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Wish upon the Stars (Original Superhero cultivation sci fi litrpg)

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by Malcolm Tent, Mar 19, 2022.

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  1. Threadmarks: chapter 180
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    We were all pretty shocked by E district, and while we did have plans to check in with the Flame Riot Militia's main branch on Callus, we took our time traveling through, gazing wonderingly at the world around us. The misty, dreamlike atmosphere of the place made it seem almost like an illusion, though a few uses of Seek Hidden on nearby things didn't show any difference between what I saw and what the skill perceived. Of course, that was assuming it was an illusion I could actually break, which wasn't a certainty, but by every observable metric I could find, this place seemed to be real.

    Well, maybe not REAL exactly. I suspected the creation of a place like this required extremely large amounts of Fantasy. I made a mental note to ask Zeke about this place. I'd normally have asked Callie, given her penchant for picking up useful bits of information, but I had a feeling a place like this didn't normally belong on an E ranked planet like this one. In the coming days Callie and I would both need to start doing some research to try to keep up with things like this. I put an arm around her. "Well now. This is new. I don't think either of us have heard of something like this."

    She chuckled at that, nodding. "Yeah. In fact, lately I've been feeling more and more out of my depth." She grimaced. "It's been pretty frustrating how quickly we've outpaced my area of expertise. I feel like I spent my entire life studying for a test and when I passed it they just moved on to a new subject right after. I think it's going to get even worse as we keep going. I'm just going to be more and more useless." Her voice was mostly even, but I detected an undercurrent of real hurt and worry in it, and I stopped, tugging her to a halt as I turned her to face me.

    Cark and Benny kept walking after a brief pause, clearly knowing this was a private moment. With their Perception eavesdropping would be simple, but I didn't really care if they heard, and appreciated even the semblance of privacy. I reached down to tilt Callie's head up so she had to look me in the eye. I wanted to make sure she could see exactly how serious I was about what I had to say.

    I stared into those shocking blue depths and spoke slowly. "Hey. You are not an almanac. You're not a text book. I don't need you with me because you teach me bits of trivia about being a cultivator. I need you because you care about me. I need you because you know me. I need you because you're by my side, ready to fight whenever things go bad. I love you. Not because you're a useful tour guide, but because you're strong, and intelligent, and sweet, and yes admittedly the fact that you're drop dead gorgeous doesn't hurt either."

    I gave her a rougish grin, and her shocked face softened with affection, her blue eyes shining even brighter as I spoke, but I wasn't done. I let my grin slide off my face, my expression becoming earnest. "You are one of the people I care about most in the world. In ANY world. I need you to stay with me, to know that I'd be lost without you. I don't know anything about this world either, but that isn't a problem, it's an opportunity." I reached down and took her hands. "We're partners Callie. In this together. And we can learn all about this amazing universe we live in together. I think it's more fun that way."

    She burst into giggles, and I gave her an affronted look. She covered her mouth, trying to get her giggles under control before she stood up on her toes to kiss me softly. "I'm not laughing at you sweetie. It's just...you can be such a dork sometimes. In a sweet way. I don't think anyone less sincere than you could get away with saying something that cheesy and not sound like a total sap." She looked me up and down with a mischievous grin. " Though, admittedly, the fact that you're drop dead gorgeous doesn't hurt either."

    I sulked a bit, but she leaned up to kiss me again, putting her hands on my face and forcing it down to hers, giving me the same earnest expression I'd given her. "Hey. I didn't say I didn't like it. You can be a bit weird sometimes, but I like weird. I love you too, and I'd be happy to go on any adventure with you." Her face split in a grin. "Besides, I have to take care of my guy. You might be getting better, but you still do crazy reckless nonsense because it's fun. One of us needs to be the voice of reason instead of an adrenaline hungry lunatic."

    That did get a laugh from me. "Sure, provided we don't go near any treasure. I suspect you might be part dragon based on how giddy you get over loot." I put my hands on her shoulders, spinning her around before putting my arm back across them, resuming our walk so we could catch up with the others. "Anyway, I'm always happy to have you pull me back from doing something stupid. You go ahead and be the voice of reason, and I can be the voice of fun."

    She snuggled into my side. "It's true, you are usually a blast to be around. I can say with complete honestly I haven't been bored for a moment since we met. That's probably what drew me to you. Thanks though. I... don't think I really noticed how much it bothered me that I wasn't useful anymore. I see Jessie taming a pack of wolves and Benny making crazy buildings that spawn secret watcher birds and I feel more and more out of my depth. It's nice to know I'm not just a staircase that makes kickass battle plans."

    I shrugged nonchalantly. "More of an escalator really." She rolled her eyes at that, but I focused on her last statement. "Speaking of kickass battle plans, or even non battle plans, do we HAVE one of those for this meeting? Because I feel like busting into the Flame Riot Militia and screaming 'hey, are you guys the ones helping a baby wishmaster conquer the world?' probably won't yield any good results." I grimaced. "I hate problems I can't punch. Damned F rankers. I really hope someday I can punch up ranks."

    While I wasn't comfortable with the idea of violence being my first resort in every situation, these guys were pretty violent themselves, so I didn't mind a bit of asskicking if I'd been capable of it. Sadly I wasn't which made me a bit worried we wouldn't be able to safely visit them. When I brought that up though, Callie shook her head. "That at least isn't an issue. Anyone who gets down here has some sort of clout of pull. Us being in E district without any obvious supporters that people know about will just make them wonder who is pulling our strings, which will make them cautious."

    That at least was good news. Granted I wasn't planning on pushing things any further than Callie wanted to. I wouldn't start any fights with anyone though, and it sounded like that would be enough. Still though, that didn't solve the biggest issue. "So how do we approach them to find out more? The Flame Riot Militia are probably the ones behind it right? I doubt they're open to sharing their plans with random outsiders." I couldn't see how visiting them was going to do any good for us.

    My girlfriend just shot me a sneaky grin. "Which is why won't ask THEM. We're going to the Flame Riot Militia to map out their political situation down here. We pretend to be potential recruits and pump them for information about their rivals and local enemies. Then we ask THOSE people more about what the Militia might be up to. Any big organization will have exponentially more spying capabilities than we would. That also has the added benefit of tipping off their rivals about their movements if they don't know them already."

    My eyes widened. "And THAT will give us a better idea of how each of the factions operates. If we need to back someone it would be a good idea to find somebody ideologically opposed to the way they do things so we don't have to worry about them turning on us. Plus we can scope out their responses and see which ones are too brutal or not active enough in their responses. We would need to do that research anyway, so why not let them do it for us." I shot her an admiring glance. "That really IS genius."

    She rolled her eyes at me. "You don't need to sound so surprised. I can come up with all kinds of plans. Unlike SOME people my expertise isn't limited to hitting people with sticks really hard." She poked me in the ribs, just hard enough to feel a gentle tap through my armor. It was my turn to roll my eyes, but I didn't argue with her, because it was above my dignity, and definitely not because she had a point. I leaned down and kissed the top of her head as she snickered, snuggling closer to me.

    The annoyed voice that interrupted us, turned my amusement into a scowl as Benny complained. "Can you two not be sickening in public please? I wish you'd just gotten it over with and gotten together back in Velan, all this honeymoon shine would have worn off by now. I never needed to know what my best friend sounds like when he giggles." He gave Cark a long suffering expression.

    My own face twisted into an offended gape. "I DO NOT giggle. Ever. I snicker, I chortle, I chuckle, I even occasionally guffaw, but I have never giggled in my life." As soon as I said it I knew I'd made a mistake. I'd reacted far too dramatically to his jab. I winced internally as I tried to think of some way to make it seem like that comment hadn't bothered me. Sadly it was far too late.

    Fortunately Callie was here, and she had no interest in seeing us devolve into juvenile bickering, so she cleared her throat. "I think this particular argument isn't necessary, and we should focus on the coming task." Her lips twitched with amusement, so I could tell she actually kind of enjoyed the verbal sparring, but she didn't want to deal with it once it really got going. Still, she turned to Cark. "I have a feeling you're going to be our ticket into this place Tony. You game for this?"

    The big bounty hunter, who had been watching us all with amusement, let the laughter slide from his face. "It's not a problem. I see your point too. No organization called the Flame Riot Militia would turn down a high G ranked pyro. Their boss has very similar powers to mine. I honestly doubt there are many of them with fire based abilities, we're fairly rare. I can get them talking, trust me. No one shows off more than gang members that are trying to recruit you."

    He sounded like he spoke from experience, but I didn't bring it up. If he wanted to talk about it he would. For the moment there wasn't much time for chatting anyway, because we had officially arrived. We stopped in front of one of the temple buildings, the area above the columns coated with intricate shapes of dancing flames and weapons. We all stopped, staring up at the open entrance before Callie gave a nod of confirmation and we headed inside. I was curious what the Flame Riot Militia was really all about. I guessed we would find out.
     
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  2. Threadmarks: chapter 181
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    When we stepped into the Flame Riot Militia headquarters I expected to be noticed. I figured people would show up and try to rope us in, or there would be someone conveniently having a hushed conversation we could overhear. There was, obviously, nothing like that. I did my best not to let on what I'd been thinking when we'd showed up because I was embarrassed. Being a cultivator made my life kind of a story at times, the interplay of recursion causing some outlandish things to happen. Being reminded that reality was still reality was a bit jarring.

    I suspected that happened less as you got more powerful and ended up around larger concentrations of Ascendants though. The way some of the cultivators acted made me suspect that this was partly what Zeke had been talking about when he'd mentioned how cultivation could change us for the worse. Reality warped in odd ways around Ascendants, and not just the obvious ones.

    With so many of us around, biases and assumptions would slowly change things to a more dramatic and fantastical bent, and even everyday things like this would be more likely to end with coincidences and interesting developments. Things like 'fortuitous encounters' (the unbelievably pretentious way I'd heard some rich kid at the Academy refer to lucky shit happening) became more commonplace because people heard more about them. The world of cultivators was a strange place, and it got stranger the deeper you got. We were all the heroes of our own story, like Zeke said.

    In that light I couldn't help but wonder how much of my own accomplishments were even mine. I was a child of the Wyndham family, a scion of the Wishmaster. Did that make me the recipient of more of that implicit bias. Was people's subconscious assumptions about what someone like me could do altering the course of my destiny? Did it even matter if they were? All Ascendants dealt with recursion...maybe- I jumped. Callie was standing in front of me, arms crossed and fingers raised as she snapped them in front of my face.

    She raised an eyebrow at me. "Callus to Shane? Where's your head at babe? You look...odd. Are you alright?" Her lips were twisted with worry for me, and I forced myself to take a deep breath, exhaling slowly after holding it in for a second. I did that three times, closing my eyes as I did, before opening them with a reassuring smile. When she saw me relax she looked relieved. "Ok, well you seem to be a bit calmer now. What exactly was that?"

    I just shrugged. "Nothing important. I had an existential crisis related to cultivation. Some of what Zeke said the other day shook me a bit, and I just made a few realizations about it as it pertains to me. I'm fine though. Thank you Cal." I leaned down to kiss her softly, and she melted into me, relief evident in her body language. I pulled back from her lips but kept hold of her. Having her here with me was nice. Life affirming I guess, or whatever you would call it. But eventually I had to let go and step back.

    She seemed to realize when I did where we were and she flushed. She looked around, seeing that we happily hadn't drawn much attention because no one cared what we were doing. "I'm glad you're ok. As for the rest...yeah. Honestly that whole thing shook me too. Like...what are we? Are we still people? And if we are, when do we stop being people? Can we prevent ourselves from losing that? Should we even try? The ramifications of recursion get kind of terrifying when you think about them."

    She shivered lightly, and I put and arm over her shoulder as I took my place next to her again. "You know whose problem that sounds like? The future versions of us. They can figure it out. Stop trying to sabotage my living in the moment, I work really hard at it." I winked at her and she giggled a bit at my ridiculousness. Then I kissed her again. "Can you live in the moment with me? Or do I have to go figure out where your head is at and drag you back here myself? Because I can do that." I poked her in the side like she'd done me, earning an adorable squeak that caused her to look mortified as soon as she made it.

    She smacked my hand away with a playful scowl. "Alright you giant goon, fine. I'll live in the moment with you. Just stop poking me." Then she smiled sweetly and snuggled up against my side. "Come on, lets go sign up for this place. Benny is hopping foot to foot like a kid who needs to use that bathroom, and if we keep ignoring him he's probably going to break down and cry." She shot a side ways glance at my now appalled best friend, and I grinned at her.

    Benny had absolutely been about to start harassing us, though I thought it was less wanting attention and more nervousness about us all not being on our guard. His offended expression made even Cark burst out laughing though, and we all headed for the counter deeper into the room where the receptionist was waiting, leaving him stammering with offense behind us. I looked solemnly down at Callie. "I think you broke him. Don't get used to this. Making him shut up is a rare and wonderful thing, but it isn't something that can be planned, only obtained by chance."

    She cracked up at my serious delivery. When we finally got to the counter we were all in a much more relaxed mood, which I think was a good thing. Infiltrating any place I could think of would go smoother without having to deal with being all tense and suspicious. It's easier to stay unnoticed when you aren't drawing attention to yourself by being super twitchy and obvious about hiding something.

    As we had crossed the room I had to take the time to marvel at the decor. The walls were the same white marble as the rest of the building, but something about the dimensions of the room changed the feel when you looked at the material. From the outside, it was sacrosanct, like a temple, and the white stone was pristine and gave a feeling inviolability. Inside though, through some trick of the angles and furnishing, that same marble made the place seem welcoming, homey almost. Whoever the architect who designed this place was, he was demonstrably fantastic at his job.

    The woman at the desk was also...interesting. She was about five foot six or so, with close cropped black hair that was purple at the ends and black lipstick. Her nose and eyebrow were pieced and she was actually kind of cute in a girl next door way, though it was obvious she was working very hard to avoid that impression. She was reading a magazine, looking bored, when we made it to the counter, and we had to knock on the countertop to get her attention. When she finally looked up, it was with annoyance. "What?"

    I wondered why they would put someone with people skills like that on the counter, but that wasn't my business or my problem, so I just mentally shrugged it off. Cark, knowing this would mostly be up to him, stepped forward with an easy smile. "Hi there. I'm here to sign up for the Flame Riot Militia? I know you all usually do this in the other districts, but I thought I might be able to skip the line if I came down here myself." He shot her a wink, raising a hand to call a ball of blue flame into existence.

    The girl's bored expression melted into interest, though I couldn't tell if it was the bounty hunter's flirting or his ability that caught her eye. "Well then. That's a whole different issue. Pyro's are pretty rare. I can definitely get you a meeting with someone." She leaned forward, lowering her voice conspiratorially. "Most people probably couldn't, but I'm kind of a big deal around here." She held out a hand to him, which he took, kissing the back of her hand gallantly. "I'm Sage by the way."

    He gave her a dazzling smile, giving her his first name rather than his usual moniker, which I kind of understood, and I made a mental note to apologize to Benny for Callie and I flirting all the time. He was right, sitting here through this was annoying. I cleared my throat and Sage pulled her hand away, making sure to bump her scan ring against Cark's as she pulled free of his loosely gripping hand. She turned to us, her semi uncaring expression reasserting itself, though with a more polite cast. "Oh, sorry about that. We don't usually recruit here like he said, but really important people sometimes come down to sign up at this branch. Being able to get down here is kind of a test, not to mention being a pyro is a surefire way to get a meeting. If you guys take a seat I can call this up."

    We all nodded in relief, and I wondered if Callie had know about people being able to sign up in the branches here. I honestly hadn't even considered that they might not accept applications down here, but now that I thought question it I felt stupid for not wondering about that. Callie didn't seem worried or surprised at all though, so I guessed she had looked into that already. I was glad she was the one making the plans, because I clearly didn't have a head for all this political shit.

    While Sage left to set everything up, we all sat down in some of the chairs lining the walls. Made from rich, dark wood, the chairs lined each side of the entry hall, sitting on either side of the wide, plush carpet that led from the open double doors of the entryway to the desk we'd just come from. The chairs were a polished dark wood with white cushions that were surprisingly comfortable for how thin they were.

    We all sat comfortably, chatting as we waited, and the three of us teased Cark a bit about the girl's obvious interest, but he just grinned shamelessly and shrugged it off. I got the feeling he was used to it. The rest of the time we just chatted about what we'd seen so far, trying to avoid any sensitive topics. We were probably being watched, and none of us needed Callie to mention that we shouldn't talk about our business here where people might catch us.

    Finally though, Sage came back. She was escorting a small red haired man, with warm brown eyes and an easy smile. He was a literal foot shorter than me, but he wasn't making any effort at all to hide his Impact. Just from his presence, it was obvious we were dealing with an E ranker, and I only knew one of those in the Flame Riot Militia. He was considered the strongest person in the gang and their undisputed leader. I saw the others come to the same conclusion, and I wondered if he was planning to do something to us. Had we been figured out somehow? Was the other candidate here?

    Burning Fist, one of the hundred strongest people on the entire planet, grinned down at us pleasantly, not a sign of violence of unhappiness in his eyes as he completely ignored both Callie and I and focused on the relaxed form of Cark. "Well now, my daughter said we had a blue flame pyro on our doorstep looking to sign up. I haven't seen a new one of you in a dogs age." He stepped back, gesturing us all through a side door he had just come out of. "Please, come in, and bring your friends." I felt myself relax internally. Oh. He was just scouting Cark. Well damn, maybe this plan would work after all.
     
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  3. Threadmarks: chapter 182
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    We followed Burning Fist and Sage (who was apparently his daughter, and didn't that explain the poor reception) through the side door and down a long well appointed hallway. The hall was lined with small wooden tables, plants, paintings, and had a long thin carpet extending down the center of it, a plush dark red thing that bounced comfortably under out feet as we walked, though our feet left no marks on it.

    When we made it into the cozy office, Burning Fist dropped into the chair across from us casually while Sage stood to one side, standing much straighter than expected. The E ranker's brown eyes landed on Cark, and I felt the weight of his attention even sitting next to the bounty hunter. I wondered if letting his power out like this was some kind of dominance display or if he just didn't know how to suppress it. I wasn't sure how long he'd been an E ranker exactly. Still, I was getting used to it. E rank was only about fifty points of Impact higher than we were, so it wasn't unbearable, just noticeable.

    The gang boss snapped his fingers, and a floating tray appeared next to him, laden with steaming cups. He lifted one, closed his eyes, took a sip, and gave a contented sigh. Then he flicked his fingers, sending the tray floating over to us. "Coffee? There's cream and sugar in the dishes on the tray. Feel free to help yourselves. The beans are F ranked. Very rich flavor. One of my few indulgences." He took another slow sip, giving a hum of approval as his eyes drifted closed again, and Sage rolled her eyes behind her fathers back at the obvious show.

    I of course, took a cup. I used plenty of cream and sugar, as was my preference, but I was curious what F ranked coffee tasted like. I took a long sip, echoing the hum of approval. Cark took a cup too, and Callie did the same of course, given her love for all things culinary I knew she must be salivating over this. Benny decided to pass, he'd never been a big fan of coffee. Even with cream and sugar he didn't enjoy the bitterness, being more of a hot chocolate drinker. Luckily, the E ranker seemed not to care about us, so his refusal wasn't remarked on. I'd been worried it might offend for a second.

    Cark made a polite noise as he sipped the coffee, then paused and took a second sip, clearly enjoying the flavor. I didn't blame him. There was a depth and complexity to the beverage I'd never really experienced before, and the sweetness of the sugar only served to highlight the flavor. After a moment though, he focused on Burning Fist. "Mr. Fist." I had no clue how he said that with a straight face, but Sage burst into giggles behind her father, who turned to glare before rolling his eyes in an unknowing mirror of his daughter's earlier motion. Cark cleared his throat and continued. "I'm glad to get this meeting. I wasn't aware that being a blue flame pyrokinetic was that interesting."

    Burning Fist smiled pleasantly. "I prefer Edgar when I'm not on business. Or Burning Fist. My name does not lend itself to formality. As for your comment, it is quite interesting. As you know, Pyrokinetics are a rarity. Flamecallers in general are unusual. Some develop the power through synergy, but it tends to take several ranks to become viable, and those who take that route are rarely a success at developing their reputation in their early years when such things are most effective. Of the flamecallers, there are of course several variations. Might I see your ability for myself?"

    Cark didn't see any harm in it obviously, because he held a hand up calling the same orb of fire as earlier. The E ranker smiled at the flame. "Excellent. When dealing with flame callers there are several flavors. Some of us combine their fire ability with other elements, and this can produce unusual colors. In the context of a pure flame ability such as yours however, color is an indication of the intensity of the flame, and a natural predilection for blue flame is quite interesting. There are three other blue flame pyrokinetics in my organization, and each of them has been given priority as an asset."

    The bounty hunter looked a bit surprised. "I...didn't know it was that sought after. I've only met a few pyros besides me, for sure, and none of them had blue flames, but I just figured the ones I ran into were weak." I could tell he found this situation a bit confusing. Which was fair, finding out you secretly have a valuable ability everyone wanted was a weird sensation. I could kind of relate. He raised an eyebrow at the other man. "Does that mean you're a blue flame pyrokinetic?"

    The small man grinned and held up a hand, clenching his fingers into a fist that...well, it didn't catch fire, so much as it BECAME fire. Blue fire. I was impressed that not a single bit of heat leaked from his fist, the power tightly controlled as I stared into a flame so bright and captivating I felt like I was looking at a fist shaped blue dwarf star. "Of course. Blue flame is the hottest naturally occurring fire. Many people mistakenly believe it to be white, but that's a misnomer. Between the understanding of how powerful it is and its shocking appearance blue flame pyros are always worth investing in."

    I had actually thought white flame was the hottest myself, but I could see the reason for the interest. Blue flames were elite, and anything that came with that kind of cachet would help someone get stronger. Attention was the bread and butter of the Ascendant world. Pyros in general tended to be very attention grabbing, due to their explosive and visually appealing nature in combat and their high Might stat. I wondered for the first time if we might have made a mistake. Ruining such a good opportunity for Cark because we wanted to spy seemed wrong. This could be a really great place for him.

