The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Larek spent the rest of that day and the next moving from Aperture to Aperture around the area, either participating in killing hundreds of different monsters or simply providing information to the Protectors so that they could finish the job – especially against targets that required a long-range solution. During the fights, not only did Larek earn an additional 1,240 AF which brought him up to 1,655 AF to spend on upping his maximum Skills, but he managed to increase two of his Martial Skills and two of his General Skills in the process.

Dodge has reached Level 11!

Throwing has reached Level 6!

Long-Distance Running has reached Level 12!

Axe Handling has reached Level 86!

It was progress of sorts, at least, and he was happy enough to have the opportunity to improve himself before he left the town of Enderflow. He also increased his maximum Skill in Fusionto 40 and his Pattern Formation to 38 in anticipation of Leveling them up as he traveled, getting him one step closer to being able to make Advanced Fusions.

On the morning that his obligation to the town was up, what he had half-expected to happen came true when he was confronted by Protector Ashlynn as he was packing up his stuff in anticipation of going shopping through Enderflow’s marketplace for traveling supplies.

“Please don’t go, Larek,” she abruptly asked of him. She didn’t beg, as that wasn’t exactly something he could ever picture her doing, but it was close. “We need your expertise and advice to help keep us protected. We haven’t even cleared whatever is to the northwest—”

“I’m sorry, Protector Ashlynn, but I must go,” he interrupted her before she could plead further. He genuinely felt bad for their situation, especially as he got to know at least the Protectors of the town, but this wasn’t his responsibility, and he frankly didn’t want to be there anymore. “I need to get back to my own lands. With all that has happened here, I’m worried about what I’ll find back home.”

He hadn’t really shared much of his situation back in the Kingdom with the woman (or anyone else for that matter) because he didn’t want to have to lie, but he was telling the truth about being worried. Not only did the presence of Scissions and Apertures in a land that had never had them before hint that something catastrophic had potentially happened, but the possibility that he had lost years of time was also of great concern. Thoughts of his family that he had buried inside his mind due to being unable to help them floated back to the surface. They probably think I’m dead, having not heard from or about me in at least 5 years. And how have they been handling these Apertures which are likely scattered all over the Kingdom by this point? Are they even alive, for that matter?

Thoughts of his friends who were forced to forget him and move onto Silverledge Academy and Fort Ironwall were also at the forefront of his thoughts, though he didn’t worry about them quite as much. They, at least by this point, could protect themselves from the monsters around the Kingdom in one way or another; his family, not so much.

“I… I understand. Are you sure there’s no way to convince you to stay another couple of days?”

Larek shook his head. “No, I’ve been away long enough and from what I’ve learned, I have a long way to travel before I get back. I’ve already spent too much time here as it is, though it was necessary to recover and to fulfill my obligation to the town.”

Ashlynn slowly nodded as he walked past her, ready to finish prepping for his journey. As he passed by, she laid her hand on his arm to stop him. Looking up into his eyes, which was strange because he had the feeling that she could actually see his actual eyes and not the twisting of her perception that his ring produced.

“Stay safe out there, Larek,” she said softly, before her voice changed to something a little harsher. “And promise me that you’ll figure out how to use your Stama and Battle Arts before you hurt yourself or someone else.”

That took him back a little bit, as he hadn’t actually admitted that he was having issues with both those things. He opened his mouth to respond, but he wasn’t sure what to say as he was so surprised.

“Don’t look so shocked. This whole ‘Martial’ thing involving Stama and Battle Arts might be new to me, but I know enough to understand that you have absolutely no training in how to use either of them. Neither do I, of course, but the rudimentary knowledge of how to use them is up here somehow,” she said, pointing to her head with her other hand.

So unfair. I wonder if I stayed a few days, she might be able to train me how to—

“Unfortunately, I’m fairly certain I don’t know enough to teach you how to use it properly,” she said sadly. “Until I actually use it properly for the first time, it’s more of an instinctual knowledge rather than something I can put into words to help you. Give me a few months and I might be able to—but no. I can’t ask you to stay that long when you need to get home.” She took her hand away from his arm, nodding again as if making a decision. “You better go if you’re going to make good time on the roads,” she continued, her voice back to the no-nonsense tone he was used to from her. “You have that copy of the Sealance Empire map I gave you?”

“I do.” It was in his pack, and it turned out that the Empire was as big or even bigger than the empire, though it was hard to tell because a third of it were actually islands out in the ocean. If he were to travel a little more west, he would eventually hit the ocean, something that he resolved to see for himself sometime because that much water seemed impossible to him. Unfortunately, backtracking just to see some sights wasn’t something he wanted to waste time on right now, considering that he was told a normal traveler crossing the Empire from his location to the border of Lowenthal, the lands east of the Empire and a place he’d have to cross in order to get to the Kingdom, would take them at least 5 months.

