Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Wulf kicked away the shards of glass at the bottom of Emerald Vanguard's visor, then hung his legs over the edge and sat down. There was nothing he could do now, not in the least because he had no way of actually getting down from the cockpit. He supposed he could borrow Seith's climbing equipment, but then she would be stuck up here, and the others would be in the same boat.

No. They'd need to wait for faculty staff anyway, so they may as well wait here.

Kalee was the first to sit down beside him. Together, they looked over the city.

From here, it still looked bad. An entire guild tower had been smashed by the falling demon sphere, and its wreckage scattered across the city, tearing a wave of destruction through the outer suburbs. Then, of course, there was the fallout of the fight. Aside from the three massive demon corpses, his footsteps had ripped up the paving stones of a road, and the following brawl had smashed nearly a tenth of the city into rubble.

Another few buildings collapsed even as they watched, and despite the rain, a few larger fires had broken out.

The hordes of smaller demons (the human-sized ones), though, were dwindling. No more surged around the feet of Emerald Vanguard, and hundreds sprinted into the depths of the city, wreaking havoc where they went. But, in the distance, the non-Ascendant guards were gathering.

In teams, they killed the unorganized lower-tier demons. And of course, they had the help of the other Oroniths. Sticking to the roads, Scarlethorn rained down surges of flame onto the hordes, and the Fist of Bellar crushed demons wherever it walked. Their Rangers and Artificers were nowhere to be seen, but Wulf was pretty sure they'd be in the streets, fighting off the demons just the same.

He breathed a mournful sigh, but Kalee interrupted him halfway. "I know what you're thinking, but don't."

"Don't?" he whispered back, keeping a close eye on Seith and Irmond. They'd started bickering about something near the back of the cockpit, and weren't paying attention to Wulf or Kalee.

"We did better this time. Much better."

He nodded. In their last life, before the Academy had scrambled Oroniths to deal with the threat, the demons had torn down most of Arotelk. Thousands had died. Fiends had stomped buildings, lesser demons had sprinted through the street, basking in the fear of the civilians. By the time the Academy had activated the Oroniths and marched them over, it was too late for most of the city.

"But…in the long run, do you think we made much of a difference?" Kalee asked. "This wasn't the only attack, and there will be hundreds of other demon spheres falling like this all around the world as we speak."

And worse, those attacks were much too far away for him and Kalee to help against.

Wulf exhaled, then placed his hand down on the ledge. "I don't know. But I know that we can't stop trying. But…" He shook his head.

His worst memories…Ján dying in front of him, choking on his own blood, reaching out, trying to beg Wulf to save him, but there was nothing Wulf could do. Or Lisa, ripped away by a surge of demons, only to be found dead in a ditch many weeks later after suffering unspeakable horrors. Or Brin vapourized in nearly an instant because she'd been standing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He pressed his eyes shut, willing the memories away. His worst fears, his worst memories, were of individual people dying. Not of looking over swaths of burning city.

"We still saved a lot of lives," he said. "That doesn't count for nothing."

Kalee nodded.

"And hey," he said, injecting a little (probably fake) levity into his voice, "we both got ourselves a Grand Mark."

"And you talked to your cat," Kalee said.

"So did you, so don't pretend it's weird."

She shook her head, and humour glinted in her eyes, even if neither of them were exactly in the mood for laughter. "I meant that you talked to yours for quite a while, Wulf. And not just about your Mark."

"Oh. Yeah. Does…no one do that?"

She shrugged. "Most people who end up with a Grand Mark are advancement-obsessed. They're like Umoch, they'll do anything to grow stronger, and they don't have the time to waste on things like talking cats."

"So I take it you didn't get any in your past life?"

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"None."

Wulf was quiet for a few seconds, but then asked, "But do you think they're real? Like…an actual cat that got absorbed by the system, or something like that? And if every Ascendant has one…do you think they might ever get a little bored?" He scratched the back of his head.

"I…didn't really consider it," she said. "However, the only time I saw a Messenger in my past life was when I died, so I didn't have much time to consider it."

Once more, Wulf paused and considered how narrow his view might have been in his past life. He'd been immersed in combat in his later years, surrounded by Ascendants more powerful than him. But that was hardly the experience for most people.