    Burning Fist raised an eyebrow. "Of course, once my daughter mentioned you I was able to dig up a bit of information on you. I don't watch the Unity Academy events mostly. They tend to promote internally, but it only took a moment to find out a bit more about you, and I even watched a few clips. I was impressed. However, it's easy enough to notice that your friends here are the same as your companions on the hunt, even without costumes." He finally turned to look at us. "So why are a couple of Unity seedlings trying to sign up for my organization exactly?" His voice wasn't exactly cold or unpleasant, but it was first. He wanted an answer, and the revenant help us if he didn't like what he heard.

    I froze. That...fuck. I hadn't even considered that. Now I felt like an absolute idiot. I'd known we were on the stream, and I assumed no E ranker would bother with entry level bullshit like that, but I hadn't connected that to when he started talking about how rare Cark's ability was. Callie hadn't expected it either it seemed, probably because someone this strong had no reason to be watching baby Unity members under normal circumstances. He caught us completely flat footed.

    Granted, I wasn't scared of him personally. His fist was terrifying, but I was protected from E rankers until I hit F still. There were plenty of F rankers however, who could and would crush us if needed. I didn't freak out though. Despite knowing we were Unity I'd never used my ability where anyone could see it during the hunt. Even if I had Zeke wouldn't have let them put something like that in the stream. With that said, he might know we were Unity, but he didn't know the real reason we were here.

    On the upside, the relationship between the Unity and the various gangs wasn't really as bad as it looked. Their interactions were closer to politics than enmity. Villains and gangsters needed heroes to stay relevant, and vice verse. If the Unity had wanted to stamp out crime in their territory, they had plenty of absolute monsters who could have swept this whole galaxy clean of any reasonably powerful Ascendant. But no one wanted that. In the same vein, Burning Fist had no real reason to kill us, provided he didn't decide we were spies.

    He was however, an E ranker. Which meant just lying to him was probably bound to fail. We all looked at Callie, deciding to let her take the reins here, which got an annoyed eye roll from my girlfriend at being put in the spot, though she was careful to aim it at us, not the insanely powerful gang boss with a hand made of rioting blue fire. When she was done with that she turned back to him and paused. I expected him to push, but Burning Fist seemed content to wait for his answer. Callie was free to think over her response.

    I grabbed her hand, squeezing it to let her know I supported whatever she decided to do. She could have danced around the truth, maybe managed to spin some half baked story he would believe, but in the end she just decided to be honest. Not entirely, but enough to tell him why we were here. "We're on a mission for the Academy. We were sent to find out more about a new group from Velan that have recently landed in Rajak. We're from there ourselves so we know them. They're currently trying to take over the Cavalcade in G district, and we need to know more about why. Since your organization is trying its best to take over that area."

    She left out any mention of wishmaster candidates or anything related to them, but she stuck to the facts and gave him plenty of information. I was impressed. So was he. Burning Fist turned his head to look at Sage. "See? That was the right call. You would have made me drag that out of you kicking and screaming. I told you Midknights daughter would make the smart decision." Callie stiffened a bit at the mention of her dad, but the E ranker waved a hand, letting his blue one return to normal. "Of course I know you. But don't worry. I hate that shadowy fuck. Honestly his precious heir being here just makes me smile. I can't wait to rub it in his face. Assuming you still feel like joining up?"

    Callie looked...torn. In the end though she shook her head. "We're down here for information really. Not to join a faction. Not yet. As much of an ass as my father is, the Unity has done a lot for me. I'm not ready to leave all my friends there behind." She squeezed my hand where it still held hers. "Since it seems like you don't have any bad intentions, what do we expect next? Do we just leave here empty handed?" In all honesty that was a better end than I expected. This whole thing had been a disaster so far.

    Burning Fist rolled his eyes. "No. You're missing the obvious point. I knew all this when I invited you back here. I haven't learned much new information, so clearly I have a reason to want to talk to you all." He turned to Cark. "I'm willing to give you all full access to any sources within the Flame Riot Militia. Or rather, I'm willing to let you take up a position that will give you that access. A G ranker with a blue flame pyro ability is a treasure for me. I did my homework. You're unaffiliated kid. So here's my offer. You want some info? Sign up with me. Join the Flame Riot Militia and your friends can learn anything they want." Well. I hadn't been expecting that.
     
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  4. Threadmarks: chapter 183
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    We didn't end up staying down there. Cark had things to think about, and as much as I would have liked to pressure him, I knew this decision was going to be extremely important to him. However, I was pretty sure of one thing. I was almost positive the Flame Riot Militia wasn't the faction backing the other candidate. Burning Fist and Sage had been far too interested in Cark. Blue flame pyros might be rare, but a wishmaster candidate at my level could turn some kid into one for them to raise.

    As an E ranker a decade or two would be nothing to Edgar. His eagerness to get his hands on Cark didn't make sense from that perspective. I mentioned that to Callie, and she nodded along, but she seemed distracted. We split up when we got home, and while Cark went to think things over I dragged Callie to my room. Sitting her down to check in with her. She'd been the one who got us through today, and she'd done a great job, so I could only really think of one thing that could be bothering her. "You're upset that Burning Fist complimented your dad over how you were raised."

    Her head snapped up, and I saw that she'd been so lost in her thoughts she hadn't even processed where we'd been going. When her eyes met mine though, they looked clouded and uncertain. "I...it's silly. It's just some E ranker. Who cares right? But how could he think that? How could he look at me and see someone that HE made. Do I remind him of my father? Do I come across like he does?" Her voice was raw, aching and afraid. I was shocked at how upset this had made her.

    I took her hands in mine. "Holy shit Cal, are you alright? What is this about?" This seemed like a much bigger reaction than what was warranted. Like, I understood her being upset about the comment, but this seemed like...more. Something bigger was going on here. I hadn't noticed any sort of issue with her lately really. She'd been a bit wrapped up in making sure the team functioned, but she didn't seem upset or depressed or anything.

    Her eyes welled up with tears as she stared at me. "I've been trying so hard Shane. So hard to not be anything like him. He's selfish and vindictive and only cares about power. I don't want to be like that. I want to be a good leader. I want to be a good friend. I want to treat the people I love like they matter to me. Have I not been doing well enough? Have I been selfish? What makes me so much like him?" She was openly sobbing now, big heaving gasps, and I was pretty much frozen solid.

    I...I'd missed this. I'd missed the whole thing. Missed how she was torn up being so close to him. Missed how she was ripping herself apart trying to be a perfect leader and even, I suspected, a perfect girlfriend, just so she could prove to herself she was different. I'd been so happy being with her I hadn't even considered the reasons why she was doing what she was doing. I was...kind of an asshole. I'd paid attention to Benny, to Jessie, to me, but I'd ignored the person who mattered most to me. I'd just written Callie's drive to improve off as some kind of counterpoint to my need to get stronger. I knew she wanted to prove herself in the future, but I'd ignored what that meant for right now.

    I leaned forward and kissed her. Softly, reassuringly, just to get her to breathe for a second. Her eyes drifted closed, and I pulled back, keeping my hand on her face. "You are not your father. You are nothing like him. You are smart, and funny, and brave, and caring, and a million other things I don't even have words for. Is this why you've been trying so hard? Been doing so much? To show all of us that you aren't like him? You know we don't see you that way right? You don't have to prove anything to us."

    She gave a shuddering sob. "But I...I came here. I was never going to come here. I was never going to do what he wanted me to do. I played right into his hands. This is all his idea, it's all what he wanted. I'm the daughter he always wanted me to be. Making waves, spreading my name, and people hear it and they think of him. I'm doing exactly what he wants." She gritted her teeth, eyes flashing. "I hate him! I hate him so fucking much! He's awful and selfish and ruthless and I don't want to be anything like him!"

    I kissed her again, if only to break her train of thought, and then I pulled back. "Hey. You are NOT like him. You came here for us, you came here for ME. And I love you for that. But you're allowed to want things. You're allowed to have whims and throw fits and make things about you sometimes. You don't have to be perfect and level headed constantly. The world is not divided up into perfect people and your dad. Wanting things for yourself, or not bending over backwards for people will not make you like him."

    She looked embarrassed. "I was that obvious huh? I just...I wanted to do all the things he never did right. I wanted to be a good person in spite of him. Is that so wrong? Wanting to be myself? Wanting to define who I am on my own terms? I get that I was kind of trying to live up to an ideal, but isn't that what cultivation is? Becoming an ideal? Becoming the people we could never be as mortals?" Her voice was vulnerable and a little lost, like she was looking to me for answers, like she wanted me to tell her she was making the right call.

    Sadly I couldn't do that. I stared into her big shining blue eyes and smiled sadly. "Of course it's not wrong Callie. But did you forget what Zeke said? We lose so much of our humanity as we ascend. We have to guard what we can. Besides, your idea of what you want to be isn't recursion. You can force yourself to act like something, but that doesn't make it true. You aren't perfect. I'm GLAD you aren't perfect. Perfect people are boring. But you're going to lose those things that make you human over the years as it is. Don't be in such a hurry to give it up early."

    I didn't tell her I was afraid it would work. That she would pretend so hard people would believe it and that I would lose the person she was. I didn't want to see her become some sort of ideal. I loved the person she was, flaws and all. She looked a bit shocked at that concept. That she might be hurting herself, hurting the people who loved her. She bit her lip. "I...I can't just...not feel this way. But I can try. I can do my best to make sure that I don't get lost in not being him. I might need a little help though. Think you can give me a hand?" She gave me a hopeful, if shaky, smile.

    I grinned at her. "Are you asking me to help you be more selfish? I can't decide if that's ironic or really on the nose. But sure, I'll do what I can. First step, you aren't allowed to do anything productive until we hear back from Cark. I'm going to cook you anything you want to eat, and you better ask for something complicated or annoying to make." I pointed at her accusingly. "And don't you think about skipping dessert."

    My nonsense succeeded in eliciting a series of giggles from Callie as she buried her face in my chest, and I grinned to myself at having accomplished my goal. I'd wanted her to smile more than anything. This kind of problem wasn't something I could just wave away or talk her out of. She was hurting, and I could distract her, but actually helping was another matter entirely. It would take real time and communication to help get her past feeling like she constantly needed to justify herself in spite of her dad.

    I wasn't an expert on relationships, Callie was really my first. All I could really do was my best, and my only idea how to handle this was to be there for her when she needed me, and to try to keep her mind off her dad whenever possible. It was probably a less optimal solution than someone with more an idea what they were doing could come up with, but it was what I would need in her shoes, and if she needed something else I had to trust she would let me know. I just had to actually listen this time, instead of ignoring her unhappiness like I had before.

    She stared at me for a bit, a strange, silly smile on her face. "I'm glad I met you Shane. I feel...different around you. Like I'm just me. I'm pretty sure that you literally don't care about my dad at all besides being annoyed he makes me unhappy. Your point of view is so weirdly different than anyone else, I think you're really the only person I can really trust sees me for who I am." She leaned in for another kiss, this one much less soft and much longer. When she pulled back she was gasping. "Plus, you're really good at that. Not sure if I ever mentioned."

    I shot her a cocky grin. "You didn't, but I picked up your approval from context clues." She rolled her eyes and tackled me, knocking me over to the bed. She laid her head on my chest, ear against my heart. I leaned down to kiss the top of her head. I was trying to figure out what to say. I didn't want to bring up work or Ascendant nonsense when we were trying to get her to separate herself from that kind of thing. Finally I settled on a topic that was much more personal. "So, did you get in touch with your mom yet? To tell her we were coming?"

    She nodded against me, her voice a bit muffled as she spoke. "Yeah, she's really excited. I didn't give her an exact time table but she's been wanting to meet you. I think she's more excited to see you than she is me honestly. I think her squeal about ruptured my ear drums when I told her I was bringing you. I've never brought a boy home before." I felt an irrational surge of pride and satisfaction at that, but I was smart enough not to say anything to that effect out loud.

    I decided to mention an idea I had to her. It was something I'd been thinking about for a while, but I figured it would be a good time. "Did you know I can awaken an Ascendant ability in a mortal? If they wish for it. I did that for Benny. I wasn't sure if I told you. I don't really want to make a habit of it because pretty much nothing would give away what I am faster, but if, say a specific mortal was interested in a point of Impact to put them on the path to a longer life I could do that." Her head snapped up, and she stared at me in wide eyed astonishment.

    I kept talking, not wanting to lose my train of thought in case I screwed things up. "Of course, if someone was going to wish for that I couldn't tell them to do it. That would be too close to manipulating value. But if, say, someone told a relative to ask me about something like that because they heard about it, that's no direct benefit to me. So I think it would be fine." Callie gaped at me for about a full minute before she tackled me again, smashing her mouth into mine. This time she didn't come back up for air. But I wasn't complaining. I HAD just told her to do things because she wanted to.
     
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  5. Threadmarks: chapter 184
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Callie and I spent the next few days together just relaxing. We went out to dinner, went out for walks, spent time with Cass, watched movies, and just generally enjoyed each other's company. I granted the fifteen wishes from the three days we spent off to Callie, the one thing we did related to cultivation. She traded thirty points of Creation for thirty points of Might, bringing my own Creation up to eighty two and beginning to balance my stats a bit. Finally though, Cark got back to us, and told us his decision.

    We hadn't seen the bounty hunter around lately, and I'd expected that it was just because we were in our own little world, but it turned out that wasn't the case, since when he finally did track us down, Cass, who had been sitting on the couch watching TV with us, glared at her brother. "Oh, you came home huh? Did you remember you have a sister finally? Or did your new girlfriend get sick of your stupid face." She stuck out her tongue at him, and I raised an eyebrow, not sure why she was being so combative.

    Cark rolled his eyes and reached into a pocket, pulling out a candy bar. "I bought you your candy you little harpy. I told you I'd get it for you. I wasn't going to just take your money and then never bring it back you know." Cass sneered at him for a second, but her pout finally gave way to a greedy squeal as she bolted over and grabbed the chocolate bar. I wasn't sure what was so special about it, but the little girl was nuzzling the candy like it was the worlds fluffiest puppy. He turned to us. "You guys willing to take a trip with me? I have some things I think I can help with."

    I glanced at Callie, who sighed and nodded. Our mini vacation was over it seemed. We both got up and followed Cark out to the car, which he climbed into (and drove because I didn't have a license and Callie wasn't allowed behind the wheel of anything regardless of how happy I was trying to make her) and started up, pulling out and heading for the station. When we got there he led us to the elevator that went down to G district, and we followed him on in confusion. It wasn't until we started our descent that he began to speak.

    He looked around first, checking to make sure no one was listening, before he leaned in and spoke softly. "Ok. I did, in fact, join the Flame Riot Militia. Part of it was the pay. I have to support Cass now, and they're basically throwing piles of money at me, part of it is Sage, because that girl is HOT, and part of it was to help you out, but that's the smallest part so don't get all sappy and grateful on me. Still, once I joined up, I got access to information. Information that other people don't have."

    He lowered his voice further as he continued, his speech so quiet even whispering was too strong a word for it. He might as well have been breathing the words. "Someone is trying to take G district, and it ISN'T the Militia. In fact, the Militia have been under attack just like Cavalcade. Ever since Aiden vanished there's been a power vacuum. The Militia was planning to fill it, but someone moved in first, almost instantly, and started occupying all his territory. That's where we're going now. As one of the Blue Flame Barons, I'm pretty high up in the organization despite being so low ranked. I can have them tell us what they know in person."

    Callie swallowed hard. I knew from the very few conversations we'd had regarding this that she felt bad Cark had to sell himself up the river to help us. Finding out he was making obscene amounts of money and had a pretty girl throwing herself at him probably helped the guilt, but I was sure she still felt bad about it. I reached down and squeezed her knee before saying loudly. "Thank you Cark. We know this was your own decision and had very little to do with us, but we appreciate any help."

    That got a soft smile from my girlfriend, who was clear on the fact that I was trying to make her feel better. She turned to him and nodded, tension bleeding from her shoulders as she took my words to heart, or so I hoped. "Yes, thanks Tony. So these guys will talk to us, I can believe that. But will they actually be able to tell us anything? Do the Militia have any idea who it might be? Which E ranker or faction is backing the people trying to take the district from them? Because that seems important."

    He grimaced. "No. Sage says her old man is furious. He's had people looking at all his normal enemies. Raf Savage has most of his forces in F district trying to take an auction house from the Lunar Legend Boys, the Moravian has never really worked with a faction, mostly preferring to do things himself, and apparently someone turned Duncan the Liar into a fish last week and he hasn't managed to undo it yet. No one is sure who it was that did it, but to be fair, from what I'm told literally everyone hates Duncan, so no one really cares that much either."

    I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion and shock and he grinned. "Sage likes to vent about problems with the organization. Since we were looking for information I figured it would be good to listen. She seemed very pleased that I paid attention to what she was talking about. Needless to say, I'm going to be a boss in this crew, so I took the chance to ask about our enemies too, and she was happy to fill me in. I learned A LOT about local politics over the last few days, even before I accepted their offer."

    That got a snort from Callie, though what she was snorting about, be it his own amusement at Sage's information, or his willingness to listen for brownie points, I couldn't say. Still, I personally wanted to hear more about these other E rankers, considering they could easily be our mysterious candidate's allies. "Can you tell us anything about the people you mentioned? I know you said it wasn't necessarily them involved in the attacks, but the more we know about local politics the better."

    Besides that, it was interesting to hear about all these powerful Ascendants. He clearly thought so too, because his face lit up as he started to share. "Of course. I'd heard of a few of them before. Most E rankers are famous enough that you've at least heard the name at one time or another. Moravian in particular is one of the more prominent E rankers. He doesn't work with a faction, but he's dangerous enough on his own. He has an absurd number of Skills for someone his rank because he's, and I mean this literally. The oldest E ranker on the planet at over three thousand years old."

    My eyes bugged out at that. "How the hell is he not a D ranker yet? The amount of renown he must have gathered...also how old does he look physically?" At E rank a person had sixty two Impact (barring one of those rare encounters that boosted it further). Three thousand years would be about fifty years for an E ranker, biologically speaking. Even with Vitality to combat some of the degradation, I imagined he didn't exactly look young. I hadn't seen any powerful Ascendants who looked old yet. The closest was Abner, who was the same rank as I was.

    Cark shrugged. "I asked that too. Sage says that this planet doesn't have enough of a population to support a D ranker. Not just because of the mortals, but because renown is exponentially weighted. It's why D rank and C rank planets exist. Their creation helps elevate more powerful Ascendants. The galaxies and star systems are feeder setups for the higher ranking planets that the major factions use for that purpose. I'm not sure if that's true, or just her personal opinion, but it did make sense to me. In any case, I'm told he looks like a fit fifty, though his hair is white."

    That...put a lot of things about the way the world worked into perspective actually. I knew how much bigger than a normal planet a D ranked planet was, and I'd always wondered why they bothered. If cultivation was exponentially weighted though, with Ascendants being worth more (a fact that was somewhat implied by Impact making us literally weightier in terms of reality) then creating so many smaller planets to feed into the higher ranked ones made much more sense. The existence of higher ranked planets would probably be almost a necessity to reach pretty much any rank past E.

    Cark focused back on his information though. "Anyway, Moravian is pretty insular. He and Burning Fist have some serious issues between them, but he isn't involved in faction politics much. If he was going to attack the Militia he would do it personally. Raf Savage is a Berserker, his ability multiples his effective Might in combat. Simple but effective. Unfortunately it also turns him into a rampaging lunatic, so he doesn't use it much. Dangerous having a crazy powerful rage machine going off in the city."

    That one made me whistle. A power that multiplied a stat was insanely broken. Granted it didn't make the person actually tougher or better at healing, but within the same rank fighting someone like that would be hellish. "What about the last one? You mentioned some guy everyone hates?" I wasn't sure why anyone would call themselves Duncan the Liar, but it definitely didn't engender trust. Still, if everyone actively hated him I imagined there was a reason.

    The elevator stopped, and we got off, following Cark down a random street in a direction he apparently knew we were supposed to go. I looked at Callie as we got off and she just shrugged, so I followed suit. Cark filled us in as we walked. "Duncan the Liar is an illusionist, and as his name implies, a compulsive liar. Sage is pretty sure his personality has been heavily warped by recursion, because he lies consistently to everyone. Some of the weaker willed Ascendants get like that, after a while, though those don't usually make it to E rank. Duncan is just slippery enough to stay alive though."

    That made sense. I'd been wondering where all the warped Ascendants who had been changed more heavily by cultivation were. Callie had mentioned people like that, but I hadn't heard of any. Still, I'd rather stay away from any of the crazies if possible. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of walking, we came to a small run down bar called 'The Rowdy Badger'. The sign above the door had a picture of an anthropomorphic badger in a leather vest with an eye patch snarling at the world, and it made me smile.

    What did NOT make me smile, was five seconds after we arrived when a leather clad thug came sailing out of the bar through the wall. We all looked at each other and sprinted f0r the door. We busted it open, slipping inside to see a trio of Jerks standing in the middle of a room full of thugs. The biggest was easily noticeable for his fuschia mohawk and massive size. Ronnie the Beef grinned around the room, a wild look on his rough looking face. "Alright! Who's ready for a BEEF PARTY?" I sighed internally as I heard his words and started getting ready for a fight. I'd known I would have to deal with this nonsense with the Jerks in town. This was why we couldn't have nice things.
     
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  6. Threadmarks: chapter 185
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Ronnie the Beef was actually kind of fucking intimidating. The other two G rankers I didn't recognize, not that I would have, but they might have been new for all I knew. Ronnie though, was familiar, and despite the absolute absurdity of screaming about beef parties, he was pretty obviously a dangerous fucking guy. I felt Cark and Callie shift into a defensive position beside me, getting ready to join in, and I was glad we'd decided to throw on our costumes in the car on the way over. I spun my cane unconsciously between my fingers as I analyzed the situation, readying myself to fight.

    Despite both of us being more used to Callie running the show, we stayed back though. Ronnie would almost definitely recognize us obviously, but that didn't matter. This was Flame Riot Militia business, and that meant Cark was running the show here. He needed to show his new underlings he could get their back, which meant leaving Ronnie to him. The fact that he was easily the physically strongest of us didn't hurt either. Ronnie was might heavy from what I knew, and he'd been a G ranker for while if I remembered right.

