Wish upon the Stars chapter 367

Time. Something I'd had plenty of in the last few rounds, but not  enough of to accomplish a goal I was now planning to accomplish in just a  few days. I needed to finish my last two upgrades, then synergize DS  Mastery with Enchanting permanently to hopefully eliminate the whole  charges thing completely. It would be nice not to have to count my  attacks during combat.

But  to do that, I needed to figure out a possible synergy for Earthseeking  and Sucking Mud. Which gave me an idea. Well, I had an idea for Sucking  Mud. I decided to go track down Callie, to ask her for some advice on  something I thought might help out.

I  found her lying on the couch, watching the scan box with Cass, looking  bored and amused in equal measures as the younger girl cheered at the  cartoon currently displayed on the screen. The wolves were inside, the  four of them sprawled about the living room, with Jin acting as a pillow  for my girlfriend while Rellia played the same role for Cass.

Slumping down next to her, I smirked at her boredom. "So, not much to do? I figured you would have work today."

She  just shook her head with a sigh. "Nope. With so many visitors in town  jobs have been getting thin. I can pick up a decent bit of work every  few days, but since I don't have any crafting skills or anything jobs  are hard to come by. Benny's been getting a ton of jobs as a crafter,  even if Inventing is far less useful and precise. So, what brings you  down here so close to the next fight?"

I'd  been excited to share my idea, and when she asked I jumped on the  chance to mention it. "I want to talk about traps." I announced grandly.  I had a bad habit of waiting for my turn to talk when I was excited,  rather than really listening, and I had definitely been doing that, but  this idea would solve a lot of my problems.

She  gave me an amused smirk. "Is this your way of telling me that I'm  smothering you? Because I thought things were going pretty well."

I  rolled my eyes. "Only in the literal sense that you sometimes choke the  life out of me in your sleep, but that's why I'm the big spoon. No, I  mean I want you to teach me about traps. Like...the Minor Trap Mastery  Skill. I've seen enough of how it works to be close, I just need some  basic lessons. Even though you wished for it you can still teach me  manually, and I've been around for a LOT of your trap making."

Mulling  it over, she nodded. "I could see how you might have an easy time  picking it up. It is just a Minor Skill, and with your Focus you  wouldn't have any trouble with the knowledge. I'm guessing this plays  into your prep for next round somehow?"

The  whole non interference thing was kind of out the window since the last  two people in the tournament besides me were Mel and Abel, who didn't  care. Still, I wanted to play things close to the vest, so I just  nodded. Callie slumped back in annoyance, groaning loudly, only to be  shushed by Cass. "Sorry sweetie." She told the younger girl with a  wince, before turning her gaze to me. "This is going to be annoying, but  fine, meet me in the training room, I need to get a few things."

She  hopped to her feet, strolling off, and Jin sat up, glaring at me for  taking away the warm person he was cuddling with. I raised an eyebrow.  "Yeah, I've been there. But I have training to do. SOME of us don't just  get to become house dogs after a little while. Watch your show." He  snorted dismissively at me before refocusing on the cartoon projected  from the scan box.

When  I reached the training room, I had to wait a few minutes for Callie to  show up carrying a large black bag with a strap that hung over one  shoulder. Slipping it off, she let the bag fall to the ground and  unzipped it, starting to take out various odds and ends. Wire, spikes,  springs, rope. The bag was quickly emptied as she gestured proudly at  her collection. "Boom. Beginner trap maker kit."

"Ok."  I drawled. "Glossing over the fact that you have a bag full of  restraints that I didn't know about, which is weird since we basically  share a room at this point, shouldn't you set up the traps...first? Then  show me how to disarms them?" I knew a bit about traps, but not much,  Callie's Skill did most of the heavy lifting in the labyrinth.

She  shook her head firmly. "No. You've seen plenty of traps disarmed, and  made. Now you need to make some yourself. If you can't construct them,  all the theoretical knowledge in the world is pointless."

"Alright."  I said with a shrug. "You're the expert. I should be able to do this,  like you said, I've seen plenty of traps. Here, turn around for a  minute." She gave me an amused look, but with a quiet snort, she turned  her back to me. I grabbed a few supplies, some rope, a small pulley, and  a net, and walked over to where the obstacle course was situated.

Cracking  my knuckles confidently I started to rig up an expertly arranged  trap...then stopped. I knew the basics, but that was mostly just  reactions. Cause and effect stuff. I didn't know HOW a lot of them  worked. I held up the rope, mulling over my options, before looping it  between two posts. I tied one side down, then looped the other up around  the pole and over the top, tying it loosely around the net.

Nodding  happily, I stepped over my makeshift trip wire and whistled to Callie.  "Alright, all done." It wasn't pretty, but it should work.