"Huh," he finally said. "Alright, then, next consideration. And…I'll be honest, it probably seems more and more relevant the more I speak. I just…I feel myself speaking differently now than when I was older. Not as measured, not as held back or restricted or…old."

"I've been wondering something similar," Kalee said. She lifted her tail and wound it around her shoulder. "Did we send our souls back? Did the Field send our bodies back in time and take years off our ages? Or…well, did it just send our memories back?"

Wulf hung his head. He had considered that, too. "I think it's the latter. I just don't feel the exact same, and…well, even if I have the memories, I'm working with the mind of a nineteen year old. It works differently. But our memories still define us pretty strongly."

"Yeah, precisely," Kalee replied.

Wulf put his hands down behind him on a swath of stone where there were no shards of broken glass. "Have you ever wanted a pet?"

"Not this again…" Kalee sighed. "The Messenger?"

"Well, it has a name."

"It's a Messenger, Wulf."

"They saved us. More than we could know or repay."

She sighed. "Well, if you want to see the little guy again, I guess you just have to do more wonderful, great feats."

"I guess, yeah." Wulf couldn't exactly muster a smile, but he knew what to do. He'd planned on getting more Grand Marks anyway, not just for the sake of it, but because he was pretty sure he'd end up doing his fair share of insane stuff.

He opened his mouth to say that, but before he could, the hatch at the back of the Oronith's cockpit swung open. Dr. Langold stood in the hatchway, staring right at them. A thrustwing perched on the stone behind him, digging its claws into the ridges of one of the Oronith's helmet.

That must've been the headmaster's bird.

Wulf swallowed nervously.

"Why did I get the feeling it would be you?" Langold asked, staring right at him. "But the others?" He glanced at Irmond and Seith. "I wasn't expecting you as much"

"Sir, we can—"

"Do you wish to speak with me here, or in my office?"

"Probably your office, sir," Wulf said. "It'd be more comfortable."

"It will indeed. Get up. You four have a lot of explaining to do."

~ ~ ~

After being helped down from Emerald Vanguard's cockpit, the four boarded a horse-drawn wagon with a few non-Ascendant guards, and it towed them back to the academy. Wulf stayed silent and tried to be as expressionless as possible, and Kalee looked much the same, but Irmond and Seith were glancing around, quivering, and weren't doing a very good job of being composed at all.

They might be in trouble, but they still had one thing going for them: at least they had been right.

As the wagon rolled out of the city, a crowd was gathering at the side of the road. Civilians amassed on the path, watching curiously, expressions terrified. But every so often, Wulf picked out someone who looked on with awe. Some of them had to know that Emerald Vanguard had been here first and did most of the work.

When they were halfway back to the academy, the rain stopped. The guards offered them some bandages, and they patched up any minor scrapes and cuts.

Wulf leaned forward and faced the others. "Everyone's still fine, right?"

Now that the adrenaline had faded, both Irmond and Seith had gone pale, but still, far as Wulf could tell, they weren't physically hurt.

"Just…like, wasn't expecting the demons to look like that," Irmond said. "I dunno what I was expecting. Not that. Maybe I was expecting something…slightly more human. Like, another nation that we were fighting or something."

"That's happening all over the world…right now?" Seith whispered.

"Yes," Wulf said softly.

"How many people do you think…are—"

"Lots of the spheres will have landed in the oceans," Kalee provided quickly. "Places will have time to prepare."

Irmond rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How come the Field didn't warn people who'd actually be able to do something? No offence intended, but—"

Wulf sighed, then glanced at Kalee. "I don't know. But don't think we did nothing. We saved a city, and that has to count. And we'll keep saving people and lives until we've dealt with the demons. The world repelled a demon invasion four thousand years ago, and we can do it again."

He wasn't sure how much he believed what he was saying, but if he was going to make a difference, he had to stay on this path. That was what mattered.

When the wagon passed through the ring of trees at the edge of the academy, a crowd of students was gathering on the edge of the road, and they were all staring in at Wulf and Kalee.

For now, most of them were confused and shocked.

"Did they cause the streak across the sky?" someone asked.

"They stole an Oronith?"

"What's Langold going to do to them?"

But the truth would come out soon enough—that they were in the midst of another demon war. Wulf just had to hope that someone would listen.