The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Struggling back to his knees, Larek barely managed to raise his training sword to lightly block the incoming blow, as his strength had given out a while ago. The impact against his sword pushed the wooden sword into his face, making his vision go slightly blurry as it crunched his nose. He was barely aware as he fell onto his back, looking up at the sky above the Mock Arena that was located outside of the Fort’s building, his breathing ragged from exhaustion.

After a few seconds, he felt something cover his face and he momentarily panicked, before he realized it was his original clothes, which he had replaced at the beginning of his training with Senior Instructor Torge hours—has it only been a few hours?—ago. With a thought, he activated the Healing Surge Fusion on it, feeling his destroyed nose and numerous smaller wounds repair themselves. Unfortunately, it did nothing to affect his exhaustion; if anything, using the healing Fusion made it worse.

A thump against his chest revealed itself to be a canteen of blessedly cold water, and as he sat up he practically inhaled the precious resource as if his life depended upon it.

“Good job today.” The now-hydrated Fusionist looked over at the Senior Instructor, who didn’t appear to be the least bit tired from all the training, thinking murderous thoughts at the infuriating smile on the Drekkin’s face. “Now, don’t get me wrong, you have horrible Strength and Body control, the application of your Agility for anything but pure speed is a joke, you look like you’ve never held a weapon in your life, and you remind of a blind mole rat when it comes to your awareness in combat… but at least you didn’t complain even once. That’s more than could be said for 99% of my other trainees, I’ll have you know. Even better, I can abuse your body and you can simply heal up with that fancy Fusion of yours.”

As he stopped speaking, the Senior Instructor threw a large bag to him, which Larek barely caught in time before it slammed into his face. Larek looked inside to see dried meat and what appeared to be freshly baked rolls.

“Eat up! I need you to have some energy for when we start figuring out your Stama. Don’t want you passing out on me, after all,” the Drekkin said with a chuckle.

Rather than say anything, the Fusionist tore into the provided food, scarfing it down to the point where he nearly choked at one point, but he was able to wash it down with some more water. In approximately ten minutes he was done, having finishing off the entire bag – and was disappointed there wasn’t more. He had expended a lot of energy over the last four hours, and his body was craving more food to replenish it; that being said, he was already feeling better than he had just a few minutes before, and he knew he would be more than capable of finishing out his last class without collapsing.

As he adjusted his sitting self on the dirt surface of Mock Arena 5, which was like a miniature version of the dueling arena over at Crystalview Academy, he could already feel the changes in his body. Or, more accurately, his control over his body – and it had only been a day! It all started at the Workout Gym, where he spent the hour under the instruction of Torge lifting weights, pushing and pulling large stones, and bending metal bars. These exercises weren’t designed to make him stronger, but to refine his control over his own Strength. Lift too strongly, and he could damage the weights; lift without enough strength, and he wouldn’t be able to shift the weights at all. Push or pull a stone up an incline too weakly, and the stone could fall back and injure him; push or pull that same stone too strongly, and it could fall off the incline and break apart. It was all designed to train him in applying just the right amount of Strength in his movements, and he really felt like he was making progress… up until he trained his Body.

Torture was what he called it instead of training, because training his Body involved a lot of hitting by metal and wood contraptions that rotated on a central axle in the middle of the Gym. The idea was to move his body in ways that would minimize or completely avoid the painful arms that extended out from the rotating cylinder as the Senior Instructor rotated it with a wheel he spun – out of harm’s way, of course. That entire experience was a lesson in temporary pain and bruises that layered on top of bruises, though even then he felt he was starting to learn a little bit by the time they moved on to his next class.

Agility Training took place in a shared space that had dozens of other trainees participating in an Obstacle Course. It was essentially a long, indoor course filled with beams of wood, ropes, climbing walls, and even more rotating contraptions – though these weren’t designed to inflict punishing blows like the one in the Gym. Instead, they were designed to knock people off the course, which was suspended 10 feet above the stone floor… with no padding or anything to soften the fall if someone was knocked off.

To say that Larek discovered that fact a few times would be an understatement. Larek had known that Agility was more than just speed, as he could feel that his body became more flexible and stable as his stat increased, but he’d never actually used that flexibility and stability all that much. With the obstacle course, though, he was forced to bend, stretch, and balance himself along thin wooden beams that a cat would have trouble moving across as he attempted to move his way through the obstacles. While he wasn’t the worst of the trainees trying to make their way through the course, he could see that his only advantage was his higher Agility; what made him realize he was far behind despite that was how those with 100 fewer points in that stat could demonstrate better flexibility and balance than he could.

