careening away. As the smoldering remains of the monster landed approximately 50 feet from her, she thought she had probably killed it, but it started to reform as it pulled wood from the shell of the sphere, essentially healing itself.
So, she blasted it again before it could do more than smother the flames still burning on it, sending shrapnel flying in all directions. A second explosion finally finished it off, as more than 90% of its overall ¡°body¡± was obliterated or sent flying, and she gave herself a self-satisfied smile as she saw it stop moving at all.
But her successful pat on the back was cut short when two more Nature Elementals assaulted her from the sides, and it was all she could do to push them back with additional explosions. A third joined in a few seconds later, accompanied by Dryads that appeared thirsty for her blood, and she was dual-wielding her staves in a circle, pushing them back over and over as they attempted to swarm her. It was only after about a minute of this that she realized that for every Dryad or Nature Elemental that she killed, their remains were somehow being absorbed by the Treehemoth, and she had a feeling that it was reusing those remains to make additional foes. She couldn¡¯t be sure, but some innate intuition told her that this was happening, whether she could prove it or not.
Larek, you better hurry up with whatever you¡¯re doing, because things are going from bad to worse. While she wasn¡¯t too worried for her safety, as her Protection of the Void would keep her from being touched by these monsters, the same couldn¡¯t be said for the SIC members that the Fusionist was saving from the roots. It was only a matter of time before the monsters realized they couldn¡¯t kill her ¨C or another of the other Volunteers, who were still audibly fighting as hard as she was ¨C and go for the more vulnerable people near Larek.
As thousands of monsters that weren¡¯t Dryads or Nature Elementals began to rain down from above, as they were released by the roots, she began to worry. While more than half of them appeared too weak to be much of a threat, there were as many or more of these half-drained monsters than the ones already attacking them. While she and the others were doing their best to keep their attention, it was inevitable that it wouldn¡¯t be enough after a while ¨C especially since they couldn¡¯t go all-out right now. There was too much risk that any high-Magnitude explosions would end up harming the unprotected SIC members that Larek was still actively rescuing.
But something had to change soon, because otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be anyone left to save.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 38
This is going too slowly, Larek thought as he safely caught yet another SIC captive falling from above in his curved Pattern constructs. He was more than halfway through freeing them, but the situation with the Dryads and other monsters protecting the central Aperture was becoming worse by the moment.
Therefore, he ramped up his captive-freeing process to a speed that stretched his focus to the limits. He had originally begun freeing them one at a time by creating a small Pattern-based construct in the shape of a funnel near each victim, where he could see the Aetheric Force being slowly sucked out of them by the root. When the construct was formed, he would use his Aetheric Authority Skill to transfer a few points of his accumulated Pure Aetheric Force through the funnel, passing straight into the root; it only took a few because of its sheer concentration, and he thankfully had plenty to spare, with him having over 1.5 million AF in reserve.
Those few points were all it took for the root to automatically reject what it saw as the source of the too-pure AF, releasing the captives in the same way his Felis Stalker construct had been released when the root had attempted to drain it. Fortunately, his Magical Detection Skill and his own perception were able to visually see that not only were the captives released, but whatever had been keeping them paralyzed and alive was also stopped, though that didn¡¯t mean they were instantly able to move around. It would take a small amount of time before their bodies would flush it all out, though it would be faster with the Martials because of their higher physical stats. Already, the first of the released captives were looking more ¡°normal¡± than they did when they were still stuck to the roots, but only a few of them seemed to have limited use of movement as of yet.
He couldn¡¯t imagine the torment that they had gone through, being stuck to the roots for who knew how long, as what he quickly discovered was that all of them had been awake during the whole process ¨C which meant that they were fully conscious of what was happening to them, with them being unable to do anything about it. Now that they were freed, he expected that some of them might have some mental problems from the paralyzed imprisonment, but that was something to worry about later.
But they would only have the chance to work through those problems if he was able to save them all and get them away from the root-filled space alive. Therefore, he sped up his process by creating multiple funnels as he stared upwards at the remaining captives, rapidly filling them with small injections of Pure AF, and he had to divide his focus between creating even more funnels, creating additional curved constructs that would catch and deliver the still-paralyzed bodies to the ground safely, and dodging and attacking the roots around him that were spasming from the addition of so much concentrated Pure AF. His halberd was working overtime to cut through any roots that got close to him or the prone captives, but it was made harder when the natural appendages seemed to regenerate what he cut off within seconds.
Larek¡¯s sped-up process was bearing fruit, however, as he was quickly sweeping over the massive cluster where the remaining captives were still being held, and the bodies were falling like rain around him. Despite the challenge of having to split his focus in so many directions, he was doing it; he only needed about a minute more and he¡¯d have freed them all.
The explosive creak of wood splintering off to his left caught his attention, and as he looked that direction through his peripheral vision, he saw one of the large Nature Elementals attacking a Volunteer ¨C only to be blown apart by a destructive explosion from his staff. Unfortunately, the Volunteer ¨C Johani, if he remembered the name correctly ¨C didn¡¯t see a second Elemental behind him; normally that wouldn¡¯t have been a big deal, as Johani¡¯s Protection of the Void Fusion would essentially nullify any attacks sent in his direction, but something unexpected happened.
Instead of trying to strike out with sharp branches or attempting to pound Johani into a flattened pile of goo with its appendages, the Nature Elemental somehow launched itself into the air, likely intending to get closer to the Volunteer to strike at a closer range. Unfortunately for Johani, he moved back a few steps to give himself some breathing room, which ended up placing him right underneath the falling Elemental. Its bulk landed on top of the Void Fusion, and parts of the monster began to disappear as the Fusion did its work; however, after a short pause as the monster fully enveloped the Volunteer, his Magical Detection Skill saw something happen to his Fusion that shouldn¡¯t have been possible.
It broke.
More accurately, as far as he could tell, since it happened so quickly that he had to piece it together afterwards, the sheer amount of sustained contact with the Nature Elemental¡¯s physical bulk overloaded the Void aspect of the Fusion¡¯s Effect, causing it to crack and fracture ¨C which spelled the end of the Fusion formation¡¯s structure. At that point, Larek realized at that point that the defensive protection of the Fusion wasn¡¯t absolute, as there was a way to overload even the void barrier he¡¯d made it form, as he had to add safeguards in place to keep the void contained. Once those safeguards were overwhelmed, instead of the void being released entirely, the feedback from the Effect would transfer to the Fusion¡¯s formation itself. He had figured that his abnormally resilient Fusion would be able to handle that kind of feedback, but apparently, he¡¯d been wrong.
Fortunately for Johani, he didn¡¯t have to suffer being squished by the Nature Elemental, nor even have a prolonged death; instead, the poor Volunteer was obliterated entirely as the Protection of the Void formation exploded violently, with the remnants of the void barrier keeping it largely contained in the split-second it took to disappear. When the protective barrier faded, however, the remnants of the explosion destroyed the Nature Elemental that landed on Johani, but that was a poor exchange for the death of one of his Volunteers.
Larek felt horrible for the death of the Volunteer, but his mind had already moved on to the implications of his Fusion¡¯s weakness. He recalled not wanting to be hit by one of the Treehemoth¡¯s massive roots outside. At the time, he had simply not wanted to test whether his protective Fusion would be enough to save him; but now, he was 99% sure that if he had been hit by it, he would¡¯ve suffered a similar fate as Johani.
More than that realization came a spike of worry for his companions, especially for Nedira. He had thought that they were virtually invulnerable, fighting against the Dryads and the Elementals, but now it was clear that there was a danger to them that he hadn¡¯t expected ¨C and he wasn¡¯t willing to risk them any further.
To him, they were much more important than the SIC he had come to save. That wasn¡¯t to say that he was planning on letting them all die, but he was going to have to take some risks that he¡¯d avoided before because they could potentially put them in danger.
Rerouting his focus, he caught the last few captives that plummeted from where the roots had released them, before forming a small platform made of Pattern underneath his feet. Using the platform construct, he quickly sped around to all of the roots that seemed to contain the SIC members and sliced through their ends with his halberd, leaving them leaking what looked like some sort of dark sap. He knew from experience that the sap would eventually form into a regenerated root end again if given enough time, but he wasn¡¯t about to let that happen. Instead, he formed additional Pattern constructs on the ends of each root, right where he''d cut them, capping them with a funnel-like projection. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Then he started pumping them all full of Pure Aetheric Force.
This time, it wasn¡¯t just a few points of AF that he was injecting into each one, such as what he¡¯d done to free the other captives. Tens of thousands of points of AF flowed out of him within seconds, forcefully flowing into the raw root ends, which had no other option but to follow their natural instincts to absorb it all.
It took a few seconds for the massive amount of AF to flow up the roots and into the tree proper, but it only took a half-second for the roots to begin thrashing wildly, slamming into the ground and lashing out at everything around them. He personally witnessed at least a dozen SIC members splattered into paste from the strength of the roots¡¯ impacts, but there wasn¡¯t anything he could do to stop it from happening, as all his focus was on feeding the Treehemoth full of what essentially amounted to concentrated poison.
Other than the thrashing, the effects on the remaining captives were immediate, and Larek stashed his halberd away with his remaining concentration and pulled out two Portable Lifter Fusions out from his Void Pocket Sack, and he dual-wielded them to start grabbing the avalanche of falling bodies out of the air to slow them down. He didn¡¯t have enough time or concentration to fully guide them safely to the floor of the wooden sphere, but decelerating them instantly before they hit the hard surface was enough to save those with weaker physical bodies from breaking all their bones upon impact.
It took all of 10 seconds before the results of his poisoning efforts on the Treehemoth finally presented themselves, as a large groan of wood moving and splintering reverberated through the wooden sphere, followed by a shaking as the entire structure vibrated under his feet. There was an unnatural, deep screaming as the Treehemoth began suffering from the infusion of Pure AF and the room began to shake even more in heavy bursts. Larek could picture the massive tree monster slamming its roots down outside in a panic; he just hoped that The Hopper and those inside of it were safe and had avoided the sudden display of pain-fueled reaction.
The last of the captives finally landed, with the majority suffering only a few injuries and a few with more serious ones, but there was no time to heal them. Thankfully, all of them landed in a relatively small area and had nearly piled up on each other, which made his next move slightly easier.
Releasing all of his focus from everything else, he strained himself slightly to form a platform underneath all of the bodies, even though a quarter of them were starting to rouse and attempt to get to their feet. With a use of the Command Shout Battle Art, which he¡¯d fortunately learned very recently, he yelled, ¡°Time to leave!¡±
Larek was glad to see that everyone heard him as he sent his piled-upon platform toward the entrance from which they¡¯d arrived, and it took everything he had to move that many people at such a speed. His internal Pattern was taking a bit of a beating from everything he¡¯d done up to this point, splitting his focus so much, but he just needed to hold on a little bit longer and he¡¯d be able to let his Pattern Restoration heal him afterwards.
With a sudden barrage of explosions, his friends and the Volunteers managed to extricate themselves from the horde of monsters after them, and they just barely beat him to the exit because he couldn¡¯t move quite as fast as them. As he sent the platform through the entrance, he moved it around the corner before he turned back and reached into his sack one more time.
Pulling out a handful of Fusions, he quickly tossed one at his feet before launching the others high above his head and into the mass of roots above as he activated them. As he ran to catch up with the others, a bright, blinding light washed over the entire tunnel as the wooden sphere lit up with a half-dozen Blinding Heat Fusions going off simultaneously. He rushed the platform slightly up the sloping tunnel as a wash of heat emerged from behind him, and while he couldn¡¯t feel it, the SIC members certainly could ¨C and he didn¡¯t want them cooking alive.
The sound and smell of burning wood, followed by the cracking of bursting monsters that were set on fire and turned to ash, flowed through the tunnel as thousands of wide, frightened eyes turned in his direction. Ignoring them, he set down the platform after another hundred feet or so because it was getting too hard to move it with his dwindling focus capacity. Fortunately, by that point many of the former captives were able to move around and stand, primarily the Martials, which meant that they could walk and run on their own; more importantly, they could carry who didn¡¯t have their feet under them yet.
No one spoke as they began to do just that, with Martials just barely freed from their forced paralyzation picking up their fellow SIC members and stumbling up the tunnel ahead of Larek and his friends and Volunteers, who had to stick back and eliminate the few monsters that managed to somehow avoid the heat and fire he¡¯d left behind.
Their fighting retreat became a bit more intense as a quickly strengthening red glow from below told him that it wasn¡¯t just the monsters and the roots that were in the wooden sphere that were affected. His perceptions were a bit of a shambles with everything going on, but they were at least good enough to see that the heat and fire he¡¯d caused down below had ignited the entire area ¨C and it was spreading¡ fast.
In other words, it was only a matter of time before the entire Treehemoth went up like a torch from the inside.
Their flight became even more desperate as the tunnel behind them began to collapse as the fire spread, which was hot enough break down its structure within seconds, and Larek was forced to pull some other Fusions from his sack and toss them behind him, such as an Occlusion Sphere that filled the tunnel and prevented a lot of the super-heated air rising from below from cooking the SIC members, as well as leaving some Strong Watered Growths with a quick alteration to have them permanently active, which would hopefully slow down the spread of fire long enough for them to escape.
The shaking of the larger tree had largely stopped by the time they could finally see the exit ¨C or at least the wooden wall blocking them from the world outside. Fortunately, Larek didn¡¯t have to do anything to open the way, as many of the freed SIC Mages, especially the Naturalists, were able to cast spells again. The wooden wall resisted their spells for all of a pair of seconds before the barrier cracked and flowed away to the edges, retreating into the sides and flooding the tunnel with daylight.
As Larek and his companions shepherded everyone out, he didn¡¯t notice who was leading the former captives until a shout interrupted their escape.
Framed by the daylight of the outside world, General Maxwell stood about 20 feet outside the entrance and held up his hand in front of the escapees, forcing them to stop just before they exited for good.
¡°Stop! We can¡¯t allow these individuals, especially that one¡ª¡± he shouted with a deranged look in his eye as he pointed toward Larek in the back, who was easy to spot because of his height, ¡°to leave here! They represent everything that is wrong in the Kingdom and directly oppose the SIC, undermining us at every opportunity! Mages! We must seal them inside and then we can finish what we came here¡ª¡±
The annoying General couldn¡¯t finish his statement, however, as one of the Treehemoth¡¯s roots, large enough to block out the entire entrance, suddenly slammed down on him, obliterating him into nothing but a paste. The impact was so strong that nearly everyone fell to the ground from the incredible force, and a blast of displaced air knocked a few others further down the tunnel. Larek somehow kept his feet as he watched the root raise back up, revealing the aftermath of the blow, and there was very little evidence of the former SIC General other than some flattened armor pieces embedded into the dirt, accompanied by a huge splatter of blood and a few, tiny, unrecognizable pieces of a body.
Well, I wanted to get rid of the SIC leadership, but that wasn¡¯t exactly the way I was planning on going about it.
There were still more who were part of that leadership that he had to contend with, but now they had other things to deal with. They couldn¡¯t leave because of the roots, and they couldn¡¯t stay because the fire down below was getting closer and closer.
It was time to make a decision ¨C and if they made the wrong one, then there was the potential that almost all of the SIC members could die.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 39
Larek felt uncomfortable when the traumatized former captives all turned to look at him following the sudden death of the General. Looking around at the SIC members, it suddenly occurred to him that he and his companions were greatly outnumbered; while he didn¡¯t particularly fear them, it would kind of defeat the purpose of coming all this way to save them if they attacked him or his friends and subsequently forced him to hurt or kill them in response.
That, and having just seen that his protective Fusion wasn¡¯t completely infallible, he didn¡¯t want to test it against more than 2,000 people filling a relatively small space.
As the seconds passed by, and recognizing the fear and anger in the faces of the SIC members as a typical response to his height, he began to worry that a fight was inevitable. Before anyone could act upon that fear and anger, an older Mage in a multi-colored robe pushed her way through the crowd, her short brown hair streaked with grey, but there was a definite air of authority about her; the way the others parted for her made that authority and respect very clear.
I¡¯m guessing that this is the other General. General Auran, I believe? Am I going to have to eliminate her, too? Opposing her right here and now won¡¯t win over the rest of the SIC members, of course ¨C if I can even win them over at this point.
When first planning the expedition to the SIC headquarters, Larek had originally hoped to eliminate, one way or another, the SIC leadership quietly away from the rank-and-file members. Unfortunately, this whole situation, with the organization having been captured by the monster protecting the Calamity¡¯s central Aperture and having to rescue them all, had ended up making that quite a bit more difficult. Well, other than General Maxwell, of course.
What he didn¡¯t see, however, was any sign of the ¡°advisors¡± that were mentioned to him, such as Dean Wilburt. Were they killed down below, or are they somewhere else.
He turned his attention back to the woman approaching, even as he glanced back down the long tunnel leading downward, which was still progressively becoming a problem, with the fire approaching at a rapid pace. They had a small window of time during which to act to prevent the SIC members from burning up, so he hoped that the General didn¡¯t make things more difficult.
She stopped in front of Larek, looking him up and down with a guarded look on her face before holding a hand against her chest, right above her heart.
And then she bent at the waist in a quick bow, before straightening back up, and she stared him right in the eyes.
¡°I know who you are, Fusionist¡¡±
She paused for a moment as the tension in the tunnel rose.
¡°¡and I don¡¯t care. You saved us from a fate worse than death, and I am very grateful that you arrived when you did.¡± She looked pointedly at a few of the nearby SIC members. ¡°No one here will accost you, as they should be similarly thankful for their lives.¡± Staring at Larek again, she asked, ¡°But what are you doing here in the first place? I thought you were down south with the Volunteers.¡±
¡°Is this really the time for this?¡± Nedira interjected impatiently, gesturing back down the tunnel toward the approaching fire. Smoke accompanied the heat, and while it mostly stayed toward the roof of the tunnel, it was becoming thick enough to start obscuring Larek¡¯s vision.
Unfortunately, the obstinate General seemed insistent. ¡°This is important. I must know your intentions before I can trust you.¡±
They¡¯re grateful and thankful for their lives being saved, but are balking at potentially escaping their ¡°prison¡±? I really don¡¯t understand the logic of these SIC people.
Rather than waste any more time, he answered her quickly and truthfully. ¡°I came to save as many members of the SIC as I could, while also eliminating most of its leadership.¡±
¡°What?!¡± The General seemed genuinely taken aback at that declaration. ¡°Why would you do that?¡±
¡°I would think it would be obvious,¡± Bartholomew stepped up next to Larek, addressing the General directly.
¡°Barkus? You¡¯re with them, now? And what do you mean?¡±
¡°General, you sent teams of SIC agents to kill innocent people so that you could try and take control, you¡¯ve been riling up the Factions right when they needed our help the most to eliminate the mind-controlling bugs, and then you sent the Unspoken Response after The Fusionist. It shouldn¡¯t be any wonder why he wants the leadership of the SIC removed.¡±
With every recounting of the SIC¡¯s deeds, the General became more and more pale. Larek wasn¡¯t the best person to tell whether someone was acting or not, but everything he saw in her expression told him that this was possibly the first that she¡¯d heard of any of what Bartholomew described.
¡°The Unspoken Response?¡± she whispered in confusion, before she seemed to have an epiphany. ¡°Blackwind,¡± she angrily muttered. ¡°That filthy snake must have contacted them for Maxwell.¡±
¡°Are you insinuating that you didn¡¯t have anything to do with what happened down south?¡± Nedira demanded.
The General hesitated for a moment. ¡°I¡ didn¡¯t know anything about attacks on innocent people, nor about the Unspoken Response. But I did participate in spreading information about The Fusionist in order to obtain support from the Factions, as we needed to consolidate power ¨C and The Fusionist and these so-called Volunteers were undermining all that we¡¯d been able to accomplish over the last few years. We did it to save the SIC and the Kingdom!¡± she declared fervently, as if that could justify what was done.
¡°And it was one of those ¡®undermining¡¯ Volunteers that heroically gave their life to save your sorry asses!¡± Penelope shouted, referencing the unfortunate demise of Johani.
¡°We don¡¯t have time to argue about this right now,¡± Larek declared before anyone else could start yelling. ¡°It¡¯s my goal to interfuse the Corps and the Volunteers into a central organization so that we can work together after this. We all want the same thing, and we all have things that we can offer the other. With us combined and working toward the same goals, we can save many more people ¨C but we have to save ourselves before we can contemplate doing anything further than that.¡±
Larek gestured ahead and behind them, as the fire was becoming a problem as he saw more than a few recently freed Mages begin to wobble on their feet from heat exhaustion. ¡°We can discuss this later, but first we need to get out of here. I have a plan to get you out of here, but you¡¯re going to have to make a decision as to whether or not to trust me.¡±
General Auran only hesitated for a few seconds before nodding. ¡°You brought us out this far, so I suppose that we can trust you.¡±
¡°Good.¡± Now it was Larek¡¯s turn to hesitate. ¡°Before we make our move, tell me: Where are Dean Wilburt and Elain Blackwind?¡± Having heard the General mention the Noble Liaison as the one that sicced the assassins on him, she was now as much of a priority for elimination as the Dean was at this point.
¡°They took off before we even entered the Calamity¡¯s territory, claiming to be looking for additional resources. I have no idea where they went; it¡¯s possible that Maxwell knew, but he didn¡¯t share that information with me. It seems as though there was a lot of information that he didn¡¯t share.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The Fusionist nodded in acceptance of the answer. ¡°Alright; here¡¯s the plan.¡± Placing a hand on Nedira¡¯s shoulder, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to distract the Treehemoth¡¯s roots while you all make a break for it and get as far away as you can.¡± He cut his betrothed¡¯s protests short with a gentle squeeze of his hand. ¡°You know that I can move fast enough to avoid being hit; it¡¯s the only way,¡± he said quickly to her, before addressing the others again. ¡°Get ready to move, and help carry any of those that cannot run. Getting outside the range of the roots will be your primary priority.¡±
¡°How are you going to distract¡ª¡± The General began to ask, but Larek didn¡¯t let her finish as he created a platform under his feet, rose up above their heads ¨C right into the smoke, of course, but he wasn¡¯t bothered by it ¨C and shot outside of the tunnel and into the open air. As he broke free from the confines of the Treehemoth¡¯s bowels, he debated what to do about the remaining SIC leadership and whether it was better to just start anew with those who he might be able to trust. The alternative was to leave the current power structure alone, which included General Auran and whichever Lieutenants were still alive, but also make it a stipulation that they interfuse themselves with the Volunteer commanders, such as Kimble. Both choices had their risks and benefits, of course, but what he was leaning toward was leaving them alone for the moment ¨C at least until a reason presented itself to remove more of them. With General Maxwell, who seemed to be the one who was largely behind the atrocities, out of the way, there were only the two advisors he needed to find and get rid of before they caused any more problems.
Then there were the leaders of the Unspoken Response who needed to be addressed before too long, but that could wait until he had the chance to track them down. All of them had to pay for what they¡¯d done, as each party had been responsible for one massacre or another ¨C or were the source of many of Larek¡¯s problems, in the case of Dean Wilburt. The latter felt a little selfish on his part, as he wasn¡¯t aware of Wilburt doing anything directly that resulted in innocent deaths, but his participation in the spread of lies and rumors regarding ¡°The Fusionist¡± had nearly caused Kimble to be executed, and had led to the severe distrust of the Factions against the Volunteers.
If that wasn¡¯t enough to justify the Dean¡¯s death, Larek was alright with that; he would still sleep well at night afterwards. If anything, he¡¯d probably sleep better knowing that the one who had essentially tormented him at Crystalview was gone. So, it was selfishness all the way for him on that point.
It only took a few seconds of flying to gain the attention of the Treehemoth¡¯s roots, which almost immediately attempted to smash him out of the air. Instead of hiding underneath the treetops of the jungle, however, this time Larek had to deliberately provoke the massive tree monster, giving the others the chance to escape. Looking around the area as he managed to dodge a pair of giant roots, he couldn¡¯t help but see how devastated the land around the Treehemoth was, as it seemed that the monster¡¯s thrashing had caused widespread damage everywhere. He glanced at where he thought the Hopper was located and was relieved to see that the area around it was largely free of damage, though if he didn¡¯t manage to turn the tree¡¯s attention toward him, it would only be a matter of time before they were hit.
As for the Treehemoth itself, he saw large plumes of ashy smoke spilling out of a few openings down below, as it seemed as though the rest of the access tunnels were still closed. He could also sense that the fire that he¡¯d started inside the spherical space had spread from where it had started, as it traveled up the trunk of the monster from the inside, where it had massive trouble trying to put it out. It was so bad that he saw multiple areas around the exterior of the enormous trunk that were starting to expand with the internal heat as fire attempted to find its way out.
But that wasn¡¯t the worst of it, as the rest of the Treehemoth appeared to be on its last legs. Even excluding the internal fire, the bark along the outside of the monster was cracking and falling off in chunks, its leaves were withering away and dying, and its once-strong branches were drooping and appeared fragile. Even its roots, the same which had obliterated General Maxwell, were slower than before, as if they were tired or out of energy.
It looks like my Pure Aetheric Force was way too much for it. It¡¯s dying ¨C but not quickly enough.
To help it along, as well as keep its attention fully on him, Larek took out his VED staff and swung relatively close to the monster, creating explosions all along its height, dodging lethargic branch limbs that attempted to smack him. He aimed for the branch connections and blew them apart, the weakness in the Treehemoth¡¯s defense clear as he began knocking off its appendages, which was followed by an inhuman roar of creaking wood that nearly blasted him out of the sky. He recovered quicker than the evolved monster and continued his assault, pulling out a second VED staff, and he began blasting away with abandon, chewing through its exterior with multiple explosions, reminding him of the days when he would take his axe and fell a tree with a few precise blows. This tree would take many more blows to fell, of course, but he was making incredible progress already ¨C and the more damage he inflicted, the less the Treehemoth seemed to be able to fight back.
Eventually, he hit a spot on its lower trunk that blasted a hole into where the internal fire had been attempting to escape, and the rush of air invigorated the conflagration, ramping up its spread as it caught its exterior on fire. He doubled down on that spot, widening the opening, before turning his attention to the roots that still attempted ¨C and failed ¨C to hit him. Whereas the burrowed appendages once were so strong that he would¡¯ve been hard-pressed to damage them, his explosions caused by his VED staves were enough to start blasting off chunks of them, especially once he turned the Magnitude up to 9. Within a few minutes of flying around and dodging the roots, he¡¯d managed to obliterate them down to weakly wiggling stubs, freeing him to deal even more damage to the larger trunk.
