The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“Hey, help with the unloading, would you?”

Larek heard the shout coming from the back of the carriage soon after it stopped. An open hatchway led out to the bright sun of the outdoors, which was nearly blinding after being in the relative darkness of the cargo hold for the last number of hours.

Over the previous few minutes, the sound and movement of the vehicle had changed; it was both rougher and louder as the wheels rolled over what sounded like cobblestones, and the sounds of voices outside of the carriage’s frame could be heard. It didn’t take them long to determine that they had reached another town or city on their route down south.

“Sure thing!” Crester shouted back, and everyone inside the cargo hold moved to the back hatch. Larek’s first glimpse of the town outside, once his eyes adjusted to the bright light of the slowly fading day, was that it appeared very similar to Garventon, though in this case he doubted there were thousands of dead Bog Goblins outside the walls. Because they weren’t distracted by having just been attacked by an unheard-of amount of monsters, the people reacted just the way they normally did when they saw him and his height emerge from the back of the carriage, already holding a crate that had been pointed out to him by the one that had asked for their help.

He ignored their expressions of disgust and muttered insults as he moved to drop off the crate of supplies he was carrying into a storage area nearby. He found that the more he encountered such responses to his appearance, the less he cared about it; he was still aware of it, of course, but it bothered him less and less as time went on. In fact, he found himself smiling at those that seemed the most affected by his height, which immediately improved his mood as they flinched back in surprise.

What was even stranger was that those that he smiled at, when he saw them on his way back from dropping off another crate or sack of supplies, just looked at him in confusion.

“They don’t know how to react now,” Nedira suddenly said by his side with a barely audible chuckle when she saw him looking. “I told you before, there is an instinctual hatred and fear of tall people here in the Kingdom, but when you smiled at them, you completely disrupted their thought processes. I’m sure you’ve already seen changes in those you’ve spent enough time with, haven’t you?”

Larek thought about it for a moment before nodding. “But they didn’t act like that, though,” he said, pointing his thumb back at the confused people who were staring at him. In fact, his usual response was either fear or at best indifference, not confusion.

This time she laughed out loud, not bothering with hiding a chuckle. “That’s because you didn’t react like they expected!”

“What do you mean?”

Nedira took her time before responding. “Well, what is your normal response to those reacting this way to you?”

“Ignoring them?” That sounded about right to him.

“Exactly. That just shows them that they are right in their reaction to you, because you are obviously someone that deserves to be hated or feared.”

Larek shook his head. “What? How does that make any sense?”

“Because you obviously think you’re better than they are and beneath your notice. If you were to respond with violence, that would also reinforce their incorrect viewpoint.”

“But I don’t think that I’m better—”

She put her hand on his arm, interrupting him as they walked back to the carriage to grab more supplies. “I know that, Larek, but that’s how it is seen to the people of this Kingdom. Don’t ask me why or even how they all feel this way, other than being enslaved by the giant Gergasi around a thousand years ago; granted, that is definitely something that might stick in the minds of a people for a long time, but their instinctual hatred and fear is something ingrained in them, not based on memories or stories told about that time in their history.”

Larek had thought about what Nedira had told him about that before, and it didn’t make any more sense to him now even after more explanation. “And when I smiled at them?”

She chuckled again, though not as loudly as her laughter before. “Let me ask you this: How would you react if a monster emerged from a Scission and, instead of attacking you, stopped to talk or smile at you in a friendly matter?”

He instantly understood what she was getting at, because he would be thoroughly confused, though it also gave him a new perspective on his situation. They see me as some sort of monster?

As if reading his thoughts, Nedira went on. “No, you’re not a monster, either, but it’s the best comparison I could think of. But do you understand what I’m trying to say?”

Larek nodded. It still didn’t explain everything, but it helped, nonetheless.

The unloading didn’t take nearly as long as he expected and they were ready to leave within an hour, though the Canniks needed another few hours of rest before they could depart. The delay gave Larek and his friends a chance to walk around the town and continue to stretch their legs a little bit before they were shoved back into the cargo hold of the carriage again.

It also gave them a chance to discuss some things without Rheina or Crester being nearby – though all four of them checked to make sure the stealthy Martial wasn’t eavesdropping on their conversation like she had in Garventon.

“So, tell me: What happened with that Fusion? What did it do to you?” Nedira asked him as they slowly walked along the wide town streets. Verne and Norde were walking ahead of them, where they could hear the conversation but also keep an eye out for anyone attempting to get too close.

Larek described what happened to his body and his Pneuma and Pattern Cohesion without going into too much detail about the specific amounts because he didn’t think it was important. Besides, he didn’t want them to think he was even more abnormal than he already was, because he could tell they were still getting used to him having Martial stats and the Skills that went with them.

When no one responded to his explanation of what had happened to him with the Body Boost Fusion, likely because they also had no idea why it occurred, he asked something that had been on his mind ever since he unlocked any of his stats. “I have to know: Are there other people with both Martial and Mage stats? How do you think people of the Kingdom will react after learning about… me?”  As all three of his friends were originally from different places altogether, their viewpoint might be a little skewed; what worried him the most was how the people of the Kingdom would respond to learning about his dual-stat situation.

“I… don’t know,” Nedira admitted, and it appeared as though neither Verne nor Norde knew, either. “I’ve never heard of anyone having both before, at least. As for how they would react, I’d like to say that they would rejoice and would want to encourage both sides of your abilities, but after just having a conversation about your height and how they already believe that you think you are better than them, I can’t see them looking positively upon you.” She paused for a moment before adding something that chilled him despite it being relatively warm outside. “They may even seek to contain and study you somewhere until they can figure out how you have both. Or they might end up killing you because you are too much of an unknown.”

