Wish upon the Stars

"Well." I said uncertainly. "I wasn't expecting...this." Zeke smirked  smugly as we stood on the stairs down into an underground chamber  filled with tables and stalls. The whole individual vendor thing wasn't a  surprise, since this city was supposed to be a bazaar. No, the surprise  was the fact that the entire setup was built on a giant sword sticking  out of the rock of the cavern.

Below us, I could see a  yawning abyss, and off far in the depths, a few shining lights that had  to be stars. The hole we were standing in dropped out the bottom of the  city into fucking SPACE. Weirdly, the air here was fine, and I wasn't  too worried about freezing to death or my lungs exploding, but even  knowing that empty space was within sight was seriously freaking me out.

My  uncle took in a deep breath, inhaling the smoky, metallic smelling air.  "Titanblade emporium. The whole giant sword thing is a bit of a  gimmick, but the family that runs the place are weapon fanatics. They're  a unity wide organization, and have branches like this all over. I knew  someone would have set one up here."

Benny raised a hand  cautiously. "Um...what the hell is big enough to use THAT." He pointed  at the sword. "Or is it just a platform made to look like a sword."

Zeke  chuckled. "Nope. Every Titanblade emporium is built on an ACTUAL  titanblade. Giant swords forged for the elders of the Kyros family.  They're size shifters, some of the very best. Dakken Kyros, the S-ranker  who founded their clan, is known as the Worldhurler. Because he  literally gets big enough to THROW planets. Pretty high rank ones too."

I  stared down at the massive sword and gulped, but Zeke just patted me on  the back. "Don't worry so much. That thing is a push pin compared to  one of Dakken's blades. I've seen the main branch of their emporium  before. The sword is stuck in the side of that planet like a dart in a  dartboard. The hilt reaches the atmosphere. I'd imagine this thing  probably belonged to one of the C-rankers the family sent over."

Thinking  of a blade that size was...terrifying. Especially since the emporium  was probably on a high ranking planet, and they got BIGGER as you ranked  them up. It was part of the reason for the gravity increase. Some of it  was the weight of Impact, but massive planets had a stronger  gravitational pull. You could probably fit a hundred Calluses lengthwise  in whatever world that blade was stuck in.

Walking down  the steps, we made our way onto a crystalline energy bridge that  extended from the bottom of the steps, leading us out into the metal  platform created by the huge blade. I expected the floor to shudder or  make a hollow clang, but it was like stepping onto a normal metal floor.  The only strange thing was that I could feel some of the Impact of this  thing. It was much higher ranked than I was, though it seemed to be  suppressed somehow.

Since my uncle didn't seem to know  more about this place than where it was, it took some wandering around  to find the shop we needed, but find it we did. One specific old man  sitting at a blanket covered in a literal pile of staves, in front of a  squat red tent. As we approached, I started looking through them, but  since some of them were buried under the others I eventually got sick of  trying to differentiate with just my eyes and turned to ask him. "Hey, I  was wondering if you have a short staff with iron caps on the end."

The  old man, white hair hanging in a braid down his back and hands folded  in the sleeves of his long red robe with gold trim, sighed, muttering.  "There's always one." His eyes focused on me. "Yes. I have a Bang you  can buy."

"Perfect." I said with a grin. "I'm looking for and enchanted one that-"

"Changes  size." He cut me off with annoyance. "I know. Like I said. There's  always one. I don't have a size changing staff. They're pointless and  not cost effective. You wouldn't be able to handle the increased Might  requirements when using it, and even if you could, without some kind of  specialized Skill for it, or a staff that was indestructible, it would  either be impossible to control or just break under its own weight."

This  had the air of a rehearsed speech, but despite how direct he was, I  felt the need to point out the obvious. "We're STANDING on a giant  sword."

He groaned. "We're standing on a giant sword MADE  to be a giant sword. It doesn't change sizes. It's a huge blade made  with the express purpose of being used by a huge person. That's why  Titanblades are made like that. I can't sell your a size changing  weapon, and if I could, I wouldn't because it's stupid."

I  just stood there and blinked at him for a second before sighing. "Ok,  fine. What does the staff do? And what rank is it? I was hoping for an  E-rank weapon. Future proof my layout a bit. Do you have a bang that's  E-ranked?"

Shoving his hand into the pile, he fished  around for a second before withdrawing...power. The staff WAS E-rank,  and I could tell it would be tough to get used to. I knew that people  could use weapons and armor one rank above them, but I'd never asked  what was required to actually do it. Judging from this sensation, I was  going to need to train with this thing for a while just to be able to  hold it.

