The Fusionist Book 2 -- Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“Oh, them?” Verne responded, in response to his question about the two that had broken up the potential fight earlier. “They’re Martials from Hilltower that were nearing graduation, so they were sent along to help protect us while they head to the capital for assignment within the SIC.”

“Really? For some reason, I expected them to be, uh, taller.” Both of the Martials had only been around 5 feet tall, and while that wasn’t exactly short, he’d seen plenty of Martial students – at least at a distance – from Fort Hilltower that were nearly 6 feet tall. “Not that being smaller makes any sort of difference, of course,” he quickly added to his short roommate.

“Ha, good save there.” Verne laughed softly before his expression turned serious and he looked around to see if anyone was listening. “Now, before anyone can interrupt, please tell me what happened over the last few months, including the night of the attack. We haven’t had the opportunity to really talk, as you know.”

That was definitely true; there had either been no time or too many people around to really talk. They had shared a couple of things while they walked, but Larek hadn’t been able to speak to anyone before they left Crystalview Academy, as it had been a chaotic mess.

Therefore, Larek described in greater detail than before the strange fugue that had afflicted him that led to him creating so many Healing Surge Fusions, along with how the destruction of a portion of the Academy was ultimately his fault, and then how many of the students that had been healed by his Fusion were put into comas as a result. The only thing he didn’t go into too much detail about was his sudden use of a Battle Art, because he wasn’t exactly ready to reveal that he had also had Martial-type stats – even to Verne. By the time he was done, he realized that it felt like a weight had been removed from his chest by the simple act of unburdening himself to his roommate.

“What do you think caused you to lose control like that? Has it happened before?” the tree-like boy asked, seeming to be genuinely curious.

Larek shook his head slowly. “Not exactly.  At least not like that.”

“What do you mean?”

He had to think about it for a moment before he answered. “I think, and this is just a guess, that it has something to do with the strange way I can concentrate on things with so much focus that I tend to block everything else out. Even when I was in the Logging business with my family, I would be so focused on the act of felling trees to the point where I would lose time, not even realizing that I had spent an entire day doing it. In addition, I had been doing it so long that it became an obsession, and all I could think about was getting back out to the Rushwood Forest to chop down more trees. Even after I was taken away, all I could think of was finding a way to leave the Academy and the SIC without endangering my family – and go back to culling the ever-growing forest.

“I still think about it, but the need has faded dramatically over the last few months. Instead, the obsession I latched onto was Fusions and the process behind creating them. When it felt like no one was willing to help me learn more about them, I retreated within myself and solely concentrated on doing something that I loved, just like I had—and still—loved felling trees. How or why it was as extreme as it was, I have no idea, but I’d like to avoid that in the future, if I can.” It was honestly scary to think about how he had lost control like that, and he didn’t want it to ever happen again. Not that he had any idea of how to prevent something similar from happening in the future, but now that he knew it possible, then perhaps he could get ahead of it before it became a problem.

He didn’t really fancy becoming a victim of his obsessions, after all.

“I’ll do what I can to help you there, my friend. It’s the least I can do to help pay you back.”

“What do you mean? You don’t owe me anything.”

Verne waved his hand at the camp, which was starting to pick up in volume as the students got food and began talking to each other over the shared meal. “We all owe you, Larek. If it hadn’t been for what you did to kill those Treedins, it’s quite possible that more of us could’ve died. The fact that not a single first or second-year was killed during the attack is frankly a miracle, and that was all due to you.”

“But—"

“Yes, I know, some of those that were hurt are now in a coma, but it’s most likely temporary and you had no idea that would happen to them. And so what if your Fusions blew up the roof? It wasn’t you that caused the Scissions to appear up there, was it?”

Larek reluctantly agreed with his roommate, as he nodded along. However, he stopped when Verne mentioned the Scissions and an unwelcome thought popped into his head.

It wasn’t my presence that caused the Scissions to attack, was it? No, that’s ridiculous. Just because the Scission near Barrowford was stronger than usual, as well as the first one at Peratin, doesn’t mean I’m responsible just because I was nearby. And the Scissions near the Academy and Fort on the top of the mountain? Despite something like that never happening before, why would I be responsible?

