The Fusionist Book 5 -- Chapter 1

So, I decided to write a few chapters of The Fusionist Book 5 each week, followed by a brand-new series that I'm developing.  There will be another chapter for this book tomorrow, and then I'll be planning out this new series the rest of the day and a bit of Thursday morning.  I'm hoping to have a few chapters of the new series up by the end of Friday this week!

Chapter 1

“How much longer, Gharix?”

The loud crushing and grinding coming from the work being done down the tunnel meant that Larek’s words were nearly drowned out, but the Drekkin standing nearby heard him anyway.

“Not much longer, or so I’ve been told. I was never a Shaper, so I’m not the best judge of these types of things,” the smaller, bipedal lizard explained.

The Combat Fusionist nodded, understanding what he meant by that. Ever since Larek had managed to defeat the Umbral Demons, shattering apart the massive Aperture that they were using to build a gigantic army of shadowy monsters to ostensibly take over the world, and then freeing those who were possessed by the same Demons, his world had been a whirlwind of activity. That whirlwind included the knowledge that certain members of the Drekkin people specialized in boring through the bedrock where the underground tunnels were located. Just as his roommate back at the Academy, Verne, could manipulate wood with his hands and an expression of his will, so too could these Shapers use these innate abilities to do the same with stone.

It was just a lot more violent, not to mention louder.

Larek watched down the large tunnel as the trio of Drekkin Shapers went to work, their arms outstretched in front of them as their hands touched the massive piles of stones that had been brought down to collapse the exit tunnel leading to the Kingdom. With what seemed like a simple thought on the part of the Shapers, the large slabs of stone would crack apart before they were ground up into smaller pieces; these smaller pieces then flowed up and to the sides, where they solidified and formed the structure of the tunnel they were creating. Or re-creating, as it were, as this was the major artery leading toward the underground tunnels of the Drekkin.

Not only did they somehow create the walls of the tunnel itself, but by somehow condensing the stone in a certain way, they actually formed the bands of Luxite that enveloped most of the other tunnels he’d seen thus far underneath the desert, illuminating everything as they went. It was extremely interesting to watch, as it seemed wonderous and impossible at the same time, and he had actually gained two Levels in Magical Detection while he’d been observing them over the last few days.

Magical Detection has reached Level 37!

Magical Detection has reached Level 38!

What was fascinating about it was that they weren’t using Mana or Stama, or even anything that he could identify as a resource he was familiar with. Instead, a subtle glow that he suspected wouldn’t be visible to normal senses seemed to leak from their scales, and it was this glow that seeped over the stone they were manipulating as it was “shaped” into something else. There was no discernable spell, ability, or technique used in the process, as it was simply just… done. He couldn’t explain it, nor could the Shapers themselves describe it as anything but “natural,” which didn’t really help him figure it out. Once he no longer increased his Magical Detection Skill even after watching them for a few more days, he began to focus on other things.

Such as his obligations toward the Drekkin – as well as fending off entreaties for him to stay longer. The requests had been insistent, but fortunately not demanding; the worst of it was that it was coming from those he had grouped up with to defeat the Demons—

“Are you sure you won’t stay? Just for a little while?” Gharix suddenly asked, looking at the Combat Fusionist imploringly.

Shaking his head, Larek said, “I told you before, I have to get back to the Kingdom. Besides, you don’t need me now that I’ve finished.”

“For which we’re thankful, of course, but—"

“I’m going to cut you off right there,” a new voice butted into the conversation. “Larek’s needed back home, where things are much worse.”

The Combat Fusionist smiled as he turned around, immediately taking in the reddish-gold hair of the woman coming to a stop in front of the two. She held Larek’s staff in her hands, bringing it to him from where he had left it back at their makeshift camp further up the tunnel. In reality, it was just his Air Skimmer at the camp with a few food supplies stored away in it, as they didn’t really have a lot of other possessions. Larek still had almost everything he had brought with him from the Sealance Empire, with one massive exception.

His best friend, the axe he had essentially brought with him from back home, had been completely destroyed in his fight against the monsters controlled by the Umbral Demons. Its absence at his hip felt like a void that ached to be filled, but unfortunately they didn’t have anything like a Logger’s axe down in the underground tunnels of Lowenthal.

There weren’t any trees, after all.

Which also meant that wood was scarce, as it was something that was only traded for by certain Drekkin who enjoyed the feel of it, but on the whole it was rare to find more than a few pieces of it in a city. It was the reason he hadn’t been able to find anyone in Draverdin who could forge him a replacement Logger’s axe, as there was no wood available for the haft. He’d had another axe with a steel haft created in the time he was in the Drekkin city, but even though he added the same Fusions to it, the tool didn’t feel the same. He could instantly tell once he picked up and swung it a few times that it was different enough that his Axe Handling Skill didn’t apply to it; he was fairly certain that the Martial Skill, Bladed Weapon Expertise, was instead governing its movements in his hands. At Level 2, it made the axe feel awkward and unwieldy, despite it being a familiar shape and form.

