I tried to trade him for his service for the rest of the hunt first thing, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. In the end he traded me another two points of Might. I was happy enough with it, I hadn't actually gotten any Might from taking down Aiden, but I suspected Tony had. Might was a key stat in so many skills and abilities, and that made it an important part of my Wish power, not to mention my DS Mastery. Once it was done Cark ran off to find and check on Cassidy, and I headed out to meet my girlfriend, checking my stats as I went.

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 58 Impact

12

Fantasy 21 Vitality 25 Focus 38 Perception 40 Creation 32 Skills: Beginner Doom Sovereign Mastery,Lesser Enchanting Mastery, Lesser Cooking Mastery,Lesser Inventing Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, , Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery,Minor Poker Mastery, Minor Archery Mastery, Minor Boxing Mastery

I was in fucking shock. Aside from the two points of Might from the wish, I'd gotten a full ten points of Focus, seven of Vitality, and FIFTEEN of Perception. No Might sadly, though I wondered if that had to do with the fact that everyone who would hear about this was high up in the WCP and they would consider beating G rankers nothing. Still I absolutely wasn't complaining about the huge bump in my stats. Big crazy capers like this paid off big time, shame they were so annoying and time consuming.

Still, this would pay dividends during the hunt, and I was looking forward to showing the extra power off in front of Callie, as well as seeing what the results had been for her. She was waiting for me out front like she'd said, and she gave me a big smile when she saw me. "Hey, that didn't take too , long. Things with Cass all sorted out? That girl is a real spitfire no pun intended. I'm glad you decided to help make sure her brain was cleared out." I fell into step next to her and we started walking out into the forest.

I put an arm around her shoulders and she smiled, taking a deep breath of the forest air as we picked a direction and started walking. I activated my Seek Hidden skill, though I didn't stretch it to include multiple items. I just picked a random object off the list, Hummingbird Blossoms, that I knew grew on trees and kept a casual eye out. Then I finally had a chance to bring up the boost. "So, did you get any points from taking down the Heartrippers? Because i got a decent chunk."

Despite my casual tone she burst out laughing. "How long have you been waiting to ask? Yes, I did, and you could have just said you wanted to know earlier, you didn't have to wait until we were alone. Ten Focus, eight Vitality and six Perception. Not a bad haul for something we were going to do anyway. How about you, what did you end up getting?" She had a wry tone, implying that she knew I'd probably gotten more points than her and was expecting it. I answered, muttering my numbers under my breath, and she barked out another laugh. "Of course you did. You're going to hit F before me I just know it."

She didn't sound upset or anything, just amused. I just shrugged. "Maybe, but I'll make sure you get there not long after. Further than that too. Our whole team is headed way higher than just F rank. Besides, it's not just me. I wouldn't have gotten half this far without you guys. We're a team. Sure, my ability helps, but yours is pretty damn impressive, and your experience is why we've gotten half as far as we have. I'm under no illusions that I'm doing as well as I am on my own, don't worry."

That got an actual giggle from her, a sound she didn't make too often, and one that surprised me. "I wasn't worried about you leaving us behind, I was just frustrated at how long it took me in comparison, but honestly I can't even stay frustrated because you're so cute when you worry." I was glad to be wearing a mask because I was definitely blushing. "I'm glad to know you think of us all as a team though, despite your...clearly impressive qualities. We're with you all the way. Through the hunt and past it." She paused, looking around. "Speaking of the hunt what are you looking for out here by the way?"

I scanned the treeline for any hint of red glow, not finding anything yet. "Hummingbird Blossoms. I remembered them from the list. They grow on trees so they seemed like a safe bet for a first target. That work for you?" The list had plenty more on it than that, so if she wanted me to switch it up I was game. I had twenty three more charges today so it wasn't like I couldn't afford another few tries. I just wanted to make sure not to use them all up in case we ran into other hunters out here.

Luckily she seemed to agree. "Yeah, that works as well as anything. Until we get a better lay of the land it makes sense to look for anything tree related first. I'm sure there are some other biomes hidden around here given the list we have, but we have to actually find them first. Keep an eye out for a volcano by the way, there's at least two items on the list that are native to that habitat. Luckily they let us keep our scan rings, I've been searching for stories about any of the things we have on our list. Anyone who isn't an expert on Ascendant flora and fauna is going to be combing the internet for clues."