The strain of flying around after all of the exertion of his focus down below began to weigh on him after a while, so he aimed to finish off the Treehemoth once and for all. Once all of the branches and roots that could attack him were blown apart, he moved closer to the bottom of the trunk, where the fire was burning, and he used his VED with another purpose other than explosions in mind. Instead, he used the high-powered jet of acid to start cutting a line into and through the bark, rotating around the exterior, using the acid like a saw, easily slicing deep within to begin separating it into two different halves.
His efforts were complicated as the weakening roars of the Treehemoth shook him, as he was close to it and got a full blast of the effect that appeared to penetrate even through his Protection of the Void. Fortunately, he was made of some stern stuff, and with his high physical stats, he was able to shrug it off with a little bit of a push.
Once he¡¯d cut all the way through, he moved back toward the top and prepared to rapidly fire off explosions that would chain together to start moving the bulk of the weak tree, with the intent to knock it down. It was already dying from the fire and the purified AF poisoning it, but he¡¯d rather not have to worry about it recovering and regrowing its appendages as the SIC escaped. It was better to take down the Treehemoth now, while it was heavily drained and couldn¡¯t fight back.
Just as he was about to start his barrage of explosions, a build-up of incredible power inside of the massive tree caught his attention. While he couldn¡¯t see through its trunk, along with the fire and smoke wreathing the giant monster, he could determine that the buildup was happening right near the Calamity¡¯s central Aperture.
Larek¡¯s eyes widened as he could see what was happening, before he turned his platform and flew away as fast as he could. He aimed for where he could vaguely feel the SIC members and his friends were located, shouting at the top of his lungs for them to hear him. ¡°Defenses up! Brace yourselves! Get underground if you can¡ª¡±
A flash of light preceded an enormous explosion behind him, and while his defensive Fusion blocked the initial shockwave, the sheer amount of destructive power behind the explosion managed to penetrate through even the void surrounding him, knocking him out of the air. As he tumbled head-over-heels, slightly injured but not severely, his vision caught the tail-end of the detonation centering around the central Aperture. Thousands of flaming pieces of the Treehemoth flew out in all directions as it was obliterated from inside, and as he attempted to stabilize his out-of-control airborne tumble, he saw the greenish glow of the Aperture itself ¨C and he witnessed it rapidly shrink from what he imagined was its normal enormous appearance down to the size of a simple Aperture that hadn¡¯t expanded at all.
Just like that, as the Treehemoth was defeated, so too was the Calamity; as he slammed into a tree, the impact of which was absorbed by his protective Fusion, it began to fade from existence when the Calamity¡¯s territory collapsed. Picking himself up from the ground with a groan, rapidly healing himself of the few injuries he¡¯d sustained with a pulse of his Healing Surge Fusion, he looked through the fading jungle trees to see the hazy, moisture-rich air evaporating, even as large flaming chunks of the Treehemoth rained down all around him.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 40
¡°You¡ you did it. How is that even possible?¡±
Larek shrugged uncomfortably as he sat down on a series of stool-shaped rocks created by a few SIC Geomancers, surrounded by his betrothed, his friends, and the Volunteers assembled behind them. In front of him, on the other side of the oblong circle of rocks, were General Auran and her Lieutenants, half of whom were looking at him with fear in their expressions. It¡¯s better than anger, I suppose, but I¡¯d rather they not be so emotionally affected by my simple presence. Fortunately, sitting down helped with his height problems a bit, which was why the Fusionist had suggested it.
¡°Fusions. They can be quite powerful once you get them to a certain strength,¡± he explained, before cutting off any other questions about how he had managed to kill the Treehemoth. He didn¡¯t feel like going into Aetheric Force or specifics about his Fusions; now that they weren¡¯t at risk of dying within seconds, he needed to establish what was going to happen with the two organizations. He and the General had come to a basic truce while in the blazing tunnel, but now it was time to negotiate toward the future.
Which was absolutely the last thing he wanted to do, because he didn¡¯t care for all of the politics and verbal sparring that it would likely involve. Therefore, he took the easy route and delegated it to Bartholomew, who was both a former Noble and a former member of the SIC, as well as being high up in the Volunteer hierarchy.
¡°If you have any questions, please speak to Barkus here, otherwise known as Bartholomew,¡± he said. ¡°As for me, I¡¯ll be working on getting us out of here; I need to go talk with some of your Mages.¡±
Standing up, he could practically hear the outraged and shocked expressions on the faces of what remained of the SIC leadership, but he ignored them all. Instead, he looked around at the environment, which was located about a half-mile from the formerly central Aperture that would eventually open back up with Juvenile Dryads and nothing else. But that left the area around them relatively barren, with just a few patches of grass here and there, with no trees nearby; it seemed as though the jungles that had inhabited the majority of the Calamity had been almost purely magical rather than a natural effect of its territory like most of the other Apertures, which didn¡¯t leave them much to work with.
The Hopper was also nearby, but repairs to the vessel would have to wait until they were back in Thanesh, as there were no nearby trees to harvest to patch the large hole in the side. He had already checked on Paluna and Mygor once he returned safely to where it had crashed, additionally discovering that the whole SIC group had also made their way there, which led to this meeting of the leadership that he was more than happy to ditch in favor of working on finding a way to transport all of these people. Theoretically, he could simply let them go their separate ways, now that he¡¯d saved them from the Treehemoth, but it was possible that some of them would starve before they managed to find food, as all but a few of them were extremely weak after their experience as captives. Apparently, the roots which had been keeping them alive didn¡¯t do much more than that, so after the adrenaline-fueled escape from the bowels of the massive tree and the run through the jungle, even many of the Martials were looking like they were going to drop at any moment.
Nedira had shared some food with them, but they didn¡¯t carry enough with them in their Void Pocket bags to feed a total of 3,274 people, other than a small snack to keep them from collapsing immediately upon arriving. In addition, of the SIC members, approximately 600 of them weren¡¯t actually Mages or Martials, as they had originally been support to help with culling reinforcements, and they were the worst off. Even if the SIC decided not to join with them and take the help he was going to provide to allow them to move faster, they didn¡¯t deserve to stay in the middle of nowhere and suffer because the SIC leadership was stubborn.
A discussion was already underway between Bartholomew and General Auran behind him, as he made his way over to a large group of brown-robed Mages who were lying around on the ground, appearing exhausted from the ordeal. Unfortunately for them, he was going to need the help of some Geomancers, so he was about to disturb their rest.
¡°Is there anyone here who can form a large, thin disc of compressed earth or stone?¡± he suddenly asked them, and his loud voice startled more than a few of them from an impromptu nap. Ideally, he would like to use wood for what he had in mind, but seeing as there was none nearby and the Treehemoth had been blown to pieces, most of which burned up by that point, he needed to work with what he could get.
¡°What is it to you?¡± one of the brown-robed Mages asked as he struggled to sit up. He was from the Kingdom, so unfortunately he looked at Larek with suspicion and a raised lip, showing disdain.
¡°I need to create some platforms to transport all of you, otherwise you¡¯ll have to walk ¨C which I¡¯m sure you¡¯d rather avoid,¡± he explained shortly, annoyed at the response. Fortunately, he was saved from being shut down completely by a different Mage just past the original speaker, a woman with naturally white hair and oblong purple eyes ¨C who was definitely not from the Kingdom.
¡°I can do that with my Stone Extraction and Form Barrier spells,¡± she offered, weakly holding up her hand. ¡°But I¡¯m so exhausted and drained from everything that I¡¯m not sure how well I¡¯ll be able to do it. In addition, I¡¯m still waiting for my Mana to regenerate, as it was fully drained by that damn tree.¡±
¡°I might be able to help with that,¡± Larek said with a smile, happy that someone was willing to help. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± he asked.
¡°Giginix.¡±
He walked toward Giginix and pulled out a few things from his Void Pocket sack. The first was a freshly baked loaf of bread with some tasty, sliced monster meat, which he immediately handed her; she instantly fell upon the food as if she was starving, which he supposed she was.
¡°Hey! I thought you didn¡¯t have any other food! Why does she get some?¡± asked the first Geomancer Mage, which was echoed by a number of the others, who all appeared to be growing angry ¨C or as angry as their exhaustion allowed them.
¡°Because she needs her strength if she¡¯s going to actually help me get you out of here,¡± Larek responded evenly. Ignoring the others, he then handed her a bronze medallion on a leather string, and she immediately slipped it over her head and allowed it to rest against her skin underneath her robe without even questioning what it was. Of course, when she spasmed slightly once its effects made itself known, she paused in the process of devouring her meal to stare wide-eyed at Larek.
¡°Is this real? How?¡±
It was just a spare Mage Stat Boost Fusion he had left over from when he needed them in the past, but to someone who had never had their stats boosted by 100%, it was a huge difference.
¡°It¡¯s a Fusion. It should help you regenerate your Mana faster, as well as expanding your Mana pool.¡± He handed her a canteen from his sack filled with water before asking, ¡°Will this help?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.
She nodded, still wide-eyed as she finished off her food and drank half of the canteen in a few loud and long gulps. After letting out a burp that seemed to come from the depths of her stomach, for which she in no way apologized, she pulled herself to her feet, already looking better. He handed her one more thing once she was upright.
¡°A bracelet? What does this do?¡±
¡°It boosts your most common Mage Skills. Should make it a little bit easier to cast,¡± he added.
Giginix¡¯s eyes widened again as she took in the changes. With a nod and a smile, she turned to the Fusionist. ¡°So, what exactly do you need?¡±
Larek described what he was thinking, and after a few seconds, she nodded and got to work. He watched her cast her first spell, which made the ground rumble under their feet; a few seconds later a large, misshapen chunk of greyish-black stone broke out from an empty space ahead of them. After it settled in a small depression, another cast of a spell seemed to melt the stone, as it collapsed into a puddle. With a few movements of her hands, the stone flattened out into a circular shape approximately 80 feet in diameter ¨C and it was only about a half-inch thick.
¡°It¡¯s going to be a bit brittle at that width,¡± she warned him. ¡°Do you want me to add another layer?¡±
¡°No need,¡± the Fusionist said, waving away the offer. ¡°When you have the Mana, make another one like this, if you can.¡±
Before he got started, another Geomancer ¨C not the one who had spoken to him before ¨C managed to stumble his way over to the two of them. ¡°Sir? Mr. Fusionist?¡±
¡°Hmm?¡± he distractedly asked, already thinking about the Fusions he was going to add to the large stone slab.
¡°I can do the same, if you have some, uh, supplies to help me recover?¡±
Larek absently pulled out another meal and handed it to the newcomer, as well as another two Fusions with boosts. ¡°Here. Just make them the same as this,¡± he said, pointing toward the stone circle.
¡°Yes, sir.¡±
The Fusionist barely heard him answer as he moved forward, kneeling down by the edge of the new transportation platform. A quick Strengthen Fusion at Magnitude 15 was all it took to ensure the stone wouldn¡¯t crack when people stood on it; when it snapped into place, there was a distinct *ring* that reverberated out from the stone as it suddenly strengthened to unnatural heights.
Stepping out into the center of the stone slab, he was pleased to see that it easily held his weight despite being so thin, and he knelt down again near the center. A minute later, he had Buoyant Sphere and Buoyant-Thruster added to the stone, which would be enough for it to fly and move through the air; he didn¡¯t add any other offensive or defensive Fusions for now, as these would only be temporary to simply move people.
Over the next 30 minutes, another half-dozen Geomancers got up the courage to offer their help, and Larek handed out more of the boosting Fusions and his dwindling supply of food to them, allowing them to help make the circular stone platforms much faster than before. None of his helpers had the energy to ask what he was doing with his Fusions, only continuing to raise up stones from below ground and flatten them into discs, and he moved from one to another to add his own contribution.
Even though they weren¡¯t sure what the Fusions were, as Mages, they could see that they were quite powerful ¨C and they seemed to trust that he knew what he was doing. Thankfully for them, he indeed knew what he was doing.
A sudden shout from the leadership meeting nearly broke his concentration, but he managed to finish the Fusion he was working on without any mistakes. When he was able to focus on what was happening, he was hoping he wouldn¡¯t have to go and break up a fight, but his Listening Skill let him know that it was instead a shout of shock, as Bartholomew and Nedira were explaining about the ability to unlock their full potential. He ignored the rest of the conversation after that, though it certainly sounded more animated and excited than before, which he hoped was a good sign.
A full 2 hours after they started, between Larek and a dozen Geomancers who had offered to help ¨C most with the expectation of being rewarded with the boosting Fusions, which was fine with him as it made his job easier ¨C they had over 250 circular platforms spread out over a half-mile of area. Brushing off his hands unnecessarily after they were done, he thanked the Geomancers and offered, ¡°You want to see what you just helped me do?¡±
They nodded tiredly but eagerly, and they followed him onto one of the platforms. Standing in the exact center, with one foot connecting to both of the Buoyant Fusions, he smiled and said, ¡°Watch.¡± A second later, he mentally activated the buoyancy effect, which reduced the weight of the stone circle by 99%, and then he slowly activated the thrusters underneath.
To say that the Mages were shocked was an understatement, and all but Giginix cried out in fear when leaving the ground. The non-Kingdom Mage instead appeared excited upon gaining altitude, and he called her over to where he was standing. He gave her some quick instructions on how to mentally move the platform, and soon enough she had taken over the controls. The movements of the stone transport were jerky at first, but it wasn¡¯t long until she seemed to get the hang of it, and they were flying all over the area, moving at nearly a hundred miles per hour. It could go faster, but he cautioned her to keep it slower while she was still learning.
The other Geomancers eventually settled down and looked at the ground passing underneath them over the edge in wonder, after seeing that they weren¡¯t going to be blown off at an unexpected turn. By that time, Larek had helped Giginix land back where they started, which ended up a little awkward as she hit the ground a bit too hard, causing everyone but him to fall; but no one was thankfully hurt. Plus, if they thought that their flight was a wonder, the way that the platform didn¡¯t even crack in the least upon the impact with the ground made them even more fascinated with how the Fusion on it worked to strengthen the stone.
Larek enjoyed the attention his Fusions garnered from the Mages, as he appreciated when others were grateful for the work he¡¯d put into them. As he smiled in satisfaction as they landed, he happened to look around, only to see that his friends and the SIC leadership were waiting not too far away from where they landed. They appeared to have finished their discussion, so he stepped off the stone transport after ensuring that all of the operating Fusions were deactivated.
¡°We¡¯ve come to a decision,¡± General Auran said as he approached. He couldn¡¯t read the expression on her face, but based on the reactions of nearly everyone else in both organizations, he had a feeling it was a good outcome. ¡°The SIC is going to gradually be joined with the Volunteer Militia, but we¡¯ll be keeping the SIC name and operate as a separate branch,¡± she continued. ¡°In other words, we¡¯re going to work together to save this Kingdom, because what we can accomplish together will far outweigh what we can do on our own.¡±
Larek nodded, glad that they had worked it out without his input. ¡°Glad to hear that!¡± he practically shouted, enthusiastic about the outcome of their negotiation. ¡°I¡¯m glad my friends could help you come to that decision.¡±
¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t just them who did it,¡± the General responded with a shake of her head. ¡°It was witnessing you create such powerful Fusions and casually handing out others that would have been considered masterpieces a decade ago if they were even half of their strength that helped, but it was also the promise that we would be able to fully unlock our full potential that sealed the deal. I¡¯m told that you can do that for us?¡±
Larek nodded. ¡°Of course. But only if we work together,¡± he warned. He was more than cognizant that some of the members of the SIC joining the Volunteers might seek to take advantage of the situation by gaining a bunch of powerful Fusions and then working against him and the organization; if that was the case, he would have to make an example of them. He just hoped that it didn¡¯t come to that ¨C but trust had to flow both ways, so he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
¡°Did they also tell you about the Fusion that will keep the mind-controlling bugs from controlling you?¡±
¡°They did. And supposedly they will protect us from the Gergasi?¡±
Again, Larek nodded. ¡°Absolutely. That¡¯s going to be important in the future.¡±
¡°What? Why? Aren¡¯t they, uh, related to¡ª¡±
The Fusionist cut her off before she could finish that statement. ¡°It¡¯s not a secret anymore that I¡¯m what they call a half-breed, which is half-Human and half-Gergasi. Despite that, I have no desire to claim any relation to them.
¡°If everything goes the way I hope, once the Calamities are cleared up and the Kingdom is in a more stable place, my goal is to eliminate the threat of the Gergasi for good.¡±
The General smiled for the first time, the glint of what looked suspiciously like the urge for revenge flashing through her eyes.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 41
The flight back to Thanesh was uneventful, other than humorously watching the SIC members learn how to fly the stone platform transports, but fortunately it only took them about a half-hour for all but a few of the most hopeless of the impromptu pilots. Larek had them all set down a bit of a distance away from the city, where there weren¡¯t any fields being actively harvested ¨C but avoiding the fields full of food wasn¡¯t the only reason. Despite an agreement with the General, the Fusionist wasn¡¯t going to trust them completely, as it wasn¡¯t that long ago that he and his friends were being targeted by the SIC. Regardless of the risks of betrayal, he didn¡¯t think it was likely to happen; if it did, then whoever betrayed the trust he was putting in them wouldn¡¯t live long enough to regret it.
Larek didn¡¯t park with the other stone transports, as he touched down in the normal staging areas for the wooden transports used by the rest of the Volunteers. He needed to be able to communicate with multiple people in the organization, and this was the best way to go about it, rather than risking the Volunteers inadvertently attacking or for there to be any misunderstandings. Fortunately, by the time he officially landed and exited the damaged Hopper, those he needed to see were already running toward the vessel from the city, both Verne and Kimble using their Martial stats to the utmost to arrive quickly.
¡°You were successful, I assume?¡± Kimble asked as soon as he was close enough.
¡°Somewhat,¡± Larek answered, before launching into a quick explanation of the events in Kilvering, the ambush by Assassins, the Calamity and the Treehemoth, and the deal that they reached with the SIC. He was aided in the latter with a better description of just what that deal entailed by additional details coming from both Nedira and Bartholomew.
¡°And you brought them all here?¡± the former Faction leader and current ¡°head¡± of the Volunteers asked incredulously.
¡°They need to recover from their ordeal, and they also need to be outfitted for what¡¯s to come,¡± the Fusionist explained.
Kimble shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sure it¡¯s a good idea to let them in the city¡ª¡±
¡°I only trust them about as far as I can throw them ¨C which is actually a far distance, come to think of it,¡± Larek said, ¡°but I do trust them to have the Kingdom¡¯s best interests at heart. After seeing what we can provide them, they can carry out their duties much faster and with greater success, and we need them to help turn the opinions of the Factions regarding the Volunteers before anything drastic happens. It¡¯s a win-win for both of us ¨C as long as no one reneges on our agreement.
¡°If that does happen¡ I¡¯ll take care of it with ruthless finality. You have my word on it.¡±
Kimble looked at him in the eyes for a moment before he nodded. Seconds later, he was issuing orders to the Volunteers already gathering nearby, where they would help to organize the incoming SIC members. They already had a plan in place for if¡ªwhen¡ªLarek managed to convince the Corps to join them, and they were initiating that plan already. No one had thought it would be this quick, of course, as winning over the SIC was supposed to take a little while, once the leadership was eliminated, but it was probably better this way.
¡°Verne! Just the person I wanted to talk to.¡± Larek noticed his roommate as Kimble dispersed with a huge crowd of Volunteers, followed by Bartholomew, Penelope, and Vivienne. ¡°You would not believe what we had to fight in the northeastern Calamity¡¡±
The young Dyran accompanied Larek, Nedira, and Norde as they made their way into the city, as they caught Verne up regarding all that had happened while he¡¯d stayed behind in Thanesh. Once they arrived at Larek and Nedira¡¯s warehouse-like home, Verne left to help organize some more help for the incoming SIC members. Larek, for one, was exhausted from everything they¡¯d accomplished and wanted to get some much-needed sleep ¨C and to finish recovering from all of the stress on his Pattern. It was already doing quite well, thanks to his Pattern Restoration Skill, but he thought that it wouldn¡¯t be fully recovered for another few hours.
While things hadn¡¯t worked out exactly as he expected, the outcome of their expedition up north had been fruitful ¨C both in terms of the SIC and the Calamity, as the third of five Calamities in the Kingdom were now closed. There was a lot of follow-up work that needed to be done to ensure that it didn¡¯t happen again, but with the Corps and hopefully the Factions on their side soon, the influence of the Volunteers and the Fusions that Larek could provide to everyone would be more than enough to maintain the status quo.
As Larek sat down heavily on his bed, he laid down and finally decided to look at all of the notifications he had been ignoring up until that point.
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 76!
¡..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 88!
You have reached Level 63 and have 39 available AP to distribute!
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 100!
¡..
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 102!
Magical Detection has reached Level 107!
¡..
Magical Detection has reached Level 118!
Mana Control has reached Level 114!
¡..
Mana Control has reached Level 116!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 117!
¡..
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 122!
Dodge has reached Level 70!
¡..
Dodge has reached Level 78!
You have reached Level 64 and have 78 available AP to distribute!
Body Regeneration has reached Level 74!
¡..
Body Regeneration has reached Level 78!
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 76!
¡..
Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 81!Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 97!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 100!
Speaking has reached Level 26!
¡..
Speaking has reached Level 30!
Leadership has reached Level 37!
¡..
Leadership has reached Level 42!
Beast Control has reached Level 66!
¡..
Beast Control has reached Level 70!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 10!
¡..
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 12!
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 12!
¡..
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 15!
New Spell learned!
Stone Extraction
Magnitude: Up to 200 feet in distance and 12 cubic feet in volume
Duration: Instant
Base Effect (Movement): Locates, extracts, and gathers natural stone from the ground, bringing it to the surface
Base Mana Cost: 300
Base Pattern Cohesion: 12
New Spell learned!
Form Barrier
Magnitude: Up to 100 feet in width and height; dependent on source material
Duration: Instant
Base Effect (Construct): Manipulates material to form a strong defensive barrier of caster¡¯s chosen shape
Base Mana Cost: 350
Base Pattern Cohesion: 10
The influx of notifications was mostly normal and wasn¡¯t too overwhelming, and he was pleased with the progress he¡¯d made lately. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that his Martial Skills had fallen even further behind his Mage Skills, but that was only to be expected given his penchant for Fusions. However, despite utilizing them in battle, he still managed to gain quite a few Levels in Dodge and Bladed Weapon Mastery, thanks to avoiding and slashing at roots both outside and inside the Treehemoth. His Guardian Skills had also been bumped up a bit because of his manipulation of Aetheric Force during his confrontation with the monster guarding the central Aperture.
I really got lucky with that Treehemoth and the closing of that Aperture. He had thought about it on his way back to the city, and while he had been asked multiple times how he managed to shut down the Calamity so quickly, the only explanation he could come up with was worrying. Essentially, if what he observed with his Magical Detection Skill was accurate, then the massive monster had somehow found a way to incorporate itself directly into the central Aperture, almost like a parasite with a host, which was what allowed it to grow so large and powerful. If it wasn¡¯t for the glowing roots down below and being able to essentially poison the enormous entity, weakening it to the point where he could actually cause damage, he wasn¡¯t sure if even a group of Gergasi could¡¯ve destroyed it.
At least, not easily ¨C and not quickly.
What worried him about that was whether the same thing could occur in either of the two remaining Calamities; what was the likelihood that some evolved monster would have a similar root system into which he could inject Pure Aetheric Force? Not likely, he thought. But if they were as strong as the Treehemoth had been and didn¡¯t have such a clear weakness that he could exploit, he wasn¡¯t sure whether he could defeat a monster like that and close the Calamities.
Then again, this was likely a one-off occurrence, and the other central Apertures in the Calamities weren¡¯t integrated into their most powerful evolved monsters. It was the simple nature of the enormous tree that likely led to its integration into its Aperture, which then led to what happened, so he couldn¡¯t expect them all to be as well-protected.
But that was all something he would have to worry about in the future; at the moment, he looked back at his notifications and found that he¡¯d managed to personally Level-up ¨C not just once, but twice. Now at Level 64, he had 78 additional AP to distribute to his stats ¨C and he knew exactly where he was going to put them. Another 16 points in both Strength and Agility brought them up to 340, consuming 32 of his available AP; 15 points in Body, Intellect, and Acuity brought those three stats to an even 400, using 45 more of his AP.
Which left him with a single AP to stick somewhere, so he ended up adding it to Body; having a slightly stronger physical body was always nice, but it also contributed to a higher Pattern Cohesion in the end, which was always useful ¨C especially for Fusions and manipulating his pattern with Pattern Manipulation.
As he pulled up his Status, he was shocked at what he saw. It wasn¡¯t the increases in stats and his Level, nor even the jump in his Skills ¨C because those he already knew about. Instead, it was his total available Aetheric Force.
Level 64
Advancement Points (AP): 19/40
Available AP to Distribute: 0
Available Aetheric Force (AF): 3,112,447
Stama: 8,500/8500
Mana: 10,000/10000
Strength: 340 [850] (+)
Body: 401 [1,002] (+)
Agility: 340 [850] (+)
Intellect: 400 [1,000] (+)
Acuity: 40 [1,000] (+)
Pneuma: 9,018 [22,545]
Pattern Cohesion: 225,450/225,450
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 88
Spellcasting Focus Level 90[100]
Pattern Recognition Level 102[112]
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 110
Focused Division Level 110
Fusion Level 115[125]
Pattern Formation Level 115[125]
Mana Control Level 116[126]
Magical Detection Level 118[128]
Pattern Manipulation Level 122
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15
Throwing Level 29[39]
Dodge Level 78[88]
Pain Immunity Level 20
Body Regeneration Level 78[88]
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 81[91]
Stama Subjugation Level 97
General Skills:
Cooking Level 8
Writing Level 11
Bargaining Level 13
Saw Handling Level 15
Reading Level 17
Long-Distance Running Level 20
Speaking Level 30
Leadership Level 42
Listening Level 45
Beast Control Level 70
Axe Handling Level 94
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 12
Aetheric Authority Level 15
Primal Essence Mastery Level 5
I have over 3 million AF? How? He wasn¡¯t precisely sure how much Pure AF he had pumped into the Treehemoth by the end, but he estimated that it was at least a quarter-million; if anything he should have just over a million in reserve ¨C and definitely not three times that amount.
