Surprisingly, sleep turned out not to be a problem for him, after his exhausting day teaching students about Fusions and the relatively boring meeting afterwards, so Larek woke up just before dawn and got himself something to eat before he sat down in his pillow throne for some quick Fusion creation. There were a few things he needed to produce before he left on a search for the Fusionists who originally lived in Sidleton.

  After dumping pretty much his entire Void Pocket sack of Fusions down on top of the Hydragon so that he could kill it, Larek didn’t really have a lot of Fusions in reserve for any potential hazards he might encounter on his search. Primarily, Larek needed to re-arm himself with his full suite of offensive and useful Fusions, including a VREP and a VED staff, Heavy Load, Vacuum Blast, Portable Lifter, Shape Material, and even Transfer Potential – though the latter was something he hadn’t used very often, since ripping out the potential from someone was a bit of a touchy subject. That, and the Gergasi turned out to be too strong for him to affect their potential with a Fusion he created, so it was of limited use.

  As he began pulling different materials toward him to use for his Fusions, he suddenly had an epiphany when he looked at the sheer number of objects to which he was about to add formations. He suddenly remembered how awkward it had been trying to switch out the different offensive Fusions when he’d been facing off against the two Gergasi. It was difficult to hold a steel bar with a Fusion for Heavy Load or Vacuum Blast on it while also wielding his halberd or a staff, and having to dig out each item from his Void Pocket sack wasn’t the easiest thing to do in the heat of battle.

  Which made him think: Why?

  Why did Larek need so many different Fusions on different items? At first, he had done it that way because he’d made each of them one-by-one, and passing each type of Fusion out to the people who could use them most was simply expedient. In addition, before he’d made half of his most useful Fusions, he had to worry about drawing in too much ambient Mana around the Fusion, but that wasn’t really a concern anymore, given that he was able to pull any of the types of energy the formation used from much further away. He hadn’t really considered changing anything after he’d learned that technique, however, as once he’d designed and practiced creating a dozen or hundreds of them, it was easy enough to use Focused Division to make many more – so there was no reason to do it any other way, especially since they easily had the material to spend on dozens of different types of Fusions.

  But Larek had changed since he’d created all sorts of Fusions that he thought might be beneficial. Just as he’d added a number of different types of projectile effects to something like the Variable Repeating Elemental Projectile Fusion, there shouldn’t be any reason why he couldn’t combine all of the different effects he wanted into a single Fusion. Right?

  Of course, it wasn’t like he was going to combine every single Fusion he knew how to create into one, but he wasn’t limited like he was before. His Fusion-creating Skills were over Level 100, after all, and while he recognized that it might be challenging keeping his focus together with all the different effects he wanted, he believed he was up to the challenge.

  But simply cobbling everything together wasn’t necessarily the correct way to create something like he imagined. With the different ways that each effect was triggered, as well as considering the different Magnitudes, Variables, Inputs, and even Intervals, he would have to plan out each effect and ensure that he could trigger each one when he wanted, and only that particular one. The last thing he wanted was for multiple effects to trigger and overload the formation with the amount of Mana flowing through it. While he was fairly confident in the strength of his Pattern Cohesion invested in his Fusion formations, he already knew from experience that they weren’t indestructible, so he thought it would be smart to be a bit cautious.

  Using his internal pattern outside of his body was as natural to him as breathing by this point, so he started creating small constructs in the air in front of him, which represented each of the effects that he wanted to include in his new, multi-function Fusion. He thought he might have difficulty keeping track of so many different Pattern constructs of their formations as he floated them in the air, but he found it fairly easy, as he wasn’t doing anything but making a massive Fusion that he wasn’t infusing with any energy. With each component of the formations only containing a tiny bit of Pattern Cohesion, there was very little strain on his overall focus as he started shifting each of the individual formations around into one greater one that would incorporate everything.

  Unfortunately, with each new effect slotted into the greater formation, Larek found that he needed to shift the way Mana was routed through the entire system of components, and he found more than a couple of redundant systems in place that he was able to streamline to declutter the entire thing. By the end, as he wanted to fit one more effect into the formation, he discovered that he had to rearrange almost the entire thing, in order to incorporate it into the overall structure, which was a pain – but he was glad he did it, after all was said and done.

