The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Sitting inside a closed privacy alcove in the Advanced Fusions workshop, the first thing that Larek decided to work on was to see how far he could push his new Focused Division Skill. He’d used it a few times during his creation session earlier in the day on some Basic 2-by-2 Boost Fusions, but hadn’t had the opportunity to try an Intermediate Fusions yet. Given that his Skill hadn’t increased past Level 10 even though he’d made hundreds of Fusions using Focused Division, he knew that it was likely that he would need to experiment to see if he could increase it a few Levels.

Starting with a Simple Intermediate Fusion, one that he had created the year before to demonstrate to Shinpai that he was capable, he set up the 2-by-3 grid for the Spellcasting Focus Boost +4 Fusion. Thickening the lines in the formation was easy enough to do, as well as filling it with Mana; the biggest difference was when he divided the Fusion in half once it was full. There was a slight strain on his mind as he forcibly separated the pair of identical Fusions, something that hadn’t been an issue on Basic 2-by-2 Fusions since he had originally unlocked the Skill, but it wasn’t anything too strenuous.

Focused Division has reached Level 11!

After he directed the Fusions onto a pair of circular wooden disks, provided by his roommate, the notification he was hoping for flashed into his mind. Pleased, he choked off the flow of ambient Mana into the Fusions he just created and eliminated the Formations, before reconstructing the thick Spellcasting Focus Boost +4 once again. This time, when he divided the filled formation into two separate Fusions it was much easier, with only a hint of strain.

Focused Division has reached Level 12!

Another pair of Fusions after that was completed with absolutely no sense of strain, similar to how the Basic Fusions were, though there also wasn’t an increase in his Skill Level. After eliminating and recreating the Fusions another half-dozen times without another increase, Larek was convinced that it would likely take something more than that to raise his Skill Level.

The next obvious step was to move onto a Lesser Intermediate Fusion, followed by a Minor, Major, and Supreme Intermediate Fusion in quick succession. By the time he finished the last Supreme Intermediate Fusion, he was pleased with his progress.

Focused Division has reached Level 20!

He had even been able to divide one of his newer Graduated Parahealing Fusions, meaning that he would be able to create even more of the healing Fusions for the SIC once he was back to making them in his morning classes.  While each of the higher difficulty Fusions had strained his focus slightly as he progressed through them, by the time he hit Level 20 in the Skill the strain had essentially disappeared. That also meant that he wasn’t able to push past Level 20, as his progress seemed to stall at that point – but he wasn’t quite done yet.

It was time to see how many times he could divide a formation.

He’d experimented a few times when he was training the Professors by creating three of the Fusions he was using as a demonstration, with no real strain to speak of even at Level 10 – but he thought he could do more. Recreating the Illuminate Steel +1 Fusion that he had made many, many times over the course of his teaching, he thickened the lines even further, giving them a depth that was 4 times larger than normal. He absently noticed that he was originally correct in his assumption that each “layer” only required another 20% more Pattern Cohesion to create, so as he was attempting to create 4 Fusions at once, it was essentially 160% of its original cost.

Regardless of the cost increase in Pattern Cohesion, it was still a huge savings in terms of time and his personal resources if he was able to make 4 Fusions at the same time.

Contrary to Larek’s expectations, slicing up the Mana-filled Fusion wasn’t a strain on his mind at all. He thought that it was likely because he was already Level 20 in the Skill, meaning that this was something he probably could’ve been doing a while ago without any trouble.

So, logically, he increased the number of Fusions he was dividing for his next test. Creating 5 filled formations from the Basic Fusion he was working with was equally as easy, as was 6… then 7… and then 8. Excited and slightly astonished, as he hadn’t expected it to go this well, 9 separated Fusions came next – only for his attempt at 10 Fusions show the first sign of a strain on his mind, as keeping the different Fusions together without falling apart was a bit difficult. When he attempted 11 right after that, he failed to divide them all for the first time ever, as he couldn’t focus on each of them simultaneously. The formation fell apart in front of him, creating a tiny explosion that scared him more than hurt him, and he took a breather afterwards to order his thoughts.

I’m so glad that Fusion only had a small amount of Mana in it, otherwise that could’ve been disastrous. It thankfully didn’t do anything serious to me, as I seem fine, but that definitely could’ve been different with a more-powerful Fusion. I wonder if 10 is the absolute limit, or just my limit at the moment?

