Wish upon the Stars chapter 3 pt 3 (Patreon)

I hadn't expected to see a rock with stats. I knew that other  ascendants had them, but I'd kind of expected them to be human specific.  I reached down to open the case, picking up the ruby to feel it's  smooth surface. Vengiello's wasn't the kind of place a thief could get  away from easily, so touching was allowed as long as the goods weren't  too delicate. The man in the beret behind the table didn't stop me as I  rolled the stone in my fingers, trying to get a sense for what it was.

The  ruby was hot to the touch. Not consistently hot but pulsing, like it  was alive. I stared at it for a minute straight before the man's voice  broke my reverie. "Ah, an Ascendant, I should have guessed from the  mask. It's a beauty isn't it? It's a Blood Emerald. Rare to find one of  those with a Might attunement. They're usually attuned to Vitality. It's  a bit on the small side, but the purity is top notch. Are you thinking  of using it in a crafting project or alchemy?"

My head  cocked in confusion. "I...don't know. Honestly I'm sort of new to all  this, I didn't know there were gems with stat points in them. How does  that even happen?" How could a rock perform a great deed? That was the  only way I knew of to naturally gain stats. I was also curious about  alchemy, but I didn't want to come across as too uneducated here, so I  bit my tongue and let the man answer.

He smiled. "Ah,  fresh meat. Fair enough. It isn't complicated. While humans Ascend  through great deeds there are certain animals, plants, and materials  that are born or form with Impact. The process of accumulating stats is  usually much slower for plants and minerals, but given their timescale  it does happen. These objects can be used in crafting to make amazing  objects of power or in alchemy to create potions and medicines that can  do a variety of things, some even give stats directly."

Which  kind of explained how crafters raised their power. I doubted the old  'make a million iron daggers' standby would cut it when gaining power  required renown. Very few people would become famous by being a walking  assembly line. I reluctantly passed the Blood Emerald back and the man  set it back in the case, looking disappointed. "Shame, selling that has  been a bit of a trial. Callus doesn't have many who can utilize Ascended  materials."

I raised an eyebrow, not that he could see it  under my mask. "Can't you just take it to the WCP to sell?" The Valen  branch of the Wish Curse Palace was way ahead of where it should be  because Zeke and I lived here. I still wasn't sure what rank my Uncle  actually was, but he'd mentioned smiting E ranks like I'd talk about a  stroll in the park, not to mention he was a Deacon, so he had to be  pretty strong.

The man actually laughed. "I'm not a fool  friend. I'm no Ascended, even if I sometimes deal with them, and that  place is not for mortals. The politics in the Wish Curse Palace are  complicated and I value my life too much to swim in such murky waters."  He cast an embarrassed glance at my mask and suit. "Not that an Ascended such as yourself would have a reason to worry, it's just not the place  for me." He shrugged. "In any case feel free to stop by if you have the  money to buy it, I doubt anyone here will snatch it up any time soon."

We  smiled and thanked the man, but moved on. As we walked the dazzling  show room I couldn't help noticing the various materials and items. I  couldn't tell from a distance if any were Ascended artifacts but I also  couldn't help but wonder. The concept of making objects with powers with  powers was too exciting. I resolved to do some research on crafting and  alchemy when I had time. Maybe I could ask Zeke about it, since he was  obviously a crafter.

We wandered back to an almost empty  table, and Benny stepped up to talk quietly with a man there, passing  him one of the small disposable chips people used that came preloaded  with a specific amount of credits. The man nodded and stood up to leave.  Benny gave me a winning smile and gestured to the table."Ok man, let's  get set up.I kind of want to see the wish thing from the outside. Plus  if I charge a finders fee for hooking these people up maybe I can get  enough credits to wish for another steak. That ribeye haunts me."

I  chuckled at that and sat down at the table, reaching into the bag I was  carrying in case I needed to change to pull out a marker and a dry  erase board. I wrote 'wishes for sale, credits only' and winced at the  messy handwriting. Being left handed was always a pain. I really needed  to get a calligraphy or handwriting skill from someone. I was a  wishmaster candidate, being able to write well was just a matter of  pride.

Still, it wasn't unreadable or anything, so I set  it out at the front of the table, propped up by the little stand on the  back so everyone could see it an waited. I was honestly pretty excited. I  doubted any of the mortals near here would have any wishes I couldn't  grant, except maybe wishing for an ability. Plus my power worked based on  a fair exchange and they were all stupidly rich, so what they would  think was fair for a wish might be pretty high.

I knew if I  played my cards right I would be able to gather all five million for  the obfuscator and maybe even have enough left over for that ruby. Hell I  might be able to afford the ruby with the five hundred grand I had now,  but I wasn't willing to spend money that might make the difference in  getting my obfuscator so I'd have to wait and see. Hopefully I had  enough left over.