Larek could only assume that it came from killing so many monsters inside the Treehemoth, as well as the Treehemoth itself, but did he really receive that much? He couldn¡¯t even remember when he might have absorbed the AF, after it was all said and done; then again, it had been extremely chaotic at the time, and he had more on his mind than absorbing Corrupted AF that his body would then purify for his own use. The fact that he didn¡¯t feel like he was filling up his capacity, which wasn¡¯t a definite number but which he¡¯d slightly felt before, he could only guess was a result of his Aetheric Authority Skill rising so high. Regardless of the reason, he now had more Aetheric Force than ever before, and now that he didn¡¯t have to spend any on increasing his maximum Skill Levels, they could be used for making animated constructs ¨C or even as part of future Fusions. In other words, he didn¡¯t have to fear running out anytime soon.
Shaking his head at the incredible increase in his AF reserve, the last things he looked at were the two new spells he¡¯d learned, which had been a result of watching the SIC Geomancers create so many of the stone transports platforms. Stone Extraction was fairly straightforward, as it seemed to be able to extract quantities of stone from underground and to compile it all together as it was raised above the surface. He could see how it might be useful in a variety of Fusions, especially when combined with some other Effects.
Form Barrier was interesting, however, as there was something about it that caught his attention in the description.
¡°Manipulates material to form a strong defensive barrier of caster¡¯s chosen shape¡±
The spell didn¡¯t define the material as having to be stone, which meant that it could be used on just about everything. As he investigated its spell pattern, he deduced that differences in material strengths and durability could affect the cost of casting the spell, so manipulating something like iron or steel would cost more than stone or wood ¨C but not that much more. It made him wonder for a moment why town and city walls were created from stone, if this kind of spell could be used to form a wall of metal ¨C but then he realized that sourcing that much material would be extremely difficult, especially when stone was much more plentiful.
But that didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be utilized on a much smaller scale, especially as an Effect in a Fusion. The Form Barrier spell pattern didn¡¯t allow a lot of creativity when it came to details, so a Mage would have a difficult time precisely measuring curved plates for armor, for example, as it was meant to be used as a way to form a quick barrier of plentiful available material. Or in the case of the stone circles that had been created for transports, a simple disc was easy enough to form ¨C though Larek had noticed that none of the platforms had been exactly the same size, as they simply used whatever was extracted from the ground.
The more he thought about using the concepts behind Form Barrier, however, the more he became confident that he could use them more precisely than what a Mage could produce with the spell alone.
As he drifted off to sleep, his thoughts were full of how he could utilize these new Effects to make some fun new Fusions.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 42
Farmas leaned up against the wall of the Grand One¡¯s audience chamber, his arms crossed as he impatiently waited for their ¡°guests¡± to arrive. He was ready to leave the Enclave again to hunt down their little problem and eliminate them once and for all, because it was dangerous to let him live.
Especially after they had revealed to the Grand One everything they had learned, going over Vilnesh¡¯s head to present their findings. Vilnesh was understandably enraged that Farmas and Syrlia had bypassed him instead of coming to him directly, but with the way things were going in their Kingdom, they had bigger issues than catering to such ridiculous demands.
The state of the Kingdom was becoming more worrisome by the day, at least according to the few informants they still had outside of the Enclave. While the closing of yet another of the Calamities a few days before, this time the one located in the northeastern region of the Kingdom, was good for the overall energy stability and had helped to shrink the breach that the Enclave guarded against even more, it was the way it was closed that had not only Farmas worried, but nearly every Guardian in the Enclave. Even the Grand One could be seen as having a modicum of concern, something that Farmas had rarely, if ever, seen in their powerful leader ¨C and that was saying something.
It was all the half-breed¡¯s doing, this Fusionist that was Vilnesh¡¯s offspring. His continued existence had been revealed in an earlier meeting, once the Grand One learned of his presence, as well as being the likely suspect in Chinli¡¯s death, and while that might have given the Guardians a reason to perhaps attempt to capture and study the wayward child, it was what he was doing that threatened their very superiority.
Fusions. Once thought to be nothing more than a waste of time, even after decades of research into them soon after they were first discovered by their slaves, it turned out that this half-breed could utilize them in undiscovered ways, producing them with enough strength to potentially rival the Guardians¡¯ abilities. While that hadn¡¯t been proven conclusively yet, enough rumors had drifted into their informant¡¯s ears about some so-called ¡°Volunteers¡± that it was too hard to ignore.
If it was just the half-breed, this Fusionist, using this new source of strength, that was one thing; it was actually a small source of pride that the Guardians could see him using his disabilities and overcoming his half-slave nature to become a force to be reckoned with. But the problem arose when the filthy half-breed had begun sharing those powerful Fusions with slaves. While they might¡¯ve encouraged slaves in the past to become stronger as Mages and Martials so that they could protect the Kingdom from Scission incursions, there was always a limit to their strength ¨C and they presented no threat to the ones actually in charge. It was a fairly clever system that always balanced the scales of power in favor of the Guardians.
But these Fusions could upset that balance, giving the slaves an advantage that could produce a real threat. Not individually, of course, because that was ridiculous; but when the Guardians were outnumbered by the slaves nearly 30,000 to 1, even a million tiny pinpricks against their defenses could cause them to bleed. There were only so many of the slaves that they could simultaneously control with their Dominion magic, after all, and they could be overwhelmed before they knew it. It was a potential disaster in the making; even if they were able to beat back hordes of slaves who might revolt once they discovered where to find the Guardians, killing half of them in the process, they could end up dooming the Kingdom because of so many lost hands that could otherwise be utilized in killing monsters and closing Apertures.
In other words, arming the slaves with powerful Fusions was a lose-lose situation, so they needed to remove the source of those Fusions.
How to go about doing that was hotly discussed throughout the entire Enclave, ranging from striking first and laying waste to various hotbeds of potential rebellion to luring the half-breed to the Enclave, where he could be overwhelmed and destroyed before he could cause any more problems for them. The latter was put forward largely because it was revealed that Vilnesh had managed to somehow capture the Human ¡°family¡± that the half-breed was raised with, and they were now held in stasis until they could be experimented upon to discover the secret of potential Guardian procreation. However, Vilnesh refused to give them up for some sort of lure, as he insisted that they were too important to risk ¨C and the Grand One appeared to agree. Once this crisis was over, they could experiment to the fullest extent of their abilities, because finding a solution to their reproduction issues was probably the most important discovery that they could or would ever produce.
Their arguments and indecisions were annoying to Farmas, who craved to leave the Enclave and eliminate the half-breed once he found him. He was fairly confident that even with these powerful Fusions, this ¡°Fusionist¡± wasn¡¯t a match for him.
But he also wasn¡¯t stupid. Chinli, for all that she was the weakest Guardian, had obviously underestimated the half-breed, which led to her death; while he didn¡¯t know all the details, he wasn¡¯t going to be stupid and attempt to kill Vilnesh¡¯s spawn by himself ¨C as much as he¡¯d achieve an enormous amount of satisfaction from doing so. He would take another Guardian along to watch his back, of course, and since he was already used to pairing up with Syrlia, she could join him on their expedition of pest extermination.
That was precisely why he was in the Grand One¡¯s audience room, leaning up against the wall with Syrlia nearby. A dozen other Guardians were also standing or lounging around the large space, equally as impatient or simply bored-looking, as they waited for their ¡°guests¡± to arrive. While it wasn¡¯t common knowledge who was coming, Farmas and Syrlia were there when the messenger arrived, so they had the foreknowledge to know that this was important. As much as he didn¡¯t want to admit that they probably needed some outside help to decide what to do about the half-breed, he knew that the Enclave could spend weeks or months arguing different viewpoints before anything was decided; they needed to something to spur them to action, and he had a feeling that these ¡°guests¡± were precisely what was required.
Farmas glanced at Syrlia as he heard the large, ornate, gilded doors swing open, followed by the stomp of feet. A pair of Martial slave guards in full plate armor ¨C a ridiculous affectation, as they would be useless against a Guardian or any other source that could threaten a Guardian ¨C led a procession of slaves inside the audience room. Almost every single individual of the 11 people that entered was a Mage, wearing what he figured were supposed to be fancy robes, and reaching out with his senses, he was surprised at how powerful most of them actually were. From his information, he immediately recognized 8 of them as the leadership of the shadowy group called Unspoken Response, an organization that they¡¯d used heavily in the past to great effect, but hadn¡¯t utilized too much of over the last decade or so, for a variety of reasons. Previously, he had thought that they had been executed after the Nobles had been largely released from their control, but he¡¯d recently learned that he was mistaken.
Judging by what he could feel from them, and from what he remembered that they were now referred to as, he could identify the ones named Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Nature, Shadow, and Light. There was also one that wasn¡¯t as powerful in any individual element, but was strong in all of them ¨C an extreme rarity in Human slaves, as they tended to gravitate toward one element or another. This was Prime, someone he¡¯d never met before, as he hadn¡¯t personally interacted with the organization for hundreds of years; he vaguely remembered Prime¡¯s predecessor, but of this new one, he knew nearly nothing.
There were also two others with these leaders of the Unspoken Response, and it didn¡¯t take long for him to guess who¡ªor more accurately¡ªwhat they were. The first was a woman who, despite being in the presence of her betters, had the look of one who saw everyone as beneath them. He was very familiar with that look, as he shared it, though in his case it was actually accurate. Based on that look, he could only assume she was a Noble, and a gentle touch of his Dominion Magic showed that she was under the control of one of the Guardians. He didn¡¯t dig too far, nor try to discover who it was, because that was considered rude, but it was enough to know that they had some influence over at least one of these ¡°guests¡±.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
With a long-standing tradition of not directly controlling the Unspoken Response, as it was better to allow the organization the ability to have the freedom to make their own decisions, it was unlikely that they would chance usurping more control now. It was possible that the Grand One would make that decision, but it wasn¡¯t up to Farmas.
Strangely enough, the second unknown individual, who was dressed as one of the Mage Academy Professors, was also under the control of a Guardian; another brief touch with his Dominion magic showed that it was actually a different Guardian than the Noble, but again he didn¡¯t pry. It didn¡¯t really matter in the long-run who it was, only that the ¡°guests¡± could be controlled somewhat.
But it was the final slave that was dragged into the room that caught his attention. His Magical Detection Skill went wild as he assessed the young Human, who appeared drowsy from a beating, but was still conscious. His arms and hands were painfully tied behind his back with a strong chain, making it obvious that he was a Martial of some sort and likely to be able to break out of anything weaker. What was crazy, though, was that Farmas also detected the spark of a Mage within the young slave.
Impossible!
He wasn¡¯t alone in his shock, as he could see that every other Guardian in the room had fixated on the young Human as well, with a few of them appearing as though they were within seconds of rushing over and experimenting on the bizarre individual to discover how this could¡¯ve happened. Only Guardians, and potentially the half-breed because of his heritage, could access both sides of their magical gift, so this abomination had to be explored so that they could discover how to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.
Before any of them could move to personally investigate this strange Human, the group came to a stop, and a door at the end of the audience chamber opened. Out of the door came a scowling Vilnesh, who immediately schooled his expression to one of indifference once he walked a few steps inside, and he was followed by the Grand One a few seconds later.
Farmas immediately bowed as he saw the glowing golden robes of their leader, keeping his eyes from staring at their magnificence. ¡°Raise your eyes. There¡¯s no need for all this right now,¡± he heard in a soft, melodic voice, and he lifted his face to stare into perfection.
The Grand One wasn¡¯t only the most powerful of them all, but was the personification of beauty and grace. The natural Dominion magic that emanated from them was so strong that it even slightly affected the other Guardians, which was the reason why they avoided looking at the Grand One most of the time. Farmas had to tear his gaze away as he looked to see the reaction of their ¡°guests¡±; it was always an experience watching others react to the presence of the Grand One, and this occasion was no different. Each of the Humans that had entered were on their knees, staring at the perfection in front of them, and he could see their gazes glaze over slightly, at least until he could feel the Grand One rein in their natural Dominion magic enough to snap them out of their temporary fugue state.
When he looked closer at them, however, he realized that it wasn¡¯t all of their guests that reacted like that. The one being dragged along had apparently recovered enough to lift his gaze, and he simply looked impassively, if not a little angrily, at the Grand One ¨C as if they were of no consequence. Farmas had to restrain himself from rushing over and taking the slave¡¯s head off his shoulders, and he wasn¡¯t the only one. A few even took a step toward the Human when they saw that, but they were stopped by the Grand One¡¯s voice.
¡°Stop. Let them speak.¡±
Everyone in the room froze, giving their guests a chance to present why they were there in the first place.
¡°Thank you, your excellency,¡± Prime spoke, giving the Noble woman a look to keep her mouth shut when she opened her mouth. The sheer magical strength of the Unspoken Response leader could nearly rival that of a Guardian, though of course he was missing the other half of his potential ¨C so he was no threat to them. ¡°We¡¯ve come here today with a dual purpose. While we¡¯re not personally aware of how much you know about the one called ¡®The Fusionist,¡¯ we felt it would benefit you to know that he is a serious threat to the stability of the Kingdom. As has been our duty since the Unspoken Response was first established, we take our responsibility in safeguarding the Kingdom very seriously, which is why we took a contract to eliminate one who has been seriously disrupting the safety and stability of the status quo.
¡°Unfortunately, The Fusionist has proven to be significantly more of a threat than we realized upon taking the contract, and he has not only managed to avoid elimination, but has, in turn, eliminated every single Responder sent against him. Not only that, but we are convinced that he has the ability to track us down, despite the impossibility of such an action, and we would request your help in completing our contract. I realize that we are overstepping the bounds of our agreement, but please¡ let me explain.¡±
Prime grabbed the unusual young Human and pushed him forward. ¡°This here is the second reason we¡¯ve come, and will hopefully explain in a little more detail how dangerous this Fusionist individual really is to the Kingdom. Captured at great expense and difficulty, this is one of the ¡®Volunteers¡¯ that the target has not only organized into a cohesive fighting force, but has somehow made permanently stronger and immune to the mind-controlling bugs that are still a problem in a large swath of the southeastern portion of the Kingdom. As I¡¯ve had confirmed by others, our contracted target has somehow managed to unlock magical potential in normal people, in addition to somehow granting them access to all of their potential. In other words, his Volunteers have access to both Mage and Martial stats and abilities, which is blasphemy of the highest order, as I¡¯m sure you know. More than that¡ª¡±
The Grand One held up their hand, stopping Prime from saying any more. The perfect Guardian glided forward, their eyes on the defiant gaze of the captive Volunteer, and Farmas felt a slight strain as he watched the Grand One ramp up their Dominion magic; it would¡¯ve been more intense if it had been directed toward him, but instead it was fully slamming into the young, bound Human. He watched the Volunteer grimace in pain as his eyes nearly rolled up into his head, and he fully expected him to quickly fall under the Grand One¡¯s control.
But, as impossible as it was, that didn¡¯t happen. When the golden-robed one pulled their Dominion magic back, the young man hung slightly limp in the grasp of his captors, but the defiance was still fully present; if anything, it was even more intense.
¡°Do your worst, you filthy Gergasi! You¡¯ll get nothing from me! The Fusionist is our savior, and there is nothing you can do to me to get me to betray him!¡± the Volunteer shouted, before spitting in the Grand One¡¯s face.
Farmas twitched, but he was too late; he watched as Mardrik, a fellow Guardian, completely bisected the Volunteer from head to crotch for his action. Even as the two halves separated from the sword that cut the body of the slave apart, there was a buildup of Mana from two different places inside the corpse: In the head and in the chest.
As should be expected, the Grand One was already moving, and as they lifted their hand, a protective bubble surrounded the corpse, trapping Mardrik¡¯s sword inside. The enraged Guardian stepped back just as the two sources of Mana exploded violently, detonating inside the protective bubble and obliterating the body of the Volunteer.
¡°W-What was that?¡± he heard one of the Unspoken Response ask; Farmas didn¡¯t know, but he had his suspicions. They were confirmed by the Grand One a moment later.
¡°Ruptured Fusions. An artificial method to provide this trash with access to their full potential, as well as blocking any Dominion magic.¡± They looked at Prime and the others, and Farmas could practically feel their anger on his skin. ¡°This ¡®Fusionist¡¯ needs to die. We will provide assistance, though it necessarily will be limited so as not to make the situation in the Kingdom worse. I¡¯m assuming you have a plan already?¡±
Farmas watched with amusement and lingering anger at the disrespectful Volunteer as Prime audibly gulped under the gaze of the Grand One. ¡°Uh, yes, we do, your excellency.¡±
¡°Good. We¡¯ll provide whatever aid you need, but for now, Farmas and Syrlia have the most experience tracking down your target, and will assist in any way possible.¡± A look at them both of them before the Grand One swept away, retreating through the door through which they had arrived a few seconds later, was all Farmas needed to know. He and Syrlia would technically be at the disposal of Prime and the Unspoken Response, but when it came down to it, he was authorized to sacrifice them all if it was necessary to take down the half-breed.
With the demonstration of the anti-Dominion magic Fusion in the Volunteer, it became even more of a priority to eliminate Vilnesh¡¯s spawn. It wasn¡¯t about the death of Chinli anymore; this was about losing control of the entire Kingdom, if such Fusions were allowed to spread.
With a grim face, he walked over to the still-shocked group of slaves, staring them down until they flinched away. ¡°So, tell me¡ what you have planned to kill the one you call, ¡®The Fusionist¡¯¡.¡±
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 43
The next few days were filled with rest and relaxation, courtesy of a plethora of Fusion creation and experimentation ¨C at least for Larek. For the rest of the Volunteers and the newly arrived SIC members, it was something more approaching controlled chaos than anything else.
¡°¡and so the first problem arose when there were some arguments about implanting your Illuminated Free Will Fusions,¡± Nedira began to recount the events of the last 96 hours as they sat down to eat breakfast on the fifth day since they returned to Thanesh. ¡°Fortunately, or unfortunately as it was, there was apparently a rogue bug that slipped into the group as they were being processed outside the gates of the city, and one of the SIC Lieutenants began acting strangely enough that it caught everyone¡¯s attention. Panic set in as they realized their fellow Corps member was now being mind-controlled by a bug, and it didn¡¯t take long for them to see the results of your Fusion, once it was forced upon the poor Mage that had been controlled.
¡°After that, the installation of the IFW Fusion went swiftly, with only a few grumbles from the SIC. Thankfully, just as we¡¯d seen a change in the attitudes of the Volunteers once they were fully cleared of any lingering Dominion magic, our new arrivals also became a lot more enthusiastic about joining with us, as many of their reservations faded away.¡±
Larek nodded, stuffing his face with a mixture of breakfast meats and sweet pastries as he indicated that he was listening.
¡°From that point on, things went a bit smoother. There was originally some concern that Auran would attempt to usurp Kimble¡¯s place in the leadership, but she seemed to want to concentrate on defenses and negotiating with Factions, rather than overseeing the entire operation, so there wasn¡¯t a problem there. The only issues arose when we started handing out your Gradual Aetheric Purification Arrays, or GAPAs, as there was a scramble among the SIC to start the process of unlocking their full potential ¨C which got in the way of our normal culling schedules until they got what they needed.
¡°Once unlocked, though, it seemed to mellow our new Volunteer branch members out a bit, and they¡¯ve taken to their duties with a new vigor. Nearby Factions, which had previously been prepared to march on the city and fight the Volunteers, have already changed their tunes once Auran and hundreds of SIC members swept into their towns and cities to set the record straight about everything. It also didn¡¯t hurt that they brought along thousands of Illuminated Free Will Fusions to help with the mind bug epidemic still sweeping through the area. With a bit of work, we¡¯ve already begun getting ahead of their spread, with the hopes that the majority of the outbreak will be contained within a week or so. Thankful Faction members are now working with us closely to handle the nearby Apertures with very little pushback, especially as Fusions are starting to spread to them.¡±
She smirked at him briefly as he nodded again. ¡°And no, not just your Fusions. The first few batches of Fusions created by your student have already begun to spread, and while they¡¯re not anywhere close to the quality and strength of yours, they¡¯re still being utilized by those who have very little alternative. Eventually, they may rival your own, but for now, we¡¯ve been appreciative of the effort you¡¯ve put in over the last few days to bolster our dwindling supplies.¡±
He was only slightly surprised to hear that his students were already producing some quality Fusions, as he had been shocked at how well they had performed when he was last with them. He had another class scheduled with them in a few days, and he was looking forward to seeing how much they had improved.
¡°As for the Traveling Gates that had previously been used to help stop the Factions from attacking us by sending monsters through toward their towns and cities, they¡¯ve been recommissioned to act as quick methods of travel, and with hundreds of others that you¡¯ve been able to create for us lately, we¡¯re hoping to have the majority of the Kingdom accessible within a month or two.¡±
Larek finished his plate of food as he thought about the creation of those Gates, which he¡¯d spent an entire day on after it was mentioned to him that they needed more. He was more than happy to make them, especially as they¡¯d helped to improve his Skills. While he eventually lost track of how many he¡¯d created, he figured that he¡¯d made at least 1,000 paired Fusions.
¡°It¡¯s amazing how much can get done when you have access to fast travel, either through your Gates or from flying with your Buoyancy Fusions ¨C which have changed the time it takes to respond to emergencies greatly. As our coordination expands, it won¡¯t be long until every single Mage, Martial, and Guardian will be working as an enormous team to tackle the Apertures and the threat they present to the Kingdom.
¡°But more importantly, as the SIC branch of the Volunteers has taken charge of stabilizing the regions around the two closed northern Calamity territories, it¡¯s gradually freeing up more and more resources for us. Farming using your Fusions has spread, solving potential famine issues already, and the rapid transport between areas is helping with trade, allowing for a greater exchange of necessities and materials to where it is needed most. Even something as simple as a pair of VREP staves and a few Graduated Parahealing Fusions gifted to Faction-run towns is enough to bolster their defenses against their nearby Apertures, allowing them to be more effective and protect wider areas.
¡°Of course, it¡¯s still early to see how much of an impact the spread of your Fusions has, but it has been incredible so far. I suspect that, if things keep going this way, the Kingdom will be fully protected and integrated together in 6 months, and we could continue to expand into other nations and countries, to spread our influence and help safeguard the entire world, over the next decade.¡±
That definitely sounded ambitious to Larek, but that wasn¡¯t exactly what he was most concerned about. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll be until we can start closing the rest of the Calamities?¡±
There were only two Calamities left: the southwestern one, which he¡¯d been forced to visit while running from the Gergasi, and the central one, which was smaller in size, but apparently strong enough that it made the others look weak in comparison.
Nedira paused for a moment before answering. ¡°I¡¯d say it will be about a week or so before we¡¯re completely stabilized enough to attempt the one to our west. After that, we¡¯ll have to prepare a little bit more to tackle the central one.¡±
While he wanted to help close the Calamities, the primary reason behind closing them hadn¡¯t changed ¨C and he knew that Nedira was aware of that. Once the Calamities were all closed and the Kingdom stabilized enough, he would be assaulting the Gergasi Enclave in an effort to free his family.
¡°And is there any information about our missing SIC advisors, or on the whereabouts of the remaining Unspoken Response?¡± It still rankled him that the Dean and the Noble woman responsible for siccing the assassins on him had managed to get away. As for the assassins themselves, now that they¡¯d been essentially gutted from the loss of so many of their number, he wasn¡¯t too worried about them; at the same time, he¡¯d rather not have to worry about those remaining attacking him at random.
In other words, it was better for everyone if they weren¡¯t around anymore to kill innocent people.
Unfortunately, that outcome didn¡¯t seem to be likely, as his betrothed shook her head. ¡°Unfortunately, no,¡± she responded. ¡°It¡¯s like they completely disappeared.¡±
¡°That¡¯s¡ unfortunate. I¡¯d rather be done with worrying about them, especially with everything coming up.¡±
¡°I agree, but as the Volunteer and SIC information networks are expanding and meshing together, we¡¯re bound to learn something soon.¡± Nedira placed her hand on his arm, squeezing it consolingly. ¡°You just need to give it some time.¡±
He knew she was right, but now that they were getting closer to consolidating the defenders in the Kingdom into at least a loose organization that was no longer at odds, the more pressure he felt on himself to fulfill the promise to himself that he would do everything in his power to save his family ¨C and to punish those who¡¯d caused so much grief for him and nearly everyone else in the Kingdom over the centuries that they¡¯d been in power.
Removing her hand from his arm, his betrothed started cleaning up from their breakfast. ¡°Did you have any more thoughts on the problem Bartholomew came to you with yesterday?¡± she asked as she placed the plates in the sink.
It took him a second to remember what she was talking about. ¡°Oh, uh, yeah; let me go grab it.¡± Larek got up from the table and wandered over to his throne of pillows where he did all of his Fusion-creation, before spotting the steel plate holding the Fusion he¡¯d designed the night before.
¡°You already solved it?¡± Nedira asked incredulously. After he nodded, she chuckled for a moment before saying, ¡°Of course you did. I should¡¯ve known.¡±
He certainly had found a solution, though he hadn¡¯t tried it yet ¨C and he let her know that, as well. Once he was holding the palm-sized steel plate in his hand, he realized that it should probably be a little more compact, especially considering what it did ¨C and what problem it solved.
The issue that Bartholomew ¨C in conjunction with multiple teams within the Volunteers, including the SIC branch ¨C had was concerning transportation. The Transports that were currently being used were amazing, but they still took about half a day to get from one side of the Kingdom to the other, even at full speed. The Traveling Gates he¡¯d designed had helped cut this down to seconds, of course, but what happened when a group of Volunteers or SIC defenders were responding to an emergency on the other side of a Gate ¨C but their target was actually many miles away? They might be able to get to the vicinity fairly quickly by using the Gates, but if they needed to quickly respond to an Aperture that was 100 miles away, for example, it wouldn¡¯t necessarily be faster than flying there on a Transport.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
A quick-response team was only as quick as the transportation could get them to the emergency, after all.
Taking a Transport through a Traveling Gate was basically impossible, as they were too large to fit through any but the largest Gates ¨C and he had yet to create any that were large enough for that size of object moving through. Most of the time, Gates would only be big enough to fit individual people through; while there were ones that could accommodate wagons and small caravans, especially in the case of trade, they weren¡¯t quite as common ¨C at least not yet. But something with enough clearance for a Transport was unlikely to ever be too common, as the energy to keep it operational would be a huge drain on the ambient environment, even if that ambient environment was displaced from its actual location.
This was the problem that Bartholomew had come to him with the day before, and thankfully Larek had a solution for him ¨C all thanks to the new spells he¡¯d just learned. Up to that point, he hadn¡¯t been able to experiment with the effect of those spells since he¡¯d returned, but his old bodyguard gave him the perfect excuse to play around.
