The Fusionist Book 3 -- Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“No. I’ve already told this before, Larek; you can’t just go out by yourself anymore.”

Larek Holsten wanted to ignore what the blue-haired young woman was telling him, but when he saw Nedira nodding in agreement, he sighed and put his head in his hands. The loud conversations going on around Dining Hall washed over him, which only seemed to reinforce the headache that seemed to be growing behind his eyes.

“I knowthat, Penelope; but I’m just going to the bathrooms to get washed up,” he responded irritably. “It feels like I haven’t bathed in weeks.” That was far from the truth, of course, as he had bathed yesterday, but with all the attention being paid to him, by the end of the day he couldn’t help but feel, well, dirty by the end of the day.

“That doesn’t matter,” the stubborn Striker responded, taking her bodyguarding duties seriously. “It’s the perfect place for an ambush, as you’ll be unprepared for an attack.”

He shook his head wearily, tired of this whole thing already despite it only being a few weeks since the Skirmish where he had assisted in his team’s victory despite the fact that he was only a first-year student at Copperleaf Academy. While he had helped pull out the win at the end, he still didn’t feel like all the attention that had been paid to him by nearly the entire Academy – as well as those from Fort Pinevalley – was justified.

Granted, it wasn’t that he had helped them win the Skirmish that garnered all the attention; it was how he had helped them do it that was the problem: Fusions. The Fusions he had created, most notably the Repelling Barrier that deflected most physical attacks away using powerful gusts of air, were above and beyond the strength and complexity of anything that had been seen before that it captured the attention of both the faculty and the student body. If that had been all, that would still have been enough to raise the curiosity of those who were interested in Fusions, but then Dean Lorraine had to go and announce during the award ceremony that he was some sort of “prodigy” for Fusions. As a consequence, Larek was now the most important person in the Academy right now – or at least that was what it felt like.

While some people might be excited to be in the spotlight and have everyone want to talk to or get to know him, the former Logger didn’t like it at all. Especially when such notoriety brought with it the need for people to watch his back, as the danger of his celebrity status included those who wanted something from him… or wanted to see him dead for a number of reasons.

“Look, I know you’re just doing what the Dean asked of you, but it’s just a bath,” Larek pleaded. “I just can’t relax or feel comfortable when Bartholomew is in the room watching me bathe – it’s creepy, to say the least.” He looked at the young Martial trainee that normally accompanied him into the bathing rooms. “No offense, Bartholomew,” he added.

“No offense taken,” the Shieldguard quickly responded. “However, I can’t say I understand why it bothers you so much; I grew up with servants bathing and dressing me until I came here, and I soon forgot that they were even there most of the time.” For a moment, Larek had forgotten that the young Martial was a Noble – a Duke’s son, if he remembered correctly.

“Yes, well, I wasn’t born into the same sort of situation that you were, so having someone watching me feels wrong somehow. It would be different if you were also bathing, as that is what the room is for, but that’s not the case.”

Naturally, when Bartholomew accompanied him to the baths, the young Martial didn’t stand nearby and stare at Larek when he bathed, but he was nevertheless in the room and kept an eye on him – as well as on everyone else that was in the room at the time. In fact, most of the time the Shieldguard wasn’t actually watching him but was instead focused on the dangers that might suddenly appear, but that distinction didn’t really help him become comfortable with the situation.

There was a silent communication that was passed between Penelope and Bartholomew that he was unable to translate; fortunately, he didn’t have to, as it wasn’t long before they came to a decision. The athletically fit, blue-haired woman slumped in place, dramatically sighing as she looked at Larek. “Fine. As there hasn’t been any attacks, Barty here can wait outside of the bathrooms, but he’s going to check on you every few minutes to make sure you’re safe.”

That wasn’t exactly what Larek wanted, but he supposed it was the best he was going to get for the moment. “Thank you. I appreciate all you’ve done to protect me, but sometimes I just need some privacy.”

“I know, I know; I just don’t want anything to happen to you, and I know that Nedira feels the same way. If they allowed women in there, I’d have your girlfriend join you in the bath to protect you,” she added with a suggestive wiggle of her eyebrows and more than a hint of a smirk on her lips, “but alas, even with the protection detail you’ve been given, there are some rules that we can’t break.”