    I saw Ronnie notice us, and his eyes immediately fixed on Callie, which I didn't like at all. While I had a bit of a reputation back home after taking down Stricture, and I was sure the Jerks at least knew me if Carl was as annoying about the whole rival thing as he was about everything else when I met him, Callie was in another league. My girlfriend was Nightstrike, one of the most renowned and adored Ascendants in all of Velan, and there was no possible way Ronnie wouldn't recognize her even if he didn't know her personally, which I was pretty sure he did.

    Luckily Cark was having exactly none of his shit, and bounty hunter immediately brought out his staff, creating a melon sized orb of blue flame on the tip of the thing and letting it rotate in place threateningly as he glared at Ronnie. "So, I came down here to check up on my new charges, and I see one flying through the wall of this place? Was that you?" He tossed the ball of flames up lazily, keeping it spinning and started bouncing it off the staff in a way that made my head hurt because fire shouldn't behave like that.

    As he did he kept his eyes glued to Ronnie, his voice remaining bored despite his eyes being narrowed in irritation. "Because as the only G ranked Blue Flame Baron it doesn't look great for me if some hulked out nutcase with ridiculous hair starts slapping around my boys." There was a loud clearing of a throat and we all looked around to see a small red haired woman in a leather vest glaring at him from under a shaggy pixie cut. Cark flushed. "My PEOPLE. Sorry." She gave an imperious nod, and a few of the other Militia members snickered.

    I noticed that despite the laughter though, once they saw the blue flames the Militia members seemed to be relaxing. Knowing one of their heavy hitters was here was clearly making them much calmer. I wasn't sure what Blue Flame Barons could actually do, but clearly they had seen some of them do it and had plenty of confidence in their ability to kick ass. Though it actually surprised me they needed the morale boost. I scanned the room, and realized I'd overestimated how powerful this group was by a large margin.

    There was about twenty people here, but only two of them were G rankers. The red haired woman and a tall man with purple hair that went down to his shoulders. I was pretty sure the guy who went through the door was G ranked too, but the rest of these people being lower made me think the bastards had picked their timing pretty well here. I knew the Flame Riot Militia had to have more G rankers than this in the district in order to compete with Aiden, but they couldn't all be everywhere all the time.

    Cark was thinking the same thing apparently, because he looked around with a scowl. "You shouldn't have been able to find this many of our people together without any executives. I'm guessing you got a tip from someone?" Ronnie just grinned unpleasantly. Which was all the answer we needed. Whoever was making moves was very well informed. Cark waved it off. "Doesn't matter. You guys fucked up not bringing more people. Solomon, Nightstrike, I'll leave his lackeys to you. I'm going to teach this overgrown baboon a lesson."

    Ronnie just sneered. "Oh look, another one thinks he's king shit because he's tougher than a few nobodies down here. I'm an old hand at this boy, I got moves. But sure, if you want I should knock you around in front of your lickspittles I'm game." He leered at Callie. "But you should know I have some staying power. Just ask Nightstrike, I can go as long as you want."

    Callie sneered at him. "Being proud of how long I could kick your ass is about as pathetic as I would expect from you Ronnie. The implication that I would ever sleep with you makes me physically ill by the way, not that it takes much when I can smell the reek of that overpriced muck you use to keep your mohawk up from all the way over here. You have exactly fifteen seconds to get out of here before my friend kicks your ass up and down this grungy bar. That's the kinder option by the way, because if you make me do it myself I'm going to stomp your teeth in and wear your face like a shoe."

    We all stared at her in horrified shock. My voice was slightly strangled as I spoke. "Well, that was...direct. I don't think I've ever heard you that vicious when talking to anyone." Several other people looked just as confused as I was, though they had less context for the change in behavior,. Cark mostly just grinned at the big fuchsia haired thug, whose face was coming close to matching his mohawk. I shook off my slight awe at the tongue lashing. "I take it you have issues with him then?"

    The sneer got more pronounced. "Ronnie and I have fought several times. He's Mr. Jack-tastic's enforcer. Most of the
    Jerks are just idiots or bullies, but Ronnie is a real sadist. He enjoys hurting people, and he likes to think he's good at it, despite only actually inflicting that pain on people he knows he can beat." I could hear genuine venom in her voice as she snarled that. Normally when I heard about villains or gangsters it was a professional dislike, but clearly Ronnie was someone she actively loathed.

    Cark walked towards the big man, grin still in place, bouncing that ball of flame. Every time it made contact with the staff I saw it flash, and I realized he was condensing a new layer of flame from the air around it and compacting the fire into a hotter and hotter sphere. I wondered if he'd gotten a few pointers from Burning Fist, or if this was just a trick I hadn't really seen him use before, but either way it was pretty damned impressive to watch. Ronnie eyed it casually but without any real fear as Cark approached him.

    I knew Cark though, I'd seen my friend fight. He could throw hands with the best of them, but he wasn't stupid or cocky. He could and often did fight smart. As he came within a few feet he shifted his grip on the staff and smashed the sphere of fire toward Ronnie's head. As the bright orb filled the other man's vision however the staff swept back around and a concentrated swathe of flame was released at Ronnie's feet, or rather, at the ground beneath them.

    The big fuchsia haired thug grinned as he took in the attacks. Without any delay he brought both hands together in a hard clap in front of him, about chest level. When the hands made contact there was a kind of...change. The sound of the clap was amplified into a sonic shockwave that ripped the air in front of him apart, dispersing both the orb and the flame wave, though most of his effort had been aimed at the former. A few tongues of flame landed on his pants and boots, searing them and eating holes in the material before he smacked them out, cursing at Cark.

    My friend wasn't particularly pleased though. Despite the sneak attack he hadn't managed to injure Ronnie aside from a bit of clothing damage. It was nice that the big asshole wasn't smirking anymore, but now he just looked annoyed rather than worried. I had known Ronnie had a sonic power from what Callie had told me, but I hadn't realized how effective it was. Neither, apparently, had Cark.

    Cark was starting to get a little wary of the bigger man, and I didn't blame him, but Ronnie was looking more serious than he had been a minute ago. The other Militia members weren't exactly jumping for joy anymore, but they were still cautiously optimistic. Cark kept his eyes on that other man. "So, Nightstrike, why don't you tell me more about this guy. I remember you mentioning he had some kind of sound power, but that attack was...weird. I haven't really seen anything like that."

    Ronnie turned to glare at her. "You interfering little bitch, if you say a word I'll-" His incredibly unwise threat was cut off by a high pitched shriek as he hurled himself backwards, barely avoiding a spike of shadow that had speared up from under him right at his junk. I could tell he realized he'd lost some of his momentum from the action, but rather than glare at Callie his face just looked kind of green at what had almost happened to him,. I grinned behind my mask. Good.

    Callie, meanwhile, acted like nothing at all had been said, her face placid and bored as she turned to answer Cark. "I'm not sure what it is now, but the last recorded variation of his ability was called Warcry. There are still a few people at the guild in Velan who remember Ronnie's intake interview. After our first fight I looked into it. It lets him amplify and shape sound waves. Basically he uses his Might to crank the volume and his ability to control them. Careful if you get close, his shouts can burst ear drums, and he likes to mess up people's equilibrium and then smack them around."

    Ronnie was practically seething, but his face was still confident. "So what? Your little slut tells you my tricks and you think you can take me? I'm not the same fighter I was before. I've gotten stronger than you can imagine." He grinned maliciously, clearly thinking of however many points he managed to beg off the other candidate, but I'd had just about enough of this asshole. He'd been shit talking Callie and being a general bastard since he showed up, and I was going to make sure he suffered.

    I stepped forward next to Cark and put my hand on the staff. I was smiling genially at Ronnie, but he couldn't see it through my mask. Pity for him. "Hi. My name is Solomon, and that's my girlfriend you've been talking shit about. I don't care how strong you are, or who you work for, or what you're doing here. I've decided I don't like you, so you're about to have a bad fucking day." I kept my voice even and controlled and I flexed my DS Mastery skill, reaching down into the staff with it. Touch of Tears, Consecration of Flame.

    The length of the staff crackled as it became imbued with toxic green fire. I think Cark was confused as to how he could still hold it, but he was the items wielder, so it wouldn't hurt him. It had been a small strain to change the designated owner like that, but doable. He called up a small orb of fire at the end of the staff and when it appeared it was...different. Sort of a teal color and crackling with acidic lethality. I smacked him on the shoulder. "Well that should do it, enjoy." Then I turned to walk back over to Callie. This should be a fun show.
     
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  7. TheArgentOne

    TheArgentOne Know what you're doing yet?

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    See, stuff like what he just did to Cark's staff makes me wonder why his teammates haven't tried wishing for equipment yet. He might be able to learn enchanting from doing it manually but it would save them all time and energy if they had a quick round of equipment updates via his wish power and had him use his enchantment skills for jobs. Even if he doesn't or they can't just wish for enchanted gear they can always use it to wish for materials for their own crafting. To get around his limitation on benefiting from his wishes why don't they try just putting together a list of items they'll need that could be useful for anyone and just have him slowly wish in a stockpile? This way they don't have to buy materials, they can just wish for them using the same money they'd have bought for them, cutting out the middleman entirely.
     
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  8. Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Mostly cost. Permanent equipment costs a huge amount. Aside from the actual enchantments the Creation cost is prohibitive. Most of the permanent gear he's granted wishes for is REALLY simple and small time stuff.
     
  9. TheArgentOne

    TheArgentOne Know what you're doing yet?

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    Well of course yeah. Materials on the other hand should cost less in theory, would it not? They don't need them to be crazy high quality, they just need them to be decent so they can make decent gear.

    Rather than creating enchanted gear wholesale, he could make materials, which while costly can be combined with other materials to make something greater than the sum of its parts right?
     
  10. Threadmarks: chapter 186
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Ronnie wasn't really prepared for Cark going all out. My friend had previously been holding back a bit because he was feeling out his opponent, but he wasn't fucking around when he made his second attack. Rather than anything small and contained like an orb or some kind of spray, the next attack was a fucking TORRENT of aqua flame that hissed as it ate at even the air around it.

    I'd never considered the synergy between my poison fire and something like the staff before, but as a flame calling focus it was apparently perfect for this. Aside from the poison, the fire aspect from Consecration of Flames augmented the already boosted power of the fire Cark was outputting, and he was taking full advantage, sculpting the wave of toxic blue flame into the shape of a coiling serpent that roared toward the other man, mouth agape in a roar of challenge.

    A roar that Ronnie met head on with one of his own. Despite being clearly intimidated the big thug didn't let his confidence waver, he planted his feet, opened his mouth, and unleashed an augmented bellow of force that tore up the ground in front of him as it raced toward the other fighter. The blast hit the head of the snake and ripped it apart, exploding the flame construct into a shower of disparate flames.

    Without a second of hesitation Cark whirled the staff, gathering the dissipating snake into another construct, a leopard this time, and flicked the staff up, ordering the animal to bounce off the ceiling to get a better angle. Ronnie snarled, using that guttural sound like a thunder clap to disperse the leopard. Cark kept the battle going, flicking his staff again and separating the cascade of falling fire into a dozen smaller shapes.

    With a second flick he set the now fluttering forms of a series of falcons whirling in a circle over Ronnie before ordering them all to dive bomb the big man. The fuchsia haired loudmouth threw back his head and roared, managing to blast away MOST of the falcons, but one of them got through, smashing into a shoulder before he had a chance to react to the flame beast, and sinking into him like a rock into a pool of deep water. Ronnie roared with anger and pain as the bird slipped under his skin, clawing at his own chest and arm to get it out.

    The enhanced poison fire was much more effective than I had expected, submerging under the skin and causing a burning swathe of toxic flesh to permeated out under his clawing hand. Sadly, G rankers who weren't mindless slaves or random students were a tougher nut to crack than the ones we had fought so far. He reached into a pocket of his too tight pants and fished out a clear sphere that I was pretty sure was a pill. He tossed it back, leaving his head lolled for a second before spitting it back into his hand with a glare at Cark.

    When the pill came out of his mouth, the poison fire was siphoned out of his flesh and into the sphere. The now blue green pill sat glowing on his palm, and he shoved it into a pocket before spitting to one side in disgust. "Ok, this was fun to start, but you're getting annoying. That actually hurt, and that pill cost me a fuck ton of money. No more playing around you jumped up little pansy." Ronnie set his feet shoulder width apart at those words and took up a boxing stance as he faced Cark.

    Without another word he started firing off punches. One, two, a steady rapid fire tempo that picked up speed as he went. As he moved faster I could hear the noise of the punches begin to mount, and the air and dust around him started to stir. Cark got what was happening too because he shot another blast of poison fire. Nothing fancy, just an attempt to get him off his game before he could get himself moving at a pace that would be dangerous for the big bounty hunter or the rest of us around him.

    It didn't work. The next jab snapped back with a crack, and the burst of force dispersed the flames before Ronnie slipped back into his tempo, resuming his speed up as the force blasts started cracking and warping the air. Ronnie unleashed a flurry of punches, each one displacing the air around him like a thunder clap, and increasing in power with every blow. The bursts of sonic damage were much more focused than I'd expected, and while Cark managed to duck and dodge some of them, it quickly became clear that continuing to do so wasn't an option.

    In order to combat the ranged carpet bombing the boxer was laying out, Cark was forced to use consistent bursts of flame to disperse the sonic blasts. Rather than just pure fire, he seemed to be letting loose miniature explosions, short sharp expanding snaps of fire that displaced the air when they were released, nullifying the force. He was able to nearly intercept and blast apart every single burst of sound, seeming unconcerned with Jerk trying to pun holes in him like a cheap piece of paper. The sight of his staff whirling to and fro was mesmerizing.

    Despite the apparent ease though, I could see that this wasn't going well. It took effort and concentration to form those bursts, more than it took to slap a bit of power into a punching noise, even if you had to shape it. At least, that was the impression I got based on the slight sheen of sweat on Cark and the triumphant grin growing on Ronnie's face. This was not an even match, even with my help. I wasn't sure how strong Ronnie was after getting help from the other candidate, but my guess was pretty close to F rank, and almost all of it was in Might.

    So I did what any reasonable person would do in this situation. I cheated, as subtly as possible. I triggered Sucking Mud on the floor, making sure not to draw attention to it. I could tell Ronnie had noticed, obviously, but at the speed they were moving any interruption in the barrage of sonic blasts would be an opening that Cark could exploit, and Ronnie couldn't afford that. I saw the big man try to shift his feet a few times, but they were minor shifts, because anything else would compromise his footing and he would have lost his rhythm.

    On top of that I don't think he knew what was happening here. I suspect the softening of the ground under him was mostly attributed to all the heat being thrown around. By the time he sunk down enough to realize it was more than that, he'd have had to tear his feet loose to get them free, and Cark was hammering out explosions at him so fast that he was actively having to work at deflecting them now.

    Once my friend caught sight of what was happening he not only blitzed out more attacks to keep his enemy going, he even overwhelmed the other's pace and stole the tempo of the battle for him. Because there was an end in sight for this fight, he didn't try to conserve power of go for the long game, he just put it all on the line to overwhelm his foe, and it appeared to be working. Within a few minutes Ronnie was shin deep in the floor, and his face was starting to look panicked. Cark was pale and sweating, but he didn't seem to care much, happy to pour on the heat until it was over.

    As they fought, several bursts of flame had made it through, and Ronnie's body was slowly being overcome with poison flame. He didn't have the time or space to get out another pill like the last one, so all he could do was slowly be worn down unless he wanted to take one of those blasts somewhere really dangerous. I turned to Callie as we watched. "So, what are we going to do when Cark takes him down? Do we need to step in? I don't really know the protocol here for Unity members."

    Callie shook her head. "This is WCP territory, and he actively came here looking for a fight. As long as they don't actually kill him right in front of us I say we let them take him. He's a sadist and a bastard, and this is gang business outside of our territory. If he was someone we liked we might be able to push for his release given all the players here that we know and can call in favors from, but honestly I wouldn't bother. This is his mess, he can get himself out of it." Her voice was cold and detached, almost clinical as she gave me her read on the situation.

    I reached over to squeeze her hand. I could tell she wasn't entirely comfortable with the solution, but that she knew he would cause more problems and probably harm us later. This wasn't the sleepers, where we needed to try our best to spare them because they were unwilling pawns. Ronnie was a violent bully who would actively target out friends and loved ones, and was getting close to strong enough that he would be a real problem for us soon. Letting the Militia have him was the smart call. They would almost definitely interrogate him, but the other candidate was almost certainly smart enough to have a geas to protect her secrets. He wouldn't answer, and he would probably die.

    Surprisingly, I didn't actually have a problem with that. I expected to feel upset or disgusted, but somewhere along the lines us versus them had become the norm. Ronnie had expressed a vested interest in harming people I cared about, and while I don't know if I could have brought myself to kill him in cold blood, no matter how angry he made me, I was shockingly alright with letting him reap the consequences of his own actions. I wondered if this was recursion as well, or if I'd always been the type of person willing to put morality aside to protect my loved ones. It was getting hard to tell where I ended and Solomon began these days.

    As the poison fire began to take more and more effect, Ronnie's movements became jerkier and less forceful, and his shaping of his sonic waves became less cohesive. Rather than bursts of force they started to resemble waves of concussive damage, a less and less effective counter to the explosive bursts of poison fire. As he gained the advantage Cark began to close in, and Ronnie became both more frantic and more agitated as he did so, trying desperately to avoid letting the clearly powerful G ranker get within touching distance.

    I wasn't sure what Ronnie was afraid of, but he was able to wring out the last little bit of strength in his body to put out a full on assault of sound that stalled Cark at a few feet out, and our friend wasn't able to close the distance. Finally, the bounty hunter stopped where he was, and Ronnie let his fists drop. He gave a vicious snarl. "I won't let you get in close. You won't be able to finish this without coming closer to me, especially if you let me take another antidote pill. You aren't as strong as me. Not to mention I'm a bit woozy." He gave a vicious grin. "What if my next attack hits one of your H rankers?"

    Cark looked at him hard, he sighed disconsolately and let the staff fall to his side, hanging his head in shame. "Fine. Take your pill." Ronnie laughed unpleasantly, reaching down into his pants to get the pill, and as he did he glanced down for a split second. With absolutely no hesitation Cark hauled back and smashed the stick into the big mans head. Ronnie's eyes widened, but the poison flooding his brain didn't give him a chance to react as Cark bashed him over the skull with the elemental focus over and over again. He looked pretty unwilling as he finally passed out, and I could understand why. That staff was a ranged weapon, it shouldn't have been a viable bludgeon. I really loved my skills sometimes.
     
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  11. Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    You could consider Ascendant materials as physical manifestations of lump sums of stats. They have attributes and inclinations depending on their nature and legend, but they're basically slightly different variations of lumps of raw stats. Conjuring them is pretty expensive, especially past a certain point. Wishing for materials you have to be forged into something is a bit less pricy for sure, but even that takes a lot of energy.
     
  12. dxdragon

    dxdragon Experienced.

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    So, is there any way to consolidate some of Solomon's skills without changing his ability (Wish)?

    Like, he has so many miscellaneous skills that could probably easily be merged into 1.

    Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery

    Just make that a Lesser Music Mastery.

    And what about his idea of getting memories of people's skills and stacking them up to get Lesser? He could be making contracts to rank up his skills to be more useful.

    Also surprised that at no point the MC didn't get the Minor Woodcraft skill to go along with his "expected" ability to manipulate wood.
    He could even merge Woodcraft and Music to "Sing" to the Trees just like Elves do, and shape them into what he wants to craft. Maybe he could do the same with Inventing? "Sing" with the same Harmonic Frequency Inventing uses to create stellar inventions?
     
  13. Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    You can synergize Skills with each other to make custom Skills yes, but it makes them infinitely harder to rank them up. Since custom Skills are kind of a personal thing it would mean even wishing for them to get stronger (if he could make wishes for himself which he can't) wouldn't even be an option. He's been focusing hard on DS Mastery in recent chapters, and more custom Skills (which DS Mastery is at this point) would just slow him down. He'll get to doing more with them later, but he's just had other stuff to do lately.
     
  14. Threadmarks: chapter 187
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Seeing Ronnie laid out because of skills was immensely satisfying. Much like everyone else, the big man had massively underestimated what my enhancements could do. While they did provide a boost to the channeled fire, the main point of both skills was to enhance the melee capabilities of the weapon. The stick was G rank anyway, so it probably wouldn't have broken in one shot, but it definitely wouldn't have survived repeated use as a bludgeon. As it was though, the think nearly caved in his stupid fuchsia covered skull.

    After he finally passed out there was a loud wave of applause. Every Militia member in the bar was whooping and cheering. The other two Jerks hadn't made a move, but given that it was now four G rankers to two, I was figuring they were a bit nervous about what was coming. I left it to Cark to deal with though, this was his show. I expected him to handle it immediately, but to my surprise he pretty much ignored them, turning to address the room with his staff over one shoulder. "Which one of you is Saffron?"

    The red haired woman with the pixie cut stepped forward. She grinned broadly at Cark. "Nice to meet you boss. When they told us we were getting a Baron of our own we were expecting great things, but we didn't know even your friends would be so scary..." She eyed me appreciatively. "And cute too." Callie stepped forward, clearing her throat and narrowing her eyes, and the redhead just smiled and turned back to Cark. "So, what can I do for you boss man?"

    Cark snorted in amusement, ignoring my now glaring girlfriend in favor of gesturing to Ronnie. "Tie him up and call someone from headquarters to pick him up. Restraining him shouldn't be a problem in that condition, but make sure to wrap him up good. We do have some G ranked restraints around here right?" The red haired woman nodded. "Good, have the other G rankers stand guard with you, and if he looks like hes waking up kick him in the head until he loses consciousness."

    If it had been anyone but the absolutely dumpster fire we'd met earlier that would have made me wince, but since it was I decided it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. They hauled him off to one side, and I called over to check once they had him secured so I could be sure to remove the effects of the poison at the right time. Once they had him all locked up Cark turned to the other two. "So, you two planning to avenge your boss or try to take him with you when you leave? Because I can't say that would be wise."

    The blue haired one on the right shrugged. "Nah, Ronnie was kind of a dick. No one really liked him much, but M-Jack liked having someone mean around to keep everybody in line. Back in Velan he managed it so it didn't get so bad but..." He trailed off, his face shadowing. "Since we got to Rajak Ronnie got worse. Scary. We ain't gonna complain you took care of him, especially since he started it. You want I should give M-Jack a message for you or something? I figure if you wanted us busted up we would be already."

