The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Speaking has reached Level 16!

Larek ignored the notification and didn’t look away from the silent stares of his friends and bodyguards, as much as he wanted to escape from the current uncomfortableness he was feeling.  Their judgment weighed upon him like a physical force, but he felt it was better to face it rather than try and slink away like he would have a year ago. Having been introduced to the wider world had opened him up to a bevy of different awkward situations, but if he’d learned anything from his handling of them over that time, it was to see them through and suffer the consequences for things that were – and weren’t – under his control.

Suddenly, Verne shrugged and grinned at him. “I don’t blame you, Larek. Who wants that kind of responsibility, anyway?” he asked. “Regardless, you’re my roommate and my friend, and it doesn’t matter who your parents may or may not be. Nor do I care about this magic of yours, because having something that you can’t control isn’t your fault. It’s like having excessive flatulence, similar to Nor—”

The boy by his side spoke up quickly. “I’m with you, too, Larek. I don’t care about all that stuff.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Larek couldn’t help but chuckle at the antics of his roommates. He hadn’t noticed that Norde had “excessive flatulence” in their shared room, so it was likely that Verne was just messing with him. Either that, or Larek had been in his own head for so long that he just didn’t see it. Or hear it. Or smell it.

“Sure, I’m here for the ride, as well,” Penelope suddenly stated. “It’s not like I have a lot to look forward to going home, and I believe that sticking by you – even if you’re not planning on ‘saving the world’ – is important. Whether or not its this Dominion magic working on me or not, I don’t really care. I’ve had more interesting things happen to me over the last year than in my whole life before, and I’m eager for more.”

Vivienne poked her head out of the entrance. “I go where she goes, so I suppose that means with you.” That was all she said before she disappeared again.

There were a few seconds of silence before Kimble cleared his throat. “You know, I always wondered what it was that shifted my attitude toward you to one of protectiveness rather than the envy that I remember having when I found out about your ability with Fusions,” he mused, putting his hand to his chin in apparent contemplation. “Even now, I think I can feel this Dominion magic working on me in a subtle way, though it isn’t insidious in the least. If anything, it’s only amplifying what was already there; I can only believe that there was something inside of me that recognized what a difference you could make to the Kingdom with what you can do with Fusions and wanted to protect it. I thought that just meant against potential assassins or students with a grudge after the Skirmish, and I was starting to rethink my position as one of your protectors over the last few weeks.

“But all this,” he continued, waving in the general direction of Thanchet and the ruined Copperleaf Academy, “changes things. Being only minor Nobility and just barely able to secure my spot at Copperleaf, I’d heard whispers about the Great Ones, as Bartholomew mentioned, but I was never forced into a slave bond – nor did I ever hear of it before now. Now I wonder if my parents know about it, and whether they have this bond.”

“Is your father a Baron?” Bartholomew suddenly asked.

“Uh, well, yes?”

The Martial trainee nodded. “Then they were bonded. The Great Ones aren’t able to enslave every Noble, as there are too many of us, so with minor Nobility such as Barons, they only enslave the heads of their houses. When your parents pass on their title to you, which will hopefully be a long time from now, you’ll be required to visit the Enclave of the Great Ones and will be forced to take the bond.”

Kimble’s face turned pale as he listened to Bartholomew. Turning to Larek, he asked, “Will killing these Great Ones remove the slave bond?”

The former Logger shrugged. “Probably? I don’t know enough about it to say for certain, but I would think if they were gone, there would be nothing to enforce the Dominion magic forced upon them.” He paused for a second. “If you’re thinking that by staying with me, you’ll see me go up against them and tear down their entire Enclave, therefore freeing your parents, I already told you that I have no intention of doing that. If I have one wish, it would be to stay as far away from them as possible.”

“Nevertheless, there’s a chance that you might be up against them in the future. If I can do something to free my parents, as well as helping the Kingdom at the same time, then I’m willing to stick with you on that possibility alone.”

Larek shook his head. “But I told you, confronting the Gergasi is the last thing I want to do.”

“You never know what the future will hold. Whether you do, indeed, confront these Great Ones or not, I have to agree with Penelope here,” he smirked. “Sticking close to you is bound to be interesting, no matter what happens.”

The Fusionist really hoped Kimble was wrong, but he had a bad feeling the red-robed Pyromancer was speaking the truth.

“On that note, I’m staying with you, too,” Bartholomew declared. “If there is a chance, however slim, that you can yank the Nobility out from under the yoke of the Great Ones, then I’m going to take it. The fact that I can even think that, let alone say it, means that you’ve made a difference already.”

