Wish upon the Stars chapter 79 (Patreon)

I spent the next five days or so pushing Might almost exclusively.  Aside from one person who decided to give up Focus because they were  Might specialized I managed to convince every single client. Thirty two  points of Might and eight points of Focus. A truly staggering haul that  put me at a staggering fifty four points of Might, officially passing  Callie, much to her annoyance since I'd put off her wishes for a few  days to get it done.

Interestingly my actual wishes  weren't my only source of income. I'd managed three more points of  Creation based on my ranking and my slowly growing reputation in the  crafting hall. Not that people were talking about me, since I was making  sure to wipe their memories, but I'd made sure to register my contracts  as normal (an extra layer of security in case any of the clients  decided against the mind wipe) and I had to confirm the completion with  the contractor once I was finished. So even though they didn't have  specifics, people knew I was completing jobs. As such, my stats were  looking pretty fantastic.

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-54

Impact-12

Fantasy-21

Vitality-18

Focus-28

Perception-25

Creation-32

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

Still, despite Callie's complaints she  was supportive of my desire to get stronger, especially once she heard  that I was hoping to take on the Might Stone. Being on a ranking would  not only push up my Academy Rank, but it would give me another bit of  income from renown. I hadn't taken any of the tests yet because I was  lower than most in the majority of stats. Major downside to being so  well rounded in terms of stats and having them all unlocked from the  start. Lots of flexibility but lower power stat for stat.

Even  so, I was now in a position to finally try out one of the trials for  myself, and while obviously I wasn't going to manage to get into the top  of the charts, I was betting with all my boosts I could swing over a  hundred Might worth of damage and get myself in a position to be taken  seriously. Aside from Mercy Kill, my tier two Monk skills had opened up  my Afterburner skill. A powerful but difficult to control fire themed  ability that gave me a massively increased damage output for a short  period of time.

In exchange for weakening myself after the  attack I could multiply my physical and magical power by three times by  burning the flames of my life. It sounded much more dramatic than it  was, mostly just leaving me winded and exhausted, but it was a powerful  skill and one of the main reasons for me getting the Monk subclass to  begin with, along with some other more esoteric elemental effects later  on.

The three times multiplier might not sound like much,  but unlike Benny's punch artifact Afterburner worked on every attack for  a set time, and it stacked with other boosts. Between that and Mercy  Kill I should be able to hit above a hundred. Sadly the Rogue subclass  only got finishing moves ever other tier. Mercy Kill was the first and I  wouldn't be able to use another until I hit Intermediate DS Mastery.

Which  brought us back to the campus. I'd already done my wishes for the day,  and with that out of the way all that was left was finally getting my  first test done. My main goal here was just to hit the top hundred  thousand on the thing. I was from being able to do more, but with my  current stats I would at least leave a lasting mark on the stone, which  was pretty fucking good for someone as recently Ascended as I was.  Hopefully the fact that I'd only registered a few months ago would get  out.

When we  got to the hall I looked up at the Stone with not a little bit of  trepidation. Callie was right next to me, and I couldn't help but ask.  "Any advice here? Like I'm not sure how much advice you can give on how  to hit a rock I guess, but anything at all will help. This seems like a  big deal." I may have been babbling slightly. My first test for the  Academy would set the tone for the rest of my time here. I needed to do  well.

The  amused expression on her masked face said it all honestly, but she at  least tried to be supportive. "If I had to say something it would be  just to stay calm. Don't freak yourself out about it and you'll do fine.  Also aim for an uneven spot. If you hit a flat plane the force will  spread more, you want to try to isolate the impact to a small area so it  registers as a higher amount of damage. You said you can get over a  hundred right? That's a great start. You should manage top hundred  thousand at least like that. You'll even leave a mark."

I  exhaled slowly, letting me heart beat slow. She was right. I was  overthinking this. It was just hitting a rock. It's not like I couldn't  come back and try again. I just had to make sure to give it my all. over  a hundred should be simple. Hell if I gave it my all including my  boosts I was betting I could get up to two hundred plus, maybe even  three if I was really lucky. I approached the counter, signed up for the  test, and then made my way over to the Might stone.

I  slipped my tonfas out of their holsters. I considered all of my  abilities and what they did. First off was Mercy Kill, an obvious  choice, then Afterburn of course. I had the stored impact in my suit to  let loose and the force enchantment on my weapons, but I considered if  there were any other abilities that could help. Stone Limb couldn't  hurt, it tended to add some mass at least, Consecration of Flames was  fire based, but fire was just kinetic energy and I doubted the rock  would burn so maybe that would help, I had no clue but I decided to go  all out.

