Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Wulf wasn't sure if he could trust Valens. It might be a ploy. He knew nothing. The boy could be using this to get back at Wulf, somehow. Perhaps he was leading Wulf into a trap.

But Wulf knew how the Orichalcums operated, even if he'd never known them personally. Most likely, Lord Umoch had kicked out his son, cutting him off from the family, and Valens was acting on his own.

Whether it would help Wulf or harm him, that had yet to be seen.

He kept those thoughts to the back of his mind through the exams. But it was difficult. The excitement of potentially knowing the location of his enemy, coupled with the impending knowledge of what he was about to do to the codex, and then knowing that Umoch was potentially searching for Panne's writings.

But still, he tried his hardest on the exams. They weren't the only thing that determined his success in the school, of course—he had a perfect dungeon delving score over the past two years, and his performance in the arena was notable. He wasn't getting kicked off his crew any time soon for poor performance.

Halfway through their two-week-long exam break, he had his last arena fight of the semester. It had been delayed for a few weeks due to the chaos of winter break and the collapse of the moon, but it didn't interfere with any of Wulf's exams, and he didn't find himself horribly concerned.

He figured he'd practice with his golem a little more, and considering his opponent, he'd probably want it. He was up against an Artificer, which, on its own, wouldn't put too much strain on him, but he'd watched how this opponent in particular fought.

He stepped out into the arena, encased in the jade armour of his golem—except for his head—and crossed the sand. As he walked across the arena, he registered a few shouts of approval from the upper corner, where his friends were sitting, and a small ripple of cheers rolled through the crowd.

His opponent walked out across from him. She wore a grease-stained academy uniform, and mechanical braces covered her legs. Each step, runes etched into their sides glowed with mana, and when she planted her feet down, she created a puff of sand. A bandolier of storage constructs ran across her body, also smudged with grease.

Pretty much everything was covered in grease—her pale, freckled face, her short hair (whose real colour Wulf couldn't determine), her boots, even—except for her guild badge. The Fletchers guild.

"You guys are still gonna be causing me problems, huh?" he muttered.

She scowled. "You've caused immense suffering in my guild."

"Yeah?" Wulf tilted his head. "A few layoffs?"

She narrowed her eyes. "You—"

"Look, keep in mind, I was just minding my own business, and it was your guild that picked a fight with me," Wulf said, pointing a stone-encased thumb at himself. "So if we're looking for somewhere to put the blame"—he pointed back at her badge—"it's there."

He'd been speaking loudly, enhancing his voice so it echoed around the front rows of the arena at least.

The sound transmitting constructs crackled to life overhead, and Vae Kella's voice boomed out. "This will be the last fight I have the pleasure of introducing before I graduate, and it's a high note to go on! I expect a good, long fight between our two balanced contestants."

Wulf glanced at his opponent. He was pretty sure she wore a Gold tier badge beneath all the grease, but it was hard to say for certain. The odds, however, only gave a two to one favour to his opponent.

At least they were starting to learn.

"Wulf Hrothen, who needs no introduction," Vae Kella continued, "and Meloda Hammerdrop." There were no cheers for her. Perhaps he could earn back a little more appreciation when he took her out of the tournament.

"Nice name for an Artificer," Wulf said softly.

"I have blacksmiths who hammer things for me."

"Is the grease just a fashion statement, then?"

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"Silence! The fight—"

Before she could finish, a horn sounded. Wulf jumped forward, sealing his golem's helmet. It would be best if she never got a chance to unleash her abilities, but she sprang back as well, skidding along the sand. She ripped a construct off her bandolier, triggered it, and a portal to a construct full of bombs exploded, sending a tongue of flame lancing out toward Wulf. He covered his face with his arms, and the blast flung him backward through the sand.

It gave Meloda time to set up her main weapon. She withdrew two Ruby-tier constructs from a storage pendant and set them up beside her. Each was a repeating crossbow, using an enchanted bow from the Fletchers' Guild, and was mounted on a swivelling tripod. Both of them turned to face him, using a trapped low-tier spirit to guide their targeting systems.

