Wish upon the Stars chapter 47

Skanda actually used up all four wishes himself. Which was fine with  me, I could always come back tomorrow. Though I was annoyed about  wasting ten chits on the stupid production room. Luckily it turned out  you didn't need to use the time consecutively, though you did have to  wait until it was empty to claim the rest of it. I pocketed the key  after thanking the contractor for telling me and decided to head out to  look around.

I'd  managed to get stat points from Skanda, though not Might. A point of  Fantasy, a point of Focus, and two points of Creation. Skanda had a  preference for which way his build should go, but much like everyone  else his reputation decided his stats. Steering four points more into  line with what he wanted wasn't going to change that, but it would at  least help him give the vibe he was trying to project a bit better, and  that alone was priceless. In the meantime, I got to a whopping ninety  five points, only two days from G rank at this rate.

Wishmaster  candidate status. H-rank. Ability: Lesser Wish- Four times a day grant a  Lesser wish in return for proper compensation. Wish must be feasibly  achievable by the candidate's own efforts within a three day period with  current statistics.

Might-15
Impact-2
Fantasy-12
Vitality-12
Focus-14
Perception-22
Creation-18

Skills:  Lesser Doom Sovereign Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Cooking  Mastery, Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar  Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery, Lesser Enchanting Mastery, Minor  Inventing Mastery, Minor Poker Mastery, Minor Archery Mastery, Minor  Boxing Mastery

Though  the contract wouldn't let him discuss anything that happened, giving me  a general recommendation was still on the table. He promised to mention  me to his friends, and didn't think keeping quiet on details would  bother them much given how crafters usually did business.  As we walked  out though, I realized I'd gotten really lucky and got done way too  early.

Luckily I had a local to  guide me, so I turned to Skanda with a questioning glance. "Hey big guy,  most of the tests and stuff are aimed at G rankers, but we have to be  able to do SOMETHING before getting there. How do H rankers manage to  work their way up here?" I didn't believe that the tests were the only  things to do here, especially since the crafting points prove tasks  could be given independent of testing.

He  chuckled. "There are plenty of tasks a lower ranker can do. One of my  favorites is actually around here, I can take you if you want to check  it out?" I nodded happily, I'd been hoping for something like that, so I  wasn't going to argue. Skanda led me through the hall and out the door  before circling around to the back of the building where there was a  large metal...thing. Maybe a barn or a big shed? I didn't know how to  describe it.

He  led me inside, and I stayed on my guard until I got inside and saw all  the busy people and realized he wasn't luring me into the woods where  nobody could hear me scream. I looked around and saw that the number of  shapes here were deceptive. More than half of these things weren't  people at all. They were...robots? But not robots. No moving parts or  gears, just rock, wood, or metal. I turned to Skanda, raising an  eyebrow.

The  grin he shot me was pure glee, and he spread his arms to encompass the  huge space around us. "Welcome to the golem battledome! Golem making is  fairly niche in the Academy, but even a niche discipline has thousands  of people. Because the golem making Skill is so inefficient at low  levels even G rank golems have most of their points poured into Vitality  and Creation to make them actually function. It leaves them light on  everything else, so the crafters have this place, where H ranks can  challenge golems for ranking points."

I  blinked, my eyes going wide as I felt excitement begin to bubble. "I  can...fight robots for reputation?" Well, magic robots, but who fucking  cared? That was awesome. "How many points are they worth? How many of  them can I fight? And how the hell do you win?" I wasn't sure what the  hell the chances were of beating one, but this sounded like a blast  either way. Still I couldn't didn't ignore the fact that low stats or  not these were G rank golems, so they would have six times my Impact.

He  chuckled. "One point for every round they survive. Some of the really  well designed ones can be near unstoppable, depending on the stat  allocation. The golem making Skill uses enchanting and inventing both,  so materials play a big part but there's some wiggle room. As for  beating them, they supply G rank weapons for use in the matches, nothing  fancy, but enough to offset the Impact difference."

That  made sense, I was also intrigued by the fact that there were skills you  could only get when using other skills. But then Ian had also said  there were skills that you got from using enchanted items enough too, so  I guessed unlock conditions were something I'd heard of before. I also  sounded like it wasn't the same as combining them. Something to think on  later but I had other things on my mind now. I grinned behind my mask.  "I want to give it a shot. This sounds like a ton of fun."

He  led me along the wall past a bunch of people repairing golems. "It is,  but be careful. Lots of Vitality means even with the Impact difference  partially mitigated by the weapons they can take a beating. This is a  marathon, not a sprint." We came to a table where a pair of girls were  sitting, almost identical except their hair and eyes. The one on the  left had red hair and green eyes and the one on the right had green hair  and red eyes. Skanda knocked on the table to get their attention,  nodding at me. "Hey my buddy wants to set up his first golem match, and  I'll take a shot too."