¡°This it?¡± Nedira asked when he handed it to her.
Larek shrugged. ¡°Hopefully? Let¡¯s go try it out.¡±
After a few minutes to finish cleaning up, the two of them left their home, and he took them out of the city with an old-style Pattern box and windshield, flying about a mile away from the walls. Setting down in a strip of land in between fields, which was overgrown with weeds and covered in loose gravel, he took the new Fusion he¡¯d designed and looked it over for a final time for any flaws. It had been late the night before when he¡¯d finished, so he hadn¡¯t had a chance to check it over, other than to make sure it wasn¡¯t going to start fracturing because he was tired at the time. As usual, though, it was basically flawless in its formation ¨C at least in terms of strength and precise placement of each component.
Whether or not it actually did what he designed it to do was another matter.
¡°So, the issue with the teams moving through the Gates was transportation on the other side. I originally thought about simply designing something similar to the Portable Lifter but for individuals, but that wouldn¡¯t necessarily help if, say, a team went through a Gate and needed to transport the local defenders to an Aperture to work as a larger group. It¡¯s still something I want to develop, however¡ but back to this,¡± he said as he lifted up his new Fusion, getting back on track.
¡°With this,¡± he continued, ¡°a team can go through with a spare set of a Buoyant Sphere, a Buoyant-Thruster, and a Strengthen Fusion, and then use this particular Fusion to create what they need for transport. Ideally, stone will be the most plentiful of materials for them to use, but this Fusion can manipulate nearly any inorganic resource to make a transport. Watch.¡±
With a mental command that utilized his exact thoughts, an idea based on the way some of his Automatic Fusions could detect the ideal temperature or what he considered a threat, he directed the Fusion to claim a large chunk of the gravel and dirt strip in front of him, before lifting it a few feet into the air. When it activated, there were the sounds of crunching and grinding as it looked like someone suddenly took a chunk out of the ground about 6 feet in diameter, with it still being flat on top.
¡°This is the first step of this multi-purpose Fusion. I wanted to play around with the effects of the Stone Extraction spell, altering it to include any nearby material within range; the end result was being able to extract just about anything you can see, but the drawback was that I couldn¡¯t find a way for it to locate and pull up resources from far distances. There¡¯s a component to the Stone Extraction effect that seems reliant on an instinctual locational knowledge of the stone in the caster that was difficult to replicate perfectly, so I had to figure out a compromise.
¡°However, when I took a look at Form Barrier, I was able to vastly improve upon what that spell effect could do.¡± Demonstrating it with his mental command to the Fusion, the chunk of dirt, gravel, and overgrown weeds began to change shape as compressed with a force that was very similar to the Effect of Heavy Load, but in this case it pressed the material together so strongly that the dirt and gravel combined together into one cohesive material, as strong or stronger than stone.
The organic material, which included hundreds of bugs that had been crawling in the dirt as well as the weeds, was completely untouched, despite the compression of the inorganic material. Both watched as the bugs and plants all rained down below the compressing ball of dirt and gravel, squeezed out like juice from an orange, landing in the hole he¡¯d made in a spreading pile.
Once it was compressed completely and all of the organic material was ejected, it was time for the third Activatable Effect of the Fusion. Using mental imaging, he used the Fusion to shape the compressed dirt/gravel material into a flat disk approximately 3 inches thick and 60 feet wide, before raising the edges to create an outer barrier 3 feet high, until it looked like a sharp-edged bowl. He mentally added a few holes similar to The Hopper and the other wooden transports, which would allow staves or spells to be aimed down below, and then used a little bit of extra material to add some small, simple stools to the center, where someone could sit down if they wanted.
There wasn¡¯t enough material to make more than a half-dozen of them, but the Fusion could theoretically form more of the resource and add to his creation, but he would have to set it down first. It was a limitation of the Fusion that it could only pull up a certain amount of material at a time and couldn¡¯t handle more than one chunk at a time, but if someone needed something a little more ornate, then they would be able to add to an existing construct. The chunk limit also applied to the amount that could be manipulated into a design at one time, but different parts of it could be worked on separately.
The greyish-brown ¡°Transport¡± construct was then set down away from the hole thanks to a process of the Fusion, and he was pleased to see that it didn¡¯t fall apart. He had been hoping that the compression of the material would work the way he designed it, but he hadn¡¯t been entirely sure if it would; the Effect was based on multiple concepts from both the Extract Stone and the Form Barrier spells, so it was hard to determine ahead of time whether his alterations would work.
¡°And now, all anyone would need to do would be to attach the suite of Buoyant Fusions and an additional Strengthen Fusion to enhance the durability of this material, so that it won¡¯t fall apart if they¡¯re a bit rough with it. When all is said and done, it shouldn¡¯t take more than a minute or so to fully form some sort of basic transportation and be on their way. It should operate similarly to what we already utilize as Transports, just made with a different material. Stone is ideal because there shouldn¡¯t have to be any compressing involved, and as much as I¡¯d like it to be able to shape wood, the organic nature of the material makes that a bit more difficult ¨C so I left it out.¡±
Larek turned to see that Nedira had caught all that, only to see her staring at the dirt and gravel construct he¡¯d created. He was about to ask if she was alright, but she shook her head and said, ¡°This is incredible. Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve created?¡±
He shrugged. ¡°A way to create Transports much faster?¡± he asked uncertainly. That was the original goal, after all.
¡°No. Well, yes, but it¡¯s so much more than that. Tell me a few things, Larek. How fine of detail can you shape? Can you manipulate much smaller quantities of material? Does this work on metal?¡±
He thought about it for a moment. ¡°I guess that there¡¯s no real limit to how fine of detail you can create, as it¡¯s limited only by whatever mental image you can picture. You can manipulate material anywhere from something the size of a fingernail all the way up to what you saw here. And since metal is inorganic, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems with manipulating it just like stone or dirt.¡± He wasn¡¯t sure where she was going with this.
¡°Think about it, Larek. With this, you could construct a building in minutes, forge a sword without needing an actual forge, or even create an art piece if you were so inclined. This is going to revolutionize everything. And it isn¡¯t even for large things, either; do you know how long it takes a silversmith to make a chain of silver links? It could take days, but with this, they could do it in minutes. As I said before, this is incredible.¡±
When he finally stepped back and looked at it that way, he had to admit that she had a good point. It made him feel even better about what he¡¯d designed, even if it had been originally created to solve a completely different problem.
¡°Huh. I guess you¡¯re right.¡± With a shrug, he stored away his new Fusion, before approaching his newly formed creation. He didn¡¯t have any spare Fusions in his sack to make it flyable, but he didn¡¯t need them; instead, he created the necessary suite of Fusions on the material directly, and minutes later, they were headed back to the city ¨C where he parked it outside the walls, giving it over to the attendants there for them to distribute to whoever wanted to use it. He didn¡¯t need it, after all; he still had The Hopper ¨C which had been repaired, thankfully ¨C or he could simply make another Transport using his new Fusion.
Soon after arriving back home, he spent a little time making multiple copies for the Volunteers to use, keeping the first one he¡¯d made for his own collection, as he placed them on smaller blank plates which would be easier to carry. Afterwards, he looked at the changes to his Skills over the last few days.
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 90 (+2)
Spellcasting Focus Level 92[102] (+2)
Pattern Recognition Level 105[115] (+3)
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 115 (+5)
Focused Division Level 113 (+3)
Fusion Level 120[130] (+5)
Pattern Formation Level 120[130] (+5)
Mana Control Level 120[130] (+4)
Magical Detection Level 120[130] (+2)
Pattern Manipulation Level 122
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 15 (+3)
Aetheric Authority Level 15
Primal Essence Mastery Level 9 (+4)
The increases in his Skills were enough to push him to another personal Level, and with achieving Level 65, he split the 40 AP he received evenly between Strength and Agility, bringing both to 360. Other than that, there weren¡¯t too many changes ¨C but everything around Fusions continued to become more and more smooth during the creation process ¨C for which he was thoroughly grateful. The increase in his Primal Essence Mastery, in particular, made the creation of Traveling Gates easier and faster, as that continued to be the most complicated and intense formation process of any of his Fusions. Any reduction of the strain involved was more than welcome.
Based on what Nedira had told him, it sounded like the Volunteers and the SIC were getting along and working together, so it was only a matter of time before the next phase in his plans could take place. As his betrothed had mentioned, he just had to be patient and things would come together ¨C but he was beginning to get restless with every passing day. He knew that he¡¯d be able to hold on until they were ready, despite the desire to venture out on his own and start early. After all this time, he¡¯d learned the value of having assistance to help him out if things got a bit hairy, so he was more than willing to wait until the others were as ready as they could be without having to wait years for them to get stronger.
Unfortunately for his applied patience, the sudden overwhelming sensation originating from the west didn¡¯t want to conform to his timeline.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 44
¡°It¡¯s surging? The other Calamity didn¡¯t feel like this when it expanded, did it?¡±
¡°Something¡¯s wrong; it¡¯s never felt like this before!¡±
¡°What¡¯s going on? What happened?¡±
¡°That doesn¡¯t feel like a typical expansion¡ª¡±
Larek blocked out the conversations he heard as he quickly made his way toward the Volunteer headquarters, rushing past the confused and panicking people in his way. He couldn¡¯t blame them for their reactions, though, because he had to admit that he was close to panicking, too.
It was because most of those he heard were correct in saying that this didn¡¯t feel normal. When the southeastern Calamity had expanded shortly after he arrived in the area, as he was with Nedira and Verne and they were looking for Norde, the feeling of the surge it gave off was intense, especially so close to the expanding border, but it was nothing like what they were experiencing right now. Given that the border with the southwestern Calamity was hundreds of miles away to the west, the fact that they could feel such a strong surging effect coming from it was worrying.
And it wasn¡¯t just that it was surging ¨C or at least he didn¡¯t think it was just that. There was something else under the pressure coming from that direction that was almost sinister in its presence; he couldn¡¯t describe it any better than that, try as he might.
It felt like it took hours to reach the Volunteer Headquarters, but in reality it was only a few minutes. For some reason, he didn¡¯t think to use his Pattern Manipulation to create a platform to travel above the heads of the others; the sudden surge from the southwestern Calamity had really thrown him for a loop, it seemed.
He caught the sight of Nedira squeezing out the entrance of the building when he arrived, having been dropping off copies of Larek¡¯s newest Fusion, Shape Material, to those within the Volunteer organization who could distribute them to the ones who needed them the most.
¡°Larek! There you are! Hurry! We¡¯re having a meeting up above¡ª¡± Larek cut her off as he grabbed her and finally formed a Pattern platform underneath his feet, launching them upwards. A second later, he landed on the roof, gave her a quick kiss to apologize for taking off with her so suddenly, and then rushed down the hatch, where they could easily meet in Kimble¡¯s office ¨C which he assumed she was referring to as their meeting place. Thankfully, it seemed as though he was correct, as he watched Bartholomew race inside the office, followed by General Auran and a pair of SIC Lieutenants he recognized: Paluna and Mygor, the latter of whom had recovered enough from his temporary coma to start light work after his injuries and healing.
¡°Close the door, if you would; we don¡¯t need to add even more panic to the people out there than already exists,¡± Kimble said as soon as Larek and Nedira entered. He did so, before sitting down in one of the chairs that appeared to be reserved for him.
The silence stretched as everyone sat or stood around, experiencing the intensity of the surge happening out west. Grim faces met his as they contemplated what exactly this could mean.
¡°So,¡± Kimble began as he cleared his throat, ¡°it appears as though the Calamity is surging. After we¡¯re done here, we¡¯ll be sending out every team of Volunteers possible to start evacuating the surrounding areas.¡±
¡°I¡¯m not sure that will be enough,¡± General Auran interrupted, shaking her head. ¡°This feels completely unlike anything I¡¯ve experienced before. Something is different about this one. We need to strike now and not wait for it to finish expanding.¡±
¡°But we¡¯re not ready to tackle it quite yet,¡± the nominal head of the Volunteers refuted. ¡°The situation around the other former Calamity regions is still highly unstable, and while we¡¯ve made great strides toward organizing current and future defenses, we still have a long way to go. Pulling everyone away from that will only result in delays and relapses in more than a few isolated areas. It¡¯ll be better if we evacuate those affected for now, which should be more than possible with our Transports, and then once we know the rest of the Kingdom has stabilized, we¡¯ll be able to devote our full attention to closing it.¡±
¡°The logistics of the evacuation are complicated and will pull a bit of our resources away, but it would be possible,¡± Verne spoke up. If Larek remembered hearing it correctly, his former roommate had taken over farming and supply allocation to the majority of the Volunteer-held areas, so if anyone could say that it was possible, then it was him. Along with him, Teena had slipped into the role of Transport Head, meaning that she was in charge of the Transports that were used; they probably worked together enough that they knew about each other¡¯s areas of expertise, indicating that Verne likely knew of the logistics of transporting people, as well. A quick nod from the Aeromancer confirmed this.
¡°Be that as it may, it doesn¡¯t matter if the rest of the Kingdom falls apart if we allow this Calamity to expand without any response. Can¡¯t you feel it? There¡¯s something about this that is abnormal, and I¡¯m not stupid enough to deny that it scares me.¡±
Penelope spoke up, supporting the General ¨C which gave Auran more credence in Larek¡¯s book, as his blue-haired former bodyguard still hadn¡¯t warmed completely to working with the SIC, especially after it was known that one of the SIC advisors had been the one to send assassins against Larek. ¡°I agree. Many of you probably didn¡¯t spend too much time around this Calamity, but Vivienne and I have; we were even there for the last expansion, and it was nothing like this. Something is seriously wrong; I¡¯m worried that if we don¡¯t stop it, and soon, then some catastrophe is imminent.¡±
Larek listened to them argue about the correct course of action while he sat back and closed his eyes, expanding his senses to pull in more information about the surging he felt. There was an unknown undercurrent to it that he¡¯d noticed before, but the difference was that it was also slightly familiar ¨C and he didn¡¯t know why. As decisions were made and discarded over what to do, he bathed in the sensations coming from the Calamity, attempting to decipher what exactly it was.
Unfortunately, it felt like the more he dug into it, the more it became a mystery. Just as he thought it was becoming clear, a touch on his arm broke him out of his contemplation.
¡°¡ªwhat do you think we should do?¡± Nedira asked him. He replayed the arguments that he¡¯d heard, and while he didn¡¯t have a perfect recall of them since he wasn¡¯t really paying attention, most of it had basically been going around in circles, between acting now and waiting until things were more stable.
He already knew what he wanted to do, as he was becoming impatient to get moving on his ultimate goal again. But caution about this sudden surge in the Calamity had him wary of jumping straight into it, especially when there was more than a hint of malevolence in it that it shouldn¡¯t have had.
After a few seconds of contemplation, he finally answered. ¡°I agree with both proposals, but also with neither. I suggest a compromise: Start to prepare for an attack on the Calamity, while at the same time evacuating those in the most danger. Something tells me that rushing in without ensuring we have everything covered would be a bad idea.¡±
¡°But¡ª¡±
¡°What about¡ª¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Both Kimble and General Auran started talking simultaneously, before they cut themselves off when they noticed the other was speaking. They stared at each other for a moment as some sort of silent communication passed between them. After a few seconds, they both seemed to come to an agreement.
¡°That sounds acceptable,¡± Kimble finally said, and the General nodded a few seconds later. ¡°We¡¯ll get started on that immediately; it will actually help calm everyone down, if we¡¯re working proactively rather than letting it just expand.¡±
The General added, ¡°And planning for our expedition into the Calamity will allow us to prepare for any eventuality. In this situation, it¡¯s as win-win as can be.¡±
He wasn¡¯t sure why they needed Larek to tell them that, as a compromise between their two courses of action should¡¯ve been obvious, but he was just happy that they listened to him rather than argue further. He was tempted to sit back and close his eyes again to see if he could detect anything else from the surge, but he¡¯d already lost his previous focus on it ¨C and the busy office probably wasn¡¯t the best place for detecting it.
As he got up, he announced, ¡°I¡¯m going to see if I can figure out why this surge is different from the others. In addition, I¡¯m going to look into some solutions for our journey into this particular Calamity.¡± He didn¡¯t have to explain himself, as everyone knew what he was talking about.
The persistent damage-over-time aura of death that everyone experienced when they walked inside its territory was a problem with so many people entering at the same time, as well as absolute darkness that descended upon the territory when night fell.
A few minutes later, he was back in his home, sitting in his pillow throne as he contemplated what he needed to create. While Nedira and the rest of his friends and allies were working on the logistics of the expedition, as well as the evacuation of those in danger once the Calamity started to expand, his focus was on mitigating the danger to the Volunteers and SIC members who would be coming with him. He needed them as safe as possible because he was going to rely on them to handle the subservient Apertures and reinforcements, and he wasn¡¯t sure how long it was going to take to clear them all and take out the central Aperture.
The first thing that he wanted to tackle was the aura of death with which the Bone Wraith Nedira had told him about had filled the Calamity, as even with Body Regeneration, it would still potentially be deadly for those who hadn¡¯t raised the Skill too far. Having access to Healing Surge Fusions would help repair the damage that the persistent aura imposed, but constantly using it would also quickly drain the physical energy of its users.
Unfortunately, Larek didn¡¯t have any miraculous, perfectly designed effects that would ward off the aura of death in the Calamity, but there might be a spell that may or may not work. He was relatively certain that his Protection of the Void Fusion, despite being quite powerful, wouldn¡¯t necessarily block something like an aura of death. While it was possible that it would still work, he wasn¡¯t going to rely on that to keep everyone safe.
Instead, he would use something he¡¯d learned from the Unspoken Response, a spell used on him and his friends that didn¡¯t work out the way they probably hoped it would: Mana Siphon. In this case, he didn¡¯t want to create something to siphon all of the Mana from an area, because that wouldn¡¯t necessarily affect the aura; rather, he wanted to formulate a new Effect that would absorb the aura of death, and only the aura of death.
From his previous experience in the Calamity, it was a subtle energy that permeated the entire Calamity, but it wasn¡¯t any of the normal energies that went into Primal Essence, for example. Instead, it was something completely different, almost like a persistent, gaseous miasma that flowed into and out of everything in its territory; it wasn¡¯t exactly absorbed by living things, more that it passed through them and left behind a residue that necrotized everything it touched.
Hmm¡ I think I can work with that.
First, Larek applied his knowledge of the Mana Siphon spell effect to a Fusion, which was easy enough to create since the idea behind it was simple enough. The Fusion he created was rather uncreatively called Adjustable Mana Siphon, and what it did was pull in Mana from a designated radius around its formation.
There were a few things that surprised him with its operation when he turned it on, however. First, as it pulled in ambient Mana from the environment, it used that Mana to keep it powered on; as a result, he discovered that if he kept the Mana use to less than what the ambient Mana could easily replace over time, it could run indefinitely. Unfortunately, the radius to make this happen ¨C at least in his area ¨C was only a few feet, so it wasn¡¯t very practical. The second thing he discovered with his new Adjustable Mana Siphon Fusion was that the Mana that was siphoned from the environment didn¡¯t just disappear or get fed to keep the Fusion running; instead, inside the Fusion¡¯s formation¡ªor more precisely, inside its Effect component¡ªthe Mana condensed into a swirling cloud that was even visible in a physical sense. He thought that, if he was able to gather enough together, he might be able to make it solid, if it was condensed enough; what exactly that would do or create was a mystery, but it was an interesting development.
But what was the most interesting aspect of the Fusion was that the siphoning Effect was actually quite versatile. While he hadn¡¯t changed it in the formation he¡¯d created, he found that he could subtly shift the siphoning component to begin absorbing something else. Using Pattern Manipulation, he deftly shifted the target of the Effect to Stama, and a moment later, the Fusion started to absorb Stama. A minute later, he had it absorbing Aetheric Force, first with Pure AF and then with Corrupted AF. It was with the latter that he had to shut it off almost immediately after the compressed Corrupted AF began to write and move around like it was alive. Fortunately, he was fast enough that nothing bad happened, as it dissipated into the air as soon as he deactivated it, but it was something that he wasn¡¯t planning on trying again until he better knew what was happening there.
Finally, he worked on shifting the Effect¡¯s target to absorbing the aura of death in the Calamity, but unfortunately, because of the significance of the change from an energy to an aura, it wasn¡¯t able to be done with his existing Fusion. Instead, he created a whole new Fusion with his goal in mind for the Effect, and after some extensive focus to get it right, he finally succeeded ¨C or so he hoped.
New Fusion Learned!
Reactive Necrotic Siphon +10
Activation Method(s): Reactive
Effect(s): Detects harmful necrotic aura
Effect(s): When detected, siphons and condenses necrotic aura from the environment in a spherical range around formation
Effect(s): Strengthens steel
Input(s): Necrotic aura detection
Magnitude(s): Sphere diameter up to 10 feet, 1,000% steel material strength
Mana Cost: 32,500
Pattern Cohesion: 1,150
Fusion Time: 96 hours
If it worked the way he planned, the Fusion would detect the necrotic effect of the aura of death and then siphon it into the Fusion before it could negatively harm the person using it. It wouldn¡¯t completely eliminate it from contacting them, as it might pass through them as the aura was absorbed, but he estimated that once an area around them was siphoned, it would cut down 95% of the deadly effects. It would then be safe enough for their Body Regeneration to help counter the effects, even if it was at a low Skill Level.
But he still had to test it, because he wasn¡¯t sure what would happen when the aura was absorbed and then condensed in the Fusion. His previous experiment with a Corrupted AF siphon was a bit worrying, so he¡¯d have to see if it would be safe for everyone using it; he didn¡¯t want to inadvertently have the Fusion create a condensed ball of death that would instantly kill anyone who accidentally touched it, after all.
That would defeat the purpose behind his creation, after all.
Before he tested it, however, he had another problem for which he needed to find a solution: The darkness. Previously, some Illumination Fusions had been enough to get them through, but they were a bit limited in the fact that they were either directional in nature or were so bright that they blinded anyone who tried to look anywhere near them.
Fortunately, his solution to this problem came in his recent experiences with spherical areas-of-effect. It only took him a few minutes to develop a new Fusion named Adjustable Illuminate Area, which would flood light into a spherical area instead of coming from a singular source. It was also able to be adjusted so that it could be brighter and a larger area if needed, though anything over a 200-foot radius made the cost of the Fusion prohibitive.
Now, even on a Transport, those inside the Calamity in the darkness could easily see their way around with a single one of these new Fusions. It could be set and left alone; it could even be permanently installed into a Transport so that no one would have to carry it around.
With those two new Fusions completed, he held off on experimenting with them both until later that night, where he could test both of them in the Calamity in its full darkness to see if he needed to alter anything. In the meantime, he relaxed back in his pillow throne and closed his eyes, feeling the surging from the Calamity pass through him, as he attempted to focus on what felt so familiar about it¡.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 45
The land underneath him flashed by as Larek flew alone for the first time in what felt like months. Granted, there were times when he found himself flying on his own, but there was still someone relatively nearby; most of the time, though, he was always accompanied by someone such as Nedira or one of his other companions.
Now he was on his own. It was a bit more liberating than he expected, if he was being truthful with himself, though not because he wanted to be alone. Instead, it was more that he didn¡¯t have to worry about safeguarding those who accompanied him from any harm, which could be a distraction during the heat of battle. Even given the new protective Fusions he¡¯d created to keep them safe, he still worried about them being hurt. Fortunately, they were rapidly becoming strong enough that he didn¡¯t worry about their safety quite as much, especially as he knew that their help would be both necessary and invaluable in his future plans rescuing his family from the clutches of the Gergasi.
But for now, he was going to take advantage of his solitude to push himself and his abilities to the brink. It had been a little while since he¡¯d really been able to stretch his Pattern Manipulation Skill to its limits, as flying a Pattern platform or box construct with a passenger, he had to conform to their physical limitations. Without having to worry about someone else, he could now fly faster than he ever had before.
If he had thought his flight with Nedira from the pair of Gergasi that had been chasing him weeks ago had been fast, the speed at which he moved by himself put that to shame. Normally, The Hopper could make the trip from Thanesh to the border of the southwestern Calamity in about 10 minutes if he pushed it to its limit; with Nedira in a Pattern box with him, he could probably make the trip in about 7 or 8 minutes.
By himself, however, he arrived in a little less than 90 seconds. It was so fast, in fact, that with an angled windshield cutting through the air at such speeds, a vortex-like vacuum was formed behind the windshield, sucking all the air away from Larek¡¯s position behind it. Thankfully, he could easily hold his breath for the duration of his flight, and he didn¡¯t think that it was necessary to breathe while he was testing himself.
As he approached the border, just as the sun completely set behind the horizon, he finally slowed down and took a deep breath, amazed and amused at how fast he could actually move once he didn¡¯t have to worry about some limitations. Once he caught his breath, he let the overwhelming feeling of the Calamity wash over him, again prompting an underlying sense of familiarity that he still hadn¡¯t been able to decipher. It was even stronger at the border, and he imagined it would be the same once he passed over the threshold into the Calamity¡¯s territory, but that still didn¡¯t help him deduce what exactly he was feeling.
At first, he thought it had to be related to the Gergasi, as he figured that his partial heritage was triggering something deep down inside. However, try as he might to pinpoint anything inherently ¡°Gergasi-like¡± about the sinister sensation, he couldn¡¯t necessarily attach anything he felt to the giant race.
After that, he went through a gamut of different sources that it could be that were familiar, but none of them quite fit exactly. That didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t be one of them, of course, though he didn¡¯t have enough information to accurately place it.
Therefore, he¡¯d given up attempting to parse his feelings and turned his attention to finishing up some other Fusions while he waited for evening to set in. Nedira and the rest of his friends were running around like crazy, delegating tasks to get the Volunteers and the SIC branch ready for their assault on the Calamity in a few days, so he left them to their work while he went out and did his experiment. He, of course, had told Nedira where he was going and what he was going to do, and while she was worried for him, she knew that he could take care of himself on such a short trip.
He could tell that she was close to asking to go with him, as she had vowed to never let him go too far from her again, but she must have seen something in his face that made her change her mind. Whether it was seeing the desire to do this on his own or something else, she had simply made him promise to be careful and to come back safe ¨C which was easy enough to promise.
