The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Running back toward Peratin and Fort Hightower, Larek reflected upon what he’d learned from his experience at the Aperture and from facing the Flame Trogres, which he learned from the Senior Instructor was exactly what they were called soon after facing his first one. First, he learned that he was now more than capable of killing such a dangerous monster without the use of his Fusions and only his Stama; toward the end, he even learned how to kill them without using his Pattern, which was imperative because as they got closer to the center of the territory, the more prevalent the SIC teams were. He wasn’t exactly keen on sharing his dual abilities with everyone quite yet, so he kept his attacks to what a Martial would be able to display; it was harder and took longer, for sure, but he could still do it.

Secondly, Larek learned just how effective groups of SIC members could be when facing down the dangerous monsters of an Aperture. The tactics and stratagems he’d learned in his Group Tactics class were on display as he watched the others involved in closing the Aperture perform well against the Trogres, utilizing different roles to take them down relatively safely and efficiently compared to Larek doing it himself. What really made a difference was the fact that they had a Martial that specialized in blocking or absorbing the damage from the monster’s attacks, primarily by using a shield and taunting it to attack only them. With its attention focused solely on them, the rest of the group was practically free to attack with abandon, piling on the damage to the point where the Trogre’s regeneration was overwhelmed.

He recognized that they would’ve had trouble if they were facing more than one at a time, but every single monster in the territory were separated from the others, so that didn’t happen.

Lastly, he learned that the gains applied to his Skills increased dramatically when he was in combat against monsters, rather than through training with the Senior Instructor. He thought that it was only due to how incessant – and frankly, brutal – the training had been that he even acquired as many Levels as he had; but even that couldn’t compare to fighting in a real battle against strong opponents like he just did.

Dodge has reached Level 31!

Dodge has reached Level 32!

Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 26!

……

Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 30!

Stama Subjugation has reached Level 21!

……

Stama Subjugation has reached Level 23!

Magical Detection has reached Level 46

Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 66!

Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 67!

Larek had spent almost all of his accumulated AF on increasing the maximum Level of his Pattern Manipulation Skill to 70 since it was already maxed-out, and he had ended up gaining two more Levels in it. But it was his Martial Skills, which had tapered off a bit in advancing in Levels over the last few days, which had gained a significant boost. As they went up, he felt more and more confident in his ability to fight as a Martial would, utilizing his weapon Skills, moving and dodging better than he ever had in his life, and using his Stama and Battle Arts to their greatest extent.

He had only learned a few Battle Arts, as he wanted to master them before he moved on to learning more, and they required practice compared to simply learning spells. But with his training, he now had 7 Battle Arts to call upon, though only the ones he’d recently learned were safe enough to use or didn’t require too much Stama.

Martial Abilities:

Battle Art – Furious Rampage

Battle Art – Consuming Speed

Battle Art – Tactician Mind

Battle Art – Fleetfoot

Battle Art – Empowered Strike

Battle Art – Absorb Blow

Battle Art – Execution

He would love to be able to use Tactician Mind in battle, as that would only enhance his thinking speed, but its cost of 800 was more than he could handle right now. In fact, he couldn’t even handle Magnitude 3 of his internal Stama Fusion, as it released 25% of his maximum Stama upon activation; it was going to be a while until he would be comfortable with that, let alone the 50% that was released at Magnitude 4, or the entire Stama pool at Magnitude 5.

Of course, it wasn’t just stats and Skill Levels that he’d acquired while he was training in the Fort, but Specializations as well.

Striker

Requirements:

Strength of 20

Body of 10

Agility of 20

Stama Subjugation Skill of 4

Dodge Skill of 10

Bladed Weapon Expertise Skill of 15

Pain Resistance Skill of 10

Body Regeneration Skill of 15

Knowledge of at least 3 Battle Arts

The Striker Specialization also provides these benefits:

A 5% increase in Agility when wielding a bladed weapon

A 5% increase in the effectiveness of the Bladed Weapon Expertise Skill

A 5% decrease in Stama cost for all Battle Arts while wielding a bladed weapon

Basher

Requirements:

Strength of 20

Body of 15

Agility of 15

Stama Subjugation Skill of 4

Dodge Skill of 10

Blunt Weapon Expertise Skill of 15

Pain Resistance Skill of 15

Body Regeneration Skill of 15

Knowledge of at least 3 Battle Arts

The Basher Specialization also provides these benefits:

A 5% increase in Agility when wielding a blunt weapon

A 5% increase in the effectiveness of the Blunt Weapon Expertise Skill

A 5% decrease in Stama cost for all Battle Arts while wielding a blunt weapon

Ranger

Requirements:

Strength of 15

Body of 15

Agility of 20

Stama Subjugation Skill of 4

Dodge Skill of 15

Ranged Weapon Expertise Skill of 15

or

Throwing Skill of 15

Pain Resistance Skill of 10

Body Regeneration Skill of 10

Knowledge of at least 3 Battle Arts

The Ranger Specialization also provides these benefits:

A 10% increase in Agility when wielding a ranged weapon

A 5% increase in the effectiveness of the Ranged Weapon Expertise Skill

A 5% increase in the effectiveness of the Throwing Skill

A 5% decrease in Stama cost for all Battle Arts while wielding a blunt weapon

Unfortunately, those three Specializations were probably some of the last that he would get for a while. Why? Because there was one Martial Skill that he couldn’t obtain for some reason.

Blocking.

Whether it was because he considered all shields that he could block with similar to his Pattern construct or for some other reason, whenever he was tasked with using an actual physical shield to block with during training, he could never learn the actual Blocking Skill. He was still taught how to hold it properly, techniques to lessen the impact when using it to block an attack, and ways to angle it to deflect blows rather than trying to stop them completely, but that was about the extent of his benefits.

