The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 26

Chapter 26

“I don’t know what you did, but if you hurt the Commander, I’ll take great pleasure in killing you slowly.” The whispered threat in Larek’s ear wasn’t backed up by any serious physical action other than a tightening of the arms around his own, but he simply nodded in response.  The Martials that held him were strong, but nothing they were doing actually hurt him, for which he was grateful.

Because if they ended up hurting Nedira, he would have to intervene – and those involved wouldn’t like it.

While the Commander continued to flop around on the couch, Larek took the time to look at his notifications that he ignored in the heat of the moment.

Dodge has reached Level 24!

Unarmed Fighting has reached Level 4!

Body Regeneration has reached Level 39!

Magical Detection has reached Level 43!

New Fusion learned!

Expression of Free Will +5

Activation Method(s): Reactive

Effect: Using non-invasive mental manipulation, the Reactive Activation Method initiates the process of identifying incoming sources of foreign mental manipulation

Effect: Blocks any and all sources of active mental manipulation

Effect: Using invasive mental manipulation, identifies existing sources of foreign mental manipulation and actively eliminates them by banishing them to the void

Input(s): Detection of active mental state influence

Variable(s): Magical mental manipulation

Magnitude: Blocks 50% of active mental manipulation, eliminates existing mental manipulation at an average rate of 5% per second.

Mana Cost: 45,000

Pattern Cohesion: 300

Fusion Time: 24 hours

Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 41!

Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 56!

Mana Control has reached Level 62!

Fusion has reached Level 62!

Pattern Formation has reached Level 62!

The new type of Fusion was enough to gain him some additional Skill Levels, which was surprising because it wasn’t as complicated as some that he’d made lately. Then again, he had created it under pressure and used some concepts that he hadn’t used before, so that was certainly a reason why he might have gained as much as he did.

Once he was done with that, he had enough time to look around the area with real focus for the first time, recognizing that the dozen or so people that had come to Kimble’s rescue were vaguely familiar. The two that had been outside the building were present, but he thought he also recognized a few others from the gate, including the arrogant Mage that had overheard him stating that he was a Fusionist. Instead of acting all high-and-mighty like she had been, she was both angry and in wide-eyed awe as she really looked at him for the first time. Or more accurately, looked at his clothing full of Fusions.

I’ve really got to hide their presence with void carriers when I add Fusions to my new clothes; the shock when other people catch a sight of them is getting a bit old.

He’d probably have to do the same for Nedira’s robe – but that was for later, when he didn’t have to worry about an entire Faction coming after him for hurting their Commander.

Thankfully, Kimble’s bodily spasms abruptly stopped about a minute after they started, and he laid on the could completely still and silent. “You killed—!” one of the Faction members behind Larek said, only to be cut off when the Pyromancer abruptly sat up and inhaled a huge lungful of air, as if he had just emerged from the depths of a lake. His eyes were wide as he stared through everyone in the room, unspeaking as he continued to catch his breath. A short time later, his breathing slowed to something approaching normal, and Larek could see the point where his focus sharpened on those in the room.

“What are you all doing here? Who’s watching the gate?” Kimble abruptly asked, his voice starting raw but getting better by the end of the second question.

“Commander? Are you alright? What happ—”

“Back to your posts! I’m fine, but I can only imagine that half the Kingdom walked into the city while no one was watching.”

There was a few seconds of hesitation before the majority of the Mages and Martials murmured, “By your leave, Commander,” before turning on their heels and leaving toward the stairs. They didn’t move all that fast, but at least they were going away.

As for the four Martials holding Larek and Nedira, as well as the female Mage he recognized from the gate, they continued to restrain the two of them. “We can bring these two out back and execute them for assaulting your honored self, Commander.”

Kimble’s focus had been drifting off shortly after ordering the guards back to their posts, but his attention snapped toward the Martial standing behind Nedira who had spoken. “No, there’s no need.  Let them go and return to your posts.”

“Uh, Commander? Are you sure—?”

“Yes, I’m sure. These are friends of mine, so you better treat them with respect,” the Faction Commander added.

“Y-yes, sir! Commander, sir! We’ll head back now, by your leave.” Larek and Nedira were quickly released from the arm holds that had been uncomfortable if not painful, and the four Martials swiftly left with only a few glances back toward the Commander. The Mage from the gate, however, stuck around as she continued to stare at Larek.

“You too, Shawna. Don’t forget, you’re on rotation in a few hours, so you need to be ready.”

