Jessie and I parted ways after checking out the boards and I headed home. I considered playing a bit of Doom Sovereign, but decided to put it off til later. I did need to spend time in game to try to understand my limits with my mastery skill, but I was exhausted from the events of the day so I just went to sleep. The next morning I called and checked on Jessie, who told me she had a hard night but was staying at the guild for now so she was ok, and then I began the hunt for my first job.

I'd snapped a few pictures with my scan ring of the various jobs available. I'd decided to pick one of the prosthetic jobs, but more specifically I was looking for the most recent one posted within my capabilities. I'd considered going for an older job since I'd thought that might draw less attention since attention wouldn't be on it, but if one of the jobs that had been around for years vanished, everyone would notice. New jobs popped up all the time, and one disappearing a bit after it showed up wouldn't draw any interest, so recent was better.

Secondly I looked for someone in the I rank. I might not have the stats to fix an H ranked amputation, but I needed to find someone with an ability and hopefully some skills. If it had been possible to research the subjects of the task I'd have tried to look for an older I ranker, someone who never got the renown to advance, just because their skills would have probably been more developed. But other than the basic information on the recipient of the prosthetic, the jobs were light on details.

Once I found the right person I arranged for the contract. I actually called Zeke to ask for help with this part, and he gave me some pointers on contract negotiation. Contracts were my dad's go-to option for wish granting, as in he would literally write up long detailed stipulations for each wish and have the other party sign it. Apparently it was some kind of mutation of the normal Wish ability that he created through an actual contract skill, it allowed him unparalleled flexibility with his wishes, but losing the original Wish ability had stripped away the quirk of the Wish power that let his stats count for triple.

In any case, growing up around the old man put Zeke in a position to pick up a whole slew of contract knowledge. He helped me set it up so that I could demand absolute secrecy for the entire process and still have an attractive pitch. Trade secrets were commonly covered under contracts supplied by the guild, but in general you didn't get a lot of crafters that wanted confidentiality for even the initial meeting and their own introduction. Complete secrecy like I was looking for was a hard sell to someone you didn't know, so we had to be a bit tricky with the wording.

Basically, I'd had to guarantee success or be penalized with an extremely high penalty fee so they would sign the thing before I'd give them any details. That said, I wasn't too worried about it. My Wish ability could alter reality, so healing an I grade limb shouldn't be a problem at all. Impact alone would make sure that my ability would be more effective on lower ranked people, not to mention my effective Vitality for wish granting was six, and very few people hyper focused on a single stat. If they were at I rank still, it was nearly impossible six wouldn't be enough.

Just to be sure of what I was working with, before I contacted the client, I took the chance to call up my stats.

Wishmaster candidate status. H-rank. Ability: Lesser Wish- Four times a day grant a Lesser 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 3 Impact 2 Fantasy 2 Vitality 2 Focus 2 Perception 2 Creation 1 Skills: Lesser Doom Sovereign Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Cooking Mastery, Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery

I enjoyed seeing how high my stats were compared to when I first started, but it still felt like far from enough. I made a mental wish list of what I wanted to get out of my next few jobs. First off I wanted to round out my stats and get another point in Focus and Creation. Especially if I was going to be going into crafting, those two stats would be key. Focus was integral to the inventing, alchemy, and enchanting skills, and Creation was an important stat to any kind of crafting you could do.

Second, I wanted to get the aforementioned skills. That was going to be tricky to pull off. I'd need to find someone who had picked them up and then ignored them. If I took a crafting skill from a crafter who actively used it, not only would it be obvious, but the healing wouldn't even be enough to compensate them for the skill. My power worked on value, and a limb they'd lived without for years wasn't nearly as precious as the crafting skill that gave them their livelihood. Though I could try to find some crafters who picked up all three of the main crafting skills and then only used one.

Deciding I'd done enough prep work I opened my scan ring to make the call, getting into contact with the first person I chose. Their demeanor was friendly enough, though there was a bit of unhappiness when I told them about the contract. Once I sent it over and explained the penalty fee they grudgingly accepted it and sent over the address where I would meet them for the job. I headed out immediately, catching a bus in my costume,excited to finally be granting wishes again.

