Wish upon the Stars chapter 528

The next day we did another information swap with Anna (Callie had  more questions), but the day after we'd already gotten what we needed,  so it was back to the normal point swap. I got forty two Fantasy from  Chelsea, swapping for forty two Might to fill out her physical stats a  bit before training. With everyone having done their own thing for a few  days, it was officially time to sign up with Camden.

When  we arrived back at the manor, it looked a lot less empty. They'd  carried in a ton of furniture and the place had transformed so  thoroughly you'd have thought everything had been here for years. I  whistled as we entered. "Do you think somebody here has an Interior  Decoration Skill? I have to assume that's a thing somewhere, everything  else is. I wonder what that would look like."

"Expensive."  Came a familiar voice as Camden stepped into view. "It would look  expensive, which is why no, no one here has it. Do you know how much  experience it takes to rank up a Skill like that? The sheer number of  houses and buildings you'd have to decorate even to make it to a point  where you could apply it to other things?"

I didn't,  though to be fair, I was biased. DS Mastery alone was something almost  no one else would have been able to rank up. Forgetting the experience  needed to start, just the sheer number of Skills I'd had to accrue to  fold them in before my intermediate rank up was absurd for any non  candidate. Focusing on our host though, I nodded solemnly. "Baron Tolbert."

He waved a hand. "Camden, when we're not in an  official setting. Nobody has time for that Baron Tolbert nonsense. So,  which one of you is my new healer? I assume you're here to take my  offer?"

Jessie stepped forward, holding out a hand, and  Camden grinned, stepping forward to take it, though he pulled back  slightly as a miniature Randall poked his head over her shoulder and  growled. Jessie shushed her bear. "Sorry about that Camden. Randall is a  bit protective, especially in his small form. He prefers to guard me at  a full size though, so when I start healing I'll need a sizeable tent."

The  bear grumbled and settled back down, but the E-ranker was barely  bothered. "Of course. I'll also be assigning you a guard. You can pick  anyone you like. It's important to make sure you're well defended. No  Baron would attack a healer in service to another noble, but anyone at  the Lord rank will be free to try to kidnap or eliminate you. Better  safe than sorry."

"Bethy." She said bluntly, pointing to  the tiny vampire. "I'm positive no one at the...Lord rank, will be able  to overpower her." She didn't mention the strong likelihood that our  eccentric friend would be incapable of obeying any sort of military  directions and would probably start some kind of camp riot after she got  bored of trying on new uniforms. That actually solved a lot of problems  I'd been worried about.

The vampire pouted. "Awww, I  wanted to strike fear into the hearts of my enemies as I crushed them  under my snazzy platform heel." She glanced down at her shoes, which  were platform (though I wasn't really qualified to comment on their  snazziness) then shrugged. "Oh well, I'm sure me and Jessie will have so  much fun together. And I can let Luggage out to play! He's been so  cramped in my Domain. He doesn't like to snooze as much as Poptarts and  Donuts."

She waved a hand and a hulking black dog with  glowing red eyes appeared in the middle of the room, shocking everyone  who wasn't us as Luggage growled menacingly at the newcomers. Camden  just closed his eyes and sighed. "Why do I get the impression that you  all are going to be even more of a headache than having a healer will be  a benefit?"

"Because you're a smart guy?" Said Benny with  a snicker. "But you'll sign with us anyway, because we're a hell of an  asset. Now, where are the contracts we'll be signing. Shane, Celine, and  I are all going to need to go over them. Shouldn't take long, not with  Focus like ours."

We'd decided to try to get the best  possible terms out of signing up, so Benny's Haggle Skill, Celine's  negotiation experience and political savvy, and my contract knowledge  would all be put to good use here. Snapping his finger, Camden summoned a  tall rail thin man with slicked back white hair and a well sculpted  mustache, who handed him several sheets of paper.

"We had  these made up. If you'll follow me I can have my lawyer walk you through  them." He led us into a study, where a massive dark wood desk sat on  plush carpet amid walls lined with bookshelves. A woman with red hair in  a ponytail wearing an expensive looking suit sat at the desk, seemingly  waiting. "This." He said as we entered. "Is Patricia Smallbrook. The  Smallbrook family are some of the best lawyers in the system, and are  known for skill and discretion."

Lawyer was apparently a  job on the Empire's roles, from what I gathered. "So, you'll all be  joining our little operation?" Said Patricia with a smile. "Glad yo have  you aboard." Her green eyes twinkled as she gestured to the three  chairs on the other side of the desk. I had to wonder if those had been  there the whole time or if she set them out before we arrived. Either  way it was impressive.

I sat at the far end, followed by  Benny and then Celine. The contracts were laid out in front of us in  stacks. "These are all the same right? Except Jessie's, which I imagine  is more detailed given her particular status here. So we can just each  read one and then adjust them as we go?"

