Wish upon the Stars chapter 35 (Patreon)

Since I knew I was leaving I could make preparations for my trip. The  first thing that came to mind was obviously grinding up my last few  points to G rank so I could give Benny an ability. But despite how cool  that sounded I decided that ranking up now would be too suspicious.  Massive influx of points from killing Stricture or not, the capital  branch would be expecting an H ranker and if I had a whole ten more  points of impact it would be a dead giveaway.

Once  I got there it would be simple to explain away my rank up with the  resources and fame I got in the larger city, but until then I was stuck  where I was. Still, I called Benny to ask him if he wanted to come with,  and he practically jumped at the chance. My friend had been having the  time of his life with his inventing, and I knew he would be excited to  go even deeper into this new world with me.

I  briefly wondered what his ability would be when I unlocked it. I was  pretty sure having a skill didn't predispose you to a specific ability,  so it was unlikely he would end up a mad scientist. After getting in  touch with Benny though I had one very important thing to handle, so I  scheduled a meeting with my Uncle. I was expecting to be put off, Zeke  was a busy guy, and a meeting wasn't the same as a phone call, but  surprisingly he accepted and fit me in the same day.

I  took a bus down to the WCP building, using my black card to bypass  security as usual and headed down to where I knew his office was. I got  in nearly immediately, and I walked over and slumped into the chair. I  was in costume, because I'd been here in costume before so I had a valid  reason for coming around, and I wanted to avoid associating my normal  identity with the WCP anyway. I took my mask off as I entered the office  though.

Zeke  smirked at me as I sat down. "I'm impressed kid. You managed to get rid  of that asshole all on your own. Granted getting snatched by a serial  killer was kind of stupid, but you made it work." Zeke was leaned back  in his chair, sipping a scotch and looking just as sloppy and unkempt as  ever. "I'm guessing you're here about the whole Academy thing right?"  My eyes widened and he chuckled. "Kid, I have people in every gang in  this city and the Unity too. I knew about that before you did."

I  nodded. "Yeah, I do want to talk about that. But before that I want to  ask about Stricture. You told me you couldn't help me because of the  rules, but he almost killed me. What would you have done if I'd died?" I  knew he was under orders, probably contractually enforced orders given  some of the things he'd said about my dad, but I admit I was a little  angry still. I knew he was stronger than anyone on this planet, even if I  didn't know how strong. He could have helped.

He  just gave me a sad smile. "I'd have killed him myself, given you a  proper funeral, and probably headed over to the Black Sorrow Cult's  territory to fuck them up for a couple decades to deal with my grief."  He must have seen the hurt on my face. "I told you when you started this  path how things would go Shane. I told you I wouldn't be able to help  you against people your own rank. I wish I could. I wish I could just  crush all the problems in your way and feed you the resources you  needed."

The  tightness in his voice and the clench of his teeth told me how angry  this situation made him. "But I can't. I'm bound by contract to act in a  certain way. Your father made me sign a binding agreement that I would  follow the rules of that selection and help give you the best chance to  advance. Eli always did have too much faith in rules and structure." He  snorted. "It was one of the main reasons he and your mother would fight,  and why he made sure she couldn't come back after..."

His  eyes widened as he snapped his mouth shut, and he doubled over in pain.  A mark appeared on his forehead, glowing red. A brand of a skull with  devil horns. He breathed through his nose for a bit before straightening  up, face pale and sweaty. "Shit. I drank too much after I heard about  your close call. That was stupid." He chuckled bitterly. "Sorry kid.  Slipped up a bit there. But as you can see, I'm not free to talk. Like I  said. An edict from your old man, and I'm not going to gainsay him."

He'd  said those exact words before, but where the last time I'd heard  stubborn loyalty, now they sounded different to me. They sounded forced,  like he wished they weren't true. It occurred to me that I had made a  lot of assumptions about the position my dad left Zeke in, and it made  me hate him a little bit knowing that he'd done something like that to  his best friend. I tried to imagine putting Benny under some kind of  gaess or compulsion but the image wouldn't come. I'd kind of shoved  thoughts of my mom to the back of my head when I heard she didn't want  to be here, but it sounded like I didn't have the whole story.  Abandonment issues aside, it might be a good idea to look into her a bit  more.

I  sighed, knowing I wouldn't get more from him. Couldn't get more. "Ok  Zeke, well how does this work? Can you protect me from here? Do you go  with me? Will the capital branch let you just show up like that? I'm not  really sure how any of this is supposed to go down." After the up close  and personal demonstration that there were bigger forces acting on my  Uncle I didn't want to push him into a position where he might get in  trouble for coming with me.

