The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 34

Chapter 34

When the training room inside the Fort was completely empty other than Larek and the smiling Drekkin, Senior Instructor Torge, the Fusionist stood there for nearly a minute with the silence stretching uncomfortably long. Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask what he should be doing, the powerful instructor suddenly moved, using a speed that Larek hadn’t seen up to this point. His own Agility was just barely high enough to catch the movement, and his mind worked quickly as it saw the Drekkin’s wooden, hammer-like weapon heading toward his right arm with a speed and strength that told him that this wasn’t just a light tap.

As he dodged to the left to avoid it, Senior Instructor Torge somehow brought in his swing, moved the weapon to his other hand, and swung it again so that it was lined up directly at Larek’s left leg.  The Fusionist was in motion and couldn’t stop his dodge, and his mind quickly assessed what was happening and came up with two solutions. The first was he could quickly form a Pattern shield using his Pattern Cohesion and block the blow, which he would prefer to avoid since it would be difficult to explain how he did it. The second, and the one he went with, was just to let the blow hit him.

*Crunch*

The impact was worse than expected, as the wooden block slammed into his left knee, sending him spinning after a brief spike of pain that was dulled by Pain Immunity. He rotated twice in the air before landing in a sprawl on the ground, and he immediately scrambled to sit up and defend himself in case Torge was trying to kill him; if that was the case, then he would break out his Pattern constructs to prevent himself from dying.

When the Senior Instructor simply stood there looking down at him on the floor, the haft of the weapon he had hit Larek with snapped and barely holding on to the head of the hammer with a few splinters, he looked down to see his leg bent at the knee in a direction it wasn’t supposed to go.

“What the hell was that for!?” he yelled, even as he used his hands to shift his leg back into the correct position so that it could heal. He could feel that his Body Regeneration Skill was already kicking in and repairing the damage, though it would still take a few minutes to be fully healed; he, of course, could speed it up with his Healing Surge Fusion, but it was halfway across the room at the moment.

Larek tensed up as the Senior Instructor dropped the broken weapon at his feet and walked toward the downed Fusionist, squatting and putting his arms on his knees as he stared at the healing leg. “Hmm… that’s even more than I expected.” The Drekkin mumbled to himself before he looked up into Larek’s eyes. “You were holding back, weren’t you?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

The Senior Instructor just stared at him, as if he could look into his soul and pick out his lies. “I don’t know exactly why you’re hiding your strength, but it stops now if you want training.” He paused for a few seconds before he continued.  “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’ve seen just about every type of Martial that you can think of, and probably a few that you can’t. I know just how hard a Martial with 10 Strength should be able to strike me, and how fast someone with 80 Agility should be able to move. I also know how to adjust my own strikes to inflict the precise amount of damage that I want to.

“That blow right there,” he said, pointing to Larek’s knee, “would’ve ripped off your leg if you had under 50 in your Body stat. Based on the damage done to it, I would put your Body stat somewhere between 115 and 130, probably on the higher end. When I look at how rapidly your injury is healing, I would put your Body Regeneration Skill between 35 and 45; by the fact that I didn’t see you howling in pain at the start, you also likely have the Pain Immunity Skill, something that is was rare even among the oldest Martials in the SIC.

“You’re also strong, but without actually taking strike from you, I can’t be more accurate than saying that you have a Strength stat between 90 and 140. Your Agility is tough, because you were hiding your speed earlier, but I saw a hint of it when you attempted to dodge my simple feint – something that you weren’t able to recognize, further demonstrating your lack of combat awareness. My best guess is something over 100, but it could be as high as 135 if I didn’t see everything you’ve got.

“You also have a Dodge skill nearing or at 20, but you don’t know how to use it properly. I’m assuming that your Throwing Skill was earned from something other than throwing knives, and you don’t seem to favor any particular weapon. That being said, you showed a little bit of an Unarmed Fighting Skill during the first assessment, but I don’t believe that is your particular area of expertise.

“How am I doing so far?”

The Senior Instructor was correct in just about everything he said, which put Larek in a bit of quandary. He had been trying to hide his power so that they wouldn’t ask too many questions about his high stats, but the Drekkin had seen right through his efforts; he wasn’t sure that the other Instructors during the evaluation had noticed, but he wouldn’t be surprised at this point. In retrospect, it was their job to train Martials, so his attempted subterfuge was doomed from the start.

At least as far as his capabilities as a Martial went. He still wasn’t comfortable sharing his other side with anyone at the Fort, especially as he got the vibe from Instructor Hasat that the man would immediately turn on him for suspicion of being affiliated with a Gergasi in some way. The Drekkin, on the other hand, might just be someone he could confide in… but it was still too soon to tell.