As he didn¡¯t want anything to interfere with his experiment, which included his Pattern constructs, Larek set himself down right on the border of the Calamity and watched as night fully fell across the land. It was definitely a sight to see the sky above him darken, but still be able to see around him well enough with the fading rays of the sun, while only a few feet away, the translucent wall that denoted the limit of the Calamity was darkening to the point where he couldn¡¯t see more than a few dozen feet inside. Even that distance was shortened over the next minute as he kept watching, as complete darkness washed over the land inside the territory in front of him, the visible effect of the Calamity¡¯s central Aperture making itself known.
Wait¡ is it? Yes; yes, it is.
It took him a few seconds to confirm it, but it soon became clear that the Calamity was already expanding. It wasn¡¯t growing at a fast rate, but even as he stood there for a minute, he estimated that it expanded another half-inch or less. For it to be beginning its expansion already, he realized that something had to be speeding up the process, because it typically took a while with an Aperture this large. It normally ¡°surged¡±, which allowed it to gather the energy it took to start expanding, and that could take a few days to weeks for a Calamity; seeing it already growing at the speed it currently was, however, was alarming.
I¡¯ll have to let them know when I get back; we may have to push up our timeline.
But that was something he would deal with later; the reason he came to the Calamity wasn¡¯t to see if it was expanding or not. It was to test his new Fusions.
With that in mind, as he stepped over the threshold into the Calamity, a few things happened simultaneously. First, the underlying sinister sensation that he¡¯d been feeling outside of the border¡ stopped. He had expected it to grow stronger, or perhaps change; what he hadn¡¯t expected was for it to disappear completely. He stood there, wrapped in nearly complete darkness for about a minute, searching for any hint of what he was feeling before, but there was nothing. A quick step back outside brought it crashing back down into him, while another step into the Calamity¡¯s territory caused it to disappear immediately.
That¡¯s¡ odd.
He had no explanation for it, as all it gave him were more questions.
The second thing he noticed had to do with the reason he was there. The aura of death that he¡¯d previously felt while inside the Calamity was back, and it felt even more intense than before. He could feel the pervasive aura eating away at him, but fortunately his Body Regeneration was more than sufficient to counteract the persistent necrotic force pushing into him.
And that was all through his Protection of the Void Fusion, too. To confirm that his suspicions about his protective Fusion not having any effect on the aura, he deactivated Protection of the Void and felt absolutely no increase in the constant aura of death passing through his body. A touch of vindication shot through his mind, as he was immediately glad that he hadn¡¯t relied on his previous protective Fusion to ward against such a malevolent effect, as entering into the Calamity unprotected against the aura of death would¡¯ve been highly dangerous for a large number of the Volunteers, especially those who didn¡¯t have a higher enough Body Regeneration Skill. Relying on healing Fusions to heal someone from the aura¡¯s effect would only be so beneficial before it started to eat away at their physical body, unless they also constantly ate food to counteract the physical energy being used by the healing process.
Granted, he still had to try his new Fusion to make sure it worked. Pulling it out of his Void Pocket sack at his waist, Larek held the Reactive Necrotic Siphon in his hand, pleased to see it automatically activate as it sensed the necrotic energy around them. For the first time, the aura of death became visible to his Magical Detection, as streaks of energy blacker than the darkness itself streamed toward the Fusion in his hand.
Magical Detection has reached Level 121!
Magical Detection has reached Level 122!
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Within seconds, the constant drain on his body¡¯s physical well-being dropped to nearly nothing, though it was still slightly present. As the area around him began to clear of the persistent aura of death, with only the most distant streaks of necrotic energy still flowing into the Fusion as it drifted near its radius of effect, so too did the overwhelming darkness that continued to envelop the entirety of the Aperture¡¯s territory. It wasn¡¯t a significant lightening of the environment around him, as it only made it possible for his vision to penetrate about a dozen feet or so before being cut off, but that was better than the few inches it had been when the utter darkness surrounded him.
Huh. The darkness and the aura of death are the same? But what about during the day, when the aura of death still exists?
Larek didn¡¯t have the answer to this question, but he supposed it didn¡¯t really matter. What mattered was that his new Fusion was working, though he still had to see if sucking up the nearby necrotic energy would be dangerous, after a while, as it was condensed inside the formation. Placing it down on the ground, he pulled his halberd out from his sack, along with his other new Fusion, Adjustable Illuminate Area. Placing it right next to the Necrotic Siphon, he activated it at its full illumination distance, and a second later, the darkness was pushed back in a 200-foot radius as the light expanded to fill the entire area.
It also revealed why he¡¯d pulled his halberd out of his sack. In short, he had company.
A large horde of Bone Wraiths floated a few feet above the ground as they rushed toward him from the west. He counted approximately three dozen of them, which was a larger group than he¡¯d seen before when he was there previously with Nedira, but that didn¡¯t really deter him.
As they approached, he began to see wisps of darkness flowing off of their forms, which were quickly sucked up by his new Fusion; it seemed as though the information about the Bone Wraiths being the source of the necrotic energy behind the aura of death was correct. It wasn¡¯t a lot coming from each Bone Wraith, barely enough to seriously worry about, but he could only imagine that over a while of constantly leaking the stuff, the Calamity would quickly replace whatever he sucked up with his Fusion.
Larek could¡¯ve blasted the Bone Wraiths apart with his VED staff, making short work of them, but he decided to flex his Martial muscles a little, as he¡¯d had little chance to lately. After ensuring his Protection of the Void was active again, another Pattern platform under his feet took him straight toward the undead monsters coming his way.
A quick streak through their numbers with his halberd split six in half, while he also activated the Variable Elemental Gust Sphere with Magnitude 4 fire-based gust spheres exploding in the middle of their bodies, sending them up in flames. As they burned to their second death, he swooped back down on the remaining horde ¨C only to pause when he realized that none of them seemed to have noticed he was even there. In fact, they continued on the same course they were on before, completely ignoring that some of their number had been annihilated.
His confusion lasted all of a second as he evaluated their path, seeing that they were on a straight shot toward his Fusions on the ground ahead of them. As they were separated from each other by about 5 feet, it only took a half-second to see that they weren¡¯t heading toward his Adjustable Illuminate Area Fusion; rather, they were seemingly homing in on his other one.
Larek wasn¡¯t exactly sure why they seemed to be attracted to it, but the fact that it was absorbing the very same necrotic energy that they unnaturally gave off probably had something to do with it. But why they were so focused on it to the extent that they completely ignored him was a mystery¡ for the moment.
Curious, he dashed in with his Pattern platform and easily whittled their numbers down from behind, as they didn¡¯t do anything to defend themselves or even attack him, even when he paused right near one of them. It was as if they didn¡¯t even see him, for some reason. He turned off his Protection of the Void Fusion temporarily, thinking that perhaps they couldn¡¯t sense his life force, perhaps, as he figured that was how they saw their victims, considering that they didn¡¯t have actual eyes, but that didn¡¯t seem to change anything.
It didn¡¯t take long to destroy all but one of the Bone Wraiths, which he allowed to reach his Reactive Necrotic Siphon Fusion. He wasn¡¯t too worried about it destroying the formation on the steel plate, as it would take something much stronger than the weak monster in front of him to do that, but he needed to know why it seemed so interested in it that it ignored everything else.
As he looked at the Fusion, he saw that the gathering deposit of darkness ¨C which was the necrotic energy that was siphoned from the environment ¨C was compressed into a small sphere of swirling energy. It was only about the size of one of his fingernails at that point, so it wasn¡¯t large, but it also appeared fairly stable and unlikely to suddenly rupture or explode like he worried about. Of course, it was still fairly early to tell if there were any other issues that might arise once it siphoned out a lot more necrotic energy; that was why he was planning for his experiment to last most of the night, as he needed long-term data to determine whether it was safe to use or not.
Contrary to what he expected, which was for the Bone Wraith to attack the Fusion with the intent to destroy it, given that it was essentially absorbing the same necrotic energy it gave off, the undead monster reached down almost gently with a bony hand and plucked the orb of condensed necrotic energy from the center of the formation, like someone would pick a berry off a bush.
The next moment was strange, and it was only because he was watching closely that he saw what happened due to it occurring so quickly. With a rapid squeeze of its skeletal fingers, the sphere of necrotic energy was crushed in the Wraith¡¯s hand, and Larek witnessed the energy within it quickly be absorbed by the monster¡¯s appendage before spreading throughout its entire body. In no more than a second, the energy dispersed completely through the undead, seeming to disappear, but then he watched in horrid fascination as the Bone Wraith began to transform.
Gone was the relatively frail skeletal form that was no taller than the average Kingdom citizen, its head covered by a ragged cloak with a hood to hide its skeletal face. What replaced it was an 8-foot-tall skeleton with burning red eyes in its exposed skull, which was due to the cloak having shifted shape into a black-colored metal spear. It still floated above the ground, as its feet seemed to have disappeared and its leg bones were cut off at the ankles; the biggest difference in its aerial ability was that it was much faster than the relatively slow Bone Wraith it was before.
Not nearly as fast as Larek, of course, but as it seemed to notice him for the first time and lunged with its spear, seeking to impale him through the chest, he estimated that it was between 3 and 4 times as fast as before.
What did I just witness? Did this thing just evolve?
He put off trying to answer that at the moment as he struck back at the transformed Wraith, killing it fairly easily for all that it was larger and faster. When it died, he received a larger chunk of Corrupted Aetheric Force from it than from its unevolved cousins, which he supposed was a bonus. At the same time, there was no sign of the necrotic energy that it had absorbed, as if it had all been consumed in its transformation.
Huh. That was¡ very odd.
Shaking his head at the impossibility of what he¡¯d just seen, he was interrupted from contemplating about it any more as another horde of Bone Wraiths entered the sphere of illumination provided by his other Fusion, and he quickly intercepted them before they could reach the Necrotic Siphon. Even though this was a different group, and smaller in number than the first, they also seemed to be fixated on his Siphon, so it was easy enough to tear through them without any opposition.
A few minutes later, another horde of Bone Wraiths arrived, as if following a call that they couldn¡¯t ignore. This pattern continued for another hour or so, with another horde of weak Wraiths appearing every 5 to 10 minutes, all of them seeking the Fusion he¡¯d created ¨C or more precisely, the necrotic energy compressing within its formation.
As for the Reactive Necrotic Siphon, it appeared to be doing its job quite well, but as Larek looked at it after the latest horde of Wraiths was destroyed, he heard a small *clink* that drew his attention. Falling from where it had been condensing was a sphere of darkness approximately half the size of his fist, which smacked into the steel plate and then rolled off. In its place, where the formation had been condensing necrotic energy, was another tiny sphere of darkness, as if the Fusion could only make a sphere so big before it ejected it.
Preparing himself as best he could, Larek activated his Healing Surge Fusion as he picked up the solid orb of necrotic energy, expecting it to immediately start killing him from the concentration of deadly miasma inside. Thankfully, touching the sphere didn¡¯t seem to do a single thing to him, even when he¡ªstupidly¡ªturned off all of his protections and simply held the orb in his hand. He could feel the strong necrotic energy contained inside, but whatever his Fusion had done, that necrotic energy was sealed away in its new shape. He thought that, perhaps, it was only extremely deadly when it was in its free-floating energy form, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. He couldn¡¯t even be sure how long it would stay in this shape. Would it eventually fall apart, releasing all of the necrotic energy at once, killing anyone nearby? Was it fragile, and would it break apart if he tried to crush it like a piece of sandstone?
More experiments were needed.
Because he didn¡¯t want to try breaking it anywhere near him, he instead tossed it high up into the air and away from him. He lost track of it as it disappeared in the darkness above, before it plummeted back down about 190 feet away from him, slamming right into a rock sticking out of the dead earth around it. He watched it bounce off the stone without breaking, which was a good sign that it wasn¡¯t too fragile, as it was fairly heavy for its size and had hit the rock with a significant amount of force.
Before he could retrieve it, another horde of Bone Wraiths floated out of the darkness, heading straight for the condensed ball of necrotic energy. Not knowing what it would do if a Bone Wraith got a hold of such a concentrated sphere, he pulled his VED staff out and attempted to blow them up before they could reach it. Unfortunately, by the time the explosion he¡¯d caused dissipated enough for him to see, as it had knocked up a significant amount of dirt in the process, he could only watch as a half-dead, surviving Bone Wraith picked up the orb of necrotic energy in its one remaining skeletal hand.
Uh-oh. This might be bad.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 46
Dodging the enormous battleaxe that attempted to detach his legs from his upper body, Larek flew straight up, aiming his VED staff down below before triggering it multiple times with Magnitude 8 explosions. As the detonations rang out, sending multiple shockwaves through the air, ruffling his hair as he stared downward, he grunted in consternation to see the enormous skeletal monstrosity still standing on 4 of its 6 legs. It was holding up the weapon it had somehow formed from the necrotic energy it had absorbed from the orb, and he could see that it had blocked the majority of the explosions with the flat of the axe ¨C though it obviously couldn¡¯t block it all, as evidenced by the pair of shattered legs.
Unfortunately, those legs seemed to be reforming, even as he stared at the still-intact behemoth of bone, an abomination reaching 30 feet tall and twice that wide. It looked like some sort of crab with how it spread itself out, scuttling along with its extra legs, but instead of two large claws, it had 6 arms ¨C 4 of which were used to swing the 40-foot-long battleaxe with a head that was at least 20 feet wide.
Well, crap. Guess it¡¯s time for something else.
Larek hadn¡¯t wanted to see what the Bone Wraith was going to transform into approximately 30 seconds ago, so he¡¯d attempted to blow it up with his staff during its transformation. When the explosive force was instead sucked into the changing skeletal monster, seeming to add to whatever was going on, he then took to hacking it apart with his halberd. Unfortunately, no matter where he slammed his weapon into it, he would easily break through the bone, only for it to repair itself as soon as his halberd was withdrawn. A hastily created hollow sphere of Pattern Cohesion the size of himself was then slammed into the growing monstrosity, but his attempt to break more of it apart while he attacked with his weapon was all for naught, as it completed its transformation before he could destroy it.
That was when he had to dodge out of the way of the enormous battleaxe that the skeletal monstrosity had somehow formed, and the black-metaled weapon had swung faster than he had expected. While his Protection of the Void would likely protect him if it hit him, Larek didn¡¯t want to chance it; dodging seemed preferable, especially since he was still faster than his opponent.
But now it appeared as though the explosive detonations formed by his VED staff weren¡¯t quite strong enough to kill the evolved monster; in fact, he thought that the monster might even be partially resistant to those detonations, because it absorbed his attempts to destroy it while it was forming. Of course, he could probably stay airborne and constantly bombard it with a constant barrage of explosions, eventually wearing it down, but already he could sense another horde of Bone Wraiths nearing his location. He didn¡¯t want to chance that this monstrosity would protect them while they went for his Fusion, only for even more of the Wraiths to evolve.
Instead, he switched tactics and began forming large boulders near the monstrosity, which then detonated with a hail of sharp shrapnel. The stone shards were moving so fast and hit with such force that they splintered any bone that they came in contact with, but the skeletal monstrosity was quick to protect its enormous head, which was just barely covered by its battleaxe as it moved it around to block the shrapnel.
This was just a distraction, however, as he pulled out and activated a pair of Fusions simultaneously, before dropping them down below to either side of the evolved monster. As his Vacuum Blasts activated near the monstrosity, he could see it beginning to be ripped apart as it was pulled in two different directions. But before it could be ripped apart, his opponent bent its legs and jumped straight up, somehow escaping the vacuum Effect of the Fusions as it launched straight toward Larek. His momentary surprise was short-lived as he dodged out of the way with his Pattern platform underneath him, sending a high-powered stream of acid at the ascending monster. Unfortunately, all he managed to do was etch a bit into the monstrosity¡¯s axe as it deftly blocked the acid, the metal durable enough to resist most of the acidic effect.
This thing is smarter than I gave it credit for.
Retreating back toward the Fusions on the ground, he watched as his Vacuum Blasts finished sucking in all of the air and blasted them outwards, catching the just-arriving horde of Bone Wraiths in its range. As they were blown backwards, out of his area of illumination, he wasn¡¯t sure whether they lived or not, because he had his own problems to worry about ¨C such as the plummeting behemoth of bone that had managed to control its descent so that it was aimed straight toward him.
Scrambling to find a solution, he considered what he had in his Void Pocket sack that could work against this thing. Unfortunately, he¡¯d emptied out the majority of his older Fusions recently in anticipation of updating what he had stored inside, so he didn¡¯t have much to choose from; what he¡¯d already had should¡¯ve been more than enough to handle most problems he might run into, short of being attacked by some Gergasi.
But he did have a few things.
Whipping out his Heavy Load Fusion, he aimed it at the descending monstrosity, and he heard bone cracking as the axe that attempted to block the Effect was forcefully slammed against the head behind it, damaging more than he¡¯d been able to before. While the axe was occupied and held in place, he used his VED staff to crack a few Magnitude 10 boulders right next to its massive body, shattering the majority of its bone into pieces ¨C which then seemed to be pulled into it again with a dark, magical force that set to repairing it. However, before it could do that, Larek tossed his staff up in the air, pulled out a Portable Lifter Fusion, and began grabbing spherical chunks of shattered bone and flinging them away into the darkness. Once those chunks were more than a few dozen feet away from its body, the magical effect seemed to fade, meaning that it couldn¡¯t simply reattach and repair what had been shattered.
Unfortunately, before he could rip it all away, the evolved monster fell through where Larek was flying, forcing him to fly away lest it smack into him, which released its axe from the hold Heavy Load had on it. The monstrosity slammed heavily and uncontrolled into the dirt below, causing even more damage to its overall body, which he could see, even now, was doing its best to repair itself with a dark, magical force. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
¡°Nope, don¡¯t think so,¡± he said, as he swooped down, forming a large sawblade of Pattern Cohesion, pumping nearly 50,000 of his Pattern into it, as he began rotating it around his body. Another few seconds had him forming a pair of clones using his plentiful Aetheric Force, and he sent the halberd-wielding figures down to start hacking apart the monster while it attempted to recover.
Meanwhile, he took something else out of his sack on an impulse, grinning as he was interested to see what it could do in a situation like this. At the same time, he flew to the side, where he caught the descending staff that he¡¯d thrown upwards, aiming toward the downed skeletal behemoth.
A boulder detonation near its face caused the monstrosity to swing its axe around just in time to block it from the attack, and he stowed the staff away even as he used Heavy Load again, trapping it against its head ¨C essentially creating an immovable shield that he couldn¡¯t easily get past. That was fine, though, as his clones were already at work, hacking through every piece of bone they could target with their halberds, before grabbing the pieces and throwing them away. Larek joined in as he swept in close, absolutely obliterating whatever his Pattern saw blade cut through as he held the Heavy Load Fusion on the axe. Unfortunately, he momentarily forgot that his opponent had more than just the few arms now currently attempting to move its axe, and a bony fist the size of his torso hit him from the side ¨C and passed right into the Void surrounding the Fusionist.
But its momentum was such that its wrist clipped the Pattern platform underneath his feet, causing it to shatter since he hadn¡¯t invested as much Pattern Cohesion into it as into his saw blades, for example. As he fell a few feet while he recovered from the sudden blow, his Heavy Load Fusion was taken off-course, freeing the monstrosity¡¯s battleaxe. A quick swing and one of his unsuspecting clones was annihilated, cut in half by the blow; its backswing attempted to shear through Larek as he dropped, but he¡¯d recovered by making another platform under his feet, this time making it extra strong so that the same thing didn¡¯t happen again. As such, he was able to avoid it completely, but in the process, he¡¯d accidentally dropped the Heavy Load Fusion beneath him.
Rather than go after it, he left his remaining clone to whittle away the lower body of the monster as it struggled to move, while he went straight for the head as he pulled his VED staff out again. As expected, the battleaxe was moved to block whatever he attacked with, but he didn¡¯t activate his staff; instead, he concentrated on the other Fusion he¡¯d pulled out a moment ago.
As Shape Material activated, he focused on the head of the battleaxe the monstrosity was using, specifically where it was attached to the haft. With a mental *yoink,* the Fusion targeted a section of the metal and pulled, ripping out a chunk of the dark metal 2 feet wide and a foot thick. He wasn¡¯t even sure it would work, given that it was formed by a monster, but apparently his Fusion didn¡¯t care about that as the chunk he ripped out of the axe was enough to detach the head of the axe from the haft, and a second later, the double-bladed weapon toppled off the haft, falling to the dirt below.
Larek smiled. ¡°Peek-a-boo!¡± he shouted, seeing what he could only interpret as a confused expression on the enormous skeletal face, as he targeted one of its open eye sockets with his staff, sending a boulder inside.
The *crack* and detonation of the boulder as it exploded inside the already-cracked skull of the monstrosity was satisfying, as its head shattered into thousands of pieces. Some of it was pulled into the void protecting him or bounced off his spinning saw blade, doing no harm to him whatsoever.
And yet, the monstrosity wasn¡¯t finished. Even as he stared down at its inert, headless body in consternation, he could see that a new skull was starting to grow out of its neck.
¡°Oh, heck no. What does it take to kill this thing?¡± he muttered to himself.
It turned out that when he was able to chop off and then fling away more than 70% of its overall body, that was apparently enough for the magic keeping it together and regrowing its body parts to fail, and he witnessed it finally collapse into a pile of bones, before crumbling to dust. A huge influx of Aetheric Force was absorbed a moment later, amounting to over 100,000; it wasn¡¯t nearly as much as the Treehemoth from the other Calamity, but it was still a significant amount.
A noise down below caught his attention as he flew in the air, staring at the remains of the skeletal monstrosity, and he looked to see that his inattention with his opponent had allowed another pair of Bone Wraiths to arrive, and each of them had now transformed into their spear-wielding, evolved versions. With a sigh, he swept down and obliterated them simply with his spinning saw blade, before glancing at his Reactive Necrotic Siphon Fusion.
It works¡ but it might be too dangerous to use. The Volunteers and the SIC should be able to handle the weaker evolutions if some Bone Wraiths are able to get a hold of the condensed necrotic energy, but I would worry about them going up against anything stronger than that. Then again, I was able to defeat it by using Fusions that I can provide for them, so maybe it won¡¯t be too bad. Plus, with more than just one person fighting something like this monstrosity, they should be able to take it down easier. I¡¯ll have to see what the others have to say once I tell them of the danger; it would be a tradeoff with constant damage from the aura of death, but it might be worth it to them. Especially as it would provide a plethora of Aetheric Force to them.
Either way, he was fairly certain that he¡¯d seen the extent of what would happen with the new Fusion if it was used within the Calamity. While it was possible that something might change if he stayed longer, he didn¡¯t think waiting for something to happen would be very beneficial.
At least his Adjustable Illuminate Area worked exactly as he expected it would. That, and his Shape Material Fusion was more versatile than expected, especially when facing something made of inorganic material like the battleaxe the monstrosity wielded.
With the decision to leave made, he gathered up his two Fusions and put the Illuminate Area away in his sack as he walked through the border. The Necrotic Siphon was carried over the threshold, where it eventually deactivated, releasing the condensed necrotic energy, which immediately dissipated into the environment without harm.
A minute later, he was on his way back to Thanesh, sooner than he expected, but filled with news that he had to share with the others. First, there was the fact that the Calamity was already slowly expanding, which was a worrisome piece of information; second, there was the success and danger of his new Fusion in regards to the aura of death inside the Calamity¡¯s territory; and finally, the underlying, familiar feeling that hit him again as soon as he stepped over the border had disappeared when he went inside.
But more than that, after its temporary absence and then being abruptly reintroduced to it again, he was fairly certain that he now knew what it was.
And if he was correct, that could lead to a whole new set of problems. Because it wasn¡¯t just that the Calamity was surging and expanding ¨C which was bad enough. No, what was even worse was that someone was causing it to surge and expand.
In other words, either someone powerful enough to survive in the Calamity was psychotic and wanted to watch the world burn¡
¡or it was a trap.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 47
¡°Are you absolutely positive?¡±
Larek looked at Kimble and General Auran, at their second meeting in as many days, and nodded. ¡°As positive as I can be,¡± he responded. ¡°Ultimately, it doesn¡¯t matter in the overall situation.¡±
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter? You¡¯re talking about someone deliberately causing the Calamity to expand somehow; that¡¯s a big deal, no matter how you look at it,¡± the General said, scoffing at Larek¡¯s dismissal.
¡°I¡¯m not saying that it won¡¯t be dangerous, but it doesn¡¯t change our goal. We need to close the Calamity before it expands out of control; I told you already that it¡¯s expanding even as we speak, so I can¡¯t imagine what it will look like in a week or a month if we don¡¯t do anything.¡±
Kimble spoke up before the General could. ¡°But that is only considering that the Calamity will keep expanding the way it is,¡± he interjected. ¡°We don¡¯t know that for sure.¡±
The Fusionist shrugged. ¡°That may be true. It¡¯s just a feeling I had when I got close to it, after all. But what I am sure of is that this isn¡¯t a normal expansion, so it could stop at any time ¨C or it could continue expanding without ever stopping.¡±
¡°Look, we already agreed to close the Calamity, but we might have to adjust our timeline,¡± the General interjected before they could argue about this again ¨C which was just fine with Larek, as he was tired of the discussion. He¡¯d come back to the city that morning and had imparted the information he¡¯d learned to those with the knowhow to deal with it, but all it did was restart the discussions about what to do about the Calamity in the first place. ¡°We¡¯ll have to speed up the evacuations and¡ª¡±
¡°We don¡¯t have that capability yet, especially with our teams finishing up north, so to ¡®speed up¡¯ their work is¡¡±
Larek stopped listening and stood up. ¡°Let me know what you decide; for now, I¡¯ve got some work to do to get ready. Since you¡¯ve approved the use of my Reactive Necrotic Siphon, despite the dangers, I have quite a few to create.¡± They barely seemed to notice he was leaving as the two of them began to go back-and-forth with their arguments, and he slipped out of the office and then up the ladder to the roof.
From there, it was easy enough to make a Pattern platform to take him back home within a minute, and he entered to find it empty. That was perfectly fine with him, as he had some work that needed to get done.
Taking stacks of thin steel plates with him to his pillow throne, he used his Shape Material Fusion to turn each of them into a curved bracelet with smooth edges, with an opening that could be slipped over the wrist. Kevara had worked earlier in the day to create a large batch of bracelets, but he was going to need a lot more in order to outfit everyone going on the expedition to the Calamity. Fortunately, he would be able to place both of the newer Fusions on the same bracelet, giving everyone a way to see in the darkness and to help reduce the aura of death around them. With the way he was able to separate their areas of ambience, he now had the ability to put quite a few more Fusions on the same accessory, which cut down on the need to be wearing so many different pieces of equipment.
