The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Teaching Dean Lorraine was indeed a chore, especially as he had to spend a few hours explaining exactly how he had discovered it and the reasoning behind his experiments for some reason. She and his Fusions Professor spent another hour or so expounding on the incredible gift that this Skill would bestow upon spellcasters; Larek could see the appeal, of course, though he couldn’t necessarily partake in the same sort of excitement since he couldn’t cast any spells. He already knew it was an important discovery for his own purposes with Fusions, but the Dean was extremely ecstatic over and above what he expected.

That excitement dimmed over the next 12 hours as she slowly learned how to direct her spell patterns in a way in order to unlock the Skill, which ended up lasting until the early hours of the next morning. Larek nearly fell asleep a few times while he was teaching her, though her insistence that he repeat the steps over and over again helped to keep him nodding off; he forced himself to stay awake by running laps around her office every once in a while because he didn’t want to end up hurting himself or someone else if he made a mistake.

While she required twice the amount of time to learn this particular Skill in comparison to Shinpai, her giddiness once it happened was almost identical. His Fusions Professor even managed to raise his new Skill up to Level 2 by practicing the method while Dean Lorraine was being taught, though he was still having difficulty moving the spell patterns far enough away from each other once he split them so that they didn’t cause any interference – though he was at least able to divide the patterns every single time now.

“I feel like I’ve been transported back to the days when I was a student at this very Academy, learning how to unlock each of my new Skills and discovering ways to improve them,” the Dean said with a nostalgic smile, not even a trace of the tiredness that he felt through his entire being showing in her expression. Even though he hadn’t been struggling to perform the feat in order to unlock the skill, it turned out that teaching someone else how to do something was so much harder and exhausting than nearly anything he’d done before.

“I know; it was like I felt a wave of youthful exuberance flow through my limbs as all I wanted to do was run around and jump for joy when I managed to Level Focused Division up to Level 2. I mean, Level 2! I haven’t been this excited about Level 2 in any Skill in… well, so long that I can’t even remember,” Shinpai agreed with a smile. He, too, didn’t seem to have suffered from the lack of sleep as the pre-dawn light started to illuminate the world outside the Academy.

It was a bit annoying, if he was being honest, but he was happy that they had managed to unlock the Skill, at least. Now all he wanted was to go to bed and get some sleep. As he stood up to leave, the Dean turned her attention away from what he assumed was her Status she was looking at. “Thank you again, Larek. Seriously. I’ll find some way to reward you for this; you have my word.” Her words were heavy and filled with meaning, though whatever that meaning was eluded Larek in his current fatigued state.

He nodded and turned to leave.

“Before you go and get some obviously much-needed rest, I’d like to see you later today shortly after lunch. I’m going to have you start teaching some of the other Academy faculty; I’d love to have every Professor possess this new Skill before the new year starts. We’re going to put your Fusions on hold for a short time while we this information is spread through the Academy.”

If he wasn’t already thoroughly wrung-out, that statement would’ve made him even more exhausted. He wanted to protest, but couldn’t figure out an appropriate reason why it shouldn’t be him teaching this new Skill at all since the Dean and Shinpai now possessed it. During the entire process, the Dean had stated more than once that she just needed one more example and she would be able to get it, and he was convinced that if it hadn’t been for him showing her, she never would’ve succeeded. As it was, he was the only one that could reliably demonstrate the division of patterns, even if it was in Fusion form, as trying to learn from the brief separation of Shinpai’s spell pattern likely wouldn’t help anyone understand it. Perhaps when he was much better at it with a lot of practice that might change, but certainly not at the moment.

Resigned to teaching the entire staff, all he could do was nod in acknowledgement.

“Oh, don’t look so down, Larek. This is a good thing, as it will ingratiate you among the faculty even more than you already are. It’s nice to have powerful friends, after all.” The Dean smirked at his dubious expression. “Besides, haven’t you heard that no good deed goes unpunished? However, while you might think this is a punishment, in reality, it’s an opportunity.”

Larek didn’t really think that was true, but he nodded anyway. He walked out the door to the Dean’s lighthearted laughter; it wasn’t directed toward him, though, as she seemed to just be laughing for the fun of it. Her giddiness upon unlocking another Skill after so many years had obviously not faded yet.

Outside of the Dean’s office, he was surprised to see Nedira waiting near the doors. He was confused for a moment as he thought he remembered Vivienne having accompanied him earlier, but then he realized it was a new day.

“Are you alright, Larek? You look as if the Dean was yelling at you all night. What happened?” she asked, putting her hand on his arm as they walked through the Academy. He wanted to go straight to bed, but his stomach was grumbling because the last thing he ate was a quick lunch the day before; he would visit the Dining Hall, which would open in a short while, before he headed to bed – only to get up and teach even more people about the new Skill.

“I discovered a new Mage Skill no one had ever heard of and taught how to unlock it to both Shinpai and the Dean,” he answered.  “I’m terribly worn out, but I’ll be fine.”

“You what? A new Skill? Vivienne mentioned that you had discovered something when I took over, but that is so far above what I expected. How did you do it—you know what? Tell me later. I can hear your stomach from halfway across the Academy, and you appear as if you need to sleep for a few days.”

