The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 10

Chapter 10

It didn’t take long for Larek to see what the Naturalists outside in the fields were doing to grow the crops, and it quickly became clear that they weren’t using the same spell Rapid Plant Growth spell he already knew. Very similar, of course, but it wasn’t just a variation; instead, it was something new.

New Spell learned!

Nature’s Renewal

Magnitude: 30 X 30 foot area, fractional maturity

Duration: Permanent

Base Elemental Effect: Causes a wide area of plants in range to mature rapidly; requires additional infusions of water to ensure viable growth

Base Mana Cost: 75

Base Pattern Cohesion: 7

The description of the spell he learned from the Mages working in the fields, once he had them slow down their casting so he could see their spell pattern, revealed to him a few of the things he had noticed about the spell earlier. First, the area that the spell could affect was much larger at 30 X 30 feet in comparison to Rapid Plant Growth, which only affected a 5 X 5-foot area. However, instead of it costing hundreds of Mana to cast, Nature’s Renewal only needed 75. To make up for the small casting cost, it only matured plants to a fraction of its full maturity, as well as needing additional water to keep the plants healthy.

Larek could see why the spell was chosen over Rapid Plant Growth, because while Growth required 10 Mana as its base cost, Nature’s Renewal covered 36 times the area for less than a quarter of the Mana it would cost to cast the Growth over the same ground. Even having to repeat it multiple times in order to reach full maturity was still saving Mana in the long run, so all it really cost was a bit of water…

New Spell learned!

Dousing Spray

Magnitude: 30 X 30 foot area

Duration: 15 seconds

Base Elemental Effect: Causes a wide circular spray of water to emerge from the caster’s location

Base Mana Cost: 60

Base Pattern Cohesion: 5

…which he learned the spell for soon after from one of the Aquamancers. It was remarkably similar in size and effect as Nature’s Renewal, which made sense when he heard that the spells were developed centuries ago to help with areas where Scissions which contained monsters that absolutely wrecked the nearby environment recover from the abuse. Fire Sprites burn down a forest? Snow Spiders cause all the nearby grass to freeze and die? Powerful Necro Wraiths suck all the life out of a wheat field? All it took was a pair of Mages with these particular spells and a little bit of time, and the land would be as good as new within a few days.

It could also be used for growing crops to feed starving people, as it was obvious to see at the current moment, but it had rarely been used that way. That was because there were vast tracts of land that were open and safe for farmers to manage their farms with very little danger from random monster attacks. That had all changed because of the Apertures and the presence of so many threats to a farmer’s life and livelihood, so now the usage of these spells was imperative to feeding the people when there wasn’t much in the way of land able to be farmed near towns and cities.

Larek was also able to see the fieldhands at work harvesting the crops after they were grown, before tilling the field to get rid of any random plant debris, working it back into the soil, and then adding seeds to the ground. The food that was harvested was then brought to the city, where it was distributed to the people – or to the people that the Providers thought deserved it more. He was hoping to change that last part, however.

The whole farming process was interesting to learn about and watch, because he’d never really thought about it all before now. He knew, in general, how growing food worked, but had never actually seen the entire cycle happening all at the same time.

And now he had to see if he could reproduce at least part of it, so that they could yield more food for the people of Tarvada and the refugees from Harvana.

“Alright, I think I’ve seen enough. Let’s head back inside and I’ll get to work,” Larek said, turning away from the fields and toward the city entrance.

“That’s it? What did you learn?” Fendra asked, her tone suspicious and condescending, but he ignored it. At least she wasn’t trying to kill him.

“I learned which spells are being used to grow and water everything, which I can now translate for my own work.”

“And what work is that? Fusions? I have to say, the Fusions I halfway recognize on your clothing are… powerful. I’ve never seen anything quite like them before.”

Larek just nodded.

“But Fusions aren’t strong or adaptable enough to have the same kind of effects as these spells,” the Mage went on. “The throughput of Mana throughout the formations will erode them quickly, causing them to destabilize after the first few times someone uses them. It’s just not possible.”

Larek was intrigued at her words, despite the fact that she was wrong. “Oh, are you a Fusionist? I didn’t exactly take you for one.”

“I’ve been known to dabble a time or two. In fact, I was the one who had placed the Fusions on the Supreme Provider’s weapon and armor.”

Larek remembered those Fusions, and while they weren’t up to his own standard, they weren’t exactly bad, either.

“Those were actually impressive for what they were. I’m sorry I had to destroy them,” he said.

“WHAT?! You destroyed—? I hadn’t heard that. How did you do that?”

“My Pattern Manipulation Skill.” To demonstrate what he meant, he pulled out a portion of his Pattern Cohesion and formed it into a shield in front of him, which appeared so quickly that the Mage next to him took a step back at its sudden appearance. “Also, I’m really good at creating Fusions, and I have a special relationship with them.”

“Pattern Manipulation isn’t a Skill I’ve ever heard of,” Fendra said matter-of-factly.

“True; it’s not a Skill that you’ve ever heard of, because I’m fairly certain that I’m the only one who’s unlocked it. I could almost say the same for my Focused Division Skill, but I believe the information about that has already been disseminated.”

