The Fusionist Book 4 -- Recap

This is the recap that I'll be putting at the beginning of book 4; this isn't really anything new to you all, but I figured if I was including it, I might as well post it.  In addition, I'll be editing the book today and tomorrow, getting it to beta-readers, and scheduling its release on RR.  After that, I'm theoretically taking the rest of the week off, so there won't be any other chapters until at least Monday of next week, as I'll probably be spending Sunday planning. 

Recap

Larek Holsten had his entire world turned upside-down when he was accused of trying to kill the Headman’s daughter, but that was only the start of his new life. After witnessing a Scission attack on a nearby town, the former Logger was discovered to have the potential to wield a magic he never wanted; as a result of this discovery, he was ordered to attend Crystalview Academy upon the threat of death if he didn’t comply.

Along his journey to the Academy, the sheltered teenager learned more about the world than he ever knew existed – though not all of it was good. The prejudice that the common people held toward his height weighed upon him, even though he knew it wasn’t something he could do anything about. This prejudice continued after he arrived at Crystalview, though it wasn’t quite as intense as he feared; it helped that he learned a little about why everyone born in the Kingdom reacted to him the way they did – even if it wasn’t fair. Unfortunately, that was the least of his problems.

What he had to worry about instead was his own inability to cast a spell, thanks to his initial efforts that literally blew up in his face. On the other hand, he also discovered that the accidental permanence to his spell patterns was actually beneficial when it came to creating Fusions. Not only that, some strange fluke gave Larek incredibly high starting stats that far outstripped anything a normal Fusionist – even a Grandmaster – could apply toward the formation of Fusions, and his instinctual understanding of their creation put him head-and-shoulders above everyone else.

But Larek also had a secret that he didn’t dare to share with anyone. In a world where those with magical potential only became Mages or Martials, which were those with ability to manipulate Stama internally, the former Logger had the ability to become both. This came to a head when the Academy was attacked from inside the city and Larek was forced to unlock a Martial Battle Art in the heat of the fight, though he had no control over the process.

Unfortunately, after the battle against the Scissions, his Fusions Professor was found to have been killed, and Larek was jointly blamed for the explosion of hundreds of Healing Surge Fusions on the roof of the Academy along with the now-deceased Professor, as well as the temporary comas that many of the Mages suffered from as a result of using these healing Fusions that Larek created. As a punishment, the Dean of Crystalview decided to send him away to Copperleaf Academy far to the south, along with his friends and a group of first-years that were left without a place to stay as a result of the explosion.

Escorted south by a caravan run by Merchants, Larek and the other transfer students were attacked by Bog Goblins, which eventually led to the Fusionist revealing some of his abilities and even his Status to multiple people – his friends included. After finally hitching a ride on the SIC Transportation Network, which was comprised of a giant carriage pulled by an equally large Cannik, Larek was able to experiment a little more with his Fusions by creating some physical stat boosts for the Martial trainee graduates that were accompanying them on their journey.

Overall, traveling south was largely uneventful besides allowing Larek to expand his capabilities as a Fusionist, but his introduction to Copperleaf Academy certainly was not. To his good fortune, his studies included an Advanced Fusions class with Grandmaster Fusionist Shinpai, who agreed to teach him after learning about Larek’s obscenely high Pattern Cohesion and Mana regeneration rates, as well as his ability to make extremely strong and near-permanent Fusions.

Unfortunately, the ecstatic student Fusionist had caught the eye of multiple parties due to completely different reasons. First, his height was noticed by a particular Noble named Ricardo, who ended up capturing and torturing him in order to discover if something catastrophic called “The Culmination” was occurring. During that interrogation, Larek also learned that he was likely something called a half-breed, which was a half-human and half-Gergasi or half-“Great One” – the race of giants that used Dominion magic to enslave the people of the Kingdom, and were still enslaving the Nobles to that day.

Healing and then freeing himself through the use of Fusions, Larek ensured Ricardo and his two Martial trainee helpers couldn’t spread the news about his origins as well as to protect his family from harm by eliminating all three of them and hiding the bodies. That wasn’t the only complication to his existence at Copperleaf Academy, however.