Larek lost himself in his work, reveling in the way his Shape Material easily allowed him to bend a solid steel plate into bracelets, all with a simple series of thoughts, thanks to his Fusion. It got to the point where he was able to pick one of the plates up with his Fusion and transform it in less than a second, so he was able to rapidly create as many as he needed. When he had 100 of the bracelets ready for his use, he spent another minute adding Reactive Necrotic Siphon and Adjustable Illuminate Area to the accessory, before putting them aside; he left enough room on them that he could add something else, but he wasn¡¯t exactly sure what it was going to be just yet.
It still shocked him that those in charge of the expedition to the Calamity had resolved to use the Necrotic Siphon, even after Larek had told them of the dangers. Kimble reasoned that with more people in a group, the amount of necrotic energy being siphoned from the environment and condensed would necessarily be spread out among all of them, thereby lessening the possibility that some sort of bone monstrosity would or could be borne. General Auran had argued that it would simply speed up the process of clearing the Calamity of monsters if they all focused on the Siphons, so it was actually beneficial to have them. Plus, she said, with the Fusions that Larek provided and their own spells and Battle Arts available, she was fairly confident that they would easily be able to handle whatever evolved undead might show up.
If that was what they wanted to do, Larek was fine with that; now that he knew what he¡¯d potentially be going up against, he wasn¡¯t necessarily worried for his own safety, but he just hoped that the General knew what she was doing. The members of the SIC who had joined the Volunteers were generally more powerful in terms of their experience and development, though that would only go so far when it came to evolved monsters, such as the skeletal monstrosity that he¡¯d just recently fought.
Then again, if they planned everything correctly in their assault, then they likely would never have to worry about any Bone Wraiths getting a hold of a condensed orb of necrotic energy. Again, he was leaving the logistics of the expedition to others, but he¡¯d overheard enough to be optimistic at their chances of dealing with the Calamity quickly.
Over the next few days, Larek continued his work, creating thousands of Fusions for those preparing to assault the Calamity. Nedira informed him that they had finally come to an agreement regarding how to speed up the evacuation process, shifting around personnel and even utilizing the Faction members who were beginning to integrate themselves into the larger organization. It was actually turning out to be easier than expected, helped in part because those they were sent to evacuate were already prepared to flee and just needed assistance with transportation, which was easy enough to provide with the Transports.
¡°What do they have to say about the trap that we¡¯re potentially walking into?¡± the Fusionist asked her at dinner, taking a break from his work.
She smiled sadly at Larek, throwing up her hands in helplessness. ¡°They have no idea. I expect that they are waiting for you to tell them the plan there.¡±
That took him aback a little. ¡°Hmm¡. I suppose I can figure out something.¡±
The Fusionist ate the rest of his dinner mechanically as he thought about the problem at hand. If he was right about what he¡¯d felt, then it was likely there was a trap awaiting him inside the Calamity, and it would be dangerous for anyone with him if that was the case. Not because it was a Gergasi he was feeling, nor even multiple Gergasi; instead, the familiar underlying sensation within the surging Calamity was from the Unspoken Response.
It had taken a while to identify it because it wasn¡¯t exactly the same as he¡¯d felt back in Kilvering, where he sensed those in charge of the assassin organization watching him. Whereas that had been something that was related to light, as if someone could see him through that medium, this felt exactly the opposite. A cloying miasma of darkness or shadows accompanied the surging of the Calamity, as if enhancing its effect, and it had the same definitive quality to it that ¨C now that he had equated it to the Unspoken Response ¨C inhabited the distance-viewing he''d experienced before.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Obviously, he could be wrong, but he was 99% sure that he was correct about his assumption. And along with that assumption was that if there was one of the members of the Unspoken Response inside the Calamity, there was a good chance that there were more ¨C perhaps all of them. It was a good plan for a trap, as the assassins had obviously learned enough about him to know that he would try and stop the central Aperture from expanding and putting people in danger ¨C and that he could even race inside to close it before that happened. Now that he knew about the trap, however, he could do something to mitigate the danger.
While no one necessarily knew much about the leadership of the Unspoken Response, based on what he¡¯d learned and experienced, he could only assume that they were powerful individuals, each with their own abilities that made them deadly opponents. The fact that one used light to watch him even at a far distance, and now this new member of the assassins¡¯ group was using darkness and shadow to do something outside the bounds of normal casting, which made Larek assume that many of them could be casters focused on a singular element ¨C but that was a complete guess. Still, it was better than no guess at all, and it gave him a place to start with defending against them.
Ideally, his relatively new offensive Fusions would be more than enough to eliminate the assassins, but he wasn¡¯t going to rely on them; since he¡¯d be walking into a trap, there was every possibility that they would be prepared for his existing Fusions. It was even more than likely that they knew about them via spying on him through the light, as he was now aware that they had probably watched every single fight against their assassin strike groups, so those Fusions were compromised. If he wanted to surprise them, he needed to bring something completely new.
And he thought that he had just the thing. Turning to the thousands of bracelets that he¡¯d created previously, he looked at them as a whole, seeing the possibility inherent in them that he hadn¡¯t thought about before. He wasn¡¯t going to simply add a single Fusion to each bracelet, each of them independent of each other; instead, what if he connected them so that they worked in conjunction with each other, enhancing and multiplying the Effect of the Fusion?
So, that was exactly what he did. The Fusion itself was one he¡¯d already created before and which was simple enough to reproduce; but this time, he added something completely new, a component he¡¯d never thought to use before: Resonate. In essence, the Fusion would detect the use of an identical formation within its range, and instead of creating a whole new Effect, it would add to the detected Effect with a boost, enhancing both its quality and its range. As he began putting it together, he became more and more excited over the potential for something like this, as its applications could be used in other types of Fusions to produce extraordinary results from ordinary Fusions, allowing for a much larger and more powerful result than what would be possible normally.
But that, of course, would have to be something he¡¯d experiment with in the future; for now, he just needed it to work on these bracelets. He tested two of them together to see if they did, indeed, work together with the Resonate component, and he quickly discovered that he¡¯d succeeded spectacularly.
Pleased with what he¡¯d created, Larek began adding the new Fusion to all of the bracelets, working in near darkness the entire time as he took precaution against spying on him. While he hadn¡¯t lately felt the attention through the light like he had in Kilvering, he wasn¡¯t going to take any risks. In fact, he wasn¡¯t going to test it any further than what he already had, nor would he tell anyone about them ¨C so that their function wouldn¡¯t leak to the Unspoken Response.
The following morning, he was done with his preparation, so he took the rest of the day and some of the following night off to rest and recover from his Fusion creation, while crates of Fusions were picked up and distributed to those who would be coming with him to the Calamity. Early the next morning, before the sun was even up, Larek and Nedira found themselves out in the Transport Field, surrounded by thousands of other people, all prepared to board the Transports.
¡°Everyone is assembled, sir,¡± Bartholomew reported officially to Kimble, Larek, and General Auran. ¡°Towns around the border have been evacuated; the situations in the northern regions have been stabilized, to an extent; and we¡¯ve been able to distribute the necessary Fusions to each assault group. As soon as you give the word, we¡¯ll embark and be on our way.¡±
Kimble took a moment to glance at the General, followed by looking over the assembled ranks of Volunteers, SIC members, and Faction members that were joining on this assault on the southwestern Calamity. He finally raised his hand in approval, and the crowd roared their own excitement, as Larek wasn¡¯t the only one anxious to get rid of the constant surging coming from the west.
Larek joined his friends in the fully repaired Hopper, and he took off when they were all aboard. Everyone was coming with them this time, unlike their last foray against the SIC, so Neidra was joined by her brother, Verne, along with Teena; Kimble was accompanied by Esmer; Penelope was with Vivienne; and Bartholomew was by himself. The General was on another Transport, and while he also had another 20 Volunteers on The Hopper, it still wasn¡¯t too crowded.
¡°So, are you happy with this plan of yours, Larek?¡± Kimble asked softly, coming up next to him. ¡°It''s relying on a few suppositions, after all.¡±
The Fusionist nodded. ¡°Yes. If there¡¯s a trap, it¡¯s probably near the center; it¡¯s the only place that one could reliably believe they would find me. The other groups should be fine.¡±
¡°And you have a plan for this supposed trap, if there is indeed one?¡±
¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ve got that handled,¡± he responded as he looked out at the points of light in the darkness of the pre-dawn environment. Each transport now had an Adjustable Illuminate Area Fusion permanently attached to it, creating large beacons of light in the sky. ¡°Just so that I have the rest of the plan in mind, would you be able to go over it again?¡±
Kimble looked at him in confusion for a half-second, before he chuckled. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right. You decided to skip all of our planning meetings, didn¡¯t you? I can¡¯t blame you for that, however, because they were quite boring ¨C but necessary.
¡°Anyway, to answer your question, I can go over the wider plan with you. First, as we¡¯re doing right now, we¡¯re moving out before day hits, so that everyone can get into position in their designated assault section. With 20,000 total participants, each of them equipped with staves with a myriad of offensive Fusions, a large percentage with your Protection of the Void Fusion for defense, and many of them also equipped with a plethora of your newest additions, including these bracelets, this is the largest undertaking that the Kingdom has ever seen.
¡°Split up across 500 Transports, there are 40 people per vessel, which is more than enough to handle just about anything that we might encounter. In a coordinated assault, we¡¯ll be striking as soon as dawn clears the darkness from the Calamity to give us plenty of time before night falls again to clear out the entire territory. A full 350 of our teams will be tackling the subservient Apertures, while the remaining 150 are on undead duty, where they will be hunting down and annihilating any hordes of undead that are wandering around, thinning out their numbers as we advance toward the center. By midday, the plan is to have the majority of the subservient Apertures wiped out, and the teams will station themselves above them in order to eliminate any reinforcements.
¡°Meanwhile, the remaining 150 teams, along with us, will be advancing toward the center, where we¡¯ll wipe out all of the more difficult evolved monsters that are likely guarding the central Aperture. This is the most dangerous part, because if you¡¯re correct, it¡¯s at this point that the trap might be sprung for you, but I¡¯m trusting that you have a plan for that. If that is successful, then it should be easy enough to eliminate all the monsters and begin whittling down the Aperture, closing it before the day is done. We shouldn¡¯t have to worry about being enveloped by the darkness that the night would bring, but we have contingency plans in place in case there are any delays.
¡°How¡¯s that?¡±
Larek chuckled. ¡°Sounds perfect. A quick strike before the Calamity can react is probably the best solution to close this one. Is there any other information on what might be awaiting us in the center?¡±
¡°Nope. No one¡¯s been able to get that close in the past, as the aura of death only becomes more potent the further you travel toward the center, so we haven¡¯t had anyone able to investigate it yet. We¡¯ll be flying into it a bit blind, but we should be able to handle it.¡±
Larek certainly hoped so. They were certainly as prepared as possible, and with more strength behind them than there had been in any of the previous Calamities.
The only wildcard was the trap, but even that wasn¡¯t something he was too worried about. The Unspoken Response would find that they were completely unprepared for his coming, despite their trap.
And he would finally be able to end their threat to the Kingdom, enacting more than a little revenge for the countless lives that they¡¯d likely taken over the years.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 48
¡°He¡¯s coming.¡±
Farmas pushed off of the flat surface of the boulder he¡¯d been leaning on, glancing at Syrlia as he did. At Light¡¯s announcement, a pretentious name that he nonetheless ¨C albeit grudgingly ¨C had to admit fit the Human¡¯s abilities, he knew that their plan was finally coming to fruition. ¡°It¡¯s about time,¡± he said in frustration, though he was secretly pleased that things were finally coming together.
¡°You know that the speed at which the half-breed responded to the Calamity wasn¡¯t something they could predict, Farmas,¡± Syrlia admonished him, but all he did was grunt in response. ¡°Besides, they were correct in the fact that he did end up coming, right where we can put an end to his dangerous practices.¡±
¡°As had been observed, he isn¡¯t alone. It¡¯s difficult to get precise numbers with the weakness of the dawn¡¯s light, but based on individual illumination sources within their flying vessels, I put the number between 18,000 and 22,000 individuals. They¡¯ve coordinated an assault upon every section of the Calamity and are currently heading straight toward the subservient Apertures. I detected over 100 vessels breaking off and targeting the Bone Wraiths hordes, as had been expected. If they maintain the current speed of their advance, I put their arrival at the center in just over 3 hours.¡±
It had never been a particular focus for him in the past, as he hadn¡¯t really bothered to learn much about the leadership of the Unspoken Response group, but the last couple of days had taught him something: There were abilities out there that he didn¡¯t understand. The way the half-breed could create Fusions, for example, was something that neither Humans nor Gergasi could replicate ¨C but that was only the beginning.
Take the Human member of the Unspoken Response council of leadership, Light, for instance. The woman had a unique relationship with the element of light, as she was able to wield it as if it was connected to her on a level that was unexplainable; even Syrlia was stumped at how effortlessly Light could simply attach her vision to any light source and observe things even hundreds of miles away. That wasn¡¯t all she could do with light, though, as he¡¯d witnessed the Human form a long bar of bright light and manipulate it with a thought, using it to slice through a horde of undead without seeming to struggle at all. It was as easy for her as smashing a head in would be for Farmas, and it wasn¡¯t done by a spell or something similar that could be copied.
Of course, that specialty with the element of Light came with a hefty drawback. While wielding Light as if it was natural to her was easy, it was almost impossible for her to cast any other type of spell. Even a simple Fireball spell would dissipate before it was fully formed, though many of those ¡°simple¡± spells could be replicated with light, to different effects.
The same seemed to be true for almost all of the Unspoken Response leadership team. Their pretentious names, such as Fire, Earth, Water, Nature, and Air were descriptive of their particular strengths, all of them prodigies in their chosen element, unrivaled even by the strongest Guardian. Except for the Grand One, of course; they were extremely powerful, and nothing could dare to touch their greatness. To think otherwise was blasphemy.
The only exception to the rule was in Prime, the nominal leader of the Unspoken Response. That particular individual came the closest to rivaling a Guardian in their expertise with all the elements, though the Human didn¡¯t have quite the breadth of abilities that someone with a focus on a single element had. Overall, he was the strongest of them, though that was purely subjective; Farmas or Syrlia could kill him if it came to a fight with the man, as he didn¡¯t have a Martial¡¯s body or speed to defend himself.
In other words, the two Guardians could kill him before he even knew they were attacking.
¡°Are we set up?¡± Farmas asked, looking toward Prime. The leader of the Unspoken Response was technically in charge, and rather than contest the position, Farmas and Syrlia were content to let him believe that. It made working with them easier, as he didn¡¯t have to waste any energy Dominating them ¨C especially since it was taking most of his concentration right now keeping his presence hidden from the half-breed. Syrlia was handling tamping down her presence better, though there was nothing they could do about the constant Aetheric Force that leaked out of them and into the central Aperture, fueling its expansion, but that was perfectly fine ¨C because it was exactly what was needed to lure the half-breed to their location.
¡°Shadow had extended our camouflage and is expanding our pocket of safety so we can get into position when it¡¯s time,¡± Prime answered, referring to the key member of the Unspoken Response who made all of this actually work. The unusually quiet Human was dressed in a dark robe that would blend into the very shadows that he was a prodigy in manipulating, and while Farmas didn¡¯t see him actually do anything, he saw the impenetrable darkness that surrounded them begin to roll back, expanding the space they had been camping out in over the last few days. It was also Shadow¡¯s ability to manipulate the darkness and everything that came with it that had allowed them to repel the aura of death that filled the rest of the Calamity, leaving them relatively free to simply wait out their stay in their position near the central Aperture.
The Human¡¯s control over shadows was so great that he¡¯d even been able to push the surge and expansion of the Calamity to advance ahead of its normal process, doing something to the undead monsters that he didn¡¯t understand completely. All he knew was that it also kept any of the undead from attacking them; even though he could tell that there were giant hordes of undead roaming around past the boundaries of their camp, not once did they ever approach them. Not that it would¡¯ve been a problem, of course, as the undead couldn¡¯t stand up to the might of the two Guardians, though some of the higher-evolved undead would be a tiny bit of a challenge if they just happened to be discovered.
Thankfully, that hadn¡¯t happened, nor was it likely to happen any time soon. They weren¡¯t the ones that would be discovered, after all; the half-breed and his group of abominations, those with both sets of potential like a Guardian, would be falling into their trap in the next few hours.
It took all of Farmas¡¯ restraint not to fly off right now and take the fight right to the so-called Fusionist, as he was tired of waiting in one place, but he managed it somehow. He was experienced enough that allowing his anger and bloodlust to dictate a fight was a recipe for disaster, so he held himself back until it was time to strike.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.
When the one known as Shadow spoke, it was soft and sibilant, sounding almost like a snake hissing, and rather than being a strange affectation, it suited the dark-robed Human. ¡°All of them are using those Fusions again to absorb the death aura; its disbursement will affect our camouflage here, but it should still be thick enough to do its job.¡±
That was the surprising thing that they¡¯d learned about the night before last. Light had informed them that a light source had infiltrated the Calamity, and surprisingly, it had been their target ¨C all by himself. They had nearly abandoned their ambush and attacked him right then and there; but as the half-breed was right up against the border, it was ultimately decided that they would continue waiting. The Calamity would only do so much to hide their presence from Vilnesh¡¯s spawn, and coming up on him when he was specifically on the lookout for threats wasn¡¯t the best use of their trap.
They were ultimately glad that they hadn¡¯t attacked, as it allowed them to see the use of additional Fusions that the half-breed had somehow created, including one that absorbed the aura of death inside the Calamity and condensed it into a solid. Light had relayed the events that occurred when a Bone Wraith ¨C which was pulled toward the condensed death aura orb like iron to a lodestone ¨C absorbed it.
Somehow, it had rapidly evolved the monsters that Light observed absorbing these orbs, which was thought to be an impossibility. It was yet another tidbit of information that they would bring back to the Enclave, because if a death aura was able to be pulled in and condensed, what else could be?
A visibly shaken Light recounted the half-breed¡¯s battle with what sounded like a third- or fourth-tier evolved undead monster, which only served to prove that this Fusionist was a pitiful fighter, as he clearly hadn¡¯t used any spells or Battle Arts¡ or he couldn¡¯t. If that was the case, then taking him down would likely be easier than they thought, though¡ªagain¡ªarrogance could be deadly, so they wouldn¡¯t be taking him lightly.
What surprised Farmas was that the half-breed had not only come back with that death aura-condensing Fusion, but had somehow created enough of them to pass them out to thousands of other Humans in their assault on the Calamity. Of course, that was only from the observations of Light and Shadow, and not a firsthand account, but by this point he didn¡¯t know why they would lie to him.
They wanted him dead just as much as the Guardians did, after all.
¡°Have you located our target?¡± he overheard Prime ask Light.
The woman nodded. ¡°Yes; his particular flying vessel is unique among all the others. He¡¯s steadily heading toward the center, but the vessel is staying back so that it doesn¡¯t leave the others behind. Speaking of them, their first attacks on the Apertures have already begun, and they¡¯re absolutely slaughtering the monsters down below. They aren¡¯t stopping as multiple vessels are bombarding the monsters from the air, wiping them out with an unanticipated speed. I¡¯m recalculating their advance to the center¡ I think we can cut off another 30 minutes or so. Oh, they¡¯re leaving a single vessel to handle reinforcements. Shouldn¡¯t change the timeline, however.¡±
As much as he hated the half-breed and the abominations he¡¯d created as poor copies of Guardians, Farmas had to admit that the organization and expediency that the Fusionist had brought with him was impressive. It was exactly what they needed to finally clear the Kingdom of these damn Calamities, in fact¡ but not at the expense of letting him get away with what he¡¯d been doing. The half-breed would have to die, of course, but Farmas was sure that the other Humans could use this type of strategy to safeguard the rest of the Kingdom after the half-breed was gone.
Well, after all of the faux Guardians were wiped out and those with Fusions preventing Dominion magic from working on them were executed; they couldn¡¯t allow these dangerous precedents to continue. Besides, it would probably be much easier to take back control of the remaining defenders in the Kingdom once these Calamities were closed; it was their presence that forced the Guardians to pull back completely in the first place.
Time seemed to crawl as they waited for the efficient slaves to work their way through the Calamity toward the center Aperture, with Light keeping them updated on their progress. To think that this Calamity had been such a problem before this, and yet it¡¯s being absolutely destroyed by a force of Humans working together. It just shows that they weren¡¯t trying hard enough before. Lazy slaves, as usual.
It would all be undone with their upcoming ambush, of course, but that was their problem; they¡¯d figure out how to do it again afterwards. Why? Because with the two Guardians inside the Calamity, the central Aperture was essentially invulnerable. Their simple presence was enough to strengthen it to the point where it would take weeks of attacking it to whittle it down enough to close it, which was why none of the Guardians had taken responsibility for closing any of the Apertures and the Calamities. They were simply too powerful; besides, they had slaves to do it for them.
¡°They¡¯re eliminating the last of the monsters around the remaining subservient Apertures now,¡± Light announced, which was the signal for them to really prepare. Farmas hefted his Onyx Bone Warhammer onto his shoulder, as he got ready to lift into the air with Syrlia by his side. It was their responsibility to take out the half-breed, while the others ¨C including the two useless hanger-on individuals who had accompanied the Unspoken Response leadership ¨C would be handling the people he brought with him.
Should be easy enough.
¡°They¡¯re strafing the undead hordes attempting to block their way,¡± Light went on. ¡°I count approximately 200 vessels wiping out the Bone Wraiths, Spectral Ogres, and Flesh Abominations attacking them in a swarm.¡± Farmas recognized her listing off the first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier undead that comprised the main defenders of the Calamity, though there was no mention of the fourth-tier monster that directly defended the central Aperture. He¡¯d seen it shortly after arriving, but it hadn¡¯t bothered them; he wasn¡¯t sure how much of a challenge it would be for the arriving forces to kill it, but he supposed it didn¡¯t matter. They wouldn¡¯t be alive long enough to try.
Prime was watching Light as her sight was centered on something only she could see, so as soon as she held up her hand, he announced, ¡°Alright ¨C to your positions!¡± He turned to Farmas before he could take off. ¡°As soon as our own targets are eliminated, we¡¯ll be able to help you finish off¡ª¡±
¡°Won¡¯t be needed,¡± the Guardian cut him off rudely, but he didn¡¯t care. The restrained bloodlust was starting to surface at the thought of the fight ahead of him. ¡°We¡¯ll take care of our little problem from here. Just do your job, and we¡¯ll be out of here before you know it.¡±
With that, Farmas and his partner shot into the air, heading for the patch of shadow that would hide them from the approaching forces ¨C and he was out of range of the trap they had laid. Syrlia enhanced the darkness around them with a quick spell, deepening the shadows hiding them, even as he detected his first hint of the half-breed approaching. The magical signature wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as it was before, as if it had been altered, which let him know why it had been almost impossible for them to find this Fusionist bastard. It was only because the half-breed was heading straight for them and he was stretching all of his senses that he was able to detect the signature in the first place.
¡°Ready?¡± Syrlia murmured softly by his side, and he acknowledged it with another grunt. That was the only communication needed between them; they didn¡¯t need much more than that to take down the half-breed that had been a thorn in their side for too long.
It was time to obtain their revenge on the only individual to kill a Guardian in a thousand years.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 49
¡°The teams are finishing off the last of the undead; after that, those with us will proceed to the center,¡± Kimble informed him, and Larek nodded absently in acknowledgment as he stared ahead through the holes in the side of The Hopper. ¡°The reports I¡¯ve been able to gain on the move say that there haven¡¯t been any casualties, just a few injuries when Transport #368 was temporarily overwhelmed by swarms of Noxious Pixies, but their backup was able to hold the Pixies off long enough for them to recover. Otherwise, those left behind are holding steady at their respective Apertures, eliminating any reinforcements that are spawning. No difficult access points were reported, so the operation is going smoothly.¡±
The Fusionist was barely listening as he stared at the massive cloud of shadows, which seemed artificial, as it surrounded the central Aperture. He thought he could see the very top of the pitch-black Aperture sticking out of the bank of shadows, if only because it was perfectly curved in comparison to the undulating shadows around it. From what he¡¯d been told, or at least from what information was available, there shouldn¡¯t have been any shadows around the Aperture ¨C though that info was old, before there was a fourth-tier evolved monster guarding it. He supposed that it could be a result of whatever this mystery monster was, but since he was nearly 100% sure there was a trap waiting for them somewhere in the Calamity, he could only assume that this was it.
¡°This is it, isn¡¯t it?¡± Nedira asked by his side, and he nodded once again. Even though the edge of the shadow bank was approximately a mile away at this point, he stretched his Magical Detection senses out to its limit, trying to see what might be awaiting them. Unfortunately, try as he might, he couldn¡¯t detect a single thing; it was as if the shadows themselves were acting as some sort of barrier to his magical senses.
That wasn¡¯t suspicious at all.
¡°We need to be careful,¡± he warned. ¡°I can¡¯t penetrate the darkness with my senses.¡±
¡°I¡¯ll have the others get into position,¡± Kimble said, racing upstairs to the top deck. Larek pulled his attention away from the shadowy trap ahead of them as he watched the flight of Transports finish annihilating the undead below.
Thousands of Bone Wraiths were consumed from tens of thousands of fiery projectiles, launched by the Volunteers inside the vessels with their VREP staves. Hundreds of Spectral Ogres, which were large, spirit-like, flying undead that were immune to physical attacks, were bombarded by spells cast by the hundreds of SIC members scattered throughout the Transports, as they were better able to cast devastating spells with their expanded Mana pools and other boosts provided by Larek¡¯s Fusions. The members of the expedition had quickly discovered that, while his staves did a little damage to the Ogres, it turned out that they were more physical in nature than straight-up spells cast by Mages. Fortunately, they had the people perfectly suited for those kinds of attacks, thanks to the Corps joining the Volunteers.
As for the dozens of third-tier evolved Flesh Abominations that were landbound, the 30-foot-tall, round balls of rotting flesh were the opposite of the Spectral Ogres, as they were heavily resistant to magic; they absorbed most spells sent against them, and the only way to kill them was to completely dismember and hack away at them, removing pieces of flesh by the ton.
Alternatively, the Volunteers up above the horde of abominations could simply rain down multiple streams of acid with VED staves, which would quickly eat into the disgusting bodies of the Abominations. It took about 5 minutes for them to be eaten away enough to ¡°die¡±, but it was worth the time expenditure to stay high above them and out of danger.
