The preparations for the meeting we were crashing began the next day. Benny made the wishes after talking with Callie for a bit. It seemed like I was running into a wall on storing more than ten of any one kind of attack, and Benny was best able to supply a new type. Callie was thinking about trying to supply a stealth ability for the next try, but we figured experiments should be done when we didn't have so many important things on the line, so Benny paid for the wishes with five uses of his spider leg attack.

It was temporary, just like his was, but still a G ranked pair of extra sharp limbs was a damn useful thing to have in my back pocket, especially with my DS skills to modify it with. once that was done Callie pulled him aside and discussed the potential wishes we might need. Once he had a good idea of what we should do without my input mucking things up, he came back and got started. "Ok. So we talked it over and we have a few wishes for the meeting. Mostly environmental stuff to help us stay hidden."

I just raised an eyebrow, waiting. Seeing I had no questions he started with the first one. "Ok, first off I wish during the duration of the meeting, every possible clue that might reveal our presence would be masked, and by possible I mean as many as I can afford not every clue conceivable." He's obviously put a decent amount of thought into this, and one he said it, the usual purple flame licked across my vision.

Wish detected. Grant wish?

After confirmation I got the rundown.

Stat points sufficient. Requirements: 270 Perception, 219 Focus, 36 Impact.

I whistled. That was a decent chunk of points, but that was good, it had been a modular wish, which was what I called the ones that were open ended and just applied the best possible version of the effect. More points meant more effect, and this many should hide us from plenty of accidental slips if we made any. Benny paid with the spider leg attack and I felt the growing charge in my body explode into the ether, altering the world around us.

Benny, meanwhile, seized up, falling to his knees in pain as the price was extracted. I panicked a bit, wondering why it was painful when Callie's hadn't worked like this, and then Benny gagged and vomited up a pool of molten gold the same color as the spider legs, which flowed across the floor and up my leg, funneling up my body and condensing into a small golden gear mark with a C in the middle near the other symbols.

Benny lay there for a minute, dry heaving and shuddering on the ground before staggering back to his feet and slumping back on the couch he'd been sitting on before he fell. "Well, that was deeply unpleasant. Sucks I have to do it four more times." He hacked a few more times and Jessie brought him a glass of water, pumping some life force into him to patch up any injury or exhaustion.

She rubbed his back for a while, imbuing her touch with green power. Her expression turned worried as she glanced up at us. "I don't know if doing these too close together is a good idea. That was pretty rough looking. I don't think he's actually injured, but it seemed draining." She frowned seriously. "I might be able to overcharge him enough to offset the drain though. I'll leave it up to you Ben, whatever you want to do is fine. I trust our fearless leader won't ignore her healer's recommendation?" She arched an eyebrow at Callie.

"Not at all." Callie said quickly, putting both hands up in a placating gesture. "If he doesn't think he can keep going we can wait. The meeting isn't until later tonight, so there's no rush. We can space these out to let him adjust. That really did look kind of rough." Callie's blue eyes cast a concerned glance at my previously shaking and drained friend. I'd have been worried too, but I knew from earlier wish sessions what Benny could handle when he put his mind to it. He would tell us if it was too much.

Sure enough, he shook his head. "I'm fine. I appreciate the worry, but Jessie's little pick me up did me a world of good. I can definitely keep going. I'll let you know if I need a break, but I want to get these out of the way so I have time to take a nap. I don't want to feel like this when we're heading to the actual meeting." He turned to me. "I wish that the enemy we'll be watching would be as unguarded as possible in their speech so we can learn their secrets more easily. Obviously I'll be paying with the spider legs again."

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I hesitated this time before confirmation, but I trusted Benny to know his limits.

Stat points sufficient. Requirements: 219 Focus, 36 Impact, 270 Perception.

I noted that the stat distribution here was basically the same. I suspected those thirty six points of Impact were making up for quite a bit of lacking potency in the wish, but those two stats being used for essentially the opposite of the first wish made plenty of sense. Once again the purple electricity built and exploded out into the ether, leaving Benny choking on the ground.

This time he seemed less affected though. Jessie had kept him topped up and he was clearly in better shape despite still not enjoying the process. Once he was done he held up a hand, taking another drink from the water glass. "Ok, I don't need too long, but give me at least a minute. That was loads better, but it still sucked ass. You better fucking cherish these attacks, because no way am I ever doing this shit again."

