Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

By the time Wulf made it back to his dorm room, it was well past midnight. They'd come up with a general plan, with Dr. Arnau's help, but the finer details were up to them.

After they had all washed up, they met in Wulf and Irmond's room. They shut the door as quickly as they could, and Irmond waited beside it, listening for anyone coming. Terrence had been patrolling the floor, and they didn't need him of all people catching them.

"No one's watching Athllas," Seith reminded them.

Wulf rubbing the bridge of his nose with his knuckles. "Right…but in our defense, there was a fight."

"And nothing has happened," Irmond said.

"We don't want to get complacent." Wulf sat down on his bed and retrieved the mana storage constructs Kalee had made him. He'd need to refill his mana, and he could always keep expanding his storage core—up until he advanced to Iron.

"What are we going to do about him when we're in the dungeon, then?" Kalee asked. "That's going to be a long excursion. A week, maybe. Aside from the classes we're going to miss, we can't just leave Athllas unprotected."

"I'll talk to Dr. Arnau about it," Wulf said. "I'll make an excuse. Something like 'we suspect his guard has gone missing' and see what happens. She might be able to get someone to watch him while we're gone."

"Or we could bring him with us," Irmond said.

They all glanced back at him.

"What? It would work."

Wulf rubbed his chin. "It would."

Marching over, Kalee leaned forward and flicked his forehead. "You're actually thinking about doing this? The dungeon excursion is crazy enough."

"We've gotta take some risks," Wulf reasoned. "And an excursion would help us get closer to him."

"Is it just me," Seith said, "or does the prospect of trying so hard to befriend him kind of defeat the purpose? You know, he won't actually be a friend. It's not very natural. Like, not natural as the way you got the rest of us on your side."

Wulf chewed the inside of his lips. "No, it's not. But I can't think of any other way to do it."

"We need to plan our excursion," Kalee said. "When are we actually going to do it? Let's write down the dates of our quizzes, and the dates of the upcoming arena fights, and try to slot everything in between."

"Actually," Wulf said, raising a finger. "I think we should check our Marks. Most of us should've gotten some more by now."

"Good point." Seith scrunched her eyebrows. "Uh, whatever I had has faded. I can't see it anymore, and I've got no idea what it said."

"Just use your main status," Kalee suggested.

Wulf did the same, looking through his main status until he found his new Mark.

[Combat Awareness] You have demonstrated initiative in a battle with twenty or more combatants. Your perception of your surroundings has increased, and your senses have improved slightly.

It was at the bottom of the list of his Marks. He'd admittedly been hoping for something a little flashier, but it would do, and he did need to enhance his perception, too, not just his strength.

The others got similar Marks, though useful for their Classes. Kalee's Mark increased her speed and her mana accumulation rate (how much mana she gained for completing a Class-related task), Irmond's perception improved greatly, and Seith's agility and fine motor control improved.

"Guess when you save two cities after stealing an Oronith, it stops being a Grant Mark," Irmond commented.

Then, they all wrote down their schedules for the coming weeks on a sheet of scrap paper from Wulf's desk drawer. After studying the list for a few seconds, Wulf said, "In two days looks like the best time. After Irmond and Kalee have their first arena fights, and before anyone has a quiz. Should give us about a week of leeway."

"Then, last thing," Kalee said. "How are we going to get Prince Athllas to come with us?"

"I'm…still working on the how," Wulf said.

"Can we just knock him out and take him with us?" Irmond suggested. "You've got a potion for that, right?"

"No," Kalee said. She bent down closer to Wulf again and said, "Field's sake, no, do not take that suggestion. We can do better than that."

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"Yeah, that one was a little unhinged, Irmond," Wulf said. Aside from it not working, the look Kalee gave him was enough to say that she was serious about it.

The elf boy cleared his throat and leaned closer to the door. "My bad. I'll keep listening."

"For the record, I would've helped you with that one," Seith provided.

"In the realm of actual plans," Kalee said, "perhaps we need to pay the Lions another visit. I'm not sure if I've gotten a good enough read on him yet, but something tells me that we could get him to come along if he thinks it would help his negotiations with Varl. And considering what Arnau's going to do to give us an excuse to get in…"

Wulf nodded. "We have to convince him that Dr. Arnau could help him with his negotiations with Varl."

"Exactly," Kalee said.

"Ugh, this is making my head hurt," Seith complained. "So much scheming."

"I promise, at some point, we'll be strong enough, and we won't need to worry about the scheming. But until then…" Wulf rested back on the bed. "Until then, we do what we have to. This dungeon is the key to it. A few good runs, and we'll stand a chance at beating Lord Umoch's challenge."

