The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 35

Chapter 35

New Fusion Learned!

Spellcasting Focus Boost +4

Activation Method(s): Reactive

Effect: Boosts the Level of the Spellcasting Focus Skill

Input: Physical touch

Variable(s): Evaluate the presence of a Mage

Magnitude: 4 Levels

Mana Cost: 2000

Pattern Cohesion: 80

Fusion Time: 10.5 hours

Fusion has reached Level 21!

Pattern Formation has reached Level 21!

Mana Control has reached Level 21!

Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 10!

Pattern Recognition has reached Level 11!

The increase in his Mage Skills was a welcome – if shocking, as they made him feel dizzy and slightly overwhelmed as they took effect – reward for finishing his first Intermediate Fusion.  All of them had been essentially stuck where they had been at, as the Basic Fusions he’d been able to create before weren’t enough to challenge him, so to see them finally moving was a relief.  As a bonus, his Spellcasting Focus had even gone up a Level, which meant that its base Level of 10 was now actually 14 when he held the new Fusion he had just created.

What it actually did for him, he wasn’t entirely sure since he wasn’t technically casting spells, but he suspected that it might help a little with his focus during Fusions. The books he had read mentioned that it helped accustom Fusionists to the trance that most of them needed to fall into in order to focus during long Fusion creation periods, but Larek was more than a little unique in that respect. Regardless, he figured it couldn’t hurt to have more.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing you do that. It’s incredible.”

Larek looked up from his completed Fusion to see Nedira staring at him, or more accurately the steel plate in his hands. Feeling a little shy for some reason, he shrugged and held it out to her. “Do you… want to see it? It’s not much, but for my first Intermediate Fusion, I don’t think it’s too bad.”

“Absolutely.” She took it and her eyes widened as she looked at the Fusion. “This is a beautifully crafted Fusion, Larek. I think I’m able to see it because it’s a lower Magnitude than what you’re used to creating, but there’s no way I’d be able to reproduce something like this,” she said, shaking her head. “Oh! And it works, too, as it raised my Spellcasting Focus by a whole 4 Levels!”

Larek sagged in relief, knowing that the Fusion would work for someone other than himself. With how new the process was to him, he wouldn’t have been surprised if it had somehow been tied to only working for just him, so it was good to know that it was working as intended.

Verne and Norde came over at Nedira’s words, and soon enough, they were admiring Larek’s Fusion as well. “You know, if I have something like this when I begin casting my first spells, I think that would help a lot!” Verne exclaimed.

“You know, that’s not a bad idea.” Nedira put her finger up to her lips and tapped them a few times as she thought about it. “I wonder why these aren’t provided to second-years when they begin casting their first spells?”

Larek thought he knew the answer to that. “It’s because it requires knowledge of Intermediate Fusions,” he explained. “That, and this one would normally take someone around 10 hours to create, according to what my notification said. From what I understand, anyone studying Intermediate Fusions and above probably wouldn’t have time to create them for use by other students, but I could be wrong.”

“Or it’s a crutch that they don’t want students to rely on, especially when they’re just starting to learn the process,” Norde pointed out.

All of those were valid reasons, but rather than debate the advantages and disadvantages of the Spellcasting Focus Skill, he shooed Verne and Norde away from his bed. “Alright, that was just the first—and easiest—of the Fusions I’m creating tonight, so back to being quiet.”

The reluctantly left, leaving just Nedira and Larek sitting on his bed. With a smile and a wave for him to go on and start, she held onto his finished Fusion. He nodded and got back to work. With the Simple Intermediate Fusion out of the way, it was time to move on to a Lesser Classification.  For this one, he employed a 3-by-3 grid formation to create a permanent dual-Effect Fusion. It was actually one that he was planning on putting on his axe at some point, because it would be a huge improvement over what it already possessed.

This version on the steel plate would have a much lower Magnitude, however, both for safety and because a higher Magnitude could push it over to the next Classification. First, he placed two Mana Cost sections that had an Equalizer in between them along the bottom row of the grid. After that, it was a relatively basic inclusion of Permanent Activation Methods, a Magnitude of 1, and one Effect as Sharpen Steel Edge and the other Effect as Strengthen Steel. Once they were in place, containment barriers went up along with the Mana Overflow Bypass, even if it wasn’t strictly necessary, but he wanted to become familiar with the process. After checking to ensure that the flow of Mana would cycle through what was essentially 2 separate but equal Fusions fused into one whole, he began the creation process.

