Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

The carriages rumbled through Centralis' crowded streets, taking a direct route. The middle of the road was reserved for carriage and wagon traffic, but with how many horse- and golem-drawn vehicles there were, it was still slow going until they reached a raised bridge.

The drivers paid a toll to take the expressways, but the raised carriage bridges were much, much faster. They trundled along over the warehouses and support buildings for the harbour, then crossed a band of garden that separated the port district from a residential ring. The housing was dense to accommodate for the city's small size, with stacked apartment blocks and communal amenities.

The residential district bled into the downtown area, its apartments growing slightly taller, until the enormous guild towers rose up around them, replacing the houses with administrative offices. The towers had a stone or wood facade, but in order to maintain their sky-scraping structure, they had cores of arcane deepstone, capable of supporting such a large building.

Needless to say, the towers loomed over the bridge for a few minutes until the wagon passed through the middle of the downtown district, and once more entered a residential sprawl that ran all the way to the outer wall—save for a single offshoot, Old Town.

The Old Town was the original city of Centralis, a walled fortress with ancient houses, markets, mansions, and the Academy. Its walls were only slightly taller than the main city's outer curtain wall, but infinitely more ornate, with statues and gargoyles lining every inch. (It, of course, could not compare to the scale of the new-anti demon wall which now loomed over them like a mountain.)

The roadway descended before they arrived at the gates of the old town. They passed through a much quieter stream of traffic as they entered the city. The non-Ascendant guards nodded and bowed as the wagons passed, and here, civilians scattered to give the Academy the right-of-way.

The Academy itself stood in the center of the old town like a king's keep. Wulf realized he didn't actually know where the royal palace was, but it was probably somewhere in the Old Town, overshadowed now by merchants' mansions and the Academy itself.

Pale sandstone bricks made up its walls, gargoyles perched on every corner, and stained glass windows reflected colourful light out into the city. There was a central, cathedral-like building at its center, and over the centuries, hundreds of new wings had been tacked on, maintaining the ornate style of clay tile roofs, vast windows, and ornamental buttresses, but they had less patina.

What Wulf didn't see was Oroniths.

"Where are the…giant stone golems?" Irmond asked, echoing his thoughts.

"No idea," Wulf replied. "I would've thought there would be a dock closer to the Academy."

"That'll make it harder for us to sneak out and steal one, won't it?" Kalee said.

"At least we've got our own Oronith to work with now." Wulf leaned back against the carriage's cushioned chair. "But getting to it, modifying it, and bringing it up to modern standards is going to be a pain if they don't…let us get to it…"

He trailed off, realizing that they'd spoken too soon. As the wagon circled around the edge of the academy, taking a circular road that made a ring around the structure, they came upon a broad, open road made of thick, study bricks that could handle the pressure of a giant stone golem walking on them. It led directly out to the old city's wall (and a gap in it), and out into the city beyond, stretching until it reached the very outer curtain wall and the dry fields beyond.

On the academy side, the road dipped, digging a channel in the earth and delving underground into a massive, torchlit cavern. Wulf couldn't see too far into it, but Oroniths lined hangar bays on the walls, covered in scaffolding, and workers scampered over them. Arcane chisels sparked, hammers clinked, and constructs whirred.

"I guess that's where Silent Wraith is going," Seith said. "Do they need us to bring it in?"

"I can ask," Wulf replied. "But we'll see what they do with it."

The carriages turned to a causeway and ascended up the side of the Academy a few storeys, before arriving at a raised platform with nearly fifty other carriages parked on it. They rolled to a stop.

Pushing open the door, Wulf stepped out onto the platform and glanced around. Dr. Arnau beckoned them forward and said, "It is almost precisely noon, which means I have just enough time to give you a tour of the campus and get you oriented, before leaving you with your wingmasters. You have a few days until Eighthmonth begins, and I urge you to use your time wisely as we get settled. Meal service has begun, so do not worry about feeding yourselves."

The students gathered around behind her, then formed two neat lines, as they'd been instructed earlier. Wulf, Kalee, Seith, and Irmond made sure to stick close. He wasn't going on an orientation tour if he couldn't talk with his friends and discuss their plans.

"And you four," Dr. Arnau said, staring specifically at Wulf. "I expect you in your uniforms as soon as you have your dorms assigned. Understood?"

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"Understood, ma'am," he replied.

They set off. They crossed the platform in an orderly line, and as they approached a gate, Wulf asked, "Ma'am, you're not…our supervisor, are you?"

"You will have a Wingmaster—a teaching assistant, likely someone in their seventh or eighth year—who will take over what I'm doing now," Dr. Arnau said. "This early, it would be rare to have a professor take a special interest in you, but you will eventually need a professor to sponsor you, in order to get placed on an Oronith crew."

Wulf held his tongue, but he was pretty sure he didn't really count, considering they had already claimed an Oronith.