Through helping an injured Martial trainee one day, Larek accidentally revealed that he had a Fusion that could heal people – and those in charge of Fort Pinevalley wanted it. Unfortunately, sharing that kind of thing would also likely reveal his dual nature as both a Mage and a Martial, but the choice was taken out of his hands as he was essentially forced to compete in the upcoming Skirmish.

To prepare for the set of competitions that pitted teams of Mages and Martials against each other, Larek created some powerful defensive Fusions for his team to use. Penelope, the blue-haired Martial trainee that had caused the Fort to start looking into Larek more than he cared for, was their team leader, along with two other Martials named Bartholomew and Vivienne, as well as a fifth-year Mage student, Kimble. Nedira joined the team that was expected to fail spectacularly because they barely had any time to practice together, but they managed to pull off wins through the competition because of Larek’s powerful contributions.

After his team was accused of cheating with Larek’s Fusions, it was revealed by Dean Lorraine to the entirety of the Academy and Fort that Larek was a Fusion prodigy, a person who was able to create Fusions better than anyone else in the world.

This revelation, along with their win at the Skirmish, led to Larek becoming quite famous at Copperleaf Academy. With that fame came new dangers along with new responsibilities, and Larek was tasked with creating Fusion after Fusion for the SIC, as directed by Grandmaster Fusionist Shinpai and by the Dean. Despite everything he was creating, he was never able to figure out how to improve his Skills to the point where he could make Advanced Fusions.

While experimenting with some new ideas, Larek figured out how to create a healing Fusion that would work for non-Martials as well as a brand-new Skill that had never been seen before: Focused Division. Because learning this new Skill could help with spellcasting, he was tasked to help teach the faculty of the Academy; unfortunately, his Dominion magic ended up being used to impart the information to the faculty, almost killing him in the process.

Shortly after starting the new school year, the Academy and Fort was visited by a Gergasi, who demanded of the Dean and the Vice General to bring his child to him. Discovering that this Lord Vilnesh was his father, Larek and his companions were led by Shinpai to an escape tunnel after the Dean and Vice General were killed.  With a significant amount of money from his created Fusions and instructions to go to Silverledge Academy and Fort Ironwall, they fled as quickly as possible while staying out of sight, fighting monsters as they made their way through the countryside. After the first major battle, Larek unlocked the ability to absorb Aetheric Force, which could be used to increase his maximum Skill levels.

Saving a group of SIC members, Larek and his companions accompanied them to the overcrowded town of Whittleton, which had seen an influx of refugees fleeing the appearance of monsters all over the Kingdom. Having seen and heard about the powerful Fusions that Larek had created for his friends, the Major in charge of the local SIC force believed that they would be better utilized for her forces and arranged for to be taken from Larek and his group, potentially even turning them in as deserters. In an attempt to appease them, Larek made Fusions for the entire SIC force, but that apparently wasn’t enough, as the group of companions was ambushed when leaving the town.

Having foreknowledge of the ambush, the Fusionist turned the tables on them and forced them to leave without anyone getting hurt. Just when they were departing, something appeared nearby that immediately put everyone on alert; the appearance of an Aperture, what could almost be called a permanent Scission, was a great cause for concern.

Nearly killing himself and everyone else who went to destroy, and inevitably close, the Aperture, Larek and his companions were unprepared when another Gergasi appeared out of the sky. Chinli, the Gergasi, promised to spare his friends (who had their memory wiped of all knowledge of Larek) if the Fusionist agreed to come along without a fight, and with great reluctance, he agreed. Unfortunately, along their flight back to the Enclave, they were attacked by Warped Void Hunters, and during the battle, Larek was pulled into a void; when he can perceive the world again, he found himself transported to an entirely different land.

During his struggle to free himself from the lake where he fell, Larek finally unlocked his Martial side, going so far as to have obtained the Stama Subjugation Skill – though he still didn’t have any idea how to properly use it. Finding his way to a nearby town, he quickly learned that he was not in the Kingdom of Androthe anymore, but was instead somewhere called the Sealance Empire, which was apparently a long way from home.

Now, Larek has to find a way back to the Kingdom, sooner rather than later, so he can rejoin his companions…

…and possibly save the world while he’s at it.