Riding the bus in my costume was just as odd as riding in the suit and mask from before. Whereas before I had gotten a lot of looks but no one had come up to me, this time I was approached by a few kids hoping for my autograph. They didn't know who I was obviously, my reputation wasn't really out like that as Solomon, but they knew I was in costume and I wasn't dressed like one of the gang members of the big three, which meant I was probably with the Unity. Superheroes were beloved in Valen, and I was getting that love by osmosis, which I had to admit was pretty nice.

I was in a good mood by the time I got off and arrived in front of an absolutely massive iron gate in front of a huge manor. A tall, gaunt, thin man in a suit was waiting for me outside, and when I arrived he opened a small side gate off the main entrance to let me. He had a crisp, formal accent I'd never heard before, and as I entered he addressed me directly. "Ah, Master Solomon I presume? Right this was sir, Master Patel is in the solarium awaiting your arrival." He took in my costume coolly, but I couldn't tell what he thought of it, as his stoic mask didn't slip even a bit during the once over.

He led me around the side of the manor house to an extended room off the back. The entire structure was made of perfectly cleaned and maintained glass, and the inside was a man with in a chair, taking in the sight of an expansive and well maintained garden. The man had a cane nearby leaning against the table and his right leg was missing at the knee, the stump wrapped off with a clean white bandage with only a spot of blood. When he saw me he smiled kindly, and I noted the coffee colored skin around his eyes and mouth were lined from smiling despite his youth.

Mr. Patel, as it turned out, was a twenty something man of about six feet (though since he was sitting, that was a guess) with well developed muscles and an aura of heartiness. Despite having lost a leg in what was obviously a recent incident he seemed cheerful and happy. Laughing as I got withing range. "Mr. Solomon! Welcome to my home. Forgive me for not getting up to greet you, but I'm still getting the hang of the cane and I don't want to embarrass myself in front of company."

I approached and he reached out to shake. As I took the proffered hand, I noted that his grip was firm but not overbearing. I decided I liked the guy. I pulled back my hand and waved off the apology. "Please, it's your house, sit, stand, hell lay down if you want. But hopefully you won't need to worry about the cane for much longer. If we might have a bit of privacy though?" A glance at his butler made it clear what I meant and he nodded to the man. The butler didn't look pleased to be dismissed, but his boss had given him instructions and butlers gotta buttle.

Once he was gone Mr. Patel turned to look at me. "Now, I'm curious to know what all this secrecy has been about. The circumstances behind your contract were highly irregular, but I have to admit they intrigued me. Honestly the penalty fee you offered is nothing to me, but I've always loved a good mystery. So tell me, exactly why are you here Mr. Solomon? What are you capabilities that they require such secrecy."

I smiled under my scarf. A fair amount of paranoia had gone into getting me here but in the end this had been exactly what I'd been hoping for. Once the job was rescinded no one would notice it was gone. The details had been kept scarce so even if someone from the guild saw Mr. Patel walking around fine, they wouldn't know it was him. The contract was ironclad. Those layers of secrecy were enough for me to use the lie I'd been using already. "I have access to a certain...resource. The WCP in the city had given me a quota of wishes to grant to others for a meritorious service."

His eyes widened with interest. The WCP's wishes were famous, and of course they could do much more than make a prosthetic. Regrowing Ascendant limbs was trickier than doing normal ones. The investment was too much for anyone on Callus to bother with. Even healers for mortals who could regrow limbs weren't common, though there were machines you could pay to use that would do it. But a wish could restore his ability to walk properly, completely fixing his problem instead of just a half measure like a prosthetic.

I smiled at him, though he couldn't see it anyway with my face covered. "So the question here, Mr. Patel is what you'll pay for that. Wishes require payment as I'm sure you know." I passed him a short list I'd prepared. The two stats I needed, the skills I wanted, and an open slot for anything he thought might I might need or that would be of value to me and worth growing back a lost limb. "After you decide on fair compensation, just make your wish."

He nodded absently, staring down at the list. His face was twisted with uncertainty, and I completely understood. Stats were a pain to gain and he obviously would be hesitant to give one up. Not to mention skills being even more challenging to acquire. In the end though he passed it back. "I have a Minor Enchanting Mastery skill. I don't use it often, building a reputation as an enchanter was too difficult. I offer it as payment. In return. I wish I had my leg back." I grinned as the familiar purple flames licked across my vision.

Ascendant Wish detected. Grant wish?

Perfect.