The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 40

Chapter 40

“Alright, show me what you’ve learned. Use only what you’ve learned with me at the Fort; that means no Fusions, just so we’re clear. You can still use your Pattern constructs, as you have incorporated that into your fighting style, but that’s it. Understood?”

Larek nodded at his Instructor’s orders, before striding confidently into the territory of the Aperture. They had taken the day to visit and test Larek’s improvements over the last two months at one of the nearby territories that just recently opened again, and now it was Larek’s responsibility to close it. Well, not just his responsibility, as there were a few other members of the SIC beginning to cull all of the monsters in anticipation of closing it scattered around, but this section of it was all his.

Gripping the shaft of his halberd in the way he was taught, Larek’s boots cracked the dry and burnt grass underneath them, his head on a swivel and his eyes roaming over every inch of the landscape around him. His Combat Awareness class had done wonders for his perception, as he was now accustomed to perceiving everything within around 100 feet of his person. He had an advantage in the fact that he could also use his Magical Detection Skill to detect voids or concentrations of the magic, which he had used to pinpoint the locations of both Martials and Mages by the presence of their Stama and Mana.

Even better, he could also use it to detect monsters, as he discovered that they were more of a dense concentration of Corrupted Aetheric Force that showed up to his Skill, though he had to be a bit closer to actually sense it. For this test, he would be using his Magical Detection Skill, but he would be backing it up with his physical senses.

What he saw around him was relatively barren landscape, though evidence of what it used to be was still present. The dry and burnt grass revealed that it used to be similar to the lush grasslands that surrounded the territory, but once the Aperture arrived, it had transformed it into what he was now seeing. A heat rose from underneath his feet, scorching the environment and making it slightly hard to breathe, but he didn’t let any of that bother him. Instead, he used what he was observing to picture what he would be going up against.

Because knowing what kind of monster inhabited this Aperture would be too easy, he supposed.

The ground underneath his feet rumbled slightly and he paused, only to jump back slightly as a jet of flames erupted approximately 30 feet to the left of his position, shooting a dozen feet straight up into the air. He watched as it kept burning for about 5 seconds before it disappeared, revealing a small, rapidly cooling hole where the flame had emerged. Further away, he saw another flame jet erupt, and then another in the opposite direction, letting him know that this wasn’t just an isolated incident. I’m going to have to keep a lookout for those; it seems as though the ground rumbling is an indication of when and where they will emerge, at least.

Cautiously stepping ahead, going around where the flames had emerged, he kept a lookout for any monsters. Even though in the far distance he could see a group of SIC members entering the territory from a different direction, he wasn’t close enough to see what they were fighting.

Another 50 feet in, he finally detected something. For a wonder, it wasn’t his Magical Detection that caught it first but his own vision, as he saw something that looked out of place around 60 feet to his right, looking like a short, misshapen hill along the otherwise relatively flat landscape. It blended in well enough that he wouldn’t have noticed it if he hadn’t been looking for anything out of place, and he started to slowly walk over to it. Another thing he had learned was when to be cautious and when to be bold, and walking into a situation where he didn’t have enough information, was absent everything but a Healing Surge Fusion on a necklace in case of emergencies (he would essentially fail if he was forced to use it), and was by himself, caution was the name of the game.

At about 20 feet away, just as his Magical Detection Skill indicated that this small hill was, indeed, a monster, it abruptly moved. Not just a portion of it, but the entire thing; before he knew it, a large figure unfolded itself from the landscape, standing up until it towered a half-dozen feet above Larek’s head. Steadying himself at its abrupt appearance, he thought he recognized it from his past Monster Knowledge classes, though not necessarily this particular variety.

With skin made of what appeared to be a mixture of dirt and charred wood, the Trogre was a mixture of a troll and an ogre; with a large pot-belly that was surrounded by a frame that looked to be made of pure muscle, arms long enough that they practically dragged on the ground, and a head that reminded him more of a butchered pig what with all the weeping wounds and scars all over it. It held a pair of stone clubs in its long-fingered and pudgy hands, both of the weapons at least 4 feet in length and a foot in width at their widest, and they had sharp protrusions along its length that indicated that someone hit by them wouldn’t just be smashed into the ground, but torn apart simultaneously.

From what he knew about Trogres, they had a regenerative ability that healed them over time and were extremely strong, but they also had a weakness to fire. This one, however, seemed to be on fire from the inside, or at least that was what Larek assumed from the reddish-orange glow that emerged from a few cracks in its skin. The Flame Trogre, which is what he dubbed it in his head, suddenly roared loudly as soon as it caught sight of the Fusionist standing there, and it took a step toward him; the weight of the intimidating monster was enough to shake the ground slightly when its oversized foot hit the dry and cracked surface, and Larek automatically adjusted his center of gravity to compensate for the temporary shake.