Needless to say, he hit the floor plenty of times during the class, though he fell fewer times as he began to learn what was needed. It was a slight improvement, but Larek could already feel the differences in how he held his body even while simply sitting down, as it felt even more comfortable. He knew that this kind of training was exactly what he’d needed when he had originally been adjusting to his higher Martial stats, and even now he knew that he had barely scratched the surface of what he could accomplish if he actually applied himself learning how to control his body better.

After stat training came Weapon Training, and they moved to Mock Arena 5, where they were currently. After being quickly taught a basic way to hold various training weapons, the Senior Instructor proceeded to beat, slice, or stab Larek while the trainee tried to simply defend himself, looking to see if there was a particular weapon that felt more comfortable in his hands. To no surprise to the former Logger, it was an axe (of sorts) that felt the best in his hands – though it wasn’t a battleaxe. Instead, it was a halberd, which basically possessed a curved axe blade on the end of a long pole, with a sharp stabbing point sticking out on top. He thought he liked it because the pole reminded him of the Mage’s staffs that he’d been using, while the axe blade was the closest he could find to his Logger’s axe that he was used to.

Even though it felt comfortable in his hands, that didn’t mean he automatically knew how to use it. Because of its length, it was a bit awkward to use against the Senior Instructor, especially when they were a close distance apart, but he quickly realized that this weapon was designed with range in mind, as the idea was to attack from afar rather than up close like he was used to with his normal Logger’s axe.

Still, even though he was fairly confident that the halberd was the one he wanted to concentrate on, the Drekkin made him use all of the different training weapons so that he was familiar with them. It was also why he was using a wooden training sword when they moved onto Combat Awareness in the next class, as he was told that it was the easiest weapon to start training his body to recognize threats and defend against them appropriately.  He had no prior experience with using the weapon, so he couldn’t accurately say that it was better than anything else, but he was at least able to wave it around and get lucky blocking an attack every once in a while.

The rest of the time, he was essentially getting beaten up by the Senior Instructor as he was trained to notice small movements that the Drekkin would make which would likely indicate how he was going to be attacked. From there, they moved on to Larek wearing a blindfold and trying to listen to the Senior Instructor moving around him, which he actually did quite well because of his Listening Skill, but the problem was that he didn’t know how to react properly. Lastly, he spent at least 15 minutes straight being told to stand still and attempt to pinpoint where strikes would appear around him without turning his head – which was essentially a disaster. All that ended with him on his knees and taking a sword to the face – which brought him to his current position.

Overall, it had been exhausting, painful (until his Paim Immunity kicked in), and humbling, because he was so outmatched when it came to utilizing his high stats and what Skills he actually possessed in combat that it was basically nonexistent. He thought that, even if he was wearing his clothes and using his best friend, the Senior Instructor would still find a way to absolutely wipe the floor with him. It made his entire goal of getting stronger even more important, because if the Gergasi had even a fraction of the abilities that the Drekkin possessed, then he would have very little chance against them. Even with powerful Fusions to help him, he had very little confidence in success at this point.

In addition to him starting to understand his body and stats a little better, Larek also received some Skill improvements – and even obtained a new Skill when he used a bow during his Weapon Training class.

Ranged Weapon Expertise Skill has been unlocked!

Ranged Weapon Expertise has reached Level 1!

Ranged Weapon Expertise has reached Level 2!

Blunt Weapon Expertise has reached Level 2!

Blunt Weapon Expertise has reached Level 3!

Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 4!

Bladed Weapon Expertise has reached Level 5!

Dodge has reached Level 25!

Body Regeneration has reached Level 41!

They weren’t huge gains, but every little bit helped. The increases to his Weapon Expertise Skills was especially helpful, as he was fairly certain they were what helped him unconsciously feel a little more confident in using them, though he still had a long way to go before he could actually defend himself against the Senior Instructor.

“Rested enough?” the Drekkin abruptly asked once he was settled after eating.

Larek nodded, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees. He guessed that this last class, Stama Subjugation, wasn’t going to be as active as the previous ones, and he turned out to be correct as his Instructor sat down across from him.

“Now, before we start, I need to know a few things,” Torge said, his serious voice softer compared to the gruff orders he had practically shouted during their earlier training.

Only slightly wary of the questions that might be asked, the Fusionist said, “Go ahead.”

“First, what is your Stama Subjugation Skill Level?”

Larek didn’t hesitate to answer. “Level 2.”

With a nod, the Drekkin continued. “Next, when was your Stama unlocked and who unlocked it for you?”