Larek wasn’t really comfortable with this misplaced confidence in him, but he didn’t really know what else he could say to dissuade them from continuing with him. Then again, did he really want them to leave? For their own sakes, and for the relative safety of staying away from the trouble he would inevitably cause in the future? Yes, of course. But he selfishly hoped that they wouldn’t leave, if only because it was going to be hard enough to survive throughout the Kingdom on his own.

That only left Nedira who hadn’t spoken yet. When he looked her way, she just shook her head and said, “I don’t know. I—” She cut herself off and didn’t say any more, and instead looked away from him and stared at the far wall of the cave.

Truthfully, he expected something like this, especially since she admitted that she had feelings for him – if not necessarily stating that explicitly. While he thought he could see himself returning those kinds of feelings she had toward him, his Dominion magic really complicated matters. From her perspective, Larek had manipulated her feelings toward him, even if Kimble was correct and only amplified what was already there. That really didn’t change the fact that he had done something to her to make her at least begin to become infatuated with him, which was a violation of trust.

Or something like that. Larek had been trying to learn as much as he could about social situations ever since leaving home, and while he still had a long way to go before he got a good handle on them, he thought this was fairly accurate.

“That’s alright, Nedira. Take all the time you need to make a decision,” Larek said softly to the silence that was thick amongst the people in the cave.

“I have so many more questions,” Penelope said after nearly a minute, “but we all need to get what sleep we can. We’re going to push hard tomorrow to travel as far away from here as we can, and with the day we’ve all had, I’m sure we’re all tired. Vivienne will take first watch and I’ll take second, since it’s the most difficult. Barty, would you take third?”

The young Martial trainee had evidently given up trying to get the blue-haired Striker to stop calling him by that shortened nickname because he didn’t even complain when she used it. Instead, he just nodded wearily and began to make himself comfortable on the floor – or as comfortable as it could be on the dirt floor of a cave, while still fully armored.

“Do you want me to take a watch?” Larek asked, but Penelope shook her head.

“No. You need sleep just as much as everyone else, and this is what we do. We’ll be fine.”

Shrugging, he copied Bartholomew and laid himself down on the dirt floor, finding it thoroughly uncomfortable. Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how he looked at it), his body was more tired than he thought, as he found himself drifting off within a minute of closing his eyes.

It felt like no time had passed when he was shaken awake by Bartholomew at some point. Immediately on guard, he looked at the young man questioningly, but the Noble trainee didn’t seem worried.

“It’s almost dawn,” he whispered to Larek. “Penelope wanted us to be on the move as soon as it’s bright enough to see.”

Larek nodded, agreeing with the idea. Stretching to wake himself up, he felt multiple sores all around his body from his awkward and uncomfortable sleeping position, but they quickly faded as his Body Regeneration kicked in and soothed them away. As he looked around, he saw that he was the first one up other than Penelope, who was already standing near the entrance, keeping an ear out for any danger he supposed.

Before too long, everyone was awake and looking at each other as if wondering what they should do. Verne and Norde were looking at Larek, but the rest – including Nedira – were staring at Penelope as if she had all the answers. The Fusionist thought that was a good assumption, because he surely had no idea what they were doing.

“Unfortunately, we have no food, no water, and no other supplies that would be necessary for those crossing the Kingdom without the aid of a caravan or the Transportation Network Carriages,” the blue-haired woman stated, ticking off each thing they were missing as she spoke. “We can hunt, of course, and there are numerous streams and rivers that we’ll cross as we head northeast toward Fort Ironwall and Silverledge Academy, but I doubt that will be sustainable for long. With the number of monsters that I’ve heard are roaming around the Kingdom, game has been scarce outside of a few protected areas; unfortunately, those areas are precisely where we will not be passing through. Our best bet is to hit up the villages, towns, and cities along the route to secure supplies on the journey, and possibly see if there are any caravans that we can tag along with. Better yet, if the Network is running any carriages, we can see if we can hitch a ride.”

“Is that the best idea, though?” Nedira asked, her voice sounding strained and tired. She also didn’t appear to have gotten much sleep, as far as he could tell. “If they’re looking for Larek, and by extension, us, then wouldn’t they head to the closest towns and cities first?”

Penelope nodded. “That is true, which is why we won’t be following the roads, to at least lessen the likelihood that we’re found along those routes. Unfortunately, we’re going to have to visit someplace with people before too long, because we’ll never make it without supplies.”

“I have to agree,” Verne spoke up, nodding at the blue-haired Martial trainee. “Just talking about food and supplies is making me even hungrier than I already am. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have the money for it,” he chuckled as he gestured to the bags that were piled together in the middle of the cave. “I couldn’t sleep much last night, so I spent some time looking through them all. Did you know that you’re rich, Larek? Shinpai wasn’t lying about there being more than just gold coinage in there.”

