Fate Alchemist - A Regression Academy LitRPG

Though classes hadn't started yet, Wulf wanted to get back into a routine. In the morning, he and the others ventured down to the academy gym, where they ran a few laps around the track. All four of them joined him this time, not just Irmond, and that was for the best. They all needed to improve their physical ability.

The running track was a loop of red-painted wood with white lines marked for lanes. On the inner side, there was a view of the pool and gyms below, where Ascendants were taking their morning swims or sparring with each other. On the outer wall, banners hung on the stone, listing the Centralis Academy's past sporting victories over the world's other academies.

Personally, Wulf saw no alternative to jogging. The impact was good for conditioning his joints, and endurance was going to be more important than raw strength.

As they ran, he glanced back over his shoulder. Kalee and Irmond were keeping up fine, but Seith was going red in the face.

"I'd beat you all in a sprint!" she insisted. "I'm all for bursts of activity, but this endurance stuff is killing me!"

"Give it time," Irmond replied. "You'll get used to it."

Wulf had been expecting a snarky remark from Irmond, but the boy never gave one. Clearly, he knew when to pick his fights with Seith and when to leave it alone.

"When do you think they're going to break up?" Kalee asked softly, running up to Wulf's side.

"I dunno, but I think they can hold it together for a little while," Wulf replied. "Irmond clearly knows when he's pushing too far."

Kalee gave a shrug in response. "Well, they better not cause any drama. I'd bet the worst thing about being part of a crew was when two of the members hate each other."

"If there is an issue, I'll mediate it." He dropped his voice to a whisper. "That's the Pilot's job. I need to look after the crew."

"How's your progress on the potions?" Kalee asked.

"I have enough potions for Plan C," Wulf said. As they ran a lap around the track, he tilted his head toward his bag and equipment they'd left at the edge of the track. Mostly just his uniform, bundled up overtop his haversack. Beside it, Kalee's bag and uniform. They'd all brought gym clothes…

Or, well, Irmond and Seith had used family funds to purchase more clothes now that they'd arrived, but that was beside the point.

"That's not ideal," Kalee responded. "You're sure we should go with that one?"

"It's the third of ten plans," Wulf responded. "I have faith."

"You can't keep making more potions?"

"I need more vinegar and phoenix dust. Can't make any more right now." He glanced over his shoulder. Both Irmond and Seith were lagging behind now, but he could fill them in later. "I'm going to go looking for more this evening, but I am kinda broke right now. Did you get in contact with the non-Ascendant academy guards, like we planned?"

"We have a meeting this evening. You'd better come and explain your case to them."

"Will do," Wulf confirmed.

With an accepting exhale, Kalee said, "Plan C it is, then."

"Plan C," Wulf confirmed. "Tomorrow evening. Be ready to run. If the prince's guard has a high resistance to potions, then we'll be in trouble."

"Right." Kalee shook her head, then said sarcastically, "Proactive as ever."

"Look, I'm more of a fan of dealing with things as they come," Wulf replied.

"Yeah, sure. Like not restocking your ingredients until the last moment." That came with a playful nudge from her tail.

Wulf sighed. "Yeah, but who insisted that I took the summer easy?"

"You didn't take it easy," Kalee replied. "You were still gardening and advancing your skills in whatever ways you could. And I'm sure you got yourself some significant advancement progress."

"Yeah, I can't take things in the middle of a demon war."

"Point taken," Kalee said.

"But yeah, I did advance a little. I'm almost High-Copper."

After their run, they cleaned off in the bathhouse, then walked to the main hall to eat breakfast—with Seith complaining about how hungry she was the whole time, and Irmond placating her.

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Only to find that they still had a half hour to wait before breakfast.

"Well," Wulf said cheerfully, "I guess that means we can spend a little longer at the running track the next few days."

"Ugh, you're gonna kill us," Seith complained. "None of my siblings are even half as crazy as you are."

"Ah, yeah, but you want to surpass them, don't you?"

Seith had no response to that. Hanging his head, Wulf scrunched his lips. He knew he couldn't expect others to be as motivated as him and Kalee. They hadn't seen the world die with their own eyes, and they didn't have the same personal experiences. But if they were going to hold him back?

No, he thought to himself, shutting it down. If there's a problem, I have to raise them up. I can't blame them. I have to do it myself.

He cast them a smile, then said, "Anyway, I'm going to go bug the chef."

"What?" Kalee hissed.

"Don't worry. Just a supply run."

"Don't steal. I swear on the Field, if you get caught and expelled after all this work, I'll—"

He cast her a grin. "Sometimes I forget that you're a nagging old woman. No, no, I'm just going to make a bargain. Maybe."

