The Runic Alchemist

Damian emptied two steel containers filled with liquid mana into the massive mana storage tanks aboard the ship. This should be enough to test all three flight methods for a few minutes.

He jumped out of the ship where the doors should have been but were yet to be installed. Along with the workers who had tirelessly contributed in shifts, half the academy had gathered to witness the aircraft being brought out of the workshop for the first time.

Even a few Highswords had come to see it, with Runefather among them. He had been the most involved, helping Damian craft a solid glass windshield for the control room. Initially hesitant because of all its secrecy, Runefather had agreed after Damian began loudly reciting the entire glass-making process in front of everyone. Though Damian could have made it himself, he lacked the skill and experience needed to execute it flawlessly. His knowledge of glass-making extended only to the basic principles.

They had to break through one side of the workshop to bring the ship out. For mobility, Damian had fitted the ship with simple, oversized straw tires. Since these were already used for carriages, customizing them was straightforward, the commoner boy from his class had made them for him. He briefly considered making rubber tires but dismissed the idea—being on an island with limited resources, and already juggling numerous tasks.

“Shouldn’t we invite them?” Evrin asked, glancing through the glass windshield at the third-rankers standing in the distance, watching them from afar.

“Sure, if you’re willing to give up your seat,” Damian replied casually, flipping switches to direct mana toward the top plate, where a massive runic circle for the gravity reversal spell was etched. The mana moved to the circle but remained blocked by a final valve in the mana pipe, which Damian could unlock to activate the spell.

“Ah, I guess they’re fine where they are,” Evrin replied wisely.

Everyone was gathered inside the ship’s control room. For this first-ever trial run, Damian brought along only a select group: Reize, his two assistants, and his close friends, including Lucian, Adrian, and Fiona. Since Maelor had occasionally helped with the project, Damian also invited him and his two closest followers.

As this was the first test flight, and the mana in the storage was entirely his, Damian took full control of the ship. Reize, however, sat right beside him as he carefully explained each action he took, ensuring she understood how everything worked. While she didn’t need to grasp the intricacies of runes or theories, Damian made sure she learned the basics—what each control did and how to interpret the meters and gauges.

Damian activated the smaller propellers to roll the ship on its wheels toward a more open area, ensuring safety before engaging any major systems. For some reason, the gathered crowd was already cheering enthusiastically.

“Ready?” Damian asked, looking at his crew.

“Let’s do this,” Reize said.

“Do it! Do it!” Sam and Elias shouted in unison, barely containing their excitement.

Even Lucian and Maelor revealed rare smiles, urging Damian on. He nodded and flipped the switch, unlocking the mana pipe’s final blockage to activate the gravity reversal spell.

Had Damian been outside, he would have seen a massive black runic circle glow to life atop the aircraft. The ship’s design, with its heavy steel frame and the full-grown tree at its core, demanded a gravity reversal spell strong enough to launch it into space. To counteract this, Damian had installed weight-enhancing runic plates beneath the vessel, ensuring the spell remained balanced and controlled.

It was satisfying to see his calculations hold up so well. He had accounted for a margin of error, but even those limits remained untouched. While everything had worked during previous tests, witnessing it all come together seamlessly and perform exactly as intended was still a gratifying experience.

As the ship slowly lifted off the ground, Damian carefully reduced the mana flow to the weight plates. Once they reached equilibrium with the gravity reversal spell, the ship hovered ten meters above the ground. Damian then activated the wind runes stored in replaceable plates on the angular, plane-like wings, generating upward thrust.

The crowd erupted into deafening cheers and shouts as the ship ascended higher and higher.

As Damian further reduced the mana flow to the weight plates, the wind-generated pressure provided more than enough lift for a rapid ascent—30 meters, 50, 80, 100, 150.

When they soared past 500 meters and continued climbing, Reize turned abruptly to Damian, her wide eyes betraying her shock as she caught sight of his satisfied smile.

“It can’t be! Max, is this for real?” she exclaimed.

“Huh?”

“What’s going on?”

“What is she talking about?”

The others, drawn by her reaction, began murmuring in confusion.

“Maximus! You did not! I knew you were hiding something!” Lumi exclaimed, throwing the group into further disarray.

“What? What’s going on? Is something wrong?” Einar asked anxiously.

Sam, Elias, and the others tapped Lumi’s shoulder to get her attention. Though visibly annoyed, she sighed and began explaining anyway.

“It’s not just a hovercraft for land and sea… It can fly. Look!” she said, pointing outside the glass windshield.

They had already ascended past 1,000 meters.

“F-Flying? High in the air?” Evrin stammered, barely able to process it.

The others were equally stunned, their eyes fixed on the shrinking academy and city buildings far below, which grew smaller with every passing second.

Finally, Sam grabbed Damian’s shoulders from behind the pilot seat, giving him a firm shake. “Come on! Spill the beans already!”

Damian chuckled, amused by their priceless reactions—especially Reize, who remained speechless, staring at the shrinking landscape through the windshield.

“Yes, it can fly,” he admitted at last. “That’s what I’ve been building from the start—a ship like the ones on the sea, but made for air travel.”

“How?” Reize stammered, her excitement barely contained. “How high can it go?”

“With enough mana in the generators, possibly above eight kilometers,” Damian replied.

“E-Eight… Eight…?” Lumi stammered, her face pale.

“Kilometers? Are you sure you mean kilometers, not meters?” Elias asked, still shocked. Having worked day and night on the project, he had at least learned about the units of measurement.

“Dumbass!” Lumi scolded him. “We’ve already passed 1,000 meters!”

“How did you create something this amazing?” Lucian asked, genuinely impressed.

“How?” Damian just smiled and looked at Reize. “Because she wanted to fly. I just made sure it happened.”

The room fell silent as his words sank in.

Reize’s eyes welled up with tears. After trying unsuccessfully to hold them back, she gave up and threw herself into Damian’s arms, ugly crying openly.