The next five days were a blur of activity. I was even more committed to making the most of my wishes, bringing myself up by another eighteen points for a grand total of fifty, putting me halfway to G rank, as well as getting two instances of Minor Enchanting Mastery to stack on top of my current skill. It wasn't enough to bump me up to Lesser, but my rune carving was much smoother and faster now which was a huge plus.

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 10 Impact 2 Fantasy 11 Vitality 9 Focus 6 Perception 9 Creation 6 Skills: Lesser Doom Sovereign Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Cooking Mastery, Minor Gymnastics Mastery, Minor Swimming Mastery, Minor Guitar Mastery, Minor Singing Mastery, Minor Enchanting Mastery, Minor Inventing Mastery

It had been a damn productive few days. Fantasy took the biggest leap, people seemed to be most willing to trade that, and getting Creation off people was like pulling teeth, but in the end, my days of grinding had been worth it. At this rate I'd hit G in a couple of weeks. While this little marathon was going on, Zeke's Inventor finally ended up making an appearance, and was in the middle of cracking the encryption on the ring. He'd brought some sort of specialty decryption device to work on it and the thing had been chugging along.

My only real problem recently had been that I just didn't have enough enchantment attempts per day. Callie had agreed to help me test moves, but I'd started making gear to capitalize on the amplified damage from my rogue skills so I was kind of limited in what I could do. I needed to either rank up or get my enchanting to Lesser, preferably both. Once I did that my combat style would be viable instead of just being a one off trump card. Still, the days had been worth it, because I had finished my two newest creations.

A pair of tonfas made of the sturdiest wood I could get. With ten Might my actual attacks were massively stronger than they had been, but each tonfa was only good for one shot though the runes were a bit more involved than my bat. I couldn't wait to get Lesser Enchanting Mastery so I could buy some proper Ascendant materials to enchant, but until then I was carrying the two tonfas on me at all times and I was keeping an enchanting slot open since I finished them in case of an emergency.

That left me caught up for the day with all my work and at the guild mid afternoon and I decided now was a good time to stop in to see Callie. She still owed me access to the executive lounge as per our agreement, and I just genuinely enjoyed spending time with her. Her whole mentor vibe had mostly faded since I'd proved I could handle myself, and I stopped in to visit her most days when I was picking up new jobs, if only to alleviate her boredom on desk duty. Stella was forcing her to stick it out until the Inventor cracked the encryption on Attic Bat's scan ring, and the work drove her insane.

I actually kept forgetting about our bet, but I made a point to set a reminder on my scan ring this morning when I thought of it. I made my way up to Stricture's office, tapping on the open door to announce myself. Callie was in slacks and a t-shirt, once again ignoring guild rules about being in costume. I stood at the door, watching her scribble messily on a bunch of forms for a minute, until I got bored and cleared my throat. Callie jumped, scared out of her state of focus.

She glared up at me, pretending she hadn't made the high pitched squeak that had come out of her mouth when I startled her. "Has anyone ever told you it's rude to sneak up on people? Or loom like a big annoying scarecrow?" Her face was flushed with surprise and I smirked a bit. Seeing my smugness she just rolled her eyes. "Anyway what do you want? It's only..." She checked her scan ring. "Three PM. I don't have time off for lunch yet. Or are you just here to bother me while I work some more."

Despite the words her lips were quirked in a smile. I knew she enjoyed the break from the monotony. I slumped down in the chair next to the desk she was using. Stricture wasn't here at the moment so I was free to bother her as much as I liked. "I'm here, as a matter of fact, to ask you to fork over my winnings from our wager a few days ago. I forgot to ask about it more than once but it's time to pay up." I was really looking forward to being able to get into the executive lounge whenever I wanted.

She groaned. "Shit. I thought you forgot about that." She glared at me. "You weren't supposed to win that bet you know. The guild master is already annoyed at me, and she's going to have my ass for this." She sighed. "But a deal is a deal I guess. Fine, just let me finish up these forms and I can take my lunch early. If Stricture has a problem with it he can complain, I'm burned out for today anyway." She winked at me, starting to scribble her name across the pile of papers in front of her as quickly as possible.

She must have been working slowly because it only took her about five minutes to get done and then she stacked everything neatly and hopped energetically to her feet. "Ok, done! Now come on, let's get out of here before Stricture comes back and ropes me into delivering his daily requisition folder to the crafting hall or something." She grabbed my hand and tugged me after her towards the hall, only for both of us to freeze as we realized Stricture himself was standing in the door.