Without Blocking as a Skill, he was locked out of quite a few other Specializations, at least the easier ones to acquire, such as Shieldguard and even Brawler, which used the Skill in terms of blocking with their limbs rather than a shield. Torge told him that higher-Level Specializations didn’t necessarily require Blocking in any form, but it was going to be a while until he unlocked them.

Still, he couldn’t really complain. He’d gotten the training he’d wanted, and he thought that with another month or so to fill in any gaps, develop his Stama Subjugation, and learn a few more Battle Arts, he would be ready to leave and continue increasing his Skills in the outside world. By pushing himself and challenging himself in whatever Apertures he could find that weren’t closed, he thought he could become strong enough within the next six months to think about taking on the Gergasi and freeing his family. The delay chafed at him when he thought about what they were going through at the hands of the manipulative giants, but he wasn’t stupid enough to race in right now and get himself killed.

A few years ago he might have done just that, but he liked to think that he’d learned a bit since then.

The run back took him and his Instructor about an hour, even though they engaged about half of their Agility to push themselves faster, but it gave him time to reflect on his advancements. The sun was just starting to set when they reached the gates of Peratin, and with the presence of the powerful Drekkin at his side – which everyone guarding the gates seemed to recognize – they didn’t have to wait in line before they were let inside. The run up the hill to the Fort wasn’t as big of a chore as it used to be, especially now that he knew how to utilize his stats to the point where he wasn’t even winded when they arrived, though evening was already upon Hilltower by the time they arrived.

As they passed through the front doors, which were much easier to open than when he first showed up at the Fort for training, Torge spoke to him. “Decent work today. There’s still more that I want you to improve upon, and I’ve already considered some alternative training I want you to attempt tomorrow. For now, get some well-deserved dinner and take the rest of the—”

The Senior Instructor abruptly cut off, his gaze looking past the trainee. Having worked with the Drekkin over the last two months, he became better at reading his face and body expressions, and right now Larek thought his Instructor was both wary and angry at whatever he was looking at.

A single glance behind him had the Martial Fusionist turning back around immediately, as standing near the entrance was none other than Dean Wilburt from Crystalview Academy.

“Senior Instructor! Just the person I was looking for.”

Uh, oh. Larek heard the voice and immediately shrank in on himself, the memories of their last meeting still imprinted on his mind. Despite having changed enough that the man shouldn’t recognize him, he still worried that it would be obvious that he was the same person as the one that had blown up a portion of the Academy. Then again, even if he did, what could the Dean do? He wasn’t quite sure, but if the man attacked him, and Larek was without his normal clothes with their Fusions, he might not survive despite recently developing his Martial side.

He gave it 50/50 odds, and he didn’t want to have to bet on a positive outcome.

If Torge participated, then it would be no contest, but he couldn’t count on the Senior Instructor taking his side against the Dean of the Academy literally next door.

“What do you want, Wilburt?” the Drekkin asked shortly.

“Well now, that’s no way to treat an old friend, is it?”

Torge hissed in what Larek recognized as angry laughter. “Old friend? I don’t know if I’d go that far, but we’re certainly both old and colleagues in our mutual profession. Regardless, what is it I can do for you, Dean?” he asked, his tone slightly more conciliatory.

“Ah, yes, well, I’ve been receiving reports that some of your trainees might be utilizing Fusions that they received from somewhere, and I’m here to verify that they are safe and won’t inadvertently harm anyone.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dean, but even if we were using Fusions, what does it matter? You have no authority here.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, old friend,” the Dean replied, and Larek could hear the smile in his voice. “Word hasn’t reached here yet, but it seems as though the SIC wants to consolidate this Fort and my Academy together, freeing up some trainers that could be better used to combat the Calamities. And guess who is slated to oversee this new joint operation?”

“You, I assume?”

“That’s correct. It isn’t official, yet, but you should be hearing something at some point tomorrow,” the Dean said smugly. “Anyway, about those Fusions? What information do you have on them? Or—oh, how rude of me, is this one of your trainees?”

Larek could barely comprehend what was being said, because he was stuck on the Dean soon to be heading up both Fort Hilltower and Crystalview Academy. Still, he caught his Instructor’s eye and turned around, putting a smile on his face and offering his hand to Professor Wilburt. “Hello. It’s very nice to meet you, but I really have to get moving before they stop serving dinner,” he said, using every bit of focus not to immediately run away… or punch the Dean in the face. He wasn’t sure which would be worse.

“It’s nice to meet a future trainee that I’ll be responsible for soon. Don’t let me keep you—hold on. You look familiar for some reason. Do I know you?”

The Martial Fusionist shook his head. “No, I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Huh. My mistake, I guess. You may be on your way.” Despite the words, the Dean held onto Larek’s handshake longer than necessary and was studying him intently. After a few uncomfortable seconds, he finally let go, and Larek bowed and quickly moved off toward the Dining Hall – though he was planning on detouring to his room.

He had to get out of there before it was too late and the Dean recognized him. He was just lucky that he wasn’t wearing his Fusion-filled clothes at the time; while the Fusions were hidden using void carrier barriers, it was almost a guarantee that someone like Wilburt would notice the absence of magical power around him. He was fortunate that the small void created by the medallion around his neck with the hidden Healing Surge Fusion hadn’t been noticed, otherwise he might have been found out.

With unreasonable panic setting in, Larek arrived at his room at a run, changed into his normal clothes, and then began packing everything else into his Void Pocket sack. When he looked around his room to verify that very little trace of him being there was left behind, he pulled out a Camouflage Sphere Fusion from the sack, activated it to camouflage him from any casual visual inspection, and left his room with the intent of leaving the Fort – and Peratin – that night.