Though, 'claimed' might have been a bit of a stretch. They hadn't exactly imprinted on the mountain spirit inside it yet, and there was still space for others to take control of it.

But still, of the students currently present, he and his friends were the only ones who had actually crewed an Oronith before.

As they passed through the Academy's doors, Dr. Arnau continued, "The Wingmaster is simply an overseer of your dormitory wing, but you can put your questions on them."

Wulf glanced up as they passed through the gate. It wasn't a massive gate by any stretch, and it probably wasn't even the main gate, but there was still a sense of grandeur. The enormous stained glass window above the doors let in beams of multicoloured light into an entrance vestibule, illuminating the students who had gathered. They all stood up and snapped to attention as Dr. Arnau passed, but she motioned for them to have a seat.

The hallways of the Academy wound around in a complex and not entirely intentional way. Considering how many different architects and engineers had worked on it, he wouldn't be surprised if they'd had to make a few hasty modifications over the years.

First, they passed the main hall, where the students would take their meals. Long tables were arranged in four rows, and one for each dormitory wing: the east wing, west wing, north wing, and south wing. At the very head of the room was a table for faculty staff to watch over their unruly students if they so chose.

Next, they passed the gymnasiums. There were three separate gyms for the combat classes, each with a high ceiling and straw mats on the floor to cushion the falls. Beside the gyms, there was also a pool. It wasn't heated, and was meant for exercise. While there were no classes that required you to have any swimming ability, the Academy left it available as an option. Ascendants had to keep up on their exercise, after all.

But if swimming wasn't their thing, then there was also a running track that circled above the pool and gyms, and plenty of exercise equipment. Wulf had no idea what they did or what they were for. In his past life, training and combat had been his exercise.

"Your schedule will remain mostly the same as last year," Dr. Arnau stated. "However, as I understand, you have already sent in your course selection letters, which is excellent. Likewise, you have been sorted into combat training groups based on your current tier. You will find that our instructors here aren't so rigid, and they will move you up or down based on your performance." She paused. "Since there are only three gyms, and we have nearly four thousand students, different combat training classes have been spread throughout the day, save for your day off: Seventhday."

Wulf nodded in understanding, though Dr. Arnau wasn't looking back at them. She continued on, leading the students after her.

"Only four thousand students?" Irmond whispered.

"These are the best of the best," Wulf replied.

"But that city had to have, like, ten million people! Maybe like…a hundred thousand Ascendants."

"Probably more," Wulf said. "Considering it's a big, important city, I'm sure we'll have plenty of Ascendants from around the world flocking to visit it, looking for work."

Irmond nodded. "They can't all crew an Oronith."

"Certainly not. Guards, mercenaries, simply workers. Depends."

"Keep up, please!" Dr. Arnau called.

They continued around the central 'mound' of the Academy, as Wulf was calling it, where Dr. Arnau showed them the lab buildings for Artificers and Pilots, and the workshops for Mages and Rangers. There was a stable for Thrustwings, and a storage warehouse for golems of many different shapes.

Lastly, they descended into the cavern beneath the Academy. It was tall enough to house Oroniths in its hangar bays with ease. There had to be at least fifty hangars, all full of base Oroniths. They hadn't received any special modifications or armour yet.

The walls of the cavern were made of enormous bricks, and walkways stretched back and forth above, with workers and faculty members observing and looking down on the progress below. Dr. Arnau led them across one of the walkways, taking them toward the back of the hall. "These are the Oroniths for your generation to potentially inherit. Some are new, some are old 'niths that lost their crew and have had their spirits scrubbed blank in order to allow a new generation to imprint on them."

Dr. Arnau stopped to face them. "When I say generation, I mean the students of this current decade, which we are already partly through. Some Oroniths have already been claimed, like Scarlethorn and the Fist of Bellar, but there are enough slots open, and competition is fierce. Only two hundred students will end up on a crew."

She kept walking until they reached the end of the hall. They passed through a cramped hallway, then arrived at an outlook at the edge of a cavern. It was circular, with an even higher ceiling and a man-made glass dome that let in light from above. This was the very center of the Academy.

"Here," Dr. Arnau said, "is the arena, where you will participate in your year's tournament. Each year has three brackets, which you are all no doubt familiar with."

It was about the same size as the Istalis Acadmy's arena, which meant there was plenty of room for Oroniths to clash within as well.

They circled around the edge of the arena and crossed over to yet another cavern. This time, there were no bricks on the walls. It was bare, natural stone. A cave. Though it was about the same width as the arena, it descended far deeper than Wulf could see. At the bottom, there was only pitch darkness.

"This is the Academy's dungeon entrace," Dr. Arnau stated. "Over the millenia, we have maintained it, ensuring that we don't over-harvest it, allowing plenty of time for it to reset and refill with treasures and monsters. This is where your delving labs will take place."

Wulf stared into the hole for a few seconds. It was much deeper than he'd initially imagined.

"Come along, now," Dr. Arnau said. "I must show you to your rooms."