Wish upon the Stars chapter 4 pt 4

Once I had my name picked out it was time for next big portion of the  event. Captain Polaris was all smiles about this and clapped me on the  shoulder proudly. "You lucked out here kid, for a few reasons. First of  all because most initiates have to pay the guild back for their gear,  and second because most of them get their costumes designed at I rank. H  rank, as you may know, lasts much longer than I rank, requiring ten  times more point to break through, so this costume will serve you for  much longer."

I hadn't considered that, but it was  certainly a plus. I gestured to the mannequin. "So, what do you suggest  here. Any special features or little tricks you know that will help make  my costume the best it can be?" I knew next to nothing about crafting  or enchanting or whatever it was Pack Rat did, if he was even the one  who actually made the costumes and not just the guy who held onto the  expensive materials for the actual crafter.

He grinned at  that. "I think I might have an idea or two yeah, but it really depends  what you'll be doing with it. Not all crafters take the safe route and  earn points through sales, some of them go out and actually use their  gear. Almost all of the ones who make it past F grade do it that way. I  don't know much about you yet Shane, but nobody who breaks through to H  rank before their intake by getting a point of Might is a home body. I  get the distinct impression you're planning on being in the field. You  have a method you can use to make that work?"

I nodded  sheepishly. "Skills. I have a Lesser Skill in Doom Sovereign Mastery. I  can use it with my Minor Gymnastics skill and my Fantasy stat to pull  off a kind of guided combat system. Predictive attacks and stuff like  that. I'm not really one for sitting around tinkering. I mean I'm  planning to craft for people for sure, but I want to do field work too.  Best of both worlds. If that's ok?"

He snorted. "Kid we  don't snap up Talents like you and then tell them how to progress. You  have your own way of doing things and it clearly works. I'm here to give  advice and guidance, not control your every move. You're welcome on  patrols with me." He nodded to the mannequin. "That said, there will be a  few useful tidbits that we can arrange for you that might help those  patrols run a bit smoother. You said your combat style uses Lesser Doom  Sovereign Mastery and Minor Gymnastics?"

I nodded and he  chewed his lip thoughtfully. Rather than immediately respond he walked  up to the armor, running his fingers over the lines before murmuring  something to Pack Rat. The tall, hunched man responded in an equally low  voice and they traded comments for a while before seeming to come to an  agreement. Captain Polaris turned to me. "Ok first thing's first. What  kind of color and style were you looking at? We need to know what kind  of vibe we're working with. If you're going to be canary yellow camo is  out for instance."

I squinted at the mannequin, trying to  figure out the way I could most easily see myself walking around in it. I  liked the black. I'd been considering blue and bronze but his comment  about color and stealth made me rethink it. "I think probably black and  violet. Like a deep purple with some blue in it but not quite indigo.  Probably black as the base and the rest as trim." I gestured down to the  chest of his costume, where a four pointed star sat against a field of  white. "Do I need to come up with something like that? A crest or  something?"

The surprise on his face when I asked about it  told me that it wasn't something most people thought to bring up, which  seemed odd, but maybe they were overwhelmed with the creation process.  Still his smile told me I was on the right track. "Yeah, sigils are an  important part of Ascendent culture. They act as a mneumonic device of  sorts for civilians. When they see our sigils it reminds them of us and  generates more renown. You can leave your sigil at important sites and  battles to get the public thinking about you. Anything in mind for  yours?"

I didn't have anything specific but I had a few  ideas. I was considering using the six pointed star and a skull. It  reminded me of my roots and I could claim the skull was a Doom Sovereign  reference. Before I could answer though he seemed to take my silence as  a denial and waved it off. "It's fine, no need to worry about it now.  Sigils are usually the last step, and some initiates don't even get  theirs until the graduate from mentorship. Sometimes a mentor can prove  valuable help with crafting on based on the traits they observe during  the shadowing process."

I shrugged, glad to have that off  my chest. He turned back to the mannequin again. "In any case if you're  going physical focus there are a few ways to go. Dense armor will stop  you down but trading blows is a great way to generate Might, some kind  of mobility enchantmant will help you dodge and will usually boost  Perception. People see you avoiding hits with ease and it leaves an  impression that you can see things coming. If you're going for a  synchronization with Gymnastics I recommend the latter. What kind of  mobility suits you best, there are many ways to move?"

