Wish upon the Stars chapter 8

Jessie and I parted ways after checking out the boards and I headed  home. I considered playing a bit of Doom Sovereign, but decided to put  it off til later. I did need to spend time in game to try to understand  my limits with my mastery skill, but I was exhausted from the events of  the day so I just went to sleep. The next morning I called and checked  on Jessie, who told me she had a hard night but was staying at the guild  for now so she was ok, and then I began the hunt for my first job.

I'd  snapped a few pictures with my scan ring of the various jobs available.  I'd decided to pick one of the prosthetic jobs, but more specifically I  was looking for the most recent one posted within my capabilities. I'd  considered going for an older job since I'd thought that might draw less  attention since attention wouldn't be on it, but if one of the jobs  that had been around for years vanished everyone would notice. New jobs  popped up all the time, and one disappearing a bit after it showed up  wouldn't draw any interest, so recent was better.

Secondly  I looked for someone in the I rank. I might not have the stats to fix  and H ranked amputation, but I needed to find someone with an ability  and hopefully some skills. If it had been possible to research the  subjects of the task I'd have tried to look for an older I ranker,  someone who never got the renown to advance, just because their skills  would have probably been more developed, but other than the basic  information on the recipient of the prosthetic the jobs were light on  details.

Once  I found the right person I arranged for the contract. I actually called  Zeke to ask for help with this part, and he gave me some pointers on  contract negotiation. Contracts were my dads go to option for wish  granting, as in he would literally write up long detailed stipulations  for each wish and have the other party sign it. Apparently it was some  kind of mutation of the normal wish ability that he created through and  actual contract skill, it allowed him unparalleled flexibility with his  wishes, but losing the original Wish ability had stripped away the quirk  of the wish power that let his stats count for triple.

In  any case growing up around the old man put Zeke in a position to pick  up a whole slew of contract knowledge, and he helped me set it up so  that I could demand absolute secrecy for the entire process and still  have an attractive pitch. Trade secrets were commonly covered under  contracts supplied by the guild, but in general you didn't get a lot of  crafters that wanted confidentiality for even the initial meeting and  their own introduction. Complete secrecy like I was looking for was a  hard sell to someone you didn't know, so we had to be a bit tricky with  the wording.

Basically  I'd had to guarantee success or be penalized with an extremely high  penalty fee so they would sign the thing before I'd given them any  details. That said I wasn't too worried about it. My Wish ability could  alter reality, so healing an I grade limb shouldn't be a problem at all.  Impact alone would make sure that my ability would be more effective on  lower ranked people, not to mention my effective Vitality for wish  granting was six, and very few people hyper focused on a single stat. If  they were at I rank still it was nearly impossible six wouldn't be  enough.

Just to be sure what I was working with, before I called I took the chance to call up my stats.

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-3
Impact-2
Fantasy-2
Vitality-2
Focus-2
Perception-2
Creation-1

Skills:  Lesser Doom Sovereign Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor  Cooking  Mastery, Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar  Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery

I  enjoyed seeing how high my stats were compared to when I first started,  but it still felt like far from enough. I made a mental wish list of  what I wanted to get out of my next few jobs. First off I wanted to  round out my stats and get another point in Focus and Creation.  Especially if I was going to be going into crafting those two stats  would be key. Focus was integral to the inventing, alchemy, and  enchanting skills, and Creation was an important stat to any kind of  crafting you could do.

Second I  wanted to get the aforementioned skills. That was going to be tricky to  pull off. I'd need to find someone who had picked them up and then  ignored them. If I took a crafting skill from a crafter who actively  used it not only would it be obvious but the healing wouldn't even be  enough to compensate them for the skill. My power worked on value, and a  limb they'd lived without for years wasn't nearly as precious as the  crafting skill that gave them their livelihood. Though I could try to  find some crafters who picked up all three of the main crafting skills  and then only used one.

Deciding  I'd done enough prep work I opened my scan ring to make the call,  getting into contact with the first person I chose. Their demeanor was  friendly enough, though there was a bit of unhappiness when I told them  about the contract. Once I sent it over and explained the penalty fee  they grudgingly accepted it and sent over the address where I would meet  them for the job. I headed out immediately, catching a bus in my  costume and excited to finally be granting wishes again.

