The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The relative quiet of the early morning didn’t last long as Larek’s group made their way down the gentle slope of the forested mountain. Unlike what he thought might disturb the silence in the group, which was some of the other people asking him questions that he really didn’t feel like answering while they were on the move, it was something entirely different and inherently more dangerous.

Monsters.

As if mocking Penelope’s supposition that there wouldn’t be any this close to the city, which was less than 10 miles behind them at that point, Vivienne suddenly came back from her scouting ahead of the group to report that they had a problem.

“It’s a Jumping Squirrel swarm. It appears as though they’ve made a home in the trees ahead,” she told them.

“A home? They’re not moving toward the city?” Nedira asked. Larek was wondering the same thing, given that they were so close to Thanchet.

The Ranger shook her head. “No. It’s… odd behavior for Scission monsters. This was probably something that would’ve been covered in classes this year, but they hadn’t gotten to it yet.”

It certainly was odd to Larek, based on what he’d learned about Scissions and the monsters that appeared from them. From what he previously knew, monsters would invariably head toward the largest concentration of people, be it a town or city – even if the Scission opened further away than normal. That appeared not to be the case anymore, however; the latest reports he’d overheard from the Dean and Shinpai was that attacks on towns and cities had tapered off, and not just because Scissions weren’t appearing near them. Instead, it was almost as if the monsters were only concentrating on everything in between the population centers, as if they were staking out their own territories and attacking anyone who got too close to them.

The SIC, of course, were leaving their walled defenses and venturing out into the Kingdom to wipe out these concentrations of monsters before they could become a problem, but even Larek was aware that they were getting a late start. After the abnormal appearances of stronger-than-normal and multiple Scissions appearing near towns and cities stopped, it had taken them months of isolated reports of monsters roaming around the Kingdom before they started to act. Added to that the fact that the majority of those that were part of the SIC were inexperienced in hunting monsters, as they were used to defending a fixed position where the monsters would come to them, the progress they had made finding the monsters all over the land had been minimal.

At least, that was the impression he received when he heard about how everything was going. Having witnessed it personally, when not just one but two separate caravans he was traveling with were attacked first by Night Wolves and then Bog Goblins, he could only extrapolate from the information that things in the Kingdom were much worse than anyone would admit in front of him. Given that there were monsters so close to Thanchet, when he had heard that the area around the city was clear for at least 50 miles in every direction due to the SIC’s efforts, Larek could only assume that the SIC from the city was actually being overwhelmed.

No wonder the Dean and Shinpai were so adamant about me helping to provide them with Fusions. If they’re already behind eliminating the influx of monsters in this area, then they would need all the extra boosts they could use. And if it’s this bad here, I can’t imagine how it is everywhere else.

“Can we go around?” Penelope asked the Ranger.

Unfortunately, she shook her head. “Not really. They’re spread out for at least a mile from the east to the west near the valley’s outlet, though they stop before they reach the road out from Thanchet leading north. We can either cross the road and take our chances on the eastern side of the valley, or we can head further up the mountains and take a much rougher route – if there even is one.”

Larek tried to picture what he was being told in his mind. Remembering a map of the area he’d seen during his Geography of the SIC class, he knew that the valley that housed the city and the Academy was essentially ringed by mountains other than to the north, where it narrowed into the outlet that Vivienne was describing. If these Jumping Squirrels were blocking off access to a portion of their way out, it would take a bit of travel to get around them. The easiest solution was to take the road, as the Ranger had mentioned that the Squirrels stayed away from it, but that came with its own problems; avoiding some monsters just to be found by the Gergasi and the people looking for them wasn’t exactly the smartest trade.

“How many do you suspect there are?” Larek asked, surprising the others by his abrupt question. He didn’t know why it should be surprising, because it was obvious to him what they needed to do at that point, given that they couldn’t afford to waste any time getting as far away from the source of their troubles as soon as possible.

“Too many to easily count. I suspect there are nearly a thousand of them spread throughout their territory, but it could be a bit more or less.”

“Is it normal for a single Scission to let out that many?”

Penelope answered for Vivienne. “If it was a particularly high-Category Scission, perhaps. Otherwise, this could be the result of multiple Scissions of similar design coming together – which is an altogether frightening supposition if it’s true.”

It was impossible to tell what the answer was at that point, of course, but what mattered now was getting through them.

“They’re not particularly strong, if I remember correctly,” Verne noted, seeing where this was going. “But with those numbers… it might still be better if we went around them somehow.”

The blue-haired Martial trainee shook her head. “It might be safer in the short run, but it puts us at too much risk of being found by others. We should be able to push through them if we’re careful.”

