I met up with Skanda after and we headed back to the crafting hall where I said goodbye before going to meet up with the girls. The next day I managed to officially hit G rank. It turned out I got a point of Might from beating that golem. I got two points of Fantasy, a point of Perception, and a point of Focus out of my second day at the crafting hall, bringing me up to one hundred, though I waited until we got back to the tower and I was in my room to let myself rank up.

I laid down in my bed and confirmed the message. A threshold has been reached. Begin rank up? I was curious what this would feel like. As soon as I confirmed it I felt a thump of pressure and slammed down into the bed. I felt like I weighed a thousand pounds, like I was made of lead. I blinked in panic for a second before my body adjusted to the new Impact and my panicked breathing eased.

That had been...intense. I'd barely noticed my first rank up, but I imagine that was because it had been one point versus ten. My Impact had multiplied six times instead of twice over. I should have expected a big change when I ranked up but hey, live and learn. Still, I felt the same sense as last time but cranked up to eleven. I felt denser, more real. It was pretty damn nice. I grinned and pulled up my stat sheet.

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 16 Impact 12 Fantasy 14 Vitality 12 Focus 15 Perception 23 Creation 18 Skills: Lesser Doom Sovereign Mastery, Lesser Enchanting Mastery, Minor Piano Mastery, Minor Cooking 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

I couldn't stop fucking grinning. G rank. I was officially one step up on the power ladder. Considering how many of the people around here were G ranked, I certainly felt much safer, not to mention the Heartripper Society was made up of low profile people so most of them would be G rank too. I was much safer now than I had been before, but more importantly I was now only three points of Fantasy away from being able to grant Benny the wish for his ability. Actually...that gave me an idea.

I spun up my scan ring and called my friend in. It only took him a minute to get over to my room and I let him in. I spread my arms. "Notice anything different about me?" I was admittedly kind of smug about the whole rank up thing, but I was pretty sure it was warranted. I had just Ascended to a higher level of being. Unfortunately not being an Ascendant himself that was apparently not obvious to Benny, who just looked at me like I was an idiot. I rolled my eyes. "I ranked up moron, this is me as a G ranker."

He looked me over skeptically. "You do look...I don't know...fatter?" I glared at him and he snickered. I was guessing ten impact wasn't enough for a mortal to notice, I wondered how high it had to be before it became obvious to them. Though maybe they just didn't have the Perception. Either that or Zeke had some way of hiding his because I'd never noticed as a kid. I was figuring the latter because Stella couldn't tell what rank he was either. I'd have to try to weasel that little trick out of him, might come in handy someday.

Benny's face lit up. "So it's time? You can finally give me an ability?" His eyes lit up with fervor, and I didn't blame him. Being an Ascendant was pretty fantastic, and I wanted that for him. He'd been watching us all get stronger since we got here, not to mention seeing me leave him behind when I first got my power, even if temporarily. The whole thing with Stricture must have been awful for him.

I put up a hand and waggled it back and forth. "Not the one you wished for originally. I have a theory though. Your original wish for an ability included a ton of Fantasy. I think that whatever your natural ability would be has Fantasy in it. But I also think you can wish for a different one. I have a ton of Perception, and a pretty decent spread of everything else. If you wish for a new ability that I can actually give you I bet I have the stats to manage SOMETHING. I'm not sure what it'll be, but then, I don't know what your original ability would have been."

He bit his lip. "Fantasy seems like a rough one to raise based on what you said anyway." He blinked. "Oh, I can just word it so that I get the best possible option for me that you can manage as you are. I'll end up with something suited for me, probably better than the original power I would have gotten anyway." He was getting pretty good at this, and I was glad to see him using his head.

Still I had to warn him at least. "Giving you a second power will be WAY down the line if I can ever do it. And I don't think changing it will be easy either. Second powers are rare as hell, so there would be a huge price, and I don't know anything about changing powers but I can't imagine it'll be easy. You'll be stuck with whatever you get for the foreseeable future. If you wait a few days you can try for your original power, it might be better. Are you sure you want to do this now?" I was impatient too, so I understood, but this was a big decision.