He smiled tiredly at her, but he didn’t refute that what she said was true. “Unfortunately, I can’t sleep nearly that long. I have to get up and teach even more of the faculty sometime after lunch.”

She scoffed and shook her head. “She can’t keep running you ragged like this. First, it was the Fusions, and now you’re supposed to teach the entire Academy staff? When will the Dean stop all this?”

“Probably when she gets what she wants and I end up closing the—”  Larek clapped his mouth shut as the words coming out of his mouth finally registered to his tired mind. A quick look around at the immediate area showed no one within at least 100 feet, so he didn’t think anyone heard him…

…other than Nedira, of course.

“Closing the what? What are you talking about? What does she want you to do?”

“Nothing. Never mind. I’m just exhausted and don’t know what I’m saying,” he replied, hating to lie to her, but it was for her own good. It was too dangerous for her to know that kind of information; in fact, it felt dangerous even for Larek to know that information, but unfortunately both the now-dead Ricardo and the Dean had sort of forced the issue.

“I know when you’re not telling the truth, Larek. You get this little twitch in your face that gives you away every single time, so I know when you’re lying – or at least concealing it for some reason. Tell me, what are you hiding?”

He sighed, disappointed that he wasn’t going to get off that easily. “Look, just know that it is something that would be dangerous if you knew about it, and I don’t want to see you hurt. I apologize for keeping this from you, but I’m doing it to keep you safe.”

She was silent as she walked along with him, and he could practically feel the anger building within her as she considered his words. He couldn’t look at her as he feared he would spill all his secrets in order to diffuse the situation and make her happy again, so he kept his eyes straight ahead.

“Fine. Keep your secrets. I know that you aren’t deliberately trying to shut me out, and based on everything else I know about you, this secret must be quite important if you haven’t shared it yet.” She sounded hurt, but most of the anger seemed to drain away from her as she continued to walk by his side.

It felt like a large gulf just expanded between him and Nedira, a chasm that hadn’t been there before, and he wasn’t sure if there was anything he could do to close the distance with her again. Telling her about his origins as a half-breed and his potential for Dominion magic would be dangerous for her if she knew about it, as any hint that she knew could cause her to be a target to get to him. That, and he was selfish because he didn’t want her to pull away even further because she feared that he had somehow ensnared her with a magic he couldn’t control.

Maybe this is for the best? I don’t want her to get hurt because of who I am and I also don’t want to know if I actually did influence her somehow with my magic. I still want her as my friend, but perhaps keeping a distance from her is the best idea. For now, at least.

Neither of them said any more as they eventually arrived at the Dining Hall; because it was so early, breakfast hadn’t been served yet, but Nedira was able to snag some already prepared biscuits and sausages for him, which he consumed so quickly that he barely tasted them. It wasn’t long after that he found himself in his room just as the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, finally getting to bed even as Verne and Norde were still sleeping from the night before. He softly said goodnight to Nedira who sat on the empty bed, staring off into nothing as she refused to respond.

Apologizing again for not being able to tell her what she wanted to know didn’t feel like the right thing to do, so he instead just slipped into bed, getting comfortable within seconds.  He was out before he let his nightmares of teaching even more people about the new Skill invade his thoughts.

He woke up sometime later to a room empty of his roommates, though Bartholomew was sitting on the empty bed now instead of Nedira. “Boy, what did you say to her? She’s a bit peeved at you for some reason.”

“What? Who? Peeved?” He was still waking up, instantly knowing that he hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep; at the same time, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to sleep that night if he slept too long, so he might as well get up.

“Nedira,” the Martial trainee explained. “She seemed angry at you, muttering under her breath as she left. A little lover’s quarrel?” he asked, smirking.

“Huh? Uh, no; we’re not—anyway, I don’t really want to talk about it.” He really didn’t, because then he would have to think about the whole situation with Nedira, and not knowing how to fix it properly, it wouldn’t do any good to dwell on it.

“No problem. Just know that if you ever need to talk, I’m always willing to listen.”

He nodded at the young man. Over the last few months, Bartholomew had filled out quite a bit and grown a bit taller, making him look more like a man than the boy he appeared when Larek had first met him. “Thanks. I’ll let you know.”

“So, what’s on the agenda today? And why are you sleeping so late? You’re usually up disgustingly early.”

As he got ready for the day, Larek told the armored trainee the basics of what had happened with a warning not to spread the information around quite yet, as he just realized that such a thing that he had done was liable to attract even moreattention from the students than he probably wanted right now. “And now I’m going out to instruct some more Professors on how to gain this Skill, which I’m dreading; teaching really isn’t my thing, as it wore me out yesterday faster than a full day chopping down trees in the Rushwood Forest.”

“Rushwood Forest? That’s far to the north, isn’t it?”

“It is. Have you ever been there?”

Bartholomew shook his head. “No, not directly, but I believe my father visited the area years ago. It’s part of our Dukedom, after all.”