    That was more critical thinking than I expected from a Jerk. I couldn't help but speak up. "Who are you exactly? You're a G ranker, I figure back in Velan I'd have heard of you before." I wouldn't have, I knew like, none of the G rankers in Velan outside the guild, but I figured he'd be more likely to share if he was feeling respected. Most people were like that as far as I had seen.

    He snickered. "Ragin Ray. I only got to G rank after I showed up. I was close enough to use elixirs yo push me over. They're way easier to get in this town." He snickered. "I don't need to ask about you. Everyone in the Jerks knows Punchin Carl's legendary nemesis Solomon. I half expected you to be ten feet tall. Or one. The story changes day to day, depending on Carl's mood and level of agitation." He turned to Cark. "So you gonna let us go? Or we gonna have to try to fight our way out?"

    The big bounty hunter sighed. "You can go. If I wipe you out I'll end up with your boss hunting me down for wiping out his people. This way there's at least a chance you can let him know what happened to beefy over there." He looked covertly at Callie and I, clearly wanting our feedback since we were nominal experts here. I just shrugged and chucked my chin at my girlfriend who nodded subtly. Cark sighed. "Alright. You can go, but if my people see you around here again we won't be as gentle. Your crew aren't welcome in Militia territory. You can tell your boss that."

    It was surprising to see how stoic and unafraid our friend was, but to be fair he had been pretty unshakeable during the hunt too. Cark was a cool customer, and he'd been on the streets for a long time. He looked around after they left. "You." He pointed at a random H ranker. "We have questions. Who knows the most about the local political situation?" The mousy brown haired man with the scraggly beard gulped and pointed over to Saffron. Since we didn't want to leave Ronnie before the Militia came to get him, Cark led us over to where she was sitting.

    As she saw us coming she raised an eyebrow. "Letting them go huh boss? Well, it's your call, you earned that, but I'm skeptical it'll work out well. So, you wanted some feedback on local politics huh?" Cark nodded and she chuckled. "I can't tell you how nice it is that our new Baron isn't a muscle brained idiot and actually knows how to ask questions. We were a bit worried about it. I'm sure you know how obnoxious it is working around a shitty boss."

    I supposed he must have, because his lips quirked up in amusement. "I'll try not to be too big an imposition." His voice was wry and sarcastic, and Saffron gave him a wide grin to let him know she was in on the joke. "Anyway, tell me about whats been going on down here. Someone is attacking, clearly, but it can't just be the...what did you two call them? The Jerks?" I nodded and he turned back to her. "There has to be a faction behind this that's local. They're picking fights with the Cavalcade too. Who benefits from this?"

    We had no clue about the political landscape down here, aside from the bits that Cark had heard from Sage. Saffron however lived down here, and she was more than capable of filling us in. "We've been looking into that ourselves actually. Originally the attacks on us were being performed by mercs and third parties. This was the first time these new guys came after us. We heard about them messing with the Cavalcade, but a bit of a shakeup is hardly a new thing. People pick fights down here all the time. It didn't seem like our concern."

    That made sense actually. If they planned to take all of G district as an endgame then letting whoever was coming for the Cavalcade bust themselves up and soften up the circus at the same time was a solid plan. Callie made a noise of surprise as something occurred to her and we all turned to look. "The timing here can't be a coincidence. You said you were looking into which faction is trying to push into G district now, maybe you got too close and they sent the Jerks to scare you off. But why would they do all this now?"

    I was pretty sure I knew though, and Saffron confirmed it as soon as I had the thought. "Probably because that asshole Aiden is gone. Pretentious dick. He wasn't nearly as cuddly as he liked to pretend, we had a couple of people disappear after interacting with his goons. Of course he played up his defender of the innocent act whenever we tried to pick a fight, but we all knew he was a snake. Still, he WAS powerful, and our respective groups pretty much cancelled each other's influence out down here."

    Callie nodded ponderingly. "That...might make sense. I guess it's not crazy for someone to take advantage of a shift in the balance of power if it showed up. But why G district? I can't see how taking a place like this would really give any benefits for anyone with sufficient rank. F district has the most money, and E district has the most power, what the hell does G district have that's worth anything?" There was something going on here that we were missing, there was no reason for any of the things that had been happening as far as I could see, which meant there was a piece of the puzzle missing.

    I wracked my brain for anything that they could gain from this, for anything G district would give them access to, and I only really came up with one option. "Bodies." Everyone looked at me blankly. "The only thing that G district has over the other districts. There are more G rankers in the WCP than F or E. There are probably more H rankers than that, but H rankers are barely above mortals at the low level, so if they get G district in line they could exert pressure on the lower rankers too. Hell they might be able to pressure the F rankers by virtue of connections with people down here."

    Saffron was stunned for a second, but she began to nod slowly. "That...that might work. Most of the F rankers have multiple friends and family members in G rank, and G rankers are authority figures in the lower districts without being too powerful to handle. Trying to take F district would be...unpleasant. The spectrum of F rank is WIDE, and at the higher ends of it you can do some real damage in a fight. Unifying that large of a contingent of powerful and, lets be honest, strange Ascendants, would be hellish."

    Callie made a frustrated sound. "That still doesn't help us. We have no clue who they're working with. We need to try to figure out what's going on down here as soon as possible. It's pretty clear they aren't going to just sit tight and ignore us poking into things. Any chance they'll just send a crowd of F rankers down to crush us?" E rankers we would be safe from, but F rankers would swat us like flies.

    Luckily Saffron shook her head. "Doubtful. The reason they're using cats paws has to be to avoid sparking off a huge turf war that would gridlock the whole WCP. If F rankers start showing up down here people would know, and they would know who sent them. F rank is notable on this planet, there are lots of them, but all the ones in the factions have enough reputation to be recognizable, even if they disguise themselves, F rank powers are usually pretty distinct. No, they'll keep this under wraps until the last second."

    That made things easier. "Well then, we only have one course of action. We need to head for the Cavalcade again and try to sniff out some answers. Without Ronnie there to run things the Jerks will be their usual scattered ridiculous selves, and the chances of them giving something away is huge." I turned to Callie with a huge grin that she sadly couldn't see under my mask "So what do you say? Want to go back to the circus?" Her own answering grin was easy enough to see. I had figured.
     
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  15. Leroidumonde

    Leroidumonde Know what you're doing yet?

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    F rankers are more powerful than E, I think that may be a typo.
     
  16. Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Nah, they have protection from E rankers from Zeke. F rankers are stronger but withing the two rank tolerance limit so they have to actually fight them.
     
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  17. Threadmarks: chapter 188
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    We waited until an F ranker came to pick up Ronnie to head to the Cavalcade. While the higher ranked Ascendants weren't supposed to come down here to interfere picking up a package wasn't a big deal since we'd already subdued him. He was grabbed in short order, and I couldn't help but assume he was probably going to die. I knew they would question him, but I doubted he would be able to tell them anything, there was no way the other candidate didn't leave a geas on someone like him.

    I still wasn't really bothered. Besides how he'd been talking to Callie, he was so obviously abusive to everyone around him I knew it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Before I'd become an Ascendant I'd never been in a position to know about someone dying, but I wasn't sure I would have been blase about it before. This was one thing I could firmly lay at the feet of recursion. Cultivation was dangerous, and sometimes people died. The perception that enemies weren't really a loss was one I'd tried to avoid, but this time I couldn't bring myself to care.

    Once the big man was gone we all headed for the Cavalcade. Saffron came with us, as did the other two G rankers, Trager and Vic. The H rankers left in the bar all scattered, just in case the Jerks came back when their heavy hitters were with us, and between the three of us and the three of them I was much more assured. Since we had time though, I had to ask Callie what the plan was. "Ok, I know we've been doing the whole taking a break thing, but you know how to handle delicate shit like this much better than I do. Do you have any ideas about how we're going to find anything out?"

    Callie leaned against my side, rolling her eyes. "You know, I'm going to start make you read tactics books. You've been falling harder and harder into this punching role, and it's not a good idea. Especially since your whole combat style is stealth based. I don't want you getting hurt because you keep charging in." She gave me a worried frown. "I still sometimes think about what happened to you in the necropolis when that Dullahan hit you. How scared I was seeing you tank that blow."

    I winced at that. I thought about that too. Though more in terms of how much it fucking sucked than in terms of wanting to avoid emotional trauma. I didn't dismiss her though. It was something I'd been thinking about too. I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've been letting it influence me far too much for my liking. It's just so hard to see where I end and where the recursion begins. If you can see it that easily though, I'm figuring the hair trigger violence is much more obvious. Being in the city is helping with that least a bit though."

    She nodded. "I did notice that. You're still quick to fight, but dealing with humans and not monsters makes you a bit more cautious of the outcomes. Mostly." That last part was more directed at her than me I thought, and I suspected she felt off about letting Ronnie get taken despite knowing he deserved it. That was fair, but not really useful right now, so I didn't comment. She shook off the thought. "Anyway the plan isn't complicated. We wander around and see if anyone starts trouble, the Jerks aren't subtle. If we look for some problems we're bound to dig some up, and I'm sure SOMEONE has to know what's going on."

    It was possible every single Jerk had made a wish and gotten a geas put on them, but it was unlikely. If nothing else it would take a while to get them all, even five per day. The Jerks weren't an army or anything, but they weren't exactly going to fit at a table for four. "Ok, but how is that different than the original plan when we first came down here? Because I remember that didn't work so well for us when we tried it before."

    She just snorted. "We got distracted by the big reveal, it was working fine. Without Ronnie running things there's no way they'll be keeping themselves in check either. It should be much easier to track them down this time, and once we do we can learn more about whoever this mystery faction is. " She turned to Saffron. "Speaking of which, are any of the enemies Cark told us about major faction participants? They all seemed like either loners or bit players, I can't see them joining up with any major powers to build a political presence here."

    Saffron shrugged. "You're not wrong. They aren't really part of the faction wars, but then, neither are we. The boss is technically with the independent faction, but they're the least cohesive bunch. The independents are basically just people who want to be left alone to do whatever they want. Most of the others that you guys mentioned while we waited are independent too. The Moravian is a member of the cooperative faction, and he tends to lean more towards being a team player with the Unity, but they don't really start trouble."

    The information was interesting. The existence of a faction like that implied one that wanted the opposite also existed. I wondered exactly how much traction that faction had. I couldn't imagine how functional it would really be. Even if they broke ties what would they do? Take the planet? The WCP was universal, but it existed throughout the rest of the factions. It wasn't like there was some place to keep the planet once they 'liberated' it. Plus this was an E ranked planet, what use would it even be to gain control of a backwater like this? I couldn't imagine it being considered much of an accomplishment for anyone who took their achievements seriously.

    Our conversation was cut off as we arrived at the circus again. Without a doubt, the second time seeing it was just as staggering as the first. We once again decided to split up into pairs, and Callie was quick to claim me as a partner, cutting off Saffron who had been about to do the same. I honestly kind of enjoyed the attention. Callie had nothing to worry about obviously, but I had started to take for granted that she was the partner in the relationship that got outside attention. Callie was gorgeous, and while I wasn't too shabby myself, I wasn't supermodel stunning.

    Still, I got attention from women at times, being incredibly tall was a big draw for some people, and my features were symmetrical and well put together, one of the many things I'd inherited from my dads side of the family. I was pretty sure I was actually getting better looking, though whether that was recursion, some sort of stat thing, the fact that I was still growing, or some combination of the three I had no idea. Callie wasn't being overtly hostile or antagonistic about any of it, she was just kind of put out in an obvious way, and it was honestly kind of cute.

    I wasn't stupid enough to say that out loud, obviously, but it was amusing that she got a little extra touchy physically after Saffron showed interest. When we broke off from the group she eased up a bit on her grip, though she was still a bit more affectionate than normal, and I admit to taking a minute to bask in the attention before moving on to the actual task at hand here. We needed to get started looking for the Jerks, and much like last time I didn't have any ideas where we were supposed to start.

    Callie, fortunately, did. Once she pulled away she started steering us to a specific location. "So, now that we know exactly what they're doing, I suspect that the Jerks are here to cause trouble for an internal element of the Cavalcade. It's the only thing that really makes sense. Given this faction's reach and ability to move unnoticed, having a mole inside the Cavalcade is entirely possible. If you look at it that way it's totally reasonably for the Jerks to try to show them up and embarrass them in their own territory, because it opens the door for that mole to take over."

    I nodded along, following her logic. Callie had experience with sneaky politics bullshit, even if not on this scale. There were micro versions of this whole mess back in the Velan WCP, and she'd lived there when she was sixteen or so, and learned the lay of the land. I trusted her instincts, and I was happy to see how exhilarated and excited she was about working on this after some times to relax and decompress. Now that she'd stopped running herself ragged I was easily able to see the difference in mentality and demeanor that even a few days of relaxing had wrought.

    I pulled her closer. "So, break it down for those of us with more muscle than brains? What's our next move since we obviously don't want them to succeed in that. Also how would they go about it? Or rather, how would you go about it if you were them. We can assume leadership is making the tactical calls, since I'm pretty sure the low level members couldn't out think a stick of butter." I had no clue what she was getting at honestly, and it was kind of embarrassing. I felt like she was trying to lead me to a specific line of reasoning to help me get back into the habit of using my head, but I just wasn't getting it.

    Luckily she didn't seem too frustrated at that, just patient. The very fact that she was thinking this far ahead of me meant these kinds of exercises were necessary. I didn't have the stat dominance in combat to become a shoot first ask questions type, and the constant resistance of that would help offset the recursion. She pointed off to one side. "My guess would be something they can excel at. Something reckless and stupid enough that they'll feel like they'll get some rep from trying it, and most importantly, something that's going to screw over the current management. Something like...that."

    I turned to follow her gesture and froze, smacking my palm into my face. Now that she pointed it out I couldn't believe I hadn't guessed it already. It was the surest way I could think of for them to make an impact on this place. "Do you think they'll actually be able to manage that though? It says there's a reward, sure, but they have to actually win it, and willful stupidity can only do so much. What are the chances any of them have the skill set to pull off a decent result in something like that?"

    She shrugged. "Don't forget the wishing thing. I'm sure that with a wish at least one of them could prepare, plus I could see those idiots managing it even without cheating. They may not be smart, but they're sure as hell stubborn. It looks like the prize is substantial too. I'm guessing that they accumulate the invested money for the trial and then pay it out if someone manages it in a specific period of time. Chances are pretty good that no one does though, and they count on using that money. It's a publicity stunt for investment gathering."

    We headed in the direction of the huge wooden structure, filled with people in bench seats watching each new challenger do their best to pass the trial and gather the massive chunk of money afforded the winners. As we drew in close I wrinkled my nose at the smell. It smelled like wild animals, which wasn't a shock. When we made it to the counter next to the pen I pulled out a bunch of low level chits and dropped them in front of the circus employee. "Hi, we'll take two tickets to the bull riding competition?" At the very least it should be a good show.
     
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  18. Threadmarks: chapter 189
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    When we got inside, we were able to confirm the rules of the bull riding competition. You had to put up a single G ranked chit per attempt, if you managed to stay on the bull for a full three minutes you got to keep all the chits anyone had paid over the course of the month. It started over again on the first of each month, and the previous month's stockpile was divided up amongst the management of the cavalcade.People HAD passed the trial a time or two, but it was uncommon. Mostly anyone attempting the task ended up thrown across the bull pen.

    Mostly this had to do with the absolute fucking monster of a bull they used. A Might focused beast of an animal called a Stone Footed Titanic Ox. The thing was high G rank, and was considerably stronger than most Ascendants at that rank, not to mention much bigger and more able to exert that strength than most (read any) human beings. Forgetting not being able to stay on, if your stats weren't high enough you could easily die in the test, and no one rational failed to take that seriously when making the attempt.

    Which, of course, was why neither of us were remotely surprised to see a green haired Jerk desperately clinging to the saddle of the titanic ox, whooping with joy while a full dozen multicolored tough guys with no shirts and leather pants hollered their mohawk covered heads off. To my surprise the short but incredibly wide man was managing to stay on, though he seemed pretty terrified of what was happening as he did. Still, terror or no, the guy had a death grip on the saddle and wouldn't let go.

    Callie snorted, a small smile on her face as she rolled her eyes. "Way Crazy Wyatt. If Ronnie epitomizes the bullies in the Jack-tastic Jerks, Wyatt is the distillation of the other side of the organization. He's completely insane, but he actually does care about the others. He's ok for a lunatic. He and Ronnie each have a few much weaker G rankers under them, and Wyatt's lackeys are generally considered much easier to deal with. I'm not surprised he's the one trying this, he's the kind of person who won't send a subordinate to do something he won't do himself."

    I chuckled a bit at the exasperated fondness, it reminded me a bit of how I talked about Zeke, though less affectionate obviously. "So I take it you two are friends? I didn't know you were close with anyone at the Jerks." I didn't mind too much, it was hard to take the Jerks too seriously, but some of them seemed like good people. If she thought he was a decent guy I was happy she had a friend to meet with, and if we could potentially get some info from her buddy that was all the better for our purposes. It always paid to have sources of information.

    That got me an embarrassed cough. "We're...friendly. We've fought plenty of times, but Wyatt is a decent enough guy to match blows against. He's bulky as hell, so he's slow, but he has a defensive ability to make up for it. That's probably how he's managing to stay on that bull honestly. That thing looks damn strong, I doubt I could keep my grip if I were up there. Wonder how long he's been on it's back? If he makes it through the whole ride then he gets the prize, and I imagine the Jerks plans get one step closer to fruition."

    Using the term Jerks and plans in the same sentence was a strange concept, but I got what she meant. "Not sure, but if it was recent I'm doubting it. His hand is already starting to slip, he won't make it another minute, let alone two. If he's been on there a while he might pull it off. If he doesn't do...do we try?" I actually had an idea of how I might be able to pull it off, and to be honest I was kind of excited to give it a try. We could use the money too, though if we won I wasn't sure if we could take it or if that would run counter to our mission. Maybe we would have to give it back.

    Callie obviously knew I wanted to try and rolled her eyes. "Ugh. I knew you were going to want to ride the bull. We can see what happens. Who knows if Wyatt will-" She was cut off by a wail as the blurred form of Wyatt came flying across the pen to smash into the wall next to us. We both stepped out of the way without looking, more than able to hear his screams as he hurtled through the air toward us. He smashed through the pen and hit the rock wall surrounding it around the outside.

    Before impact I saw his body shift, and his skin rippled into a tapestry of multicolored and multitextured gems and stones. I wasn't sure exactly what the stones were, but the wall broke and not Wyatt, so whatever they were they were pretty damn sturdy. He popped to his feet, scowling past us at the bull. "You'll get yours meat!" He shook his fist at the bull, which I swear literally sneered back at him somehow, and then turned and noticed us with a blink. His eyes focused on Callie and he grinned happily. "Nightlight!"

    He swept forward to scoop her up in a hug, and Callie scrunched her nose in disgust. "Ew, ew, ew sweat! Personal space Wyatt!" He put her down, embarrassed, and then turn and swept me up in the same crushing grip. I'd been a bit bothered by him grabbing Callie, but the second hug made it clear that it hadn't been romantic. Way Crazy Wyatt was just a huggy person. I had to suppress a chuckle as the big friendly puppy of a man put me down, clapping both Callie and I on a shoulder each.

    I turned to look at her skeptically as he put me down. I could understand her discomfort, the shorter man had clearly been exhausted trying to ride that bull, even I was covered with sweat now. Still, that wasn't the salient point. "Nightlight?" I layered as much amusement and teasing into my voice as possible, making it clear that I was definitely going to continue messing with her about this. The name was ridiculous, and I couldn't wait to tell Benny and Jessie when we got home.

    She scowled at me, but before she could answer, Wyatt slapped me on the shoulder with a grin. "Of course! Everyone back home knows Nightlight! She's the toughest, she even gave me some trouble in a fight." His body had shifted back from the gem studded form before he even initiated the first hug, but at his words he let the rocky change roll over his arms again up to the elbow, holding his hands up to show us how strong he was. "I heard about you too of course! That serial killer was a nasty guy, thanks for taking care of that Sally!"

    My eyes widened in horror behind my mask at the nickname, but I saw Callie's face bloom into a catlike grin. Before I could speak, she cut me off. "Of course Wyatt. SALLY here is a true hero. Speaking of, I wasn't expecting to see you here. I knew the Jerks were in town, but you seem like you have plenty of free time to be here trying to ride a bull. Unless you're on business for the boss?" She added that last bit as an afterthought, casually tossing out the question so no one could tell it was important.

    I wondered if she felt bad about it, but cultivators were weird sometimes. Just like she didn't seem to care about the fact that we'd just handed over the other G ranker in the Jerks before starting this conversation, the concept of trying to manipulate him for information wasn't a big deal. In the end, this was how the game was played, and she knew better than me which lines to cross or not. The weird enemies but not relationship that the Unity had with villains was tough to navigate for me, and I was lucky to have Callie's help.

    Despite that, Wyatt was a G ranker, and NOT an idiot, even if he was a bit direct. He just rolled his eyes. "Oh no! I'm not falling for that again. M-jack got super mad the last time I told you stuff about our secret plans. No matter what you ask I'm not going to say a word about why we're trying to take over the circus!" He waved his fist dramatically in the air, and much like I often did with the Jerks, I felt the urge to facepalm at his over lunacy as he effectively confirmed the existence of a plan while loudly declaring he would never tell us a thing.

    Callie's flat expression told me that she was used to this kind of behavior, and despite being pretty sure all the Jerk names were nonsense, I kind of understood why even the other Jerks called this guy 'Way Crazy Wyatt'. I recognized that blank, mildly traumatized expression from my own experiences with the Jerks. It wasn't some sort of fear or bad memory exactly, Callie was resigning herself to dealing with people who had absolutely no grasp on or use for common sense. Ascendants all lived in a strange world, but the Jerk's world was stranger than most.

    Wyatt, it seemed, was on his guard now, and despite seeming to still be friendly he turned to the group of Jerks. He pointed to one of them, an average looking Jerk with a bright blue mohawk and a series of facial piercings. "Sticky Jim! You give it a try! No one sticks to stuff like you do, not dumb bull can throw you off!" His tone was proud and triumphant, but judging by Sticky Jim's face I was guessing the blue haired Jerk was much less certain any of that was true than Wyatt was.