“B-but, Commander, look at the—”

“I know, Shawna; I know. We’ll talk later. For now, you need to go.” The Commander’s voice grew hard by the end, something that Larek had never heard from Kimble back in the days when he was a bodyguard. The tone finally seemed to break the woman out of her trance and she turned around and left with a dazed expression on her face; she was still so out of sorts that she didn’t even say anything to the Commander before she left.

During all of these exchanges, Larek noticed that Kimble didn’t look directly at him even once. The Pyromancer looked at Nedira and his subordinates, but not even a single time at the Fusionist standing before him.

When the last person left, leaving them all alone, it was only then that the Faction Commander glanced at Larek, which caused him to raise his hands up to his head as if in pain.

“Are you sure you’re fine? I can have a look at—” Larek said, but stopped when Kimble shook his head.

“No. Don’t come near for now. Everything is a bit… raw right now. When I physically look at you, it’s like pressing my fingers into an open wound – but it’s in my head. Even thinking about you is like a bit of pressure on a bad bruise, but it’s at least manageable.”

“Do you remember everything now?” Nedira asked.

Kimble was silent for a few seconds as he rubbed his temples, before looking at Nedira and deliberately ignoring Larek. At least he knew that it was for a good reason. “I think so? It’s hard to tell, honestly, because it feels like every memory that had been blocked from me just got jammed back into my head all at once, but enough of it is there.” He took a deep breath. “It’s good to see the both of you, but what happened with that Gergasi that took you? How did you escape? Or… are you working with them?”

Larek shook his head, and although Kimble probably saw it in the corner of his eye, he expanded on his quick answer by explaining what had happened to him. “Not at all. Let me tell you a quick recap of what happened to me after I left you all that day…”

It took only a minute or two to outline his teleportation and time loss in the void, his travels through the Sealance Empire, his experience beneath the Lowenthal desert, and finding Nedira. He glossed over the exact details of his reunion with the Naturalist, as she was uncomfortable reliving those memories, and he finished up with his arrival in the Kingdom and subsequently learned about its situation.

“…and now we’re here, on our way north to check on my family, Nedira’s brother, and finding out what happened to our friends. Speaking of which, what happened to you? Big ol’ Faction Commander, huh?”

Kimble sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. “Yeah. Honestly, it’s because I eventually became the most senior member of the SIC here – though that was far from the case when I was assigned here a year ago, before everything seemed to fall apart.”

“Are you telling me that all of the Martials and Mages here are, what, new? As in, they weren’t Mages or Martials before the Apertures started appearing?” Nedira asked.

The Pyromancer nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. The SIC still exists in some capacity, and we still coordinate in sending promising recruits to Crystalview and Hilltower, but I’d say that at least 80% of the members of the old SIC are no longer with us,” he said sadly, hanging his head.

“80%?! That’s… that’s insane!” Larek interjected. “What the heck happened?”

“Attrition, mostly. Spread too thin, deaths became more common than not as Apertures were assaulted and closed all over the Kingdom, but it was too much for us to handle. It was only the appearance of so many promising new recruits in unexpected places that prevented us from folding completely under the onslaught, but by the time the first waves of trainees were ready to fight, many of the old members had perished trying to keep what was eventually going to become the Calamities from expanding any further. Now, it’s all we can do to maintain our current position, but it’s slowly slipping away.”

The Commander looked at Nedira with a pleading expression. “I was serious when I said we need help, because we’re a few bad patrols through the neighboring Apertures away from collapse. The food situation is something that will become an issue before too long, though we’re managing it decently well right now. I’ve done my best to keep trade going between what I’m nominally in control of, but who knows how long that will last.

“The real issue is that it seems as though the other cities around the Calamity’s perimeter are slacking in their duties to keep it from expanding, putting more and more on our shoulders to maintain the status quo. We’ve had more deaths over the last few weeks than over the previous half-year due to exhaustion and overwork, and its not getting any better.”

Larek listened to his friend talk about the history of what was going on and started to gain a better understanding of the general maladies plaguing the Kingdom. Having learned that the majority of the old SIC members had been killed during his time away made him glad that Nedira had survived, but he worried for his other friends, including Norde and Verne – who were probably out there somewhere in a similar situation as Kimble, though he doubted that they were in charge of any large areas like the Faction Commander.

He also had to allot some leniency in how much he didn’t care for the current system that was set up in the city concerning people with potential, the dining halls, and the food chits that were given out for service to the city. Just because it was Kimble who was in charge of everything and had potentially initiated some of the policies didn’t make it right, but Larek could at least comprehend now where it originated from.

