The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 12

(I'm back from the Colorado Springs Comic Con!  I had a blast, but it was also exhausting -- so I'm glad to be back home!  I spent a bit of this morning wrapping some things up that I wasn't able to get to while I was gone, so only one chapter today; I'm hoping to have another one done tomorrow after I'm through promoting Scorched Time on audiobook -- which releases tomorrow!)

Chapter 12

The next morning, when Larek and his two roommates went to breakfast, Nedira was waiting for them inside of the Dining Hall.

“There you are! I’ve been waiting for hours—”

Her brother snorted, interrupting her. “Yeah, right. You probably only got here a few seconds ago based on the way you look all frazzled,” Norde said with a smirk before sitting down. “Besides, you don’t usually get up early like Larek, so it’s doubtful that you’ve been awake for more than a few minutes.”

Larek sat down next to Nedira, smiling at the interaction between the siblings, remembering his own family and how they would rib each other after a long day of working in the Rushwood Forest. While he didn’t participate in such antics very often, as his attention was usually focused elsewhere, it was still familiar enough that it brought forth thoughts of their current situation. Having been gone more than a full year, he thought he would’ve heard word if something had happened to them, but he knew that was unlikely. For one, the basic communication system set up throughout the Kingdom was essentially based on the SIC Transportation Network, which could pass along messages at the speed of their carriages. Since those carriages didn’t necessarily reach all the way up to Rushwood, it was unlikely that any information on the area would ever reach him unless someone went out of their way to inform the wider world.

Secondly, while he learned about some sort of magical long-distance communication that was in use, it was apparently only available to Nobility and was expensive to set up and use. All he knew was that it relied on complicated Fusions, which made him want to eventually learn how it worked once he was able to make Advanced Fusions, but its rarity meant that any communications passed through these means were unlikely to contain any information on his family.

Lastly, he still didn’t know the situation there with the headman and if knowledge of Larek’s continued survival after being dragged away was commonly known. Trying to communicate with his family – or the opposite, which them trying to communicate with Larek –might put them in danger, which was the last thing he wanted.

Regardless, he pushed thoughts of his family out of his mind as he looked at Nedira questioningly, as she typically didn’t join them for breakfast since her classes last year had been on the opposite side of the Academy. He wasn’t sure what her schedule was this year, as he hadn’t had a chance to question her about it the day before, so he could only assume she had some free time in the morning.

“I brought your schedule. It’s…” Nedira started to say, but then she hesitated.

“It’s what?”

Instead of answering right away, she slid a piece of paper toward him. As he picked it up, she continued – still with a hesitant lilt to her speech. “Your schedule it a bit different from what, well, it should be. I’m not sure if this is better or worse,” she stated with a shrug.

Larek looked at his schedule on the paper and had to agree.

Advanced Fusions 1 – 9am to 9:50am

Workshop 405

Advanced Fusions 1 – 10am – 10:50am

Workshop 405

Advanced Fusions 1 – 11am – 11:50am

Workshop 405

Lunch – 12pm – 12:50pm

Dining Hall 3

Intermediate Mana Manipulation – 1pm – 1:50pm

Workshop 315

The Changing Environment of Scissions – 2pm – 2:50pm

Classroom 240

Skill Training – 3pm – 3:50pm

Classroom 510

Skill Training – 4pm – 4:50pm

Classroom 510

Skill Training – 5pm – 5:50pm

Classroom 510

The first three classes he had every day were Advanced Fusions 1, which he supposed made sense because of his Specialization. He remembered the Dean and Shinpai mentioning something about him spending more time working on creating vital Fusions for the efforts against the changing situation with the Scissions throughout the Kingdom, and having a larger chunk of time devoted to this purpose could be beneficial. He also hoped that it would allow him to have some time to try out some different Fusions and attempt to advance his Skills, something that he hadn’t had much time for lately.

After that came lunch, followed by something called Intermediate Mana Manipulation. From what he could tell based on it being in Workshop 315, this was a third-year class, just like Advanced Fusions was technically a fourth-year class, though the ones in it last year had mostly been fifth-year students. He wasn’t sure what this class was, though he had to assume that because of his Mana Control that they wanted to see how well he manipulated it in other ways – and he was looking forward to finding out.