I  pondered that. There were definitely many ways to dodge or avoid  attacks, mine had mostly been agility based, but some three dimensional  movement would give me access to more of the attack patterns from Doom  Sovereign. Nothing as crazy as flying, but even a double jump would be a  huge asset. Captain Polaris was enthused about the suggestion and  included a few more of his own that would compliment that fighting  style, things like sticking to walls for short periods or hardlight  shields I could push off to give myself more momentum midair.

That  was apparently most of what an H rank suit could handle, though he also  asked Pack Rat (who it turned out was indeed the crafter the guild used  for costumes) to include a shock absorption setup that could store  impact in the gear. He had released valves rigged up on hands, elbows,  feet, and knees, so I could vent the accumulated force from my strikes,  but he was very clear with his warning when he mentioned it. "Be careful  with that, it's H rank which means it'll soak MOST damage below G, but  there are some few monsters who can punch above their weight class."

That  was definitely good to know, so I thanked him for his help as we left  Pack Rat's place. Instead of heading back outside though, he took me  further into the first floor, down another hallway, until we came out  into a huge cuboid room with white, sturdy looking walls and hard wood  floors. I looked around with interest before turning to the Captain. "So  what's up with this place? I take it this is some kind of training  room?"

The  answering smile that he flashed me did not inspire a ton of confidence.  "Of course. See, while I won't stop you from going on patrols with me,  in order to know exactly what kind of places it's safe to take you I  need to know what you're capable of, so we're going to spar." He cracked  his neck, starting to stretch a bit. "Of course, I'm going to be on  defense, my stats are much higher than yours, asking you to defend  against me would be a bit ridiculous. So just come at me whenever you're  ready."

I  backed up and dropped my hoodie to the ground, bouncing a few times in  place to get my blood flowing. I had to admit I wanted to see what my  mentor was made of, and if he was just going to sit there and let me  attack I had no reason not to go all out. I focused and felt Lesser Doom  Sovereign Mastery resonate with Minor Gymnastics, but this time both  points of Might resonated as well as Fantasy as the overlay faded into  view across my vision. I felt my pulse pounding as I got ready to let  loose on a superior opponent.

I  could see dozens of attack paths and every one of them was full of  openings, as if he didn't think he needed to bother blocking me. I  bolted forward with every ounce of speed and power I had pulling into a  few handsprings before tucking my body, using the momentum to speed up  both feet as I brought them down on his head in a double axe kick, he  smiled slightly, shifting back out of the way of the blow, but I just  hit my feet and bounced catching myself on my hands as I came up and  spin my body around my arm to shift my momentum into something circular  as I came at him from the sides.

He  shifted again, and the overlay didn't recognize it as a defensive  possibility because he was just that much faster than I was so he didn't  need to try to react until I was about to hit him. I gritted my teeth  in annoyance and continued my motion through shifting to balance on my  other hand as I kept building momentum, gaining speed and power as I  went and I felt those points of Might strain as I pushed myself and my  style as hard and fast as I could. Kicks and elbows flowing along the  paths the overlay showed as fast as I could functionally throw them.

Captain  Polaris was grinning and dodging constantly, not block or interrupting  my momentum, clearly interested to see exactly how fast I could go and  how much speed I could build up. My Vitality started to resonate with  the other stats and my skills, keeping me from running out of energy  immediately as I strained my body to it's limits but no matter what I  did I couldn't fucking hit the other man. This style of combat wasn't  weighted heavily towards attack, and without any of the in game skills  to mix in I was at a huge disadvantage.

I  flipped backward a few times to give myself space and tried to calm  down and focus, pushing Fantasy as hard as I could to try to narrow down  a path that would let me hit him, even just a glancing blow, I refused  to be so pathetic I couldn't even touch him going all out. He raised an  eyebrow as he saw my change in expression but smiled wolfishly as he  prepared for my charge. I bolted right at him at top speed hurling my  whole body forward into axe kick that I aimed right at his skull, as  usual he drifted just out of reach.

As  my right leg came down I landed in a crouch on my left, pushing every  ounce of might into the bent limb, springing straight up at him as he  was in mid step, my knee shooting right at his face as I put my all into  hitting him at least once. I felt impact on my knee and I was overjoyed  for a second, before I realized I'd slammed into his hand. He pushed me  back and I pulled a handspring, bouncing back to my feet. He held up  his hands. "Enough. That was pretty damn good for a newbie H ranker.  More than enough to defend yourself against most of the random thugs  we'll run into, and I can handle any of the stronger enemies." He shot  me a grin. "Go get cleaned up kid. Once Pack Rat finished your costume  I'll take you on a short patrol."