Michelle

“Oh, looks like I’m winning this round,” Amber said smugly.

“As if. Obviously, I’m in the lead here,” Michelle retorted.

“No, I know you can feel it. Your magic is getting pushed back.”

“Right, that’s exactly what you are feeling.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

Michelle smiled. What is she talking about? She knows I’m in the lead today.

The two elves were sitting on the ground in the garden, in the small empty area they used for training their magic against each other. There wasn’t a lot of spare room for moving around extensively, but just sitting on the ground for a task like this was still fine. Whenever they trained with their weapons, they always went to the Slayer’s Guild’s training area anyway.

Michelle and Amber had begun this particular training exercise shortly after beginning their apprenticeships. Michelle created ice while Amber created lava, and Michelle tried to freeze the lava while Amber tried to melt the ice.

It was an excellent method of training control over their magic. Whenever one of them was doing better than the other, the one who was winning would be able to feel that the other’s magic was receding. And currently, they were both feeling that sensation, though neither was aware of that fact yet.

The two of them kept pushing their magic more and more, and they both finally realized something was off. The realization came too late, however, as the swirling mass of ice and lava began to blend together.

They both let go of their magic in surprise and backed away.

“What the fuck is that?” Amber questioned.

“I have no idea,” Michelle replied.

On the ground was a puddle of lava, having turned a blue color and now emanating a wave of hot coldness over their surroundings.

“Keep an eye on it,” Amber said, then ran to the back door and stuck her head into the house. “Roumazi! We need you for something! Come outside!”

Their wife stepped out a minute later and saw the glowing blue puddle on the ground. “Oh my…” Her surprised expression morphed into a wide smile. “You’ve achieved fusion!”

“What’s fusion?” Michelle asked.

“A rare phenomenon that occurs when two people are so in sync with each other and the other’s magic that their spells combine.

“Not many ever achieve this, even when specifically attempting to do so. It requires a high degree of control and power in the spells, and the people performing it must also know each other quite well.”

“Uh, how do we prevent it from both burning and freezing everything? Because it’s somehow doing that.”

The puddle was small, but had spread enough to begin affecting the plants nearby.

I feel like I could do something about it, but I’m afraid to screw things up here.

“After a fusion spell has been created, both people can control it individually or together. While controlling it, you should be able to manipulate even the magic that was not originally yours.

“Although half the spell is [Earth] and [Heat], you should be able to control those parts of it, Michelle. And the same is true for you, Amber, though with [Water] and [Cold].”

Michelle and Amber both put a hand forward and willed the spell to go away, and it vanished, leaving a scorched and frozen mark on the dirt.

“Okay, this is seriously so cool,” Amber said, “But how does that work? Why was it cold if part of the spell was my [Heat]?”

Michelle asked, “And why was it still lava if part of it was [Water]?”

Roumazi explained, “Fusion spells, in a way, break reality. They defy the laws of mana and physics as we know them.

“The result of your particular fusion is earth that flows like water, yet remains solid. Water that is solid—or at least as solid as lava—yet remains liquid. And simultaneously hot enough to melt and cold enough to freeze.”

“This is awesome!” Michelle exclaimed. “Let’s try again!”

“Yeah!” Amber exclaimed back.

Now that they had a better idea of what the hell had just happened, they were ready to experiment.

Roumazi grabbed both their arms. “Sorry, but we have to open the store soon.” She looked genuinely apologetic.

Both elves groaned in despair.

I just want to play with my new toy! Can I pretend to be sick? Why did this have to happen at the start of this work week instead of the end?

 

———

 

The end of the work day couldn’t come fast enough for any of them. Sarah and the girls also wanted to see it. Though there had been times in the weeks since opening when business had been quite slow, it had never actually felt as slow as it did today.

The six of them all stood in the garden around the scorch mark from the morning, and Michelle and Amber focused on combining their magic this time rather than trying to outdo each other.

Their two spells of ice and lava mixed into each other and once again created a ball of frozen lava. Sarah, Luna, and Diamond all had to back away from it as the magic began to affect them. They were uninjured, but they had definitely felt the [Heat] and [Cold] aspects of the fusion spell. Michelle and Amber remained unaffected by the parts of the spell that they would otherwise have been affected by.

