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The Fusionist Book 7 -- Chapter 21
🕑 Added 2024-09-20 16:38:53 +0000 UTC(I was trying to get this chapter done yesterday, but it took a while to finish because of all the details -- be warned, there are a lot of notifications!)
Chapter 21
Accompanying the notifications was a feeling that felt like his entire body had been set on fire from the inside, a burning that scoured through his flesh and bones that his Pain Immunity Skill did absolutely nothing to mitigate. His vocal cords locked up when he attempted to scream out in pain, and all the muscles in his body were straining as if they were trying to break free from the skin that contained them.
Just as he thought his head and heart were going to burst, the pain began to lessen; it was gradual at first, but soon enough it drained away like a river through a broken dam, and he was left feeling drained and weak from the traumatic experience.
Panting as he recovered his wits, his vision was filled with the notifications that had been staring him in the face the entire time, but he had been unable to concentrate on them until now.
New Fusion Learned!
Traveling Gate +1
Activation Method(s): Reactive
Effect(s): Strengthens steel
Effect(s): Creates a rectangular box made of condensed air that increases the weight of everything contained in its interior
Effect(s): Gradually forms a filled circular hoop away from the Fusion that combines Mana, Stama, Pattern Cohesion, Pure Aetheric Force, and Corrupted Aetheric Force to create Primal Essence
Effect(s): Entangles two identical constructs together so they act as one
Effect(s): Using non-invasive mental manipulation, activates or deactivates Activatable Activation Method upon detection of mental phrasing by individual in direct contact with object
Variable(s): Mental phrasing “Activate Portal”, “Larek, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten”
Variables(s): Stage 1 Primal Essence, Stage 2 Primal Essence, Stage 3 Primal Essence, Stage 4 Primal Essence
Input(s): Primal Essence Levels
Magnitude(s): 100% stronger steel, 100% weight increase, 6 inch diameter
Mana Cost: 50,000
Pattern Cohesion: 350
Fusion Time: 6 hours
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 66!
…..
Pattern Restoration has reached Level 70!
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 81!
…..
Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 85!
You have reached Level 59 and have 37 available AP to distribute!
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 91!
…..
Pattern Recognition has reached Level 95!
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 98!
…..
Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 100!
Fusion has reached Level 98!
…..
Fusion has reached Level 100!
Pattern Formation has reached Level 98!
…..
Pattern Formation has reached Level 100!
Focused Division has reached Level 98!
…..
Focused Division has reached Level 100!
Mana Control has reached Level 100!
Magical Detection has reached Level 100!
Pattern Manipulation has reached Level 100!
Stama Subjugation has reached Level 90!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 7!
Energetic Transmission has reached Level 8!
Aetheric Authority has reached Level 9!
Primal Essence Mastery Skill has been unlocked!
Primal Essence Mastery has reached Level 1!
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in a Mage Skill and have unlocked the Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 1 Mage Skill of at least 100
The Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +5 to all stats
5% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in three Mage Skills and have unlocked the Multi-Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 3 Mage Skills of at least 100
The Multi-Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +15 to all stats
10% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Warning! The Specializations Sage and Multi-Sage are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Multi-Sage Specialization to replace—
Congratulations!
You have reached Level 100 in six Mage Skills and have unlocked the Omni-Sage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 6 Mage Skills of at least 100
The Omni-Sage Specialization also provides these benefits:
A one-time bonus of +25 to all stats
15% Mana Cost reduction for all cast spells and Fusions
One-time bonus automatically applied!
Warning! The Specializations Multi-Sage and Omni-Sage are mutually exclusive!
Omni-Sage Specialization automatically accepted!
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to your unique nature, you have unlocked the Adept Guardian Specialization!
Requirements:
Skilled Guardian Specialization
Any Mage Skill at or above 60
Any Martial Skill at or above 60
Intellect of at least 300
Acuity of at least 300
Pneuma of at least 300
Strength of at least 300
Body of at least 300
Agility of at least 300
Knowledge of at least 8 spells
Knowledge of at least 8 Battle Arts
The Adept Guardian Specialization also provides these benefits:
15% reduction in Mana Cost for all cast Spells
15% increase in the magnitude of all cast Spells
15% increase in the range of all cast Spells
15% reduction in Stama cost for all Battle Arts
15% increase in effectiveness of all Battle Arts
15% increase in duration of all Battle Arts
The Adept Guardian Specialization automatically replaces the Skilled Guardian Specialization!
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to obtaining all of your specialized Guardian Skills, all Skills now have their maximum Skill Levels removed and any Aetheric Force spent on them refunded.
