A familiar face was in charge of the Volunteers that were accompanying him toward the Calamity, and once they were up in the air and on their way inside The Hopper, he beckoned to Frynth as well as Gail, the representative in charge of the former SIC individuals who were also along for the ride. He didn’t know Gail, nor any of the other members from the SIC, but they all seemed quite competent, with half of them originally being Mages and half originally Martials; now, of course, they were all Guardians with their fully unlocked potential.

  “Welcome aboard,” Larek began, gesturing toward everyone looking at him, but his attention was on the two group leaders. “First, I want to thank you for coming along, despite the potential danger our eventual location might exhibit. Second, as a further thanks, I want to make sure all of you have proper protection; I see that a few of you have received your Absolute Protection Fields already from the distribution, but I’d feel better if all of you were as prepared as possible.”

  Frynth and Gail gladly helped him hand out the Fusions that were placed on necklace medallions, which all of those inside of The Hopper were soon wearing.

  “Third, I can sense that one of you,” he looked at Frynth, “has possession of a Multi-Purpose Arsenal Fusion on his staff. While they aren’t necessarily abundant right now, and only issued to those with need and in leadership positions,” Larek left out that they were for people he trusted, “I want to make sure that you all are armed with the best that can be produced. Think of this upgrade as a minor reward for being willing to brave the danger we’re about to be exposed to.”

  Again, Frynth and Gail helped to distribute 19 more Multi-Purpose Arsenal staves that Larek pulled out from his Void Pocket sack; he’d created them the night before, knowing that he wanted to give them to those coming along with him in the morning. He then spent a few minutes going over the Fusion’s Effects, as well as warnings not to use a number of them while inside The Hopper, as it could be catastrophic. While he didn’t necessarily trust everyone yet, especially the former SIC members, he also didn’t want them to be under-equipped if they ended up running into something dangerous.

  “Last, since we have some time before we arrive, I’m going to impart a few new Skills to everyone, which includes some important Guardian Skills that it is unlikely that you’ve had access to before now.”

  “Why?” Gail suspiciously asked. “What do you get out of it?”

  The question took him a little aback. What do I get out of it? Why should that matter? But then he remembered that the former SIC members were more than a bit different in background when compared to the Volunteers; even though they were on the same side working toward the same goal, they thought about things differently – especially about their personal development. The reason she hadn’t asked about the Fusions was likely because they were tools that could be employed or discarded at will; novelties, if powerful ones. But sharing Skills? That was something else entirely.

  It was something the Divine Fusionist had only really learned about recently, after working with the SIC for more than just a temporary basis. There was an internal system of advancement through the ranks that had been prevalent even before this whole business with the Apertures and Calamities, and while physical resources might be shared, knowledge past what could be acquired in the Academies and Forts was typically throttled and reserved for those who “deserved” it. The notable exception was Fusionists, because they had a more open approach to developing their Skills and sharing knowledge, if only because by sharing it collectively, they could only hope that advancements could be found if they worked together.

  Larek agreed with the latter approach to information; as for the former, he thought it was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard – and monumentally stupid, to boot.

  “What do I get from sharing these things? Nothing. Why do I share them, then? I think the better question is, ‘Why not’?”

  “Because then someone could potentially become as or even more powerful than you,” Gail responded, as if that was the most logical reason in the world.

  “So? It is actually my hope that I’m surpassed by someone one day, because then perhaps I can learn from them. This suppression of information is ridiculous, and I refuse to even consider it.”

  Still appearing confused, Larek ignored it as he touched her head and imparted every Skill he could regarding patterns, Fusions, and his Guardian Skills. Gail wobbled and nearly fell as the sudden influx of new Skills overwhelmed her for a moment, but she recovered in time to prevent a face-plant into the deck. Larek then went down the line of former-SIC members, who had expressions on their faces ranging from eager to skeptical, before finishing with the Volunteers. He’d imparted so many Skills over the last few days that it was almost automatic and normal for him by that point, even if it was life-changing for those who received the Skills.

  Once he was done, a few minutes later, he addressed them all again. “I’ll review what all of these Skills do in a moment, but I want to go over what exactly we’ll be doing in the Calamity before I get to that. You all were informed that we’re going to be doing some testing of some experimental Fusions, correct?” At their nods, he continued. “The majority of them are offensive Fusions that were too dangerous to test in the city, but there are two major defensive Fusions that are equally as important.