Regardless of the scare, his failed attempt was successful in another way.

Focused Division has reached Level 21!

The Focused Division Skill increased to 21 despite it not working the way he intended. He began to attempt to try for 11 Fusions at the same time again, but as he was constructing the formation once again, he stopped before he filled it with Mana. Some internal instinct was telling him that it still wouldn’t work, so he listened to that instinct and let the formation fade away once he let go of his control.

Encouraged that his efforts were working, he moved on to a Simple Intermediate Fusion yet again. This time, he only managed to create 9 separate Fusions before he started encountering the same sort of strain he’d experienced before. Rather than risk it falling apart and exploding again if he attempted to do 10, he instead created 9 Simple Intermediate Fusions a second time, which netted him another increase in his Focused Division Skill.

Moving onto a Lesser Intermediate Fusion, Larek’s efforts gained him another two Levels in his new Skill, bringing it to 24 – while at the same time, he was only able to simultaneously create 8 of them before the strain became too much for him. The trend continued for a Minor Intermediate Fusion where he was only able to create 7 Fusions at one time, gaining 2 more Skill Levels; a Major Intermediate Fusion only produced 6 copies of the same formation, along with an additional pair of Skill Levels. When he came to a Supreme Intermediate Fusion, he wasn’t surprised to discover that he could only simultaneously create 5 of them – though he did manage to bump up his Focused Division Skill up to Level 30, where it seemed to stall just like his other Skills.

Once he hit Level 30 in the Skill, he went back and attempted 11 Basic Fusions again, where he discovered that it was, indeed, now possible. In fact, he was able to make a total of 14 Fusions before he felt the strain again, meaning that an additional 10 Levels converted to an additional 4 Basic Fusions he could separate from a single formation. Experiencing the difference that more Skill Levels could make, he went through all the different Intermediate Fusions again, finding that he could now create an additional 2 Simple Intermediate Fusions, as well as another Lesser and Minor Intermediate Fusion. There was no change in the number of Major or Supreme Intermediate Fusions that he could create simultaneously, but he felt like an additional Level would see to another Major Intermediate Fusion being possible.

If he was being honest with himself, being able to create 14 Basic Fusions at the same time was incredible, especially as all his Boosts fell into that category. His Graduated Parahealing Fusion was classified as a Major Intermediate Fusion, which meant that he was only able to create 6 of them – but that was far more than he’d been able to do previously.

With all of the advancements to his Skill Levels, that also brought with it an increase in his personal Level. Bringing up his Status, he was astonished to see that he had already made it to Level 20 – which was apparently twice the required Level a student needed to achieve before they were allowed to graduate from the Academy.

Larek Holsten

Fusionist

Healer

Level 20

Advancement Points (AP) : 15/17

Available AP to Distribute: 30

Mage Skills:

Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 10

Pattern Recognition Level 20

Magical Detection Level 20

Spellcasting Focus Level 20

Focused Division Level 30

Mana Control Level 30

Fusion Level 30

Pattern Formation Level 30

He also now had 4 different Mage Skills seemingly stuck at Level 30, as his continued experiments with his Focused Division Skill hadn’t gained him any more advancement. There were also 3 Mage Skills – Pattern Recognition, Magical Detection, andSpellcasting Focus – stuck at Level 20, while Multi-effect Fusion Focuswas seemingly stuck at Level 10.

I really wish I knew what it takes to break through these thresholds; if even discovering an entirely new Skill didn’t do it, then I have no idea what it would take.

Fortunately, he now had the opportunity to experiment and explore different avenues of learning thanks to the free time he now had each day. He was actually about to start looking into that after he finished playing around with Focused Division, but his internal clock – and the grumbling in his stomach – was telling him that it was about time for dinner.

Getting up off the comfortable pillows he had been sitting on, he stretched and opened the door to his privacy alcove. Grandmaster Fusionist Shinpai was waiting for him with a smile across the room. “Just in time, Larek. I was going to take a chance and interrupt you soon, as it’s already past your last class period. It figures that your body wouldn’t want to miss a meal, as you’re at that age where your stomachs just seem bottomless – or so I’ve observed,” he added with a smirk.

“That’s quite accurate, actually.” While Larek wasn’t always hungry, he found that he could eat quite a bit at every meal and it took a while for him to feel full.

“What was that explosion I heard earlier? Are you alright?”

