The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 18

Chapter 18

The journey through Thanchet was relatively uneventful, though Larek could tell that the city was much bigger than Peratin based on what he could observe. He’d seen it once he exited the carriage, of course, but walking through the streets lined with hundreds of different-sized buildings only emphasized the differences. Granted, the city that housed Crystalview Academy had been large, but it only looked as large as it was because it spread up the small mountain it had attached itself to like moss on the side of a tree. Spread out like it was, Thanchet wasn’t as obviously larger, but once he was actually walking within the city, he could feel the difference.

Thankfully, his experience seeing so many different towns and cities, as well as – at least briefly – the enormous capital city of the Kingdom, allowed him to take its size within stride. A half-year ago, he knew he would’ve been gaping at the sights out of wonder and ignorance, but he was inclined to think that his worldview had changed since then.

Oh, I’m still mightily ignorant of many things, but not nearly as much as I used to be.

“This environment is much better suited to me, I think,” Verne idly mentioned by his side. Larek looked at his roommate, who was smiling as his gaze was focused out into the distance. Seeing the forest that surrounded the city in most directions, he understood immediately.

“Do you miss your home?” he asked his roommate.

Verne nodded. “Of course. Don’t you?” At the last moment, the boy seemed to realize what he had said and opened his mouth to take it back, but Larek waved it off.

“I do,” he responded softly, thinking about his home near the Rushwood Forest. “But I’m sure they’re doing fine without me, as much as I want to return and see that they’re safe.”

Even though he was slightly worried about them with all of the abnormal Scission behavior going on up north, he could only hope that they would be fine. Even if he were to rush back immediately, it would take weeks or months of travel to arrive; if there were any trouble, he would likely be too late. Besides, the SIC existed for a reason, and as much as he didn’t appreciate being forcibly drafted into the organization, he’d already seen that they were quite effective in defending against sudden outbreaks by monsters. Granted, there weren’t any representatives of the SIC up near his home, but he could only hope that the strange occurrences were temporary and limited in range.

With each passing day, Larek’s desire to return to the Forest and cut down trees again all day faded to an afterthought instead of the driving desire that it had been soon after he left Rushwood. The biggest appeal it had to him was a return to simplicity, where he didn’t have to think about anything but applying his entire focus to a specific purpose, but that had gradually been replaced by his new obsession: Fusions.

Is “obsession” too strong of a word? Based on what happened back at Crystalview, obsession might be exactly what it was.

Now that he was aware of how he could lose himself into the process of creating Fusions, he was hoping he could avoid that from happening again. That, and now that he had a few friends among the students, namely Verne, Norde, and Nedira, he could rely on them to snap him out of such a state if he ever fell into it again. At least, that was what he had mentioned to them at one point during their journey south, and they agreed to help if such a happenstance occurred.

“Yeah, I can understand that. I miss my family as well, but I also know that I’m exactly where I need to be right now,” Verne said.  “But having all of these trees nearby reminds me enough of the Dyran Hearthwood that its almost like they’re here with me.”

His roommate’s statement brought with it something that Larek had wondered about for a while. An overheard conversation or two back in Crystalview gave him a small indication of what the likely answer was, but didn’t explain it completely.

“Why didn’t you come here, then?” he asked. “Why Crystalview? There really aren’t a lot of trees there, as you saw.”

Instead of the boy answering, Nedira spoke up from his other side. “It’s because enrollment of new students to Copperleaf, Silverledge, and Goldpoint Academies is generally reserved for individuals from the Kingdom, mostly Nobles. You’ll see very few, if any, students from outside of the Kingdom at one of those Academies; we might be the only ones in our years, in fact.”

“Really? Is having the abilities of a Mage or Martial that rare outside of the Kingdom?”

She shook her head, which he could see out of the corner of his eye. “Not necessarily, but only those that are dedicated to unlocking specific potential come to the Kingdom,” she explained. “Most of the time, the abilities that we take for granted as a Mage manifest in different ways, such as what young Verne over here can do with wood.”

His roommate nodded. “That is true. I’m one of the first to come to the Kingdom to learn to be a Mage,” he said. “Most of the others from the Hearthwood rely on their innate connection to nature to become more powerful, and while they can become quite strong, I wanted to pursue a different path.”

“And those from my homeland of Tyrendel are similar in that connection to nature, but we typically take it in a different direction,” Nedira added. “Whereas those from the Dyran Hearthwood are more focused on manipulating trees and everything connected to them, we are more focused on all growth and applying those skills to improve and defend our land. There’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s the easiest way I can explain it to those who aren’t a part of our culture.”

As Larek learned more about the world, he began to feel smaller among the entire scope of things. Based on his classes at Crystalview, it seemed like the Kingdom had been the center of the world, but in reality it was only a small part of it.

He was slowly skewing his thoughts to these changes in his worldview, but it was all still new enough that it was difficult for him to fully comprehend. Rather than strain his perception of the world too much, he instead latched onto something else that Nedira had said a little earlier.