  “First, as you no doubt know about, is the recent installation of the Camouflaged Magical Energy Negation Sphere, which I’ll abbreviate as CMENS from now on for brevity’s sake,” he began, but he stopped for a moment when someone giggled for some odd reason. He ignored it while he continued. “Now, the CMENS is designed to, as the name suggests, negate magical energy, which should work perfectly against the beams of focused light that emerge from the Clockwork Elementals. These Elementals should be the greatest threat we’ll face from the Calamity itself, and while I’ve done testing on the CMENS with my own Focused Light Beam Fusion, which we’ll also be able to see in action,” he added, waving toward the pair of mounted stone cylinders aiming down below the deck of The Hopper, “I haven’t actually tested it against the Elementals themselves.

  “That’s our first test, but I expect it to work flawlessly. If it doesn’t, for some odd reason, your new Absolute Protective Fields will safeguard your lives, at least until I can make sure that I can extract everyone quickly and safely. However, I’m 99.9% confident in the Fusion’s effectiveness, so I can almost guarantee that this won’t happen.

  “Now, moving on from the CMENS,” he said, ignoring the few chuckles coming from various individuals gathered around him, “there’s another defensive Fusion that hasn’t been tested at all – but it will be almost as important as the other. In essence, it’s designed to eliminate the fear that the Gergasi are projecting outward from their Enclave, allowing those experiencing it to function normally.”

  “Sounds simple enough,” Frynth said with a relieved smile. “How exactly does it work?”

  It was here that Larek hesitated, as this was probably the hardest Fusion he’d ever created. The Fusion itself wasn’t overly complicated, nor did it require an incredible amount of resources to produce; neither of those things made it hard to create. Instead, it was simply the nature of the Effect that the Divine Fusionist struggled to produce, as it was something he wasn’t comfortable with in the least.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Dominion magic.

  Granted, when he had been searching for a solution to what the Gergasi had done to his friends, the Expression of Free Will Fusion had tangentially dealt with Dominion magic. In order to free them from the mental manipulation and control that had been imposed upon them, touching upon the manipulation and controlling Effects had been necessary, if only because he’d had to design a way to reverse those. What he ended up creating wasn’t so much using Dominion magic in any way; instead, it was more of the reverse, as the Fusion’s Effect hunted down and eliminated any lingering remnants of mental manipulation or control inside the body, beginning with the mind.

  For this particular Fusion that he’d created, it was different. Since the fear-like effects emanating from the Gergasi weren’t a permanent infiltration of their minds, nor even something physical, such as one of the mind-controlling bugs, his Free Will Fusion didn’t work against it. This intimidating fear was a side of Dominion magic that he had only accidentally used in the past, when he’d been angry enough to let it loose, but he didn’t have any experience in controlling it. Therefore, finding some sort of shield to prevent it from affecting someone wasn’t possible, as he didn’t understand it enough; what he did understand, at least partially, was that the Dominion magic he possessed helped to protect him from the effects of the fear that left most everyone else ready to flee for their lives. He still recognized that it was there, but it didn’t affect him nearly as much as it did everyone else.

  Therefore, what he essentially created inside of a Fusion was a way to give someone Dominion magic. Now, it wasn’t true Dominion magic, as they wouldn’t be able to actually use it. But after spending hours mapping the energies in his body, which included the Dominion magic that he inexpertly wielded on occasion, he found a way to mimic this Dominion energy in someone else through the use of a Fusion.

  In the end, all it took was a simple conversion of Primal Essence into Dominion energy, which was then distributed throughout the body of the Fusion’s user. It didn’t actually do anything, as it would simply just sit there, but he was hoping that this was enough to repel the fear that the Gergasi produced. If it worked, then it would potentially help prevent anything else with which Dominion magic could try to affect them, of which he was sure there were more things, even if he hadn’t personally experienced them before.

  Now, just because someone using this Fusion would have Dominion magic in their body didn’t mean that they could wield it – at least he hoped not. Doing so would mean that they had some sort of inherent ability to control Dominion magic, which was highly unlikely. Larek had the ability, of course, but his was only partially effective compared to what a full Gergasi could do – though that didn’t seem to matter in relation to how well he was able to defend against it. He was hoping that this was the case with his new Fusion – which was why they were testing it in the first place.

  “It injects your body full of Dominion energy, creating a barrier between you and the fear-inducing aura that the Gergasi are producing. You’ll still be able to sense that it’s there, but it won’t affect you. At least, that’s the theory.”

  Frynth, as well as almost everyone else in The Hopper other than Nedira, stood frozen at his explanation. “Oh. Uh, are you sure that’s safe?” the familiar Volunteer asked.

  Larek immediately shook his head. “No, but it should be. In all honesty, it was the only thing I could think of that would help protect against those types of mental effects coming from the Gergasi. I simply need at least one person to test it who is willing to volunteer, and if it doesn’t work, then I can see if I can find another solution. Either way, we’ll know soon enough.”

  No one seemed willing to volunteer, as they all looked at each other as if daring someone else to step forward. Fortunately, a hand on his arm by his betrothed provided the solution. “I’ll do it. I trust you, Larek, and if you don’t think this will harm me, then it won’t.”