With his new visualization of everything worked together to create a single Fusion, the entire thing only took a total of a single minute.  It was actually easier than the Simple Intermediate Fusion that he had just made a short time ago, if only because he’d created the individual Effects before.

New Fusion Learned!

Strengthen and Sharpen Steel Edge +1

Activation Method(s): Permanent

Effect: Strengthens and sharpens steel edge

Magnitude: 100% increased durability and sharper edge

Mana Cost: 85

Pattern Cohesion: 2

Fusion Time: 31 minutes

Fusion has reached Level 22!

Pattern Formation has reached Level 22!

Yes! Not only did he increase two of his skills again, but Larek also Leveled-up, himself.

Larek Holsten

Fusionist

Level 13

Advancement Points (AP) : 0/14

Available AP to Distribute: 52

Mana: 760/760

Stama: 200/200

Strength: 30 (+)

Body: 21 (+)

Agility: 30 (+)

Intellect: 40 [76] (+)

Acuity: 104 [198] (+)

Pneuma: 109 [207] (+)

Pattern Cohesion: 2,070/2,070

He still wasn’t sure what to do with all his Advancement Points, as he didn’t feel as though he was in need of anything in particular at this time, so he continued to hold on to them for the moment. In addition, based on his experiences when adding them to different stats, he didn’t want to become incapacitated while in the middle of creating Fusions; whatever he chose to spend them on would have to be done later.

After checking the Fusion itself, he shallowly cut his hand on the left edge of the steel plate, which had become sharp because of the Effect. It wasn’t nearly as bad as what his axe would’ve done if he accidentally picked it up incorrectly, but it was still sharp enough to break his skin when he gripped it too tight. Rather than let it start to bleed more than small amount that was already squeezing out, a quick activation of his Healing Surge +3 anklet fixed it up as good as new.

“Careful with that edge – it’s sharp,” he said to Nedira, placing the finished Fusion in front of him and within the fourth-year’s reach.

“Noted. I think I’ll leave that one right there.”

He grinned at her because he didn’t blame her for wanting to be cautious, but Larek moved on to his third of five Fusions he was going to make tonight: a Minor Intermediate Classification Fusion.

With only about a minute of rest to refocus on his next Fusion, he quickly got started with what he was planning.  This one was slightly more complicated and one that he didn’t see in any of his books, but he thought it might work, nonetheless. It was a single Reactive Effect in a 3-by-3 grid formation, which was going to have multiple Inputs and a pair of Variables; it barely qualified as a Minor Intermediate Fusion if only because of its size, but from what he could determine by the characteristics it would cap out at a Classification of 15.

Quickly forming the grid, he placed the single Mana Cost section in the lower left-hand corner before filling in the rest. The first Input was based on physical touch with whoever was holding it – easy enough. The second Input was based on detecting something in the environment; in this case, it was to detect foreign objects within a foot of the one holding the fusion traveling at a certain speed. These two Inputs were connected to a Variable section that would only activate if the object were traveling at 5 miles per hour or more.

Once activated, this would connect to the Reactive Activation Method, then to an Effect that would create a thick barrier of hardened air in an open-topped cylinder around the person holding the Fusion, with a Magnitude of 4 in the next section. In addition to the Activation Method connecting to the Effect, it also created a loop with the original Variable and another Variable that determined if the speed was over a threshold of 80 miles per hour. This was also looped in with an Amplifier connected to the Magnitude; if something was moving faster than that 80 mile per hour threshold, the Amplifier would kick in and double the amount of ambient Mana being absorbed by the Fusion, increasing the Magnitude and pushing it into a stronger barrier that could withstand more damage before failing.

He got the idea after learning the Wind Barrier spell and thinking about the fights between the Martials he’d seen in the yard. With their quick strikes, which reminded him of how fast monsters he’d seen before were able to attack, he thought it might be a good way to prevent being hurt by a sudden assault in the future.