“So, Crystalview is the only one that accepts new students from other lands? Or, at least, for the most part?” he asked.

“That is correct.”

“Then if the other three, Copperleaf included, are largely reserved for those from the Kingdom, how is it mostly that the Nobles that go there? Are these other Academies tiny?”

It didn’t make much sense to him, given that they were supposed to teach students from all over the Kingdom. From what he understood, the Nobles were outnumbered by every other person in the Kingdom by at least 1000 to 1, perhaps even more.

“No, they’re not tiny,” Nedira chuckled, gesturing up ahead. When Larek focused on what she was pointing at, he saw a massive structure up ahead, which he judged to be at least a 2,000 feet in width, as well as 100 feet in height; it dwarfed Crystalview Academy by at least three or four times, though he couldn’t tell from his perspective how deep it went. If it was in the shape of a square, it could potentially fit 8 or 9 Crystalview buildings inside of it.

“Whoa, what? How?”

Larek wasn’t sure what he was asking, as he was simply overwhelmed by the sheer size of the structure he was looking at. It wasn’t just the size, which was understandably impressive, but it was beautiful in a way that he hadn’t ever expected to use in describing a building before. Great, sweeping arches decorated the façade, showing what appeared to be large, colored glass windows that caused the outside to shine as it reflected the sun, and dozens of large wooden doors opened along the bottom perimeter of the half-white stone and half-wooden construction of the building. With the stone decorating the bottom portion with a carved, wavy line delineating the separation between the materials, it was almost like a forest of trees were growing out of a white sea.

“For some reason,” Nedira continued her response as Larek stared at the building they were heading toward, “Nobles in the Kingdom are around 90% more likely to have the potential to become a Mage or Martial, as opposed to common folk. From what I remember hearing, they say that only 10% of the normal people have that potential, but I heard a rumor that it is more like 1%.”

“That sounds very odd,” Larek stated. “Does that mean that most of the SIC people that we’ve met are Nobles?”

She shrugged. “Maybe? My understanding is that most of the higher-placed Nobles that become part of the SIC are those that are in charge, while those from minor families mingle within the ranks.”

Still staring at the gigantic building, he couldn’t help but think that there was no way that entire structure was full of Nobles. He mentioned this to Nedira.

“You’re right, it’s not,” she replied. “There are other students from influential families, such as merchants and others that the Kingdom decides are important, but common folk make up perhaps 10% of the population. Most of the Professors are from outside of the Kingdom, however.”

“What? Really? And how do you know all of this?”

Nedira nodded. “Yes, it’s true. Because of the Nobles being here, those in charge of the Academies decided that in order for Professors to have the authority to discipline students without fear of reprisal, most of the staff have to be from somewhere where the long arms of their family couldn’t reach. Not that they would, from what I’ve heard, because while they might be Noble, they are still needed in the defense of the Kingdom. It’s supposed to be some great honor rather than an obligation or duty, unlike with the common people.

“As for how I know all of this, some of my duties back in Crystalview, such as welcoming new students like I did with you, Larek, had me working with various Professors. Unlike their stoic personalities in your classes, you’d probably be surprised how much they like to gossip and complain about things when their students aren’t around,” she explained, chuckling.

“I’ve heard… somewhat the same about the other Academies and Nobles, though not in as great of detail,” Verne agreed.

It was good information, but it still didn’t explain how there were so many Nobles; he had thought they were rare.

“They are, uh, at least from what I hear, they are a bit… uh… promiscuous?”

Larek knew what the word meant, but he didn’t see how it applied.

“They breed like rabbits, Larek,” Verne supplied when Larek looked confused.

Ah. Alright.

Slightly uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going, he just nodded. At this point, the city streets began to narrow as they got closer to Copperleaf Academy, so they couldn’t really talk much without it all being overheard, anyway. Another half-hour saw them in the front of the grand entrance to the Academy, which was a massive, 30-foot-tall set of arched wooden doors banded with what appeared to be iron, and even at a distance Larek could see that both the wood and the iron doors possessed Strengthen Fusions on them. He wanted to get closer to them to see them in better detail, but he wasn’t able to stop as the doors swung open and they were ushered inside.

Unlike the entrance hall at Crystalview, they weren’t greeted by a massive space; instead, they were in a relatively small room that couldn’t have been more than 30 feet wide, lit by magical Fusion lights that were more ornate than the ones at his former Academy. Contrary to his original thought that the lower half of the building was all going to be constructed of stone, the internal walls were all made of planed, stained, and carved wood. Larek could tell immediately that it wasn’t made of Rushwood; rather, it was likely wood that came from the surrounding forests, as it was a lighter color even with the stain on it.

As he looked around at his new Academy, the doors shut behind him with a loud *boom*.

Book 2 Chapter 19: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-82346812