"I forget that you're a stubborn old man, too."

"Are you both losing your minds with age?" Irmond asked. "Like, my grandma started to forget things when she got old."

"We are not," Kalee and Wulf said in unison. Wulf walked away before he could hear Kalee scolding Irmond.

Though the main hall hadn't opened, now was a perfect time to scout the access halls and the routes that weren't exactly the…main hallways. Just in case he needed a quick escape through a lesser-known passageway.

The Academy's main building was overall a large circle with two enormous hallways crossing through its center, dividing it into four sections. He followed the main hallway back a few steps, dodging other students who had arrived at the main hall early. Although classes hadn't started yet, plenty of people were arriving early.

Casually, he stepped off to the side of the hallway, and watched the staff especially. Non-Ascendants in white uniforms, aprons, and hats scurried about in the background, never drawing attention to themselves, but Wulf waited. When one pushed open a small door nestled into an alcove, which you wouldn't really see unless you were paying attention, Wulf followed her.

She'd been carrying a basket of vegetables. Probably coming from the garden and certainly heading to the kitchen. As the door fell shut behind her, Wulf used [Arm of the Alchemist] to control the speed potion he'd crafted last night. He tugged it out of his haversack, drew out the liquid with a quick expenditure of mana, then used it to hold the door open only a crack. It didn't lock, but no one would notice.

After a few seconds, when the worker's footsteps faded, he approached the door, and followed, then let it fall shut behind him softly, so it wouldn't make a noise. As he stepped through the door, he kicked through the thin tendril of potion he'd been using.

Since the potion was partially poisonous, [Arm of the Alchemist] made it function slightly like a splatter potion, and though his body resisted the nausea side effect easily, it also gave him the speed boost.

He darted down the hallway, following the worker. It was a thin, cramped hall with a low ceiling. There were only a few candles lighting it, and the distant bustle of the kitchen roared through the hall, loud enough to mask his footsteps. The worker didn't even turn back.

He caught up quickly, not only relying on the current boost from the potion, but with the old Mark that allowed him to accumulate permanent boosts from using potions. It had only taken a few seconds to catch up with a non-Ascendant, without a huge exertion of effort. The most effort had been in keeping his footsteps silent.

He stepped into the kitchen and ducked behind a counter. The kitchen here was much like the kitchen in the Istalis Academy, with its low ceiling and dim lightning. Counters ran back and forth, where cooks worked, stoves blazed, chimneys caught most of the smoke, and pots boiled. Wulf smelled frying potatoes and grease, and most of all, salt.

He had to agree with Seith: he was hungry. But that could wait.

For a second, he contemplated running out through the kitchen and snagging something, but he was in a uniform, and it was much busier here. Kalee was right. He couldn't get himself expelled like this.

Instead, he stood up, and leaned against the door frame that he'd entered through. Someone would spot him soon enough.

Sure enough, a few seconds later, a chef in a brown apron, with a leather bracer and enchanted parchment on her wrist, called out to Wulf. "Hey, you there! You can't be here!"

"Sorry, ma'am," Wulf said, dipping his head. "I wasn't sure, either, but I think you can help me."

She scrunched her eyebrows. A middle-aged Iron-Tier Ascendant, she was probably just a Chef, a crafting class. Her hair was going gray, but she still moved with grace as she approached Wulf. "Be quick, kid. We've got a half hour to breakfast, and the morning shift is mine. I can't mess it up."

"Sorry, ma'am," Wulf said again. "But see, I've got a garden. I can get you all manner of herbs, and in large quantities."

That wasn't entirely true. He had seeds, which he'd plucked from Chef Kennet's garden before he left. He hadn't planted or grown them yet, but that depended on what this lady needed.

"You want to get an advantage on your shift, hm?" Wulf asked. "We can help each other. I give you herbs, give your food a little special kick, and you rise to a better shift from the recognition you get. In return, I just need some vinegar. And, well, what are you using in your stoves?"

"Phoenix powder."

"Ah, that's what I thought," Wulf said.

"What makes you think I don't have any herbs of my own?" she asked.

"Sea travel is getting more and more chaotic, and this isn't exactly the environment to grow cold-weather herbs. You'll have to import them. I'd bet the markets are already getting pretty bare."

She crossed her arms. "Well, alright. I'll bite. I'll give it a shot. But you don't get anything 'til you come through for me, though. You think you can get me some northern spring-thyme?"

Wulf chuckled. "Give it a few weeks, and yeah."

"You're awfully confident."

"And you won't be disappointed."