  Using specific mental commands for each individual effect was outdated, as well, so he adapted some of his newest methods of determining intent through the mental connection the user would have with the Fusion, allowing for a swifter and streamlined operation. Now, instead of thinking of something such as “Fire 8” for a Magnitude 8 flaming ball projectile, all he would have to do was think of the desired effect and its approximate strength, and the Fusion would read his intent and activate it appropriately. He imagined there might be some experimentation in order to ensure it was working correctly after he’d created it, but he was fairly certain that it would work.

  Larek also created some unique versions of Limiters that would only allow 2 effects to activate simultaneously; if any others tried to be activated, the first would be deactivated to allow the new one through. He was originally going to make it so that only a single effect could be active at one time, but once he had nearly everything assembled, he realized that by routing Mana through an Amplifier and then a series of special Splitters, the formation could easily handle the extra expenditure of Mana without degradation. Technically, he thought it could handle more than just 2 effects simultaneously, but if they were all a higher Magnitude, which required even more Mana to function, the risk of formation degradation would be increased exponentially.

  Of course, with Larek’s expertise in Pattern Manipulation, he could manually fix any degradation and reinforce the Fusion once he identified any problems; but if it happened in the heat of battle and he wasn’t paying attention, it might inadvertently crack and rupture. Based on how much Mana and Pattern Cohesion this Fusion was going to take to create, breaking the formation would be deadly for anyone holding it – as well as to anyone within 1,000 feet, most likely.

  It was his largest Fusion to date, and while it wasn’t necessarily the most powerful – he put his Traveling Gates, which used Primal Essence to power them, at the top – it was the most complicated one, because it had so many components to it that needed to be focused upon simultaneously. When he was finished with its design, he memorized it and erased it from the air, reabsorbing the Pattern Cohesion that he’d been working with.

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  Next, he brought out his halberd from his Void Pocket sack, which was one of the few things that had survived the attack by the Gergasi and then was saved from being dumped into the Hopper before it was destroyed. He quickly removed the previous Strengthen and Sharpen Edge Fusion that was on there and replaced it with something even stronger, pushing the Magnitude all the way up to 20, which was more than possible now with his higher Pattern Cohesion and all of his Specialization bonuses. When it was done, the weapon felt stronger than ever, and he couldn’t imagine that there was anything short of a mountain falling on it that would break any of its components.

  That strength was needed, though, because he was about to put his new Fusion formation on it, and he was planning on using the flat of the axe-like head for it, as it was the biggest surface available. With it carefully placed in his lap, where he wouldn’t inadvertently cut himself on the incredibly sharp edge, he began the construction of the formation he’d designed, taking care to replicate it exactly as he’d planned. With meticulous care, the creation of the new Fusion progressed, and the Fusionist felt his focus strain a bit as he tried to stuff so many different effects into it. Fortunately, he was more than up to the task, and after nearly 20 minutes of painstaking work, it was done.

  Or at least the formation was created. He still had to feed it Mana and finalize its placement, but the hardest part was complete.

  Pulling in ambient Mana from all over, including a mile or two above and below him, Larek began feeding the Fusion with the energy it needed, using all of the techniques he’d learned to push as much as he could as quickly as he could. There were multiple Mana Cost sections, so this helped with his transfer speed; but even with those, it took him a little over 30 minutes of constantly feeding tens of thousands of Mana into the formation for it to finally become satiated enough that it would complete.

  The Fusion almost seemed to thrum with the infused Mana as he held it steady over the half-moon shaped head of the halberd, and it took all of his concentration to keep it together as he felt it *click* into place. There was an audible whoosh as the Fusion steadied upon the steel of the weapon, something he’d never heard before, and he looked at the completed formation with both pride and awe.

  He checked his notifications that popped up a moment later, and he was only slightly disappointed that he didn’t receive more Skill Level-ups.

  New Fusion Learned!

  Multi-purpose Arsenal +10

  Activation Method(s): Activatable, Reactive

  Effect(s): Camouflages Fusion using a void carrier shroud

  Effect(s): Creates a sphere made of condensed air at a distant target that reduces the weight of everything contained in its interior

  …….