"By  all means." She said cordially. "You can each go over the healer  contract one at a time if you like. We have nothing to hide."

That  was a nice sentiment, but it didn't change what we needed to do. I  picked up the contract closest to me and started parsing the language.  It was mostly pretty clear cut, with a clearly stated term of  employment, mention of the benefits we'd be giving up in exchange for  our armor, and a few target goals for us to hit in terms of training and  battles won. I had to stop a few times to clarify certain terms native  to the local legal statutes, but for the most part they'd been pretty  fair to us.

Benny,  on the other hand, was having a field day, changing terms and altering  certain stipulations when it came to our armor. Increasing the material  threshold, potential enchantments, and he caught a tricky piece limit on  our armor sets that probably would have screwed us. Between Inventing  and Haggling he knew exactly what we should aim for, even if he wasn't  really in a position to get it.

Once  he found those, Celine took over, her noble negotiation skills making  for quite a challenge to the smiling lawyer, whose grin became less smug  and more acknowledging by the second as our resident elf worked to get  us the best deal. It was probably closer to what Patricia was used to,  given the Fairyland also used the Job system (alongside the Domain  system we'd seen in the tournament).

Apparently  the legal terms were more familiar to Celine, because she and the  lawyer were bartering back and forth without pausing for breath,  changing materials, enchantments, and even equipment types rapidfire as  they negotiated. I grabbed Jessie's contract as they bartered, finished  it (after making notes) then passed it to Benny who did the same before  handing to a just finishing up Celine, and back into the negotiation  they went.

Even  with my Focus it was hard to follow, though I did hear her bring up  Randall's armor, which brought them into an entirely new phase of  bargaining. As we'd talked about, Callen had given up his right to new  equipment for Randall, since he was already pretty well geared. Camden  had to be consulted on a few of the changes, given the huge size  difference between the bear and the swordsman, but eventually we came to  an accord.

After  a second time going over everything for each of us, just to make sure  we hadn't missed anything, we finalized the contracts and each signed  our own. Six months with an option to re-up for another two, as well as  possible command training for any of us who reached E-rank.

We'd  agreed to leave four months for travel to the conclave, given how long  the trip here had taken. Once we finished all of our negotiating, Camden  poured us each a snifter of brandy to toast our new partnership, and  filled us in on exactly what we could expect.

"Well,  first thing is you'll be staying in the barracks." He clarified as we  all retired to a library with a whole host of overstuffed chairs. "Male  and female barracks are sepeaate to prevent fraternization. It can be a  distraction. You'll get weekends as time off, though we recommend you  don't stay up too late because you'll be expected to be awake and ready  to start your day at Reveille each morning."

Callie's  expression darkened at BOTH of those things, we'd gotten used to  bunking together, and she hated being woken up early. We'd expected them  though, so she didn't say anything. "Any rules about healing?" I asked  cautiously. "We used to have a trainer who insisted we go without. Said  it was better for muscle memory."

"It  is." Admitted Camden. "But most of the people here have had physical  training already. Formations are more of a mental thing. There will be  combat drills to train you with your standard issue weapons, but for the  most part we'll be working on formations, since we don't have time to  get people into the Jobs we would normally prefer. Healing should be  fine. Be warned though, I can't guarantee you constant access to the  healer's tent, even if you are friends."

I  knew we'd have to work around injuries, both training and battlefield,  but luckily for us I could act as an intermediary because of my stored  heal bursts. As long as heals were allowed we'd be fine. I was pretty  sure we would need them too, this planet's Impact was going to make the  whole experience here hell.

The  excitement I'd been feeling had only grown. This was going to be such a  good environment to correct some of the bad habits and weaknesses I had  from growing up a mortal. Maybe not erase them completely, but it would  be more than enough to improve my foundations as an Ascendant and a  combatant. Even if we hadn't been planning to hit E-rank within a month  or two and then get bumped up to command, I'd still have signed up.

Of  course, at nine thousand plus, Callie and I could do it easily, and I  was sure the others would be at E well before we left the planet. My  goal was to have us all there by the time we hit the conclave, because I  hoped it would help them take us more seriously. Plus we didn't know  where it would be held, and if it was a B-rank planet F-rankers like us  wouldn't even be able to stand up there let alone function.

With  all the negotiations finished and our brandy sipped (apparently it  wasn't a chugging alcohol) we thanked Camden and split up, Patricia  offering to escort the girls to the womens barracks. I gave Callie a  quick kiss before she left, hugged Jessie and my sister, and then  followed Camden himself to the mens barracks to set up my space, a much  easier feat with a spatial ring. Then I got in bed and went to sleep. I  had to get to bed early, tomorrow was my first day of basic training.