As soon as the last of the Abominations were reduced to disgusting masses of dissolving flesh, the Transports left the remains of the undead horde behind as they began to spread out, circling around the central Aperture and the impenetrable darkness that sat near it like a shadowy cloudbank. Including The Hopper, there were 201 vessels that were now all prepared to assault the Aperture, and all of them had been informed in secret that they were likely walking into a trap.
And yet, none of them hesitated to act.
¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯re flying into here,¡± Larek murmured, still trying to penetrate the undulating shadows. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to trigger whatever is waiting for us.¡±
¡°No, you¡¯re not going out there,¡± Nedira informed him in no uncertain terms. ¡°We¡¯ve already decided that if all of us are going to be here, then you have to let some others take a risk sometimes.¡±
¡°But¡ª¡±
¡°She¡¯s right, Larek. We already have a volunteer team, in fact. Look.¡±
Rather than argue, The Fusionist set his sights out toward a distant Transport, which was detaching from the encirclement, cautiously moving toward the darkness. Larek held his breath as it flew right over the shadows, as he expected something to happen to the Transport at any moment, but nothing happened.
At least, not at first. It wasn¡¯t until it started to descend toward the bank of darkness that something flashed out from the shadows and struck the wooden Transport. From one second to the next, the vessel went from perfectly fine to being fully engulfed in flames, with the fire so hot that it was chewing through the wood at a rapid pace.
Fortunately, whoever was piloting the Transport reacted quickly, and they retreated with all haste, angling the vessel away from the bank of darkness and to the ground, as it was rapidly falling apart. Halfway to the ground, he watched as at least a dozen Volunteers or SIC members tumbled out of the Transport, a few of them covered in flames, but the rest fortunately were kept relatively safe by the Protection of the Void Fusions they were using.
¡°Well, that didn¡¯t work. But it at least confirmed that there¡¯s something in there waiting for us,¡± Kimble said as he looked toward where the Transport was crashing down. There may have been some casualties, but it was equally possible that everyone had lived, thanks to their protections. Larek silently thanked them for volunteering to test the waters, so to speak, and he vowed to not let their sacrifice be in vain.
¡°Light ¡®em up,¡± Larek ordered, but that didn¡¯t seem to be completely necessary. As soon as the first explosion rocked the area, a retaliatory use of a VED staff, the rest of the encircling Transports unleashed a barrage of their strongest attacks, either with their staves or their own spells, until the destruction was so constant and seemingly unending that it felt like the entire Calamity was being destroyed all at once.
And yet, Larek frowned as he looked down at the shadowy bank, which instead of undulating like it had been, seemed to have solidified around the edges. The rain of destruction, which would¡¯ve been enough to kill just about anything, wasn¡¯t even getting through the outer portions of the shadows, as the darkness appeared to be acting as some sort of impenetrable shield or barrier. In effect, they were doing absolutely nothing.
After about a minute, he wasn¡¯t the only one who noticed that their attacks were ineffective, as the bombardment sputtered to a stop. When they finally all stopped, it became quite obvious that everything they sent against the shadows had simply bounced off or had been absorbed into the darkness. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
¡°This isn¡¯t working. I have a feeling that we¡¯re going to need to get closer and potentially even enter the shadows in order to¡ª¡± Larek began, before he was cut off by a feeling coming from the darkness. ¡°Everyone, back up!¡± he shouted, but unfortunately only a few of the other Transports saw him move The Hopper backwards.
As if in response to the previous barrage, there flashed out of the darkness a series of pinpoint attacks, each of them targeting a separate Transport. A fireball larger than one of the vessels completely engulfed one of them before exploding with enough force to shatter its shell, despite the Strengthen Fusion keeping it together. A second vessel was swallowed up by a huge globe of water, which rapidly froze into a block of ice before cracking into pieces, ripping the Transport apart. A third Transport didn¡¯t seem to do anything as a green orb slammed into it, but a moment later, the wood itself started to writhe and twist as it seemed to come alive, and Larek thought he heard the screams of those inside as they were attacked by the very vessel that had carried them that far. Fortunately, many of them had Protection of the Void to help protect them, but that didn¡¯t help those who didn¡¯t have that Fusion yet.
A fourth Transport was hit by a stone boulder at least 50 feet in diameter, which then shattered upon contact, ripping the vessel apart from the sheer impact, while also sending it flying backwards at a dangerous speed. Finally, a fifth Transport appeared to be smacked out of the air, as it was sent crashing down as if someone had swatted it from above. The buoyancy Effect didn¡¯t seem to matter as a powerful gust of wind caused the vessel to hit the ground with enough of an impact that its frame cracked under the pressure, and it appeared as though even more air was pushing down on it on a constant basis, as if someone was attempting to squish it.
All of that happened so fast that they weren¡¯t able to react to the sudden destruction, and it was shocking enough that they were frozen into inaction. That proved to be a mistake, as the attack on them wasn¡¯t limited to just the initial volley. Within seconds, a whole new set of Transports were being ripped apart or set on fire, and it didn¡¯t appear as though the onslaught was going to slow down anytime soon.
It was time to activate the contingency plan he¡¯d put in place, before they lost all of the flying vessels and even more people died.
I just hope that this works.
Given that he¡¯d created the extra Fusion on the bracelets containing the Adjustable Illuminate Area and Reactive Necrotic Siphon Fusions in secret, he hadn¡¯t been able to test it more than a preliminary experiment with just two of them. Now, though, if it worked the way he¡¯d designed them, he was about to have thousands of them activated simultaneously.
With a thought, he activated the Resonating Mana Siphon on his own bracelet.
Resonating Mana Siphon +10
Activation Method(s): Activatable, Reactive
Effect(s): Can be automatically activated or deactivated with a Reactive Activation Method upon detection of a controlling Resonating Mana Siphon within range
Effect(s): Creates a powerful Mana siphon that blankets a specific area, absorbing Mana from all sources
Effect(s): Amplifies existing Mana siphons by creating a constant resonating effect, enhancing the range and strength of the siphon
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, activates or deactivates Activatable Activation Method upon detection of mental phrasing by individual in direct contact with object
Variable(s): Mental phrasing ¡°Siphon On¡± and ¡°Siphon Off¡±
Input(s): Controlling Fusion activation detection
Magnitude(s): Detection range up to 10,000 feet, Mana siphon range starts at a 10 foot diameter sphere
Mana Cost: 225,000
Pattern Cohesion: 8,625
Fusion Time: 96 hours
As the Fusion activated, Larek could immediately feel the ambient Mana from all around him start to drain away, being absorbed into a central point focused on the Fusion¡¯s formation. But it wasn¡¯t just the ambient Mana in the environment that the Fusion was siphoning; he felt a strange sensation as it also began pulling Mana from his body, though it was fairly weak at the moment. He also observed that the Resonating Mana Siphon was attempting to pull Mana from the Fusions on him and in The Hopper ¨C but such an effect was prevented because the formational structure of the Fusions was so strong that it held onto the Mana better than anything else in the world. In other words, it was locked up tight and wouldn¡¯t release what was already contained within its formation ¨C especially if it still had a flow of ambient Mana keeping it stable. That was one of the tests he¡¯d performed when making it, to ensure that the Mana Siphon didn¡¯t suddenly break down all of the Fusions nearby ¨C and he was pleased to see that his Fusion-creation abilities made it nearly impossible.
Of course, that was just with two Fusions; he was fairly certain they would hold up under the strain of more, but that was still to be seen.
Thankfully, he¡¯d upgraded all of the old Fusions that the Transports and Volunteers were using to allow them to pull ambient Mana in from further away; the process was simple enough to do and only required the barest fraction of his focus to use Pattern Manipulation on the Mana Cost sections so that the ambience point was elsewhere, so he was able to change tens of thousands of Fusions in just a few minutes of concentration.
But the activation of his ¡°control¡± Fusion was just the start. Every other Resonating Mana Siphon within 10,000 feet of his location was also activated, and the effect was nearly immediate. The suctioning of Mana from all over was visible to him as the field at which the siphoning took place expanded from just his little 10-foot-diameter sphere to one that extended many thousands of feet ¨C which also enveloped the bank of shadows obscuring what could only be the Unspoken Response leadership waiting for them. The pull on his own Mana increased from a little tug to a yank, as it began to drain a few points every second. Of course, since he was absorbing ambient Mana from further away, just like his Fusions, it didn¡¯t really affect him, but it was sure to affect almost everyone else.
His worry that his Fusions wouldn¡¯t be able to hold up under the strain of the enhanced Mana Siphon were largely unfounded, fortunately, though he did notice a few of his oldest Fusions on a few staves he saw nearby were already starting to fade as the Mana was pulled from them. They wouldn¡¯t explode, fortunately, but they would be useless within seconds. Overall, though, at least 98% of all the Fusions nearby were still fine.
But most importantly, the large bank of darkness was starting to thin out, allowing him to see a little bit inside, though he couldn¡¯t make out anything definite yet. The obscuring effect of everything inside of it was still ongoing, but he could feel it weakening by the second.
Now was the time to attack as they grew weaker from the Mana Siphon; he thought that it was rather clever justice that the same Mana Siphon spell that the assassins had attempted to use against him was going to be their own downfall.
¡°Attack now while they¡¯re¡ª¡± he started to say, before he staggered a little. He¡¯d just been hit by a sensation for which he was entirely unprepared, and it took him a few seconds to get his bearings.
Once he recovered, his head snapped to the outer wall¡¯s holes, his senses easily pinpointing what he¡¯d felt. A second later, emerging from the dissipating shadows, two familiar figures shot up into the air.
Those Gergasi are here, too? They¡¯re working together?
Even though they were being affected by the Mana Siphon as well, those two were just as or even more dangerous than the entirety of the assassin group¡¯s leadership. Given even 20 seconds, they could fly around and absolutely devastate the Transports nearby without breaking a sweat, and they had very little to fear from the Volunteers and SIC members on board. Worse than that, as far as he was concerned, was that The Hopper fell into that category of vulnerability; with nearly everyone he cared about on board, he couldn¡¯t risk them potentially being killed in an instant. Granted, they had some protective Fusions keeping them safe, but as he¡¯d already seen, those Fusions weren¡¯t foolproof.
¡°Those people down below are your responsibility now!¡± he shouted as he ran for the stairs to the top deck. ¡°I¡¯ve got to handle those two Gergasi!¡±
¡°Wait, Larek, you can¡¯t fight both of them¡ª¡± Nedira protested.
The Fusionist paused at the top of the stairs. ¡°We have no other choice. They already know I¡¯m here. Stay safe,¡± he added, before he launched himself up and off The Hopper, a Pattern platform forming underneath his feet as he sped toward the ascending Gergasi.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 50
The ambush went precisely as expected, as the target¡¯s forces surrounded the obviously suspicious patch of darkness that Shadow kept active. Prime watched with detachment and a slight tinge of remorse as the other members of the Unspoken Response leadership council started blasting the wooden transport vessels out of the sky. It was a bit disappointing that they had to eliminate so many promising individuals who, despite actively following the orders of their target, were actually doing an impressive job at safeguarding the Kingdom, but those deaths were necessary if they wanted to maintain the status quo. Not just because Prime and the others with him in the Unspoken Response wanted to keep their positions as the strongest in the Kingdom, but because from what interactions he¡¯d had with the Gergasi, or Guardians as they called themselves, the powerful giants were likely to strike out and start eliminating entire swaths of the Kingdom if there was any hint that they had unlocked their full potential.
The thought of being able to access Martial stats and Skills was intriguing, but he¡¯d witnessed the power of the Guardians firsthand, and even with the entire council working with him, Prime would have difficulty killing more than a few of them ¨C and definitely not the Grand One, who still caused him to shiver in fear when he thought about the meeting with them. He could well picture that individual having the power to completely wipe out entire cities with a thought, which could happen if they didn¡¯t get this whole thing under control.
So, the deaths of these individuals here was disappointing¡ but necessary. It was for the benefit of the Kingdom as a whole, after all.
The plan was going perfectly, as Shadow¡¯s wall of darkness was strong enough to deflect or absorb the magical spells sent against it, a powerful flex of his specialty that very few in the world had ever seen before. Prime, himself, had only seen it in action once before, but never on this scale; he was actually quite impressed. His own mastery of shadows wasn¡¯t quite adept enough to handle anything that was about a third of the size of what was being maintained by Shadow.
Then again, every member of the Unspoken Response leadership council was a master of their own element and stronger than Prime, so this was expected. Prime only had a fraction of that mastery compared to someone like Shadow or any of the others, but he made up for it by having partial mastery of every element. Overall, he was still more powerful than any 3 or 4 of them combined, which was the reason he was holding back on attacking the vessels above himself. The point of their attack was to provoke a response, and he and the others watched the projection that Light had created and was maintaining in the middle of their camp, waiting for it to happen.
Anytime now, the target will intervene directly to prevent the loss of more of his people, he thought. All that they¡¯d learned about their target told them that he would go out of his way to prevent loss of life, especially regarding those he considered his friends or companions, so it was only a matter of time before he acted. Once he did, likely by taking his own transport vessel in close or leaving it himself, the Guardians with them would reveal their presence and take him down. Then Prime and the other leadership from the Unspoken Response would wipe out the remainder of the people the target had brought with him.
That was why he was waiting. In reality, if he and the others had gone all-out and not restrained their attacks, they could¡¯ve wiped out all of the vessels within seconds. They were well aware that the incoming forces knew that there was some sort of trap awaiting them, thanks to the spying that Light had done on them over the last few days, but they didn¡¯t know exactly what they were flying into. It wouldn¡¯t do to scare them away too quickly. If they did, some of them might flee before all hell was unleashed.
He and the others were waiting for the expected response from their target when he felt it. A sudden yanking of Mana from his body staggered him for a moment, and he looked around to see that everyone else was similarly affected, looking around in confusion. The pull on his Mana pool didn¡¯t stop, either, as he felt its fullness continue to drop; it wasn¡¯t being replaced by the ambient Mana in the environment, for some reason¡ª
¡°Mana Siphons! Find the ones casting them!¡± he yelled, even as Light¡¯s projection cut off, and the shadows that had been concealing and protecting them in their camp began to thin and disperse. Well knowing the power of such a spell, as well as its limited range, he figured that some group of sneaky Mages had somehow managed to penetrate far enough into the shadows to cut them off from their Mana, and they needed to eliminate them as soon as possible. While they all had enormous Mana pools to draw from, the fact that it was draining from their bodies meant that these Mana Siphons were even more powerful than the ones that Responders typically used ¨C something that he didn¡¯t think was possible.
¡°There¡¯s no one here!¡± Air shouted almost immediately, even as Prime searched for the culprits himself. He knew that Air could easily detect vacuums in the air that would denote the presence of others in the area, even if they were hidden by an illusion ¨C but she had to be wrong. If there wasn¡¯t anyone nearby, then that meant¡ª
¡°It¡¯s not localized,¡± Light said with a bit of strain in her voice. ¡°It¡¯s blanketing the entire area, somehow.¡±
That¡¯s¡ not possible. Is it?
He couldn¡¯t even imagine how someone would cast a spell that powerful and at that size, especially one that was as Mana-intensive as Mana Siphon. Even the Grand One, as strong as they were, would likely have difficulty ¨C because Mana Siphon inherently pulled the Mana from the spell, which meant that it had to be constantly fed with more Mana, growing more greedy for additional Mana as the spell went on.
Since he doubted that the Grand One was there to betray them, that could only mean one thing.
It was coming from the target.
While they were strong, they weren¡¯t anywhere near the same level as the leader of the Guardians. Instead, this had to be some sort of Fusion; but if that was true, then it had to be impossibly strong.
While he tried to work out how this could be happening, he looked up through the dissipating shadows to see the two Guardians with them, Farmas and Syrlia, shoot up from where they had been waiting up above. They were only supposed to reveal themselves once the target made his appearance. While he didn¡¯t detect any sight of the Fusionist yet, he supposed that this whole situation with the Mana Siphon had spurred them to move. Especially since the darkness was breaking apart, now that Shadow couldn¡¯t easily maintain something that size with the drain on Mana in the area.
While their campsite wasn¡¯t yet visible to those above, that didn¡¯t stop the vessels from attacking. The first explosion sent their way by the airborne forces was deflected by the remnants of the shadowy shell around them, but the next one penetrated about 50 feet inside, blasting away the less-structured darkness, revealing a vulnerability that hadn¡¯t been present just seconds before. This triggered another barrage of attacks that ate away at the failing defenses with a rapidness that was frightening.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
¡°I can¡¯t maintain it at this size!¡± Shadow hissed. ¡°I¡¯m shrinking it down to just cover us.¡±
The next moment, the dissipating darkness solidified around the campsite, creating a relatively dome-like shield that would stop the incoming attacks, but Prime could already see the strain on the council member¡¯s face as he struggled to maintain it. It didn¡¯t take long to see why, of course, because the siphoning effect was draining the Mana that was being infused into it, which meant that Shadow had to keep pumping his own dwindling Mana pool into it.
¡°I won¡¯t be able to hold it for long!¡±
That was Prime¡¯s cue to unleash hell upon the forces above, and he looked at the others, who nodded at his look. ¡°Don¡¯t hold anything back; we need to wipe them out as quickly as possible.¡± As he prepared to start casting, he looked at Light, waiting for her to create another projection ¨C but she looked anxious. ¡°Light?¡±
¡°I can¡¯t do it! I can¡¯t connect to any sources of illumination anywhere!¡± she screeched, clearly panicked by this point. It wasn¡¯t a state that he¡¯d ever thought he¡¯d see her in, as even when she experienced their target following her connection back to her, she¡¯d still been in control of herself. This, however, was much worse than that, as it looked like she was about to collapse in fear.
If Light couldn¡¯t connect to the illumination above them, before projecting it for them to see, that meant they were essentially blind. All of them had a high enough Magical Detection Skill to detect sources of magic above, of course, which ¨C combined with Light¡¯s projection ¨C had allowed them to pinpoint their targets before. But now, all the information he received from the Skill was a hazy distortion up above. It was as if the strength of the Mana Siphon was warping everything in his perception, making it completely unreliable.
As he scrambled to find a solution, he winced as a strong barrage of explosions could be heard outside of the shadowy barrier, meaning that the forces arrayed against them were probably closer, as he was fairly sure the range on their attacks wasn¡¯t high enough to reach them from the distance they were before.
¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯ll hit them if we send everything we have at them. Wide area-of-effect spells would be ideal,¡± he told them, before putting his words to the test as he created a net of boulder-sized fireballs stretching 100 feet in width upwards, disappearing into the darkness. Without any feedback, he wasn¡¯t sure what or even if he hit anything, but he didn¡¯t wait to create another one and sent it upwards at a different angle. The others followed his plan and sent their Mana into spells that were larger than normal to hit the vessels above, which brought their strength down a bit, as it was expensive in terms of Mana to make them large and strong, but he was sure that would be at least somewhat effective.
He switched around his elements a bit as he experimented with lower-Mana cost spells to keep himself from running out too quickly, and over the next minute, he thought it was working; the strain on Shadow was still present, but he could see and hear that the assault against their shield was lessening. He figured that they must have been whittled down by the powerful attacks of the Unspoken Response, backing off to lick their wounds, giving them a bit of breathing room.
That was when Prime heard an ear-shattering roar that shook the ground beneath him. At first, he thought it was some sort of new attack by the people on the vessels above, but then he remembered the monster they¡¯d seen nearby when they first arrived. Since they hadn¡¯t attacked anything or presented much of a threat, the highly evolved monster hadn¡¯t attacked or even acknowledged their presence, but something had obviously changed to wake it up from where it had been standing guard near the Calamity.
¡°It¡¯s fine. Better than that, actually; it should attack the others first, allowing us to pick them off after they¡¯ve been whittled down,¡± he told the others as silence descended amongst the group.
Another roar above them proved that this was exactly what was happening, as it seemed the monster was targeting the enemy forces. Movement near Prime pulled his attention away from listening to what was happening above, and he looked over to see one of the SIC advisors heading in his direction.
He mentally sighed. These damned pretentious Nobles are annoying. We should¡¯ve left her and the other one elsewhere, but they already know too much.
¡°When are we leaving?¡± the Noble woman asked flippantly, her nose almost permanently stuck up in the air.
¡°Leaving? Why would we leave, Blackwind?¡±
¡°Lady Blackwind,¡± she retorted, annoyance in her tone. ¡°There¡¯s no reason to stay, now that the Great Ones are taking care of The Fusionist.¡±
Great Ones. She was one of those who, despite the hold that the Guardians had over most of the Nobility for centuries being recently broken, still considered them their masters.
¡°We can¡¯t leave yet,¡± Prime answered. ¡°We need to eliminate as many of the ones he brought with him. Otherwise, it will be more difficult to track them down later.¡±
¡°But this is entirely too dangerous now. Almost my entire Mana pool is already drained, and I can¡¯t see it getting any better anytime soon. We¡¯d do better to leave now and come back later once we¡¯ve recovered.¡±
¡°No, that¡¯s not going to happen. We need to wait for the Guardians to eliminate the target, which should end this Mana Siphon effect,¡± he explained impatiently. ¡°If you want to make a run for it right now, though, I¡¯m not going to stop you.¡± He really hoped she took him up on that offer.
Lady Blackwind appeared highly offended ¨C not that he cared. ¡°Are you crazy? I demand that you and these others bring me out of this damned place!¡±
That actually brought a little chuckle out before he could stop it. ¡°Demand? Lady, you¡¯re in no position to demand anything right now. You wouldn¡¯t even be here if we weren¡¯t worried about our plans leaking out before this. You should just be thankful that we didn¡¯t kill you before this and leave your body to rot in a ditch.¡±
¡°How dare you! Your entire organization only exists because of¡ª¡± she began to screech in a rant, but she stopped when something dark bounced off her head, falling to the ground below. It didn¡¯t look like it hit her hard enough to do much more than leave a bad bruise on anyone else, but her eyes rolled up in the back of her head and she collapsed onto her side. Prime could¡¯ve caught her before she roughly hit the ground, but saw no reason for it.
Instead, he looked at what had fallen onto her head, as it rolled a short distance before coming to a stop. It was a pitch-dark sphere, a softly glowing orb that looked familiar for some reason, but he couldn¡¯t remember why. It was only when he picked it up and felt a slight drain on his physical body that he realized what it was. He quickly dropped it and wiped his hands on his robe, wondering what one of the condensed orbs ¨C containing the aura of death they¡¯d seen their target create with a Fusion ¨C was doing there.
As he began to plan their assault on the remaining forces up above, a *thump* caught his attention nearby, as he saw yet another dark orb impact the ground and bounce once before coming to a stop. This was only the start, however, as a series of *thumps* quickly turned into a veritable rain of black spheres falling to the ground throughout the campsite, and everyone hunkered down under low-Mana defensive spells to deflect the falling projectiles.
¡°What the¡ª?¡± he wondered aloud when it finally stopped, only to be interrupted by yet another roar.
This time, however, it was much, much closer. Right above their campsite, in fact.
He glanced down at one dark orb near his foot for a moment before he looked upward at where the roar had come from. A chill of fear spiked through his body as he realized what had just happened; he knew about the way the Bone Wraiths had seemingly been drawn to the dark orbs that their target¡¯s Fusion seemed to create, after all.
But what would happen if a Necrotic Wyvern got ahold of one?
He did not want to find out, but it didn¡¯t look like he was going to have much choice in the matter, especially as he saw Shadow collapse to a knee as an impact against the barrier of darkness drained him more than nearly any other attack up to that point.
Perhaps Lady Blackwind was right. We should¡¯ve left when we had the chance.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Larek¡¯s heart pounded as he shot up into the air, chasing after the two Gergasi. To be more accurate, he wasn¡¯t exactly chasing them, more like following them as they obviously tried to pull him away from his support, but that was just fine with him. Even with the Mana Siphon Fusion in effect, the two Gergasi were still powerful enough to absolutely devastate the Volunteers and the former SIC members if they were unleashed among them; he¡¯d rather that they be as far away from his friends as possible.
What are they doing here? Why are they working with the assassins?
Those questions had been rotating through his mind one after another since they¡¯d appeared, but he realized it didn¡¯t really matter why they were there or why they were working with the Unspoken Response; all that mattered was that he kill them as soon as possible.
Granted, accomplishing that was easier said than done. He doubted that he could trick them like he did Chinli, baiting them into blowing up a strong Fusion; more than that, he had no doubt that they would go all-out from the beginning, unlike the previous Gergasi whom he killed because she greatly underestimated him. They had to know by now that he had killed one of their number, so they weren¡¯t going to take any chances. Which was why he was expecting to be overwhelmingly attacked as soon as they stopped moving¡
¡and yet, that didn¡¯t happen.
Approximately 1,000 feet above the surface and hundreds of feet away from the closest Transport vessel, which he quickly glanced down to see was taking the fight straight to what were likely the assassins on the ground below, the two Gergasi stopped their flight and hovered in the air, turning around to watch him approach. While he previously hadn¡¯t 100% confirmed that these were the same pair that had chased him before, seeing them face-to-face verified that they were exactly the same. Even their magical signatures matched what he remembered coming from them before, which were both now quite obvious now that he was near them; they had somehow completely hidden their presence from him before, giving rise to how surprised he was to have seen them.
¡°Half-breed!¡± the male Gergasi shouted, the same warhammer that Larek had seen before angled across his shoulder. Even from where the Fusionist paused about 150 feet away from the pair, he could see the sneer on the face of the one shouting toward him. ¡°Why did you do it?¡±
The question took him aback, both because he wasn¡¯t expecting the Gergasi to talk to him, and because he had no idea what was being asked of him.
He managed a confused, ¡°Uh¡ what?¡± a few seconds later.
¡°Don¡¯t play as if you don¡¯t know, you worthless filth! Did you really think that these dirty slaves are worthy of wielding the power of a Guardian? Once we kill you, we¡¯ll be hunting down every single one of those that your tainted touch has given a poor copy of a Guardian¡¯s special power!¡±
Oh. They¡¯re mad that I unlocked the full potential in so many people? I would¡¯ve thought that they might be more mad about the way I blocked their ability to influence them with Dominion mag¡ª
¡°And let¡¯s not forget the heresy of preventing the slaves from hearing and obeying the divine voice of the true Guardians! For that alone, you should die a thousand deaths; unfortunately for me, I only get to kill you once!¡±
I guess I well and truly ticked them all off. I wonder, will even more come for me after I kill these two?