Requirements:
Adept Guardian Specialization
Energetic Transmission Skill unlocked
Aetheric Authority Skill unlocked
Primal Essence Mastery Skill unlocked
Congratulations!
Due to your mastery of everything pattern-related, you have unlocked the Pattern Savant Specialization!
Requirements:
Pattern Professional Specialization
Any 2 Pattern-related Skills at 100
Remaining Pattern-related Skills at 70 or higher
Fusion Skill of 70
Magical Detection Skill of 70
Mana Control Skill of 70
Intellect of at least 200
Acuity of at least 200
Pneuma of at least 200
The Pattern Savant Specialization also provides these benefits:
Ability to utilize Pattern Cohesion in unique ways
Ability to manipulate up to 75% of your Pattern Cohesion outside of spell patterns and Fusion formations
Ability to impart any Pattern-related Skill to those with the capability
Heightened ability to manipulate your internal pattern
30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all spells and Fusions
Enhances the strength of all spells, Fusions, or pattern constructs by 25%
The Pattern Savant Specialization automatically replaces the Pattern Professional Specialization!
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Supreme Fusionist Specialization!
Requirements:
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Fusion Skill of 100
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
The Supreme Fusionist Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
25% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
25% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist and Supreme Fusionist are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Supreme Fusionist Specialization to replace Martial Pattern Fusioni—
Congratulations!
Due to your unique and persistent nature, you have unlocked the Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization!
Requirements:
Pattern Savant Specialization
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Fusion Skill of 100
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 70
Pattern Recognition Skill of 70
Pattern Restoration Skill of 70
Intellect of at least 200
Acuity of at least 200
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
The Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
25% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
25% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist, Supreme Fusionist, and Supreme Savant Fusionist are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to replace Martial Pattern Fusionist with Supreme Savant Fusio—
Congratulations, Guardian!
Due to your unique and persistent nature, you have unlocked the Fusionist Scion Specialization!
Requirements:
Supreme Savant Fusionist Specialization
Mana Control Skill of 100
Pattern Formation Skill of 100
Pattern Manipulation Skill of 70
Fusion Skill of 100
Pain Immunity Skill evolution
Body Regeneration Skill of 70
Stama Subjugation Skill of 90
Intellect of at least 300
Acuity of at least 300
Pneuma of at least 300
Strength of at least 300
Body of at least 300
Agility of at least 300
Knowledge of at least 60 different types of Fusions
Unlocked at least 3 different Weapon Expertise Skills
Access to at least a combined 35 Spells and Battle Arts
Has externally used Pattern Cohesion in a combat environment to kill a target
The Fusionist Scion Specialization also provides these benefits:
75% increase to manipulatable Pattern Cohesion when used in combat
30% reduction in Mana Cost for all Fusions
30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements for all Fusions
30% reduction in Fusion Time for all Fusions
25% reduction in Mana Cost for all cast Spells
25% increase in the magnitude of all cast Spells
25% increase in the range of all cast Spells
20% reduction in Stama cost for all Battle Arts
20% increase in effectiveness of all Battle Arts
20% increase in duration of all Battle Arts
Warning! The Specializations Martial Pattern Fusionist, Supreme Fusionist, and Supreme Savant Fusionist have been overridden by Fusionist Scion!
Fusionist Scion Specialization automatically accepted!
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Fusion Skillsage Specialization!
Requirements:
Fusion Skill of at least 100
Pattern Formation Skill of at least 100
Mana Control Skill of at least 100
Intellect of at least 250
Acuity of at least 250
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 20 spells
Knowledge of at least 40 Fusions
The Fusion Skillsage Specialization also provides these benefits:
25% efficiency for the Fusion, Pattern Formation, and Mana Control Skills
30% increase in Fusion, Pattern Formation, and Mana Control Skill improvement speed
Warning! The Specializations Fusion Skillsage and Magical Skillmaster are mutually exclusive!
Do you wish to accept the Fusion Skillsage Specialization to replace Magical Skillmast—
Congratulations!
You have unlocked the Magical Skillsage Specialization!
Requirements:
Any 4 Mage Skills at or above 100
Intellect of at least 250
Acuity of at least 250
Pneuma of at least 200
Knowledge of at least 25 spells
Knowledge of at least 40 Fusions
The Magical Skillsage Specialization also provides these benefits:
30% efficiency for all Mage Skills at Level 100 or above
40% increase in Mage Skill improvement speed
Warning! The Specializations Magical Skillsage and Fusion Skillsage are mutually exclusive!