Following Intermediate Mana Manipulation was what he assumed was the restructured class on Scissions. The Changing Environment of Scissions sounded exactly like what he need to know about the sudden change of Scissions appearing away from towns and cities, where they had primarily appeared for nearly 1,000 years. It was definitely a beneficial class to take considering that it was important to know what the Scissions were doing outside of the towns and cities, because he expected that, at some point, he would leave the Academy for one reason or another.

Whether it was because he graduated and was stuck creating Fusions for the SIC or on a secret mission given to him by the Dean to close the rift-like access point to a magical world that the Gergasi opened up a millennium ago, all depended on a number of factors in the future. However, he had absolutely no desire to get anywhere near the Gergasi or this hole in the world that spewed out magical energy and monsters, even if the Dean thought he could do something about it.

Looking at his schedule and the last three classes – all of which were identical – he noticed that there weren’t any classes on spellcasting, Specializations, geography, or monster knowledge like the ones he had taken in his first year.

As for those last three classes, they didn’t appear to be classes at all, despite the fact that Skill Training took place in a workshop.

“What is ‘Skill Training’?” he asked, but before she could respond, he suddenly knew.

They want me to train more people in Focused Division, don’t they? I already told them no, but they went and did this anyway.  I’m not doing it.

“I’m not completely sure, but I assume it has to do with—”

He nodded, causing her to cut her own statement off. “Yeah, I believe so. Too bad I won’t be doing it.”

“What? Why?” Verne suddenly asked, having listened to the conversation.  While his roommate was aware of the special attention that had been paid to him just before he collapsed, he didn’t know the full story – or as much of the full story as he wanted to share. Larek softly shared a few more details with him and Norde, explaining that it was the teaching of the new skill that caused him to nearly perish. They seemed skeptical at first but eventually took his word for it, considering that Larek had just recovered from his obvious convalescence.

“What are you going to do?” Nedira asked, concern in her voice. Larek could well understand why she might be worried, because he was essentially telling the Dean “No”.

“I already told Shinpai that I wasn’t going to do it, and I’ll tell the Dean just the same. They could put me in some other classes, because there won’t be any more ‘Skill Training’ from me.”

Verne looked excited. “That’s great! There are so many classes that it doesn’t appear that you have, including Spell Pattern Construction, Magical Theory Applications, and Balancing Your Stats: Proper AP Management! I know, they don’t sound all that fun, but if we can get into some of the same classes, that would be great!”

Larek wasn’t sure if any of those classes would be beneficial to him, given his inability to cast spells, but he would rather attend those classes than do any more teaching. “I’ll see what they can do, especially since I’ll have three periods free when I tell them I’m not going to be teaching any others.”

After they ate, Larek made his way toward the Dean’s office with Vivienne as his shadow for the morning while the others headed off to classes. Thankfully, no one stopped him on the way there and he discovered that the Dean was, in fact, in her office, so there was nothing hindering him from confronting her about this whole Skill Training thing on his schedule. Yet, as he stood outside her office door, he froze while lifting his hand to knock on her office door. The simple fact was that he wasn’t used to accustomed to saying no when someone asked him to do something, as he was usually more than willing to help out wherever he could. Unfortunately, he’d found that it was much easier to act as a doormat and let people walk all over him rather than stick up for himself when it came to conflict; of course, in matter of life-and-death, he was more inclined to defend himself by all means necessary, such as what happened with Ricardo and the two Martial trainees, but this was different.

It shouldn’t be different, as it was technically a matter of life and death if he pushed himself too hard… but he couldn’t help but think that it was. There was something in him that wanted to pursue some sort of compromise, such as limiting the amount of teaching he did to ensure he didn’t end up straining his Dominion magic too greatly; however, just the thought of his Dominion magic being used in the act of teaching others a new Mage Skill was enough to put those thoughts to rest.