Other  than that I didn't have anything else I could use really. Flurry of  Blows wouldn't count, since it was multiple hits and not one, and poison  wouldn't do anything either. I knelt down, pressing my hand to the  ground and activating Stone Limb, covering my arms in rock. Then  Consecration of Flames on the tonfas. Then I took my position, doing my  best to wind up for a big ass swing as I picked the best spot to strike.  I did the whole announcement thing Tiamat did. "My name is Solomon, and  this is my first try on the Might stone!"

I  found a decently protruding section as per Callie's advice and when I  did, I triggered EVERYTHING. Mercy Kill, my suit, Afterburner, and when I  swung and made contact the force enchantment triggered. Fifty four  points of Might, plus another twenty seven from Mercy Kill, plus another  nine or so from the suit, ten from the force enchantment, absolutely  perfect conditions for Afterburner as it tripled my attack power. I felt  my body shake with the exertion of holding all that power as the tonfa  smashed into the face of the rock with horrifying force.

I  understood now how someone had gotten five thousand on this thing while  still in G rank, and I understood even better how fucking mindnumbingly  terrifying that person obviously was, because my body felt like it was  tearing itself apart even with this much power. The impact on the stone  was soaked up mostly by my Stone Limb, and I was pretty sure  consecration of flames actually helped bump me up a bit. The force  crashed into the stone and left behind a bright red spot where I'd  struck.

Red.  Red meant three hundred plus, which was what I had been pretty sure I'd  hit when I felt all that power, so that was good. Still it was almost  unbelievable to me. I felt my knees give out as the energy left me,  draining me to nothing as Afterburner took it's due. Callie was there to  catch me in a second, whistling at the color of the mark on the stone.  "Damn Solomon, that's way better than I did. Look at your score." She  nodded up to the scoreboard.

The  forces interacting on the rock had clearly altered things, changing the  blow from a predictable and calculable formula to something I could  barely estimate. I wasn't sure if it was the fire or some combination of  the skills but the reading was a whopping three hundred and twenty  five, leaving me at seventy six thousand four hundred and twenty third  place. I blinked up at it. I was right on the edge of top seventy five  thousand in the Academy for Might on my first try.

I  fished my coin out of my costume and checked my Academy ranking. Four  hundred and six thousand two hundred and eight. Top fifty percent.  Granted I knew it was a bulk influx of points since it was my first time  getting on the scoreboard. From here it would just be a slow trickle  from being there in the first place. But still. It was progress.  Measurable progress toward a real reputation here at the Academy. Not  just that though, I felt my might jump two points as I got the message  that I'd accomplished a great deed. Tales of your exploits  have begun to disseminate. You have done a great deed and murmurs of  your prowess are on the lips of the people. Might plus two.

I  noted the slight difference of "the people" as opposed to "your  enemies" which was nice to see at least. Hopefully that meant no one  here wanted to kill me. Callie helped me over to sit down and I let  myself rest for a minute. Afterburner was...intense in real life. I  should have figured it would be more dramatic. I knew it wouldn't hurt  me, that was why the DS Mastery skill kept me from using tier two stuff at Lesser, because I wouldn't have been able to handle it.

I  needed this though. The reputation around here. i was growing FAST, and  if I didn't make sure my legend kept pace with my power it would get  suspicious. This had been a big ass announcement that I was a force to  be reckoned with though, and between this and my growing rep as a crafter my name should be in people's mouths. With all that attention I  had a legit reason to improve so quickly. Though as planned when I hit  five hundred or so I'd still take some time to work on skills  specifically. Try to improve some of mine and even see about  combinations.

I  was especially interested in getting some skills from Job system  cultivators that used to be abilities, but I suspected I was a ways away  from that. Job system cultivation wasn't common here. With my goals for  the day accomplished Callie helped me out of the Might Stone hall, and I  had to admit I enjoyed the looks. Three hundred plus on your first shot  was nothing to sneeze at, and I'd clearly made the impression I'd been  hoping for. I would also talk to Jessie to have her spread around that I  was a recent Ascendant and had only just gotten here. She was as good  at spreading gossip as hearing it and I was betting she already had  people who could put the info out there. Things were moving along  nicely.