Crossing Lowenthal would take at least another 2 months before he even got to the border of the Kingdom of Androthe, which meant 7 months of travel – a significant chunk of time all by itself. Of course, with his ability to move quickly and his exceptional endurance thanks to his Martial stat which meant he wouldn’t tire out even after hours of running, he could cut that time by at least 80% if he pushed himself. But then he had to take into account finding places to sleep at night, because he would eventually get tired, as well as restocking his traveling supplies.

And none of that even took into account the fact that the lands were now likely infested with Scissions, Apertures, and the monsters that those two things brought forth. He wanted to continue improving his Skills so he could create Advance Fusions, which meant stopping to kill as many monsters as safely as possible along the way for their Aetheric Force.

As a result, he couldn’t easily put a timeframe to when he would get back to the Kingdom, let alone finding his parents, traveling to Fort Ironwall, and discovering where his friends ended up. A thought about Nedira and how she would react to seeing him again after so long was interrupted by the knowledge that she wouldn’t know him because of what Chinli had done, but the desire to see her again burned strongly in his heart for some reason.

“Very well. Good luck and I hope you make it back to your home swiftly and safely.” With that last announcement, she left his room with her back held straight and stiff – but that was how she usually appeared, so he didn’t think anything of it. He paused for a few seconds before starting on his way, leaving the barracks as quickly as possible before he was stopped again; even doing that, he noticed the disappointed looks on some of the Protectors’ faces in the gathering room, but he ignored them as well as he could. They would be fine without him, especially as he heard the night before about plans for those who had undergone the magical awakening throughout the rest of the town being trained to fight the monsters, so soon enough they would have more than enough help to go around.

Once he exited the Protectors’ barracks, he swiftly made his way down the street toward his destination. The one benefit of his patrols over the last month was a familiarity with the town layout and the location of different shops and services. The overall composition of businesses was remarkably similar to the ones he’d seen or heard of in the Kingdom, though he personally didn’t have a lot of experience with visiting them. Still, they were familiar enough to him that he knew where he needed to go and had traveled just enough to know what he needed to get, so planning his shopping trip was relatively simple.

Thankfully, while the monetary system in the Sealance Empire utilized oddly shaped coins with marks on them that were completely different from the ones Larek possessed from the Kingdom, they were still accepted as valid currency – though with a slightly unfavorable exchange rate. That didn’t matter all that much to him, however, as he was fairly certain he had more than enough to last him years even if he if he was ripped off.

His first stop was the Tailor, a man named Johan who ran a shop filled to the brim with bolts of cloth with different shades and textures, as well as a hefty quantity of already-crafted shirts, pants, socks, and underthings on racks and shelves. Almost all of it was made of lightweight material that was perfect for the environment, which he found was hot and humid – at least in comparison to what he was used to. That was definitely something he needed, as his robe was created using a thick, wool-like fabric that held in the heat more than he liked; if it wasn’t for his Body stat being so high and able to adapt to the higher temperature, he was sure he would’ve overheated the first day he was in Enderflow.

Unfortunately, none of the already-crafted clothing would work for Larek given his size. While the people he’d seen in the Empire were, in general, slightly taller than those from the Kingdom, there was a large difference between an average height of 5 foot 5 inches and his own 7 feet. Which was why he had visited the Tailor a few days before to commission a set of clothing that would fit him, having thought ahead toward his departure at the end of his month’s obligation to the town. He remembered the issue that they had back in Whittleton regarding clothing being available for him, and since he had the luxury of time, he took advantage of it to have something custom made.

To have it done accurately, however, he’d deliberately taken off his Perceptive Misdirection ring before entering the shop so that his measurements could be taken. While Johan the Tailor had originally been slightly taken aback at Larek’s height, his professionalism kicked in immediately and had thrown himself into measuring the Fusionist with a fervor that was surprising. “’Tis a challenge, m’boy!” the Tailor had said at the time when he saw the bemused expression on Larek’s face. “Might be I get a few Skill Levels in Tailoring for this!”

He supposed that Johan’s enthusiasm made sense, as he knew how difficult it was to raise a Level past a certain point, especially in General Skills. Profession Skills fell into that category, and while Larek’s Level 86 in Axe Handling was a bit of an outlier with how quickly it Leveled, he was aware that most other people would be lucky to see something of that Level before they died of old age.

When he walked into the Tailoring shop, with his ring deactivated, he expected Johan to be behind the counter as he had been before, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Instead, the Tailor was standing in the middle of his shop with an intense look of concentration on his face as he waved his hands around in front of him. Larek paused at the strange activity for a few seconds before he focused on looking at the man with a little more focus on the Mana density in the air. In no time at all, it became obvious that Johan was attempting to control his Mana by bringing it outside of his body as there were stirrings in the strands of light around him, but he wasn’t having much luck as of yet.

Even the Tailor went through a magical awakening?

“Oh, drat—ah! Larek! You’re back!” Johan shouted excitedly as he caught sight of the Fusionist. “Can you believe that I was lucky enough to be chosen for the duty of protecting the world? Me? What do I know about flinging spells around? Well, other than what’s now inexplicably in my head, of course.”

