The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 10

Chapter 10

“What can I do for you, stranger?”

Larek smiled at the Innkeeper behind the bar, who had interrupted his incessant wiping of the bartop with a rag that had seen better days at the big man’s appearance. Despite its current state, the rag had obviously been effective enough to show a shine on the surface of the bar that seemed unnatural, and the Fusionist realized that something had been applied to the rag that caused it to look that way. He assumed it was some sort of waxy stain, but he’d never seen wood shine the way it did – at least not in the Kingdom.

“A hearty meal and a room for the night, if I could.”

The Innkeeper hesitated for a few seconds before replying. “I have a room available, but I don’t think you’ll fit on the bed,” he answered with a chuckle.

Larek kept his smile, showing that the prospect of a too small bed didn’t bother him. “Not a problem; I’ve been sleeping wherever I could for the last week or so, and just being inside somewhere safe is a luxury I can’t afford to be picky about.”

His statement caused some interest by a few of the customers nearby sitting at the bar, nursing drinks. A quick glance at them with an application of his Magical Detection Skill showed that there was a hint of something around them; he hadn’t seen many people on his journey since leaving Enderflow, given that the town – which was more like a village – that was supposed to be inside the forest to the northeast of Enderflow had been completely abandoned when he arrived. At first, he thought that they might have been attacked by monsters coming out of Scissions of Apertures, but there was no sign of distress throughout the village that was slightly bigger than Rushwood back home. The buildings had been closed up and everything had been removed at some point over the last month, leaving very little behind.

It had been a mystery until he discovered an Aperture further up the road as he kept going, though fortunately he didn’t see any sign that the people had been completely stopped by it. There were a few little pieces of evidence indicating a battle against what he could only assume were monsters of some sort, as there were a few pools of long-dried blood and broken weapons, but there were no corpses of people nearby. That there were no corpses of monsters either was explained by the fact that the Aperture had Spiny Earthworms that wandered its territory, which had been altered enough that there were odd-looking hills in between the trees of the forest that surrounded it. Granted, the Spiny Earthworms weren’t exactly visible to be seen wandering around, as they moved through the ground beneath his feet instead, but that wasn’t really the point.

The reason there were no monster corpses around was due to the fact that when Larek killed the 8-foot-long and 2-foot-wide fleshy worms that had 3-inch-long spines along its entire outer surface, they tended to dissolve back into the earth beneath them and disappear. They were relatively slow, fortunately, and the Fusionist was able to easily avoid what was essentially a constricting attack where they wrapped themselves around a victim and ripped them apart with their spines. Despite the fact that they liked to emerge from beneath their targets and wrap them up before they could react, they weren’t subtle about their movements, and it was a simple matter for Larek to jump a few feet away when they emerged and then chop them up with his axe.

Or with an application of the newly created Mage’s staff with a Flaming Ball +7or Icy Spike +7 Fusion on it that he had made the night before. It had taken him hours of concentration that was nerve-wracking given that he was in a tent in an unfamiliar forest while there were monsters roaming about somewhere, but fortunately nothing disturbed him throughout the night. He had made sure to find a relatively protected section of the forest where the land gave way on one side and a large fallen tree on the other, as well as ensuring that the closest Apertures he could sense were miles away – but it had still been quite dangerous to do it without someone to watch his back. That was one of the biggest drawbacks of traveling alone, he found, as there was no one to keep watch for monsters or other threats while he worked and later slept, but he had some ideas about that he wanted to work on once he got settled into his room in the Inn he was visiting.

Thankfully, no one remarked on anything but his height and general appearance when he entered the town of Lakebellow an hour ago as the sun was beginning to set. The reason for that was the fact that he had spent another night along the road adding Fusions to his lighter-weight clothing he’d acquired in Enderflow from Johan the Tailor… or should it be Tailor-Mage now? Regardless, he was able to add the Fusions he needed to the flowy dark brown pants and loose white shirt, which allowed him to fit in much better than he had back in Enderflow with his robe. It was obvious from his physical appearance that he wasn’t a native of the Empire, but at least he didn’t stand out as much anymore.

Other than his new Mage’s staff and clothing, Larek hadn’t been able to create any Fusions because he was becoming exhausted by the days’ activities. Not only was he actively moving down his planned route as quickly as he could, but now that he had a long-range weapon to better help him take down some of the more-annoying monsters found at the Apertures, he was spending more time fighting – and healing from the wounds that were inflicted upon his body. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it was before he remembered to activate his Repelling Barrier, but being surrounded by too many targets for the barrier to handle was still an issue. So was being attacked by something that could pass right through his Barrier, such as the wingbeat attacks by the Bladed Sparrows.

