The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Waking up in the morning, or at least he assumed it was morning because he was underground without any way to see the sun, Larek felt amazing. He stretched and yawned loudly, feeling better and more relaxed than he remembered being in a long, long time. For the first time since he was little, there was absolutely nothing that he had to do that day, thanks to not being able to travel over the Swiftwater river without assistance. His overarching journey home was still a priority, but he was stuck there until a solution was found, and consequently had nothing pressing to do.

Taking his time getting out of bed, he looked again at the Fusions he made the night before, seeing that both the Automatic Strong Temperature Adjustment +10and Secure Hideaway +10 were still functioning normally and were only drawing a minimal amount of ambient Mana into their Mana Costs components. Since it was just him nearby, the Temperature Adjustment didn’t need to absorb too much ambient Mana, and until something broke the light surrounding his Hideaway dome, it was only camouflaging a stationary location and muffling any sounds from escaping. It turned out that having it stationary was a huge saver of Mana compared to when it had to assess the directional observation of other people when he was moving with Camouflage Sphere, which helped to keep from draining the local ambient Mana.

That was obvious even when shifted his perception to look at the strands of light that marked the nearby Mana, which hadn’t changed in density much during his travels. It appeared to be handling the usage of Mana from all his Fusions just fine as it was constantly being replaced, though he had to take care in the future if he was to stay in that underground area not to add too much more of it in his room.

Which reminds me, I need to discuss what I’m paying – or donating to – this Underworld Society for the privilege of staying here longer.

Once he was fully awake and ready to start moving, he mentally deactivated both Fusions as he headed for the door to exit his room, his stomach grumbling a little in hunger.  He opened the door and was momentarily taken aback as he saw Maybelle standing there with her hand raised as if to knock on his door. She squeaked in surprise and stumbled backwards, but Larek moved quickly to grab her arm before she could fall and let her head impact the stone wall behind her. He could heal her with a Fusion if she hurt herself in that way, but he would prefer not to have to.

As soon as she was steady, though still with a frightened look on her face, he apologized. “Didn’t mean to startle you, Maybelle. Are you alright?”

She held her hand to her chest as she closed her eyes to regulate her breathing, and he couldn’t help but see that she was still wearing – or not wearing, as it was – the bare minimum of clothing that he could tell was nearly making her shiver from the cold in the hallway. When her breathing was regular once again, she opened her eyes and looked up at Larek. “Yes, I’m alright now – but you gave me a fright opening the door like that! Were you waiting to scare me or something?”

He shook his head. “No, I was just leaving to find the bathing room and to get some breakfast. Have I missed it already by sleeping in? I have to admit that it’s harder than usual telling what time of day it is in here.”

“Bathing room? Oh, my dear, I think I forgot to mention it last night.” She sounded genuinely apologetic, but then she smiled strangely at him. “But I can show you where it is, and even give you a little assistance if you’d like?” Then she winked at him.

Having found out what it was she did for a living the night before, Larek could formulate a guess as to what she meant by that. However, he had no interest in that right now, as the thought of a bath and then food was paramount in his mind. “I appreciate the offer, but I’ll have to decline. I do want to talk about payment or whatever is needed for staying here longer. I know I discussed it somewhat with Seandra the previous night, but I’d really like to lock that down as soon as possible.”

Maybelle appeared disappointed in his rejection of her “services”, but she responded to his statement quickly enough that he nearly missed it. “Seandra also wanted to talk about it after breakfast, so you should get your answer then. Come, I’ll show you the bathing room and leave you to it.”

He nodded and began to follow her, but turned back for a moment and mentally directed his Secure Hideaway to reactivate; the Effect was nearly instant, as he felt and saw the Fusion activate with a barely noticeable ripple over the dome of bent light creating the camouflage, and he knew his stuff would be safe while he was gone. Bathing, on the other hand, was going to be a little tricky because he still had memories of Vivienne catching him while he was vulnerable in the bathtub, and he wasn’t going to let that happen again.

Larek almost went back to grab his Hideaway for use in the bath, but he left it where it was because it was much more important to protect his things at the moment. He could handle himself for a few minutes in the tub, after all.