“I’d say that you really know what you’re talking about,” he replied, feeling a few things shifting in his knee that were uncomfortable, but he could tell it was healing just fine.

“Good. Now, while I’m curious as to what could’ve possibly allowed you to acquire as high of stats as you seem to possess at such a young age, I don’t really care. What matters is what I can do with you, how I can mold you into a perfect Martial with capabilities that I hope will surpass even the greatest of those who worked for the SIC in the past. I sense a greatness in you, Larek, that I’ve never sensed before.

“BUT!” the Senior Instructor practically shouted, locking eyes with Larek once again. “I expect you to put in the work, to learn what I have to teach, and—most importantly—I need you to be honest with me. I don’t need your life story, I don’t need you to share whatever secrets you’re attempting to hold onto, but I expect you to be upfront with whatever relates to your Martial abilities and Skills. I can’t train you without having an accurate baseline to work with, otherwise this won’t work.”

Larek thought about it for a second before he nodded. He’d already shared most of what he was already going to, but if it came down to specifics like his actual Martial stats and relevant Skill levels, then he didn’t see a problem with that. Especially when his Instructor seemed to have worked out most of them already.

“I can do that. However, that’s not my major concern,” Larek said.

“Yes, I know,” Torge affirmed. “I can train you to fight better than the pathetic flailing I saw earlier, but it’s your Stama and reliably accessing your Battle Arts that are the issue. Thankfully, I think I have some ideas that we can try and see if they’ll work to breakthrough your inability to manipulate your Stama.”

Something about what the Senior Instructor said about manipulating Stama resonated with Larek, giving him a hint of what he might be doing wrong. He didn’t get a chance to think about it for more than a few seconds, however, as his leg finally finished repairing itself, and Drekkin held out a hand. The Fusionist took it and allowed himself to be helped up; when he was on his feet, he realized for the first time that his borrowed clothes had been absolutely ruined. There weren’t any bloodstains, but it had been cut into with the relatively sharp wooden weapons the other Instructors had been using during the evaluation.

Seeing him looking down at his clothing, Torge mentioned, “Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad you didn’t ruin your other set.”

“No, they wouldn’t have been ruined,” he said matter-of-factly. As soon as the words crossed his lips, he realized he’d probably said something he shouldn’t.

“Oh, really? Now this I have to see.” Before Larek could say anything, the Drekkin had sped across the room and stood next to the trainee’s Fusion-filled clothes. “Do you mind if I check them out?”

He’d already decided that he would try and be as truthful as he could with his new Instructor, which included the Fusions that he was in possession of. That didn’t mean he had to admit that he was actually the creator, however.

“Go ahead; but I must warn you, it’s a bit of a rush—”

As soon as he gave permission, Torge pick up both his shirt and pants in either hand, immediately hissing in absolute shock.  It was a sound that reminded Larek of his experience underneath the Lowenthal desert and the Drekkin he’d met there, and he managed to keep the smirk off his face at the powerful Martial’s sudden lack of composure.

“T-thissss issss imposssssssible,” the Senior Instructor hissed while he spoke, but upon realizing what he’d done, he quickly corrected himself and banished the hiss from his speech. “This is… do you have any idea what these Fusions can do?”

Larek nodded. He knew from experience that his Omni Boost still worked on Martials, though long-term testing with a boost to Mage stats that they didn’t possess was still needed to ensure it didn’t hurt them. “Yes, they double your stats.”

The Drekkin must not have actually checked them, only felt the difference in his body, because at that point the Senior Instructor’s eyes went a little vacant as he checked out his Status. For the second time, Larek watched Torge lose his composure as he staggered backwards – as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“I… now see why you didn’t want to wear this during the evaluation,” the lizard-like man said after he regained his thoughts.

Larek nodded again as he considered what else he might say about the Fusions on it. He realized that he’d have to go over a little bit more than just the boosts, because it was something that he wouldn’t be able to wear during training. Fortunately, he had some alternative options to replace some of what was on the clothing in his Void Pocket sack.

“But those boosts to Martial stats aren’t the only thing on them,” he said, walking up next to the still astonished Drekkin. “If you put on the shirt and tie the pants around your waist—as I don’t think they will fit over your legs and tail—I’ll show you what I mean.”

It took a few second for the Senior Instructor to do as Larek suggested, and fortunately the Fusionist was large enough that his clothes easily fit over Torge’s upper torso without any issues.  The pants looked funny as they were tied together with the legs around his waist, but Larek saw that they were functioning just fine.