Larek blushed a little as he glanced at Nedira, whose face was practically on fire from what Penelope had said, but she also didn’t say anything to refute Penelope’s suggestion that the Naturalist join him in his bath. The Logger-turned-Fusionist now knew that Nedira was interested in him on a level that was more than as just friends, given the confrontation in the healer’s ward a few weeks before; he was relatively ignorant when it came to those types of things, but even he wasn’t dense enough to miss how she had accused the Martial trainee of having romantic designs on Larek – and how that bothered her because it was in direct competition to her own feelings.

Unfortunately, his life had been turned upside down once again after the Skirmish, giving neither of them the chance to really discuss their feelings for each other; it was probably for the best, at least coming from Larek’s point of view, because he wasn’t even sure if he felt the same way. Sure, he cared for her as a friend, and possibly as more than a friend, but the unfamiliar feelings he experienced when he thought about her or even simply glanced in her direction were difficult to evaluate. Even if he did decide that he felt the same way as she seemed to feel toward him, there was one major problem to the whole situation that he wasn’t sure how to resolve.

His Dominion magic.

Supposedly, at least according to the Dean and Shinpai, he had inadvertently used a small amount of Dominion magic – thanks to his father’s heritage as a Gergasi – on his Skirmish team, including Penelope and Bartholomew, which subtly influenced them to want to protect him… even at the cost of their lives. He had no idea that he had even done it, nor could he replicate the process upon someone else, and had no idea how to remove it; the magic wasn’t something that he could control – and that was what worried him the most.

It was bad enough that his inadvertent use of Dominion magic may have ended up convincing his roommate, Verne, and Nedira’s brother, Norde, to like him; but if it had also made Nedira care for him as something that was more than friends? Or perhaps even convinced her that she was in love with him? He wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but he was sure that he didn’t want to take advantage of their influenced feelings more than he already had. There was nothing he could do to change the past and it seemed like they all generally cared for him, but to use Nedira’s feelings to press for something more felt like a violation of her freedom.

Based on what he new about his father’s people and their propensity to enslaving those of the Kingdom, he knew he didn’t want to be anything like them; using his Dominion magic to convince Nedira to love him felt a little too close to the same kind of thing for comfort. Until he found a way to control or negate what little Dominion magic he possessed, he could never be sure that what she felt was real. Therefore, the incredibly crazy schedule after the Skirmish was actually a blessing in disguise, as it prevented him from having a conversation with Nedira about their relationship and what the future might hold.

Larek chose not to respond to Penelope’s comment as they left the Dining Hall for his room, with Bartholomew leading the way, Nedira coming next, followed by Larek, and then Penelope bringing up the rear. Verne and Norde had eaten earlier and were already in the shared room when he arrived, as Larek’s schedule had been a bit abnormal as of late.

“There you are!” the tree-looking boy shouted as soon as Larek walked through the door after Bartholomew led the way, the former Logger on a mission to drop a few things off before he headed to the baths. “Did they keep you working late again?”

The Fusionist nodded, sighing heavily. “Yes. Just like they have the last few weeks,” he said. It was sadly true, because it was now almost 9pm, a few hours after he would normally eat dinner after his last class. “It’s… rewarding work, but it doesn’t leave much room for anything else.” He’d even spent most of his days off working with the Dean and Shinpai, so he didn’t have much chance to do anything but that work and attending classes.

“They can’t keep working you to the bone like this, Larek,” Nedira said, trailing her fingers across his arm as she passed, before plopping herself down on the edge of his bed. He felt a tingle pass through his body at her touch, but forcefully ignored it; now that he knew those types of touches indicated an intention that was anything but innocent, he was having trouble seeing it any other way.  As much as it might disappoint her if he didn’t respond to such things, he was convinced it was for the best that he didn’t let anything go further.