    Callie, taking pity on the poor G ranked Jerk, cleared her throat. "Wyatt. We came here to try the bull riding competition too. If you keep making your Jerks do the challenge over and over until one of them wins and don't give anyone a chance, don't you think people will start saying you were too scared to let anyone else try? You know how much Mr. Jack-tastic hates when people badmouth the Jerks. Maybe you should let..." Her lips twitched. "Sally, give it a try first. It's only fair."

    That sounded like an obvious attempt to manipulate him to me, but Wyatt gave a serious nod. "Of course. M-Jack always tells me to keep my reputation in mind when doing things. He hates when I embarrass the Jerks." I resisted the urge for another face palm as I noted that Mr. Jack-tastic was probably talking about the fact that he was so easy to trick, but I couldn't complain since I was benefiting. I did feel a bit bad though. Wyatt was a nice guy, he was just SO DUMB.

    Callie gave me an understanding chuckle and a nod, she knew what I was thinking. Since he'd lasted this long and was this powerful though there had to be more to him than I was seeing. In either case, since he gave the ok I knew it was my turn to try the bull riding. I was still sub one hundred on Might, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve, and I was excited to give this a try. I'd never ridden a bull before. Besides, maybe we could keep at least some of the prize money. It wasn't like they had to have ALL of it.
     
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  19. Threadmarks: chapter 190
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Bulls, as it turned out. Were BIG. Like, most people knew that, they knew Bulls were large, and I'd seen this one from a distance before. Given that, and my own Perception, I should have been prepared for the size of the animal I was preparing to ride. I should have remained stoic and unbothered as I closed in to climb onto the back of the best that was currently being held confined in a small area, waiting for its next rider. I wasn't.

    Standing there next to the Stone hoof Titanic Ox, I felt...small. Not just physically, I was a big guy, and even if its sheer mass dwarfed me, I was tall enough to at least look it in the eye. Not in terms of Impact either, that was something I'd felt from Zeke, and I knew what it was like. This though...this was different. This animal was just...more. It was my equal in Impact, in the weight we imposed on reality, which meant I was essentially feeling the same thing I would be feeling as a mortal when facing something like this.

    I'd expected to be unbothered by that, really. I'd stood in the presence of a giant dragon skeleton so big I could fucking run around in its rib cage, but that was somehow more surreal. It was too strange to hit me like this was. Still, despite being incredibly worried about what was coming, I never really considered turning around and leaving. I felt intimidated like a mortal might have instinctively, but only as a sort of phantom instinct. It was just the person I used to be flaring up at an inopportune time. Shane Wyndham might be afraid to do this, but Solomon wasn't. Solomon had done worse, and that knowledge let me shake off any lingering worry easily.

    The person the circus had sent to help me out gave me time to sort out how I was feeling. I don't know if he knew I was worried or not, my mask covered my face, but regardless he let me wait, and then, when I indicated I was ready, he led me over to the small boxed in sub pen and let me climb over the side to sit astride the bull. I figured it would buck as soon as I got on, but they had it trained I supposed. Once I was on it didn't move, granted it didn't have much room to move in the smaller section of pen, which was the point, but still, it was impressive.

    The assistant looked up at me seriously. "Ok, do you understand all the rules?" I did, and I told him as much, and he nodded again. "Good. You're free to call a halt at any time, it's tough for a G ranker to get killed by accident, so if you get thrown don't be afraid to halt the competition. Getting trampled CAN kill you, and plenty of people have died that way, so don't take any stupid chances. Are you ready to start?" His voice contained a warning, clearly having given this speech to many others and been ignored more than once.

    I nodded and he moved to open the gate. As he did, I went ahead and put my plan into action. I triggered Leaf on the Wind. While it might have seemed odd to some people to use that ability to pass this trial, I was pretty sure it was perfect for multiple reasons. Firstly, my strength was colossal, and Leaf on the Wind didn't make me weaker, just less affected by gravity. Being lighter meant that having a grip on the saddle would be much more effective, with less pull from the bucking of the bull.

    The decreased gravity should also somewhat mitigate the momentum, or at least my reaction to it. I wished briefly I had some kind of sticking ability, but I would just have to deal with the current setup. Being so much lighter should effectively multiply the efficiency of my Might stat for this though, so I had a decent chance. My other main trump card was my armor. I hadn't switched it out yet, and the absorption ability of my gear should be able to handle what little force I had to suffer with my decreased mass.

    With all these idea running through my head, I was pretty confident as the bull trotted out of the sub pen and into the main area where the trial would take place. The bull was moving at a slow and steady plod into the middle of the pen, and I was curious as to what the hell was going on, at least for a second, until we got to the middle of the trial area, when the bull stopped. I looked down at it in curiosity when it did for a second, until finally, with nearly no warning, the bull went absolutely fucking nuts.

    The first buck took the bulls back feet off the ground so hard the thing went fully vertical snout to tail. I gripped hard on reflex, barely managing to maintain my hold, and then the bull REALLY started. That first kick had been intense, but it had also been singular. Once its feet touched the mud again (which I swear somehow took less time than gravity should explain) it kicked out again, and then again, faster and faster and harder and harder until I half thought it was just teleporting itself into position, or would have if not for the strain from the yanking.

    The thing snapped and whipped like a towel someone was cracking in a locker room, and even with my skill active I had trouble managing to keep ahold of that damn saddle. The beast wasn't fucking around, he wanted me gone, and he wasn't shy about how it happened. This had looked so much less terrifying when Wyatt was doing it, and while I didn't let myself scream, I DID understand why Wyatt had done so.

    Even with the lightened gravity, I felt like a rag doll as my body was jerked back and forth in mid air. Despite all that though...I was having fun! This was amazing, the adrenaline, the thrill. My heart was pounding and my blood was thundering in my veins. It had become clear up to this point that I developing a reckless and sometimes dangerous love for combat, but apparently, it wasn't just battle I enjoyed. Despite the danger of getting thrown free and my very close up view from several positions of why it was a STONE HOOFED Titanic Ox, this was the most fun I'd had since the hunt ended.

    I could see the audience around me, cheering and whooping as I held on for dear life, but the person I was staring at hardest wasn't any of them. It was Callie. Her smile lit up her face like a beacon, not because of the job or because we were closer to completing our mission, but because she could tell how much fun I was having. This beautiful girl was here with me, and she was happy, for the simple and uncomplicated reason that I was happy, and she loved me.

    I'd done many things since becoming an Ascendant. I'd fought monsters, beaten serial killers, and even saved some children. That smile though...that smile was the most amazing thing I had seen since I entered this world. Treasure and magic was impressive and interesting, but it didn't have a patch on the sheer beauty of seeing that look on Callie's face and knowing it was aimed at me. I gripped the saddle tighter, and despite being in the exact same situation as a moment ago, I felt so much more...free.

    I felt like I was flying, and I knew for a fact that I could do this. I let my body relax, and found that going limp actually helped a lot as long as I maintained my grip, especially with Leaf on the Wind still active. I let myself be jerked back and forth on the back of the bull, and I couldn't pretend I had literally any idea when this was going to end or how long it had gone on so far. Despite my glee and my good mood I was extremely confused at that moment, and when the assistant finally called out for them to end it, I barely heard him.

    Luckily, there was a loud horn to signal me passing the trial, so it was easy enough to puzzle out what he said. I relaxed my grip as soon as I heard it, which turned out to be a huge mistake because I'd forgotten I being whipped through the air by a giant beast. I went flying, though Leaf on the Wind slowed me down as I flew. It didn't end up mattering how fast I was going past that though, because I came to a stop against a huge black cushion that I could easily see was made of shadows. Callie had me.

    I felt myself lowered slowly to the ground, my head still spinning, and I laughed breathlessly as my back hit the mud softly. Callie's face appeared in my vision, and I wished neither of us were wearing our masks, just so I could see that smile unobstructed. Sadly that wasn't to be, so I sat up with a groan instead. Callie chuckled as she helped me up. "That was pretty damn impressive. Wyatt and the other Jerks are all in awe of you now. That bull made a big impression on them, and seeing you conquer it really won them over."

    I laughed a bit as she helped me stand. "Enough to give me the answers to how they're planning to take this place down and for who?" That got me a snort of dismissal. Wyatt might be a bit of a dunce, but he was also a G ranker. With that level of Focus there was only so stupid you could actually be, and I knew better that higher ranking Ascendants tended to level up incredibly low stat values fast because of the overall impression their power left on other people.

    She helped me over to the edge of the pen, my feet still a bit unsteady especially on the mud given how dizzy I'd been. When we got to the side, the assistant led the others in a loud round of applause as we approached, giving me a nod of respect. "An excellent showing. I'd ask how you managed, but it's something of an unspoken rule that one doesn't question how a thing is done, as long as you see it completed." He passed me a big. "As agreed, your winnings my friend." His visage was a bit unhappy, and I suspected they collected interest or something while they held the money.

    To his shock though, I didn't take it, pushing it back. I put an arm around Callie's shoulder. I had a ready made excuse here. "You Circus is where I first told my girlfriend I loved her, that's worth much more than a few chits. Keep it. Consider it a thank you for everything you've done for us." The assistant looked completely poleaxed, which was far. What I'd just done was absolutely batshit crazy. People didn't just give back money like that.

    He looked confused as he took the bag, but after a second his head snapped up, tilting to one side. After a brief pause he turned to us. "You are too kind, I wonder, perhaps you would like to meet our founder. Mr. Castelton hopes to invite the two of you for a personal meeting as thanks for your generosity." I grinned. I'd been hoping for something like that. While they might have someone infiltrating this place, I knew there was at least one person who wouldn't be working for the Jerks or their employers. After all, Cicero Castleton had the least reason to allow his circus to change hands. It was time to get some answers.
     
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  20. Threadmarks: chapter 191
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    The assistant lead us to Cicero Castleton directly, though we did stop to say goodbye to everyone. Despite being here to thwart their plans, the Jerks seemed enthused about the results I'd gotten, and Way Crazy Wyatt in particular was insistent that we were best friends now. Despite my insistence that I barely knew him, and that my name was NOT Sally, he refused to hear a word of it, loudly proclaiming to the other Jerks that even though the money was given to the circus and not available anymore, he was going to challenge the ox again so he could beat it and we could be "bull buddies".

    I had been thinking about how much I preferred Wyatt to that shit bag Ronnie, but after a brief interaction before we left for the ring master tent, my headache made it clear that Wyatt was MUCH more annoying to interact with, even if it was for harmless and amusing reasons. I desperately hoped that Wyatt wasn't part of the faction the supported Punchin Carl, though who even knew what that support entailed or what he would use it for. I still wasn't sure exactly what Carl's ability was, but I was hoping to avoid him entirely. Even if I could beat him in a fight once he hit G rank (which I wasn't certain of) I had no motivation to actually do so.

    As we approached the ring master tent I pulled Callie close to me. Since we were playing the love birds it fit the narrative for us to be cuddly, plus I think she was genuinely excited about the bull riding thing. Still, we didn't ignore everything around us, and I asked the assistant a question I'd been wondering about as we approached the huge green and black striped tent in the center of the circus, which I hadn't even seen until we got close. "So, do many people get the chance to meet Mr. Castleton? I've heard lots about the cavalcade but little about him personally."

    The assistant chuckled. "The cavalcade is the Mr. Castleton's life's work. Since it has his name on it everyone who hears about it hears about him. As such he doesn't bother too much with in person appearances or gathering personal power, instead putting his all into making the cavalcade as famous and beloved as possible. It was one of the main differences that led to the departure of his brother. Mr. Abel always preferred to see more direct results from his development. He tried to insert himself into the acts to gather acclaim, and when they couldn't agree on the subject Mr. Castleton asked him to leave."

    That was interesting. I hadn't heard about that. "So, Mr. Castleton has a brother? He's a G ranker too I take it? How come I haven't heard about him, and why isn't his name part of the title of the circus? It seems like that might cause some issues between them if nothing else." I couldn't imagine founding a huge place like this and having someone else put their name on it and leave mine off.

    The assistant sighed. "The name of the circus used to be the Confounding Castleton's Captivating Chaotic Cavalcade, Mr. Castleton, or rather, Mr. Cicero, changed the name when Mr. Abel left. As for why you haven't heard of him, despite their differences Mr. Abel loves his brother. When he left the cavalcade he decided that he would abandon his name so as not to detract from his brother's fame. He donned a mask and tossed away his original name and reputation, opening a sausage shop at the entrance to G district. The only tribute to his former life is the use of the word Cavalcade in the name of his shop."

    I froze. "Wait...Spruce Bunny? He's the one who pointed us here, and we've gotten help from him before. He's Mr. Castleton's brother? I hadn't really considered where he might have come from I guess, though that story does make sense. I take it since he was so focused on personal power, he must be pretty effective in a fight huh?" He would be G rank for sure, but I was guessing based on what the assistant had said before that he was high G rank. We resumed walking, drawing closer and closer to the big tent, though it was bigger than I'd thought because the walk was taking a while.

    The assistant nodded emphatically. "Oh, heavens yes. Mr. Abel was one of the most powerful G rankers in the district before he went into exile. I suspect that Mr. Cicero expected him to take a position of honor with one of the other factions. Mr. Abel's ability is rather potent, and he could have easily gotten such an opportunity. Instead he tossed his entire reputation aside and became a nobody in order to protect his little brother. Mr. Cicero has always regretted that, I think, but he doesn't feel he has the right to meet with his brother to ask him about it after the trouble he's caused."

    I had no clue what to say to any of that. Knowing that wacko in the rabbit mask was some kind of elite combat master was...weird, but then again, most Ascendants were weird. Hell, it was possible that Spruce Bunny was gathering as much rep as Abel had, though based on his lack of advertising and how long it took me to hear this story I doubted it. Still, I couldn't resist asking the obvious question. "You said his ability was potent. Is it ok if I ask what that ability is? I love to hear about interesting powers."

    The assistant chuckled. "Of course. It's no secret. Mr. Abel possesses a speed ability. It creates a field of...warped space, around him that acts like a lubricant, allowing him to move much faster with the Might he has than would normally be possible. He's also a dedicated practitioner of Ragam, and extremely dangerous high speed striking martial art. Mr. Abel in combat is something to behold. Sometimes I wonder if Mr. Cicero shouldn't have allowed him to create an act like he wanted."

    That was...scary. I could think of a dozen ways that could synergize into something truly terrifying, not even taking into account his skills in martial arts, which, if they were notable enough to bring up here, were probably at least at Intermediate. Maybe even higher, since he was apparently not focused on gaining stats at the moment. It was theoretically possible for him to be at Expert rank in the discipline, though granted, that was extremely unlikely. Even for someone at the peak of G rank.

    A person COULD get a Skill to two ranks above where they were currently, if they were careful and didn't cripple themselves trying to leverage usage of that Skill past what their soul could bear. It usually wasn't done, because it was difficult to know which aspects of a Skill couldn't be used, but martial artists in particular often tried to go that route. Physical skills were easier to handle in that context, and since many matial artists synergized their fighting style with their ability, it gave them much more overtly impressive combat power.

    My thoughts were cut off sadly, as we finally made it to the lime green and black striped canvas tent. When we reached the entrance we stopped, and the assistant turned to us. "Mr. Castleton is waiting for you inside. I wasn't summoned so I won't be entering with you, but I would like to thank you again for what you've done tonight. You don't know how much it's helped us." He gave us a low bow, a courtly and elegant gesture involving a flourish of his hand. "My name is Emery, feel free to seek me out if you have any needs here in the future."

    With that, he rose and stepped back, gesturing for us to enter on our own. I pulled Callie tighter against me, and turned my body slightly to put myself ahead of her as we entered, though she caught me trying and elbowed me in the ribs. I let out a whoof of breath and rubbed my ribs as she gave me a sweet smile, which I couldn't help but chuckle at. We stepped through the opening in the tent together, pushing aside the heavy fabric to step into a large dark space, lit by only a single candle at a small table in the middle of the room, at which sat a tall man.

    Cicero Castleton looked young, but to be fair, most Ascendants did at this level. He wasn't some old monster like that Moravian guy Cark had mentioned, at least I didn't think so. He looked about our age, with a tall top hat, a red velvet waistcoat with thick black buttons, and a black vest with a gold watch chain trailing between it and the breast pocket of the coat. He had a thick mustache and kind brown eyes, and when he noticed us enter he gave a low, deep nod and gestured us forward to join him.

    When we sat down, he gave us a welcoming smile. "So, you're the young man who returned all those chits to the cavalcade rather than take them. I was impressed by your kindness, though I suspect your reasons may be more complex than Emery might believe. Given your interaction with those new troublemakers, I take it you find yourself standing on the opposite side of the faction attempting to oust me from my seat here?" Despite the grim nature of the question, his tone was light and up beat, like he wasn't worried about anything. It was kind of impressive.

    I didn't see any reason to pretend. "You got us. Yeah, we're here to try to prevent the faction behind the Jerks from taking over G district. I can't go into details, but if there's some way we can be of assistance, maybe you could tell us about it? Also, it might help if we knew who the hell is doing all this. We've run into a bit of a wall in our investigation, we only know what they're planning, not who is behind it all." Not that it mattered to me since I knew no one here, but finding out who our enemy was couldn't hurt.

    Cicero chuckled slightly, the air making his mustache ruffle. "Help? I suppose I wouldn't say no to a bit of assistance. I'm not sure who the faction behind this is. I'm the last person they would tip off, given my own connections in the WCP. It would defeat the purpose of working through intermediaries. That said, I do know who would be aware. In point of fact, it's the same person who would have benefited had you not returned those chits you won. One of my managers, and one with quite a bit of influence in the cavalcade."

    That surprised me. "How come you haven't gotten rid of the person if you know who it is? You're the boss, can't you just kick them out?" This whole place was way more complicated than it should be, the politics were insane. Callie reached down and gripped my hand, and I eased off a bit. I wasn't a fan of all this double talk and shady dealing, but she was in her element here. I'd let her handle things, though I doubted she would let me ignore it completely given her desire to make me pay attention to the political side of things.

    That got another, much sadder laugh. The young looking man's face settled into a much more aged appearance. Not from some kind of Skill or effect, but from the lines of stress and sadness I could see etched into his skin. The expression on his face made it seem like he'd aged twenty years in just a few seconds. His voice was quiet as he responded to my question. "I couldn't bear to do that. You see, it's my fault she's trying to get rid of me in the first place."
     
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  21. TheArgentOne

    TheArgentOne Know what you're doing yet?

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    is it the wish girl? Is his daughter a wyndham who's trying to oust him because of things happening? We've only seen male wyndham's other than her so it's not impossible for there to be a female one we haven't met yet, who's her mother.

    Edit: clarification.
     
  22. Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Nah, it's more to do with the whole mess with Abel. She's not his daughter though, more of a childhood friend.
     
  23. Threadmarks: chapter 192
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    I wasn't sure how to respond to that. It sounded like a pretty sad story, and part of me didn't want to pry, but at the same time we needed to know what the fuck was going on. I decided to let Callie handle this, she was better with people than I was mostly, and was mostly taking charge right now anyway. Sure enough, she broached the subject in the most tactful way possible. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I wonder if you might clarify a bit about what exactly happened to cause one of your people to turn on you like that? Emery made it seem like everyone here was pretty united."

    Cicero gave a small, sad smile. "Yes, I heard him talking to you outside the tent. He knew that of course, he'd hardly have told the story so close to where I sat if he hadn't wanted me to know. I suspect he has a better grasp on this situation than most involved. Emery is a quiet and subtle person, but he hears much more than anyone imagines. Well, he also probably wanted to spare me the pain of recounting it myself, and to slip in a bit of a reprimand for being too much of a coward to speak to my brother, not that he would phrase it as such. He rarely does things for a single reason when he can accomplish more than one goal."

    I hadn't gotten that impression from Emery, but then, that was probably the point. It was odd to see someone who operated so subtly in this world we lived in. Ascendant powers didn't lend themselves to that sort of subterfuge, even stealthy Ascendants were mostly just a more edgy kind of flashy. Either that or they used their lack of presence as its own kind of attention gathering tactic, cultivating a reputation of whispers and efficiency by spreading rumors of their terrifying deeds after the fact.

    I could tell from her demeanor that Callie was a bit surprised too, and a tad impressed. Emery making it to even H rank without any notable presence was pretty impressive. She shook that off though and focused back on our host. "Does this rogue element have something to do with your brother then? We met him and he seemed really nice. I'm not naive enough to assume that means I know him well enough to think he wouldn't do something like this, but Emery seems pretty certain he doesn't bear you any ill will." I'd gotten the implication too when he mentioned Emery knowing more then he let on, but Abel had clearly gone above and beyond for his brother, and causing him trouble spat in the face of that effort.

    Cicero nodded. "You aren't wrong. My brother does not hold his situation against me, as much as he really should. The same can not be said of everyone here, however. While Abel never blamed me for having to leave, he was not without friends in this place. Starbreak, who I suspect is behind this, was a childhood friend of ours. We were inseparable when younger, and I admit I had a bit of a romantic interest, but she was always more interested in Abel. After he left, Melissa blamed me for driving him away. Suspected I was jealous of them. She's resented me ever since, though she's done her best to conceal that."

    Callie looked at him hard for a second, reading the subtext there. "You agree with her. You feel like you ruined things and that's why you can't bring yourself to clean house." Cicero tipped his hat, giving her a rueful smile of acknowledgement. She sighed. "That actually makes this more complicated, not less. If this was just business we could narrow down who she's working with based on her known associates. From the way it sounds though, she just wants you gone and is willing to work with anyone to get it done. I take it this Starbreak person is powerful?"

    I assumed the same, Ascendants tended to listen to people stronger than them from what I'd seen. If she was capable of forming a faction inside the circus she was probably as strong as Cicero. Sure enough, he confirmed it. "Yes, Melissa always shared Abel's love of combat. She was going to be part of the act he was planning as a matter of fact. She's one of my most powerful managers. Abel refused to allow her to follow him when he left for just that reason, wanting to make sure I would still have her support. As you can see that didn't work out very well, but then, Abel was always better at fighting than dealing with people."