“Hold on, let me pick up one of these,” the Fusionist said, grabbing one of the throwing knives from where they had ended up earlier. “Don’t dodge this, if you would.” With the little practice he had earlier, Larek was easily able to throw the knife at the now-stationary Instructor, aiming right for his stomach. To the trainee’s expectation, but the Drekkin’s shock, a block of ice appeared in front of Torge and repelled the thrown knife automatically, sending it ricocheting off at an angle. As it clattered noisily to the stone floor, the Senior Instructor looked up from where he had just watched the ice block fall to the floor.  “Do that again.”

Larek smiled at the sheer excitement that the Drekkin showed as he had another half-dozen knives repelled by ice through the magic of the Automatic Ice Repulsion Field. Larek had to stop after that though, because there was a limit to how much it could continue without having to wait a little. Theoretically, he could’ve eliminated the Limiter on it, but it still drew a bit of ambient Mana upon its use; while it was denser in the Kingdom, it still wouldn’t be able to handle hundreds of uses within a few minutes.

“It can do a few more, but it has to, uh, recharge before it is at full power again,” he explained as best he could. “As you can see, though, this was another reason why I didn’t want to wear it during the evaluation.”

“I do see that. I’ve never heard of anything like this. It’s miraculous. Is there more?”

Larek smiled. “A little bit more,” he said. He was going to use a throwing knife for the next part, but they were actually a little dull. “Do you have a sharp knife?” he asked. Out of seemingly nowhere, but was actually from a sheath strapped to his back, the Senior Instructor pulled out a small knife, about 4 inches long. “That should work. Only using a small portion of your Strength, try to cut and then stab the shirt.” Without hesitation, Torge did so, again surprised when it didn’t part underneath his blade. “It’s not impervious, but it can hold up under some serious abuse. I’m pretty sure if you put a little effort into it that you could cut it – but I’d prefer if you didn’t,” he added with a chuckle.

“It’s enough to know that it’s tougher than leather, if not some of the softer metals.”

“That it is,” Larek agreed. “One last thing.  It also has a healing Fusion that—”

Whoa. Upon mentioning healing, the Senior Instructor’s attention was fixed upon him so strongly that he felt like prey underneath the gaze of a predator. “Healing? Like this?”

Before Larek could say anything, the Drekkin used the knife to cut into and through the scales covering his arm. Torge had to increase the pressure to the point where his knife’s blade nearly snapped, but eventually he was able to cut deeply enough that he started to drip blood all over the stone floor. The Fusionist was about to explain how the healing worked, but it appeared as though the Senior Instructor already knew, as he watched the Healing Surge Fusion activate. Within seconds, he was as good as new.

“Uh, yeah, like that. Have you, perchance, used something like that before?” Larek asked, curious how he had figured it out so quickly.

Rather than answer that question, his new Instructor looked on with satisfaction at his now-healed arm and he smiled again at Larek. It was the same smile he’d had after announcing that he was going to be handling the Fusionist’s training personally.

“You’ve just made your upcoming training all that much harder on yourself, I hope you realize that? If we don’t have to wait for you to heal up… well, I think you can guess where I’m going with that.”

Uh, oh. What in the world did I just sign up for?

His instructor rapidly took off Larek’s clothes and, with only a small hesitation, tossed them back to him. “I have to look into a few things and rearrange some training schedules, but for now I want you to take it physically easy for the rest of the day. Normally, I’d have you sparring with some of our other students, but with your high stats and non-existent combat awareness, it wouldn’t benefit any of you.

“Tomorrow, however, you’ll be starting with me as we begin your combat training. This afternoon and this evening, I want you to continue trying to access your Stama, even if it feels like it isn’t productive. I’d rather know that we’ve exhausted everything that you’ve been taught about subjugating your Stama before we attempt some more… extreme measures. Any questions?”

Larek shook his head.

“Very well. You should have a schedule ready to go for you tonight. You’re dismissed.”

With a nod and a short bow of respect to the powerful Drekkin, Larek quickly jogged away after replacing his clothes. He was hungry again and decided it was close enough to lunch time to eat, and then after that…

…most likely a very unproductive Stama experimentation session. Still, things were looking up for him, as he had just been assigned a new Instructor that seemed as if they were willing to work with him despite his abnormalities. In fact, Senior Instructor Torge reminded him a little of Grandmaster Fusionist Shinpai, at least in terms of capability and willing to overlook some things that would make most others a bit cautious when dealing with him.

He just hoped he lived up to the powerful Drekkin’s expectations.