“But we’re just students,” Norde warned them as he spoke up.  “Verne and I have no way to defend ourselves since we can’t even cast a spell yet, though we’re both close to success after all our practice.” Larek was surprised that they had gotten that far already, though he knew they had been diligently working on putting everything together to cast their first spell. Or at least they had been working on it, but with their need to flee the Academy, the former Logger was sure their free time to practice was going to be severely curtailed.

“That’s true; I don’t feel comfortable letting my little brother knowingly walk into danger, and leaving them behind isn’t an option,” Nedira stated with finality. “I know that we’re all equipped with those Repelling Barrier Fusions that Larek created, but we all know that they aren’t perfect.”

The mention of the Repelling Barrier caused Larek to think for a moment before making a decision.

“I can help with that. Give me a few minutes.”

Ignoring their looks of confusion, Larek looked around and gathered up four branches that had fallen off one of the nearby trees at one point. Taking his axe out, he quickly trimmed them so that they were relatively straight shafts of wood, approximately 3 feet in length. Without another word, he sat on the ground and placed the four trimmed branches in front of him within easy reach, and then began to create a Fusion.

This was one that he had designed in a hurry back when he was intent on ending the threat that Ricardo and his Martial trainee helpers were to him, but its overall effect was exactly what he needed. Icy Spike +7 was a bit stronger than the one he had attached to a staff underneath the Academy, of course; ensuring that whatever it was aimed at was killed or at least hurt severely was important to ensuring that his roommates would be able to defend themselves. The one thing he changed – other than the Magnitude – was that it was now Activatable from a simple mental command when it was held in their hand, rather than being Reactive and requiring the word, “Activate.”

Icy Spike +7

Activation Method(s): Activatable

Effect: Creates a large ice spike that is propelled swiftly in the oriented direction

Input(s): Physical touch

Variable(s): Directional orientation

Magnitude: 700% of base ice spike strength, propels up to 70 feet

Mana Cost: 84,000

Pattern Cohesion: 600

Fusion Time: 99 hours

Instead of 99 hours that the Fusion Time of this new Fusion dictated, it only took Larek about 10 minutes to infuse it with enough Mana to fill the overly thick formation, before he used Focused Division to transfer it to all four of the trimmed branches. As the Fusion delicately wrapped around the 1-inch-thick lengths of wood, his focus straining a little as he curved them enough so that they would lay flat along the base of the sticks. When they were in place, he let them finish and he sat back and evaluated his handiwork.

Looking at his new creations, he realized he probably should’ve added a Strengthen Wood component to it, because the wood was liable to break if it was forced to be used in close-quarters to defend themselves. Deciding not to redo his work, he quickly created another Fusion and added it to the other end, which he delicately shaved to a point so that they would know which way to point forward, as well as to provide something to stab into a monster if it was necessary. The Strengthen Wood +3 that he ended up adding was relatively weak compared to what he could do if he wanted, but he didn’t want the two areas of ambience attached the Fusions to conflict with each other.

“What did you create, Larek?” Verne asked hesitantly, staring at what essentially looked like crudely sharpened stakes.

“Let me show you,” the Fusionist said as he picked up his new creations when he got to his feet. Taking one of them in his right hand, he aimed it behind him – and out of range of anyone else – and mentally activated the Fusion as he targeted a tree trunk.

Almost instantaneously, a large ice spike approximately the size of his forearm appeared at the tip of the stick; it floated there for approximately a half-second before it shot forward with incredible speed. Larek hadn’t aimed it very well, so the sharpened chunk of ice hit the side of the tree and bounced off, though it had a strong enough impact that it ripped off a small chunk of the bark and inner wood. As for the projectile, it was deflected off to the side and down, where it buried itself in a layer of dried pine needles and the dirt underneath them.

“Whoops. Well, I didn’t aim very well, but you get the idea, I assume?” he said, turning back to the others with a smile on his face, only to be surprised by their facial expressions. He had been expecting shock and perhaps excitement over his Fusion, as it would give the two students a way to contribute (as well as himself and perhaps Kimble, as he had lost his staff and using fireballs in a forest wasn’t the best idea), but he wasn’t expecting the horror he saw on the Nedira and Kimble’s faces.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked worriedly.

Nedira slowly walked up to him and reluctantly put her hand on his arm; he felt the pressure of it, as if she was trying to reassure herself that he was fine. “Such a Fusion shouldn’t work, at least not more than once,” she delicately explained.  “It’s similar to your healing Fusions, but worse; such an influx of ambient Mana should quickly destroy the formation, causing it to rupture. Just like single-use healing Fusions before this, there have been single-use Fusions that have been used for attacking monsters, but they all invariably explode as their formations crack and they start absorbing too much Mana. Kimble and I have been warned against this in our classes, and to see you using something that by all rights should’ve exploded in your hand was frightening.” She took a deep breath. “But I’m sure your Fusion won’t have that problem, will it?”