Before he arrived at the Fort, a simple use of one of his offensive Fusions, such as Healing Shelter or Frozen Zone would probably be enough to kill the Trogre; if not them, then he would stay back and attack it from afar with his staff, filling it so full of ice spikes that it wouldn’t be able to move. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any of those things on him right now, and even if he did, they wouldn’t be allowed; instead, he needed to use what he had been taught over the last two months.

As his opponent began to raise both of its arms in anticipation of smashing both stone clubs into him, Larek activated the Magnitude 1 version of his internal Stama Fusion, allowing 1% of his Stama – or 33 Stama – to flow out. Subjugating that amount of energy was quite easy by this point, and he directed it through his body to his feet, where it suffused into a pre-set pattern he had learned from the Senior Instructor.

Fleetfoot

Effect: Increases Agility stat by 50%

Duration: 40 seconds

Base Stama Cost: 30

With the Fleetfoot Battle Art now active, he felt the energy in his leg muscles twitching with power, and he quickly moved from his position, utilizing the leftover Stama that he still controlled to further enhance and support his legs by cycling it through them rapidly. There was an entrenched route that they followed, something that he’d had to gradually produce as he learned how to cycle the energy through his body, and now the Stama flowed through effortlessly.

Swiftly circling around the Flame Trogre, Larek set his feet so that his left was further out from his right, crouched slightly for better stability, and swung his halberd at the monster’s right leg, aiming to slice through its knee, bringing it to the ground so that he could finish it off. Surprisingly, the slow-looking Trogre was able to twitch its right club backward just enough that the Fusionist’s weapon was deflected upward, and he only ended up scraping the sharp spike at the end of the pole against the monster’s back upper thigh, which cut a line along its skin.

Larek threw himself backwards as the stone club whipped around at him, the Trogre’s long arms more than a match for his own long weapon, and he used what he’d learned in his Agility training to roll, keeping the halberd perpendicular to his body so that it was pointed off to the side. As he sprang to his feet, he surveyed the damage he’d done and saw a tiny amount of steamy glowing blood emerging from the wound, which equated to barely a scratch.

Looks like I’m going to have to go all out with this thing.

Rushing up to the Flame Trogre from its front as it turned quickly toward him, Larek’s combat awareness noted the position of the monster’s arms and predicted that it was about to sweep both clubs at him from the sides at different elevations, meaning that he might be able to dodge one of them, but not both. Thankfully, he didn’t have to dodge either of them, because with a thought he formed two Pattern shields on either side of him as the Trogre swung both clubs with incredible speed. As the wind shrieked at their passage through the air, he was able to shift his shields to line up with both incoming weapons while he continued forward to the now wide-open monster. Through his focus with his Pattern shields, he sensed the dual impacts and felt them waver slightly, something that didn’t happen very often. What that meant was that they had stopped extremely potent attacks; if they had hit Larek, even with a boosted Body stat, he would’ve been severely hurt, if not killed if he had been hit in the head.

This thing was strong, there was no doubt about that.

But that ultimately didn’t matter as he activated his internal Fusion to release another 1% of his Stama; as he took control with his Stama Subjugation, he fed it through the pathways to his arms, and from there he was able to direct it to the Battle Art pattern in his hands.

Empowered Strike

Effect: Doubles the damage output of an equipped weapon

Duration: Single strike

Base Stama Cost: 25

As Empowered Strike activated, the volatile power flowed out of his hands and into his weapon. The whole process took a bit more concentration that simply feeding it to his legs, because even though he activated the actual Battle Art, he still had to focus on keeping the Stama inside of his weapon instead of flying free. Thankfully, he’d had plenty of practice once he was trained on how to do something like this, and his entire weapon glowed with an external blue light, indicating that it had been successful.

Leaping when he was only a few long steps away, he chopped downward, aiming to cleave through the skull of the Trogre by gaining additional height. As his overhead chop arced downwards, the monster somehow sensed what was coming and was able to react, jerking its head back so that Larek’s halberd missed its target. Despite the last-second save, it couldn’t prevent the Fusionist’s weapon from slicing into its chest, the blade cutting deeply into its flesh, only to be torn open even further as the spike on the end shattered rib bones and cut into a few vital organs.

As Larek’s feet hit the ground, he had to cycle the remaining Stama that hadn’t been used for Empowered Strike to enhance his arm strength enough to yank the weapon free of the Trogre’s chest. As it came free, his combat awareness flashed danger, and a few things happened all at once. Noticing a foot striking out at him that would likely shatter some of his bones if it hit without any defense, Larek quickly activated Mag 2 on his internal Fusion, and 5% of his maximum Stama – or 180 Stama – was allowed to enter the rest of his body. It took a little more effort to subjugate the energy, but with his Stama Subjugation Skill at Level 20, he managed it without too many problems.