The first person  to come up to us was a middle aged man. He had dark hair with silver at  the temples, dark skin, and piercing blue eyes and he sat down at the  chair Benny had dragged over to the other side of the table calmly. His  demeanor was aloof and proud but not arrogant or overbearing, and when  he spoke, it was reserved. "My name is Dalton Weathers. Have you heard  of me?" I shook my head and he smiled wryly. "I suppose that's to be  expected, regardless Benicio can tell you of my reputation."

He  nodded to Benny, using my friend's full name in a way not many did  except his mother. Benny nodded back, confirming this guy was alright,  and I almost shrugged. It was nice to know he wasn't a monster, but that  wasn't why I was here. Still, the interaction seemed to put Dalton at  ease. "I'm here to wish for more time. I have bone cancer. Terminal." He  nodded to a man I hadn't noticed standing behind him and the second man  put a case on the table.

Dalton  opened the case, showing me dozens of chips all neatly set into slots  in black foam. "This is the take home from my sales for the week. I  usually scan them all into my accounts all at once. There's two hundred  and fifty thousand credits in this case. I offer it as payment, and I  wish my cancer was cured." The familiar tingle started to build in my  skin, and those same purple words of flame scrawled across my vision.

Wish detected. Grant wish? I confirmed. Stat points sufficient. Requirement: 5 Vitality, 3 Impact, 3 Creation. Compensation insufficient. I  sighed and shook my head. "Your offering is of insufficient value. The  price of your wish is much higher." I expected him to be angry at me for  gouging him, but the WCP had a reputation for fairness and  impartiality, as well as for being intractable. If the Wish Curse Palace  said it cost more, then it cost more. Simple as that.

He  did frown, but more in worry than anger. He turned to the man who had  put the case on the table and started to whisper, before turning back.  "I don't carry more on me, do you take direct credit transfers?" I  nodded and held out my first, and he breather a sigh of relief. "Very  well, that makes things easier. I'll increase my payment by a factor of  ten. Two point five million credits should be enough, yes?" His blue  eyes burned with hope, and I noticed the laugh lines at the corners. He  smiled often, he seemed like a nice guy.

I  felt my power spark and knew his offering was accepted as fair  compensation. I nodded and he reached out to bump my scan ring with his,  transferring the credits directly. Direct transfers worked on a local  network that didn't save data so they were untraceable. I could perform  the trade with no danger to myself. With that complete I nodded at Benny  to take the case and confirmed the wish.

The  usual light show started up, though the subtle sparks of electricity  were hidden by my suit and mask. Dalton, however, wasn't so lucky. His  eyes did light up as usual, but curing a terminal disease wasn't the  same thing as giving a skill. This was a true Vitality altering wish,  and I was about to see just what that meant. The purple light in his  eyes started to flicker out in small arcs of electricity and the power  started to flow through his veins in a visible way.

Every  vein stood out in sharp, glowing relief against his ebony skin as his  body locked up in a near seizure and he toppled sideways out of his  chair to be caught by his valet. His body stayed ramrod stiff, shaking  uncontrollably in tight, stiff jerks as the the power wiped away his  illness and the very force of creation repaired the damage to his  internal organs and bones. After about ten minutes he finally settled  down, body relaxing.

His  immaculate grey suit was stained with blood and sweat and some kind of  much that had come out of his pores in a similar fashion to Maddie  throwing up her lung rot. He looked haggard and sire, but his face had a  beaming smile on it as his assistant helped him up. He reached out to  shake my hand. "Thank you, thank you so much. I thought I was dead.  Thank you."

Honestly  I was pretty sure his lack of Impact was the only reason I'd been able  to do it, but I was glad to help. Cancer was one of those things you  needed high level medical tech to treat, and there weren't any mad  scientists on Callus who specialized in medical equipment. The man  thanked me profusely for another few minutes, but eventually had to go.  The difficulty of the process had drained him and he needed to get home.

His  valet helped him out, letting the old man lean on him as he helped him  out of the room. Benny gave me a nod. "Dalton really is good people.  That was a solid thing you did. I know his daughter, she's a sweet girl.  She'd have been devastated to lose him." I nodded, because in my mask  it was impossible to see me smile, but I was pretty happy with the  result. I'd been so enraptured I'd barely my own exhaustion during the  process.

I  turned my eyes back to the table to see the show had caught the  attention of several other interested parties and they had all lined up  to speak to me. I only had three wishes left though. I turned to whisper  to Benny and my friend listened to what I had to say before stepping  up. "Ladies and gentlemen my friend only has three more wishes for sale.  From this point we will commence an auction format. Highest bid makes a  wish, and you get your money back if it's beyond the scope of the  wishes we have in our possession." He grinned at the crowd. "So. who's  going to start the bidding."