Somehow, the man was even more excited than he had been when facing the prospect of gaining a few Levels in his Tailoring Skill. Larek smiled at the enthusiasm and briefly considered offering some advice, but he held off, not wanting to reveal his status as a Martial and a Mage. That, and he was about to leave and didn’t want to get roped into helping any of the residents of the town with their newfound abilities, as he had places to go and monsters to kill.

“That’s amazing, Johan! I’m sure you’ll figure it out at some point.” He only paused a second before asking, “Did you happen to get my clothes done?”

His enthusiasm wasn’t extinguished in the least over the change in subject as the Tailor nodded and rushed behind his counter. Before long, he was pulling out two full sets of clothing, one of them made of lightweight material that was flowy and would fit in quite well with the local population. The second was made of thicker material that was almost on par with his robe; it would be hot in the current environment, but he figured it would be a good backup in case he needed it, and would be necessary once he got closer to the Kingdom. They wouldn’t look so out of place back home, and he felt as if he needed to have it created now because he wasn’t sure if he’d be staying anywhere in the future long enough to have it done.

“Here you go, young man! I even managed to Level Tailoring twice during the process because they were so different from anything I’ve made before.” He looked ecstatic at that fact, and Larek couldn’t blame him; two Levels in a Generic Skill in such a short time was almost unheard of.

For anyone but Larek, of course.

“I’m even throwing in this extra bag I had lying around because you helped me advance my Skill, so that you don’t have to try and stuff it into that one you’re already carrying around. You should be able to easily attach it to your other pack, so that you don’t have to worry about multiple straps crossing over your body.”

Thankful for the gift, Larek immediately figured out how to tie it to his existing sack attached to his back, and was able to settle it easily with the extra clothing inside. He was itching to get out of his robe, but until he had a time to add some Fusions to his new articles of clothing, he wanted to keep his Boosts and defenses in place.

“This is excellent work, Johan. How much do I owe you?”

The Tailor only thought about it for a second before he answered. “I believe the remaining balance is 1 silver and 2 copper, but if you give me a silver I’ll call it even.” Larek had already paid half up front for the work, and while he only received 85 silver instead of 100 that he would normally get for the gold piece because of the unfavorable exchange rate, it still let him know that he would be flush with funds for a long while yet. During his patrols, he had peeked at the prices of food and other supplies that he would soon be loading up with and determined that he probably wouldn’t be spending more than 10 silver for everything, and that included a simple tent and a bedroll which were the biggest expenses.

That would leave him with the equivalent of a little under 25,000 silver coins due to the pair of platinum coins he possessed, even with the unfavorable exchange rate.  He figured that was more than enough to get him home.

His work creating Fusions for the SIC was finally paying off in a tangible way that he was able to experience personally. Granted, his companions back in Whittleton had went on a shopping spree with some of the coinage that he had gained from his work, but he didn’t really comprehend how much they spent or what things cost. The economic situation might be a little bit different in the Empire as opposed to the Kingdom, but if they were anywhere near similar, then he was finally understanding why Bartholomew had boggled at the amount, saying that what they carried away from Copperleaf had been more than his father’s Duchy collected in taxes every year.

“Thank you again for the work!”  Johan smiled happily as he accepted the silver coin, which was in local currency, as Larek had a small amount of it for easier purchases around town.

“I appreciate how fast you got it done. Good luck with the whole saving the world thing, Johan,” the Fusionist called back to the Tailor as he left, who was already starting to experiment with his Mana once again. As he left the shop, he slipped the ring back on his finger to camouflage his height to the rest of the townfolk, before shaking his head at the thought of the Tailor being a Mage. It wasn’t just him, he knew, as dozens or perhaps hundreds of others in Enderflow had also undergone the change a couple of days ago, and he could only shudder in apprehension as every single one of them would be experimenting with something that they only partially understood. He was sure that more than one mistake would end up costing lives in the long run, but that was inevitable even back in the Kingdom if the students and trainees of the Academies and Forts weren’t careful.

For his next stops, there was a general store of sorts where he picked up a bedroll and tent, as well as a nice sturdy walking stick that he was planning on turning into a Mage’s staff to replace the one he left back in the Kingdom. After that, he loaded up with as many travel rations and food that would keep for at least a few days and packed them into his bag, stuffing it full to near bursting. With all his preparations completed, Larek pulled out his map to confirm that he knew where he was going, before stashing it away and heading out the road that led to the northeast, where it would eventually join with a major artery leading through the middle of the Kingdom and was the swiftest route to his eventual destination.

As he left the town of Enderflow behind, he felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his back. While he wasn’t required to help them anymore, there was still a moral obligation that rattled around in his mind to help these people learn what they needed to survive the influx of monsters covering their land. However, given that Larek considered himself just barely able to make sense of everything as it was, he didn’t think it was either necessary or a good idea.

It would be like the blind leading the blind.