jonathanbrooksauthor

New cover sneak peek!

I finally figured out both the title and what I wanted for the cover for The Fusionist Book 4!

Have a look at Global DifFusion!

Plans for November 19-26

Another week closer to being finished with Fusionist book 4!  Unfortunately, I was hoping that book 2 would be finished on audiobook this week, but it didn't happen -- so I'm expecting it to happen next week :)

Anyway, here are my plans for next week, which includes Thanksgiving and I have another convention that I'm attending: Galacticon!  I would still like to get at least 6 chapters done, and I'm hoping with those and a few days during the next week, I might be able to fini...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 42

Chapter 42

“Well, that was much harder than I expected.”

Breathing hard for the first time in months, Larek finished healing his leg via his a few small activations of his Healing Surge Fusion and slogged his way through the sand back to the Air Skimmer, leaving the blood that had pooled out of his lower extremities to soak into and slowly disappear into the desert. Putting his axe back on his belt, he climbed over the side of the vessel and practically collapsed in...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 41

Chapter 41

The next day was just as quiet as the one before, but the night saw another movement of his Air Skimmer. At least, that was what he assumed happened, as he didn’t stay awake to watch it happen; he needed sleep after not getting any the day before, and by the end of the day he was practically falling asleep on his feet. He thought that it was strange how exhausted he could get from basically just standing around all day, but it almost felt even worse than if he had been ru...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 40

Chapter 40

It was nearly 5 hours into his trip over the desert, as the sun began to approach the horizon toward night, that Larek realized something that made him slowly bring the Air Skimmer to a stop, though he kept it floating above the sand. It wasn’t something that he had forgotten, nor did he visually notice something that made him want to pause, and there wasn’t a pressing need to stop and eat from his supplies, though he was getting a little thirsty. It wasn’t any of tho...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 39

Chapter 39

Hovering 10 feet over the desert on a large air cushion as he initiated Magnitude 5 on his upward-lifting gust Effect, Larek felt the Air Skimmer stabilize before he tested his forward progress with a Magnitude 1 constant air gust. When that seemed just fine, he moved up to Magnitude 2 and then 3, finding that – similar to when he was only about 2 feet off the ground at Magnitude 4 lifting gust, it was right on the edge of being unbalanced from the rear-based thrust. He d...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Larek bent down underneath the large wood and iron structure, having to crawl in order to fit under where it was suspended upon four large pillars. It was familiar to him from his experience building the ferry boat, though on a much smaller scale. Fortunately, his project had been roughly the same size as a decently sized wagon, so the Cartwright was able to adapt his setup in his workshop to accommodate Larek’s strange request.

Slipping the thin sheet of iron caref...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Getting back into town was a bit nerve-wracking, as there was no caravan to sneak inside with, but fortunately the guards on duty only gave him a cursory glance before letting him through. Larek was thankful that they didn’t have anyone on duty that would be affected by his Perceptive Misdirection Fusion, but he was still wary of everyone he passed just in case he ran into someone who would be.

Instead of going back to the Inn right away, Larek spent some t...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Running through the arid landscape outside of Day’s End, Larek thought about the night before and had to shake his head at how it all turned out. His willingness to help someone out of a bad situation had nearly blown up in his face like a stray Fireball, but at least he got information on Lowenthal and a little about the situation back in the Kingdom out of it. From what Serena had mentioned, the land had become so unsafe that the monsters from the Apertures had...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 35

Chapter 35

As Larek stared back at the woman, the wooden table he was leaning on began to subtly vibrate. Before he could pull away at the sudden motion, there was a feminine voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like the singer from the Dyran Hearthwood.

“Can you hear me? Oh, please let this work!”

Larek pulled away from the table in shock, feeling the strange connection disappear once he was no longer touching the surface of it. However, curiosity at w...

Plans for October 12-17

Got some more written this week -- so much so that I'm finally back to 30 chapters ahead of Royal Road for $5 tier Patrons!  I also uploaded chapters to Royal Road (now on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule) and put the Dimensional Dungeon Cores Complete Series Books 1-5 up for pre-order on Amazon -- coming out December 6th (though the paperback is technically available right now)!  I'm s...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 34

Chapter 34

It was bad – worse than he thought was possible, in fact.