    That was interesting actually. Spruce Bunny had seemed...friendly. He was an outgoing and cheerful person, if a bit odd. I had a hard time reconciling the image of the two people as they were described to me. That said, this whole thing left me wondering one thing. "How can we actually help? Because I somehow doubt you're sharing your family drama because we're good listeners. Not that I don't appreciate the trust, I get how hard it is to open up like that, but if you're telling us this you probably have at least some kind of idea of what we could do to ameliorate the situation right?"

    The mustachioed man laughed softly at my bluntness. "I do. If you're willing to help me. I realize I have no claim on your time or energy, as I don't actually know either of you. If you can help with this, however, I would be extremely grateful. In fact, I'd even be willing to allocate you some territory in the cavalcade if you'd like. It is far from simple to acquire land in the WCP after the forces have settled in for so long. Only the E district has available space on demand, mostly because there are so few E rankers to take it up."

    I had no response to that. I hadn't even considered getting land in the WCP here, but given my access level it might actually be a smart idea. I looked to Callie, content to let her make this call. We were going to be leaving this planet eventually, because we weren't stopping at E rank. That said, investing in territory might not be a stupid idea, since we were going to be leaving friends behind. We couldn't possibly take every single person we knew out into the major universe. Hell, Cark was almost definitely a no go because of Cass.

    Callie looked intrigued, but cautious. "This is an interesting deal, but pardon me for saying that it doesn't seem particularly balanced. You're offering us territory to get involved in outside business, but there's a pretty decent chance that the territory might get snatched by your competitors, then would you even be able to give it to us? You're basically creating a situation where we only get paid if things work out, which is helpful to you for sure, but makes this kind of a risk for us. Shouldn't you pay something up front?"

    While we were planning to help, Cicero didn't actually know that, or at least not to what extent. We had our own reasons for doing this, but if we let everyone assume we would work on commission that would get out and become part of our reputation. Recursion made reputation an important part of being an Ascendant, and forced us to be careful about anything official we did. Especially in costume like we were now, we had to keep in mind how we wanted to be perceived by everyone else.

    Of course, this took me a minute to puzzle out, while Callie saw it pretty much instantly. I wouldn't be bringing that up though. As much as I was in awe of her instincts and skills for this kind of thing, I knew she learned most of it under less than favorable circumstances. As much as she might not want to admit it, her dad had played his part in making her a more effective Ascendant. Because she spent so many years working around his manipulation she gained an innate understanding of how cultivation worked and how to turn situation to her advantage. Midknight was probably going to seriously regretting giving her a reason to get so competent.

    Cicero just smiled widely, like we'd passed a test. "Of course. I confess I don't exactly know what people your age might be focusing on these days. I'm willing to make a down payment on your assistance, given you prove to me that you can accomplish the task I'll be setting you. If you're expecting payment up front however, even partially, I'll need to test you to make sure you're suitable for my purposes. Are you willing to undergo such a test? If so you can pose your request to me and we can work out the details before you assessment."

    The older man's gaze was still kind, but there was a sneaky gleam in it that let me know he'd been aiming for this. Us offering to help was great, but he had no reason to think we were capable of much. I wasn't even sure he knew who we were yet, not everyone watched the scavenger hunt stream. A G ranker who ran his own small faction would be unlikely to waste time vetting newbies from the academy. With little to no chance of co-opting them and not enough reputation to convince them to switch sides it would be a pointless exercise for him.

    With that in mind it became a matter of finding out exactly what we could do to see if we would be useful. It occurred to me that promising to pay us later with something he might not even have could have just been bait for this exact outcome. I felt stupid for missing it, but luckily Callie seemed to be unsurprised by the whole thing. She really was better at this. Still, it was no wonder Cicero managed to retain control of his faction even when someone inside it wanted him gone. This guy was way sneakier than he let on.

    Callie didn't look upset by this turn of events though, she looked happy, and I was able to figure out why as soon as she started talking. "Fair enough. We're happy to undergo the test, but since we took the initiative to help you and you're making us prove ourselves, we hope you can show some sincerity. If we pass the trial and can help you pull off whatever your plan is. If we can manage your test, we want you to fully outfit our team of four in custom F ranked costumes. We'll need that in writing, by the way."

    I saw the older man literally flinch when he heard that. He'd been expecting her to ask for chits or something, maybe a bigger slice of the pie, four sets of custom armor a rank above him would be...pricey. I was sure he had enough to afford it, this place probably raked in a ton of money, but it would bite into his funds hard. He hesitated for a minute. "IF, and I mean if, you can successfully clear my trial and are willing to enact my plan, and if you are willing to sign a contract binding you to that course of action...I agree."

    I felt a grin split my face as I considered what we would be taking into battle with us soon. Granted, I'd need to stick relatively close to my current style to prevent degradation of my legend, but still, an F ranked costume would last me for quite a while at my current rate of cultivation. I was a bit worried about the trial though. The ring master must be desperate to be willing to commit to that, and I was guessing his trial wasn't going to be anything to sneeze at if we had to earn that kind of payoff. We would pass it though, and after that...we'd see exactly what this plan of his was.
     
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  24. Threadmarks: chapter 193
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    This entire thing had gotten way out of hand. From our original mission all the way to this crazy trial, we'd been reeling since we first came to this place. While joining up with Cicero might be a bit premature, and I wasn't planning to let him know about my ability (G rank wasn't nearly strong enough to consider partnering with) it put us firmly on offense. While I knew punching all my problems didn't work, I was deeply uncomfortable being so reactive all the time. Taking the initiative would help me feel a bit more in control, and if I needed to take a test to do it I'd take one.

    On the upside, Callie had outdone herself this time. We needed better gear, and while we could afford G ranked stuff, we would all be ranking up before long hopefully. Much like I'd gotten H rank gear for my first set, this would future proof our loadout for a while, and considering the gap between cultivation ranks, it would be a decently long while. I was glad we didn't have to pay for that shit ourselves, because based on what I'd seen of custom gear prices in the crafting hall, an F ranked seat for each of us would cost WAY more than we had access to.

    So, with the formalities out of the way, we followed Cicero through the tent and out the back to another, larger space, that I was pretty sure wasn't actually there from the outside. When we stepped in, a series of torches in the same green as the stripes on the outside of the tent burst into life, illuminating the entire tent for us to take in. Weirdly, there was no green tint to the light, and while the torches were green, the light cast was just the neutral illumination of normal colored flame. It was an odd sensation, but I'd seen weirder so I shook it off, following Cicero to one side where a table lay.

    On the table was a document, and when I scanned over it I realized it appeared to be a neutral contract. A series of terms that seemed fairly universal, like an NDA and guarantees of safety for both parties from the other for the duration of the contract were scrawled out over an empty stretch of page. Cicero gestured to the paper. "This is a contract frame. High level scribes write and sell them. The terms are neutral and broadly applicable, though they come in multiple variations. You fill in the terms, and then you sign them and they bind you to the outline. The signatures don't bind by mistake or unknowingly or if you don't agree, so don't worry. Once we get the terms hammered out we can double check."

    We wrote out the terms as agreed upon, and Callie let me do this part. While I wasn't one for politics I KNEW contracts. Not from any sort of specific training exactly, but because my dad basically treated life like a contract. Everything was about terms and conditions, as was made clear by his geas with Zeke. Recursion actually explained A LOT about the way dad was. I had no clue how Zeke had ended up as normal and functional as he was, though his tendency for drama was probably the biggest side effect of his cultivation.

    While I outlined everything Callie DID chip in, adding her thoughts on different terms and phrasing, and her notes weren't bad. I didn't take all of them, and she didn't question the ones I dismissed, but in the end we came up with a half decent contract. The terms basically stated that if we passed the trial we would be given the details of the plan. Assuming we accepted our participation in the plan Cicero would arrange for our custom gear immediately, and we would be given the costumes before being expected to go on our assignment.

    Theoretically it was possible we might take the trial and fail, or decide not to participate in the plan, and if so we would end up with nothing, but given what was at stake neither of those options was likely. Once we confirmed and signed I felt the binding settle over me, and I made a note to pick up some contract frames just in case. I probably should have gotten the Skill itself but...I didn't want it. I didn't resent my dad quite as much as Callie did hers, but I definitely didn't want to become him. I was fine using contracts other people wrote or when I needed them. I didn't want my life to become a transaction. My Wish power already made it close enough to that.

    Finally, Cicero rolled up the scroll, slipping it into his red waistcoat. "Well then my friends, it seems that we've come to an accord." He stood up gracefully, and between his manner of speech and how he moved, not to mention the hat, I could see Spruce Bunny in him now that I knew to look. The brothers were very similar people in some ways. He gestured off to the side. "Now, if you'll follow me to the center of the tent I have your trial arranged already." Which confirmed that he'd known how this would go. This guy was much more dangerous than he seemed. I could respect that.

    We followed him to the center of the tent and he gestured to the open area behind him. "This particular test will be quite a challenge. It will involve the use of multiple skill sets. Stealth, acrobatics, and of course you'll be engaging in combat. If you'll both stand over there." He gestured to a small circle in the dirt floor of the ring we were in, and we walked over to stand in it, turning back to look at him. "Well, good luck on your trial, you're free to concede at any time if you wish to leave, safety first after all. Oh, and you might want to bend your knees to cushion the landing."

    I cocked my head and was about to ask what he meant, when the ground dropped out from under us and we plummeted about a hundred feet, landing on the stone floor in a long corridor. It didn't hurt, with our Impact a hundred feet wasn't enough to do any damage. Still, we did bend our knees to take the drop, no reason to make these things harder than they had to be. When we landed I rolled my eyes, looking up at the hole we'd fallen through. "Was that necessary?" I called up to Cicero. "We couldn't have taken the fucking stairs?"

    A laugh floated down from the space above us. "Oh heavens no. We don't keep stairs down to that place, all the monsters would get out. In any case, feel free to give up at any point, otherwise getting to the center means you pass. If you forfeit we'll get you out quick as you like, though you'll need to come back to this spot to have yourselves pulled up. If you get to the center and bring back what is there, you pass. There shouldn't be anything too bad down there...probably." That last part sounded absently uncertain.

    I had been starting to walk, but I froze and looked back up. "What the fuck do you mean, "probably" you don't KNOW what's down here?" There was a conspicuous silence and I growled in rage. "You asshole, there's something in here you want and you aren't sure you can get it. You're using this test as an excuse to have us retrieve it for you. How did this place even get here? Is it past G rank? Because if it is, I'll count that as hard and a violation of the contract and we'll be leaving and collecting our payment too."

    There was an annoyed click of the tongue. "Calm down, it isn't above G rank. My brother left something down there. He arranged that maze so that only he would be able to pass through it. My plan to deal with Melissa requires that item to advance, and so I need you to retrieve it. Theoretically I could have gotten it at any time, but the maze is dangerous, and it's safe enough down there. Now, however, it is needed. You can still back out, and there won't be a penalty, but to continue on this path will require that item."

    I wanted to just leave, this had become a mess, but honestly...I kind of wanted to see if we could do it. I had saved today's wishes, so if we got into trouble Callie could get us out, and Abel was supposed to be this epic badass. I wanted to see what his tests were like. How they worked. Whether I measured up. I cocked my head at Callie. She bit her lip before nodding, and I sighed, though whether in relief or exasperation at the both of us I wasn't sure. "Fine!" I shouted up. "But I'm going to hit you for this. You won't know when it's coming. But it's going to happen." I turned and stalked off down the passageway, muttering to myself. "Fucking labyrinths all over the damn place."

    As Callie caught up to me I cocked my head at her. "You don't seem surprised. By any of this really. Was he secretly obvious about it and I was just too dumb to notice?" I hadn't expected any of this nonsense. Though I was glad I'd slipped those nullification terms into the contract, because having the option to kill the arrangement and get paid anyway if he pushed it too far was definitely reassuring.

    She squeezed my hand. "No. I was just pretty skeptical of his whole persona from the start. Kind amiable people don't tend to last long when dangerous rogue factions are working to undermine them at all times. While I'm sure some of that sob story was true, more likely the power struggle is a bit more cut throat than he made it sound. Anyone who takes control of an entire WCP faction and holds off all comers is probably at least a bit of a bastard. Granted, he could just be a total monster in combat, but given he said his brother was the more talented I was guessing he was just a sneaky fuck."

    I clicked my tongue in distaste. I'd missed all that. He'd seemed so nice, I hadn't really considered that. She clearly noticed my change in demeanor because she smiled at me. "It's fine, really. At lower levels you're less likely to run into people like that. Recursion pushes people to act as they appear to others, and you need a serious well of willpower to resist it consistently. People with that much control are more common the higher up you go, but most of the people we've met so far are more likely to be what they appear. Backstabbing and hypocrisy become less unusual as you go higher up."

    Which made sense. Villains who didn't bother to resist recursion would just be overtly untrustworthy. The negative traits they had would be obvious from their legends, and heroes at lower levels tended to be pushed towards being more upright in accordance with the stories about them. We wouldn't see people hiding their nature as much until later on. I tried to imagine having to constantly resist and fight my nature, and it sounded exhausting, I wasn't sure how Cicero did it.

    Since his reputation appeared to be as a sad but kind man filled with regret, people would underestimate him. I wondered how much of what Emery had told us was specifically leaked by Cicero to make himself seem more sympathetic. I was betting this Melissa woman had no clue who she was really dealing with, otherwise she'd have leaked it to ruin his reputation. Shaking off the thoughts I realized right now it didn't matter. We had a labyrinth to get through, and...something in the center, to find. I really wished he had told us what it was.
     
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  25. Threadmarks: chapter 194
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    The hallways in this labyrinth were boring. Yellow stone blocks stacked in a staggered pattern for stability, lit by more of those weird green torches that had sparked up as soon as we got down here. As we moved further into the hall, we crept carefully. Lies or not, Cicero's mention of stealth had definitely put the idea in our heads, and it was obvious that we'd be less likely to be attacked if nothing noticed us, so we slowed our steps along the rough stone floor tiles to erase as much of our presence as possible with each step.

    I grabbed a hold of Callie's hand as we snuck, the two of us sharing the stealth burden, and allowing the other to hear when we spoke. I still whispered when I asked. "OK, I'm assuming there will be traps here. I absolutely won't let us get blindsided if I can help us, but using Seek Hidden to search for traps is pretty damn general. I might be able to force it if I beat the skill into shape, but it'll be a huge strain, and I won't be able to detect anything until we get right up next to any traps. You're going to have to keep us safe while I do that."

    She gave me a reassuring smile. "Of course. You know I can handle it. I can use my ability to cloak us even more than the stealth skill does. The wells are far enough away that there are plenty of darker spots between the islands of torch light. Leave it to me." She squeezed my hand, and we both focused hard, reaching for our skills. Seek Hidden flared to life, and I was barely able to force it to search for something as broad as traps by massively reducing the area it could detect any targets in.

    As we walked, I saw the telltale red glow start to spark up, and pulled Callie to a stop. "Wait." She looked at me in confusion. "This entire corridor is riddled with traps. Even within a few feet of us, I can see at least five of them. I...I think there are some behind us too. From what I can tell, this place is set up so once we pass a certain point all the traps trigger at once. I don't know WHICH point, but if this density is consistent there could be dozens of the damn things around here."

    She froze, not daring to take another step, and I glared down at the ground near us. I was pretty sure the walls might be rigged too, but the trigger mechanisms looked like they were in the floor. I cursed. "Just within sight I can see some spike traps on the floor, a few swinging blades in the ceilings, and what I'm pretty sure is some kind of shaft that carries boiling oil. This whole place is a death trap. Forget combat prodigy, Abel had the skills to walk through this that power of his is scarier than I thought."

    I wondered exactly how his power worked. Spatial lubrication was weird, but paired with sufficiently high Focus, it would essentially be slowing down time. At least thats how I thought it would work. The thought was terrifying, but not as terrifying as all these fucking traps. I was seriously going to hurt Cicero over this. We could have died down here. We could STILL die down here. I doubted that bastard even cared, he was probably just focused on getting whatever Abel had left down here for safekeeping.

    Callie frowned, but then here eyes flew open wide. "Hah! I wish I had a Beginner Trap Mastery skill!" I blinked. That...holy shit, I hadn't even considered that. I wasn't entirely sure I had the stats to make that happen, but I had gotten a huge bump recently so it might be possible. Before I could respond, she bit her lip. "Wait, payment...I need to give you something. I'll offer enough of my stealth knowledge to get your Skill to Lesser." I blanched at that. Giving me that much was going to damage her stealth Skill. Maybe not enough to bring it below Beginner considering the huge gap in scale between ranks, but it would be A LOT of memories to lose, and it would HURT.

    The familiar lines of rolling purple flame spiderwebbed across my vision, scrawling out a series of words.Wish detected. Grant wish? I confirmed, curious to see exactly what this would cost. I'd never given anyone a Beginner Skill before. Stat points sufficient. Requirements: 240 Perception, 189 Focus, 246 Creation, 36 Impact. I almost fell over at the numbers. Over seven hundred points needed to make this work. I was pretty sure it was only even possible because Trap Mastery was an extremely basic Skill too. Something complicated like Balam Mastery or one of the more esoteric skills wouldn't have been possible for me yet. I was pretty sure I'd need over a thousand points to make those happen.

    The conversion for Skill creation got steeper every rank, which made sense considering how much more potent and insane Skills got as they ranked up. Still, this was enough. I squeezed her hand. "You're sure you want to do this?" This was going to be agonizing for her. She just nodded, and I sighed, resigning myself to seeing her suffer as the Wish began to build under my skin. Purple electricity danced over me, building and whipping over my skin, rolling across me, gathering power as it went. It was denser than it had ever been, brighter too, but I just wanted it over with. No matter how gorgeous the lightning was I didn't want to drag this out.

    The wish broke with the snap of a rubber band releasing its tension and spilled down my hand and into Callie. I pulled her against me, not wanting to let her slip and fall into the corridor to trigger a trap, and covered her mouth as she started to scream. I closed my eyes, hating this, and rested my forehead against hers, closing my eyes. Oddly, our heads touching seemed to make transferring the knowledge easier, with her memories flowing in faster than any wishes I had made before.

    It lasted for a while, and while less painful than usual, the longer time kind of made me wonder if this was the best way to do things. It might have just been a factor of a much larger wish however, and it showed me there was still plenty of things to learn about my power. When it ended, I was holding Callie up, and we were both exhausted and shaking. I'd never channeled that much power before, and my head was killing me. Apparently the larger the wish compared to my stats the more it took out of me to grant it, though it was still well within my power.

    I stood there, holding Callie up, until she came back to herself, groaning in agony. "Ow. Ow. Ow. That was...awful.
    There's so much nonsense in my head now. Things I never knew, or really cared that much about even. I know so much about traps. Like...an absurd amount. I can probably build most of the ones in here myself at this point. My stealth is still Beginner, but only barely. I feel like I'm missing part of my skillset. It's going to take me weeks to shore up the weird gaps in my brain. How about you?" She looked at me questioningly, wincing as the light speared into her sensitive eyes.

    Wishmaster candidate status. G-rank. Ability: Beginner Wish- Five times a day grant a Beginner 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-97
    Impact-12
    Fantasy-21
    Vitality-44
    Focus-63
    Perception-80
    Creation-82


    Skills:Beginner Doom Sovereign Mastery,Lesser Enchanting Mastery, Lesser Cooking Mastery,Lesser Inventing Mastery, Lesser Stealth Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery,Minor Poker Mastery, Minor Archery Mastery, Minor Boxing Mastery, Minor Balam Mastery, Minor First Aid Mastery, Minor Herbalism Mastery

    I hadn't checked my stats in a bit, and the new Creation bump was definitely nice at least. I needed to shore up Fantasy, and Vitality was a close second. Still, when I checked my skills I found what I was looking for. "Yup. Lesser Stealth. That's going to be a huge help going forward." I set her down on her feet, being careful to keep my hands near her in case she wobbled or fell so she wouldn't be in danger from the traps. "So, how about we take a minute to let you head settle and my energy shore up, and we can take a crack at these traps?"

    She nodded slowly, steadying herself. "Yeah, sounds good. I'm sure I can take apart any trap made by anyone G rank or below. The Skills from wishes are always so damn comprehensive." They were, though I wasn't sure that would continue to be the case. From what I could tell as Skills improved they required more individual conception to grow. Less foundational knowledge and more what the person felt was the right path, changing and shaping the Skill as they went to make it their own. I had no clue how that would work going forward. I knew it would still be possible to wish for Skills, but I suspected past Beginner they would start getting much more expensive to grant to others.

    It didn't matter though. My three times modifier should make it easier to keep up with that as I went along. I'd worry about the rest of it later. I put a hand on Callie's shoulder. "Alright, are you ready? My energy is back where I need it to try Seek Hidden again." My skill had dropped when I was distracted, so I'd need to use it again if I wanted to help her track down the traps. "It's your show, so just let me know exactly how to arrange the skill. What kind of radius do you need? And should we look for something specific?"

    To my surprise she just grinned and shook her head. "Not necessary. With my Perception I can pick up the small discrepancies in the stones here. I just need you to list the traps that you already saw and I can compare them to my read on the situation. If they match up then it means the traps here are within my capability to find and disarm. Luckily this Skill relies heavily on Perception and that's my most impressive stat. Go ahead and list out the different traps you saw and point to them."

    I began pointing out spots where I had seen traps, mentioning the specific dimensions and placement in detail. My high Focus made my memory crystal clear, even without using the Seek Hidden skill again, and I was able to give her accurate descriptions of every trap I'd seen down to shape and structure. The more I spoke, the more excited she got, and I could tell that my skill had found exactly the same things she had noticed. I was pretty sure she was actually resonating Perception with the Trap Mastery Skill itself in order to detect them, because no matter how much I stared I saw nothing, but that wasn't really important.

    Once I'd listed everything out, Callie closed her eyes and exhaled. "Alright then. That should be everything I need. Looks like this is exactly the Skill for this problem." She grinned and began to stretch. "Now there's a few ways to do this, first off I can slowly deconstruct each trap to open a way up for us, but that'll take hours. So we're going to do it the second way. Use Leaf on the Wind and cloud step to get back to the entrance so you're out of the way." I cocked my head, not understanding what she was getting at. She didn't mind clarifying though, and her grin got predatory as she responded to my unspoken question. "I'm going to set all the traps off all at once." Huh, maybe there was a reason we were so compatible. She was just as crazy as I was sometimes.
     