“Moms, that’s so cool,” Luna said, awed.

“This is fusion…?” Diamond muttered, also awed.

Sarah asked, “Roumazi, are there fusion enchantments?”

“Yes and no,” the foxkin replied. “It is possible to put a fusion spell into an enchantment, but that enchantment will only work for the people who can cast the fusion spell in the first place. Not even I could use it.”

Making the spell vanish, Michelle asked, “Wait, we could put this in our weapons?”

She nodded. “You could. The materials required to hold that level of enchantment would be pricey, however, and the procedures to imbue them properly, complex.”

“Okay. Let’s put my motorcycle thing on hold and focus on this.”

Amber asked, “It might be difficult to put it in my arrows if it requires that much..."

“Maybe in your dagger?” Roumazi suggested.

“Yeah…” she began, then shrugged. “Oh well, we'll figure it out. Love,” she said to Michelle, “You need to make a decision about which weapon it’ll go into; whip, sword, or whip sword.”

“Well, obviously, the whip sword,” Michelle said. “We’ve already got a feasible design for all the pieces of it, so now we just have to incorporate a different enchantment into it than our original plan.”

“You know,” Sarah said, “making a fusion-enchanted weapon, especially something as unique as a whip sword, would make for a great advertisement.”

"It would!" Amber said, then gasped. "Oh! That big tournament that's happening in five months? Let's enter that!"

There was a large fighting tournament held in this city every five years, and they would be experiencing their first one five months from now.

Giggling, Roumazi replied, “We’ll need to finish weapons and armor for all four of us then. We’ll have around five weeks for each of us.”

“What? Mom Roumazi, why can’t we enter?” Luna asked.

“It’s adults only, I’m afraid.”

“Aww…”

“I’m more interested in watching than actually participating,” Diamond said.

Michelle reminded Luna, “You’re almost old enough to enter the interschool tournaments. Wasn’t Nipha just telling you about that recently?”

“Oh yeah! Ugh, I still have to wait, though!” the elf girl groaned.

She put a hand on her shoulder. “Not too much longer, Luna.”

She had nearly rubbed Luna’s head out of habit, but her daughter now became irritated whenever she did that.

Maybe that means she’s growing up? Well, she’s still cute, so it’s fine. Diamond’s default size is also getting bigger, now that I think about it. I’ve also noticed she’s growing at the same rate a human would and not how quickly a wild wolf might.

“Well, come on, let’s get started!” Amber exclaimed.

Michelle and Amber then put their effort into further refining the whip sword design, while Amber and Roumazi began planning how they would imbue the fusion magic into the weapon and what they would need to make it happen.

The whip sword needed numerous small sections with even smaller sections within each of those other ones that would allow it to extend and flex properly. Additionally, they needed to make sure those internal sections were also bladed for when they slid out, and the entire contraption needed to stand up to the kind of abuse it would be put under on top of that.

They already had enchantments planned to increase its durability, as well as another that would allow it to return to its sword form when activated.

And now we have to integrate some kind of legendary fusion magic into it as well. This might just be the coolest thing I ever do.

Everyone’s armor and weapon designs had pretty much been finalized for many months already. They had just been waiting until they had their own workshop to really get working on things. Another way they were saving on costs was by hunting their own ingredients and materials whenever possible. There were plenty of craftspeople who did that, so doing it actually wasn’t all that unusual.

Michelle’s motorcycle allowed for rapid transport to their destinations, especially since she could drive it in the sky now, and with Roumazi acting as the group’s healer, they didn’t have to worry about injuries quite as much.

Roumazi made sure to limit herself to mortal capabilities most of the time, however. Everyone would improve more if she wasn’t doing every single thing for them and didn’t heal every minor injury someone received. Still, her magic and spearmanship were both excellent, and her role as healer gave them more peace of mind than having to rely solely on potions did.

Amber and Sarah’s Gifts had both proven invaluable in the crafting process. Amber was able to make minute adjustments where needed, and Sarah was able to powderize materials finely and rapidly. For some potions and enchantments, precise measurements and intricately-laid enchantment patterns greatly benefited from having such finely-ground material to work with.