Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Professor Blyke jumped down from the scaffolding around the Silent Wraith and landed in a crouch in front of Wulf. He flourished with his hand and stood upright, then turned to face Wulf. "My boy?"

"Azanthius gave me permission to Pilot the Wraith," Wulf said.

"Yes, I am absolutely certain you're telling me the truth."

"We don't have time for this!" Wulf exclaimed. "Yes, I would've taken the Wraith with or without permission, but you think Azanthius would be running away and letting me through if he didn't give me permission?"

"He's not running away, he's strutting very purposely to the edge of the hall, where—"

"You know what I mean!"

Blyke raised his eyebrows. "Few would talk to the head faculty Artificer like this."

"Yeah, well, I'm 'few.' " Wulf crossed his arms. "You're stalling. We don't have time. I need to hook up a spirit tension tampener, and we'll do it with or without your help."

"Ah, I suppose you would wish to put less strain on the dream-link between your golem and the Wraith's internal spirit." Blyke rubbed his chin, then squinted. "You know, boy, since you've been such a great help to me—"

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not."

"Perfectly serious. Since you've been such a great help to me, you and your team, I will put in a spirit tension dampener. It will drain your mana faster, but I suppose you expected that. It will also increase the Oronith's rune-line integrity, responsiveness, and stone fibre strength—all to say it will feel more like a Silver-Tier Oronith."

Wulf hadn't expected any of that, but he could compensate for the mana drain. He'd still been refilling his storage core with his usual methods. Drawing mana in and out of the storage constructs, then filling them with the mana using [Alchemist's Beginning], and pulling it back. Having, essentially, created mana from nothing.

"Are you sure you're capable of piloting the Wraith, considering you're only a High-Copper?" Professor Blyke asked.

"I can do it! I did it at Coal, so I can do it here! I just think we must have a better team of faculty members who might be able to do the same job as an almost-teenager."

"They didn't make the cut for Oronith crews when they were young, so they don't make the cut," Wulf insisted. "Is this going to be a problem? Or do I have to force my way around you and get to the cockpit of my Oronith?"

Blyke lowered his arms. "I don't think we'll have problems, no. But I'll need help installing the tension dampener. You were in Dr. Arnau's spirit's class, yes?"

"Yeah."

"You'll help me put a stent in the spirit's central mana channel, which will allow us to put the tension dampener in. We should have one here anyway, because we were supposed to put one in, but it was due in a few weeks."

"Understood."

They ran to a cart of equipment. Enormous tongs hung on a rack, slender scissors, scalpels, and an entire range of chisels that looked like the pipes of an organ. In the center of the cart, various artificed devices of shimmering copper, tarnished pullidium, and a few other materials he didn't recognize.

Modern Oroniths had a lot more metal in them than Wulf realized, but the beast was still mostly stone, and there were plenty of stone constructs sitting in the cart as well, given orderly labels.

Dr. Blyke grabbed a set of enormous steel tongs, hoisting them effortlessly—he was an Ascendant, after all—and clutched onto a pill-shaped metal and deepstone tube in the center of the cart. It had magenta tubes along its sides and a circle of runes in its very center.

Blyke lifted it, then said, "Grab that mesh beside it. That's the stent."

Wulf snatched up the mesh, then chased after Blyke. They sprinted up the wooden scaffolding around the Wraith, until they reached its chest. The panels of its robe-like armour had been pulled away, revealing a faintly thrumming mountain giant heart.

"The mountain giant at the core of the Oronith can also increase in strength," Blyke replied. "That's how your Oronith becomes stronger. But at the moment, we need to go in and ensure that the spirit within the giant doesn't become too strained. At first, it will feel like a restriction, until you increase your mana flow. With this tension dampener, you will be able to feed more mana into the mountain giant."

Wulf nodded.

"We must widen the central mana channel within thegian, so I can fit this in. That's what the stent is for."

Wulf nodded again. "What happens if the mana giant becomes too strong, and its spirit gets released? It's a monster like any other, right?"

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"That won't happen," Blyke replied. "Aside from the rarity of the event, mountain giants cling very tightly to their spirits. They'd rather keep it and become more sapient themselves, instead of releasing it."

"So…the Oronith can get a mind of its own?"

"Sometimes. You won't lose control of it, but you may notice the Oronith…thinking."

Wulf had never noticed that in his past life, but then again, his Oronith had never been terribly powerful, and he'd never been terribly observant of things like that.

They crossed a swivelling walkway, ducking under an open sheet of gray deepstone, then ran to the chest. The inner mountain giant was still rock. There was nothing flesh-and-blood about it. But its form pulsed and throbbed like a blood vessel. Wulf was staring at its heavily modified chest. Layers of stone and gravel had already been peeled away, with wood and metal maintenance hatches in place for easy access.