Slightly embarrassed, as he’d never had one of his Fusions explode on him while he was working on it – the Healing Surges back on the roof of Crystalview didn’t count – Larek felt the heat in his cheeks as he ducked his head and mumbled, “I’m fine. I was pushing my Focused Division Skill a little too hard and it blew up in my face.”

“Oh? How did that go, by the way?” his Professor asked, his tone indicating that he was quite interested more than usual. Since Shinpai had the Skill as well, Larek suspected that he was searching for any more tips to help increase his Level.

“It went amazingly well… until it didn’t. I’m stuck at Level 30 similar to some of my other Mage Skills,” he admitted.

The Grandmaster Fusionist’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head. “Goodness! You’re Level 30 already?!”

Rubbing the back of his neck, the embarrassment came back at his Professor’s shocked exclamation. “Uh… yes?”

“How—no, never mind. I already know how you accomplished that, but I still can’t believe it. Did you know that it normally takes Mages – even those who are blessed with extraordinary abilities – years to get any of their Skills up to Level 30? And here you’ve done it at just barely over a year – and you have what? A total of five Skills at Level 30?”

“Four, actually,” he corrected his Professor. “The others are stuck at 20, while Multi-effect Fusion Focus is stuck at 10.”

“Oh, only four Skills at Level 30, my apologies. That’s still ridiculous, especially considering that you barely knew anything about Mages or spells a year ago.” Shinpai sighed and shook his head. “Anyway, enough of this old man complaining about the unfairness of a prodigy. A more important question: Did anything change with your increased Level? Is there something to look forward to when I finally reach Level 30 – in a decade or so?” he added with a snort.

“Well, I discovered my division limits for now.”

His Professor raised one of his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side.  “What do you mean?”

“Oh, you know, the limit on how many Fusions I could create simultaneously. For Basic Fusions, my limit is 14; Simple Intermediate is 11; Lesser Intermediate is 9; Minor, 8; Major, 6; and finally, I can only create 5 Supreme Intermediate Fusions at the same time. I noticed that the maximum limit increased as the Skill Level went up, so if I’m able to find a way past 30, I should be able to do even more. Do you have any other ideas on how I can breakthrough my Skill bottlenecks?” he asked, hoping that Shinpai or the Dean had come up with any more things that he could try.

But the Grandmaster Fusionist was still stuck on what Larek had said before. “Wait—14 Fusions?! How is that even possible?” There was a pause as a thought apparently occurred to him, before he seemingly began talking to himself. “If Fusions are actually more difficult to divide, then that means spells are technically easier – obviously. But does that also affect the maximum limit? At Level 30, would I be able to create 30 Fireballssimultaneously, or would I be limited to 14 like Larek?”

It didn’t seem like his Professor was actually asking him the question, so he kept quiet – and his stomach loudly grumbled in response. After apologizing for interrupting their conversation, Larek was waved off by Shinpai as his Professor said, “Don’t worry about it. Go get some dinner and I’ll see you tomorrow morning. Now that I know you can easily make multiple Fusions, that will help immensely with supplying those that need them in the SIC.” As soon as he was done speaking, the Grandmaster Fusionist’s focus seemed to wander as he was likely processing what he had learned from his student, so Larek just nodded and waved, finding himself outside the workshop seconds later and heading toward the Dining Hall.

“Was that a good study session?”

Larek, distracted with reviewing his efforts with his Focused Division Skill, jumped slightly as Kimble spoke up next to him. The sixth-year Mage was technically due to graduate last year before officially joining the SIC, but the Dean kept him around so that he could help to guard the Fusionist prodigy.

“Yes; yes, it was. Very productive – and I even gained a few Skill Levels.” He didn’t necessarily want to announce that he had gained 20 Levels during the three hours he had dedicated to his studies, though of course that wasn’t something that was easily repeatable right now. As it seemed his advancement was stuck once again, such a productive session of experimentation wasn’t likely to happen for a while.

“A few? That’s quite impressive!” the Pyromancer said, seemingly genuine in his praise. Of all his bodyguards, Larek wasn’t as familiar with the sixth-year Mage, which meant that he didn’t really know him enough to tell if he was just saying something like that or if he meant it.

“Thanks. It was a lot of work, but quite worth it.”

He just hoped that the rest of his experimentation sessions were equally as beneficial and productive.