The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 30

Chapter 30

It was amazing what could get done when people were motivated to do something, a fact that was obvious when the large 50-foot-wide by 70-foot-long ferry came together in a total of 3 days. The dock workers weren’t exactly the most knowledgeable about shipbuilding, though with a little help from Carven the Cartwright, they quickly learned a few tips about how to ensure the entire frame was strong enough to handle the river and the weight it would bear on top of its structure. He also helped to ensure the huge empty portion of the keel was kept watertight to act as additional floatation and elevation for the large, mostly flat section above that held everything secure.

It wasn’t pretty, and Larek was fairly certain that there was more to shipbuilding than they had applied during the process, but they had also erred on the side of caution by ensuring that everything was as strong as possible. When they dismantled the existing framing that had been in the dry dock, they essentially incorporated what they saw into the new design, regardless of their knowledge, but it at least looked like a boat that would float.

What took the most time was finishing up the paddle wheels and installing them into the rear of the ferry, which required Larek and a few Martial Protectors that had volunteered to help; it was only their combined strength that allowed them to get all the separate pieces into position. Despite only being wood, the wheels were heavy.

After those pieces had been installed, the rest of the dock workers completed the finishing touches on top of the ferry – which they knew well enough to complete without his input. Having the experience working around ferries for a living, they knew exactly what was needed to ensure the safety of the people – and the goods – that were going to be transported, so he left them to it.

While they worked on that, Larek started the process on the Fusions he would need. In his little free time in between helping with the boat, he had already created the Left and Right Gust of Air Fusions with a Magnitude of 7 and an additional Variable with the ability to reverse the direction of the paddle wheels, so he worked on installing them onto the boat itself. On the back of the ferry’s body, Larek carved a thin section of the wood off the planks nailed into place, before slotting in the square of wood he had used as material for the Air Fusions. With a few gentle taps of his axe head on nails he placed on the corner of the wooden square, it was affixed into place and nearly flush with the rest of the body. He did the same with the other wooden square with the other Fusion, centering it near the other paddle wheel, and he was done.

At that point, it was time to make the large Strengthen Fusion that would strengthen the wood and iron used primarily in the rear portion of the ferry. Instead of individual Fusions for each part, which would’ve taken entirely too long considering how many parts were involved in the paddle wheels alone, he opted to do it all at once. With the way his combined material-based bonuses worked, he could strengthen them all without any issues, as long as they were connected in some way.

The volume of material involved in the Fusion didn’t really affect the Magnitude placed into the formation; instead, it affected the required Pattern Cohesion and the Mana Cost – the latter more than the former. To cover something the size of what he planned, he estimated that he was going to need approximately 360,000 Mana and 1,300 Pattern Cohesion for a Magnitude 12 Fusion; he remembered that the table he added that same Magnitude Fusion to back in Copperleaf when proving his ability with Fusions to the Vice General there cost him around 120,000 Mana and 950 Pattern Cohesion, so it was a considerable increase but not a crazy amount. If the Fusion had been more complicated, rather than it being a Basic Fusion, it probably would’ve cost a lot more.

As he sat down on the deck of the ferry where he was going to place the Strengthen +12 Fusion, he began to construct the formation and sink into his hyper-focused state where he would begin to pump in Mana, but laughter coming from the dock workers behind him broke his concentration. Looking back at them, he could see that they weren’t laughing at him or even at anything on the ferry, but were laughing at each other due to some antics of one kind or another that they were engaged in. Despite the fact that they were working hard to finish up the details on the deck, they were clearly happy to be doing something; more than that, they were working toward reestablishing the route for their profession, so their mirth and joviality was understandable.

It didn’t really help Larek, however, as their movement over the deck was also causing it to shift minutely in the dry dock, eliciting creaks of the newly installed wood to echo through the building. All of that combined with their voices and sporadic laughter was distracting, and while he thought he could probably work through it, he had another thought. Well, two thoughts, actually, but he didn’t think that asking them to leave while he created the Fusions was a good use of their time.

