The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Larek’s roommates returned the next day, not entirely back to normal, but well on their way to a full recovery. Each of them had lost what extra fat they had on their bodies – which was already fairly little – and some muscle mass, making them a little weaker than they had been before. Still, it wasn’t nearly as bad as it could’ve been, and they didn’t need as many muscles to cast spells as, for example, a trainee from the Martial Fort would need to perform well.

They had the rest of the week off just as Larek did while they continued to recover, which gave them a few extra days before they’d have to get back to classes. In the meantime, the two of them studied a few books that Nedira brought them from the library, and while they complained about having to do work while they were still trying to get better, Larek could tell that they actually appreciated that they had something to do while they were basically confined to their room and the Dining Hall. They weren’t technically not allowed to leave, but were instructed by the healers to take it easy and not do anything too strenuous during their recovery – at least until after their rest day coming up.

As for Larek, the sleep he received the night they had awoken from their comas was overshadowed by the rest he got the next night when they were actually allowed to leave the healer’s ward, as if just having them safe and sound back in the room had returned a sense of normalcy to the world. It was as salve to his screaming nightmares, and while he woke up once or twice, thankfully not screaming himself which would have woken his friends, he was easily able to fall back asleep in no time at all.

That wasn’t to say that he had completely moved past his worries and disgust over his actions, but now that it wasn’t so raw in his mind, he was better able to cope with everything. His coping was, in no way, a way to excuse what he did, but being better able to deal with it was highly important to simply living his life from day to day.

Speaking of what had occurred, he hadn’t really paid attention to what was going on with the investigation into his abductors while he had been so exhausted, but once he was able to get some sleep he learned more about it. Or, to be more accurately, Verne learned more about it as he spoke with other students in the Dining Hall, who were more than happy to gossip with him and Norde. The both of them were well-known at this point among the first-years, even those who had attended Copperleaf before they arrived, and everyone seemed to love Verne and his genuine enthusiasm of life; when they heard he had been hurt and sent into a coma, along with Norde, they were more than sympathetic with his desire to know if the culprits had been caught.

Apparently, a search of the storage tunnels and rooms underneath the Academy was initiated and – thankfully – nothing much was found. They located the room in which Larek was held, which held enough evidence to prove that something at least had occurred there, but there was nothing other than some odd stone plates to give them any more information. Hearing that, Larek resolved to cut up the stone plates he had taken with him so as to make them unrecognizable, as it hadn’t even occurred to him before that they might be linked to those down there. He could always say he took them as a weapon to defend himself if they were discovered, but he decided not to risk it.

There was also a full investigation into every Aeromancer in the Academy, including the SIC members on the walls – which caused some outrage, if what Verne’s sources discovered was true. Still, the Dean had the authority to question every single one, which turned out to be a few hundred all told, though none appeared to be the one that had hurt Verne and Norde. The knowledge that Larek had been abducted wasn’t well known as it hadn’t been as obvious as the comas that his roommates had been in, which was perfectly fine with Larek. If anyone started questioning why he had been abducted, that could lead to some difficult explanations he didn’t want to have to deal with.

It was only when, nearly 80 hours after the Scissions had been successfully repelled, the absence of Ricardo – one of the highest-ranking Nobles in the Academy and a star student – turned up missing that everyone began to speculate on what happened. Theories ranged from Ricardo feeling regret over what he had done to the pair of first-years and threw himself off the city wall during the Scission, to running away for fear of being caught, to someone learning of his involvement and taking matters into their own hands. Fortunately, the latter theory was a vast minority, as most people believed the fifth-year Noble student had run away rather than face punishment and subsequently smear the reputation of his House. Of course, running away would do that anyway, though to a lesser extent because there was technically no proof that Ricardo had actually done anything. Once he was away from the Academy, it would be almost impossible to hold him accountable for his actions because House Floris had enough power to shield the runaway student from most consequences – as long as he did his duty and joined the SIC as all Nobles with potential did.

All that Larek heard about the investigation made him relieved that they hadn’t found anything, especially the bodies he had hidden down in the tunnels. When he thought about it too long, he still couldn’t believe he had done something like that and had enough focus to hide the evidence, which was just another aspect of his actions he was worried about. Regardless, he attempted to put it all behind him and move on from it, even as nightmares still plagued him, because the more he dwelled on it, the worse he felt about the entire thing.

As for Larek, what he did during these days of convalescence that he shared with his roommates was to design future Fusions and learn as much as Nedira was able to teach him. The fourth-year came by every night to hang out with them, and she was finally able to teach him some spells. There were only a few that he was able to pick up entirely, as while he could memorize the spell pattern she would create for each spell, unless she actually activated and cast the spell by infusing it with Mana, thereby seeing the results, he was unable to “learn” it. Obviously, there were only a few spells that she was able to use in an enclosed space without a training hoop for safety, but the ones he did learn he thought might be useful in one way or another.