Larek swiftly looked at the stick in his hand, the one that he had used to shoot out the spike of ice, and tried to detect any sign of strain or cracking in the formation. Given that he’d only used this Fusion once in the past, and that for not very long, he wasn’t sure what to expect after prolonged use. However, his perusal of it showed that it appeared just as solid as it had before, with no sign of anything wrong. He would have to check it again after it had been used for a while to see if there was any change, but for now it seemed fine.

He shrugged. “I don’t see any weakening, so it should be fine. I can always activate it a few dozen times and check it again?” he offered, but Nedira shook her head.

“If you think it’s fine, then I… I trust you,” she choked out, as if it was difficult for her to say that. Remembering that she still wasn’t sure she wanted anything to do with him after the whole Dominion magic revelation, he realized how much it took for her to say even that much.

“Thank you,” Larek said softly and sincerely, but when he went to put his hand over hers, she reflexively jerked it back. He sighed, but didn’t let it show how much it hurt him for her to do that. In the end, he was still of the opinion that it was best that she keep her distance from him, as he wasn’t sure if his unconsciously used magic was still in effect even now.

“Are those for us?” Verne asked excitedly, stepping up with Norde close behind him.

Larek nodded, but as he held a pair of the stick out to them, he warned his two roommates to be careful with them. “Don’t point them at anything but a monster, and be careful not to activate it when that sharp end it aimed at you. All it would take is a stray thought to activate them at the wrong moment; they’re weapons, so you need to treat them like the dangerous implements they are.”

They nodded solemnly at his words, before snatching up the stick from his hand with enthusiastic smiles. I just hope they don’t hurt themselves or each other. Perhaps I should’ve made the Fusions weaker? His musings were cut off when Nedira asked, “What’s with the other two?”

Larek looked down at the remaining two sticks in his hand and shook himself from his internal thoughts. “Oh, uh, one of them is for me. The other is for Kimble, as launching Fireballs in the forest isn’t the best idea, unless that idea is to burn the entire thing down. The amount of dried fuel under our feet is a bit worrisome, after all,” he said, stepping on a pile of dried needles near his foot for emphasis.

“Good point,” the Pyromancer agreed, before stepping up and taking one of the sticks with a clearly hesitant grab. “So, how does it work?”

With that question, Larek had them all practice for a minute against a few nearby trees to get used to using them, as well as accustoming themselves to the slight delay in the icy projectile’s launch. It didn’t take long for the horror and worry on the Kimble’s face to transform into one of excitement, especially after he learned that the stick could fire them out rapidly – approximately one every second.

“Hold on, let me look at them again just to make sure they’re alright,” he said when they were finished. Both Verne and Norde had used their Fusion weapons slowly, getting used to aiming and the way it worked while Kimble had gone all out – so he wanted to see if there was a difference in the stability of the Fusion.

It only took a quick look to show that there was.

Verne and Norde’s appeared perfectly fine; their rate of fire had probably been 1 every 10 seconds or so. Kimble’s, on the other hand, was starting to show a little bit of strain in the Mana Cost section of the formation, where the rapid influx of Mana needed to create and launch the sharp ice chunks had begun to warp the containment barriers. It wasn’t anything significant quite yet, and it was far from failing, but he also guesstimated that another 5 or 10 minutes of such a rate of fire would cause it to rupture.

It was a humbling reminder that even though his Fusion formations were powerful, they weren’t impervious to harm.

He remarked on this to the Pyromancer, who blanched visibly when he was told that his actions began to destabilize the formation. “Don’t worry about it; this was a good test to see what would happen,” Larek consoled him. “Take this one for now,” he went on, giving Kimble the one that he was going to use, while taking Kimble’s slightly warped on for himself, “and try not to fire more than one every 10 seconds or so.”

“That will prevent it from breaking?” the red-robed Mage asked, holding the stick in his hands away from him, as if he was handling a live snake.

“It should, and it could probably handle something a little faster, but there’s no reason to test that theory,” he warned. Larek was fairly certain that it could probably handle 1 every 3 or 4 seconds with no strain, but he thought it was better not to force the issue.

“If we’re going to do this, let’s get a move on,” Penelope interrupted, which got everyone moving as she had intended a moment later. “And I want one of those for my own at some point, because being able to attack from range is super useful,” she added as she looked at Larek. He just nodded as he followed behind the others, clutching his axe in his right hand and his new Fusion weapon in his left.

It might be just a bunch of oversized squirrels they were going up against, but he was as prepared as he was going to get without wasting any more time. As he glanced at the others, he saw fear on the faces of his roommates, as well as Nedira, but the others looked like they were ready for a battle.

Strangely enough, despite his reluctance to engage in fights against monsters, Larek had to admit that he was looking forward to expending some of the anger that had unconsciously built up over the last day at what had happened at the Academy.

Book 3 Chapter 23