Instead, he took a mental step back and considered the Strengthen Fusion from a different angle. Larek had always placed it on the material he wanted the Effect to improve, which was how it was taught in the Academy and in the books he had read. It also made sense in a way, because that particular Fusion was related to the material itself, such as a Strengthen Wood or Strengthen Iron Fusion; with the changes to his application of materials, he was aware that he didn’t have to designate the material specifically in the Fusion. He still placed it on the material he was working with and designated what he wanted it to affect, however, even if it was able to strengthen more than one material at a time now. In the case of the Strengthen Fusion he was about to place on the deck of the ferry, he would have to include everything he wanted it to strengthen into the Effect component, mentally shoving each individual item into the list of connected things it would affect.

But with his recent exploration into larger area-of-effect Fusions, such as Frozen Zone and Secure Hideaway, he hadn’t really considered if he could do something like that with the Strengthen Fusion. Now that he had a chance to think about it, he realized that it could certainly be done, though he would have to convert it to at least an Intermediate Fusion in order for it to work. But by doing that, would it then become too expensive in terms of Mana Cost and Pattern Cohesion?

There was only one way to find out – but he was going to take it a bit more cautiously than he normally was, especially if he was planning on it eventually being a Magnitude 12 Fusion. Starting with Magnitude 1, he grabbed a loose chunk of wood that had been tossed on the deck at some point during construction and placed it in front of him. Even with the distractions going on behind him, he was easily able to put together a new formation incorporating the Strengthen Effect as well as Inputs and Variables related to distance and material composition. It only took a minute or so to make a Magnitude 1 version of his new Fusion idea, and before he knew it, he was holding his effort in his hand.

New Fusion learned!

Strengthen Area +1

Activation Method: Permanent

Effect: Strengthens designated materials within a designated space

Input(s): Distance detection

Input(s): Material detection

Variable(s): Wood material composition detected

Variable(s): Iron material composition detected

Magnitude(s): 100% increased durability, 10-foot designated diameter range

Mana Cost: 60

Pattern Cohesion: 3

Fusion Time: 28 minutes

It worked!

Or at least he think it did. Larek could visually see the Effect when he focused on it, and any wood or iron within 10 feet of the piece of wood with the Fusion on it was strengthened. The only way he was able to slightly tell was by taking his axe and making a tiny mark in the decking both in and out of range of the Fusion, and there was a slight difference in how much pressure he had to use to cut through the wood. It was barely noticeable given how sharp his axe’s edge was, but since he was looking for it, the difference was clear as day.

Looking at his unlocked Fusion, he did some mental calculations on how much it had changed from something as simple as Strengthen Wood +1. The Mana Cost had increased from 15 to 60, the Pattern Cohesion was up to 3 from 1, and the Fusion Time had nearly tripled from 10 to 28. It was definitely more expensive in terms of resources, but he had expected that since this was an Intermediate Fusion now. What he wasn’t sure of was if it was worth it over the Basic Strengthen Fusion.

When he heard laughter again behind him, he knew that it was more than worth it; there were multiple reasons why, but the one that was most important to him was that the new Strengthen Area Fusion would allow him to create the Fusion in peace and quiet and then move it to the ferry when it was finished, installing it just as he had the Right and Left Gusts of Air.

The only worry was that it would end up being too much of a drain on the ambient Mana along with the propulsion system with the paddles. He frowned when he realized that it probably would be, which meant that he wouldn’t be able to use a Magnitude 12 version of Strengthen Area like he wanted with the original Fusion; he thought that he might be able to get away with a Magnitude 11, but to be safe he would settle for a Magnitude 10. That was still quite strong, and with the iron also being strengthened to hold it all together, he hoped it would be enough; the only way he would know was to test it out.

Larek retreated to an office located next to the dry dock where he was able to close the door and block out most of the distractions, which was exactly what he needed to get the new Magnitude 10 Strengthen Area Fusion completed. It required a base Mana Cost of 150,000 Mana and 1,725 Pattern Cohesion, which was reduced by his Specialization bonuses, meaning that it took him less than an hour to finish. Once it was done, he brought it back out to the nearly finished ferry boat, installed it right in the center of the deck, and smiled when he saw that the new Magnitude 10 version of the Fusion covered a 100-foot diameter range – which encompassed the entire vessel. Thankfully, the dock workers seemed to have finished installing the rest of the stuff necessary on the deck, because otherwise it would’ve been difficult for them to manipulate the wood of the deck in any way.