“Focused Division is a Skill I’ve heard of, though I’ve heard that it’s extremely difficult to unlock. Of course, that was before everything in the Kingdom went to hell in a handbasket, so now it’s impossible to find someone with the Skill. Who taught you?”

Larek chuckled, even as he stared at the refugees he passed along the way to the city gates. “No one taught me.”

“Oh, and I suppose you’ll tell me that you learned it on your own? I’ve been told that it’s impossible without someone to teach how it’s done. Even then, not everyone can learn it.”

Apparently, knowledge of the Skill has spread further than I thought, so at least some of the faculty back at Copperleaf are either still alive or were able to pass on the techniques to learning it before they died.

“That makes sense, because most don’t have the kind of focus and ability to manipulate their Pattern Cohesion that it takes to really understand how it works,” he told her. “Fusionists are probably the best candidates for learning it, but even then, it is difficult without someone to demonstrate the method of splitting a spell pattern or Fusion formation into multiple copies.”

“Wait, you’re serious? You really have Focused Division?”

He shrugged. “Of course I do. I’m the one who discovered it, after all,” he said evenly, without a trace of smugness in his tone. Alright, maybe a little smugness, but it was barely noticeable.

Larek really didn’t like to brag, but if it gave the Mage a reason to look at him with awe rather than hatred with a side of killing intent, he was willing to try just about anything.

That was, of course, if she even believed him in the first place.

“I don’t believe you. Show me your Status.”

There was no way he was going to do that. There were too many differences on it since he’d obtained use of Aetheric Force, and while he was able to show only portions of his Status, he didn’t think he’d be able to hide the Level or AF requirements on his Skills. The last thing he needed was another indication that he was different, leading her to potentially return to thinking he was a Gergasi.

However, there was one thing that might convince her that he was strong enough to back up his assertions that his Fusions would do exactly as promised. The time for hiding his abilities had come and gone, and this was the best way to get his point across.

“No, I don’t think so. There’s too much on there that you wouldn’t understand, and I don’t want to confuse you.  That being said, let me show you why I believe my Fusions will far exceed your expectations of them.”

Concentrating on his Status, he wished to have only a single line of it appear in front of him, where not only Fendra could see, but everyone else that was following along with them.

Pattern Cohesion: 37,260/37,260

Larek had to look over at her because he thought she was choking on something, but she was just spluttering in incomprehension, unable to understand what she was seeing. She wasn’t the only one, either, as when he glanced around at everyone walking with him, they too looked at the portion of his Status floating in the air with various degrees of shock and disbelief.

“H-How? What?”

Larek shrugged. “I don’t know. This is just how I’m so confident that my Fusions will not only be strong enough to do what I need them to do, but will last for virtually forever as long as they’re handled properly.” Both of those things were largely true, because while he knew that he had gained some advantages of being half-Gergasi, he was fairly certain that it didn’t include his incredibly high Pneuma and Pattern Cohesion. As for his Fusions lasting forever, even his oldest creations had shown no signs of deterioration, and the only ones that had eventually broken had been the ones such as the Variable Elemental Gust Sphere on his axe, which broke because it channeled a lot of Mana through its formation all at once without time for it to recover, which stressed its construction to the point where it ruptured.

But for Fusions that were either constantly active or used Mana in a relatively gentle flow over a longer period of time, they seemed to be perfectly fine. With the strength of his Pattern Cohesion baked into the Fusions’ formations, he could see them lasting for decades, centuries, or even longer if they were treated right.

“Impossible. No one has ever made a Fusion last longer than six months, and that was from of the Grandmaster Fusionists that used to provide Fusions for the SIC.”

“Can you see the strength in my Fusions here? What do you think?” he asked, pointing toward his shirt.

“They’re… so powerful that I have a hard time even looking at them for long, but I can see that they are quite strong. But forever? Not likely.”

Larek chuckled. “Alright, I’ll give you that it sounds far-fetched, and it’s not like I’ve been able to test one of them to ensure it actually lasted that long, but I can’t see them lasting any less than a few years, maybe at least a decade. Is that more reasonable?”

Fendra was silent for a few seconds as they walked, finally passing through the gate to the city. Eventually, she acknowledged that he had a point. “Based on what I can see and feel from them, I can’t say that you’re wrong. It’s just so….”

“Abnormal? Unbelievable? Yeah, it is, but that in no way means it isn’t true.”

They didn’t talk much after that, as the city was as busy as it had been earlier, if not busier for some reason. It took a little more effort to make their way through the crowds and back to the pretentious-sounding “Provider’s Palace,” but they eventually made it without incident. Once inside the relatively silent building, Larek met with both Fendra and Vanders, as he outlined his plan.

“Now that I’ve seen the process up close, I believe that I can replicate and improve upon the method with which you’ve been growing your crops. As long as enough seeds are kept from the harvests, there shouldn’t be any problem with growing more than enough food for everyone. What it’s going to take is a concerted effort by larger teams of people to prepare the fields by furrowing and seeding the land, as well as harvesting and distributing the crops that are grown. In addition, they’ll need to start expanding into the nearby land, giving them even more space to grow what is required to feed everyone.”

