The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 66

(I managed to finish one more chapter this morning, but I'm taking the rest of the day off to celebrate Father's Day a day late because it's less busy out there in the world -- I'm going out somewhere my wife and daughter have picked but won't tell me, so I gather I probably won't be back until later tonight!  I'll have more for you tomorrow!)

Chapter 66

“Welcome to the finals! It’s been an exciting Skirmish thus far, with some expected twists and turns along the way! Please welcome your final four teams!”

The crowd went absolutely nuts at the announcer’s words, and Larek followed his team out into the middle of the arena, where the other teams were also converging. Catching more than a few glances from the other competitors, he was glad to see that rather than seeming angry, they appeared to be determined and confident, as if they knew they could win no matter what Team Fusion could pull off. Unfortunately, there was every possibility that it might happen, as he was sure the vulnerability in the Repelling Barrier had been noticed and shared amongst the teams they were opposing.

Knowing that was a possibility, Larek had spent some of the time while they were waiting in the stands creating a few Fusions that he was able to pass out to his team.  They were on some flat pieces of wood that Verne was able to create for him out of one of the wooden lunch trays that he hadn’t returned to the Dining Hall yet. Thankfully, his roommates weren’t asked to leave the participant section after lunch earlier, probably because they were small and no one noticed them beside Larek, but also because there was much more room there with the fewer amount of teams. As Verne didn’t have enough time to make them into something that could be worn, they were simply stuck down everyone’s shoes or boots, so that it had contact with their skin.

He wasn’t sure if they would be useful, but any advantage they could get might prove to be what they needed to succeed. If he’d had more time, he would’ve made more, but he had only been able to create 5 of them before he ran out of time; Larek was the only one that didn’t have one, but he didn’t necessarily need it.

“In Fortification 1: Team Boulderfist!”

The crowd went even wilder as the group of 6 students and trainees stepped forward and raised their fists into the air, before slamming those fists against their chests with a powerful grunt accompanying it.

“In Fortification 2: Team Highflight!”

The second team’s Martial trainees jumped upwards, and the Mages behind quickly cast a few air-based spells that lifted them even higher; once they reached approximately 50 feet above the ground, they plummeted to the ground and landed hard with their weapons outstretched in front of them in a faux strike.

“In Fortification 3: Team Coldsnap!”

It was the Mage students that performed this time, as they rapidly fired what appeared to be shadow-casted Ice Spikes into the air before making them explode in a glittering display of ice crystals and snowflakes. It was impressive, to say the least, and Larek wondered how effective something like that could be if it was used against a monster.

“And finally, in Fortification 4: Team Fusion!”

His team didn’t have any special coordinated moves to show off, so they simply waved to everyone in the stands. He might have been a little biased by that point, but he thought that the crowd was even more enthusiastic for his team than the others, though it might have also been his imagination.

“Teams! Prepare… for the Skirmish!”

At that announcement, each of the teams broke off toward their respective Fortifications, with Larek and Nedira trailing behind the others. He leaned down to speak with his friend, trying to be heard over the others. “Whatever happens, just make sure you stay safe. You have everything you need?”

She nodded. “Of course. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. You just worry about you,” she said.

Larek chuckled. “It’s not like I’m going to be doing much.”

“True, but even if you’re not actively engaged in the fight, try and keep everyone away from the flag.”

He thought about it for a moment. “I can definitely try.” As much as he didn’t want to involve himself more than he had, he thought he could at least do that much.  Fortunately, he had squeezed a Strengthen Wood +6 Fusion to his staff shortly after he created it, as he didn’t want it to accidentally break at any point in the future. While he wasn’t exactly skilled in using a staff as a melee weapon, he thought he could at least use it to smack someone away who was getting too close.

As Larek took his position, he thought about the other competitors. Team Boulderfist, at least from what he’d seen of the previous round, were primarily focused on defensive spells from the earth element, as there were two Geomancers along with their healer. They seemed to specialize in maintaining the “health” of the heavily armored trainees, healing them of their hits almost as soon as they took them, while also creating stone walls for defense and exploding shadow-casted boulders above the heads of their opponents. The shrapnel didn’t do more damage than being hit with a clod of dirt – they would leave bruises, but that was about it – but there were so many projectiles that were formed by the exploding boulder that it was difficult to protect against.

Overall, they could potentially be a problem because of their reliance on defenses and the exploding boulder spell, which could overwhelm his Barrier Fusion.  However, even given that, they were the least of the threats arrayed against them.

Next on the threat list was Team Coldsnap, which he’d seen possessed area-of-effect ice-based spells that could definitely affect anyone wearing a Repelling Barrier because it wasn’t a speeding object. He’d seen the ground freeze in a sheet of ice, making footing treacherous, as well as a cloud of ice particles that seemed to sap the speed and strength of anyone caught within it as they shivered from the cold. And that was just the start of their repertoire, all of which could end up being very dangerous for any of his team who were caught within one of those spells.

But they weren’t the biggest threat, which belonged to Team Highflight, who possessed a variety of air-based spells. The yellow-robed Aeromancers – three of them, in fact – made him a little uneasy by themselves because they reminded him of Ricardo, even though he was sure they were not in the least similar. But their resemblance to one of his abductors wasn’t why they were the biggest threat; instead, it was due to their magical specialty.