The difference in strength of the wood that comprised the majority of the boat was like night and day compared to how it was before, and when he went to install the forward Repelling Gusts of Air +10 Reactive Fusions that would help prevent the ferry from submerging, he had difficulty carving into the hull even with his extremely sharp axe. With some effort, he was able to do it, but he nearly had to remove the Strengthen Area Fusion to finish it off.

And with those last ones installed on the new ferry, it was done. Being only midday by that point, all the dock workers and the Cartwright that had worked on the project were there, along with a group of Protectors led by the Mage Zinnia.

“Is that it?” she asked, her face both pleased and skeptical at the same time.

Honestly, he couldn’t blame her for feeling that way, because the whole thing wasn’t pretty, but if it functioned like it was supposed to, then it really didn’t matter.

“Yes, that should be it,” he acknowledged. A thought hit him a second later. “How… how do we get it into the water?” Considering that the ferry was basically suspended above the floor of the drydock using large stone pillars as anchor points, he wasn’t sure what to do from there.

“That’s something we know about, at least,” the Dock Foreman strode up to him with a pleased look on his face. “We’ve helped to move every single ferry off of the dry dock and out to the water for the last few hundred years, so it’s something we can do. Of course, none of them looked like this, especially with those wheel-thingies on the back. How strong are those parts back there? We don’t want to break anything this close to launching it into the river.”

When the Foreman described their normal method of moving new ferries into the water, Larek was worried for a moment, but trusted that his Strengthen Area Fusion would still be strong enough.

“It should be fine, but take it slow.”

Less than an hour later, they were all ready to go. With powerful heave of the wooden poles that had been slid underneath the large boat, over 200 men – and a few women – lifted the boat off the stone pillars and struggled to move it forward. It only rose a foot or so, but that was enough to completely separate the ferry from the pillars, and it was therefore straightforward enough to shift it toward the large opening in the building. They were coordinated enough that they were able to set it down a few times as they moved it forward to give themselves a break, until the boat was barely teetering on the edge of the pillars, ready to fall downward.

That was what they were waiting for, it turned out, as the outside of the drydock was a ramp lined with large, smoothly trimmed logs held in place by more volunteers. With a last heave, the ones doing the lifting of the boat pushed it over and down onto the ramp, where it hit the first of the logs with a thump and then kept going. Using the logs as a sort of rolling conveyor, it quickly picked up speed as it headed for the quickly flowing river, which was enclosed in a special dock that was more than capable of keeping it in place once it was freely floating.

Larek winced slightly as the back end of the boat, which held the paddle wheels, scraped along the ground since it was a designed to be a bit low so as to get maximum depth into the water, but not only did the wood not chip or splinter, it didn’t even seem to be affected by the impact. Before too long, the wheels spun as they were dragged along the ground, helping to move it faster, and there didn’t seem to be any issues with it being damaged.

Before he knew it, the boat hit the water with a splash, punctuated by the Fusions on the front designed to prevent it from submerging lifting the front of the ferry up, causing even more pressure upon the back end, but everything still seemed fine. As it entered the water and was taken by the rushing water, it moved about 20 feet downstream to bump into the stone dock there, bouncing a few times before it settled.

“Well, it didn’t sink, at least,” Zinnia said with a small smile.

Larek was about to head to the dock and jump on the newly launched ferry, but he hesitated as he looked around. “I was going to test it out by myself, but I thought I’d ask if you or any of the dock workers wanted to come along. It should be safe enough, but I also can’t guarantee that.”

The Mage Protector looked extremely hesitant, but she eventually nodded. “I’d like to come along.”

She wasn’t the only one, as every single dock worker and the Cartwright wanted to come along, and he wasn’t going to deny them the opportunity as long as they knew the risks. It seemed no one cared about that as they climbed aboard, wanting to be “part of history” – or so he heard several times stated by a few of the dock workers.