As soon as Larek passed what he assumed was the border of the Sealance Empire, which was designated by a change in the environment rather than any posted signs or other obvious landmarks, he realized immediately that he was going to have some issues.

That was because Lowenthal was a desert – or at least the portion close to the Empire’s land was a desert.

Sand stretched out as far as the eye c...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 33

Chapter 33

The next month and a half of travel was spent making up for his delay, as Larek didn’t stop except to rest in between closing Apertures, eating, and sleeping while utilizing his Secure Hideaway Fusion to ensure he was relatively safe at night. He only stayed in a town he didn’t even know the name of once during the first week, as every other time night arrived he was nowhere near any population centers. As he moved further into the interior of the Sealance Empi...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Stepping off the ferry boat onto the dock at Riverbend, Larek adjusted the over-filled pack to sit comfortably on his back before running his fingers over the special new leather belt he had acquired in Swiftwater. He nodded at the smiling face of the ferry boat captain, who waved at him in return, the enthusiasm of the man infectious enough that there was a spring in the step of the others who disembarked along with the Combat Fusionist, and there was an air of celebration...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 31

Chapter 31

The answer to that question was a bit more complicated than he liked, because he was hoping to be paid for his work and then take the ferry to the other side of the river as soon as possible so that he could resume his journey home. The issues that prevented that from happening arose almost as soon as he returned to the Swiftwater docks after spending another half-hour or so testing the limits of the ferry boat.

“I… don’t have your payment yet, but I will soon!�...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 30

Chapter 30

It was amazing what could get done when people were motivated to do something, a fact that was obvious when the large 50-foot-wide by 70-foot-long ferry came together in a total of 3 days. The dock workers weren’t exactly the most knowledgeable about shipbuilding, though with a little help from Carven the Cartwright, they quickly learned a few tips about how to ensure the entire frame was strong enough to handle the river and the weight it would bear on top of its structu...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Larek placed the relatively tiny model ferry boat into the water at the docks, and he winced when the swift-flowing water caused the wooden construction to beat itself against the stone of the dock. Fortunately, the Strengthen Fusion that covered the entire model was strong and effective enough to prevent it from breaking apart into dozens of pieces.

Not that it was a whole lot to look at, as it was basically a watertight box of wood with an upward angled fro...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 28

Chapter 28

“This is what we have to work with?” Larek asked, looking at what essentially looked like the skeleton of what was partially built ferry. “Partially built” was a bit of a stretch, however, as it was essentially just the sad-looking frame of a boat sitting in the dry dock in Swiftwater.

“Yep, that’s her,” the thickly bearded Dock Foreman confirmed, waving toward the wood and iron frame.

“Her?” he asked.

“Absolutely; our ferries all tend ...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 27

Chapter 27

“No, you have to make the Pattern Cohesion you’re using for the formation more permanent than what you use for spell patterns, as it needs to fuse into the material you’re using as a medium,” he told the frustrated Mage for the tenth time. “Otherwise, it’s going to simply fall apart like that every single time; you’re fortunate that it hasn’t permanently harmed you when it has fallen apart, but it’s only a matter of time.”

“Argh! How is it that t...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Larek finished eating the second surprisingly delicious fish sandwich he had been given as prisoner fare before washing it down with the large stone pitcher of water, not even bothering to use the cup that had been provided along with it. He sat back on his undersized bed and laid himself down, his legs dangling over the end at the knees, and put his hands behind his head as he felt himself drifting off to sleep once again.

The same routine had been going on for the l...

The Fusionist Book 4 -- Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Larek woke to complete darkness and the heavy feeling of rock dust covering his face, along with the unmistakable exhaustion that came with a lack of food and water for an extended period of time. More than that, his body was worn out, like a dishrag that had been squeezed until all of the water was expelled from it, leaving it dry and brittle. He struggled against the exhaustion and weakness as his mind finally caught up with where he was and how he got there.

My...