Thankfully, the bathing room was able to be locked and was only for private use, as it wasn’t large enough to be shared with more than one or two people at a time. Larek spent the entire time while in the tub watching the door and the room itself, looking for anyone trying to sneak up on him, but there really wasn’t any place for people to hide. His paranoia reared its ugly head while he got himself really clean for the first time since he left the town of Enderflow, but he managed to make it through his bath quickly and with a minimum of fuss.

Breakfast, on the other hand, was much more relaxed as far as being paranoid went, as he was fully clothed and armed with Fusions that were able to protect him if anything dangerous arose. He scarfed down the eggs and what appeared to be odd-tasting fish sausages, and ate nearly half a loaf of bread before he was done; the food did wonders to replenish his body after a month of travel, continuing what dinner had started the night before.

“So, what are you looking to donate to the Society? And how long were you planning on enjoying our hospitality?” Seandra asked as soon as he was finished eating, though she and all the rest of the women nearby weren’t even halfway done with their meal. He was surprised to see that there were only about a quarter of the women that were there during dinner the previous night, though he supposed that they were out and about town doing… whatever it was they did. From what he understood by the Underworld Society’s leader’s explanation, most of their work was legitimate, so he supposed that many of them were involved in relatively normal professions.

Larek cleared his throat, unsure if he should try and bargain for a lower donation or just provide something that he thought would be more than acceptable. From the older woman’s tone of voice and how she sat in her chair at the large table, she seemed to have recovered most of her composure and authority that had likely been affected by his Dominion magic, and she seemed all business now without a hint of give to it.

“Well, I was thinking that I would stay here until travel over the Swiftwater has been reinstated. How about a donation of—”

“500 gold pieces,” Seandra interrupted him, her firm voice startling him a bit at how harsh it sounded. “That’s the only worthy donation that will allow you to stay here any longer than today.”

Whoa. What just happened?

The other women around the table also appeared to be taken aback at the sudden demand, so he knew it wasn’t just him being shocked by the high number. “Uh… Can I ask why it should be that high of an amount?”

“Because we’ve had word of Protectors conducting a search for you already this morning, and your presence here puts us all in danger,” she said matter-of-factly, though that fact didn’t seem to have been shared with everyone since they appeared surprised.

They tracked me here already? How? Do they have some sort of long-range communication system that I’m unaware of?

Larek was suddenly glad that he hadn’t spent more than an hour or so in any villages or towns along his trek through the Empire, because it was quite possible that the Protectors might have caught up to him before this point. Still, it was strangely a relief to know that they were still hunting him, knowing that his paranoia hadn’t been for nothing. He was also glad that he hadn’t been able to find a vacancy in any of the local Inns, as he would’ve been located quite quickly.

The only problem now was that he wasn’t sure if he had 500 gold coins to give to these people. Thinking about his remaining bag of coins in his pack, he thought that if he were to exchange everything for local currency, including his platinum coins, he might have around 300 or so. Even if he was somehow able to scrounge up 500 gold coins, he knew that he was being taken advantage of by this Underworld Society because he required someplace to stay that was private and relatively safe from being found by the Protectors. It would also leave him at their mercy if they were to demand an even greater “donation” in the future if they thought they could squeeze it out of him. In short, he had no other choice but to pay if he didn’t want to risk himself in the wild lands of the Empire with all the monsters lurking about, or attempt to stay in the city where those in authority could easily find him.

Or so they thought.

He shrugged. “I see. Well then, I guess I’ll be leaving. Thank you for your hospitality,” he told Seandra, moving to rise out of his seat.

“Wait,” the older woman said quickly, as if worried that he was leaving, but it felt rehearsed to Larek. “If you don’t have the funds to fulfill the donation requirements, then perhaps we can negotiate a deal. If you volunteer to work for us for—”

“Oh, I have enough to fulfill the donation requirements, but extortion is where I draw the line,” he responded, getting to his feet and finding himself towering over Seandra and the other women seated around her. While the leader of this branch of the Underworld Society matched his gaze without flinching, the others drew and a few of them flinched when he glanced at them. “I was ready to make a good-faith donation to your Society for a full gold every day that I was planning on staying here, but that apparently wasn’t good enough for you.

