Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Wulf lined up his ingredients ahead of him. He needed something strong. Something in the Gold tier at least.

It depended if his body could handle a potion that strong, but he'd figure it out. He'd advanced a few tiers since last semester, but there was only so much he could do with a potion. If he tried to use an Orichalcum-tier potion right now, it'd kill him. He could guarantee that.

But if he could make a Gold potion, he was taking the risk.

He prepared his burn-box, filling it with the fresh phoenix dust that he'd acquired from the chef, then lighting it. He attached ten vials to his holding rack, and filled them with as many grass clippings as he could. He packed them in, until there was so much arcane matter it was practically glowing.

But as he looked over it, it wasn't going to be enough. They were fine, but just fine. He needed something more if he was going to craft the best potions he'd made yet. There was lots of pressure on his shoulders, which helped, but when wasn't there?

Glancing at his old splatter potion vial, he grimaced. It was the first custom-made flask, but he could do better. He had to. He needed a flask that registered with the Field.

He picked it up, partially feeling sentimental, but now wasn't the time. It was made of steelglass, and he'd outgrown it. He needed to reshape it. It had some sentimental value, now. He wasn't taking it apart—he was improving it.

Though he didn't have any of his forging equipment, the burn-box blazed bright enough to start heating the steelglass. He held the flask's neck over the burn-box until the glass glowed white-hot, then, using a cold ingot of steelglass (which he'd previously reserved as a stable surface for transmuting substances on), he pounded the the neck of the flask like a blacksmith at the forge.

The glass constricted, turning from an open neck, perfect for sloshing, to a thin spout for pouring and drinking.

But glass alone wouldn't be enough. He just had a feeling—it wasn't going to register with the Field the way it currently was.

He paused on his glass-smithing for a moment, and returned to his flasks. Pulling open his coat, he retrieved a tiny vial of poisonous liquid, which he drew the chaos from. He was under no illusion that he could transmute the steelglass itself, but if he could pump it into the glass' surroundings, if he could include it in the forging process…

Taking up the flask, he continued heating its neck until it glowed white-hot, then he pumped his stored chaos—nearly a hundred units of it—into the air around the flask's neck. Some of the air itself transmuted, turning into shimmering dust and falling to the floor of his storage pendant before scattering, but most of it stayed in place.

The air distorted. It was like someone had stirred a bunch of cracked mirrors into a tornado, and Wulf couldn't see the flask itself anymore. He blinked, trying to focus, but there was a lot of chaos—way too much for his High-Copper mind to comprehend.

He winced. The chaos was supposed to make it more unpredictable, easier to forge, easier to work with, and to add a touch of randomness to it.

But he noticed something else entirely.

In the edges of his vision, the chaotic tornado trembled, revealing something deeper. It blew away the surface of the world like it was dust, revealing a golden fabric beneath. Thousands, millions…infinite threads wove together in patterns, directing the flow of the world. When the chaos rushed past, it made the threads tremble, like someone was plucking them. They vibrated like the cords of a lute.

He blinked, trying to take it in. In a flash, the vision was gone, but he knew what he'd seen. The fabric of the world. The cords—Mantri had talked about those.

"Mantri, are you there?" Wulf whispered.

There was no response.

No messenger cat tonight, then. But he could work with the cords. That glass wanted to be something, and more than that, it needed to be something. The chaotic essence was playing with its fate, not just transmuting it, but giving it a purpose beyond what a regular steelglass flask should've had.

Wulf clutched his ingot tight and continued pounding the flask, shaping it, listening to fate, manipulating the flask to take the shape he desired. But he couldn't just let the ways of the world lead. If he let it be whatever it wanted, he was going to get a lump of glass. He had to infuse it with his own will, too. If he could see fate, if he could see the cords of the universe, then he could adjust them.

This vial was fated to be magic-less. He disagreed.

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But it wouldn't be a magic item without an artistic touch. As the chaos was consumed, fading away, it left a more distinct swirling pattern through the air. Wulf shaped the flask following the swirls, giving it indents, which slowly turned into an embossed tornado pattern.

When the chaos faded, the flask was complete. At first, nothing happened. It cooled, turning from glowing red to clear once more. He blew on it to calm the glass, as if that would help.

Pressure accumulated around the glass, and a tingle built in his fingers. Finally, it reached a crescendo, and the pressure burst. The glass chimed, and the Field registered it.

The vial was a magic object.