Riding  the bus in my costume was just as odd as riding in the suit and mask  from before. Whereas before I got a lot of looks but no one had come up  to me this time I was approached by a few kids hoping for my autograph.  They didn't know who I was obviously, my reputation wasn't really out  like that as Solomon, but they knew I was in costume and I wasn't  dressed like one of the gang members of the big three, which meant I was  probably with the Unity. Superheroes were beloved in Valen, and I was  getting that love by osmosis, which I had to admit was pretty nice.

I  was in a good mood by the time I got off and arrived in front of an  absolutely massive iron gate in front of a huge manor. A tall, gaunt,  thin man in a suit was waiting for outside, and when I arrived he opened  a small side gate off the main entrance to let me. He had a crisp,  formal accent I'd never heard before, and as I entered he addressed me  directly. "Ah, Master Solomon I presume? Right this was sir, Master  Patel is in the solarium awaiting your arrival." He took in my costume  coolly, but I couldn't tell what he though of it as his stoic mask  didn't slip even a bit during the once over.

He  led me around the side of the manor house to an extended room off the  back. The entire structure was made of perfectly cleaned and maintained  glass, and the inside was a man with in a chair, taking in the sight of  an expansive and well maintained garden. The man had a cane nearby  leaning against the table and his right leg was missing at the knee, the  stump wrapped off with a clean white bandage with only a spot of blood.  When he saw me he smiled kindly, and I noted the coffee colored skin  around his eyes and mouth were lined from smiling despite his youth.

Mr.  Patel, as it turned out, was a twenty something man of about six feet,  though since he was sitting that was a guess, with well developed  muscles and an aura of heartiness. Despite having lost a leg in what was  obviously a recent incident he seemed cheerful and happy. Laughing as I  got withing range. "Mr. Solomon! Welcome to my home. Forgive me for not  getting up to greet you, but I'm still getting the hang of the cane and  I don't want to embarrass myself in front of company."

I  approached and he reached out to shake, and as I took the proffered  hand I noted that his grip was firm but not overbearing. I decided I  like the guy. I pulled back my hand and waved off the apology. "Please,  it's your house, sit, stand, hell lay down if you want. But hopefully  you won't need to worry about the cane for much longer. If we might have  a bit of privacy though?" A glance at his butler made it clear what I  meant and he nodded to the man. The butler didn't look pleased to be  dismissed, but his boss had given him instuctions and butlers gotta  buttle.

Once  he was gone Mr. Patel turned to look at me. "Now, I'm curious to know  what all this secrecy has been about. The circumstances behind your  contract were highly irregular, but I have to admit they intrigued me.  Honestly the penalty fee you offered is nothing to me, but I've always  loved a good mystery. So tell me, exactly why are you here Mr. Solomon?  What are you capabilities that they require such secrecy."

I  smiled under my scarf. A fair amount of paranoia had gone into getting  me here but in the end this had been exactly what I'd been hoping for.  Once the job was rescinded no one would notice it was gone, the details  had been kept scarce so even if someone from the guild saw Mr. Patel  walking around fine they wouldn't know it was him, and the contract was  ironclad. Those layers of secrecy were enough for me to use the lie I'd  been using already. "I have access to a certain...resource. The WCP in  the city had given me a quote of wishes to grant to others for a  meritorious service."

His  eyes widened with interest. The WCP's wishes were famous and of course  they could do much more than make a prosthetic. Regrowing Ascendant  limbs was trickier than doing normal ones. The investment was too much  for anyone on Callus to bother with. Even healers for mortals who could  grow limbs weren't common, though there were machines you could pay to  use that would do it. But a wish could restore his ability to walk  properly, completely fix his problem instead  of just a half measure  like a prosthetic.

I  smiled at him, though he couldn't see it anyway with my face covered.  "So the question here, Mr. Patel is what you'll pay for that. Wishes  require payment as I'm sure you know." I passed him a short list I'd  prepared. The two stats I needed, the skills I wanted, and an open slot  for anything he thought might I might need or that would be of value to  me and worth growing back a lost limb. "After you decide on fair  compensation, just make your wish."

He  nodded absently, staring down at the list. His face was twisted with  uncertainty, and I completely understood. Stats were a pain to gain and  he obviously would be hesitant to give one up. Not to mention skills  being even more challenging to acquire. In the end though he passed it  back. "I have a Minor Enchanting Mastery skill. I don't use it often,  building a reputation as an enchanter was too difficult. I offer it as  payment. In return. I wish I had my leg back." I grinned as the familiar  purple flames licked across my vision.

Ascendant Wish detected. Grant wish? 

Perfect.