That brought me up short. "Wait, so there are a ton of people out here doing internet searches for obscure Ascendant materials they need to be on the lookout for? Any chance someone is going to use that to track some of the mats down? Like can they hack your scan ring?" I knew they couldn't hack mine. It had been a gift from Zeke ages ago and it was secure as hell, but it would be a viable strategy to gather information to crack into the networks that the hunters were using to find what they were looking for.

I was glad to see she'd already thought of that. "No. I mean, I'm sure it's happening, but the searches are for information on things they haven't found yet. Identifying who had what list is useful, but in the end it won't mean much when most of them won't end up finding their stuff. Besides, I'm using the ring Batty left behind. After they cracked it the guild master gave it to me as a keepsake. The info sec on this thing is top notch. Since I'm the only one doing the searches it won't be a problem."

I was distracted from replying by a flash of red in the corner of my vision. "Hold up." I stopped, pulling her to a halt with me as I stared up into the branches. "I see something. Hummingbird Blossoms. Don't suppose there's any tips you can give me on collecting them? Wasn't sure if you got to them in your research yet, and if we're going to be grabbing them we should be sure to handle them properly."

She waved a hand and a layer of shadows gathered around us. Not the same as our cloud trick exactly, but something to keep us obscured at least a bit. I knew anyone looking for us specifically wouldn't be fooled though, so the two of us both lapsed into stealth as we started making our way towards the tree the blossoms were situated on. I leaned down to whisper to Callie. "Keep an eye out for any animals watching it or anything. My perception isn't nearly as high as yours so I'll be relying on you to detect any defenses or anything."

She gave a sharp nod, keeping her eyes peeled for anyone or anything lying in wait as we approached the blossoms. When we finally reached the foot of the tree they were in I had to fight down a whistle. The thing was HUGE. Granted most of the trees here were on the large side, but this on was as wide around as a small house. The branches were about as wide across as a sidewalk too. I put my hand on Callie's shoulder to let her know we were stopping and waited for her to let me know what was going on.

Callie was going hard on her Perception, and it only took a few minutes before she seemed to discover something, turning to me as quietly as possible. We weren't exactly in the open, and given out stealth skills and the shadow gathered around us we were tough to spot, despite that, she didn't bother to keep her voice down, telling me we were already being watched. "We have company Solomon. Two of them, though I can't pin them down exactly. They've been watching the blossoms I think, not us, but they're definitely keeping an eye out for hunters." She raised her voice. "Isn't that right?"

A pair of shapes blurred into existence on the branch of the tree across from us and I cursed. Two men, not particularly large or intimidating, in shapeless black cloaks. Either these were the same two guys Jessie had seen and they'd actually slipped her watch, or they were part of a team of at least four. The closest, a fair haired man of young but indeterminate age spoke calmly. "An impressive show of Perception to be sure. Yes, we have been keeping watch on these flowers, we seek to lie in wait for our competition."

Callie raised her brow. "Did you have these on your list and just assumed someone else would come looking? Or did you just find an Ascendant material and assume SOMEONE would be searching for that. Either way, not a bad plan. But if I were you I would go and watch another target. The two of you aren't enough to deal with us." The man just smiled placidly down at us, saying nothing at all, and his friend, who I realized was actually a girl about my age started laughing loudly.

I rolled my eyes. "I've heard this one before. This is where you tell us how tough you are right? You tell us we don't want any part of messing with you and try to scare us off with your reputation or ability right?" After dealing with the Heartrippers these guys and their ridiculous cloak vibe wasn't nearly as unnerving as I think they were hoping, and I had no issue picking a fight with a couple G rankers over some flowers we needed. It would be nice to fight for some lower stakes honestly. I did love a nice dust up.

To my surprise though, the smiling man just shook his head slowly. I didn't like the look on his face at all. He was way too self assured and smug for a guy who was dealing with even odds. I could understand him being confident since he didn't know us but there was something about his demeanor I didn't like. "Not at all. I was mostly going to ask what exactly gave you the impression there were only two of us." That, of course, was when the other six cloaked figures blurred into existence up on the branches of the nearby trees. I cursed internally. Ok, I'd kind of walked right into that.