The  twins looked up at us blandly, speaking in perfect unison when they  asked. "Very well, your options for combat are novice, veteran, or  elite. Novice golems have survived ten or fewer fights, Veterans between  ten and one hundred, and Elite golems have survived fifty or more  fights." The whole unison talking thing was extremely creepy, but at  least they were informative. I picked novice, obviously. I'd never  fought a golem so it made sense to try for one that was as weak as  possible to test the waters. Mitigating factors or no, I was fighting up  a rank.

They  gestured me towards a ring at the back before handing me a paper ticket  with a number on it. Skanda picked a Veteran, so he headed off in  another direction, but we agreed to meet up at the entrance after the  fights. once I got there I passed the ticket to man standing by the  entrance to the small ring and he ushered me in. The ring was about  fifteen feet across, so there was room to move. Ticket guy followed me  in and brought me to a chest against one wall which he unlocked, opening  it to reveal an assortment of shabby looking weapons.

The  guy gestured to the weapons. "Please select a weapon, and be aware that  any harm or injury suffered during your match is not the responsibility  of the Academy or the Golem Battledome, just as any material damage to  the golems themselves will not fall on your shoulders." I nodded my  understanding and knelt down to pick out a weapon. Since this was a  golem I could let loose, and I had three shots here. I reminded myself  to stack a bunch more Doom Sovereign Mastery skills when I got the  chance, I could definitely find those on the game. Because it was the  weapon I used most in game I picked dual daggers.

I'd  been going for blunt weapons until now, but with all my Perception I  should be good enough to aim. I gave the man a nod and headed over to  stand on the x marked on one side of the ring for me, while the gate on  the other side opened and let in...a big hunk of wood. I activated my  overlay, seeing the arrows telling me what attacks would and wouldn't  work. Seeing an opening I darted in, deciding to attack normally before  wasting one of my three enchanting charges without knowing what I was up  against.

I  darted in swept under a surprisingly quick backhand from the long limbed  wooden creature, and buried my dagger in it's gut before darting back  out. I was shocked at how easy the knife went in. Like I still had to  put all my Might behind it but it slid a few inches into the wood. I  looked at the gash as I backed off...and felt my stomach sinking. It was  healing. Shit, I should have assumed a wood golem would be heavier on  Vitality than most.

That  was...good and bad. I could assume doubling down on the already heavy  Vitality stat would mean it would be much weaker for it's level, which  was good for me. But since golem making relied partly on enchanting, I  could assume the same rules held true. Vitality enchantments always took  much better to things that used to be alive, wood in particular was  excellent for them, which was why I used it in Jessie's wand. I could  assume a G rank wood would be even better, meaning my main issue with  this thing was going to be regen and not straight combat.

Luckily,  it was alive, and wood was close enough to flesh for me to have a  counter to this. I triggered my DS Mastery, along with my Lesser  Enchanting Mastery, as I activated a subset of my rogue skills I had  been actively avoiding. I triggered the lowest level poison skill I had  access to, an ability called Touch of Tears. My daggers began to glow  green. Not the vibrant green of life, but a toxic, virulent bright  green. I darted back in, and used my second charge of the day on a  second ability. Flurry of Blows.

Flurry  of Blows was basically only useful with damage over time attacks. It  sped up attack speed but didn't actually improve your attacks at all,  but that worked well in combination with Touch of Tears. I circled the  golem, daggers biting into it as viciously as I could manage. The wood  healed after each blow, but it healed sickly and yellowing, and each  consecutive healing spread that discoloration even as it worsened on the  scar itself.

As  I suspected the thing's powerful Vitality gave it lots of regen but  robbed it of any real physical ability. This golem was made to outlast  an opponent, not outfight them. Touch of Tears lasted one minute, and  with Flurry of Blows on top of my own Might I managed one hundred thirty  two attacks in that time. Despite it's relative weakness I did still  have to put some force into the blows because the poison stack only  applied if it broke the 'skin'.

After  my attacks ended I ran circles around the damn thing for another ten  minutes while the poison finished spreading, finally stopping as the  wooden monstrosity, now shrunken and twisted, collapsed to the ground,  shattering on impact. I turned to the ticket guy,  who looked more  annoyed than surprised or impressed. He gestured to the chest again and I  walked over to return the daggers before making my way out of the ring.  He held out a hand wordlessly and I handed him my coin. He pressed it  to a pad he had off to the side and the number on the back dropped to   seven hundred forty eight thousand nine hundred eighty six. I grinned.  This was turning out to be a good day.