The trip to the crafting hall was fairly quick as usual, we knew the way, and also as usual the place was absolutely packed. We didn't arrange to meet Grimmengap right away, instead setting it up so we would catch them after our business. Jessie and Benny took off to go buy supplies while Callie headed for the Might Stone building and I made my way over to the Vitality area to find some people to grant wishes.

The first person I picked was a short girl with purple pigtails wearing a sheer white mask with eyeholes. When I approached her and offered to take her request she seemed uncertain, but after agreeing to sign a contract she was much less hesitant and we headed to the production room. We still had a few hours with the thing, and I showed her into the room, before telling her about my abilities like I had with Skanda.

The girl, Tandy, seemed pretty awestruck. "Wait, wishes? Like I could wish for anything? I've heard the WCP can do that kind of stuff but I never thought I'd have the chance to have one granted." She looked excited. "Do I have to wish for stats? Can I wish for something else? Like a Skill or an item?"

Most of the people I'd worked with were focused enough on Ascending they didn't really let themselves get lost in the possibilities, but I'd been expecting it from someone. I saw no harm in it so I just shrugged. "You can make any wish you can pay for assuming the wishes I have in my possession are strong enough to grant them. Stats are the go to, because people usually pay in stats, and losing points without gaining any back isn't ideal. But if you can pay you can try wishing for something else. Just know if it's too crazy the wishes I have access to might not be strong enough."

That didn't do much to dampen her excitement, though she did reign it in a bit. Her face took on a contemplative expression. I could sympathize with being spoiled for choice. It took her a minute or two to make a decision. Finally she seemed to come to a conclusion. "I think I know what I want. How many wishes can you grant? If it's just the one that's fine but I figured I'd at least ask."

I couldn't say I didn't respect how straightforward she was. "I can do five wishes, if you can pay. That would be ten stat points if you pay in points." Assuming I could even do two points per wish. Zeke was pretty sure I could though, so it seemed like a solid risk to take. "So, are you going to wish for stats, skills, items? If it's the last one I have to warn you it's pretty points heavy so you won't get as much."

She chewed her lip in thought. "I'll wish for a Skill first. I'll pay with two points of Creation. I pretty much never use that for anything. You said it has to be something your wishes have the power to grant, but I think two points is a decent amount, so I'll try for something a bit more ambitious. I wish for a Lesser Puppeteering skill." Not what I'd been expecting, but hey, it was her wish.

The familiar purple flames rolled across my vision. Wish detected. Grant wish? I confirmed. Stat points sufficient. Requirements:25 Fantasy, 30 Focus, 30 Perception, 25 Impact. I winced. That was rough. More than a hundred points total. It was my first Lesser Skill grant though, so I could understand the pricing. kind of made me wonder what the hell the Lesser Puppeteering Skill DID, since I knew Lesser Skills could push beyond the boundaries of the possible for mortals.

Still, the compensation wasn't rejected, so the payment was enough. I wasn't turning down two points of Creation. I wanted Might, but you can't have everything, and all my stats were useful to me in some way. Creation would help with things like mistwalking anyway. I reached out and put a hand on hers as the energy built, and the electricity crackling on my skin poured into her. Her head snapped back with a grunt as information poured into her, granting her the Skill she had asked for.

Despite it being a higher level skill than the one I'd granted Benny the last time, she had a much less dramatic reaction. Most likely because he'd been mortal at the time, and Tandy was a G rank receiving a Lesser Skill for which she was more than prepared. I made a mental note not to try to give Skills more than one rank above the recipient in the future. Without Benny's little 'most powerful skill you can safely give me' trick, this was the best guideline I could figure out for safety so it would be good to keep in mind.

It took a minute or two for her to process it all though, and when she finally shook away the cobwebs she looked ecstatic. "That was amazing! I started trying to pick that Skill up recently for a possibly synergy at F rank. I mean, I have to get it to Intermediate first, but I have ages before I hit F anyway. This is a great place to start! I want to do another one. What stats are you looking for in terms of payment. I'd rather spread out the loss if possible so hopefully not Creation again." She laughed wryly at that, a bit embarrassed to be making demands in terms of pay, even if it was also giving me options.

I wasn't complaining. "I need some points in Might. What's your next wish for? I know you came in for Vitality, so I would think you would at least try to get that taken care of up front." Or Perception, either would work considering what she told me before.