He only vaguely remembered them from his classes at the Academy, but what he remembered most about them was their ability to flap their wings powerfully and send out a crescent of nearly invisible, hardened and sharpened air as a long-range attack – which he was privileged to experience first-hand. His Barrier did absolutely nothing to stop what was essentially a blade of air coming at him from multiple directions once they swarmed him; it reminded him of how ineffective they were when confronting the Lightning Buzzards back in the Kingdom, and how it seemed as though many of the airborne monsters he had to fight were able to counter his protections with seemingly no effort. The only saving grace was that the air blades themselves were rather small and could barely cut through the top layers of his skin, making them bleed but not too terribly. This was mainly due to the fact that his Body stat now numbered 150 with the new Body Boost +10 Fusion he had placed on his new clothing, along with the other two Martial stats with the same Magnitude.

The upgrade from a Magnitude 1 Boost was incredible, to say the least, as he was now stronger, faster, and had a more robust frame than before – though he had trouble adjusting to the new changes during that first day. He still couldn’t move at his top speed for more than a few seconds because it was just too disorienting, but the way he was able to move quickly while fighting monsters had netted him another 2 Levels in his Dodge Skill, bringing it to Level 13.  With his increased stats, however, he discovered that he used much more physical energy than before even for simple tasks, which left him exhausted by the end of the day even after consuming more of his dwindling supply of food. It got to the point where he was considering putting the Boost back down to +1 or +2 rather than +10, but he was reluctant to do that because he was slowly becoming used to the changes well enough that it would throw him off if he were to lose it now.

All of which led him to the town of Lakebellow after traveling for approximately 6 days and temporarily closing a total of 15 Apertures. He now had enough AF from those confrontations to increase his Pattern Formation Skill maximum to 40, as well as enough left over to bump his Pattern Recognition up to Level 25. He wanted to be able to learn the Fusion for the Perceptive Misdirection Fusion on his ring as soon as possible, as the pattern was quickly fading and likely wouldn’t last for more than a few more days at this rate. While he had a fairly good mental picture of it after having seen it every day for the last month and a half, he hadn’t actually learned the Fusion yet; he was hoping that when he got to Level 40 in both Fusion and Pattern Formation, his Pattern Recognition would be high enough to finally learn it.

“You were traveling outside? By yourself?” one of the bar patrons asked, having overheard his conversation with the Innkeeper.

Larek simply nodded.

“Where did you come from?”

He had no reason to lie or keep the knowledge a secret, so he answered, “Enderflow.”

The man hummed something and seemed to be doing some mental calculations. “That’s an incredibly long way to travel, stranger, especially in times such as these. You must have been on the road for weeks to make it here, and while I see that you’re in one piece, the journey must’ve been difficult. Did you lose your party on the way here? Better yet, where are you from?”

I’m not sure I like all these questions, mainly because I don’t know where he’s going with them. “It was certainly a difficult journey, which is why I’d love something to eat and to get some rest in a real bed for once – even if I don’t fit in it!” he said, chuckling. “As for where I’m from, it’s a long way from here and I’m just passing through on my way back home.” He turned away from the customer at the bar who had asked him the questions and refocused back on the Innkeeper. “So, how’s about I get that meal and the room—”

“Delwin says there’s something about your clothes that’s putting off a strong magical vibe, stranger,” the patron who had asked him the earlier questions said, standing up off the stool he had been sitting. Behind him, three others dressed similarly and almost appearing as if they were brothers, also stood up with a squeal of stool legs against the wood floor. Still with his Magical Detection Skill hard at work, Larek noticed that two of them appeared to have a bit of Mana passing through them periodically, which he could only assume meant that they were Mages; one of them in particular was looking at his clothing – or more specifically, the Fusions on them – like a starving wolf looked at a lost sheep.

Well, that’s just great. Now what do I do?

Larek might not be the best judge of character or was adept at reading some social situations, but he could still tell where this was going. He stiffened a little as the man took a step forward, his hand instinctively reaching for his axe, but he stopped when the Innkeeper spoke.

“Alwhin, what have I told you about harassing my customers? You’d had better knock it off right now or I’ll be contacting Protector Bundy to make sure you remember this time.”

The man, Alwhin, stopped his advance and looked disgustingly at the Innkeeper before turning greedy eyes back on Larek. He didn’t say anything as he picked up the tankard he had been drinking, drained the rest of it in one smooth gulp, and then slammed it back down on the bar. The Fusionist could see the Innkeeper flinch as his bartop was slightly dented from the action, which told Larek that the man had flexed some of his Strength stat to inflict the damage. That he was a Martial wasn’t in doubt by that point, but how much he had advanced upon what he started with was difficult to tell.

Wiping some foam off his mouth, Alwhin stared at Larek right in the eyes and said, “I’ll be seeing you around, then.” As he left, for the first time the Fusionist noticed that the man had what appeared to be an iron mace in a leather holster attached to his hip. It was relatively crude in appearance, as it appeared to have been crafted in a hurry, as the spikes coming out of the metal ball on the end of a wood-and-iron stick were placed haphazardly and were of differing lengths and thicknesses. He supposed that such weaponry wasn’t very common in the Sealance Empire considering that they had Protectors to help defend them from most threats. Naturally, that would likely change in the near future as the new Martials around the Empire found their feet and decided on a favorite weapon, and this example was probably just the first example of that happening.