That was what he had feared, but hearing someone else say it was almost worse.

“Needless to say, I know, but I would keep that information to yourself,” Verne spoke up, facing toward Larek as he walked backwards. “As for your other problem, the one with the Fusion that locked up your body, I believe I have an idea of what happened.”

“What, really?” Nedira asked incredulously.

“Yes, really,” Larek’s roommate said excitedly. “At least, I believe so!”

“Then, why did that Fusion do that to his body?”

Verne looked at Larek in the eye and he suddenly had a serious expression on his face. “My people believe that there is a strong connection between our physical body, our spiritual self, and nature. It’s how I have an ability to manipulate and shape wood, as well as a few other innate abilities that aren’t important right now, but what is important is how this might – and I emphasize might – apply to your situation.” He paused before asking a question. “Am I right in assuming you have a disproportionally high Pattern Cohesion?”

Larek nearly missed a step, despite not walking very fast. How does he know that?

“I knew it!”  Nedira punched him in his lower arm, which didn’t hurt but surprised him, nonetheless. “When you accidentally mentioned that you had over 1,000, I thought you were just messing with me; I always thought it was true, however.”

Larek remembered inadvertently saying that to her around the same time he had created the Fusions for her staff, but figured she had forgotten. Turning his attention back to Verne, he nodded. “I do. Quite high, actually.”

“That’s what I thought. Of course, it makes sense with the strength of the Fusions you can create, but it also confirms my theory,” his roommate responded. “I believe there is a connection between your physical form and your spiritual self that transcends normal boundaries and conventions. You obviously already have an extremely strong internal spiritual framework, but it is further enhanced by the overall state of your physical body.”

Larek understood Verne’s words, but the meaning behind them was lost upon him. “What exactly does that mean?”

“Simply put, as your Body gets stronger, so too will your Pneuma and Pattern Cohesion.”

“But I’ve already increased my Pneuma with a few Advancement Points and my Pneuma Boost armlet; wouldn’t that affect my physical body, then?”

Verne shook his head. “No, I don’t believe so. I think it only works the opposite way. It’s like having a large bowl made of stone, which is your body, holding a bunch of water – which is your Pattern Cohesion. When you increased your Pneuma through different means, you’re essentially adding more water to the bowl – but it will eventually fill up until you can’t add any more. I don’t know what that limit is right now, but you likely surpassed it earlier. I believe this is what locked your body up as your exceeded what you could hold as far as Pattern Cohesion.

“However, with your Body stat, you can increase the size of the bowl to hold more water and enhance what it already has inside. This is what happened when your Pneuma and Pattern Cohesion increased by 50% when you held the Body Boost Fusion.

“The problem was that you increased your Body stat all at once, which made the bowl unstable because it was a rush job and possessed flaws and cracks in its construction. Over time, you probably would’ve automatically repaired those flaws and cracks, but I have no idea how long that would take. As it is, you have to be careful not to add too much to your Body stat all at one time to avoid a repeat of what happened to you.”

The more the boy spoke, the more he seemed to make sense. Larek wasn’t sure if everything Verne said was 100% accurate, but his analogy certainly seemed like a real possibility of being true.

“What’s the solution, then?”

“I think what he’s trying to get at is to gradually add to your Body stat,” Nedira answered before his roommate could. Verne nodded in agreement. “You still have some Advancement Points, right?”

Larek consulted his Status and confirmed he still did; he had 40 of them, in fact.

“Then when we get back into he carriage, I think you should add a single point into Body to see how you handle it.”

It was a little worrying thinking about sending himself back into that helpless state again, but he had to admit that they both had a point. Besides, it was only a single Advancement Point, so it couldn’t be that bad. Could it?

He was only partially wrong.

A few hours of wandering around later, they were back on the carriage and Larek planted himself in his little corner of the cargo hold. As soon as they were underway, apparently to make one more delivery before stopping for the night, he directed one of his AP into his Body stat.

At first, he couldn’t feel anything happen, but within a few seconds he felt a pulse echo out of his Stama supply and reverberate through his entire body, weakening his muscles to the point where he could barely move. It wasn’t as debilitating as his experience with the Body Boost Fusion, but he still felt as weak as a newborn; thankfully, he could still functionally move his eyes and head, as well as minimally manipulate his fingers, but lifting his extremities was almost impossible. He could also speak, which helped him to let his friends know what was happening to him as they grew concerned.

It took nearly 2 hours before the effects started to wear off, as he gradually felt everything return to normal. When Larek looked at his Status, he found that his Pneuma had increased by 5 to 109; with his Pneuma Boost +9 armlet, that raised it to 207, consequently bringing his Pattern Cohesion to 2,070 up from 1,980. From what he could tell, each point in Body was equivalent to 5 Pneuma, which at 21 was 105; with the additional 4 AP he had directed toward there while still at Crystalview, that brought it to 109. Whyit worked that way, he didn’t know, but his roommate’s theory had certainly proven to be fairly accurate.

If only raising my Body stat wasn’t so debilitating, I could have an even larger amount of Pattern Cohesion in no time. Then again, I’m not really feeling a lack of Pattern Cohesion, so I guess it can wait.

By the time he had recovered and adjusted to the extra point in his Body stat, they arrived at another town, where he helped to unload once again. Afterwards, he – along with everyone else – was tired enough after the day that he slept in the cargo hold all night despite the relatively uncomfortable accommodations.

He didn’t wake up until the next morning when the carriage began its journey south once again.

Book 2 Chapter 16: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-81995553