The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 39

Chapter 39

The Mage sighed in apparent relief at Larek’s words before turning to one of the Martial trainees. He appeared as though he was going to say something to him, but before he could speak, everyone seemed to freeze where they were as they felt a pressure invading their senses.

The Scissions are opening. I need to get back to my room, check on my roommates, and help Nedira!

“We have to get up there and make an appearance, otherwise the faculty will begin to ask questions,” the one in the yellow robe proclaimed, and it was clear that he had changed what he was about to say. He followed up with, “Do it,” as he glanced at the male trainee and then back to Larek.

As the Martial pulled out what looked like some sort of oversized blacksmith’s hammer from his belt and headed towards Larek, the Mage continued. “We’ll be back to ask some more questions, including what you’re doing here in the first place. Now, don’t go anywhere, because it would just be a pain if you were to inconvenience me in my efforts to secure your undivided attention again.” He then pulled out a sack of something by the door and tossed it just to Larek’s right. “Not that you’re likely to be moving anytime soon, what with the damage to your legs, even with Body Regeneration.”

It took him a moment to realize what the Mage was getting at and he began to struggle harder against his bindings. Just as he was about to snap them free, a powerful smack against his head had his vision going blurry, which also worked to disrupt his escape attempt.

“No, no, no! Don’t even think of trying to break out of here, because I’m not afraid to simply kill you and be done with it. You have some important information that I desire, but having you free to cause me or any other Noble problems isn’t worth the risk if you prove to be uncooperative.”

“Aren’t you—aren’t you a-afraid of the G-Great Ones retali… retalia… retaliating?” Larek’s words stuttered and slurred as they came out, his vision still blurry and his head hurting nearly as bad as it had earlier.

“Retaliation? No, not really. I have no orders to spare you any harm, nor any other half-breed, which means they probably don’t care about you enough to make it an order. They may be our masters, but that doesn’t mean we don’t hate them with the same passion as the commoners on the inside; all of this is just a way to get back of them in the only way we can. Besides, how will they even know?” While Larek couldn’t see his face, even before his now-blurry vision and blinding headache, he could hear the self-satisfied smirk in his voice.

“See you later, half-breed.” As the Mage began to walk out what appeared to be a stone door, Larek felt a sudden pressure on his left leg followed by a crunch. Enormous pain shot through his body as he screamed in agony, but it was just the start.

A minute and dozens of blows later, Larek passed out due to the overwhelming shock of having both legs smashed to pieces, the bones inside them shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Unfortunately, he ended waking up a few minutes later as his Body Regeneration kicked in and began the process of healing him, which made him suffer through the unending agony without any relief in the near future. The Skill was powerful, but it was also relatively slow to repair horrific damage to his body like what he was currently suffering from. Even as he felt it Level-up again, he didn’t think his legs would be ready to walk on again for at least a full day, if not more.

Pain Management has reached Level 13!

Body Regeneration has reached Level 11!

The pain lessened almost imperceptibly with the additional Level in Pain Management, and he could only hope that it continued to increase in the near future. As it was, there was nothing he could do to alleviate the pain, given that he didn’t have his Healing Surge anklet on him; theoretically, he could probably make another Fusion to heal him, but he couldn’t focus with the extreme pain emanating from his ruined legs.

Though, there might be something I can do.

It was a slight risk, given his situation, but he thought it might work. Back on the carriage as they were traveling to Copperleaf Academy, Larek had experimented with adding an Advancement Point to his Body; the result was overall positive, but at the time his entire body had been locked up with him unable to move anything below his neck for at least a half hour before the affliction slowly began to dissipate, disappearing after two full hours.  What he thought it might have done was basically numb his body while it underwent the changes he implemented; if that was the case, then this should help him survive the pain without going crazy. If not, then he was going to be in a world of pain with no way to alleviate it.

So, not much different from his current situation.

It was a simple enough process to add a point to his Body stat despite the unbearable pain he was experiencing, and immediately upon confirming that was what he wanted, everything below his head on his body went rigid and he lost all control of it, all at the same time. Unfortunately, his loss of feeling through his body didn’t completely numb the pain, but it muted it to the point where it was like his legs were laying on a bed of sharp rocks that pinched the skin. It was painful, but not unbearably so like it was before, so it was a net benefit.

His mind also cleared a little from the diminished agony he was undergoing, though he couldn’t focus enough to create a Fusion – something he had hoped he might have been able to do. Instead, there was very little he actually could do other than sit there and wait.  After a half-hour, some of the sensation began coming back to his lower extremities, bringing back more of the pain, so he slotted in another AP into his Body stat, bringing it to 23.