He  seemed to have guessed that worry though because he burst out laughing.  "Gods kid, don't get the wrong idea. My bindings apply to the candidacy  and the rules I have to follow as your guardian. Local interaction  between me and the branches on Callus aren't covered." He blinked. "Oh  wait, I never told you what rank I was did I? No wonder you were  worried." I shook my head and he grinned like he was in on some private  joke. "I'm a B ranker. The capital branch can bite my ass. If I show up  and tell them to jump, they'll already be a foot in the air by the time  they ask how high."

My  eyes widened in shock. "B-B rank?" B rankers had point values in the  tens of millions. People with Legendary ranked abilities and skills. I  swallowed hard. "I mean...I knew you were strong but I figured you were  like a D ranker. B rank is..that's a lot." Honestly the scale of it was  almost too large for me to comprehend, but considering how difficult the  curve became from even H to G I had to imagine it took years and  massive amounts of resources and renown to reach B rank, especially  since I was pretty positive Zeke was mainly a crafter.

He  basked a bit in the smugness of being so powerful before he continued.  "Anyway, I'll leave this branch to my second and head to the capital  with you. Honestly the Deacon over there already knows about me anyway,  though he doesn't have a clue why I'm here. Once I show up he'll  probably step down out of respect rather than piss me off, but I doubt  I'll accept. Running a WCP branch in a hundred billion person city isn't  the same as running this one. It's a ton more work and I'm far from  interested."

I  snorted at that, a smile creeping onto my face. "I see how it is,  you're acting like you're doing this to keep an eye on me but it's  really your diabolical master plan to get more time to be a lazy drunk. I  should have known." I gave him a sly smile. "What about Stella? I've  heard you two had quite the star crossed romance. You even got all  protective when you found out the Black Sorrow Cult was sanctioning a  hit on her. You should have seen her blush." I expected him to wave that  off or roll his eyes, but Zeke actually looked...uncomfortable. My eyes  widened. "Wait...Ian isn't actually your kid is he?"

Zeke  glared at me. "No, he is not my kid! She had him before we met. But  Stella and I are...complicated. We're not an all the time thing. We both  know we aren't compatible long term. She's ambitious as hell and power  aside I AM a lazy drunk. Not that she knows how strong I am. I think she  suspects I'm E rank, MAYBE D." He sighed, slumping back. "But I'll miss  her. She's a world class pain in my ass, but she makes my day a little  better. Some advice kid, don't put off romance until you're stronger. It  causes plenty of problems."

I  winced at having brought it up, seeing that he was genuinely unhappy  thinking about it. I decided to change the subject. "Anyway, I'm  arranging to bring Benny with me. The mess with Stricture gave me a ton  of points, I'm clocking in at eighty one points now, and I'll have  enough to give him his ability when I hit G rank I think. Or close to  it." I was pretty excited to find out what that was going to be like,  literally giving someone superpowers. It sounded amazing. I'd even  considered giving them to Maria too, but she was still sixteen and  couldn't come with us so I'd decided to wait.

He  whistled at that. "Shit kid, even for a candidate that's fast.  Technically speaking you can hit G in twenty three days, but that's only  if you spend all four wishes on stats every day and never miss any  time. I know for a fact you've given people skills and accrued some  resources and it hasn't even been three weeks yet I don't think." He  smirked at me. "I told you starting with every stat would be a huge  boost to you, didn't I? Having those options, not to mention having the  stats to use to make an impression, it's a hell of starter package."

I  had to give him that. Having to earn a new stat or alter my fighting  style to give myself a reputation that would give me points in a stat I  didn't have would have been hellish. Not to mention how useful my points  were to my DS Mastery. Seeing he was still looking drained from  whatever the hell that brand was on his head. I stood up, nodding to my  Uncle and giving him a cheerful smile. "I'll let you get back to work. I  have to check with Shadowthorn but I think we're leaving in a week at  most." My smile turned soft. "Maybe that'll give you time to say some  goodbyes."

Zeke's  answering smirk was tired and almost sad. "I'll get everything in  order. See you soon kid." I slipped my mask back on and headed out. As I  climbed back onto the bus and headed home I mulled over what I'd  learned. Things in my life weren't what they seemed, and I might have an  even better reason to be pissed at my dad than I'd thought. I wasn't  sure what exactly was going on, but I was pretty sure it was time for me  to start looking into it.