Vanders shook his head. “There’s very little room to expand; the nearby Apertures are too close and have already encroached almost to the limits of what we’ve already cultivated.”

“Which brings me to the next step in the plan. You’ve been sending out teams of Martials and Mages to kill the Aperture monsters so that you can bring their corpses back for meat, correct?” At both Vanders and Fendra’s nod, Larek continued. “And I assume the reason you haven’t temporarily closed them, thereby shrinking their territory, is because you need as many monsters as you can get to provide the meat to the citizens of Tarvada.”

“That is correct. If we closed them, the supply of meat would immediately be cut off, and if they shrunk in territory, there wouldn’t be nearly enough monsters once they came back to feed even a fraction of the people we’re trying to help.”

Larek nodded, understanding that the “Providers” were caught between safety and starvation, and thereby they let the nearby Apertures grow in size so that they could feed as many as possible. Of course, even that amount obviously wasn’t enough, but if they decided to change anything now, even more people would suffer from the lack of food than what was already happening.

“Right. So as soon as we get the crop situation taken care of, you’re going to have to close those Apertures, which will then give the people enough land to expand their food-growing operation.”

“But the meat from—”

“Will be a little slim for a bit, but the crops that are being grown will more than make up for that. Once the Apertures open again and start producing more monsters, they can be hunted down again and kept to low enough levels that they won’t be able to expand. This includes the Sand Vulture one to the west, which just expanded its territory and will soon be a threat to you all. That one will be your priority, keeping it as small as possible.”

“What do you mean by that? We’ll be keeping allof them as small as possible, correct?” Fendra asked.

“Yes, but you won’t be doing it. The people will have to take over hunting duties, because you all will be too busy with expanding your presence through the area and making it safe for travel.”

“Why? We’re safe enough here, aren’t we?”

Larek nodded. “Sure, but how long do you think that will last? All it will take is an Aperture you’re not paying attention to just outside of your normal view to expand and start taking over the Apertures you’re using for meat production. That’s how the… Calamities? Yes, the Calamities started, if I’m understanding it all correctly. If you don’t proactively search out and close those growing Apertures when you can, it’ll be too late once they become a real problem.”

He had been thinking this all through while he had been trying to tackle the issues with food production, and he realized that if the Mages and Martials here didn’t begin thinking farther out from the immediate area, and look toward the future, they would likely be overrun within the next few months as the Apertures grew out of control. He really didn’t want them all dying just after he helped them finally feed their entire population, after all.

For more selfish reasons, if they began clearing out monsters and closing Apertures, especially toward the northeast, then Larek and Nedira would face fewer obstacles on their way toward his home and family. After seeing what happened in the local area, he was starting to worry more and more at his family’s safety, but he was already doing everything he could to get back to them. The delay bothered him more than a little bit, but he also didn’t feel right abandoning these people when he could help them. He’d want someone to do the same thing if it was his family was in trouble, forced to flee from their homes and live as refugees. It was that thought, more than any desire to help the people who – like Fendra – looked at him with anger and fear; he would provide what assistance he could until they were sufficiently set up to survive, before taking a large amount of supplies for his continued journey.

And a new axe. He couldn’t forget about acquiring a new best friend.

“I can see the logic in that, but that would also interrupt our meat harvesting from the nearby monsters. There’s no way that the local population, even those experienced in hunting game, would be able to kill them, let alone survive when they come up against them. We’re the ones doing it for a reason, as you know,” Vanders added.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I’ve got a plan for that, as well.”

Fendra snorted with pure skepticism. “What plan could you possibly have that would allow all the normies to kill a monster, let alone stay alive when facing them?”

He didn’t really care for the derogatory term he used for the people who weren’t Mages or Martials, but she did have a point.

“More Fusions, of course. I’m going to equip large squads of hunters with both offensive and defensive Fusions that will allow them to not only survive against most monsters around here, but will aid in killing the dangerous creatures with ease.” Larek looked around before clearing his throat. “Before it gets too late, I need to retire to a quiet space like my room so that I can work on getting these Fusions done. I’ll require a few materials to start with, if you don’t mind, and I’ll let you know what else I need down the line. For now, basic iron or steel squares approximately 9 inches in length and a quarter-inch thick will be more than enough to get started. Before I do anything, though, I need to check on my companion, to see if she’s awake yet.”

“I’ll get you whatever you need and I’ll leave you to it,” Vanders said immediately, before turning away to issue orders for procuring the materials Larek requested. As for Fendra, she just stared at him and hmphed, as if she was still unsure of him and was reserving judgment for if he actually delivered on his promises. He actually didn’t blame her too much, because if he was anyone else, he would also be a bit skeptical that he could produce the Fusions that he claimed he could create.

Thankfully, Larek wasn’t anyone else, and he had full confidence in his abilities as a Combat Fusionist. Or at least confident in his abilities as a Fusionist; he hadn’t had the best results in combat lately, which was still something he needed to address.

With a sigh, he moved to the stairs that led to his room, or more precisely, where Nedira was hopefully waking up sometime soon.