That seemed like a good idea to her apparently. "Yeah, Vitality works, and I can spare two points of Might. I wish for two points of Vitality, and I'll pay with two points of Might." She paused. "Can I make two wishes in a row as long as they aren't at the same time? Like can I wish for two points of Perception and offer to pay with two points of Focus or would that count as the same wish?"

I hadn't actually had anyone try that, but based on the two successive messages in my vision it should work. Wish detected. Grant wish? The usual message was accompanied by another Wish detected. Grant wish? message. I confirmed both noting the two basically identical stat costs, and reached out to touch her hand again as the power streaked into her. As usual when I got points back the energy surged back into me, and I felt myself grow stronger and sharper of mind as the four points were added to my already impressive tallies. My Might hit twenty, and I was thrilled to know I could now lift a full ten tons.

Tandy took a minute to get acclimated, apparently two wishes at once was a larger toll than just the one, which made sense. That was something to look out for. She looked unsure about what to do next. More stats, More Skills? Finally she seemed to have decided. "I wish for a Lesser Tactics skill, and I'll pay with another two Might. And I wish for another two points in Perception, I'll pay for that one with Creation again if that works."

Once again I got the same old message, but this time I waited before confirming. "Actually I had another idea." She seemed surprised I'd interrupted but nodded. "This is getting a bit more dramatic in terms of output, so I had another price in mind for your perception points." I already knew I could ask for memories, and unlike a few single point wishes this much change might cause some serious curiosity. Even if she couldn't talk she might slip up, and I didn't want anything on this scale connected to me.

I'd been thinking recently about how best to hide my activities as I got stronger, when the difference was too big to be written off as a lucky break, and Callie's idea had given me the perfect strategy. I cleared my throat, knowing this might be a hard sell. "I'd like your memories of this encounter, and your ability to become curious or suspicious about those missing memories or any attempt to locate their origin."

That had been the solution I'd come up with. Just taking the memories would just result in a bunch of amnesiac Ascendants running around try to track down their missing time, but if I took their curiosity about the time along with it that should prevent any of that comedy of errors nonsense from springing up. Tandy was wearing a mask, so I couldn't see her face, but her body language was hesitant. She stayed silent for a full minute before finally nodding. "Ok. I'll pay it."

I let out a breath of relief. Hopefully this worked, though I didn't see why it wouldn't. I held out my hand. Accepting the two new prompts that popped up from her amended wishes. "Whenever you're ready. The memories will vanish after you leave the room." She swallowed hard, nodding before reaching out to take my outstretched hand. Same as before there was a surge of power through both of us. Unlike my normal impression though, the power didn't fade from her after the wish ended. I could feel flickers of purple electricity coming off her still, sticking around in her head.

This reminded me a bit of the geas my father had left on Zeke, though I assumed it worked slightly differently since he didn't have the same ability anymore. It was interesting that I could make persistent effects as part of a wish though. I wondered what the limits of that might be. It was an option for payment for wishes if the person couldn't afford to pay. I wouldn't use it on friends though, it left a bad taste in my mouth seeing what had happened to Zeke because of my dad.

I pulled my hands away from Tandy, making sure she was feeling ok after the payment. She seemed fine to me so I was pretty sure things had gone well, especially since I had those two points of Might now, bringing me up to twenty two. I said my goodbyes, waving off her thank you's and headed out of the room. She left after me, and I felt the payment come into effect, removing her memories and her curiosity about them in one fell swoop.

It was...weird. I got her memories of her meeting with me, and I still had my own, so I kind of felt like I'd been talking to myself, but a version of myself that wasn't me. It took me a few seconds to sort my brain out. I didn't enjoy the sensation, and I decided to destroy rather than take the memories of my deals in the future, assuming this worked. I'd ask Zeke to send someone to keep an eye on Tandy to make sure the idea was functional, he could do that if I paid for it since the WCP hired contractors for basically anything.

Once I was done adjusting to the new memories I texted my friends and figured out where they were, heading over to meet them. Callie had gotten back from her trip to the Might Stone before I had returned so everyone was together, and we made our way to meet up with Grimmengap. I could tell Benny was excited to see Celine again, and I was pretty interested to hear more about their group. All in all, this was shaping up to be a pretty good day.