  As much as he was confident that it wouldn’t hurt her to have Dominion magic flooding through her body, he still paused for a half-second in worry before he nodded. “Excellent.” He pulled out the Fusion, which was placed upon a bronze ring with a large, flat top designed to hold the formation. He felt proud of Nedira when she didn’t show the slightest hesitation to take the ring. “Put it on your finger and ‘activate’ it with a mental command,” he instructed her.

  Nedira slipped it over her finger and, with a deep breath, he could see her activate it. The Effect wasn’t instantaneous, as it took a few seconds to start gathering up enough Primal Essence from the environment to begin the conversion, but soon enough his Magical Detection Skill showed him that her body was beginning to fill with an odd, purple-ish energy, starting from her hand with the ring on it before it flooded out to her extremities. Within 30 seconds, it had filled her body completely, and he caught her as she staggered for a moment.

  “Are you alright?” he asked her as he held her upright. A few seconds later, her balance seemed to stabilize, and she gently pushed him away.

  “I… I think so. It was just very disorienting for a moment.”

  “How do you feel? Any side effects?”

  His betrothed closed her eyes for a moment, and he imagined that she was searching within herself to see what had changed. What shocked him a little was how whatever internal search she was doing seemed to affect the purple-ish energy within her, as he saw it start to move around like ripples in a pond. She didn’t seem to be able to do anything with it, though, but the fact that she could “mentally touch” it was slightly worrying – because he hadn’t expected her to be able to do even that much.

  “I feel… strange. Not bad, necessarily. Energized would be a better word, as I can somehow sense this energy within me – but I can’t do anything with it. It’s like trying to touch the clouds in the sky; you can see them from the ground, and you can even reach them in something like The Hopper; but once you get close enough to grab onto it, it just passes through your fingers without any substance to it.

  “As for side effects, I can’t tell just yet. There was that feeling of being disoriented for a few seconds, but ultimately I feel fine.”

  “Good to hear,” he said in relief. Again, while he had been fairly confident that she would be fine, he still worried that the Fusion might end up hurting her somehow. “Now, all we need to do is wait until—”

  It was at that point that The Hopper had traveled far enough to hit the very edge of the Gergasi’s aura of fear, as he felt the faint echoes of it pushing against his mind – ineffectually, at least. It was only a brush against the intensity that was sure to follow, but even that much caused a few of the Volunteers to flinch, the fright he was expecting them to feel already appearing on their faces. Larek could sense it, but just like last time, he was able to shrug it away, ignoring it completely.

  And so, apparently, could Nedira. “Is that…?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

  Larek nodded.

  “I sense the same thing from when we were looking for the Fusionists at Sidleton, but it’s more like noticing and acknowledging it’s there, yet not allowing it to affect me. There was a brief spike of fear at first, but now it’s so muted that I can barely feel it anymore.” She looked at the Divine Fusionist and gave him a brilliant smile. “I think it’s working.”

  Even more relief flooded through his body, making him slump a little from the tightly clenched muscles that he hadn’t even realized were clenching the entire time. “That is amazing to hear,” he told her. “Now, all we need to do is get a little closer and see if it still works when the effect is greater, and—”

  “Um, I’d like to try one of those Fusions, as well, if I may?” Frynth asked, a slight shake in his voice the only thing betraying how much the fear aura was affecting him.

  Larek smiled at the Volunteer, pulling out another ring from his Void Pocket sack, before handing it to Frynth. As if opening the floodgates, the Volunteer’s request for the new Fusion had everyone else being increasingly affected by the fear effect as they flew closer to its origination point, asking for one as well. Within the next few minutes, everyone inside The Hopper sighed in relief as their body became accustomed to being flooded with Dominion energy, which in turn nullified the majority of the fear coming from the Gergasi. As Larek had told them, that didn’t eliminate the fear completely, but it blocked the negative effects of it to the point where they simply acknowledged it without allowing it to affect them.

  I’m glad I didn’t mention the name of the Fusion before this; otherwise, they might have been hesitant to accept it so easily. Regardless, it seems as though the Flood of Domination Fusion is a success – at least, so far. I still need to see what prolonged exposure to that energy will do to them, but I’m sure it will be fine; I mean, what harm could come from flooding a body with Dominion energy?

  Now that everyone was at least somewhat shielded from the fear aura coming from the Gergasi, they could now better detect the Calamity that they were rapidly approaching. A few minutes later, Larek slowed The Hopper’s speed until they arrived at the border with the Calamity at nearly a crawl, before he stopped it right on the edge.

  “Everyone ready?”

  With a chorus of affirmative sounds and head nods, Larek took them in.