This particular one took him nearly 15 minutes of keeping all the different components meshed together in his mind into a whole Fusion to complete, as well as requiring a larger amount of Mana and Pattern Cohesion than expected, but once it *snapped* into place, he smiled in satisfaction—after recovering from the onslaught—when the notifications rolled in.

New Fusion Learned!

Personal Air Deflection Barrier +4

Activation Method(s): Reactive

Effect: Creates a stationary cylindrical barrier of hardened air

Input(s): Physical touch, external object at speed

Variable(s): Speed detection over 10 miles per hour, Speed detection over 80 miles per hour

Magnitude: 200 damage resistance

Mana Cost: 25,000

Pattern Cohesion: 120

Fusion Time: 25 hours

Fusion has reached Level 23!

Pattern Formation has reached Level 23!

Mana Control has reached Level 22!

Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 11!

Pattern Recognition has reached Level 12!

Whoops! That’s a little more powerful than I expected.

Thankfully, when he looked at it closer, he had the sense that it was still within the Minor Intermediate Fusion Classification, but it was teetering right on the edge into Major. Regardless, it was time to test it out.

Unfolding his legs from where they had been crossed on the bed, he eased himself off the bed and stood in the middle of the room before looking at Verne and Norde. “Throw something at me as hard as you can.”

Without hesitating, Verne picked up one of his books and chucked it at Larek. I guess I should’ve specified not to throw it at my face. He flinched as the book flew to within a foot of smashing into his face before an opaque barrier of air appeared all around him an inch away from his skin and robes in an oblong, cylindrical shape that extended a foot over the top of his head. He couldn’t see anything because of the opaqueness of the barrier, but he heard a brief impact before another, louder one, and then the hardened air disappeared like it was supposed to after a few seconds of not detecting any other object at speed.

When he could see the room again, he saw the book on the floor and the astonished faces of his roommates.

“Whoa! What was that?!” Both Verne and Norde were extremely excited about the Fusion he had made as he explained what it did, but Nedira looked thoughtful.

“What happens if you’re moving when that happens? What happens if you are running quickly and suddenly come to within a foot of an object?  Does it consider a rapidly moving ground an object? Will it stop magical spells? What happens when the barrier breaks from too much damage? Does it break the Fusion or is there a recharge time before it can be used again?”

As those and a few more questions rolled in from the fourth-year, Larek realized he hadn’t exactly thought about it that far; he didn’t have the answers to any of them, but the only way to find them out was to test it. He suddenly became a lot less enthused about his Fusion than he had been just a minute before, and he realized he had fallen into the same trap as his Healing Surge Fusion. At first glance, it seemed like a good solution to a problem, but when he dug into it further, more than a few problems presented themselves.

A quick test as he tried to walk while the barrier was activated by another thrown book showed that his moving arms were trapped in the barrier of hardened air and he was effectively stuck in place as his face ran into the barrier from the momentum. Thankfully, it didn’t hurt the extremities that were caught in the hardened air, but they were effectively stuck in place until the barrier disappeared. After that happened, he didn’t bother testing anything else, as he had a feeling that they would fail, as well.

“It looks like it needs work and a little more research,” he admitted.

Slightly disappointed, he sat back on his bed and crossed his legs to get comfortable.

“It’s a good idea, Larek, but perhaps you can refine it as you learn more about Fusions,” Nedira told him, leaning over from where she sat and put her hand on his knee. “I’m sure an Advanced Fusion could solve all those problems.”

Heartened a little at her encouragement, he shook off the disappointment as he considered her words. While he didn’t know much about Advanced Fusions yet, he had a feeling she was right; as he added more Inputs, Variables, and potentially things he hadn’t even learned about yet, he was sure he could refine the Fusion to the point where it would actually do what he envisioned. He briefly thought about trying again and attempting to refine his focus on the Effect to make some of those changes, but he intuitively knew that trying to alter the Effect that much wouldn’t be effective. A few of the problems could likely be solved by a few alterations, but overall it was only going to be a work-in-progress until he could learn more.

Centering himself as he pushed thoughts of ways to rework the only semi-successful Fusion out of his mind, Larek began the creation of a Major Intermediate Fusion….

Book 2 Chapter 36: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-83812847