"What about me?" Seith asked. "And hell, what about you? We don't gain mana from killing monsters."

"I'll make it in time," Wulf said. "The challenge isn't for me, but for you guys—for raising up a crew to the same level. As for you, Seith? I'd bet we can find some neat artificing ingredients for you. The better the ingredients, and the rarer, the more mana you gain?"

"Something like that." She nodded. "It also depends on the complexity of the construct."

"And," Wulf said, "we're going in with an Oronith. If you can repair us after we take damage, it'll grant you mana. And I guarantee, we're going to be taking decent damage."

"What about Wraith's weapons?" Irmond asked. "We lost both our swords, and it's not built to fight with just fists."

"Well, we're going into a dungeon." Wulf grinned. "I think we can find something in there worth equipping."

~ ~ ~

The next morning, at breakfast, they planned on catching the Lions in the main hall as they ate. Watching, observing, seeing if there was anything they could use to get Athllas to follow them into the dungeon.

But it turned out, the Lions were looking for them, too.

As soon as Wulf and the others sat down at the table, Varl, Athllas, and a few others inched closer, and two third-years settled down on the opposite side of them. Slightly threateningly.

"Did we do something wrong?" Wulf asked.

"Mine and Irmond's tournament fights haven't happened," Kalee reminded them. "And Wulf and Seith both emerged victorious."

Athllas nudged Varl, and Varl tapped the table somewhat menacingly. Then he put on a smile that looked a little forced. "We want to fast-track your Association membership, given the battle last night. Before, uh, before the other Associations or guilds snatch you up and you don't have time to help out with our operations."

"Something tells me four Istalis kids still aren't going to have many takers," Seith muttered.

Ignoring her, Wulf said, "You heard about that?" That was fast. As far as he knew, most of the other students hadn't gone anywhere.

"Athllas told me," Varl said quickly, keeping his voice soft.

"You saved my father," Athllas added, leaning over the table. He smeared scrambled eggs on the elbow of his uniform, but he didn't seem to care. "That deserves recognition, and I vouched for you four." His eyes shone with earnesty, and his voice sounded rather young. He fiddled with the fingers of his stone hand quickly, and said, "My father is very sickly. He shouldn't be Piloting anymore, and certainly not fighting, but he insisted. He might have died if not for your help."

But the old king of Byrante didn't go down fighting fiends last time. Unless the demon's changed formation had been enough to kill the old man, which was possible, Wulf would say he'd only set things back to their right time scale. The old man was going to die on his own time, when he was supposed to.

"Glad I could be of service to the kingdom," Wulf replied noncommittally, trying not to show too much interest.

But this would make things so much easier, especially when it came to getting Athllas to come with them. Wulf only nodded and said, "Then I accept the invitation."

~ ~ ~

That night, Wulf laid awake far longer than he should've. He wasn't sure why, but something was nagging at his mind. Or, perhaps it was Irmond's snoring, but that was a common occurrence that Wulf had learned to ignore.

He laid unmoving for a few minutes, trying to get his mind to shut off, but it wouldn't.

Then there was a slight snipping noise, like someone had just cut through a set of strings beneath his bed. He sat up and leaned over the edge, only to see a soft golden glow from beneath the bed.

For a second, he blinked, trying to process what he was seeing, until Mantri emerged, slinking out from under the bed.

"So that's what it sounds like when you pop up," Wulf muttered. Keeping his voice low, he asked, "What's up, bud? Haven't seen you in a little bit."

Mantri circled around, then jumped up onto the bed and curled down on the blankets beside Wulf.

"You tell me," Mantri said. "You're agitated about something, and you weren't sleeping. You need to rest up if you want to be ready for your excursion."

Wulf sighed. "...Time stuff."

"Time?"

"You think there are multiple timelines?" Wulf asked. "And could the Field control that?"

"Where's this coming from?" Mantri whispered.

"Just curious."

"Well, the Field doesn't have the power to send the entire galaxy back through time, let alone the entire universe. I suppose it could send our whole world back through time, or rather, reset our world. That seems like a specific problem, though…"

"Sure," Wulf said. "Just a hypothetical. So…there's only one universe, only one world?"

"The cords don't branch," Mantri said. "And a manipulation of the cords would make them very fragile. You could only reset the world once within, say, a couple thousand years."

"That's…somewhat reassuring, actually," Wulf said. "That what we do here actually matters."

"Everything matters," Mantri said. He paused for a few seconds, then added, "Alright, I was bored, too. Do you mind if I sleep here?"

"Not at all. Just be quiet, and don't get yourself in trouble."