The spirits wanted to eat him. They bashed against the edge of their tiny cages, trying to rush forward and consume him. The crossbow turrets aimed right at him.

"Imagine if we actually fought the demons with these things," he groaned, then pushed himself up. He angled his shoulder, and a crossbow bolt glanced off his golem's armour. Another struck his chest, chipping the stone. The crossbows automatically reloaded, and, as he circled the arena, trying to close the distance between him and his opponent, they fired another blast.

The arrows struck with enough force to knock him off his feet and send him sliding through the sand.

But he'd come prepared. That was why he had his golem. Without it, those hits would've ended the fight.

He pulled the Serpent's Demijohn out from his bag and splashed a Gold-tier speed potion over his head, then charged to the edge of the arena. The turrets were tracking his current location and weren't leading their shots, so the farther away he was, the better.

But as it stood now, Meloda had landed more hits. She was going to win if Wulf dodged until the timer ran out.

He needed something more, but whenever he tried to cross the arena, the turrets blasted him in the chest, flinging him onto his back, and chipping and cracking his golem's armour.

Meloda stayed on the opposite side of the arena as him. Her strategy was to evade.

Wulf had to lure her in. If he took out the turrets…

Or better yet, if he took the spirits' attentions off him and put them on someone else. Someone else much closer.

He reached into his haversack, hunting for a blindness potion. There was one here with strength and blindness, and it'd work on the spirits well enough. He transferred it over to the Serpent's Demijohn, then sprinted across the arena toward the turrets. They fired another pair of bolts at him, but he dropped to his stomach as soon as the bowstrings twanged, and the arrows raced overhead.

Meloda, realizing her turrets were in danger, sprinted back toward them, too.

She wasn't fast enough to stop Wulf from splashing the spirits in the targeting cages. They screeched and writhed when the potions splattered them. Wulf triggered [Deadline], making the effect short but nasty, then ran away.

Leaving Meloda closest to the turrets when the spirits' blindness wore off.

They snapped at her instead, bashing against the edge of the cage and drawing the constructs' attentions to their maker.

They fired two bolts. One smashed through her shoulder, and another into her leg. Just as the turrets prepared to fire another volley, she yelled, "I yield! I yield!"

Wulf stepped closer and pushed the turrets over, then cut their bowstrings and harvested the essences of the spirits, disabling them for the time being.

He hadn't noticed up until now because of the rushing blood in his ears, but the crowd erupted in cheers. He nodded at them, then marched back toward the edge of the arena and the changerooms.

~ ~ ~

Although it was summer, the sun wasn't ever too bright. The best days still felt overcast, like rain was imminent.

His garden was withering. There wasn't enough light for his plants. But he'd been working on a solution with Kalee and Seith.

"Would a regular lighting construct work?" Wulf had asked. "A regular mana-light?"

"Not for plants," Kalee replied. "It's too artificial. Sunlight is an aspect you can harness, and it's different from the regular glow of mana."

But with the three of them working together, and with Wulf's help transmuting materials, they developed a sunlamp. It wasn't a wholly unique construct. Seith's textbooks had contained most of the designs, but the real challenge was replacing the sunbugs the original design drew power from.

Instead, Wulf transmuted an alternative. Sunleaves, from the suntrees of the far north, were an excellent source of sunlight-aspect mana.

He started with regular leaves, then added a touch of order and a few more touches of chaos. They were quite poisonous, but they'd never stop glowing once they had a touch of nutrient filled mud.

The end product was a two-foot-tall construct with a tripod base and a dish at its front to spread the light from the sunleaves.

It was bright enough that, when he placed it in front of his garden in his storage construct, it illuminated all the plants, feeding them sunlight.

And, given that he'd created Gold-tier sunleaves, the extra quality of that light had to help his garden.

He activated the time-warping ability of his construct, and let the plants sit for what would be the equivalent of a few days. Brown leaves uncurled, stems straightened, and the grass turned from yellow back to green. After a few more regular days passed outside, the plants were back to normal.

And when the end of exam break rolled around, as promised, Valens had left a note on Wulf's door.