He also noticed that one of the others, also a Martial by the feel of the magical disturbance around him, had two knives in their sheaths strapped to his belt, while the two Mages were carrying around on their hips what he could only describe as long wooden clubs. He wasn’t sure how effective they would be against monsters, but against most non-Martial citizens of the Empire…

Well, the uses behind them became obvious at that point. They weren’t designed for monsters, but for other people. Larek wasn’t sure what that made these individuals; were they thieves? Simple bullies?

It really didn’t matter since he wasn’t planning on staying around more than just that night and was expecting to leave early in the morning. If he was lucky, he’d never see them again.

If he did see them again, they wouldn’t like his response. Unlike the SIC back at Whittleton, who he at least understood their motivations concerning stealing his group’s Fusions, these people had no need of it other than greed. At the moment, the Empire of Sealance was more than capable of handling the influx of Apertures and monsters with just their Protectors if it came down to it, as was proven by when he accompanied the ones from Enderflow – so they didn’t need anything he might provide.

And if Larek was being honest with himself, if he hadn’t been fed up with bullies by this point in his life, he certainly was now. He’d already determined not to be taken advantage of earlier when people asked for help; he was darn sure not going to allow someone to take his stuff just because they wanted it.

“I’ll take my meal up in my room, if you don’t mind,” he told the Innkeeper once the quartet of thugs left the Inn. As he looked around the rest of the common room, there were gatherings of other people here and there who had their heads close together as if they were speaking about something secret, but Larek didn’t bother to ply his Listening Skill to hear what was being said. There was really no need, as most of them were casting glances his way while they spoke, so he could guess what the object of their conversation was. Fortunately, he didn’t get a vibe from them that made him think they were similar to those who just left; he figured it was simply just gossip.

I really need to figure out this Perceptive Misdirection Fusion soon, because I want to make some changes to it. I still stand out too much here, even if they think I’m shorter than my real height.

“Not a problem. I’ll have Cynthia bring it up to you in a few minutes,” the Innkeeper said, placing a heavy iron key with a cloth loop around it with the number 6 stitched into it onto the bar top. He held his hand over it as he said, “That’ll be 2 silver for both the meal and the room.”

Rather than wondering if that was a good price or not, as his only experience with an actual Inn had been in Whittleton and they had been outrageously extorted, he pulled out two of the local currency out of his pocket where he had placed a handful of coins in there before he arrived, just to have it handy without having to pull it out of his pack, and then slid them on the bar. The Innkeeper snatched them up quickly and pulled his hand away from the key, saying, “Thank you. And I’m sorry about Alwhin and his brothers bothering you.”

Larek just shrugged.

“A word of fair warning, traveler,” the man went on, “you should watch your back if you’re planning on leaving tomorrow. They know better than to mess with you while you’re in my Inn or in town, but as soon as you’re outside of the town proper it’s a bit lawless out there with the whole end-of-the-world announcement more than a week ago. Good-for-nothings like Alwhin and his siblings have used their newfound power to make a menace of themselves more than usual.” He leaned closer and dropped his voice, as if he didn’t want to be overheard. “There’s even talk that they’ve been ambushing some of the volunteer groups who’ve gone out to start closing these Aperture things, though no one could prove that. Lakebellow’s Protectors have written their disappearances off as unfortunate accidents as they’ve fought some of these monsters out there, but I don’t buy it, I tell you.” He then gave Larek a wink.

The Fusionist was speechless for a moment. “Uh, why are you telling me this?” He didn’t want to know anything about these people, as he was planning on leaving in the morning and never coming back.

The Innkeeper appeared taken aback. “Oh, well, you know, I just wanted to warn you in case they confronted you—”

“Thank you; I appreciate the warning,” Larek said, his exhaustion from the last few days catching up with him and his stomach growled in protest from being ignored. “I’ll head up now if you don’t mind, and I’ll look forward to my meal.” With that said, he grabbed the key and headed toward the left of the bar where a flight of stairs led upwards. It didn’t take long for him to make his way down the hallway he found himself up at the top of the stairway and to find his room for the night. It took even less time for him to make his way inside, plop himself on the too-small bed, and begin to relax as felt safe and secure for the first time since he left Enderflow.

A few minutes later, a young woman knocked on his door and delivered him a wooden tray filled with a bowl of stew next to a large bowl of rice, along with an entire loaf of still-steaming bread; while he didn’t ask for such a large bounty when he requested a meal, he appreciated that they didn’t skimp in the least.

As he dug in and devoured the food like he hadn’t eaten in days, he began to plan out what he was going to work on before he got some sleep for the night.