Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Mantri ran forward, darting across the pendant's void, then pressed a paw against Wulf's leg.

"Did I get another Grand Mark?" Wulf asked.

"You're on the cusp of one," Mantri said. "But that's not why I'm here. You're going to use that as a splatter potion, right?"

"That was the plan."

"It's not going to work. Varl isn't alive anymore."

"Then…how?"

"How would you poison food? You wouldn't need a special flask, or a special Skill. You'd just put it in."

"But food's not alive," Wulf said. "Wait, are you even allowed to help me?"

"Uh, no. But no one has to know. Look, Wulf, he's close enough to food in this state. You need to get close and dump it on him, and it'll soak into his bones, like it would with any inanimate object."

"Understood," Wulf said. He ran back to the entrance of the void pendant. It was hard to tell what was going on outside, with how slow everything was moving. "You're still here? You're not going back?"

"I may as well stay," Mantri said. "I'm going to have to come back soon, anyway."

"Alright…" Wulf stepped through the opening, and immediately, the world sped back up. Seith was fighting Pyek in close-quarters, blocking and taking hits with her wrist blades. It didn't look like she'd landed a hit, but one of her arms hung limp, and at an awkward angle. Irmond circled around above, riding on Speckles, and firing arrow after arrow down on Pyek.

And Kalee, on the ground, did her best to support, slowing Pyek where she could, and saving Seith's life on a few occasions.

As soon as Wulf emerged, he tossed his speed potion up, then shattered it and splattered the potion across his three crewmates. [Bastion] took effect, newly enhanced, and the burst was massive already. Then he activated [Slither]—he wouldn't need his resistance anymore.

He handed Kalee that Serpent's Demijohn and shouted, "Splash him with it! It'll work! I'll finish the job."

The red liquid within glowed and trembled, ready to use. "Got it!" she called.

Together, they charged forward. Pyek unleashed ranged attacks, generating columns of smoke from his spirit form, but Wulf cut them out of the air. His new strength matched the physical strength of a Gold.

If Pyek's eyes could have widened, they would have. Wulf darted closer and closer, then pushed Seith away—to safety. Pyek punched him in the shoulder, then turned his missing smokey hand into a sharp spear. He tried to stab Wulf in the gut, but Wulf pushed it aside, and it only scraped him.

He pinned Pyek's physical body to the ground, and the spirit fell with it.

Kalee jumped in beside him, ripping the stopper off the demijohn and splashing the liquid over Varl's old body.

In seconds, the bones shriveled, and the remaining flesh disintegrated. Varl may have been unpleasant, but not one deserved that fate. At least he was already dead.

"I was promised glory!" Pyek hollered. "I was promised a small fiefdom, of others to command and control, to master! You'll not rob me of my promise!" He was trying to escape. His form was slithering off to the side, still slightly humanoid, but with a slowly-forming crown of horns and no facial expression. "The greatest pleasure is to rule over others!"

"Kalee!" Wulf shouted. "Hold him!"

She conjured a massive circle beneath his head. "Gladly." His black, dusty skull slammed into the floor. "I know how your kind rules over others and treats their servants." She shuddered. "I hope this is the most unpleasant experience of your life."

Wulf reattached his scissors, then plunged them both into Pyek's chest. He activated [Chaotic Alteration], then harvested Pyek's essences.

The demon-spirit shrivelled, losing volume and lightening. Pyek screamed, then thrust his hands out. His eyes dimmed, and a burst of orange energy seared out his hands, aiming right for Wulf's face.

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It was fast, fuelled, by desperation, and Wulf wasn't ready for it. He winced, bracing himself, preparing to take the strike.

The blast fizzled out. Wulf only heard a soft mrrrrp, then a thud. Something flashed in front of his face, taking and absorbing the blow.

Pyek shrank down to a fist-sized glob, then expanded and exploded, sending a blast of raw force through the entire chamber. Wulf staggered back. There wasn't even a glass sphere waiting.

He blinked, trying to figure out what happened.

Then he saw it. A pile of smouldering black fur, laying limp on the floor. Wulf sprinted over. "Mantri! What did you do?"

He skidded to a halt beside his Messenger, then lifted Mantri's body up. Half of Mantri's flank had burned away, leaving raw, weeping flesh, and below, strands of shimmering, golden light.