New Spell learned!

Binding Roots

Magnitude: 6-foot by 6-foot area

Duration: 20 seconds

Base Elemental Effect (Bind): Binds target with roots

Base Elemental Strength: 20

Base Mana Cost: 50

Base Pattern Cohesion: 8

New Spell learned!

Rapid Plant Growth

Magnitude: 5 X 5 foot area, variable maturity

Duration: Permanent

Base Elemental Effect (Natural Growth): Causes target plants in range to mature rapidly

Base Mana Cost: 10

Base Pattern Cohesion: 2

New Spell learned!

Wall of Thorns

Magnitude: 6 X 6 X 1 feet

Duration: 20 seconds

Base Elemental Effect (Barrier): Prevents physical effects from passing through

Base Elemental Effect (Thorns): Damages those who contact the Wall of Thorns

Base Damage Resistance: 30

Base Elemental Damage: 3

Base Mana Cost: 35

Base Pattern Cohesion: 6

New Spell learned!

Bark Skin

Base Elemental Effect (Damage Resistance): Enhances the toughness of target’s skin

Base Damage Resistance: 20

Base Effective Range: On Touch

Base Mana Cost (Initial): 60

Base Mana Cost (Channeling): 20 per minute

Base Pattern Cohesion: 9

Binding Roots was a spell he’d seen her use before when she was fighting those winged cats back at Crystalview, but it was amazing to finally learn it. Rapid Plant Growth wasn’t necessarily useful by itself as far as Larek was concerned, but it was frequently used to help grow plants for food purposes as well as defenses, such as rapidly growing a bunch of bushes to help funnel monsters toward a trap. It was useful in conjunction with an Aquamancer, as it could even be used on seeds as long as there was water available to get its initial growth started.

Wall of Thorns was fairly self-explanatory, as the spell essentially created a 6-foot-by-6-foot wall of thick roots that were 1-foot thick, with the roots possessing sharp thorns that would impale whatever impacted it. It was different from the Wind Barrier that Larek already knew because it was capable of inflicting damage, though its ability to stop magical effects was limited because they could slip through the relatively wide spaces in between the roots.

Lastly, Bark Skin was another channeled spell similar to the Minor Mending spell he had learned back at Crystalview Academy, though it served a different function. Instead of healing, the Bark Skin spell was designed to enhance the toughness of someone’s skin, giving it a measure of damage resistance. When Nedira used it on him, he felt his skin tighten in a way that was right on the edge of being uncomfortable, and it darkened the color of his skin a few shades. It impaired his movement slightly when he moved around with it active, which she needed to pay a Mana Cost to maintain, and she was only able – until she learned more and increased her Spellcasting Focus Skill – to maintain one Bark Skin and cast one other, non-channeled, spell at the same time.

It was an unusual experience, but he could certainly see some potential applications for the effect it produced. In an unusual experiment, when Nedira cast it on Verne, who already had a bark-like skin, it had absolutely no visible effect – but he said that it made him feel stronger, as if it enhanced his natural strength. Not a lot, he expressed, but it nonetheless notable.

Nedira didn’t know many spells that weren’t part of her Naturalist specialization other than the ones he already knew, but she also knew quite a few offensive spells that she wasn’t able to safely create in their room. She promised to show him later once she had more room, but teaching spells to lower-year students was technically forbidden unless expressly given permission, so doing that in the full view of anyone watching – such as in the park – was probably not the best idea. He might be able to get away with simply observing as she “practiced” her spells while out there, but again he didn’t want to inadvertently get them both in trouble.

After learning those spells, he came up with some Fusion designs that he wanted to try and spent a bit of time playing with different grid formations – but he didn’t create a single Fusion. The memory of his previous, deadly Fusions were still prevalent in his mind, and he needed some more time to get past their role in what he’d done. While his mind was healing, he found that it was going to take a little more time to become fully comfortable with creating something again. It wouldn’t be that long, however; he was slowly getting the itch to start focusing on creating another Fusion soon, and he knew he had to get past his mental block soon if he was ever going to do it.

As such, the rest of the week went by rather tamely, with nothing in particular to note, but by the time their rest day came, Larek and his roommates were feeling almost as normal as could be. There would be some mental wounds that would take a little longer to heal than anything physical that had been done to them, but it would come in time.

Being cooped up in their room for so long had made them want to get out and about, so on their rest day, they all decided to get out and walk around the park, enjoying the fresh air and open space that they had missed.

Book 2 Chapter 52: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-84337467