“You need to do this, Larek,” Vivienne spoke up from where she was positioned near the doorway leading to the Dean’s office. “I can’t say that I understand what is happening, but if this has anything to do with why you collapsed and were unconscious for days on end, then it’s my job to ensure you stay away from anything that could cause that to happen again. Is this related to what happened to you?” she asked.

There was no point in Larek pretending not to know what she was asking, so he just nodded. He wasn’t going to tell her any more details than that, as even his friends didn’t know everything. It was bad enough that the Dean and Shinpai knew, but there wasn’t anything he could do about that.

“Then get in there and tell her that you’re not doing it,” Vivienne said shortly, gesturing to the door as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Taking a deep breath and giving her an almost imperceptible nod, Larek knocked on the door.

“Come in, Larek.”

He’d given up on learning how the Dean always seemed to know he who it was outside of her door, so he entered and saw the head of Copperleaf Academy sitting behind her desk, a few random papers scattered along its surface. Sitting across from her was Shinpai, the last person he wanted to see at the moment considering his visit. Shouldn’t he be in one of his classes?

“Larek! It’s so good to see you, my boy! Come and sit down,” Shinpai said as he got up at his entrance, before gesturing to one of the super-comfortable chairs nearby. As much as he didn’t want to follow his instructions out of spite, Larek refused to give in to such pettiness and instead sat down where indicated. As soon as he sat down, his Advanced Fusions Professor asked, “So, what can we do for you?”

As of yet, the Dean hasn’t said a single word, as she only observed him coming in with folded hands sitting steady on top of her desk. Regardless of her lack of interaction, he addressed her instead of Shinpai, as she was the one that should have final authority over his schedule.

“It shouldn’t be a surprise why I’m here, especially after I received my schedule,” he started. “As I told Professor Shinpai, I will not teach Focused Division to anyone else, so if that is what ‘Skill Training’ is all about, then—”

“Shinpai?” the Dean finally spoke, cutting Larek off as her attention snapped to the Grandmaster Fusionist. “Tell me you didn’t put that on his schedule.”

“I sure did,” the older man said, seemingly proud of it. “Larek just doesn’t know what’s going on out there, but we both have heard the reports. The Mages in the SIC need this Skill to get stronger so they can take back control of the Kingdom, because otherwise it is only a matter of time before complete chaos overruns everything,” he continued seriously, looking between Dean Lorraine and Larek. “Besides, the Skill Training isn’t just for teaching other people about the new Skill, but for practice in controlling his output of Dominion magic. It should be like a Skill, anyway, and with enough practice, he won’t collapse after using it.”

Larek was already shaking his head before his Fusions Professor stopped talking. “No. I already told you that I don’t want anything to do with—”

“But you may need it when you go against the Gergasi!” Shinpai shouted him down, practically spluttering. “With you unable to make Advance Fusions, you’re going to need any advantage you can get.”

“You said it yourself that it was only a matter of time before I figured out what was holding me back, and—”

Larek was getting really tired of being interrupted, as his Professor did it once again. “But not everyone breaks through the blockages in their Skill. I don’t want to see you stall in your development, and your Dominion magic might be exactly what you need to keep improving!”

“No.”

Both Larek and Shinpai were surprised when the Dean spoke the single word. “What?” the Grandmaster Fusionist abruptly asked.

“I said, ‘No.’ We’ve already asked so much of our young Fusionist here without forcing him to do something that could harm or kill him if he overdoes it – not to mention that it is something that he clearly despises, which is somehow worse.” She turned away from Shinpai, who appeared furious, and addressed Larek directly. “The Skill Training class is one that you can use for whatever purpose you like; with everything else you’re doing, I believe you need some time to experiment and further your development in other ways. While it won’t be what Shinpai wanted it used for, I believe it will be beneficial for you, nonetheless.”

“All three of them?”

Larek saw her eyes open a fraction wider as she turned them toward the Advanced Fusions Professor. “Three? Really?”

“What of it? The process takes a long time for others to learn the new Skill, so I wanted to ensure he had enough time,” he said unapologetically. Thankfully, he also sounded resigned that he wasn’t going to get what he wanted, leaving Larek feeling slightly relieved; he didn’t really want to see the Grandmaster Fusionist every single morning for three class periods if he was going to hold a grudge.