"Wulf is kind…" Mantri breathed, then his head fell limp to the side.

Wulf raised his arm to the cat's neck and pressed his fingers in. There was still a pulse, but it was faint. "He's badly injured. We need to get back up to the surface now."

"I'll take him!" Irmond shouted. "We'll try to stabilize him and save him." He glanced at Seith, who had her own slew of injuries to deal with, but she nodded anyway.

"Thank you guys!" Wulf said. "Can we get a lift up to the cockpit?"

"What do you say, Speckles?" Irmond glanced at his thrustwing, and the two of them shared a nod.

Before Wulf could specify that he meant on Speckles' back, the thrustwing grabbed the backs of his and Kalee's jumpsuits with his talons and took off. When they reached the cockpit, Speckles dropped them atop the shaft, and they both climbed in.

The rest passed in a daze. Wulf was exhausted, and he was running out of mana, but he still had to keep moving. He was the only one who could get them out of there with a reasonable speed.

He retraced their path to the shaft, then, with a jump, began climbing. His lungs ached, and sweat poured down his forehead. Kalee helped take the weight off a couple times.

When he reached the top, there was no time to take a break. There were still demons roaming the second level, which he'd trapped, and he couldn't afford to get caught by another Gold-tier enemy in this condition.

Though he didn't consciously remember the route to the next upward shaft, he stumbled there in a daze, probably with the guidance of Kalee and Irmond.

As they walked, they all reported their progress. Kalee had received a Grand Mark, and so had the others. Wulf probably had too, but he'd need to check his status, and he was too occupied at the moment.

But, more relieving was that Seith had advanced to Low-Iron from crafting the hand, and Irmond made the same leap by helping with all the demons Wulf had slain. Kalee? To Middle-Iron, likely for her more pivotal role in the fight against Pyek.

Then, finally, they arrived at the pile of rubble. Wulf wasn't exactly sure how they were going to get around it, and he didn't want to linger in one place too long. The hallways behind were beginning to glow orange. Flames were approaching—and that meant more fiends.

But before he could run away, a glimmer of blue light shone in from above. The very top of the rubble pile crumbled, giving way to more light, and the white boots of Azanthius' Oronith.

Wulf's eyes widened. The pile crumbled more. There was a boom, and more collapsed—enough that a few Oroniths could slide through. They formed a circle around Wulf, brandishing weapons. Some spread through the tunnels, holding weapons ahead of themselves, searching for the rest of the fiends.

Now that Wulf had killed most of them, they might only lost one or two Oroniths cleaning up Pyek's mess—instead of an entire class. It was probably the best outcome.

Before he even knew what was happening, and Oronith threw Wraith's arm over its shoulder, supporting Wraith, and helping Wraith climb back up to the first level of the dungeon. From here, the Academy could handle everything.

~ ~ ~

Wulf awoke in the infirmary. His injuries hadn't been that bad, but they'd apparently wanted to check him anyway—especially since he'd passed out sometime on their journey back through the upper level of the dungeon.

Just exhaustion, he vaguely recalled one of the healers saying, before moving to help out the others. Irmond had made it out without injury, but Kalee had sustained a few minor injuries, and Seith needed the most attention.

"When're you going to learn that you're not a front-liner?" Irmond teased her.

"When you guys stop needing one," she countered.

Wulf sat upright. Kalee was still sleeping, and sleeping peacefully, so he let her be. He pulled on his bracer, activated the enchanted parchment, then assessed it. Mantri wasn't here to deliver a Grand Mark, but it still appeared at the very bottom of his status:

[Grand Mark – Spirit Slayer] You have slain a demon-spirit many times greater than yourself, using alchemy and poisons. Your previous abilities have been modified, and the likelihood of crafting a poisonous potion does not decrease as your ingredients increase in quality. When crafting potions Ruby-Tier or above, you gain a slight but permanent perception boost.

And all of his previous Marks had been condensed into a single nested Mark, [Obsidian Heart]. It made the sheet much more manageable, and he could enhance all of the lesser Marks at the same time when he improved [Spirit Slayer].

All things considered…it had gone well. He swung his legs over the edge of his cot, about to stand up, when the infirmary door swung in.

Just to ruin his mood, it seemed, Dr. Azanthius marched in, followed by Dr. Arnau, Dr. McGemmild, and Lord Umoch.