“Ah.” He nodded, not knowing what to say. He still didn’t know a lot about Nobility as a whole and what each type of Noble controlled as part of their territory, though there was some passing mention in his Geography class the previous year. Political climates weren’t discussed as much as other things, however, so his knowledge was fairly poor when it came to things like that.

Perhaps I’ll ask him more about that later. It would probably be good to learn some of that stuff sometime, and Bartholomew’s a pleasant sort for a Noble.

At lunch, which they caught the tail end of, Larek spent a minute looking over his Status, as he never really got a chance to study it much over the last day. In fact, he hadn’t really looked at the entire thing in months, as not much had changed up until he had gotten the new Skill.

Larek Holsten

Fusionist

Healer

Level 19

Advancement Points (AP) : 12/17

Available AP to Distribute: 16

Stama: 590/590

Mana: 1330/1330

Strength: 59 (+)

Body: 59 (+)

Agility: 59 (+)

Intellect: 70 [133] (+)

Acuity: 104 [198] (+)

Pneuma: 299 [568] (+)

Pattern Cohesion: 5,680/5,680

Mage Abilities:

Spell – Bark Skin

Spell – Binding Roots

Spell – Fireball

Spell – Ice Spike

Spell – Lesser Restoration

Spell – Light Bending

Spell – Light Orb

Spell – Localized Anesthesia

Spell – Minor Mending

Spell – Rapid Plant Growth

Spell – Repelling Gust

Spell – Static Illusion

Spell – Stone Fist

Spell – Wall of Thorns

Spell – Water Jet

Spell – Wind Barrier

Fusion – Acuity Boost

Fusion – Agility Boost +7

Fusion – Area Chill

Fusion – Body Boost +5

Fusion – Camouflage Sphere +2

Fusion – Camouflage Sphere +5

Fusion – Extreme Heat +5

Fusion – Flaming Ball +5

Fusion – Flying Stone +5

Fusion – Graduated Parahealing +7

Fusion – Healing Surge +1

Fusion – Healing Surge +3

Fusion – Healing Surge +5

Fusion – Icy Spike +5

Fusion – Illuminate Iron

Fusion – Illuminate Steel

Fusion – Illuminate Stone

Fusion – Illuminate Wood

Fusion – Illusionary Image +3

Fusion – Intellect Boost

Fusion – Muffle Sound +3

Fusion – Muffling Air Deflection Barrier +6

Fusion – Personal Air Deflection Barrier +4

Fusion – Pneuma Boost

Fusion – Repelling Barrier +1

Fusion – Repelling Barrier +4

Fusion – Repelling Barrier +7

Fusion – Repelling Barrier +10

Fusion – Repelling Gust of Air +5

Fusion – Sharpen Iron Edge

Fusion – Sharpen Steel Edge

Fusion – Sharpen Stone Edge

Fusion – Sharpen Wood Edge

Fusion – Space Heater +2

Fusion – Spellcasting Focus Boost +4

Fusion – Strength Boost +1

Fusion – Strength Boost +5

Fusion – Strengthen and Sharpen Steel Edge +1

Fusion – Strengthen Iron

Fusion – Strengthen Steel

Fusion – Strengthen Stone

Fusion – Strengthen Wood

Fusion – Temperature Regulator +3

Fusion – Tree Skin +2

Fusion – Tree Skin +8

Fusion – Water Stream +5

Martial Abilities:

Battle Art – Furious Rampage

Mage Skills:

Focused Division Level 10

Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 10

Pattern Recognition Level 20

Magical Detection Level 20

Spellcasting Focus Level 20

Mana Control Level 30

Fusion Level 30

Pattern Formation Level 30

Martial Skills:

Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 1

Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 2

Throwing Level 5

Dodge Level 7

Pain Immunity Level 20

Body Regeneration Level 25

General Skills:

Cooking Level 1

Bargaining Level 5

Beast Control Level 9

Leadership Level 10

Writing Level 11

Long-Distance Running Level 10

Speaking Level 15

Saw Handling Level 15

Reading Level 17

Listening Level 42

Axe Handling Level 81

Other than a few increases in his Speaking, Reading, and Listening General Skills, the rest of his Skills hadn’t budged from where they had been right around the Skirmish he participated in. With the addition of his new Skill and increases in Pattern Recognition and Magical Detection to Level 20, he had also gained a personal Level to bring him to 19. It also came with 16 AP to spend on his stats, but he left them where they were for the moment since he wasn’t sure where to put them.

Unfortunately, despite repeatedly performing the Focused Division Skill for Dean so she could learn it, his Skill Level didn’t increase past 10 in all that time. He had a feeling that it would require either dividing a larger quantity of Fusions at the same time or simply dividing a more complicated pattern, but he hadn’t really had the opportunity. He hoped he might have the chance to experiment when he started teaching other Professors about the Skill, but he doubted it.

With resignation, he got up from the table in the Dining Room and said to Bartholomew, “Alright, let’s get this over with. Hopefully they get it faster than the Dean, because I really don’t want to be up all night like I was with her again.”

The Martial trainee guffawed loudly at that, which confused Larek, but his mind was already on the task ahead of him.

Well, this should be fun.