Before Larek could make any type of response, the two Gergasi attacked simultaneously. The Fusionist hadn¡¯t been idle, however, and had spent the brief delay in the confrontation on creating a dozen clones of himself, all of them formed behind the two Gergasi and out of their peripheral vision. As soon as the pair appeared to be ready to attack, he had them move to intercept ¨C though they fared worse and lasted less time than they did when up against Chinli
The warhammer-wielding Gergasi streaked across the distance, using some sort of Battle Art that made his entire body glow red to Larek¡¯s eyes. Six of Larek¡¯s Pattern clones zipped in front of the attacker to delay him, their halberds out and ready to strike, but the Gergasi didn¡¯t even seem to see them. As they stabbed or chopped into the Gergasi¡¯s body as he crashed through them, Larek saw the Pattern-created weapons they wielded cut through the relatively thin clothing his attacker was wearing, only to bounce off his body. Whether it actually did any damage, he couldn¡¯t tell, but from the one halberd that rebounded off his attacker¡¯s face without any visible mark being left behind, he was inclined to think not.
A blindingly fast, one-handed swipe of a warhammer was all it took to completely obliterate half of the clones sent against the bloodthirsty Gergasi, and a casual backhand destroyed a fourth ¨C all done while it was ignoring their attacks as it streaked through them. Once through the temporary blockade that did absolutely no blocking, Larek had the clones follow after him, despite knowing that they weren¡¯t going to have any more success than before.
As for the other Gergasi, the one that appeared to be more Mage-focused, two of Larek¡¯s clones intercepted a massive lighting bolt spell that enveloped and annihilated them in a fraction of a second ¨C but it didn¡¯t even stop the lightning bolt completely. Instead, it slightly altered the bolt¡¯s path so that it didn¡¯t immediately cross the distance to Larek and strike him, but instead was deflected just far enough to his left that it missed him completely.
Of course, that was just the start of the magical projectiles coming his way, as there was a barrage of fireballs, ice blocks, boulders, and even a beam of incredibly bright light that nearly blinded him in its pathway toward him. Another of his clones got in the way of a single fireball, which was 10 feet wide in diameter and ended up burning through its Pattern in less than a second on its path, while the other clones instead attacked the robed, female Gergasi directly.
Unfortunately, when they got within 10 feet of her, they ran into some sort of barrier that immediately punched back at them with enough force to break them apart completely. The strength of the Pattern he invested into his clones was of no consequence as they shattered apart, through some clearly defensive spell designed to inflict a maximum amount of damage to whoever attacked her; in other words, it was done by a spell that wasn¡¯t even consciously trying to kill them, but that began automatically in response to them being too close.
And just like that, nearly all of the dozen clones that he¡¯d created to help protect him were destroyed ¨C but they had well served their purpose. While not really too much of a distraction or a delay toward the attacks coming his way, it was enough for Larek to aim his Fusion at the incoming male Gergasi and activate it. The glint of the word, ¡°Danger¡±, was carved into the side of the copper rod he pointed at the giant wielding the Warhammer, and he felt the Transfer Potential Fusion activate, hitting his target.
He wasn¡¯t playing around anymore by trying something safer first; he was going straight for the Fusion he was hoping would be able to kill the Gergasi immediately. It was something he had made specifically to combat opponents that were much stronger than him, after all, so he would be foolish not to use it immediately.
The one and only time he¡¯d used it, it had been against one of the assassins that had attacked him. At the time, as soon as it was activated against the individual, a swirling mass of energy had emerged from their body before it lifted into the air, breaking apart and dissipating into the environment. At the same time, the assassin had frozen and twitched like he had just been hit by lightning, and his skin had turned grey and lifeless, before collapsing in death.
Unfortunately, that didn¡¯t happen here. He saw the Gergasi he targeted pause momentarily in his streak toward him, with a strange, confused look on his face that lasted only a brief second before it was replaced by anger. ¡°How dare you! You cannot take away what was rightly awarded to us long ago, half-breed!¡±
Larek gulped slightly when he realized his extremely powerful and dangerous Fusion¡ did absolutely nothing against the Gergasi. He wasn¡¯t sure why it didn¡¯t do the same thing that it had done against the assassin, and with the way he designed the Fusion to essentially rip out any potential in the target, it should¡¯ve worked. The only conclusion he could envision was that the potential was too strongly rooted inside the Gergasi for it to budge, compared to that inside a Human. With a human, it had been like easily ripping out a weed or a small sapling with one¡¯s bare hands; but with a Gergasi, it was more like trying to rip out a massive plant, such as something like the Treehemoth ¨C it just wasn¡¯t going to happen anytime soon.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.
Just to make sure it wasn¡¯t a fluke, he used it again on the Gergasi, but this time the giant didn¡¯t even pause as he continued streaking toward him, completely ignoring its effects ¨C if it even did anything. At the same time, Larek dodged the spell projectiles coming at him from his other opponent, deftly avoiding being hit by them entirely, but he was already on the losing end of this confrontation now that his Transfer Potential Fusion hadn¡¯t worked the way he¡¯d expected.
Before he knew it, the warhammer-wielding Gergasi was in his face, having tracked his movements and adjusted his trajectory in mid-streak. Larek somehow ducked under a swing that was so fast it was a blur, and he could see a heat haze pass over his head in its wake. Blue flames could be seen around the head of the weapon, fueled by Stama coming from the Gergasi ¨C which wasn¡¯t something he thought was possible. Elemental effects in a Battle Art?
Before he could contemplate this sudden insight, the Fusionist sent himself flying backwards with his Pattern platform to avoid a backswing of the warhammer as he tried to figure out what to do next. Unlike his fight with Chinli, these two weren¡¯t afraid of his clones, so he had to try¡ª
A pair of enormous stone hands suddenly materialized on either side of him and slammed together, squishing him in between them ¨C or it would have, if the portions of the stone that touched the space around his sides hadn¡¯t disappeared into the Protection of the Void surrounding him. Even though he was kept safe from being squished completely flat, he could feel the strain in his Fusion as it struggled to handle being almost completely covered by the spell. What he¡¯d seen happen underneath the Treehemoth with one of the Volunteers didn¡¯t happen because the bottom of his feet were left exposed, but if the stone hands had been bigger or had simply been positioned lower, it was likely that his Fusion would¡¯ve overloaded. If that had happened, he would¡¯ve taken the full brunt of the spell; his Body stat was high enough that it probably wouldn¡¯t have killed him outright, but the force with which the two stone hands had slammed together let him know that he would¡¯ve been heavily injured, at least.
In short, while Larek was still alive after the attack, he was still in trouble.
Even as the stone crumbled around him, the spell having finished, he was already flying through its remnants, his Protection of the Void allowing him to essentially pass through the spell without harm. He emerged from the spell only to meet a warhammer to the face, which thankfully passed straight into the void, causing a brief bout of confusion in the male Gergasi¡¯s expression, before Larek took off yet again.
He was technically faster than both of them in flight, but only in a larger sense; he could cover more distance in a shorter amount of time, but that didn¡¯t exactly translate to being able to exceed their speed in a combat scenario. That was made extremely clear as he couldn¡¯t shake the two Gergasi, with one doggedly keeping up with him and taking increasingly more powerful swipes at him at every opportunity, while the other continued to cast from a distance, as all manner of spells surrounded him with deadly intensity. He was unable to completely avoid a shower of lava that nearly coated him entirely, and it was only a finger that was exposed when he was almost fully encased in a massive ice block that materialized around him, giving him an avenue of escape from what could¡¯ve collapsed his primary protection.
¡°WHY WON¡¯T YOU DIE?¡±
Larek ignored the frustrated shout by the weapon-wielding Gergasi, even as his void barrier absorbed a devastating shockwave that emerged from his opponent¡¯s warhammer, staggering him for a moment as his Fusion was nearly overwhelmed. Thankfully, the shockwave was distributed unequally over the entirety of the Protection of the Void, meaning that his Fusion was able to absorb it all, but things were getting a bit tenuous.
Of course, the Fusionist hadn¡¯t been idle during the attacks, as simply fleeing from the constant assault wouldn¡¯t do anything to save him in the long run. While his Resonating Mana Siphon was still actively draining Mana from the two Gergasi and wasn¡¯t replenishing it, a quick look at the female Gergasi told him that she wasn¡¯t in any danger of running out anytime soon. If he could manage to drain her for another 15 or 20 minutes, she might actually run out ¨C but he doubted he could stay alive for that long.
Therefore, he¡¯d taken out two of his staves, both of the VED variety, and he had begun a barrage of explosions, projectiles, and even high-powered streams of acid that the Gergasi took full-on without even attempting to dodge. The explosions, which Larek was able to handle so close to himself because of his Void Fusion, only staggered his opponent a single time before the Gergasi used his Mana for the first time in the fight, other than being used for flight, to create a barrier over his body that seemed to absorb the explosive detonations without slowing him down. It also worked against shattering boulders and multitudes of ice spears, taking it all in without seemingly any effort; it was only when Larek shifted to streams of acid that it seemed to drain the Mana of the Gergasi at a faster rate, enough so that his opponent actually took some pains to dodge out of the way.
Fortunately, while this barrier around the warhammer-wielding Gergasi was effective against the elemental effects of Larek¡¯s staves, it did absolutely nothing against physical attacks. The Fusionist discovered this when he formed a sharp spear of Pattern Cohesion behind the giant and stabbed it into his back with the force of his intent; he watched as it easily passed through the barrier and impacted the Gergasi¡¯s back, stabbing approximately a half-inch into his flesh before it was stopped completely.
Larek inwardly grinned at the expression of surprise on his opponent¡¯s face, but he quickly blanched at the sheer anger he saw replacing it. Reaching behind himself to rip out the Pattern spear, which the Fusionist had attempted to stab deeper but was unable to pierce the natural durability of the Gergasi¡¯s flesh, the warhammer-wielding giant yanked it out and crushed it in his hand, causing Larek¡¯s construct to shatter apart. He then gingerly touched his back and pulled back a single finger stained by a dot of blood.
The Fusionist was fairly sure that the wound had already closed by this point, but the sight of the blood infuriated the Gergasi.
¡°What? You¡ª NO ONE MAKES ME BLEED MY OWN BLOOD!¡±
Larek was glad for his Protection of the Void Fusion¡¯s sound dampening effect, because the eardrum-crushing roar of absolute rage that came next would¡¯ve deafened him. A visible aura of red surrounded the Gergasi, growing larger by the second; and suddenly Larek was again on the back foot as his opponent instantly became twice as fast ¨C and, he estimated, twice as strong, though it was hard to tell because the blows that fell on him were absorbed by the void. Explosive detonations appeared at the end of every swing, which came so fast that it was a constant blur of flaming warhammer heads at his chest or head. His own counterattacks were completely ignored, including the few stabs with Pattern constructs that he managed to slip through, though none of them did even half the damage he¡¯d done at first.
Switching his tactics, he stored the staves away and brought out a few other Fusions to see if they would work better. Heavy Load, which he¡¯d used successfully in the past to squish assassins down into spheres of compressed matter, slowed the Gergasi down only a tiny bit as the giant¡¯s strength was enough to overcome the greater weight that was attempting to condense him down. In short, it only seemed to make him angrier, as the force of the explosive detonations coming from the head of the warhammer increased in potency.
Vacuum Blast, which sucked away all of the air in an area before violently blasting it outward, seemed to affect the Gergasi not at all, as he didn¡¯t seem to care that he couldn¡¯t breathe for a few moments; only a slight wavering in its flight showed that he even cared that there was an explosive decompression in the air.
Blinding Heat and Blinding Freeze came next, and as they floated in the air above where Larek was leading the enraged Gergasi around, the extreme heat and blinding effect of the Fusion got through the aura of rage surrounding him for a moment, before another barrier was cast around him to block its effects. Blinding Freeze didn¡¯t even have the same effect, as it seemed as though the barrier that blocked heat and blinding effects also prevented the blood in the Gergasi¡¯s body from freezing into ice.
Reaching into his Void Pocket sack, he went to pull something else out to try against the Gergasi, but he stopped when he realized he was out of offensive Fusions to use. Just as this realization came about, something else occurred to him.
Where¡¯s the other Gergasi? She hasn¡¯t attacked me in nearly a minute¡ª
That was when he looked around and saw for the first time a spell that was so large in its structure that he couldn¡¯t believe he had missed it until now. A large, transparent blue, glowing sphere approximately 200 feet in diameter surrounded where he had been leading the warhammer-wielding Gergasi, who ¨C when he glanced around some more ¨C was no longer bearing down on him. Instead, his angry and persistent opponent was now outside of the glowing sphere, floating next to the female Gergasi, who was slightly hunched over, a look of intense concentration and effort clear on her face. Larek could see massive streams of Mana flowing out of her and connecting to the enormous sphere; the reason that it seemed like it was taking a lot of effort was because his Resonating Mana Siphon was draining nearly as much Mana as she was pumping in, so much so that he was sure she would run out if she kept it up for much longer.
He wondered exactly what the sphere was supposed to be doing, as it didn¡¯t seem harmful at first ¨C at least until it began to rapidly shrink. A few attempts at using his staves and other Fusions to break out of the glowing blue bubble proved to be a mistake as they rebounded on him, bouncing off the internal surface of the sphere as if it was some sort of anti-magic barrier. He flew to the shrinking edge and slammed his halberd against the surface, only to have it rebound as if it was the strongest rubber in the world, showing not even the slightest scratch or dent. His fist did the same as he punched at it with all his might, and he let his Body Regeneration Skill work on repairing his shoulder muscles as his fist rebounded off with at least twice the force and speed that he threw the punch.
What that punch also revealed was that his Protection of the Void Fusion didn¡¯t seem to work against the contracting bubble, either. Where it should¡¯ve been surrounding his fist, the sphere seemed to not even care if it was there or not.
The sphere continued to shrink, dropping from 200 feet in diameter to half that in only about 10 seconds. The smaller it got, the faster it shrunk, so that a few seconds later, there were only about 30 feet in between the sides ¨C and there didn¡¯t seem to be anything he could do.
If Larek couldn¡¯t figure a way out of there, he was fairly certain he was going to be crushed to death in the next few seconds.
The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 52
Slinging his warhammer up against his shoulder, Farmas started to shake off the Targeted Rage Boost Battle Art that had filled him with an incredible increase of power, at the cost of a reduction in his perception and focus, which was tracked onto a singular target. It also brought with it an ache throughout his entire body after it was used, though he normally recovered after about 5 minutes. This time, it might take twice that, as he had been in that rage state longer than normal, as he had been frustrated at every turn when fighting Vilnesh¡¯s spawn. Privately, he had expected the fight to be over in seconds, as there were two of them against only a single individual, so for it to have lasted as long as it had was both annoying and infuriating.
Fortunately, he¡¯d practiced with his Targeted Rage Boost enough times to keep his head, so when Syrlia gave him the signal, he was able to cancel it and retreat just in time for her spell to go off.
¡°Utterly pathetic, half-breed,¡± he shouted at the soon-to-be-dead Fusionist inside Syrlia¡¯s powerful Containment Crusher spell. ¡°I don¡¯t know why Chinli thought you were a successful example of one of our progeny, but she was thoroughly mistaken. You have pitiful combat abilities, you¡¯re extremely weak, and you can¡¯t even cast a single spell! These Fusions that you¡¯ve created might have some merit to them, but they cannot stand up to a single Containment Crusher spell! The world will be better off without you, especially with all the trouble you¡¯ve caused.¡±
The speed at which the Crusher sphere condensed down slowed as he glanced over at Syrlia, seeing how utterly exhausted she was. He felt the drain on his own Mana from what he figured was some sort of Mana Siphon effect, but he hadn¡¯t even used or lost 10% of his massive Mana pool throughout the fight. Syrlia, on the other hand, had been testing the defenses of the half-breed with her spells almost the entire time, evaluating what it would take to contain and kill Vilnesh¡¯s spawn successfully. He might have been overly confident going into the battle, but after his ineffective attacks against this Fusionist, he wasn¡¯t too far gone into his bloodlust to acknowledge that he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill this trash alone. Over time, he thought he might be able to wear him down, but he didn¡¯t want to spend any more time here than necessary; the damage that they¡¯d done by being inside the Calamity would linger for a while as it was, so fleeing as quickly as possible was necessary to ensure the safety of the Kingdom as a whole.
They just needed another few seconds for Syrlia¡¯s Crusher spell to finish the main job. The cleanup afterwards would be simple and quick in comparison to the current confrontation.
¡°Are you alright?¡± he asked his partner softly. He¡¯d never seen her pressed this far, but he could tell that she was nearly out of Mana. Unfortunately, for as powerful as the Guardians were, they were unable to link up to share the burden of a spell¡¯s Mana cost ¨C not that it was normally a problem. This was a special circumstance, and it was all because of the half-breed.
¡°I¡¯m¡ fine¡ just¡ about¡ there¡¡± she answered between gritted teeth, her breathing coming in ragged gasps. Farmas looked at the half-breed¡¯s arm, which he could somewhat sense as the focal point of the extremely powerful Mana Siphon effect, wishing he had been able to land a blow on it, but whatever was protecting him from harm had prevented him from landing even a single blow. That lack of a satisfying *crunch* still bothered him, and he wanted another go at the Fusionist, but he knew that killing the half-breed took priority over his wants ¨C so he didn¡¯t try to push the matter with Syrlia.
From the Mana she was outputting into the spell and judging how much she had left, he estimated that she would just have enough to complete it. After that, she would be almost completely drained of Mana, but by that point, they could destroy the Fusion causing their Mana problems ¨C or it might even be destroyed when it was crushed by the collapsing sphere.
The Containment Crusher continued to shrink as Syrlia made one last push, and within seconds the half-breed was having to bend down as it closed directly around him. He grinned in pleasure when he saw the spawn of Vilnesh wince as his head bumped up against the sphere, which pushed back violently; and soon enough the pathetic excuse for a faux Guardian was bent all the way over, curling up into a ball as the space continued to shrink. Multiple flashes erupted around the half-breed as he attempted to stop the inevitable from crushing him, with none of it succeeding, of course; and soon enough the screams of agony that indicated that the spawn was being rapidly crushed to death filled his ears. He couldn¡¯t look away as he heard a hollow *snap* as the first of the half-breed¡¯s bones snapped, followed quickly by a second¡ª
Farmas didn¡¯t know where it came from, but something substantially larger than him suddenly crashed into him and Syrlia from behind. As he was sent tumbling away through the air, largely unhurt but confused at what had just happened, he was able to stabilize himself long enough to see one of the wooden vessels the half-breed had brought with him zooming through the space where he¡¯d just been with his partner.
What?
Angry at himself for ignoring potential danger from another source, and for not holding down the watch while Syrlia finished up her spell, he shook off the impact and sped toward the wooden vessel with murderous intent. However, he stopped in shock as he witnessed his partner cartwheeling through the air below him, completely uncontrolled in her descent. A glimpse of her face as she spun showed her eyes and mouth wide open in shock, but he immediately knew that wasn¡¯t actually what it was; instead, she was suffering from the backlash of her spell being disrupted at the very end, where most of her remaining Mana had been invested into it. Normally, this would¡¯ve been a big deal, as it only lasted a few seconds, and an infusion of Mana throughout the body was enough to soothe sudden pain, but that wasn¡¯t going to help her because she was out of Mana.
As it was, she wouldn¡¯t recover before she hit the ground far down below. He didn¡¯t think she would die if she impacted the ground at this height, but she had been his partner for long enough that he wasn¡¯t going to risk it. It was only as he swept down to pick her up that he suddenly realized what her spell backlash meant.
The half-breed was free.
It didn¡¯t take long for him to find the spawn in question, either, as the Fusionist was flying toward the plummeting form of his fellow Guardian, the intent to finish her off clear in Farmas¡¯s vision.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
¡°NOOOOO!¡± he shouted, before plummeting as quickly as he could. ¡°GET AWAY FROM HER!¡± If he was fast enough, he could probably stop the half-breed from killing her completely, as while she wasn¡¯t as durable as Farmas was, Syrlia was still a Guardian and therefore physically strong.
Unfortunately, he was too slow to catch her himself, as he saw Vilnesh¡¯s spawn ¨C who had recovered quickly from nearly being crushed to death ¨C swoop in and catch her. Unlike what he was expecting him to do, the half-breed didn¡¯t immediately try to stab her, slit her throat, or snap her neck. Instead, Farmas watched in confusion as the Fusionist placed a small, silvery plate up against the back of her head¡
¡and then the filthy spawn simply let her go.
Well, if he¡¯s not going to kill her, that gives me a chance to catch her.
He sent out another Force Blade Battle Art that arced out from his warhammer and closed the distance between him and the half-breed, expecting it to do the same amount of nothing it had been done before, but a portion of the Blade that wasn¡¯t blocked by a piece of what looked like solidified Pattern Cohesion impacted against the spawn¡¯s leg. There was a brief spray of blood as it made contact, the first bit of damage that Farmas had been able to inflict upon the half-breed, and he felt his bloodlust rise at the sight. It was only a little bit, likely no more than an irritating flesh wound, but it was enough to bring back the feelings of rage he¡¯d activated not so long ago.
There was a split-second argument he had with himself about whether or not to take advantage of the half-breed¡¯s sudden weakness, but he eventually resolved to wait until he caught Syrlia; he figured that if the spawn was vulnerable now, he¡¯d probably still be vulnerable in a few seconds once he secured his partner.
Reaching out with an Air Cushion spell, he targeted the area under Syrlia, creating a large cushion of air that fell at a slightly slower speed than her freefall. Tying off the spell so that it would last for at least a few minutes, he watched with half of his attention to make sure she impacted the cushion and then started to slow down, with his other half focused on the no-longer-bleeding half-breed. For some reason, the filthy traitor to the Guardians wasn¡¯t even looking at Farmas; instead, his attention was fixated on Syrlia as she landed on the Air Cushion.
Why is he looking at her? Wait¡ªwhat was it that he did to her?
Even as he had the thought, his focus was pulled back down to his partner. A surge of Dominion magic flooded out of her, more powerful than he¡¯d felt in a long time, though it was completely devoid of any type of focus. It simply spilled out like water draining from a bathtub, flooding the area around her but ultimately doing nothing. Expelling it like that was wasteful and stressed a Guardian¡¯s body and mind, which was why they had been taught at a very young age ¨C more than a thousand years ago by this point ¨C to be very clear on how it was to be used.
This, however, didn¡¯t seem to be voluntary, because a second after the Dominion magic started flooding out, she began to scream uncontrollably, a haunting shriek of pain that he¡¯d never heard any Guardian make before. Farmas paused in his pursuit of the half-breed as he turned back to her, directing his Air Cushion to rise to meet him halfway ¨C not that the vile spawn seemed to be running at this point.
It only took a second to get to her side, and Farmas could see her entire body vibrating as the last of the Dominion magic she had stored inside was completely pushed out, draining her entirely. He grabbed her by the shoulders and then turned her over so he could see exactly what the half-breed had done. From this close, he could see its magical signature, and he was reminded of a few days before, when the captured Volunteer had been brought before the Grand One.
If this is what allowed that slave to resist even the Grand One¡¯s Dominion magic, then what will that do to Syrlia?
Farmas turned her back over so he could speak right to her. ¡°Hold on, Syrlia, I¡¯m going to remove this thing and¡ª¡± Almost as soon as he began talking, his partner stopped screaming, and her searching eyes found his.
¡°Farmas,¡± she whispered, as if talking normally was beyond her at the moment. Tears ran down her cheeks, which was almost more shocking than everything else that had happened combined together. ¡°I¡ I¡¯m sorry. We were wrong. We were all wr¡ª¡± she breathed out, before her breath seemed to catch in her throat. Her eyes bulged out of her sockets temporarily as she seemed to lose control of them, before settling down a moment later.
¡°What¡¯s wrong? What were we wrong about?¡± Farmas asked.
Her eyes locked on his again, piercing into the depths of his very soul. ¡°Everything. The half-breed is the¡ª¡± she whispered, before letting out a sudden scream as her back arched, her strength rising as she wriggled out of his grip.
¡°Syrlia?! What¡¯s wro¡ª¡±
Her head, which had been whipping back and forth as her entire body trembled violently, snapped back toward his direction. ¡°I finally see! The answer was in front of us all along!¡± she shouted, her previous whispering completely discarded. ¡°We¡¯ve been deceived! Yes, do it! You can save us all!¡±
¡°Huh? What are you talking about?¡±
It was only when he felt something slap against the back of his head that he realized Syrlia wasn¡¯t looking at him when she spoke. Rather, she was looking at someone behind him.
He whipped around with his warhammer, intending to hit who he suspected was there, but the half-breed was located approximately 100 feet away behind him, controlling one of his stupid little Pattern Cohesion platforms. Confused, he brought his hand up to the back of his head, but the skin was already closing over whatever had hit him.
There was a sudden lurch in his body that he felt deep down, and his Dominion magic began spilling out of him uncontrollably. He attempted to suck it back in or keep it inside, but it continued flooding out, despite his best efforts.
What is this? Was Syrlia talking to the half-breed? Is she a traitor, too?
Whatever was happening, he was still under his own power, so he backed off from his long-time partner, betrayal spiking through his emotions. Watching her trembling and contorting by this point, he wasn¡¯t even sure what to think as she finally looked at him again. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Farmas. This is nec¡ª¡±
She never finished whatever she was going to say, because her body exploded violently from the inside, something that Farmas hadn¡¯t seen in over a thousand years. He vividly remembered how so many of his people were destroyed by the influx of power flooding into them from the tear in the world they¡¯d created, which had ended up looking a lot like what had just happened to Syrlia.
No! I¡¯m not going out like that!
Pulling out a small knife he always kept on his belt, he reached back and cut into the back of his head, using every bit of his Strength to get through his tough skin. He didn¡¯t care how much damage he did, because he knew his Body Regeneration would heal him back up fairly quickly, so he reached inside after cutting off a large section of his skin and flesh down to the bone. Reaching in with his fingers, he gripped onto what he felt inside, a small metal plate that seemed to be adhered to his skull. Dismissing the consequences, he pulled with all his might and ripped it out, tossing the blood-covered plate away as soon as it was free.
Even as a sense of relief overcame him from getting it away from him, it suddenly occurred to him that it was too late; all of his Dominion magic had drained away while he struggled to free himself from the Fusion that had been placed on him.
And that was when a clarity of mind suddenly overcame him as he fell, all thoughts of keeping him aloft with his Mana gone as the truth finally hit him, confirming what Syrlia had mentioned in her final moments.
Less than 30 seconds later, pieces of him hit the ground, including a scrap of his face, which still had a hint of the smile that had graced it in his last seconds of life.