Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Wulf ran to the hallway outside the theater, where a wall of windows provided a view out into the evening sky. There were only a few clouds, but it was mostly clear. The moons were rising over the horizon, peeking over the towers of the city.

The first moon to rise, Lyralis, was cracking. A patchwork of black gouges etched across its green shell, delving deep into the material. A tail of dust trailed off it, falling behind into the sky, and a tiny molten core glimmered at its center, but quickly cooled.

"The demons…" Wulf breathed.

Kalee ran up beside him, but Irmond and Seith had a different class. They were probably watching too.

"They didn't crack the moon this early last time," Kalee whispered. Although there were other students around, they were too busy staring at the moon, and their conversations built into a roar that blocked most other sounds out.

"No," Wulf replied. "And they're cracking it in bigger chunks. They—"

As he spoke, the bottom half of the moon shattered completely, trailing dust and debris into the void behind it. Chunks of rock fell out of orbit. They were already racing toward the surface, and some of the smaller stones erupted in flames.

Demon spheres would've landed on the moons, but there was no way to reach them—at least, not as far as Wulf knew. Perhaps, with how some Ascendants could tear into the cords and travel long distances in an instant, it was possible, but it didn't seem like anyone had tried to resist the demons' conquest of the moons.

Which meant they could do whatever they wanted to them.

"Those are going to hit the surface…" Kalee breathed.

"An impact like that?" Wulf gulped. Most of the impacts wouldn't be world ending—he was pretty sure, at least—but they'd cloud the sky with dust. Farmers were already struggling, and everything was about to get infinitely worse. A pit opened in his stomach.

"How…are we going to deal with this?" Kalee whispered. "Why? Why would they do this now?"

"That Pyek guy…he seemed to think there was something wrong with us," Wulf said. "I've been reading up on the demons. There were demon-spirits during the first demon wars, too. They had the power to control fiends, and their intelligence increased the stronger they were."

"So they know about us," Kalee said.

"Last time, they saw humans and human-likes as a disturbance. A mild inconvenience that got in the way of their harvesting efforts," Wulf said.

"This time, they're taking us seriously."

"Exactly."

"Which means raining stones from the sky," she breathed.

"It also means that there's someone in charge," Wulf replied. "We can cut this snake's head off."

"You're thinking too far ahead. We need to—"

A distant, deep horn vibrated through the city. It had a rising pitch, until it became shrill, then descended again. A demon attack siren.

Wulf and Kalee glanced at each other. "An attack?" he exclaimed. "Right now?"

"Get to the Wraith," Kalee said. "They'll need all the help they can get."

By now, their professor for Cockpit Readouts, Dr. Mantithal, stepped out into the hallway. She shouted, "Please remain calm, everyone. Civilians will head to their shelters, but the academy is as safe as can be. Return to the theater and continue your exams, and I and the other proctors will be lenient—no misconduct for anyone."

Only a few students looked back at her. Wulf shook his head—he'd find a way around it, and if he had to redo the course, then so be it.

He and Kalee sprinted away, racing through the academy halls and along a high promenade with a view over the city. Nearly fifty fiends waded through the water outside the harbour wall, drawing closer.

They were going to stomp right through the wall's foundations, kicking them down and undoing all the work Wulf had done over the past year. He tightened his fists as he ran.

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"What about Seith and Irmond?" Kalee shouted.

"They'll catch up!" Wulf replied. "They know where to find us."

When they reached the hangar, Seith was already at the Wraith's berth. The hangar was alive with activity. People swarmed the floor, racing back and forth with equipment and tools. Ascendants made the final preparations to Oroniths, and Dr. Azanthius' voice boomed over the mana constructs, echoing around the hall: "All students who have been placed on a crew and have a tentative position in an Oronith crew, report to the main hangar prepared for combat. You will be briefed by an experienced pilot within your formation."

They needed all hands on deck. There was no reason Azanthius would deliberately send students into battle otherwise.

Chances were, Lord Umoch wasn't coming quickly, and the other Orichalcum Ascendants were too far away to be of any help. This was up to them.

Wulf didn't wait for orders. He shouted, "Seith! How's the Wraith looking?"

"No damage! He's all repaired, one hundred percent body integrity. We're good to depart!" she replied.