Wincing, he analyzed it with the Field:

Serpent's Demijohn (Unique)

A steelglass container crafted by plucking the cords of fate. It amplifies the tier of any complete potion stored within it by 1, and all potions resonate with great intensity. Any potion crafted in this vial will gain an additional strength effect.

Poison effects stored within this vial will cause deviations in their victim's fate. The longer a poison is stored within this vial, the longer its effect lasts when inflicted on a victim. This effect's rate scales with the tier of the vial's maker.

[By crafting an item of significance, you have increased your mana. Advancement progress: 100.4%]

[You have increased your Tier to Low-Bronze.]

[You may upgrade one Mark, and you may pick one aspect Skill.]

Wulf stared at the vial for a few seconds, trying to take it in. Another unique item. He'd increased his tier, too, but for the moment, he was more focussed on the vial. He had to focus on his crafting. The vial was cool enough for him to lift now, which shouldn't have been possible. Either he was getting more durable, or the glass cooled really quickly.

Probably a bit of both.

He cast aside the current batch of potions, but not before packing all the grass clippings into his new container. Some of the vials got chipped in his haste, and his new container barely fit on the holding rack. But it did.

He poured in enough vinegar to cover all the grass clippings, then agitated it with a touch of chaos, until it took on the colour of the grass. Sifting through, he scooped out as much of the non-active grass remains, until he was left with a dark green fluid.

High-Iron.

He boiled it, stirring constantly, listening. Everything before had led to now, and he had over a year of practice stirring.

Practice stirring. He almost laughed at himself for how silly that sounded, and he would've if not for the circumstances. But it mattered. He'd gotten better at listening to the Field, at understanding his Class, at seeing the patches of bubbles and removing them, of integrating the impurities.

Once it was a stable colour, he stopped. It resonated. It was ready, he knew that much.

Inhaling, he assessed the quality of the mixture. High-Silver.

Time to break into Gold.

He drank a Middle-Silver poisonous potion (one of the ones he'd made to use on the prince's guard). His body struggled, and he nearly threw up on the floor, but he held himself together. An aura sprang up around him, and he funelled it directly into the single potion.

It climbed one tier, becoming Low-Gold, and transmuted. The potion shifted to neon blue, and the liquid practically vibrated, letting out a chime and making the glass warble.

The flask itself raised the potion another tier, when he assessed it, the description read:

Serpent's Tooth Potion (Middle-Gold Quality)

Greatly increases the user's speed and the potency of his poisons. Mildly increases the user's strength, and inflicts a fragility poison, greatly decreasing the user's durability.

[By crafting an item of significance, you have increased your mana. Advancement progress: 105.9%]

That was just what he needed. A boost of strength, to transmit through the dream-link, and enough speed to deal with the fiend. Durability of his body? He was in an Oronith. It would take all the hits.

He still had a little time. Looking out the hole back into the real world, the school of fish had just barely passed the edge of the visor. Outside, it had been twenty, maybe twenty-five seconds.

He could still use his upgrades. He concentrated on his second Grand Mark, [Wraithmaster]. It may not be immediately helpful, but he had to think of the future as well, and the nested Marks all got a bonus.

Lastly a message scrawled across his bracer, listing potential aspect Skills:

[Poisonous Aura] Inflicts organ-killing poisons on anyone within ten feet of you whenever you use an aura Skill.

[Spider's Fang] At the cost of mana, your weapons become venomous, inflicting slowness poisons on anyone cut by them. Potion strength scales with your tier.

[Slither] At the cost of mana, you can temporarily convert all poison resistance to speed and strength.

Alternate: You may choose to refine your aspect.

Wulf considered for a moment, but he couldn't spend too long pondering. [Poisonous Aura] wasn't ideal for working in a team, and it had little to do with alchemy. The Field probably suggested it because he already had one aura skill. But he struck that down as an option almost immediately.

[Spider's Fang] was a decent second choice. He could see a couple uses for it, but again, it had little to do with alchemy. It was thinking of his aspect. But if he muddled his advancement, he'd be worsening his options down the road. If he picked random abilities, then he increased the chances of getting all useless skills, of showing the Field that he didn't know what he wanted.

[Slither] was the best, given his circumstances, and he could use it immediately. A burst of speed and strength that he could count on was perfect, and though it had little to do with alchemy as well, it aligned with lots of his current resistance-granting Marks.

There was always the option of refining his aspect, but in his experience, that happened naturally. You didn't need to waste a new skill to do it.

He selected [Slither], then, without wasting anymore time, stepped toward the entrance of the storage pendant.

It was time to get out of here.