He shook his head. "No. I have a better chance of getting something useful to me if I wish for a suitable power than I do with the random ability I was born with. Hell, most people never get this chance, and the massive gap in Impact between us is probably the only reason it would even work. Actually, would that gap make my original wish cheaper?" It actually might, and I opened my mouth to tell him that, but he waved it off. "Never mind, that makes the wish for a suitable power an even better option."

I winced. "There's another thing to consider. We need some kind of payment for you. Admittedly I think the rank gap will make the wish less valuable so probably nothing crazy, but you'll need to pay with something." This had been something I'd worried about for a while actually. Benny needed to pay with something he earned himself and he didn't exactly have deep pockets out here.

He grinned at me. "Oh, that won't be a problem. One minute." He bolted out of the room and came back a few minutes later with a duffel bag. He unzipped the top, rifling through it before shrugging and shoving the whole thing at me. "I wish you could give me the most suitable ability that you currently have the stats to grant me. In exchange I offer a whole bag full of I rank inventions. Everything I've ever made except for Tock, who I'm actually super attached to at this point." He gave a wry grin as he said that last part.

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I confirmed.

Stat points sufficient. Requirements: 48 Might, 36 Vitality, 36 Impact, 54 Creation.

I whistled. He had asked for the strongest possible power I had the stats to give him, so it made sense he would have maxed out my potential values for those stats, but still, it was a whopper. The Impact alone was absolutely insane, and it occurred to me giving someone a new power might be more expensive than awakening one they already had.

It looked like it was a valid wish though, and it didn't ask for compensation so his offering was good enough. I felt the wish begin to build as usual, that same static charge as before, but this time I saw tiny flickers of actual purple electricity across my skin. My every cell was buzzing with power, this was going to be the biggest wish I'd ever granted hands down. I was just glad that those inventions were enough, they must mean a lot to him, and were probably valuable in their own too.

I gestured to the bed. "Remember the skill thing? This will be so much worse." The only saving grace was that he was obviously going to be getting some stats in Might and Vitality to support his power so that should reinforce him enough along with the Impact to be ok. He had wished for the most suitable ability after all, and I was pretty sure making your head explode made something unsuitable, even compared to a weaker ability. He laid down and I initiated the wish. I'd been holding it back subconsciously so he could get ready, but once I let it loose...wow.

An arc of literal purple lightning erupted from my hands and SMASHED into Benny, pinning him to the bed. He gritted his teeth, not screaming but clearly uncomfortable as his body shook. It felt like I had connected a fucking circuit, energy flowing from me to him then back to me, ramping up constantly. His payment connected the circuit on his end, and my ability on mine, and I suddenly understood how the whole three times modifier worked. The Wish ability was perfectly balanced to create a feedback loop, I'd just never granted any wishes big enough to feel it before.

The wish dragged on for what felt like an hour before it finally faded and I slumped to the ground bonelessly. Benny was lying down so it was fine, but this had been my absolute limit for most of my stats and I could FEEL that. I was pretty sure the Impact had patched some holes in the wish too. I probably couldn't have managed his ability without the amount I had and his lower rank both.

Unlike with skills or anything I got some actual feedback this time from my power.

Wish Granted.

Ascendant ability unlocked. Minor Iron Hide- Allows the user to transform their skin into a metallic substance. Stat allocation: 1 Impact, 1 Might, 1 Vitality, 1 Creation.

I slumped against the floor, panting with effort, but I had a huge smile on my sweaty face. Benny was lying back, blinking up at the ceiling. I waved a hand in front of his face and he jumped.

I grinned down at him. "So I'm guessing you're checking your stat sheet. I'll be honest was never sure exactly what that looked like for other people. Mine is like a rolling purple flame that fills my vision, what are you seeing?" I helped him to his feet, and he staggered slightly before finding his balance. I might have overdone it slightly pulling considering my Might at this point. Not too much though because I did try to be careful. He regained his footing pretty quickly, so his own point of Might probably helped.

He grinned at me. "It's just black letters printed across my vision. Nothing fancy, but I feel...so different man. This is intense." He hadn't had those stats before so that made sense. He grinned manically. "Not to mention I have a point of Focus! I guess I was close enough from the Inventing skill, which moved up to Lesser with the change, i don't know if that was stats or if I was just close enough and my mortality was holding me back." He lunged forward to grip me tight and lifted me up in a big hug. "So...want to go tell the girls?"