“As you know, there’s a good reason for it,” he said softly, taking a few things out of his robe’s pockets and placing them on his desk. The flat pieces of thin, rectangular steel clanked together as he set them down, followed by a pair of wooden circles and a scrap of leather. He had taken to carrying them around with him wherever he went in case inspiration hit him, so that he wouldn’t have to wait long before making another Fusion. It had actually been Shinpai’s suggestion and it was a good one; already, he had created a few Fusions using these materials in the Dining Hall or even in a different class, though the latter was frowned upon – prodigy or not.

“Of course I know that!  But it won’t help if you work so hard that you can’t think straight.”

He had to agree, but the reason he had been working so hard was to get some of the unwelcome scrutiny off of him. The Dean and Shinpai had concocted a plan to expose what he could do with Fusions during the Skirmish, all in the effort to cover up the fact that his Healing Surge Fusion was based upon the Minor Mending spell he knew combined with the effects from his Body Regeneration Martial Skill. The reason this was a problem was because if anyone learned that he had access to Martial Skills, let alone Martial stats, then that could lead to questions about his ancestry, namely the Gergasi – or as the enslaved Nobles called them, Great Ones. At that point, it would only be a matter of time before he was found out as a half-breed, and as his experience with Ricardo had shown him, the Nobles weren’t afraid of hurting Larek as some sort of retaliatory measure against those they were forced to serve.

Therefore, because he had to hide the fact that Healing Surge integrated the Martial Skill, his first task after the Skirmish was to develop another healing Fusion that wasn’t as dangerous – for himself as far as exposure went, as well as for those who used it to heal themselves. He didn’t want anyone else to fall into a coma after its use, after all, even if it healed them in the process.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t having as much luck as he had hoped he would, but he thought he was on the right track. In fact, he was planning on trying something the next day that might just work, but he’d already exhausted himself too much that day to start on it right then and there.

“True, but if I can put together all that I’ve learned tomorrow, I think I can start relaxing a little more,” he assured her.

“You’ve figured it out?”

He shrugged, as he wasn’t entirely sure; he was fairly confident it would work, but he’d already had a few failures that hadn’t been the solution he had been looking for. “Maybe? I won’t know until I create it tomorrow; for now, I just want a bath.”

“Fair enough. I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” Nedira said, hopping off the bed. As she passed by him, she trailed her fingers down his back and he froze in what he was doing; the next thing he knew, she was out the door.

“She’s growing bold, that one,” Penelope chuckled. “I’m glad we got over our little spat, because I don’t fancy my chances against someone like her.”

“What do you mean by that?” Larek asked, slightly perplexed.

“Just that she’s a bit possessive, if you know what I mean?”

He didn’t, but decided to let it go; it was probably better than he didn’t know, he figured.

“Hey! That’s my sister that you’re talking about!” Norde shouted angrily, his fists up and in front of him like he wanted to punch the blue-haired woman. They hadn’t exactly gotten along all that well ever since Nedira was hurt during the Skirmish, and he blamed the Martial trainee for all that had happened.

Penelope chuckled at the young Academy student’s outburst. “Well, then you’d know better than I would. Tell me, is she one to—”

“Alright, enough of this,” Larek said, cutting her off. He’d rather stop a confrontation before it started, and Penelope seemed to enjoy needling Nedira’s little brother. “Bartholomew, are you ready?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then let’s go.”  Turning to the blue-haired Martial, he said, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Penelope. Have a good night.”

“Good night, Larek,” she responded, before looking at Bartholomew. “You take care of him, you hear?”

“Of course.”

A minute or so later, Larek was in the boys bathroom, which was thankfully completely empty – a sight that gave his bodyguard an obvious sense of relief as he looked around and let out a grunt. “I’ll be outside,” he said, before leaving out the door they had entered a moment before.

I’m alone… finally.

Larek hadn’t realized how much he treasured the solitude of the Rushwood Forest until he’d been forced to attend first Crystalview and now Copperleaf; it had been a bit of an adjustment, of course, but he thought that he had managed it fairly well. But even when attending both Academies, there had been plenty of time that he had been able to just be alone for a while – but that hadn’t been possible over the last few weeks. He couldn’t remember a single minute when there hadn’t been someone around him, and it was slowly becoming more than he could handle.