I winced at his comment, and Callie finally stepped in. "Ok. That's enough. Switch attacks for the last three, Benny. Shane, you can hold ten of each type right? And he's only given you four of the density shifted triple and tranq blows. Use those instead. You can trade the other spider leg attacks for stats later if you want, but give yourself some time to adjust." MY friend grimaced but after that second try he was willing to make a change. He wasn't giving up, but switching to a different attack type wouldn't halt the wishes.

He sat up with a groan from where he'd been on hands and knees. "Fine." He said in a raspy voice. "I'll pay the last three with triple tranqs. Those will be the most useful anyway. Sharp limbs are great, but knocking people out is a good match for your style. I wish for a random escape teleport applied to me that will take me to a random place somewhere in the city if I come under attack." He paused. "Then, I wish for one for Jessie and her wolves, and one for Callie. I figure with Zeke there you should be fine if the worst happens, right?"

As before, the wish energy began to gather, and I confirmed it as I read over the stat requirements.

Wish detected. Grant wish?

I confirmed.

Stat points sufficient. Requirements: 291 Might, 63 Fantasy, 270 Perception, 219 Focus, 35 Impact.

I had been worried about granting three in a row, but it seemed as long as the wishes were made separately my power could queue them up like that. Benny and Callie were worth the same to transport, but Jessie, probably by virtue of bringing the wolves along, also cost two hundred Vitality, which I happily paid for.

I felt my power surge and discharge three more times, and each one pulled more and more from me. Granting big wishes was tough, and these were large. I was the one on the floor this time, and Jessie stepped up to infuse me with lifeforce, which really helped. Wishes took a lot out of me, but it was worth it. I looked up at the others. "Alright, that should be enough to keep us pretty safe once we're there. If we get into too much trouble I can slip away with Double Trouble probably. I have escape skills for this, plus Zeke watching my back."

Callie sighed, helping me up. "I guess. I'm worried about this though. I get not using one of the teleports on you, with your background you'll be the safest if push comes to shove. Still, I don't like it. The thought of leaving you behind doesn't sit right with me, even as a hypothetical." I pulled her into my arms, squeezing her tight as she laid her head on my shoulder, knowing that sometimes there wasn't anything to say to refute someone's fears, and that when I had moments like that, a hug was usually the most helpful response.

Personally I was just glad Jessie could bring the wolves with her. I hadn't been sure that would work until it did. Their Vitality connection and the fact that they weren't sapient was probably the main reason. It was still damn convenient for us. With the wishes out of the way for the day, there was only so much prep work I could do before tonight now. I told the others I was going to do some training and left them to their own devices, giving Callie another tight hug. She stayed to talk to Jessie about their day out, which had been postponed due to our insane training schedule.

I had a massive stockpile of attacks if I needed them, so I decided to work on upgrading some of the DS Mastery subskills. I'd need them all upgraded before I could get that Skill to intermediate. I decided the first skill upgrade I would focus on was Stone Limb. That skill had become much less useful over time because of the long buildup needed. Touching rock was fine, but touching rock for thirty seconds was just too big a liability mid combat to be useful.

I decided not to do too many of these, we weren't planning any combat tonight, but even with the wishes I wasn't stupid enough to burn all my enchantment charges before an operation. I settled on fourteen. That would leave me ten charges to work with, and literally dozens of attacks stored up to use them with. I placed my hand on the dirt in the training room, the track was made from the stuff. Then I triggered Stone Limb, straining the skill to make it form faster. It hurt my head but I managed to shave down the time from tens of seconds to only eight.

Of course, that wasn't fast enough, and it still hurt. So I repeated myself. Eight seconds to six, six to four, four to three, then to one. I finally got the cast time down to a second, and then I began perfecting that. I used the one second cast Stone Limb, then used it again, each time I got more and more proficient at it. The more I forced the skill into that shape, the less it hurt, and the more natural the changes became to the skill itself. One use, two, five, each one making it more and more complete until finally, the changes were permanent. Like a puzzle piece clicking into place, Stone Limb CHANGED.

I pressed a hand to the ground, triggering the skill normally with the last of the fourteen charges, and I grinned as the rock climbed my arm, officially snapping into place in a single second, and finalizing the change to the second of my subskills. Two down, plenty more to go, but it was fine. I'd take my time and optimize every skill for my new combat style. This wasn't just a task to do, it was an opportunity to customize the Skill to my exact needs, and I wasn't going to waste it. When DS Mastery upgraded, I planned for it to become an even more key part of my arsenal.