“Please, Larek, if I’m remembering correctly, you’re a Fusion prodigy and could really help us out here,” Kimble continued, pleading with Larek – which was odd to the Fusionist because the man wasn’t looking at him. “I mean, I can barely look at Nedira’s robe without wanting to go cross-eyed, so I’m assuming that’s your work?”

“It is,” he affirmed. He paused for a moment before asking the Faction Commander an important question. “We can’t stay long, only until the morning when I’ll be picking up another few sets of clothing, but I want to help you and the people here. However, I want you to answer one thing for me: If you had to name one thing you need help with most, what would it be?”

“More Martials and Mages.” The answer was almost instantaneous.

“Unfortunately, I can’t provide that. I make Fusions; you know that, right? I can’t whip up a whole new person. So, besides additional Martials and Mages, what would be most useful?”

This time, the answer took a few seconds as the Faction Commander thought about it. “Well, obviously offensive and defensive Fusions would keep those we already have better equipped to deal with the monsters in the Apertures, but that may not matter when winter hits and we’re unable to feed everyone. But even if we’re able to feed everyone, being unable to maintain the balance with the nearby Apertures would eventually make food a non-issue if we’re all dead or forced to retreat.” He pondered his decision for another few seconds before he finished with, “I’d have to say Fusions for my existing Mages and Martials, because without their existence, everything would simply fall apart.”

Larek smirked at the man, even if he couldn’t see it. “That’s two things, but I think I can see the problems you’re facing here. There are multiple ways that I can help you, and just one or two types of Fusions won’t do it in the long run. Fortunately for you, you’re my friend and I want to help you out… but I’m going to ask for something in return. Two things, actually.”

The Faction Commander looked wary. “What did you have in mind? We don’t really have a lot to give here.”

Larek ticked them off on his fingers. “First and foremost, I’m going to give you a way to farm quickly and efficiently, growing crops in minutes and can be done by anyone, not just Mages. But I need you to promise me that you alter your work chit program so that no one will starve once you have your production up and running – even if they can’t work for one reason or another. I’m not talking about strictly charity, because I know you need everyone working to keep this place going, but not everyone can do what you’re asking of them.”

Kimble had a blank expression on his face, and Larek was unable to tell if it was because the man was angry at the stipulation or relieved that people wouldn’t die. Either way, he nodded in acceptance.

“And secondly, I need from you, a Faction Commander, permission to enter a Fort so that I can learn about my Martial side of things. I lost my transfer letter to Fort Silverledge while in the Empire, and I need another one.”

“That’s easy. However,” he held up his hand before Larek could continue, “I can only do it for Fort Hilltower up north. It’s the only one we’re in tenuous contact with, and it would look out of place if I were to ‘send’ you somewhere else.”

That… was unfortunate. Being so close to Crystalview Academy was not necessarily somewhere he’d wanted to be, but he would take it if there was no other possibility. Finding family and friends was still the first priority, but he was already thinking about what he should do afterwards.

“Very well. I guess that works for me. Nedira? You need anything?”

She shook her head.

“Alright, then. Kimble, you’re in luck that I somewhat planned ahead in case we stumbled across someone needing some Fusions. I think we have most of what you’re going to need to turn this place around. And possibly even look into closing the Calamity in the future.”

“That sounds a little too much like the Strike Faction, but I’ll forgive your blasphemy,” the Commander said in jest. “But where are the Fusions? You said you prepared them ahead of time?”

As he spoke with Larek more and more, the Kimble was gradually looking at the Fusionist with little glances, as if he was getting used to the sight of him. As Larek nodded and gestured to the Void Pocket sack, he saw a frown come over his friends face. “I swear I remember you being extremely tall… is that some sort of damage to my memories? Speaking of which, how did you get rid of whatever it was that was blocking them?”

The Fusionist chuckled. “Yes, I’m a bit shorter now; I altered my internal pattern. I wouldn’t recommend doing it until you have a high Skill Level in Pattern Manipulation, though – it hurts, like, a lot. Oh, and I got rid of what Chinli did to you with a Fusion, what else would I use?”

As the Faction Commander looked around him for some sign of the Fusion he was talking about, Larek smiled at his confusion. Nedira eventually gave in and solved his conundrum.

“He put it on your skull. Congratulations on being the first person to have a Fusion permanently attached to their bones.”

As Kimble mouthed, “My skull?”, in shock as his eyes attempted to ineffectively roll up to see it, Larek – still with a smile on his face – got to work removing the completed Fusions he needed from his sack.