The former Logger was curious now, as he’d never really had much need of money when he lived with his parents. Of course, he received his winnings from the Skirmish a while ago, but he hadn’t spent any of it; even now, it was stashed back in his room at the Academy – if that portion of the building was still intact, of course.

“How much is there?”

“Enough that, if it wasn’t for the SIC and your obligation to enlist, you could retire and never have to make another Fusion for as long as you lived. And you would live very comfortably, indeed.”

“Yes, but how much is in there?” Bartholomew asked impatiently, echoing Larek’s thoughts. Being a Noble, the young man probably had a better idea of how much this kind of money was actually worth.

“I counted 43 platinum and around 200 gold coins, though I may have been off in my count by a few since I was tired and it was very early in the morning.”

That still didn’t give Larek a very good idea of what it was worth, but the widened eyes of everyone else, they seemed to think it was worth a lot. Bartholomew, seeing the blank expression on his face, attempted to help. “This is more than my father’s entire Dukedom earns in a year from collected taxes,” he began, but changed tactics when that still didn’t mean anything to Larek. “A good-sized house inside of a decent town would cost someone anywhere between 50 and 100 gold; a similar house in the capital city might cost 500 gold. Most commoners take home between 5 and 10 gold a year for basic jobs; merchants and specialized positions can earn anywhere between 50 and 500 gold a year, though the latter is rare except for the larger merchant conglomerates.”

That helped a little bit, but other than telling him that there was enough to buy a bunch of houses, its value was lost on him. Regardless, he nodded in understanding, as it didn’t really matter if he didn’t comprehend it all. It was a means to an end, and if it helped them obtain supplies, then that was all the better.

“Well, we’ll use whatever we need for our journey and then save the rest for an emergency,” Larek told them all. “I agree that we need to visit at least someplace that might have supplies for us, and that we also need to stay off the roads as much as possible.”

Penelope nodded. “Fair enough. We can evaluate the danger at our first stop and see if it would be prudent to avoid any settlements from thereon out. Either way, we need to start moving if we’re going to get anywhere today.” Without another word, she picked up one of the bags, slung it onto her back, and then led the way out of the cave. Vivienne and Bartholomew did the same, the latter handing the fourth bag to Larek, as he was the only one that could easily lug it around due to its weight. Before they left, he gathered up the stones that he had used for his Fusions the night before, deactivating them as he slid them into the bag as well, and then followed everyone else out of the winding entrance.

Outside, the pre-dawn air held a chill to it that was absent inside their cave, but it was also invigorating after being cooped up in their confined quarters. It also reminded him a little of back home and getting up before dawn, and the surrounding forest only emphasized his previous occupation. He patted the axe underneath his robe, mentally promising his long-time friend that they would again fell some trees together, but his action also reminded him that he was wearing a very distinctive article of clothing.  Thankfully, he continued to wear his comfortable overalls and shirt underneath the robe, and he stopped the others just after exiting as he stripped it off and shoved it into his bag.

Whether or not he ended up going to Fort Ironwall, there was no need to wear the robe right now. Freed of the extra cloth that had covered him, he stretched with his new range of movement, glad to have the itchy article of clothing off of him. It wasn’t that it bothered him overly much, but it had never been something he considered overly comfortable.

“That’s a good idea. We’ll have to get Verne and my brother different outfits, as well, so that no one questions why some young Academy students are wandering around,” Nedira said, though the entire time she didn’t look at Larek once. It seemed as though she was still having difficulty coming to terms with the former Logger and his half-breed status, along with his inadvertent use of Dominion magic. That was fine with Larek, as he wanted her to have as much time as she needed to adjust to the situation.

Thankfully, everyone else was either already in clear Mage attire or were outfitted as a Martial, though they might question Bartholomew’s age as he was technically only a third-year trainee if he remembered correctly. Regardless, it was something they would deal with in the future, and if they kept to their plan, they wouldn’t be around too many people until they reached Fort Ironwall and Silverledge Academy.

“Alright, everyone.  We’re going to be traveling a long way today, so keep the noise down to a minimum and watch out for danger; this close to the city, it’s unlikely that we’ll encounter any wandering monsters, but it’s still possible. If you see any people, then try to hide in case they are looking for us and don’t approach them. Viv, if you would scout for us? And if you see anything we can bag for lunch, don’t hesitate to take it down.” With Penelope’s little speech marking the official start of their journey across the Kingdom, they set out toward the north until they were out of the valley that contained the city of Thanchet, where they would begin heading toward the northeast and their eventual destination.

Whether that would be Larek’s eventual destination was still to be determined.

Book 3 Chapter 22