“There you are, Nedira! Are you as anxious to get out of here as I am?”

A shadow seemed to cross her face before she composed herself. “I’m more than ready to get out of this cursed land.”

She shivered a little bit after speaking, her ragged green robe shaking over her malnourished body. It had filled out a little over the two weeks since Larek freed her from the Demon’s possession, but the hollowness in her cheeks was evidence enough that she still hadn’t fully recovered from the ordeal. Many of the others he had saved were the same, especially those that had been possessed for longer. Unfortunately, by the time he had run out of names to put to the people he used his hated Dominion magic to forcibly wake up, dozens of those he couldn’t save had perished from the vacancy in their bodies, aided by their malnourishment. Others had been possessed for so long that they actually dissipated into shadowy smoke just as the monsters had, or as Serena Grovewhisperer had done in Day’s End.

Still, what he had been able to do was nothing short of astounding to the Drekkin people, which was why they had agreed to speed up the timetable they had in reopening their tunnels to the Kingdom and the Sealance Empire. It wasn’t a priority before he asked it of their leadership, who seemed amazed that the threat of the Umbral Demons was gone, but they quickly put it on the list they started work on after the destruction of the massive Aperture.

However, it was sent to the top of the list once Larek offered to create Fusions for them.

The Drekkin now 200 stone rods that possessed the Variable Repeating Elemental Projectile Fusion on them, 150 stone plates with Graduated Parahealing, 50 stone plates with Healing Surge, and thousands of Sharpen Edge Fusions on weapons brought to him from the Drekkin. There were dozens more that he could’ve created for them, especially defensive ones, but he only had so much time and Mana, so it was left to him to prioritize what they would receive and would help the most in their efforts against the Apertures and the monsters they spawned.

Because while Larek had destroyed the massive Aperture containing all the others in Lowenthal, all the individual Apertures were back where they began and were already starting to open up again, spewing out more monsters. The much-reduced Drekkin population needed to step up and keep them contained before they became too dangerous, and the easiest way to do that was to equip the Mages and Martials with a way attack from afar, heal themselves if they got hurt, and kill monsters with extremely sharp weapons. It was the least he could do to aid them after everything that had befallen their people, but he had a feeling that it was more than enough for them to not only survive but to thrive now that the worst was behind them.

Gharix and his group were the only ones that possessed all of the Fusions he could create for them, and they were looked at as some sort of elite crew now, garnering looks of awe and jealousy from many of the other Drekkin. They were celebrities of a sort, being the ones that freed them of the Demon threat and essentially saved the people, only less famous now than Larek. The Combat Fusionist, of course, didn’t really like the attention his feat had attracted, though he wasn’t above using it to get what he wanted.

And what he wanted was to get out of Lowenthal and back to the Kingdom.

“Well, Gharix said that it shouldn’t be too much longer.” At least, Larek sure hoped so, because it felt like the process was taking forever.

It wasn’t really anyone’s fault, however. The few Shapers that were currently working on excavating the tunnel were only three of the dozen still alive in Lowenthal, and they were switching on and off with three others when they ran out of the natural energy they were using to manipulate the stone. The other Shapers were being used elsewhere in the tunnels for various projects, so they weren’t able to participate; if they had been able to make their way to the excavation of the exit, then the process would’ve been done in half the time. The act of “shaping” the stone was visibly exhausting, and each day that these individuals worked on the tunnel, they were only able to continuously work for a few hours before they had to sleep for half a day to regain their energy. That led to only about a quarter of each day being used in actually progressing down the tunnel, but it was still faster – and safer – than if Larek or anyone else had tried to do it manually.

He had briefly thought about trying to develop a Fusion to make his way through, but the thought of accidentally causing the ceiling to collapse on top of him and Nedira while they attempted to emerge from the underground world of the Drekkin made him hesitate to do more than think about it. Nevertheless, he would’ve tried had these Shapers not been available to do the task, so all it meant now was simply waiting for the process to be completed.

“Good. It can’t come fast enough—"

As Nedira was speaking, Larek glanced back down the excavating tunnel and saw a shaft of bright light stream through a tiny chip in the wall, illuminating a spot on the floor; the intensity of the light seemed to rival his own Illuminate Fusions with a higher Magnitude. This first beam of light was followed by a few others as pieces of stone and then sand were moved out of the way, and Larek felt himself smile at his first look of the sun after being underground for so long.

Unfortunately, that was all he was going to see until later, as the Shapers and all the other Drekkin nearby moved away from the tunnel exit immediately upon seeing the sunlight, stumbling around as if blind. He immediately remembered hearing that their sensitivity to sunlight, more than anything else, was what led the Drekkin to live underground; apparently, Luxite gave off a glow that was different and not as harmful as sunlight, so it was more acceptable.