"Where's Irmond?" Kalee asked.

"He's getting Speckles! He'll meet us out there!"

Wulf and Kalee sprinted up the scaffolding beside the Wraith, winding up the side of the hangar berth their Oronith stood in. Halfway up, though, Wulf decided it was too slow to use the stairs themselves, and instead jumped up the outer frame of the scaffolding, leaping from level to level with the help of his enhanced strength and speed. Kalee followed soon after.

"I've never not needed stairs!" Wulf shouted with glee.

"Me neither!" she shouted. "And I was a Silver before!"

They reached the cockpit in record time, and they jumped in. Their flight suits still hung over the holding apparatus, ready for them, and they donned their suits as quickly as they could. Then, while Kalee ran through the startup sequence, Wulf prepared his small golem. He'd repaired it since his tournament fight, and though its shape and function hadn't changed, it didn't have any gaping holes in it.

"We're going to need some of your mana to refill Wraith's stores," Kalee replied as she slotted herself into her holding apparatus. "But otherwise, we're good to depart."

Before Wulf closed up his golem's helmet, he pulled on a communication construct over his ear. He ran back to the lectern-shaped device at the center of the cockpit and placed his hand on it, then expelled a wave of mana into it.

It wasn't nearly as difficult to fuel the Wraith anymore, and he did so without thinking. His mana poured out, but it only took a sliver of his total storage core. The true depletion wasn't going to be activating the Wraith, but using it, and its components chewing through mana quickly. The faster he moved, the more he demanded from the different constructs it was made of.

Which was exactly why he'd expanded his storage core as much as he had.

He ran back to the control apparatus and slotted himself in. The parchment sheets hanging around the cockpit shifted, ink messages reading different notes. He understood more of them now, but he didn't care about as many.

"Ready?" he asked Kalee.

"I'm good to go," she replied. "Got constructs, and my storage core is topped up." She'd been the last one to use the Star Hearts, so she'd just gotten a core expansion too. Not to mention, she was almost at Middle-Silver herself, from crafting all the constructs her skills would consume.

"Let's see how far we've come, then," Wulf said. "Seith, you hanging on?"

By now, she'd advanced to High-Iron, mostly by helping Kalee with smaller constructs and working with metals that Wulf transmuted. It was Irmond who was lagging behind, because his Class needed combat to advance. Tonight would be his chance to catch up.

"Holding on tight!" Seith replied. "I take it we're not, uh, waiting for orders?"

"You do realize who you're talking to, right?" Kalee teased.

"Until Azanthius actually punishes me—which I know he won't anymore—I don't have to take his orders," Wulf said. "We're going to help where we can, and if we wait until an entire formation of less-experienced Pilots are ready, they'll already be tearing down the wall."

"We're with you," Kalee said.

Wulf connected his dream-socket to the holding apparatus and clenched his teeth. There was no pain anymore, and the connection sealed almost instantly.

[Welcome back, sir,] Wraith said, speaking through the dream-link. [I see you two have…been practicing.]

"Good to see you too," Wulf said.

"Yes," Kalee replied, directly to Wraith. "We passed our labs…at the very least."

Over the past few months, she'd managed to pick out Wraith's voice too, and both she and Wulf could hear it, now.

In their labs, they'd practiced linking. On an easy, simple construct, they'd managed to link their minds for a few seconds, keeping stable, but never inside an Oronith. Wulf was ready to give it a shot.

"It's unnerving when you guys talk to Wraith like that," Seith mumbled through the communication construct. "When I can only hear half the conversation."

[I sense urgency. Should I leave her behind to assist in our progress?] Wraith asked.

"No!" Wulf and Kalee both exclaimed in unison.

[Very well.]

"I know you don't like it when she pokes you," Wulf said to Wraith. "But it's for your own good. She's fixing you."

[It does not feel like fixing.]

Wulf rolled his eyes, then broke from the holding platform. Beside him, Ishi Laak was stepping out of its hangar, its two Pilots and one Mage silhouetted behind its visor. They were fourth years now, and he was pretty sure one of the Pilots had bonded with the Oronith, like Wulf had to Wraith.

They marched down the hangar floor, approaching the main gate. "Let's see what we can do," Wulf said. "No way am I letting these guys kick down my wall—not so soon."