Magical Skillsage Specialization automatically accepted!
Wha—What? I… I don’t even know what just happened.
To help make sense of it, he brought up his Status and looked at his Specializations, stats, and Skills.
Larek Holsten
Adept Guardian
Omni-Sage
Fusionist Scion
Pattern Savant
Magical Skillsage
Generalist Spellcaster
Healer
Striker
Basher
Ranger
Level 59
Advancement Points (AP): 24/37
Available AP to Distribute: 37
Available Aetheric Force (AF): 1,632,998
Stama: 6140/6140
Mana: 6900/6900
Strength: 307 [614] (+)
Body: 345 [690] (+)
Agility: 307 [614] (+)
Intellect: 345 [690] (+)
Acuity: 345 [690] (+)
Pneuma: 6,210 [12,420]
Pattern Cohesion: 124,200/124,200
Mage Skills:
Pattern Restoration Level 70
Spellcasting Focus Level 85[95]
Pattern Recognition Level 95[105]
Multi-effect Fusion Focus Level 100
Fusion Level 100[110]
Pattern Formation Level 100[110]
Focused Division Level 100
Mana Control Level 100[110]
Magical Detection Level 100[110]
Pattern Manipulation Level 100
Martial Skills:
Ranged Weapon Expertise Level 10
Unarmed Fighting Level 13[23]
Blunt Weapon Expertise Level 15
Throwing Level 29[39]
Dodge Level 68[78]
Pain Immunity Level 20
Bladed Weapon Expertise Level 71[81]
Body Regeneration Level 72[82]
Stama Subjugation Level 90
General Skills:
Cooking Level 8
Writing Level 11
Bargaining Level 13
Saw Handling Level 15
Reading Level 17
Long-Distance Running Level 20
Speaking Level 25
Leadership Level 35
Listening Level 45
Beast Control Level 65
Axe Handling Level 94
Guardian Skills:
Energetic Transmission Level 8
Aetheric Authority Level 9
Primal Essence Mastery Level 1
The first obvious thing he got from all the notifications was that he had improved quite a few of his Skills; not only that, but the Fusion he had created had pushed many of them related to Fusions and patterns all the way to Level 100. Not just one or two, either, but a full seven Mage Skills were now Level 100, which was reflected in the surprise Specializations that he’d apparently unlocked. Sage, Multi-Sage, and finally Omni-Sage were unlocked back-to-back, and with each one he received a bonus to his stats.
All of his stats.
Each one went up by a total of 45 points, which he thought was why it felt like his body was burning from the inside; never before had he abruptly had 270 stat point shoved into him simultaneously, and the sudden surge of changes sweeping through his body had nearly killed him with its intensity. As a result of those stat point increases, it pushed him over the threshold of 300 in every stat, which in turn unlocked the next Guardian-based Specialization, Adept Guardian.
There weren’t too many changes in the benefits of having the new Guardian Specialization, as they mostly affected spells and Battle Arts, but anything was better than nothing.
But that wasn’t the last of the changes.
Due to the nature of the Skills that had reached Level 100, he also unlocked the next stage in the Pattern-based Specializations, which upgraded his Pattern Professional to Pattern Savant, greatly increasing the benefits. The biggest change was the ability to manipulate up to 75% of his Pattern Cohesion outside of his body, an increase of 25%, and with his higher Pattern Cohesion from the stat increases, that meant he could wield over 93,000 Pattern Cohesion for his Pattern constructs.
With a barrier construct at that strength, for instance, he was fairly certain that even a Gergasi couldn’t break through it with one hit. Making a huge transport box construct would be easy enough to do, as well, and thinking about the recent experience in the Calamity when he helped to evacuate over 30 people at once, it would’ve been so much easier as he would’ve been able to move it even faster. There were also bonuses to the strength of Fusions and pattern constructs by 25% and a 30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion costs for Fusions, which wasn’t anything to sneeze at, either.
After that, he unlocked Supreme Fusionist, a step up from Martial Pattern Fusionist, followed by Supreme Savant Fusionist as it took into consideration his Pattern-based Specialization. But both of those were overridden by something called a Fusionist Scion, which brought with it a host of benefits. The most important being that he could manipulate a further 75% of his Pattern Cohesion while engaged in combat; he intuited that it didn’t necessarily stack with the previous Specialization, but it would allow for him to use up to 75% of the remaining 25% not allowed by Pattern Savant. In other words, most of his Pattern Cohesion would be available during combat to use as he saw fit.