As he filled up the bath and stripped down, he unstrapped his axe from where it had been positioned along his right leg. The super-sharp edge was secured by a steel cap that, while not entirely immune to the sharpness of the blade, he had placed a Strengthen Steel +5 Fusion on it to prevent it from being sliced apart; it was more than enough to protect him from accidentally cutting himself. As he placed it on the floor, he looked around again at the empty bathing room and made a decision; taking off the wooden armlets and anklets that adorned his upper arms and both legs, he slipped them over the handle of the axe and balanced the tool against the edge of the tub in easy reach.

Gratefully lowering himself into the hot water of the bathing tub, he sighed in relief as he scrubbed himself all over, making sure to get the areas that were the hardest to clean – which were where his accessories normally covered his skin. He was done within minutes, and was just finishing up when Bartholomew stuck his head in the door, nodded to Larek as he checked around the room, and then closed it immediately afterward.

When he was clean, he scrunched himself in the tub so that he could sort of lay down, with his knees sticking out of the water and his head lying on the edge. As he closed his eyes and relaxed for what felt like the first time since before he had been abducted by Ricardo and his accomplices, he thought about all his current situation.

While he didn’t exactly agree with the plan that Dean Lorraine and Shinpai had concocted concerning sharing his abilities with the Academy and Fort, he had to admit that being out in the open – with most of his secrets – had been advantageous. The Dean and Professors could be a lot more open in their help when it came to giving him the necessary information to advance his Fusion-making processes, and though he had only learned a few specific spells and techniques based around healing to help with his current project, it was much more than any assistance he’d been given before.

Being able to freely create Fusions and not have to hide it was also beneficial, as he could technically do it right out in the middle of the yard without any repercussions – other than gaining the attention of anyone who could see or sense him working with such large amounts of Mana. It was at those points where he was actually glad of his bodyguards, as they helped to keep people away from him while he worked, because disturbing him during the Fusion process could be dangerous to Larek and any bystanders.

He'd also been accosted by hundreds of students, many of them Nobles, who had promised him great numbers of coins if he would make them a powerful Fusion or two, but he’d been forced to tell them to contact the Dean or Shinpai if they needed something specific. As Larek was inclined to simply make Fusions for everyone who came up to him, as he enjoyed creating them and the challenge of doing something new, the head of the Academy and his Advanced Fusions Professor were prioritizing which ones he could make while also giving him enough time to devote to his healing Fusion project. Every day after classes – and during his Fusions class – he was given a list of Fusions to create, typically no more than 5 or 6 for the entire day; they were unfortunately all ones that he’d made before, with most of them being stat boosts of one kind or another, so they weren’t much of a challenge. The rest of the time, he was experimenting with different healing Fusion ideas or learning more about them, which was why he was working late every night.

It wasn’t so bad, especially if his idea worked the way he thought it would the next day. Once he developed a viable healing Fusion, he could begin to experiment with other things a little more, including—

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a noise, but he figured it was just Bartholomew just checking up on him again. Keeping his eyes closed and not looking at his bodyguard, the illusion of being alone was maintained, and he began to go back to his relaxed musings. He didn’t get very far before he realized that something was different about the bathing room environment; it was a subtle shift in the air that brought with it the scent of charred wood that caught his attention, which didn’t make any sense because there shouldn’t have been any burning wood inside of the Academy.

Before he could open his eyes to look around, a gloved hand slapped itself against his mouth, startling him, before he felt a sharp pinch on the side of his neck. His eyes flew open immediately upon feeling the neck pinch, but he couldn’t see anything as his head was held backwards so that all he was looking at was the ceiling. He attempted to raise his hands to remove the hand covering his mouth so that he could break free, but after only a quick twitch that showed that he was at least trying, they wouldn’t move.

Panicking, his attention was stolen away again as something flashed in front of his eyes, and another gloved hand appeared holding a knife that reflected some of the magical light within the bathroom. As he saw it move out of sight, all he could think about was Penelope looking disappointedly at him, shaking her finger while saying, “I told you so.”

I can’t believe she was right.