Turning  around, she looked right at me, then scanned over the trap, and  subsequently burst into gales of laughter. I glared at her, which made  her laugh harder, and I spent the next few minutes seething as she  almost fell over in fits of hysterical giggles.

When  she finally got a hole of herself she wiped her eyes mirthfully. "Oh.  Wow. Sorry. It's just...you were solid when we started training in  Balam, and you have so many varied skillsets you seem to pick up  everything fast, so I was expecting you to be...at least competent."

"You're  not making this better." I complained. "What exactly is wrong with it?"  I gestured to the trap. "Sure, it's simple, but at least it's  functional right? When you trip the line it tugs the rope off the net  and it falls on you."

She  giggled again, getting it under control faster this time. "No, Shane.  That's a slipknot. The jerk on the line will tighten the knot and then  fling the whole thing off the side of the structure." She paused. "What  is this anyway? Just a pair of posts next to a climbing wall with a  protruding arm?"

I  shrugged. "Salmon ladder, at least the posts are. The protruding arm is  for hanging a harness when climbing I think, but who knows."

Honestly  the training room was weird. Half of this stuff wasn't really that  useful, and I was almost positive some of it wasn't always here. Zeke  said it was a side effect of the last owner's reputation, and since he  wasn't worried about it I just ignored the whole issue.

Callie  chuckled, and started actually teaching. While I'd watched her process  directly, there were lots of small details I didn't note just from  observing. Types of knots, angles, tensile strength of certain materials  and a dozen other little tricks of the trade. We worked for hours, with  her filling me in on little bits of knowledge I didn't have that put  things I did know into context better.

By  the time we finished, she had taught me enough to make my own traps,  albeit not great ones, and with my Focus and Perception, not to mention  the time I'd put in, I officially got enough information figured out to  officially have a Minor Trap Mastery Skill.

I  slumped back against the wall with a groan. I wasn't physically tired,  obviously, but doing the same menial task for hours was boring and  annoying. Callie just smirked at me. "Well, seems like my work here is  done, I'm going to go watch mindless cartoons and leave you to your  training." She leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips. "Good  luck on your match. I'll be there watching this time, so you'd better  kick ass." She pouted at me. "If you beat me and then lose to some  nobody I'm not speaking to you for a weak."

She  was bluffing, and we both knew it, courtesy of the bond, but it was her  way of cheering me on, and I smiled softly at her as she turned and  strolled away. With her gone, I was officially done with prep work, and  sat up to cross my legs. An unnecessary step but one that would at least  help clear my head.

This  next upgrade had a solid amount of synergy. Not as much as the  herbalism skill had, but enough that I thought I'd get something pretty  good if I focused on the right method of combination. I'd already seen  proof that there was some better and some worse ways to combine things.

I  used Sucking Mud, focusing on the space in front of me as I did my best  to synergize it with Minor Trap Mastery. I'd only just gotten the  Skill, but I'd spent hours practicing so I was in a good headspace. I  considered the possible methods of combining them and decided to focus  on increasing the trap capability of Sucking Mud, instead of something  like time delay that might lean more toward the trapping aspect.

Imagining  my Sucking Mud, I focused on the mental image of a pitfall trap.  Instead of something slow and plodding, the pitfall trap was a single  sharp drop, but I didn't want to lose the earth aspect that made the  skill what it was. Instead, I focused on making the sand thinner and  decreasing friction, creating more of a silt material from the skill  use.

With the  strong mental image and the recent practice, not to mention my  experience tweaking Sucking Mud, it clicked into place pretty quickly,  and I felt Minor Trap Mastery vanish just as soon as it arrived.  Focusing on my DS Mastery and feeling out subskills, I confirmed the new  addition with a smile as I made sure Sucking Mud was gone.

Pit  of Despair, a control skill that creates a pit of silt that swallows up  anyone standing on top of it nearly instantly. Fast, deadly, and a  distinct upgrade to Sucking Mud. I grinned happily to myself as I  checked to confirm my last subskill. Earthseeking was all I needed to  finish it, Intermediate DS Mastery was so close I could taste it. I  couldn't wait to use it on whoever I was fighting for the last round.

I  was so excited I wished I could upgrade the last Skill now, but I knew  that wasn't on the table. The soul weight of the one upgrade after  learning a new Skill was already hard on me.

Standing  up to stretch, I decided to take a small break before going to find  Benny for his wishes. This was good progress, and I knew that I was well  on my way to reaching the finals, but everyone needs a break now and  then. I headed for the kitchen, pondering what I should make for dinner.  I was hungry, and I was in the mood for something complicated. Maybe  chicken and dumplings as a thank you to Callie for helping. Whatever I  made, I was sure it would be delicious.