The severe man gave a humorless smile. "What a lovely idea Nightstrike." Callie let go of my hand, shoulders slumping in defeat. He raised an eyebrow. "I take it you remember where it is?" She sighed and nodded hopelessly, heading for the corner. She opened a drawer and pulled out a folder carrying the large stack of papers toward the door. Stricture watched her impassively for a moment before rolling his eyes. "You can take your lunch when you get back. Provided you don't take too long."

Callie grinned at the man, giving him a sloppy salute. "Sir, yes sir." Before he could rethink his choice she bolted out the door with the papers, practically sprinting to get out of the office. Stricture gave a heavy sigh and walked over to sit behind the desk sorting out papers as he double and triple checked that everything was where he left it. Anal retentive was a pretty accurate description on Callie's part.

He seemed to sense me staring. He raised his eyes to me calmly. "Can I help you with something Solomon? If you're going to wait for Nightstrike to return I would prefer you do so outside where you won't distract me from my tasks. " His face was blank as he stared up at me, completely unreadable as it almost always was the other times I'd seen him.

I didn't really feel like waiting in the hall, so I strolled over to the desk. "I wanted to ask, I know you're amazing at paperwork, but why the insistence on paper forms? Things like that folder would be so much easier to send over scan ring?" While I was trying to distract him from making me wait in the hallways like a school kid I was also genuinely curious. Using notes for something like the commission board made sense because it was untraceable, but it seemed strange to me to use paper for every single form he filled out.

His eyes snapped to me, narrowing in annoyance. "Because electronic messages are...impersonal. Each of my forms is an important document meant to be treated with care and respect. The paperwork done in this office keeps the entire guild running. The people who suffer from the recklessness of untrained rookie's such as yourself or the oppression of criminals and gangsters deserve the courtesy of having their concerns written out by hand in a careful and methodical manner. I take pride in my work, and I will not relegate it to drop down boxes and multiple choice bubbles."

I was surprised by the venom in his voice when he answered. It was clear this was a sore subject. I searched for something else to talk about, anything, but the only thing interesting about Stricture was his tie. He seemed to enjoy wearing multiple varieties of silk tie with his suits, all in a variety of colors and designs. This one looked different than the one he'd been wearing during my intake, that one had been... I froze. Orange with purple swirls. Orange SILK with purple swirls. Exactly like the small scrap of fabric we'd found when we tracked the Evil Eye through Attic Bat's bunker.

Several things about Stricture clicked into place for me then. How he always knew where everyone was, how he was mainly left alone by the guild members most of the time. How he was irreplaceable but never bothered to go out on patrol or do anything that would promote his reputation. But most of all, it was the memory of how he had walked me up the stairs to the guild masters office personally, as if he went there all the time. As if he had easy access to the most powerful F ranked in this branch of the Unity.

Stricture seemed oblivious to my realization, and I smiled at him calmly, trying to remain perfectly composed as I responded to his passionate speech. "Ah. Well that makes sense. Sorry to bother you while you're working, I've just always been curious about that. I'll wait outside for Callie." I forced myself to move at a slow, casual pace as I turned and walked out of the room, then took a right turn and headed for the steps Callie would be coming up. I didn't want to tip my hand here, I didn't have proof.

As I walked at a deliberately slow pace down the hall way to the steps I noted exactly how empty the halls on this floor were. I'd seen that before, that no one came here, and I cursed my luck as I tried to resist breaking into a run. I heard a voice behind me. Stricture. He was calling, but I didn't want to answer. I was afraid he was going to corner me. Coming after me was odd behavior for him. He never left his office. He must have noticed somehow, must have figured out that I knew his identity and wanted to shut me up.

I picked up speed, walking faster, then I realized that this was suspicious as fuck anyway and I might as well run, so I did, I burst into a sprint heading for the stairs. I didn't hear his voice behind me anymore and I sighed internally as I bolted for the steps. I needed to get to Callie. The Evil Eye was a high H ranker who had killed someone in G rank. Even with a magic dagger that wasn't a person you wanted to fuck around with. My measly ten Might wasn't going to help me against someone like him.

A fact that was made painfully obvious as I saw him step out of a side hallway in front of me. He'd circled around, probably easily with the no doubt much higher Might stat he had. I tried to stop, to slow down or change direction, but I was going top speed and I didn't have time to prevent myself from reaching him. The last thing I saw before his fist met my face was the cold, blank look he gave me as everything went dark. I just hoped I was going to wake up again, because honestly, I wasn't too sure that was guaranteed.