“It was unlocked….” He paused for a second, only because he had do some mental calculations. “I believe it was unlocked approximately four months ago.” He wasn’t sure of the exact timeline, as he didn’t know exactly how long he was in the Sealance Empire and underneath the Lowenthal desert. “As for who unlocked it, uh, no one did. It was unlocked during a… traumatic incident.”

Again, the Senior Instructor nodded. “That’s about what I thought.”

“Really?”

“If you weren’t aware of it before now, there are two methods that your Martial abilities can be unlocked. The most common—by far—as well as the safest method is by having another Martial use their Stama to, for want of a better phrase, ‘unlock the door’ inside of a new Trainee’s body. It’s fairly simple for someone to learn how to do it, but it also takes a large amount of Stama to do it correctly, and there is an inherent risk of foreign Stama harming the one who is undergoing the process. Thankfully, this rarely happens, as those who know the technique are proficient enough in controlling their Stama well enough to prevent any harm from coming to either them or the one they are working on.

“The second, and more dangerous method, is what you experienced. During traumatic or highly stressful events, which are typically life-or-death situations, the body is forced to embrace their Martial abilities in order to prolong their life. While very rare, I’ve seen a few Martials – and even Mages – in the past that have undergone such an awakening of their latent potential, and they almost inevitably have issues of one kind or another. Of course, once they figure out a way around their individual obstacles, they tend to be the most powerful of Martials and Mages, which is why I believe you are so advanced for your age and experience.”

That definitely made sense to Larek, even though his Instructor’s belief that his power came from his method of unlocking his Martial abilities wasn’t quite correct. Not that he was going to mention that he was also a Mage, of course.

“Now, your particular issue is something that I haven’t encountered or heard of before, but I think we can work through it,” the Drekkin continued. “Tell me, what does it feel like inside your body and what happens when you attempt to touch, let alone subjugate, your Stama?”

Larek thought about it for a few seconds, seeing if he could put it into words. “It’s like a large pulsating source of energy in the middle of my chest, and when I attempt to reach inside and touch my Stama, the only sensation I can relate it to is putting my hand into a pond of water. I can feel the wetness on my hand, but when I go to take a fistful with the intention of moving it around to do what I want, it simply drips away.”

“I see. And what have you been envisioning when you attempt to subjugate your Stama?”

“Envision? I’m not sure what you mean; I’ve just been attempting to forcibly take control of it, as I was taught.” While he hadn’t technically been taught that, he remembered his conversation with Penelope and Bartholomew when they first discussed Stama and the Stama Subjugation Skill.

“That’s almost correct,” the Drekkin said as he shook his head. “While that is the end result, you need to have a purpose to taking control other than just trying to subjugate Stama just for subjugation’s sake. This purpose is what forms the Stama into the kind of energy that can be used in various ways, as you saw earlier in you Stama and Battle Arts class.”

After a little more discussion and explanation of what he needed to do, Larek took the lesson to heart and did what he’d been trying to do this whole time. Envisioning the purpose he wanted for his Stama, he reached inside and attempted to gain control of the energy in his chest. Lo and behold, after what felt like the millionth time doing this exact same thing, he—

—failed once again. And Larek kept failing no matter how he adjusted what he was envisioning, how he approached his reservoir of Stama, or even tried a few other techniques that his Instructor prompted him to attempt. In the end, while he was no closer to successfully subjugating his Stama, he still felt like his efforts were bearing fruit.

Why? Because as he closed his eyes and perceived the volatile energy inside of his chest using his Magical Detection Skill, he began to recognize some similarities between it and the Mana that infused his entire body. Just as he was starting to comprehend what exactly it was he was looking at, his introspection was interrupted by Torge.

“Well, that’s all for today,” the Senior Instructor announced loudly. “We’ll continue with this class in Training Hall 205 from this point on; I didn’t want to move you after your exhaustion after Combat Awareness, which is why we were still here, but tomorrow will be different. I don’t know what it is, but I can almost feel like you’re going to have a breakthrough tomorrow with your issue; I encourage you to continue studying your Stama and figuring out a way to subjugate it tonight – after dinner, of course. I’m sure you’re still starving after all that today.”

Larek opened his eyes and nodded. He also felt like he was on the cusp of figuring this whole Stama thing out; he just needed some time. And food.

Senior Instructor Torge chuckled when he heard Larek’s stomach growl, before saying, “Dismissed.”

The Fusionist was up and out of the Mock Arena within seconds after grabbing his Fusion-filled clothes, his nose leading the way to the Dining Hall. A scant 20 minutes later, he left the Hall, headed to his room, and sat on his bed, ready to spend the night contemplating his Stama.

As he unconsciously slid into the same hyper-focused state that he used for creating Fusions, the solution to all his problems suddenly came to him.