Blyke pulled open a door-sized hatch right in front of them, then leaned into the darkness. There was a faint blue glow—the mountain giant's lingering energy. Mana in such a high concentration that it swirled about, flowing through veins. There was a central channel nearly the width of the palm of his hand, made of a pale, flexible crystal.

Blyke shifted to the side, holding up the tension dampener. "They've put a slit in the channel. Make sure the stent is in its closed position before inserting it, and once you open it, I'll follow it with the tension dampener. We haven't done the groundwork for this, so you'll need some raw strength. You think you're powerful enough to open this?"

Wulf was ready to try. He wasn't sure how strong he'd actually need to be, but there was a winch on one side of the stent, seemingly designed to allow it to open. If he spun it, it'd expand, widening the channel. At the moment, when he twisted it to close the stent to its most contracted position, it offered no resistance. The mesh tightened.

Without hesitation, he jammed it through an opening in the crystal channel. It was elastic and stretchy, but only with extreme force applied to it. He didn't know exactly what it was, but his mind ran in circles around the possibilities. If he could make a suit of armour out of it? If he could even transmute something like it? He was essentially performing a surgery on a mountain giant, and dealing with its flesh. He hadn't found a way to transmute flesh yet.

Problem for later, he reminded himself. Too many problems for later.

Reaching in, he twisted the handle of the stent, widening it and pushing the channel open. It creaked and groaned, and it resisted him. He reached in with both hands, grunting with effort even as he leveraged his Marks.

"You know, kid, I didn't think you were going to manage that. Was hoping this was where I could call it. Spare your life and all."

"Not today," Wulf gasped.

"Sure enough."

As soon as Wulf had twisted the stent into its open position, he locked it, pushing a bar in place to prevent the closing mechanism from twisting in the opposite direction, like he was barring a castle gate.

"You're stronger than the average Pilot at your stage."

"I aspire to be," Wulf replied. He'd been focussing on gaining Marks. In theory, when he pulled his mana out of the Wraith this time, he could advance again. He might have to, just to make this all a little more believable to the staff. But the more Marks he could gain early, the better, especially if it gave him the chance to upgrade them in batches.

"Just put the dampener in," Wulf said.

Using his tongs, Blyke inserted the spirit tension dampener into the mana channel. He extended a few braided cords of rope away from it, but before he could attach them, someone ran up behind them.

Panting, Seith and Irmond sprinted up the stairs. "We'll finish up here!" Seith called. "Azanthius told us to help you, Blyke."

"Understood," the progessor said. "We'll finish here, then patch her up. Good luck."

"Wulf, Kalee's going to the cockpit," Irmond said.

"Got it." Wulf turned away, then sprinted up the rest of the scaffolding, taking the stairs two or three at a time. When he reached the top, he turned, taking a rickety walkway around the back of the Wraith's head. The hatch was already open, and he jumped inside.

The interior of the cockpit was slightly cleaner now. The support harnesses had been replaced with modern, stronger, non-rusting apparatuses, and the parchment status readouts hanging around the cockpit had been replaced. They were no longer covered in mildew, and weren't torn or tattered.

The cords and insulation, or tubes and other machinery in the ceiling and walls had been bundled and sorted, making it easier for Artificers to do their jobs. Finally, the Oronith's control core, a rune-covered sphere of polished stone, hovered near the back.

Since they'd powered Wraith before, and since the academy had been working on it, its systems were still…mostly functional. It shouldn't be as difficult to turn on as the first activation. He wouldn't need to cover the entire thing in a potion.

But he would need to hop in a golem and link it.

He set his lab storage pendant on the ground, then opened it and stepped inside. His golem waited at the back, and he'd saved a few half-finished potions for this occasion. He poured one over the golem's head, activated it with [Arm of the Alchemist], then climbed into the smaller jade golem.

It sealed over his body, and, controlling it, he stepped back out into the cockpit. He sealed up his storage pendant, then hung it around his neck and slotted himself into the Pilot's control apparatus.

Kalee stood beside him, attaching herself to the Mage's apparatus. She plugged a dream socket into the back of her neck, then the other into her ribs, then fastened herself in.

Wulf slotted into the much larger Pilot's apparatus, snapped his feet into the holders, then plugged in his dream socket. The Silent Wraith instantly shuddered. The scaffolding creaked. Through the glass visor ahead—newly repaired and replaced—he could see workers pulling away the scaffolding. Most had been built to swivel away, giving the Oronith a path out without smashing through.

He shut his eyes, called on the Field, and willed the dream-socket to carry across his will. He needed the Wraith to turn on, he needed the core to align with his own golem's, for the dream-link to activate.

The core's runes illuminated behind him. First, they shone bright blue, but took on a magenta hue. Wulf's dream-link strained. He was nowhere near as strong as the Wraith, and though it wasn't as dark of magenta as before, it was still an unnatural colour.

Shouting with exertion, he strained against the arcane pain, until a mental click chimed through his mind, and he knew he was attached.

It was time to get moving.