“Fair enough,” the Dean said, looking back as Larek. “Yes, all three of those class periods. I imagine that he took out most of the classes that won’t benefit you much, given your limitations on spellcasting, but you can always attend them if you so desire; I’ll let the Professors in your year group know that you have permission to attend, but aren’t required to go.”

Larek suddenly sagged in his seat as he heard the gift he was being presented: free time to experiment. “Thank you. That’s all I wanted.”

As he made to get up to leave, the Dean stopped him. “One more thing. If you ever do want to try teaching again, let me know; while the use of your Dominion magic is detestable to you, it is also extremely beneficial in teaching others Focused Division. We’ve attempted to duplicate the same sort of learning method with poor results, though we think it might work over a prolonged period of time.”

“I will let you know,” he said politely, though he already knew that such a thing was highly unlikely.

“Good. Now, rest up and continue with your recovery for the rest of the day and we’ll see you later,” she finished, a clear dismissal in her voice. Seconds later, Larek was up and out the door, a strange giddiness flowed through his body as he realized he had succeeded, despite his reluctance to stand up for himself. A new confidence infused his step as he smiled, thinking of all the time he’d have coming up to do what he’d been wanting to do for a long time now.

“It worked. I’m free from all of that, so I should be safe now,” he told Vivienne as soon as the office door closed behind him. “Let’s go celebrate with an early lunch; for some reason, I’m starving.” He couldn’t help but hum under his breath as they left the area around the Dean’s office, his prospects for the future looking much better than they did earlier that morning.

* * *

“Risky, but it seems to have worked,” Lorraine said, slumping back in her chair as she blew out a deep breath.

Shinpai chuckled. “I told you; the kid just doesn’t think the way the Nobles do, let alone how we do.”

She had to acknowledge that her old friend was right. “True. Any Noble would’ve seen through the obvious schedule fixing for some deeper meaning, especially as he told you in no uncertain terms that he didn’t want to do it anymore. I agree, though its not necessarily for the same reason as you.” Lorraine was worried that Larek might permanently damage his burgeoning Dominion magic if he knowingly pushed it like they had just done; while she had suspected that was what was going on during the teaching, what happened with his collapse was a complete accident. It was an accident she didn’t want to happen again.

Shinpai was more concerned about the Skill being spread around too far, eventually catching the attention of the Great Ones. It was a valid concern, though she wasn’t sure how much it would matter right now, especially with the recent news they’d heard the night before.

“It was all necessary for the next step,” the Grandmaster Fusionist said seriously, looking at her with meaning. He didn’t have to explain, of course, because she was well aware of the next step that Larek needed to take if he was ever going to accomplish what she wished of him.

“I know, I just wish we had more time.”

After decades that just seemed to drag on and on with very little changing within the Kingdom and the SIC, the differences that less than a year could make upon just about every facet of their lives was scarily incredible. Now, sooner than anyone would like, things were about to come to a head.

And, unfortunately, it was all her fault. While that’s not entirely true, it’s true enough that it doesn’t make a difference.

She had held off as long as she could, but the slave bond she possessed with the Great Ones finally triggered enough that she was forced to vaguely communicate the presence of someone that may or may not be related to them. It wasn’t one single thing that prompted the bond to trigger, but a culmination of everything she’d seen Larek do over the last 7 months; it was his use of Dominion magic during his teaching and his subsequent collapse that simply tipped the scales for the worse.

Thankfully, she’d kept most of the details regarding Larek a secret in the communication, though that wouldn’t stop one of the Great Ones if they happened to arrive and start snooping around. The likelihood of that happening was slim, fortunately, as she couldn’t remember hearing about any Great One leaving their enclave for as long as she’d been alive – which was a distressingly long time when she thought about it.

Regardless, it was only a matter of time before someone came to investigate, and she needed Larek to be as prepared as possible for that eventuality. It wasn’t fair to him what they were forcing him to do, of course, but they didn’t have the luxury of fairness right now.

She just hoped that he was ready for it when that time came, because otherwise all this effort would’ve been for nothing.