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  26. Threadmarks: chapter 195
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    Getting out of the trap corridor without triggering the traps was a lot easier with Callie's directions, though admittedly my ability to not touch the ground for several hundred feet didn't hurt. Once I settled down where we had landed, I leaned against the wall to wait. Cicero, who was apparently waiting up there, yelled down to me. "Are you giving up? I didn't expect you to leave your lady love behind. Children these days are so cruel. Shall I send you down a ladder so you can get out of there?"

    I sneered up at him, though between my mask and being in a literal hole in the ground, he couldn't see. "We aren't quitting, I'm just giving her space to work. Also, if I wanted to get out of this hole I wouldn't need a ladder, I could be punching you in the throat before I finished this sentence, I'm just not willing to do so before we accomplish the objective and earn those suits. Don't suppose you're willing to just cut the bullshit and tell us what it is we're looking for?
    The whole mysterious game master thing was old before it even started."

    I heard a chuckle float down through the dark. "It's a piece of paper. Tied with a red ribbon. I won't be telling you any more. Just bring it to me and you'll get your reward. I would pay more attention to your lady, however. My brother's defenses are nothing to sneeze at. Anyone save Abel could easily die facing those traps alone. She could be in grave danger and might need your help." He sounded genuinely concerned. But then, he'd also sounded like a nice guy before he dropped us in a fucking hole, so I trusted that about as far as I could throw my car.

    Turning away, I decided to ignore the mustachioed asshole and focus on my girlfriend. Callie had started to stretch a bit, getting herself ready with a series of graceful bends that never brought her into the path of the triggers for any of the traps. Once that was done she started bouncing on her toes. Despite the weight of her body her bouncing was light and fluid, and after she built up some momentum she landed smoothly and with no lag time darted forward off her toes, using the same bouncing motion to push herself forward at blurring speeds.

    She blasted into the hallway, feet touching lightly in a series of seemingly random places as she almost floated from one spot to the next, using every bit of Perception and Might together with her new skill to avoid any of the traps as she moved. Each tap of her feet set off a new trap, and I almost had to look away as she was nearly skewered, burned, sliced, and various other terrible fates. Despite the close calls though the traps never managed to actually touch her, not even her hair was damaged by the attacks as she whirled and spun between the dangerous mechanisms.

    I could see the influence of her Balam Mastery in her movements, the cyclical dance of her evasion resembling nothing so much as a dissipating whirlwind. Each rotation began to fade as if dispersing before she lightly spun up again. It was staggering to see. Her dodges and pirouettes were almost a dance, skating gracefully from on spot to the next in a series of movements that would have been terrifying if she were an enemy, but instead were just absolutely breathtaking to behold. I was mesmerized watching her, and I got so caught up in the beauty I almost forgot to be afraid for her. Almost.

    By the time she finished darting through the corridor, the whole place was a fucking wreck. Spikes, blades, acid, fire, tons of other traps I hadn't even noticed (including a really nasty looking needle attack that she managed to swirl away with her coat without actually getting any stuck in the fabric) the stone hallway was absolutely destroyed. I looked around, checking for more traps with Seek Hidden before I walked back in, but didn't see anything. Even the traps from earlier in the hallway had triggered and tried to kill her, but she'd just slipped between all of them.

    I whistled appreciatively. "Damn. This was quite a gauntlet. How is it going to reset though? These can't all have been single use traps can they?" Having to reset these every time would have been a labor of months. No way Abel could have made it back in here to get his shit without setting them off. Though the mess did make it clear why we'd been sent in. I was guessing Cicero had sent plenty of people down here before. I wondered how many of them were dead. I was guessing more than a few.

    Callie nodded. "They are. You notice when we landed we had a bit of space before the trap corridor started? That area was the beginning of the gauntlet originally. There were a few signs of it once I got the trap Skill. Whoever came down here before undoubtedly died in the attempt." Her voice was cold, and I could understand why. Cicero had set us up to die. What had we done to deserve that? Ruthless or not, this was a massive provocation for no apparent reason. Why would he do something like this?

    I asked Callie and she frowned contemplatively. "I'd say desperation. If he sent every random person who came his way down here it would have long since gotten out. This can't be normal behavior. He's panicking over the impending crisis. We showed up and offered to help, but he isn't buying that we can deliver. This way he either gets rid of fake helpers, or gets what he wants and proof we can follow through. It's pretty fucked up, but I can at least see the logic there. Doesn't mean I'm not pissed about it though."

    I was pissed too. This guy had tried to fuck us over. We needed to work with him for the moment, or I'd have tried to switch sides and help his dissenter oust him, but this wouldn't be the end of this. I was going to make sure he fucking paid for this. Panicked or not, no one got away with doing something like this to me, and damn sure not to Callie. Not while I was around. I could see in Callie's face that she was just as furious, though admittedly she was better at controlling it. Still, I didn't say anything out loud. I didn't think he could hear us, if I did I wouldn't have granted her wish, but we needed to focus.

    Callie laid a hand on my arm, not wanting to be too specific about it just in case, but wanting to reassure me. "I have some things in mind. Just leave it to me. We can talk more when we get home. As she looked me in the eye, lowering her voice a bit to speak softly, I realized that I had massively underestimated how angry she really was. Callie's blue eyes were basically ships of ice, and her jaw was white with fury. She was good at keeping up her image, but being this close, between my Perception and how comfortable she was with me, I could see how angry she really was.

    A small, vicious smile spread across my face under my mask. I'd thought for a moment she'd just written this off as the cost of doing business but I could see in that fury and answering call for payback to what roiled in my gut. I wasn't the only one who took it personally when someone endangered a loved one. She was just as furious at me being in danger as I was at the risk to her. I gave a long, slow nod, making sure she knew that I could see her fury and was willing to wait for it. I trusted her.

    With that done, we turned to make our way back down the hallway. There were no more traps, so we didn't need to work around any obstacles. Still, the Skill was going to come in plenty handy moving forward I was pretty sure. I was glad I'd been able to give her one more layer of safety. We both watched the corridor ahead of us carefully, letting our attention wander ceaselessly, never resting in one spot as we made our way forward. As we stepped forward I saw a slight disturbance, putting an arm out to stop her.

    I spoke up absently, focusing on what was in front of us. "Wait. Did you see that? I could have sworn I saw something move just then." I sighed internally. This was the very last trope I wanted to play into while stuck in a hostile underground labyrinth, but ignoring a danger would be infinitely worse. So, despite feeling like a character from a horror movie I scanned the corridor as thoroughly as possible, until I realized my mistake and almost literally face palmed. "Wait, hold on. I can find whatever it is."

    Activating Seek Hidden, I focused on finding whatever enemy had just been moving. Even though I didn't know what the damn thing was, just being able to focus on something that specific relieved a lot of the strain of the skill. I flicked my eyes quickly over the tunnel, looking for the telltale red glow of the enemy I was searching for, and didn't see much of anything as I scanned the nearby walls and floor. I was beginning to think I'd imagined the whole thing, until I chanced a glance UP.

    I froze. Seek Hidden had been looking for the enemy I'd seen moving, but the general shape I'd imagined for the skill had been to search for that TYPE of enemy. I hadn't really consciously considered that, and I wouldn't have thought it would matter even if I had. In this case however, I was wrong. Because searching for the TYPE of enemy revealed the enemy I'd seen, and all the rest of them too. In point of fact, it revealed dozens of the damn things. Dozens of fucking SPIDERS hanging from the ceiling and glaring down at us.

    Swallowing hard, I turned to look at Callie, who appeared to have been scanning the ground like I had. I cleared my throat. "So, weird question. Are you by any chance arachnophobic?" I tried to keep my voice calm and level, despite the crawling my skin was doing at the sight of all those eight legged horrors. I wasn't arachnophobic myself, but I was deeply unsettled by spiders, and Callie had a lot more exposed skin than I did.

    She turned slowly to look at me, her face looking hesitant for the first time in quite a while. "Not exactly, but spiders and snakes really freak me out..." She trailed off, her tone shifting to one of worry. "Why?" I pointed up at the ceiling, and she tilted her head back slowly, looking up at the hanging monsters, all G ranked themselves, like a convict accepting a sentence. She swallowed too. She stared up at the swarm of disgusting bug beasts for a few seconds warily before finally speaking. "Ah. Well. Fuck."

    The speaking of those three words seemed to act almost as some kind of signal. The spiders all released their holds on the ceiling and began to plummet toward us, screeching a terrifying high pitched battle cry of arachnid fury as a fucking CLOUD of the things fell to blanket us. Callie reacted instantly, pulling in a wave of shadow to try to block off the attack, but the things were too spread out, and too strong. They hit the huge dome of shadows and started tearing through them. I snarled up the spiders. "Ok, seriously, I'm going to break Cicero's nose when we get out of this shit." Well, IF we got out of it. But hey, no need to jinx it.
     
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  27. Threadmarks: chapter 196
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    I was not proud of my reaction to the cloud of arachnids trying to tear through the shadow dome. "Spiders! Holy shit no! Keep them away!" Despite NOT having a phobia, something about a huge swarm of spiders raining down on us was absolutely the most terrifying thing I could imagine. The bone wyvern had absolutely nothing on these things, despite being literally a thousand times the size at least. Without thinking at all I triggered Boiling Cloud, unleashing a wave of superheated steam right at the wriggling bastards as they writhed above us.

    Callie flinched and yelped, batting at the cloud, which didn't really manage to get all the way through the dome very well. She glared at me. "Solomon, sweetie, can you maybe not melt our fucking faces off? I don't like the things either, but having my eyeballs boiled is even lower on my list of things to try than spider baths." Her voice was a bit stiff with discomfort, though that skill wasn't really designed for single target damage so much as diversion and distraction, so her face didn't get too badly burned, and her Vitality caused the slight redness to fade after.

    Even so I winced in horror. "I am so sorry. I wasn't even thinking, I know better than yo use that damn skill in close quarters. I should have guessed it would get bottled up." I sometimes lost track of when Callie's shadows were and were not solid. I reached down to wrap my arm around her waist. "Ok, I'm going to get us out of the way, just wait until my signal and drop the dome ok? I can use Leaf on the Wind to carry us both out of the way. Just let me know when you're ready ok?"

    She shook her head wryly, but she had a smile on her lips. "It's fine. It wasn't fun, but neither of us were hurt much. I'll count to ten and drop the dome. Just be ready to get us clear as soon as it comes down." I nodded, making sure Leaf on the Wind was refreshed and readying a cloud step if needed. Callie started to count down backwards from ten, and when she hit one I jerked her back by the waist and threw myself backwards full force, pulling her with me as I resonated the skill through both of us.

    It was a huge strain extending the skill over the two of us, but keeping Callie safe was my priority, closely followed by getting the fuck away from all those spiders, preferably as far from them as humanly possible. As the dome came down I was glad I'd put in the effort, beacuse there was a squeal of predatory glee from the creepy spider fucks as they plummeted through the air right at our faces and by the time I stopped with my arm around Callie twenty feet away, the spiders had already reached the spot our heads had occupied when the drop began. I shuddered in fear at the thought of one of those on my face, mask or not.

    One of the damn things somehow managed to brace itself on another one mid fall and push off it, flying toward us full speed with a sqeal. A crowd of falling spiders was terrifying, but just the one was mostly gross. I removed my arm from Callie's waist, slipped my cane into my hand, stepped up, and swung the cane at the flying arachnid full force like a kid hitting a ball with a stick. The sickening crack and then thump of the cane smashing in part of the spider and then the spider hitting the wall was loud enough that we could hear it even over the chittering.

    I wasn't letting them close in, so I triggered Sucking Mud on the floor between us. They could climb walls, but hopefully that would hold them off for a minute while we got our bearings. I shuddered. "Ok, that was deeply unpleasant. I count twenty four left. They're G rank, but also small and weak, which is good right?" Small was relative, they were about the size of a palm, but still, normal mortals could smash normal spiders. G ranked spiders should be more than killable by someone at the same rank.

    Callie shook her head, staring in annoyance and disgust at the writhing mass. She raised a hand and the walls began to surge with waves of shadow. It wouldn't be enough to spear them or anything, but it would throw them clear and make the floor their only real option. "No. You need stats to get to G rank. If their stats aren't in Might, which I think we would have noticed, they must be in something else. No telling what that is or how dangerous it might be. Given the lack of healing and the fact that we noticed them, I'm guessing whatever it is, it's probably something offensive, maybe in their bite."

    That drew a curse from me. "Well, that's not ideal. Keeping them off the walls is good, but they're pretty light. These stones are pretty porous, so Sucking Mud is less dense than normal, but they'll figure out how to cross eventually. Can you swap the wall waves for blades or something, maybe spear them?" I didn't feel like playing whack-a-spider for the next few hours as we slowly tried to maneuver them into being crushed one by one.

    Sadly nothing was ever that easy. "No. Might isn't infinite. I can only manage so much power in total over all my shadows. Diffusing them that much means I can only exert a small amount of force per square inch. It's a big corridor. None of the individual sections will have enough power behind them to damage a G ranked creature, even a small flimsy one." She gestured to the squirming mass of spiders, scattering and bolting around, trying to climb the walls and find a place on the floor to cross. "They won't sit still either, so a single huge blow is out too."

    I groaned. "Can we snipe them one at a time? If one blow would be enough maybe you could take pot shots at range." We couldn't just stand here until the Sucking Mud wore off. If Callie couldn't do more than waves on the walls, then there was no way she could keep the floor free. The spiders were slipping back away from it as they began to sink in, but I only had twenty plus charges left today. Twelve of those charges would only burn a single hour, and that was assuming I didn't have to tweak the skill at all during that time.

    She shrugged. "Maybe. It could work. Even if it does though, they'll probably try to scatter once the first one dies. I'd need to be able to hit them fast enough that they couldn't avoid it. They're quick little bastards. Not much Might, but they weight very little too. I wish I had a way to hit them faster." She was biting her lip, glaring over at the shifting carpet of spiders. As she said that though I had a thought.

    "Wait." She turned to look at me questioningly. "What if you did. Flurry of Blows could be extended to you. It would give you a few shots at a much faster rate. I'd have to keep using it, but with your Perception you should be able to find the right spots to aim, and Flurry of Blows will make sure they can't dodge." I could practically feel the headache beginning just from thinking about rapid fire spamming of a skill that I had to share with someone else. "You want to give it a try?" I tried not to let the impending pain shake me too much.

    There was no hesitation in her expression as she agreed, and I felt my heart warm a bit at her trust. I knew that letting people use skills on you required you to let your guard down for them, and being willing to open herself up to the power I was using for that long meant a lot to me. I put a hand on her arm, reached down into myself, and triggered Flurry of Blows, pushing it out of me and into Callie, making sure that she got the full brunt of the skill. My brain twinged roughly as I did it, but not as bad as the last time I'd shared a skill. I was pretty sure repetition was helping me improve at this.

    Callie let out a deep breath, closed her eyes for a three count, then opened them and stared coldly at the spiders. She flicked out a hand, and a spinning arrow of darkness blurred across the room, smashing into a spider, with two other arrows landing so soon after it that the sound was almost one continuous noise. I grinned at her and she returned it. "Ok. There were twenty four of these things, so all I have to do is kill twenty one more. Seven more times triggering that skill should be easy enough right? You're not almost at your limit?"

    She looked worried about me, and I smiled under my mask, shaking my head. "Won't even take me down to half of my charges. I should be at thirteen after this." I neglected to mention the head pain, but I didn't want her to worry. I could handle it, I'd just have to take things one charge at a time and try to minimize the damage. The better I got at it the less pain I would feel when I used the skill this way. In fact, I was beginning to have a sneaking suspicion about skill growth the way I was doing it.

    I was pretty sure that when someone changed a Skill, with a capital S, they had to alter it the same way I was doing. The more they changed it and the better they got at that change, the more stable it became. Once the Skill had taken on its stable form, from what I could tell, that would the next form of the Skill. That was how people evolved unique skills, and it was why that path was considered nearly impossible. The more changes you made the more strain, and the harder it was to complete the Skill.

    Normal Skills had a heritage, and method of evolution that you could follow by accruing the knowledge of other people, basically using information to fill in your understanding of the Skill instead of changing it to better suit you so it could evolve naturally. That was why Skills became more individualized as they got stronger, because there was less standardized information and the Skills needed to altered in order to better fit the user so they could fill them up with their own experiences so to speak. You could fill a Skill up with just normal experiences, but it was less efficient and would take much longer than anyone would reasonably spend.

    Beginner DS Mastery was like that too. I needed to alter the Skill to fit me so that I could elevate it. In its current form it would probably take me decades to properly complete it. I could alter it and make it more compatible with me, but none of my changes had taken so far. I was pretty sure that in return for how versatile and powerful it was, altering the Skill was harder in comparison. I needed to change each individual subskill to properly attune it to what I wanted to achieve before I could reach the next level.

    So I focused. I used Flurry of Blows. Then I used it again. I focused on the task of making it a skill that could buff others, that could be spread by touch, and with every use, that became a little more true, my head hurt a little less, and the skill flowed a little more smoothly. This was my first time testing my theories and trying to make a stable long term change, all this information on Skill growth had been the fruit of a ton of research on my down time. In the end though, as the last spider died, I felt the skill click into place in a way I'd never experienced before, and I knew I was right. I'd found the path forward. Now I just had to alter all the other subskills like that. I groaned internally. I really wished I hadn't picked such a convoluted build.
     
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  28. Threadmarks: Chapter 197
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    The rest of the labyrinth was even worse. We spent two hours getting through it. Snakes, bats, locusts, a huge red dog with horns, more traps, guards, and a dozen other equally annoying obstacles sat in our way. After hours of effort though, we managed to get past them all, and we finally trekked into a huge chamber where we didn't see anything except...a person. A tall man standing in the middle of the room stoicly, looking pretty much completely unbothered by our presence. Once he noticed us, his eyes slid over to pin us in place where we stood.

    He raised an eyebrow. "Visitors? That's a novelty. I'm surprised he managed to trick you into coming down here. The last few he sent died. Once they stopped showing up I assumed word had gotten around." He looked over his shoulder at a stone pedestal in the middle of the room. On the pedestal sat a single rolled up piece of paper with a worn red ribbon tied around it in a bow. "I'm not going to let you have it. I'd prefer not to kill you both, so you should just leave. I can still let you go if you turn around now."

    I blinked. I recognized that voice. He wasn't making loud insane proclamations or wearing a bunny mask, but I'd heard that voice more than once now. Spruce Bunny, or rather, this was Abel Castleton...somehow. I cocked my head. "How are you here? We were told you left. We even saw you in G district proper. You were the one who sent us here. Is there a back way into this place or something?" For the life of me I couldn't figure out what was going on here, why he was down here with us.

    Abel shook his head. "I assume you mean the original. This isn't really me. It's a phantasmal guardian. These are expensive to have made. It's a type of enchantment that anchors a copy of a person to a location. I only exist within this room, but because of the enchantment I'd as good as real in here. The original left me to guard this place to make sure my brother didn't get this back." His voice was cold and flat, barely inflected at all, and it shocked me how different he was from the rabbit masked man we had met at the sausage shop.

    That didn't tell me any more than the back entrance would have though. Why would Abel be keeping something from his brother? I'd thought there were on good terms, this was a lot of trouble to go through to keep a piece of paper away from your family. I didn't have a chance at guessing any of it, so I figured I would ask. At the very least I could ask about what the hell the paper was. "He did send us, though he didn't give us much choice or warning. He wanted us to get something but didn't say what. I take it that paper is the target? What is it?"

    He shook his head in exasperation. "No one ever takes Cicero seriously until it's too late. He tries hard to make sure that bad habit continues. I'm, not surprised he tricked you into this. It's his style." He paused, looking pensive. "I suppose I can tell you though, what the paper is. I won't be letting you have it anyway so a bit of a clue isn't going to cause much problem. The answer isn't complicated. It's the deed. When we bought this place from the last owners we signed for it together. Sadly, that means shared ownership, which means he can sell it if he so chooses."

    That...didn't fit with the narrative Cicero was giving us, but then again, he'd proven himself to be pretty untrustworthy. Callie spoke up. "Why? Why do any of this? It's been so much trouble for no real reason, and now he's trying to get the deed? For what? Is he going to sell the circus? Would that even be viable at this point? Who knows if everyone would be willing to calm down and pull back a bit on fighting until this was over."

    Abel shot her a cheerful smile, the first real expression I'd seen on him at this point. "I imagine he's facing pressure. Despite his mercenary nature, Cicero DOES care about his subordinates. I wouldn't have left him in charge if he didn't. I just made sure to leave this here, because I know my bother's habits. He's extremely intelligent, but also something of a coward. He'll fold if he thinks the situation is beyond saving, and I didn't want that to be an option.If he wants to sell this place he needs to come convince me to retrieve it. No one else at G rank should be able to manage it."

    I sighed deeply, not having any other questions. "Alright. Fine, so what's the test here? We playing checkers with you?" I was pretty sure it was a combat oriented test, but I wasn't willing to risk an assumption. Asking might be repetitive to some who knew what was at stake and would have wanted to jump in, but I'd never been one to take information for granted. Trust but verify, that was my personal philosophy. Despite that though, I was pretty sure this wasn't going to be a game of chess, at least not like anything I'd played before.

    Abel chuckled. "Oh no. I'd never set up a test like that. If you want to get past me, you do it like an Ascendant should. Stepping over my corpse. Since you're so young I'll even let you come at me together. If you can beat me you keep the deed. But just so you know this is a very slim chance, I only even offer because I actually like you. Shocking I know, but if my other self got you in. Not exactly perfect, but they would do for now. Now, as I said, you can both come at me together or you can just lose."

    Which was...deeply troubling. I knew what his power was, but not how it worked. Presumably the version of him from outside would have either been stronger or convinced him to stand down because they were the same person. If he was this convinced he shouldn't be able to lose to someone his own rank though, he must be terrifying. Which brought up one more question I had to ask before we started. "What was stopping some F ranker from tearing this place down and just taking the deed?"