“They’ll finish once night falls,” Gharix said, turning away from the tunnel with his eyes all scrunched up. Larek wondered for a moment why his own Illuminate Fusions didn’t affect the Drekkin the way real sunlight did, mainly because it was based on the light given off by the sun. Must be something inherent in the sunlight that isn’t in my magical Fusions, he thought with a mental shrug.

“I could probably break the rest of the way out—“ Larek started to say, but stopped himself. Looking back at the tunnel and the unfinished excavation, he realized that there was still a good chance that it would still collapse. “Never mind. What’s a few more hours, anyway?”

Making their way back to the campsite, which was out of view of the excavation tunnel, he waited with Gharix and Nedira for night to fall and the Shapers to resume their work. Larek was slightly disappointed that the rest of the group he had journeyed with to defeat the Umbral Demons weren’t there to say goodbye, but he knew that they were busy killing monsters and closing Apertures. It was fortunate enough that Gharix had been able to see him off, and he was thankful for that much at least.

When night fell a few hours later and the Shapers got back up to finish their work, he stood up and held out his hand to his erstwhile group leader. “Well, it looks like we’re leaving soon,” he started, giving Gharix a hearty handshake. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve done to aid me in getting out of here, despite desiring me to stay.” Larek knew that was more than true, as he likely wouldn’t have had the excavation of the exit tunnel start so quickly without the influence of one of the heroes that lead to the Umbral Demons’ destruction. His own efforts toward that outcome notwithstanding, it wouldn’t have been nearly as smooth without Gharix’s assistance.

“It should be I who is thanking you for everything you’ve done, Larek. To think, the threat of the Umbral Demons finally ending after centuries of their presence down in our tunnels… it’s still hard to believe. You’ve done the impossible, like a hero out of legend.”

Slightly embarrassed at the worshipping way the Drekkin was looking at him, he mumbled, “Yeah, well, uh,” while rubbing the back of his head. Nedira chuckled at him, before grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the Air Skimmer. “Anyway, good luck with the Apertures!” he called back to the Drekkin after a few seconds. Good luck with the Apertures? What was that supposed to mean? Larek still wasn’t well-practiced with saying goodbye, so that was about the best he had – especially after being a bit flustered when he was called a hero out of legend.

Ignoring his thoughts, he climbed aboard the Skimmer and lifted the abnormally light body of Nedira over the edge of the vessel. Less than a minute later, she was standing near the front corner of the Skimmer, her weight easily balanced by the supplies in the opposite corner, and he activated the gusts to lift it gradually into the air. Fortunately, Nedira had already experienced movement in Air Skimmer as they traveled to the tunnel exit, so she was well used to the sound of air moving and the slight swaying motion before it stabilized.

With a wave at Gharix, who was staring at him as if he could make Larek stop with his force of will alone, the Combat Fusionist moved toward the rapidly excavating tunnel, which was now dark instead of being full of light as it was before. They only had to wait another few minutes before it was complete and the Shapers moved out of the way, their whole countenance one of exhaustion.

“Ready?” he asked Nedira with a smile.

“I’ve never been this ready in all my life. Let’s go.”

Without another words, he activated the forward thrust and the Skimmer moved forward, gradually picking up speed as they crossed the last portion of the underground world of Lowenthal. As they crossed the threshold, the first thing that hit him was the fresh air, which he’d already felt once the tunnel was opened further, but now it was like taking a breath after being fully submerged in water. The second thing he noticed was the blanket of stars above him, which he saw around the roof of his Skimmer. Seeing something other stone above and around him was exceptionally freeing, and he couldn’t keep the smile from wanting to permanently freeze on his face as the fresh air blew past him. Granted, the air was a bit dry since the rest of his view showed that they were still in the desert, but he could sort of see something different approximately half a mile away in the distance, though it was hard to make out with just the partial moon’s light from above. Not only that, but there seemed to be a stone road that led from the tunnels entrance to the east, covered partially with sand; that, more than anything, told him that they were getting close to the Kingdom of Androthe again.

It didn’t take long before the Air Skimmer traveled over the last of the desert of Lowenthal and the first sign of struggling vegetation could be seen as the sand gradually disappeared, replaced by dry dirt and stunted plants. Another half hour brought them to their first real sign that they had finally left the desert behind, though compared to what he was used to, the 10-foot-tall tree was barely worthy to be called such. Still, it was enough that Larek stopped the Air Skimmer and set it down gently.

Silence seemed to echo around him as the loud noise of the air gusts stopped, and he looked at Nedira. The frail-looking woman was still looking off in the distance, holding onto one of the roof supports, where she had been stationed without a word the entire trip thus far without moving.

Walking up behind her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and she seemed to jerk in surprise, before seeming to slump in place.

“Is it time?” she asked, her voice a hoarse whisper.

“Yes. We’re free of the tunnels and back in the Kingdom now, Nedira – just like you wanted,” he said. “Now, if you would, tell me… everything.”