It was a risk, given that he hadn’t fully “recovered” from the first increase, but he really didn’t want to re-experience the original extreme pain again if he could help it. Thankfully, it didn’t seem to hurt; in fact, it took even more of the agonizing pain away as soon as it was added. It made his head immobile, though thankfully he was still able to breathe and blink with no trouble. Within 15 minutes, the pain started to come back a little, so he added another AP to Body. Nothing became worse as a result, and he was able to manage the sensations he actually could feel coming from his legs with very little problem; his head even cleared entirely, allowing him to think freely again. Given that he couldn’t move his head or do much of anything physical at the moment, creating a Fusion was still out of the question, but he’d take what he could get – and what he was getting was relief from the pain.

After approximately 10 minutes, the pain began creeping back in and Larek started to worry that his method was becoming less effective. Still, he had Points to spend, so he only hesitated a few seconds before adding another one to Body. After around 7 minutes, which he was counting in his head to give himself something to do, he added yet another AP. 5 minutes later, he did it again, then at 3 minutes, 1 minute, and finally after 30 seconds. That brought him up to 30 Body, matching the 30 Strength and 30 Agility he already possessed.

As if that was somehow significant, Larek felt something inside of his shift. It wasn’t painful, at least at first, but there was a wave of heat that passed through his body that he could feel despite everything being semi-numb at the moment. It began to become painful when the heatwave passed through his lower extremities, seemingly aggravating the damage that had been done there.

In a panic as the torturous agony slammed into him, Larek added another AP to Body, hoping to numb the pain, but nothing happened. He did it again, hoping it was a fluke, but still nothing; his head didn’t get any worse, thankfully, but his efforts were obviously for naught.

Still panicking, he began adding AP to Strength and Agility to see if they would have any result. At first, nothing happened other than his muscles locking up and flexing in intervals, which probably would’ve hurt enormously if he hadn’t already been in almost overwhelming pain. When Strength, Body, and Agility were all at 32, something finally happened. The wave of heat slowed down a little, not causing him so much pain as it ravaged his legs; the difference was almost infinitesimal, but any relief of noticed in his current state. Adding 1 AP to each of his Martial stats again, bringing them all to 33, there was another reduction in his pain level.

So, he did it again… and again… and he kept doing it until they all reached 40. At that point he stopped as the heat wave disappeared entirely, sending him back to the semi-numb state he had been in before, but it was different than before.

The reason for that wasn’t immediately apparent, but he quickly realized after a few seconds that he was no longer affected by the addition of AP to his Body stat, nor was he affected by adding to Strength or Agility. He knew this, in part, because he was suddenly flooded by notifications.

Pain Management has reached Level 14!

…..

Pain Management has reached Level 20!

Pain Management has evolved into Pain Immunity!

Pain Immunity maintains previous Level!

Body Regeneration has reached Level 12!

…..

Body Regeneration has reached Level 25!

Not only had his Body Regeneration Skill increased to Level 25 from Level 11, but his Pain Management Skill had somehow evolved – something he’d never heard of before. He didn’t really care that he hadn’t heard of it, because it was doing as it was named; his legs were essentially numb at the moment, though he could move the rest of his body. He could attempt to move his legs, but they were still in the process of healing. In fact, with his Body RegenerationSkill having more than doubled, along with his base Body stat essentially doubling, he could sense that his healing was happening at a rapid pace. His original 24-hour estimate had been cut to just a few hours by that point, though he could feel himself becoming ravenous as his body used itself up to perform the healing.

The smell of something caught his attention and he looked over at the bag that the Mage had thrown near him. Peeking out from the top flap was the end of what appeared to be a loaf of bread, and it appeared so delicious that he immediately grabbed the bag and opened it up. As if he had just found a treasure more precious than gold, he tore into the bread, cheese, and slightly bruised fruit inside until he was full. A leather bottle filled with water was down on the bottom, which helped to rehydrate his body and replace the fluids that were being eaten up by his Body Regeneration. By the time he finally felt satisfied, he had eaten approximately two-thirds of the food in the bag and completely emptied the bottle; he decided to keep the rest of the food until later in case he needed it, though he was fairly certain he could put it down if he had to right then and there.

With his hunger and thirst satisfied, his legs essentially numb and transferring no pain to him, his head felt more clear than it had in a long time. So, he could either wait until his Skill healed him entirely in a few hours… or he could see about making some Fusions.

It was probably one of the easiest choices he’d ever made.

Book 2 Chapter 40: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-84067274