“Based on what you told me last night, this type of thing is a normal enterprise for your Society to engage in, but to have it directed toward someone enjoying your hospitality is in very poor taste. Therefore, I’ll be leaving once I get my things and hopefully I’ll never see you again. Because if do, then I’ll remember this conversation and take action to ensure that you don’t try and take advantage of me again. Good day.”

Speaking has reached Level 18!

Seandra looked shocked and angry at his statement, as if she couldn’t believe he was talking to her like that. It seemed as though not only did his Dominion magic wear off, but it had turned her against him – as if her mind knew what had happened and was rebelling.

Hmm… I wonder if that’s what happened in the Kingdom? With all the common people having their dominating enslavement broken, were their emotion-filled reactions to Dominion magic and the Gergasi so powerful that it was even passed down as a hereditary trait?

It certainly made a lot of sense if that was the case, as he was now able to see it in person as it happened to him. The fallout from the use of his Dominion magic was yet another reason why he wanted to get control of it – if only so that he could control when it was used; if he had his way, the times he planned on using it would be… never.

As he turned away from the table, he caught Seandra moving her hand just above the table in a strange gesture. It didn’t take more than a step away from the remains of his breakfast to find out what it was for, as a half-dozen figures in tight, dark-colored leathers surrounded him. He recognized them from the night before as the “assassins” mentioned in the Society’s activities, and one of them was even Yvette, the first person other than Maybelle that he’d met when he arrived. All of them had their faces covered with a dark cloth that only left their eyes exposed, but he could see both confusion and determination in their gazes, as if they weren’t sure exactly why they were being called upon to stop him from leaving, but would obey their orders, nonetheless.

He glanced around the room to see if Maybelle had an explanation for this, as she seemed to want to be genuinely helpful, but she was nowhere to be seen. Crossing his arms over his chest with a heavy sigh, he turned around to look at Seandra, who had a smug look on her face.

“We can’t allow you to leave just yet, Larek. You see, you have something that we need and as soon as we get it, you can go.”

“And what is that?”

“More of those magical lights you showed Maybelle. She told us about them, and it sounds like they are Fusions from your homeland. While most people in the Sealance Empire have heard about their supposed wondrousness before, there are very few that have actually seen them in person to know that they are entirely real; one of those people who have seen and held one in their hand is me, so I have the unique quality to know something valuable when I hear of it.

“In short, I want all of these lights you possess, as well as any other Fusions you may have. Once I have them, as well as a sizeable donation from you – don’t worry, we won’t leave you with nothing – and you’ll be free to go. How does that sound? Quite simple, right?’

He shook his head, though she misinterpreted the gesture. “No? I assure you that this is the best solution, as we can simply take it from your corpse if we have to, but I doubt it will come to that, correct? You seem the sensible sort, Larek.”

“You really don’t want to do this, Seandra. Please call them off and let me go on my way, and I’ll forget this ever happened.”

Larek was starting to get a little angry from yet another person trying to take advantage of him and attempting to steal his Fusions, but he held that anger down as he didn’t want his Battle Arts to suddenly activate – and he wasn’t sure if he could stop them from slaughtering everyone in the room. If it wasn’t obvious at first, the reactions of the other people around the table to Seandra’s threat and ultimatum showed that while they were part of the Society, they weren’t exactly behind this attempt to steal from him. That being said, not a single one of them voiced their concern that they were taking this too far, as they simply sat their looking meekly at their leader.

“Just… let you go? As simple as that, right? No, I don’t think so. I’m the one with all the power here, so—”  As she was talking, Larek caught her looking off to his left, no more than a glance, but if that wasn’t a signal to attack him, then he was blind. Rather than react, he simply ensured that his Repelling Barrier was still active from where he had turned it on earlier, and stood there.

The Combat Fusionist didn’t see or even hear the strike aimed for the back of his neck, which was impressive all by itself. It would’ve been even more impressive if it had actually hit him, but the knife the assassin was wielding was violently flung to the ground in a powerful gust of wind, and the speed at which it happened snapped the wrist of the woman while it sent her tumbling to the floor. There was a grunt of pain from her as she rolled quite acrobatically with the sudden downward force, and he could see her spring up to her feet out of the corner of his eye, holding her broken wrist against her chest.

Silence descended upon the common room, broken only by the harsh breathing of the injured assassin, before pandemonium broke out as a multitude of reactions to the event took place.