The further 30% reduction in Pattern Cohesion requirements and 30% reduction in Mana Cost for Fusions was also a nice bonus that he was sure he would take advantage of in the future.
The last Specializations that he unlocked were the Fusion Skillsage and Magical Skillsage, the latter of which overrode the former. They were unlocked because of his new Level 100 Skills, and the benefits reflected those increases, as it gave a 30% efficiency increase to all Mage Skills over Level 100. The 40% increase in Mage Skill improvement speed wasn’t too shabby, either.
That wasn’t even all of the changes to his Status, as there was one other that was courtesy of a new Skill he unlocked, which related to the Fusion he’d just created. Apparently, Primal Essence was the substance he’d observed in the Aperture that was created from a mixture of every energy he knew about, and he ended up unlocking the Primal Essence Mastery Skill because of it.
But that wasn’t the most important part to him, despite how monumental the discovery was. Nestled in the middle of his notifications was one that congratulating on unlocking all of the Guardian-specific Skills available, which rewarded him with a removal of all maximum Skill Level limits and got rid of the cost to increase those maximums. Fortunately, or unfortunately for his part, along with the removal of max Skill Levels, all of the Aetheric Force was returned to him; normally, this wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, but when his internal core of Aetheric Force was abruptly shoved full of the energy along with his stat changes, the combination only amplified the horrific feeling of his body wanting to explode from the inside.
As a result of those removals, his Skill lists looked much cleaner and the possibilities for development seemed endless. As he slowly recovered, gradually getting used to the changes in his body, he began to wonder how high the Skills of the Gergasi were and if there was any limit to how high they could climb. Which inevitably led to thinking about the kinds of Specializations that the Gergasi had access to that he didn’t even know about.
Are there additional Specializations for getting Skills to Level 150? Level 200? Higher? Is there an equivalent Specialization for Level 100 Martial Skills? Are there other Specializations that give stat point bonuses?
He couldn’t help but think that there had to be, as the Gergasi were extremely powerful all by themselves. Sure, with access to Fusions and his Pattern Cohesion, Larek could somewhat hold his own against a single weaker Gergasi, but his stats – even boosted by his Fusions – were barely able to keep up with them. He was fairly certain by this point that they must have started with much higher stats during the transition in order to have such high stat thresholds for the Guardian Specializations, but after that, they must have discovered additional methods to keep increasing them apart from Leveling-up their personal Levels.
It was something that he knew he’d look into eventually, but for now, he was satisfied with what he’d earned – and all because of the Fusion he’d just created. Speaking of that Fusion, he looked again at the description and saw some new and some unfamiliar words. The first was the acknowledgement of Primal Essence being the combination of five different energies, which he thought was either a new type of energy, or was simply the original form of energy in the world of Corruption.
The second was the word “entangled”, which appeared to be in reference to the connection between the two Fusions. He supposed that it was this “entanglement” that he had also used in the absorption of energies from the environment, as he had focused on making each of the different cost sections pull their specific energies from a different location. While the two Fusions weren’t activated right now, he knew that he’d see 6 separate areas of ambience separated from the formation in the air, each of them pulling in what the Fusion needed to operate successfully.
At least, that was his intention. The fact that the notifications were sent to him about Skill Level increases was enough proof to him that his idea had been successful, but that didn’t mean it would do exactly as he’d intended. Picking up both steel plates with the new Traveling Gate +1 Fusions on them, he got up from his throne of pillows and headed for the door. Because it was possible that these new Fusions could be somewhat unstable and used a method similar to the Apertures around the world, he didn’t want to test them inside of Thanesh.
He wasn’t going to go too far, of course, but out in a field somewhere close by was better than risking something going catastrophically wrong and blowing up a portion of the city.
If this works how I think it will, then this should help stem the attacks by the Factions, leaving me to focus on the SIC. With a pleased smile on his face, he exited his home and took off into the air, a Pattern construct platform appearing under his feet with a thought and an ease that would’ve surprised him a few weeks ago. At this point, it was almost as easy to create as breathing, and he flew away at a speed that most people would have difficulty maintaining, but with his newest increases to his Strength and Body, Larek was more than capable of withstanding the forces pushing on him as he moved.
The new Fusionist Scion touched down approximately a half-mile from the walls of the city, where he placed down the two steel plates of his Traveling Gate Fusion on the low grass of the field he was standing in, setting them 20 feet apart. When they were in the position he wanted, he took a deep breath, calmed his excitement, and mentally spoke the words to initiate the start of the Fusions.
“Activate Portal.”