Once everyone was on board, some of them entirely too close to the edge of the ferry for Larek’s liking but at least they held onto the posts and ropes set up around the perimeter for safety, Larek spoke up and cautioned them one more time. “Last chance to depart before tests are underway! Again, this is untested and I’m unsure of how this will work, so this is your last warning!”

No one moved, though they did start to look impatient by that point.

Chuckling at their enthusiasm, but feeling a bit of it himself, Larek took his position near the back of the ferry boat, where there was something akin to a podium he could stand behind and hold onto while the vessel was in motion. With a deep breath, Larek mentally commanded the Gust Fusions to start at Magnitude 1, which was the lowest speed the Fusion was capable of. It went all the way up to Magnitude 7, which was greater than the one he used on his test model, but it was necessary for something of this size.

Sensing and even feeling the Fusions activate, there was no movement in the wheels. Looking closer at them, he could see the magical energy working as it should, but it just wasn’t enough to start the process. Upping both wheels to Magnitude 2, he saw the, finally begin to turn, though it was very slow. The right side of the boat scraped against the stone dock as the entire boat traveled about a foot in the first few seconds, so Larek quickly adjusted the Magnitudes of the wheels so that the right one started moving at Magnitude 3 while the left was at Magnitude 1. With the wheels already in motion, even the Mag 1 wheel was able to keep turning – albeit very slowly – while the right one sped up considerably.

It wasn’t quite enough to get them to turn out of the current pushing them against the dock, so he increased the Magnitude of the right wheel again, bringing it to 4 – and that was when he finally saw some progress, even if it was a slow turn. Upping both wheels another Magnitude, now at 2 for the left and 5 at the right, the ferry finally moved enough away from the dock that they weren’t even touching it anymore. There was a resounding cheer from the passengers, and Larek smiled as he aimed the head of the boat toward the opening of the dock area which led to the open river.

It took some practice coordinating when to stop or slow the wheels so that he didn’t overshoot his turn, but Larek eventually got his heading correct and activated both wheels to stay steady at Magnitude 5. Even at that speed, it took approximately 2 minutes for the boat to reach the open river, moving slowly – but it was also succeeding at fighting against the current without being pushed downstream.

The sound of the rushing air along with the slap of the paddles hitting the water was quite loud, but no one seemed to care. With the smile now wide on his face, Larek bumped both wheels up to Magnitude 6, paying special attention to the wheels to see if there was any strain from being blasted with such a powerful gust of air, but they didn’t seem to be affected by it. As for the speed of the ferry boat, the difference between Mag 5 and Mag 6 was noticeable, as they really began to move; if he had to judge, he would say that its speed at least tripled, if not more than that.

He could see the pleased looks on the faces of the passengers, including the nervous Mage Protector Zinnia, who was holding onto a nearby rope with a death grip.  The dock workers were even slapping each other on the back in congratulations, which he supposed was deserved since they had worked hard to build the boat in such a short time.

But they hadn’t even seen the fastest speed yet.

Monitoring the absorption of ambient Mana, he saw that it was still at acceptable levels, especially since they were constantly moving. As if that gave him tacit permission to push it further, he raised both Magnitudes up to 7, the limit, and the boat lurched ahead as the speed of the vessel increased dramatically. The leap from 6 to 7 still didn’t put any strain on the wheel and its frame, at least from what he could see, but the speed increased yet again as it doubled. Looking back at the wheels and how it interacted with the water, he saw at once that it wasn’t likely to get much faster than that, as they were moving so quickly by that point that the water they were pushing through was unable to refill what was shifted out of the way behind them fast enough. If the wheel turned any faster, it would be trying to push against empty air as the water displaced by the bulk of the ferry couldn’t fill the void left in its wake fast enough.

Despite that, they were moving quite quickly, and the passengers stood in awe at how the shoreline passed them by. Larek was also impressed that his idea had actually worked, because he honestly didn’t know if it would or not when he first started the project. As he looked over at Zinnia, who still hadn’t loosened her grip on the rope she held, she nodded at him as if in confirmation of a job well done.

Well, I guess that’s done… so, what now?