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 far 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.