  Mana Cost: 18,750,000

  Pattern Cohesion: 230,000

  Fusion Time: 171 days

  Spellcasting Focus has reached Level 93!

  Multi-effect Fusion Focus has reached Level 116!

  Energetic Transmission has reached Level 16!

  He attributed the lack of Skill Levels to the fact that he hadn’t necessarily created something new, as each of the effects was something he’d used before, even if he’d newly put them all together. It was mainly his focus that had gotten a workout, as a result of his new Multi-purpose Arsenal +10 Fusion, and he certainly felt drained from the entire process after it was done. Looking at its requirements, he could see why, as it had a base Pattern Cohesion cost of 230,000, which was reduced significantly by his Specialization bonuses; and with a base cost of nearly 19 million Mana, that explained why he had been filling it for so long.

  When he picked up the halberd, he could practically feel the Fusion just waiting for him to give it a mental intent, and he pointed its tip toward an empty barrel near the door. With a simple thought, the Portable Lifter effect he’d slotted into the formation activated, and the wooden container lifted from the floor and floated across the room. Before he set it down, however, he activated Heavy Load, and he flinched slightly as the crack of wood and the screech of the iron bands around it were crunched inwards as the barrel was crunched into a ball. He then sent a barrage of ice spikes toward it, though the first few missed their target as Portable Lifter deactivated and the compressed ball fell a foot before it was stabilized by Heavy Load’s effect. He could tell that Heavy Load was still active, because as soon as the ice spikes were close enough, they were sucked into the crushing weight centered on a certain point, breaking apart into shards of ice once they impacted the wood and iron sphere.

  Deactivating Heavy Load with another use of Portable Lifter, the wood and iron ball began to fall apart, but Larek activated Shape Material and mentally flattened the iron bands into a thin shell that he manipulated into forming around the splintered wood.

  And then the sphere of iron coating the shards of wood disappeared.

  It didn’t actually disappear, of course, but the Camouflage Sphere that he activated – which he found he could anchor anywhere within 200 feet, including around himself – made it virtually invisible to anyone without the senses to detect it.

  Putting the thin metal sphere aside, he stopped his testing for now, as everything other than a Directional Illumination effect was a bit more destructive. His testing proved that it worked, however, and being able to use more than a single effect at once made it even more versatile than anything he’d used before.

  Admiring his handiwork, he thought about all the effects that he’d shoved into a single Fusion – and he was left slightly shocked at how many it actually was.

  Flaming Ball projectiles

  Icy Spike projectiles

  Flying Stone projectiles

  Exploding balls of flames

  Shattering stone boulders

  Barrage of icy spikes with freezing aura

  High-powered jet of acid

  Fire-based Gust Sphere

  Stone-based Gust Sphere

  Ice-based Gust Sphere

  Acid-based Gust Sphere

  Vacuum Blast

  Heavy Load

  Blinding Heat

  Blinding Freeze

  Stone Shredder Dome

  Directional Illumination

  Portable Lifter

  Shape Material

  Camouflage Sphere

  Transfer Potential

  In short, what he was holding in his hands was incredible – and incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. That was why he had also ensured that only he would be able to use the Fusion’s effects, at least as far as the non-physical ones; if someone else picked up the halberd, they could still use it as a melee weapon. He debated whether to create something similar for the Volunteers or the former SIC members to use, minus the Transfer Potential effect, but he held off for now. This was a very powerful and potentially dangerous tool, and while he trusted his friends to be careful with it, he couldn’t see himself being comfortable with just anyone using it.

  Besides, it was an expensive and exhaustive process to create even a single one of them, and he knew that it wasn’t something that he could get away with using Focused Division upon, so each one would have to be created singularly. Now wasn’t the time for that, however, because when he looked around, he realized that the sun had been up for a while by that point, and he suspected that his betrothed was probably back by this point. It was time to leave, though he had to stop by the Transports and see if Verne had gotten around to replacing The Hopper yet; he hated having needed to destroy it back when he was in the undead Calamity, and Verne had promised to recreate the old vessel when he had some free time.

  Storing his newly powerful halberd in his Void Pocket sack, Larek got up out of his pillow throne and headed for the door, looking forward to getting out of the city to look for some lost Fusionists.