The entire notion of Larek having anything to do with the Scissions was so far-fetched that he immediately dismissed it as just the effect of his roommate mentioning how grateful everyone should be that he helped to defend them during the last attack. You’re thinking way too much of yourself, Larek. Rein in that over-inflated head of yours before it floats away.

“Well, thanks, I guess. I could certainly use the help, then.”

Before anything else could be said, Nedira and Norde came back with food and cups of water, which occupied them for the next 20 minutes or so, as they all scarfed down their dinner as if they had been starving. While they hadn’t exactly traveled far, the stress of leaving the city and their entire situation caused them all to have a larger than usual appetite, but fortunately there was no shortage of sustenance. It wasn’t exactly the same as what they could get from the Crystalview Dining Hall, but there was more than enough for even Larek to be satisfied.

When they were all satiated, Larek turned to Nedira. “I wanted to thank you for earlier,” he began, but she waved off the rest of what he was going to say.

“There’s no need. Rendle’s always been a pain, and he’ll probably continue to be. With Rheina and Cresler here, though, he’s not going to try anything.”

“Rheina? Is that the woman in the fighting leathers?” Verne asked, echoing Larek’s thoughts.

Nedira nodded. “Yes, I met them right before we left, as I’m technically the ranking Mage in the entire group. Unfortunately, Rendle’s second in seniority, followed by 3 second-years that are accompanying us, and then it’s just 59 first-years. Though, as far as age goes, I think you might be older than anyone else,” she said, nodding toward Larek.

He shrugged, not sure if that really meant anything.

“Now that we have time to speak, does anyone know what we might face getting to the new Academy?” Larek asked. “I know Nedira mentioned earlier that it would take a while to get there, but what is in between here and our destination?”

“There shouldn’t be anything but boring road and a variety of different towns and cities,” the green-robed woman answered. “The Kingdom is fairly safe among the interior, unlike some areas around the border. Or so I’ve heard; I haven’t really explored much of it, so I can’t say for sure.”

“Well, on my way to Crystalview, the caravan that I had joined up was attacked by a pack of Night Wolves,” Larek mentioned. “All but one of the caravan guards were killed during the attack. Do you think that’s normal?” He knew what the caravan guard, Bert, had told him about bandits and the occasional monster attack, but based on what Nedira said, he thought that might only be near the border.

It was her turn to shrug. “I have no idea. I think most of us traveled on the Network, and they aren’t attacked very often, if at all. I must admit being ignorant of how the rest of the Kingdom gets around without the transportation Network.”

No one else had anything to add, and Larek thought about it for a moment. “I think we’re going to be fine, especially with the guards and those Martial graduates. At least, I hope you’re right about it being a boring road journey.”

Verne groaned, followed by Norde. “Larek! Don’t you know you can’t say stuff like that out loud?” his roommate said.

The former Logger was confused. “Huh?”

“It’s like carrying a bunch of plates stacked precariously on top of each other and then saying, ‘Oh, I hope I don’t trip and drop all of these!’ It’s almost guaranteed that you’re going to trip and break them all at that point.”

“Uh… what?”

“Everyone knows that, Larek. It’s almost like you’re trying to call bad luck down on us when you say stuff like that.”

Oh. He didn’t know that.

“But how does saying something like that correlate to—”

Verne cut him off before he could say any more, holding his hand up for Larek to stop. “Trust me, it just does.  I guess we better be on our guard, then.”

Larek couldn’t tell if the boy was just messing with him or if he was telling the truth, but either way, both Verne and Norde seemed to be on edge for the rest of the evening as they hid in their tents. Nedira, on the other hand, just sighed and turned away, heading into her own temporary shelter. Before she disappeared inside, she turned back to Larek and with a smile she whispered, “Don’t worry about them, they’re just being silly. Have a good night.”

He bade her a good night as well, before he partially scrambled into his own tent. He tried to ignore what his roommate had said, but for some reason he couldn’t keep it from his mind as he tried to get some sleep. Thankfully, he was tired enough from the day’s activities that it didn’t keep him up too long, and before too long, he had succumbed to a much-needed rest.

Book 2 Chapter 4: https://www.patreon.com/posts/fusionist-book-2-81341999