His Repelling Barriers could do very little to stop most air-based spells, which was yet another flaw in its design. Even moving at speed, there was typically not enough substance or visibility to such a spell for the Effect to activate, meaning that nothing would be blocked. The others were already aware of such a vulnerability, but whether or not they had some sort of plan to combat it was something he didn’t know.

Apart from the flaw against air-based spells, the simple demonstration at their team introduction was another problem. Using their spells to enhance the jumping height of their Martial trainees, they could literally send them over the walls to get to the flag. While there had been a trainee that had climbed over the walls during the first match, the fact of the matter was that all three of these opponents could be sent flying over the heads of those on the walkway at the same time was a major advantage on their part.

“Everyone ready?” Penelope shouted to the team as soon as they were all in position. When they all confirmed with her, including Larek, she nodded and took her on place near the entrance.

“The match begins in 10! 9!—”

Here we go. He listened as the announcer counted down.

“1! Skirmish!”

Everyone on Team Fusion was immediately on guard for anything, but nothing happened for the first 20 seconds or so. It was only then that Larek started to hear the clash of wood against steel and the explosive detonation of shadow-casted boulders, which – despite being only a shadow of the original spell – was still impressively loud. A moment later, he saw two Martial trainees jumping in an arc so high that he could see them even above the wall of the fortification he was inside. The only thing that confused him was that neither of them were heading toward his team – they were jumping in an entirely different direction.

Bart and Penelope were both standing in the entrance to the structure, blocking most of his sight of what was going on outside, but he could still see what appeared to be a major clash between the three other teams outside of Team Boulderfist’s fortification. After about 5 minutes of this, he couldn’t help but shout up to Nedira, “What’s going on?”

She halfway turned around, keeping her eyes still on what was happening outside. “They’re fighting amongst each other, though something seems off about it all.”

“They’re attempting to bait us out,” Penelope added abruptly. “You may not be able to see it, but I’ve witnessed at least a few dozen openings that weren’t exploited by the other trainees, and while I’m not an expert on spells, most of them seem to be missing far more than they are hitting. As you’ve no doubt heard – or haven’t heard – not even a single person has been downed yet, despite the supposedly fierce fighting that they’re doing out there.”

While not a tactician by any stretch of the imagination, he nonetheless understood what they were doing. “They’re working together to draw us out, where they can surround and eliminate some of us, correct?”

“Precisely,” the blue-haired team leader nodded without taking her eyes off the melee happening across the arena. “They’ve seen what an all-out assault will get them, and while they wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall for the same ploy again like last time, this is actually the smarter play. We see them fighting somewhere else and either try and sneak into one of the likely still-defended fortifications, or we try and take some of them out with a sneak attack from behind. Either way, it draws us out from where we’re in a stronger defensive position, falling into their trap. Once they whittle us down one-by-one, they can then fight for real amongst themselves in a ‘fair’ fight.”

“So, you’re just going to sit here?” he asked. Before she could respond, he added, “What happens when they realize their bait isn’t working?”

“That’s actually a very good question and a valid concern,” she said, finally tearing her gaze away from the fight to look at Larek. “If that happens, they’ll likely work together to eliminate us, and I have a feeling that they’ll win in that case. Those are some extremely tough teams that have too many advantages against us, especially if they work together.”

Penelope suddenly gave him what he could only consider an evil grin. “Thankfully, you’ve provided us something that they don’t know about and it’ll make all the difference.”

“Really?”

“Yep! Just watch. Or, more accurately, don’t watch.” The blue-haired leader shouted up to those up on the walkway, “Plan AA!”

Plan AA? “How many plans do you have?”

“It used to be just 26, ending with Z, but with your little addition I had to come up with one more,” she explained, as Nedira and Kimble quickly ran toward the right side of the walkway where the stairs were located, rapidly descending to ground level. As soon as they were down and near the entrance of the fortification, Vivienne jumped down from up top to join them.

“They saw those two disappear from up top, so they know we’re taking the bait,” Vivienne reported. Larek wasn’t sure what was going on, but he kept his mouth shut as the others from his team assembled near Penelope. He was slightly concerned that Nedira was going out, but he knew that she was as protected as could be at the moment.

“Good. Time to give them what they asked for.” Penelope turned to Larek. “Hold down the fortification while we’re gone, won’t you? I’m sure we might have some uninvited guests soon.”

“I… I’ll do my best. Stay safe,” he added, directly addressing Nedira, but the blue-haired trainee smirked and nodded.

“Alright, let’s go.”

At her order, Larek’s teammates ran out the entrance and headed toward the battle happening in the distance. With the blockage to his sight gone, he could see it a little better than before, and he immediately saw what Nedira had mentioned; there was something strange about the whole thing, as it didn’t appear as intense as he thought it should. This was only reinforced when he saw the glances of more than half of them flick to the approaching Team Fusion before turning away as if they were pretending not to have seen them.

Even running at Nedira and Kimble’s top speed, they crossed the distance to the middle of the arena in a matter of seconds, and at a shout from someone he couldn’t see, the large battle suddenly stopped and turned toward the incoming Team Fusion. He saw at least 9 spells sent in their direction while the Martial trainees formed a line to block access to the Mages behind them as well as to assumedly enfold the incoming enemy so that they could be attacked from multiple directions. Larek had to admit that it was a good plan and would certainly work to eliminate Team Fusion from the competition.

Unfortunately for them, they weren’t counting on every single member of Team Fusion to suddenly disappear.

Book 2 Chapter 67: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-84868119