He then funneled that Stama into the channels around his chest, activating yet another Battle Art.

Absorb Blow

Effect: Absorbs up to 90% of a single strike

Duration: Single strike

Base Stama Cost: 150

Of course, he wasn’t going to rely just on that to help him, as he moved both of his Pattern shields from where they had blocked the clubs and placed them out front. The first shield shattered from the impact with its foot, telling him that it had been damaged from the impact with the stone club more than he thought, while the second one barely held on long enough to slow the attack.

But the Trogre wasn’t done, and even as its horrendous chest wound began to heal, a club swatted at him with a flick of the monster’s right wrist; there wasn’t a lot of power behind it since it wasn’t a full swing, but it was still enough to hit him from the side and send him flying. Absorb Blow lessened the damage done to his body, and while he felt his entire side would be a massive bruise until his Body Regeneration kicked in, it didn’t do any major damage. What it did nothing to prevent was the force of the blow, which was what sent him tumbling through the air.

Thankfully, he was able to reorient himself while mid-air and landed on his feet about 50 feet away. It was only that fact that saved him from getting a flame jet up his butt when it emerged from under his feet, and he felt the scorching heat from it as he quickly jumped out of the way. Focusing on the Flame Trogre once again, he saw that it was moving slowly toward him, the wound he had inflicted visibly healing. The regeneration wasn’t nearly as fast as his own Healing Surge, but he thought that it would probably be completely healed within 10 minutes or less.

Stymied at every turn, Larek decided that this wasn’t a battle that would be over quickly, like he had been hoping. Even as his own bruises cleared up along his side, he rapidly moved back into range with the Trogre, renewed his Fleetfoot Battle Art that was about to expire, and set about gradually wearing the monster down. The slightly slower opponent – due to his chest wound – didn’t have quite the same range of motion as before, which meant that he was able to dodge one of its strikes while blocking the other with his Pattern shield, and he concentrated on the one arm that he had just blocked.

Maneuvering his shield construct so that it appeared above the club, he pressed down with it, slamming the stone weapon into the ground. The Trogre was strong enough to extricate the club within seconds, of course, but that was all he needed. Another application of Empowered Strike was aimed at its wrist, and he ended up cutting deep into the flesh and bone. As it bellowed out in pain, he took the time to create a Pattern axe and chopped downward, severing the last of what was keeping the wrist intact, leaving the Trogre’s hand and weapon on the ground.

From there, it was only a matter of attrition as he eventually trapped the other club, though this time the monster abandoned it rather than having its hand chopped off again. That didn’t matter to Larek, however, as he continued sped around the powerful monster, occasionally using Empowered Strike to cut deeply into its legs, inflicting dozens of wounds that leaked steaming blood, weakening it over the next five minutes. Without one hand and absent a club in its working one, Larek didn’t take another blow in all that time, his combat awareness and speed working overtime to keep him out of trouble, as he whittled his opponent down until it eventually collapsed to a knee when too much damage to its leg had been inflicted.

Seeing his chance to end it, he activated his internal Fusion at Magnitude 2 twice in a row, giving him 360 Stama to use. This amount was at the limit of what he could safely subjugate, especially in a combat scenario, and he strained his focus on controlling it long enough to activate his final Battle Art, Execution.

Execution

Effect: Doubles Strength and Agility stats for a single strike, and then halves both stats for 5 seconds

Duration(s): Single strike, 5 seconds after strike

Base Stama Cost: 350

As the Mana fed into the pattern that encompassed his upper chest, arms, and legs, he nearly lost control as it activated and he felt his Strength and Agility doubling for a single blow.  He moved faster than the Trogre could react as he aimed for its neck, and this time it was unable to avoid the strike. As its head went flying from the sudden decapitation, he felt the strength and speed leave his body, leaving him feeling drained. During that time, he saw and felt the Corrupted Aetheric Force enter his body from the slain Flame Trogre, indicating that he had indeed killed it, and he smiled grimly in satisfaction of having killed the powerful monster without the aid of any Fusions – other than the necessary one allowing him access to his Stama, of course.

“Adequate,” he heard from behind, and he didn’t have to turn around to know that Torge was behind him. He had sensed him at the range of his awareness since he entered the territory, watching him venture through it and then fight the Trogre. “For the next one, I want you to try and kill it in half the time – while also avoiding getting hit.”

Larek nodded, hefting his halberd as he straightened his shoulders, looking across the landscape at what would likely be his next target. One down, who knows how many more to go. With that thought in mind, and a smile on his face, the Martial Fusionist stretched his awareness to its limit as he cautiously worked his way across the Aperture’s territory.