    Abel smirked. "You haven't been Ascendants long have you? Despite a qualitative difference in power, lower ranked Ascendants have plenty of ways to limit higher rankers from getting their hands on things. They can't use any of those interdictions you see on some lands of legacy or dungeons that keep out powerful warriors, but the weak have their own methods of self protection." For the first time since we had started talking to the image of Abel, he seemed genuinely excited to share. Not just mocking or sarcastic, but thrilled to tell us all about this interesting thing he knew.

    He gestured around us to the labyrinth. "Mad Madigan, who built this maze for me, is well known for creating vaults that can keep out higher ranking Ascendants. This whole place is a single, delicate spatial construct. It's precisely calculated to contain certain tolerances of Impact. Too much dimensional weight cracks the foundation, and the whole thing disintegrates into the void, destroying everything inside forever. Of course, building spatial constructs on the edge of tipping into the void is INSANE hence the Mad part of his moniker, but before he accidentally got swallowed by a void beast, Mad Madigan was considered a prodigy at spatial arts, so his constructions are all actually very stable."

    That opened up lots more questions, and made me extremely nervous as to what would happen if we somehow managed to crack the space in this place some other way besides being F rank. I briefly felt sick as I considered that WISHES might be able to do something like that, and remembered the thirty six Impact I'd spent on Callie's trap skill in here. I wasn't sure how close we had come to both dying, but at the very least we'd gotten lucky enough to survive. I shook off the horrible image. "Alright, fine, if we need to beat you to pass we'll do it."

    I reached down and put a hand around Callie's waist, triggering Flurry of Blows again. As I'd confirmed earlier, the change to that subskill had been perfected, so it didn't even hurt when I flooded the speed boost into my girlfriend. Callie, feeling the effect take hold, flicked out a hand and sent a series of razor shard shadow blades in at Abel from multiple directions. The enhanced Perception she was so proud of let her see in perfect detail where to attack, exactly how to aim and from what angles she could stab down to prevent him from blocking those hits. She executed the most flawless attack I had ever seen, all her Might driving those blades into the exact right positions, since he was just a copy and she didn't need to worry about killing him.

    None of them touched him. Not a single piece of his clothing got so much as scratched. Her blades were so fast, so deadly, I'd expected anything he did to avoid them to be a blur. I expected him to dart around like a maniac and maybe dodge a few and get cut a couple times in the process. I didn't actually think that would be enough to finish him off, but I had assumed it would be enough to do SOMETHING. I'd been wrong. The blades came down, and he watched them placidly, an expression of mild interest on his face. Then he just...moved.

    It wasn't some kind of superior dodge or anything like that, he didn't contort himself. He moved calmly and slowly, unhurried, and my head HURT watching it. The space around him warped, and his casual, unhurried movements were just more than they should have been. They crossed more distance than was possible. He made a series of lazy, unconcerned shuffles side to side, and every single one of those shadow blades just flowed right by. He watched them go, eyes following them as he moved, and somehow the break in his movements opened up a gap between the strikes where none had been before.

    We just stared at him, terrified, as he smiled gently over at us. "Well, that was certainly a lovely effort. I'm impressed. That level of attack was much more than I expected from a Perception build. That was nearly a five hundred Might strike. Good instincts going for piercing damage too. I assume you used some sort of speed boosting skill. Piercing lends well to that kind of thing, more concentration means more bang for your buck. Meta Skills like that are rare at G rank. You must be very successful. Mind if I ask where it is you came from?"

    I swallowed hard, just staring at the absolute monster in front of us. I had no clue what we could do here. That had been, as he mentioned, a nearly five hundred Might strike. Callie's one hundred fifty seven points of Might amplified three times for the purpose of speed, maximized by penetrating damage. We'd just thrown Might similar to what Cark was throwing around at this guy, and he'd barely even needed to move. "We're from the Unity. The Ascendant Academy." No reason not to be polite.

    He cocked his head. "How...interesting. We don't get many of you down here. Tell you what. Why don't we make this interesting. If Cicero is so desperate to get the deed that he's chucking Academy geniuses down here without worrying what might happen to him, something big must be going on. Still, I can't just give you the deed, it goes against my purpose. You have to pass the trial to get the deed. Still ,you seem like interesting kids." He bit his lip, staring up at the ceiling in contemplation.

    He took his time speaking, as if carefully choosing his words. "I've been stuck in this hole for years, and this is probably my best chance to get out, so I'm willing to talk terms. I'll let you make three rules for the fight. No limiting my power or Skill usage, but physical limitations are in play. However. If you fight me as is, you have to last for two minutes, and the number increases by two for every rule you add." He grinned savagely. "Take your time deciding. Even if I'll be fading soon, I want to have some fun before I go." Somehow. I didn't think that would be a problem. I also didn't think we would be sharing in his joy.
     
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  29. Threadmarks: chapter 198
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    I was surprised he had offered, honestly. That seemed counterproductive for a guardian, but then again having been stuck down here for so long would make any squirrely. It was odd how hearing we were from the Academy had changed his mind, and I realized that Cicero hadn't mentioned that and might not even know it was the case. I turned to Callie, muttering under my breath. "I don't think we have a legitimate chance of beating him at full strength. What he just did was...terrifying. We should limit him with rules, it's our only shot."

    I couldn't believe how strong he was. Not just the Might, we hadn't seen much of that, but just the overwhelming aura of pressure I was feeling from him. It was like being locked in a room with a hungry monster. I felt like nothing we could do could touch him. I remembered Emry mentioning that he was supposed to be the strongest G ranker in the whole WCP, and I thought that I might have underestimated what that meant. I'd heard stories of course, of people who could fight up ranks, but I'd never really seen any evidence of that. I was pretty sure this guy was one of those. No wonder he set the maze up to keep F rankers out.

    Rather than rush us, Abel just stood there casually, an amused smile on his face. Callie and I chatted back and forth for a bit before speaking. We came up with three rules, and Callie was planning to state them, but before she did I had to ask a question. "How are you so strong. I've never seen anyone our rank thats that powerful. Some of the older freshman in the scavenger hunt at the Academy were powerful, but they didn't give me the same feeling of being unbeatable. You just seem like you're on a whole different level."

    Just the way he avoided Callie's strongest blow so easily showed he was in a weight class above ours. He just smiled at me. "You're new. I can tell. People at the Academy, hell most people on Callus, are obsessed with progression. They try to constantly improve and progress, throwing themselves into combat to get more stats. Some of us though, once we get to a reasonable rank where we won't age too fast, like to take our time. There are more ways to grow in power than just getting higher stats. I've been at G rank for decades, honing myself, polishing my abilities. Not to show others or gain renown, but for my own edification."

    I cocked my head, and he chuckled. "Skills are a decent way of illustrating it. With enough time you can get and raise dozens of Skills that qualitatively increase your ability to leverage the stats you have. Its more than that though. Skills are useless if you can't apply them right, and the Skill itself isn't the be all end all of application. Combining skills, maximizing your ability, efficiency, and economy. These are all aspects of combat normal hurried Ascenders ignore completely. "

    I hadn't ever really considered that. Sure, I knew everything he said piecemeal, but I'd never put those things together the way he was talking about. "Is that even worth it though?" I couldn't help but pry. "I mean, maybe you can punch up a rank, but you definitely can't punch up two. Is it worth it to basically hobble your reputation in exchange for power at the level you're at?" I couldn't imagine being stuck at G rank for decades, maybe centuries. Some people were stuck by necessity I knew, but doing it on purpose? How much discipline did that take? Hell, how much had it annoyed Cicero, who was pretty obviously still at G rank and definitely wasn't some kind of combat ascetic. Talk about salt in the wound.

    He shrugged. "I do what I do because it's what I want. I love battle, perfecting myself, growing. I have other interests of course, I like to cook when I have the time, but in a general sense, my life is what I want it to be. Besides, I think of it as solidifying my foundation. Once I perfect my combat art and decide to finally take the stage, I'll demolish the rest of these pretenders. It'll be hard for someone like me NOT to rank up by that point, and it'll give me a much more refined starting place for F rank, carrying over even into later ranks. Now. I believe you two came to an agreement on rules?"

    Callie raised an eyebrow questioningly at me, but when I nodded she exhaled and turned to Abel. "Fine. We're instituting three rules. If you'll accept them. Rule one. You can't move your feet from that spot. If you move them even an inch you lose. Rule two, you can only use one hand, your off hand, whichever that is. Rule three, you can't use any weapons. Only your hand or fist. Do those rules sound acceptable to you?" I didn't expect them to. Honestly they didn't sound acceptable to me. They seemed like overkill.

    Despite that though, they also felt...necessary. Maybe this was Fantasy again, letting us read a bit of the strangeness of the world, maybe our Perception picked something up, or maybe it was instinct. Whatever it was, I felt like we needed these rules to have a chance at winning, and even with them it might not be enough. Abel was just too calm, too collected. None of this seemed to mean much to him, like he was just playing with us, and even with concessions we would be leaving empty handed.

    I didn't trust his comment about wanting to leave, he'd as good as told us that wasn't important to him. He just loved to fight. It was all he cared about. He was doing this because he thought it might amuse him a bit, not as a favor, and that meant he really thought he could still win. Even when we listed the rules, he didn't look upset or worried, just smiling jovially as Callie spoke. "Sure, those are fine. Decent ideas, I'm curious to see how much good they'll do you. I'll let you both decide when your time starts."

    The more he talked the less certain I was that we should be doing this. Still, we didn't have too much choice at the moment. As much as working with Cicero was annoying to consider, it was the best lead we had. I supposed we could approach Melissa as enemies of his for real, but I imagined anyone as sneaky and dickish as he was had countermeasures for that. Besides if he did go and convince the real Abel to come get the thing we'd have burned that bridge for no reason and possibly fucked ourselves in the process.

    Callie and I looked at each other, nodded, and then spread out a bit. Since he could only use one hand, attacking from different sides should give us an advantage. With that done, we confirmed aloud we were starting, and I immediately cast Sucking Mud. I condensed it into a small area, making it reach down instead of out since her couldn't move his feet, and once it was activated we attacked, hoping to distract him from noticing.

    We came in from both sides, my cane lashing out at the mans head while Callie tried to attack his ankles and make him move his feet. Abel just smiled, his expression sharpening from his previous placid joy to a new expression of bloodlust, this new grin all teeth and violence. His left hand lashed out at me, and as it did I had to yelp and retreat because I was positive it was going to hit me, Callie made a similar noise and backed away, and Abel just waved at us mockingly. "Hard to beat me if you don't get close. What are you doing all the way over there?"

    His tone was condescending and teasing, but he wasn't wrong. The issue was that closing the gap was dangerous. The odd lubricated space ability he had was useful for dodging, but in close quarters combat it was deadly. As long as we were within range of his wingspan his fist could basically collapse the distance between us. It wasn't just speed, it changed the way his hand interacted with space in a way that made it feel like his punches were following us without actually changing their trajectory.

    I'd felt a massive sense of danger from that blow, like his punch was inevitable and unstoppable, and I didn't know how strong he was, but I was pretty damn sure it was strong enough that I didn't want to get hit by that punch dead on. Callie looked pale and frightened, and I could tell she'd sensed the same thing I had when she dodged. No wonder he'd agreed to this, rules or not there was very little chance we were going to beat him in the allotted time, We could just retreat and wait him out, but he'd said we had to last in a fight, and I doubted he would count that as a win. We needed to change tactics.

    Abel was grinning at us viciously, but his smile dropped as he looked down at his feet. "Some kind of skill to compromise footing? No, maybe an earth bind. Sneaky. Fine. If you're going to put a shorter clock on this I'll have to stop playing around." I blinked in horror that what he'd been doing so far was considered 'playing around' but I prepared myself as best as I could to block an attack. I stepped over next to Callie and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked over at me and nodded, clearly as worried about this as I was.

    Abel cocked back his fist, and I wondered what the hell he was going to do but I doubted we wanted to just stand here and take it. Callie threw up her hands, erecting the thickest shield of shadows she could manage in front of us, condensing the thing so it only barely took up the space in front of us. I was pretty sure this move was going to be the only one we would manage before this ended given that Abel seemed convinced he was about to end things with this next blow.

    To prevent that I started triggering skills. Consecration of Flame, Mercy Kill, Afterburner,a modified Stone Limb, even Touch of Tears just to add a bit of extra kick. I poured them into Callie as she mounted her strongest defense, and the shield became...more. Harder, dense, and imbued with flashed of green fire in the depths of its now obsidian structure as the thing condensed into an aegis of power the likes of which I'd never seen from any of us. Callie's eyes were wide and her breathing was heavy as she struggled to hold it together.

    Abel in the meantime had thrown his punch, and I realized I'd made a pretty big assumption. No one had ever said Abel's ability was confined to close range. I felt the air warp and shift as Abel reached out to the whole fucking room with his ability, creating that odd lubricated space just like before. He threw the punch, and while it did that same ground eating homing thing the last one had done, it did it with the whole room. My head was splitting as I watched because his fist didn't change size at all but somehow that punch took up as much space as an onrushing train.

    There was a rumbling boom as the fist hit the shield in front of us. Callie had wrapped it around us like a cocoon once she saw the blow coming, making sure the fist didn't have an in. The room shook, and Callie's face paled, noticeable even in the sickly green light inside the thing. Boom after boom echoed out, raining down on us, and Callie's nose started to drip blood as she tanked the hits.

    I used the skills as a medium, passing her as much power as I could, but I didn't really have the skillset for that. Eventually though after what felt like eternity, the booms stopped. An annoyed voice rang out. "Alright. Fine. That's your win. Damn it. The original is going to be so annoyed at me." The shield dissolved and I had to catch Callie as she blacked out. She was smiling as her eyes rolled up though. I guess we really could call that a win.
     
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  30. Threadmarks: chapter 199
    Malcolm Tent

    Malcolm Tent Monkey with a typewriter.

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    I lowered Callie to the ground as the shield collapsed. My head was killing me, multiple skill manipulations aside, channeling Stone Limb into a shadow construct was...hard. I was pretty sure we would have caved if that had taken even a second longer. I wasn't sure if it had really been eight minutes, but even if it hadn't I was damn relieved Abel had conceded the match.

    Once the shield dropped it became more than apparent WHY he had done so. Abel was waist deep in the stone floor of the chamber, looking deeply annoyed. "I get why you made the feet rule now. I didn't expect to get screwed over by something like that, but if you hadn't been able to hold that shield those punches would probably have killed you, so I can't exactly call foul. Fine. You can take the deed. Though I'd appreciate if you got me the hell out of here. I could break out once it solidifies but I'd rather not shatter the floors by accident and drop my ass into the void."

    I was kind of thrown, he seemed so much less...lofty now. Like he'd been putting on an act before. I furrowed my brow at him. "How do I know you won't just kill us when I pull you out?" I had zero hope of beating him on my own, or even with Callie if it came down to it. Even the win we'd gotten was mostly a combination of sneakiness and luck. This guy was on a level I'd never even seen before. I wondered if the upper classmen of the Academy were like him. I'd been impressed with the people we met in the hunt, but he would have torn them apart all at the same time with one hand.

    He rolled his eyes at me. "How do you know I won't kill you if you don't? You have no guarantee that I won't rip you a new asshole except my own desire to keep my word. I said I wouldn't kill you, so I won't. Hell, I could finish you from here if I really wanted to. This whole conversation is just one big presumption. Besides. You'll need to pass me to get the deed, and control of the territory requires the deed. " His voice sounded exasperated and a little annoyed, but calm enough that I wasn't worried about him killing us.

    I hesitated, but he was right. I walked over and held out a hand, and when he took it I pulled him out of the pit. I let the Sucking Mid skill lapse before I set him back down, and he brushed off his clothes casually before stopping, staring at the still clinging dirt, and glaring at me. He kept brushing, doing his best to clear off his clothes before he rolled his eyes and turned them to face me.

    Once I hard his attention I moved to the side, trying to put myself in the way of Callie just in case. Once that was done I raised an eyebrow. "Ok, you're free. Now can you tell me more about this deed? You made it sound like it's special. I get having ownership of the land is useful, but a piece of paper isn't exactly some invincible artifact. Does it really matter who has the deed?" I flicked my gaze to the rolled up piece of paper on the pedestal behind him, trying to spot anything special or interesting about it.

    Abel just rolled his eyes. "Babies, the lot of you. The land owned by the WCP belongs to the WCP. That's not just a tautology, it's a magically binding declaration. They claimed this territory. There are high ranking implications for things like that, but on a planet like this the main function of the deed is that it entitles the holder to access the protective measures the WCP puts in place. Someone who own a deed is a designated land holder, and their authority is designated by the Deacon."

    That made sense. The Flame Riot Militia for instance, didn't have the authority to ask for protection from the WCP. The had their own organization, but they weren't entitled to membership perks. "So you're saying if anyone screws with the deed holder the others all...what? Dog pile them when they get out of line? Some kind of mutual aggression pact?" That was impressive, but it didn't really sound like magic. He'd made it sound like there was some kind of force that would strike down on violators.

    Sure enough, the question got a head shake. "No. There are literal defenses. Wards, gun emplacements, that kind of thing. As long as the attackers don't breach the tier barrier the other signatories don't step up, but even taking down a deed holder with same rank enemies is nearly impossible with access to the defenses. If he's trying to retrieve the deed the situation must be bad, but that's the reason I hid it from him. With the defenses it shouldn't be an issue to deal with most G ranked threats. Unless the original me is helping them he should be fine. Still, you passed the trial so if he has people like you around and is still in trouble I suppose it might be necessary."

    I had another thought though. A terrible thought. "These are WCP defenses right? So would someone with a high enough access level be able to override them?" I didn't think Cicero was aware of the other candidate, but I was. We had black cards that gave us unfettered access to the WCP. We had to pay for that access when it was needed, but things like transportation were free, so maybe access to the protections was too.

    He cocked his head quizzically. "I mean...I guess if you theoretically had access that surpassed the Deacon of the branch maybe. I don't think they even have access levels that high though, or at least I've never heard of them." I had. At least I was pretty sure I had, but it introduced a variable no one else was aware of in either case. That was something I'd need to take into account.

    The biggest surprise was the tier limit. I'd known the higher tiers didn't interfere in this kind of thing for fear of starting an all out war, but knowing there was a codified rule when it came to land owners cast that in a much more reliable light. Before it had been entirely predicated on people being smart enough to do what was best for them, and I didn't have much faith in that when it came to money and power. This at least explained why the Jerks and their friends hadn't steamrolled Cicero, or at least why they hadn't tried. The defenses were scaring them off, and even if their candidate could shut them down it would be announcing their existence way too early.

    My head hurt. I hated politics. None of this made any real sense to me, and all the mitigating factors and secondary motives were adding to my already absurd migraine. I walked over to pick up the deed before turning to Abel, or rather, Abel's...clone? His double. "So, what happens to you after this? Do you die? Fade away? You're some kind of guardian right? Will you still be here without anything to guard?" I'd never seen Spruce Bunny fight, but Abel (this Abel) was a damn monster. He'd left an impression, and part of me felt a loss for the world if he just vanished.

    He shrugged. "I'm not really a person, kid. I'm a snapshot. People grow, they change. The original me will have been training for all the years I've been down here, and he'll be much stronger than I am for the effort. Me vanishing isn't death, its more like someone deleting a video. Trust me, if I was a real boy I'd have gone crazy sitting down here in this room for years on end. It speaks well of you that you're worried about it, but don't be. If anything, I'm grateful."

    That left me flabbergasted. "Grateful? To us? But we beat you. Now you're just vanishing. If you're self aware enough to have this conversation shouldn't you be self aware enough to want to live?" I didn't understand how this could work. He seemed so at peace with fading, and thinking of myself in the same situation I'd be terrified out of my mind. He was just going to be gone.

    He just chuckled. "Grateful because I was bored. Just because I can't change enough to lose my mind doesn't mean I'm not aware. This place was boring the hell out of me. You entertained me for a bit and I appreciate it. As for being afraid...how to explain this? You ever look in a mirror?" I nodded impatiently, obviously I'd looked in a mirror what kind of question was that? "Right, when you move away from the mirror, does your reflection look scared? Do you think it feels discomfort at the idea of vanishing?"

    I hadn't considered that, but it still felt weird to just leave him to fade. "I guess not. Do your memories go to your other self at least? Like will he know all the things you've done for him? Also when are you going to fade? You still seem fine, is there some way we can preserve you?" I just couldn't accept someone who'd impressed me so much vanishing like they didn't even exist. I even considered trying to drop a hint to get him to wish to be real, but I was pretty much dead certain I didn't have the stats to CREATE a G ranked Ascendant out of some illusion guardian.

    Sadly, there was nothing to be done. Even as I asked the question I noticed him starting to become less solid. He saw my expression and shrugged. "The guardian enchantment was anchored to the deed. Now that its gone so am I. Don't worry too much about it kid, I had fun in our fight. Say hey to the original me when you see him will you?" He gave me a casual salute with his ring and middle finger before just...vanishing. He'd been fading and then he just popped like a soap bubble.

    I held the deed in my hand, staring at the spot he'd been with a complicated expression before walking over to pick up Callie. My unconscious girlfriend groaned and nuzzled against me, and I wiped blood from under her nose tenderly. She'd done a lot of the heavy lifting there. I decided I'd focus on making the alterations to some of my DS Mastery subskills defensive. I had a few things in mind. I had ways to cover most eventualities but I needed to be a bit more focused with my build to maximize my combat strength. Now that I knew how to upgrade I was going to turn DS Mastery into a truly powerful Skill.

    As I made my way back through the labyrinth I smiled down at Callie. I needed to catch up to her stats so I could be a proper partner. My skills bridged the gap a bit, but we'd seen we both had a long way to go. I'd become so focused on the sprint to F rank I'd been letting myself lean too hard on stats. Abel showed me that the higher year students were probably much stronger than we were. With all that extra time to polish themselves they were probably dangerous as hell, and we still had plenty to improve on.

    I got us back to the entrance, the traps and monsters having been bypassed or defeated, and when I got there, a combination Cloud Step and Leaf on the Wind took me up out of the labyrinth, much to the shock of Cicero, who was seated at a table nearby lazily sipping tea. He nearly choked when I came out, I guess I'd made good time, or maybe he hadn'[t expected me to live. Regardless of reasons though, it didn't matter. I had his deed, but he was going to pay up before he got it. I didn't ow him any favors, and I wanted my new gear.
     
    odinori, Alex18, aJadeTree and 10 others like this.
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