The shaft of the staff was deep, rich brown wood,  the grain seeming to form enchantment symbols on its own, though the  symbols were never the same when I was looking at it too long. The caps  on the ends were made of a greyish black iron, and I could see screaming  faces in the metal, their empty eyes pleading for release in a truly  chilling way.

"Ghost iron and Infernal Ash wood. Enchanted  by an elven master. They have a peculiar way with wood based  enchantments. The weapon can pass through solid objects if you focus.  The ghost iron also has the interesting effect of absorbing minute  traces of life energy on contact. The energy can't exist inside the  necrotic metal stably, so it's stored and corrupted, and can be released  and an explosive burst of death damage."

He offered it to  me, and when I took it I almost staggered at how heavy it was. Not  physically, but...in other ways. The Impact of the staff weighed on me,  making it feel like I was standing under a great burden. I loved it.  "It's perfect." I whispered as I ran my hands over it. "How much?"

He  squinted at me calculatingly. "That's a lower end E-rank weapon, but  it's made from the finest materials. I'd say fifteen E-ranked coins." I  winced, since there was no way I could afford that, but when I went to  argue, I was cut off as Celine stepped in.

I'd forgotten  she was our go to for haggling so I back off as she issued her counter  offer, and when it was rejected, tore into the old man. She started  making weirdly accurate deductions about his social standing and  effectiveness based on his placement in the market and the condition and  organization of his wares.

Sadly despite my hope that our  terrifying negotiator would be able to get him down low enough, He  stopped at ten E-rank coins and refused to go lower. He wasn't an  amateur like Sindar had been, and Celine's skills (or possibly Skills)  weren't enough.

"Alright." I cut in once the haggling  stalled. "How about this?" I wrote down a few lines on a piece of paper I  was carrying and passed it over, and his eyes widened in shock when he  saw them, then narrowed in suspicion.

He glanced from me  to the paper. "How many?" I held up three fingers. "And you want me to  throw in six rings?" I nodded. His eyes gleamed with avarice. "I can use  them as the actual payment, yes? Because if these are compensation I'm  not paying twice."

"Yes." I said firmly. "If you have  somewhere private nearby to go we can do the trade directly." I poked a  thumb at Zeke. "Though be warned if you decide to try anything funny I'm  not without protections." This guy didn't strike me as the type to  watch tournaments, and even if Zeke couldn't intervene most of the time,  there was no need for him to know that.

Zeke met his  eyes, and there was a frisson of pressure, too fast and focused to jar  the sword or alert anyone else. The old man's eyes went wide again, this  time with fear. He was an F-ranker, which meant he was old as hell to  look like he did. Like thousands of years old, but feeling what Zeke  really was obviously scared him shitless.

He led us back  into the tent, closing the flaps, then he touched a few runes that lit  up with contact and turned to nod at us. I'd carried the staff in, but  he plucked it out of my hands and dropped it on a pillow in the middle  of the tent, fishing in a pocket and pulling out six rings. "As agreed.  Three wishes. One for the staff, one each for three rings."  At my nod,  he grinned. "Good. I wish to be young again."

I was positive this wouldn't work like he wanted, but I confirmed, and sure enough.

I'd assumed it wouldn't work, but I  expected that message. It was the same one I got when Benny tried to  wish for a Master rank ability when I was at Minor.

"That's  not going to happen." I said bluntly. Before he could argue, I cut him  off. "As in, I don't have the stats to do that. You're too high ranked  and it's too much time. I'd suggest shooting for something a bit more  feasible." I didn't suggest a wish, because I was paranoid about them  not working if they knowingly benefited me too much, but with the hint I  was confident the old man would think of something.

He  looked annoyed, but then thought it through. "I wish for ten biological years of my youth restored to me." He said confidently. I confirmed when  the wish came up but shook my head. "Nope. Too much, scale it back.  That's three hundred and twenty years of life. Literally ten percent of  your total lifespan."

He snarled out a curse and then  snapped. "Fine! Three years. I wish for three biological years of my  life back." He paused, waiting to be let down, but...huh. That actually  worked. Maybe because of the three times modifier or maybe it was just a  more reasonable ask.

When I told him he brightened a bit.  Considering three times thirty two was ninety six, which made the three  years I'd given him almost three more centuries of lifespan, I could  understand why. He made all three wishes, then passed us over the rings  and handed me back the staff. He looked sprightlier, albeit not to an  insane degree. He'd probably been biologically in his mid nineties  (albeit in extremely good shape because of Vitality), so taking him down  to ninety two wasn't a huge physical change. Still I could tell,  especially with my Perception being what it was.

I weighed  the staff (apparently it was a Stygian Branch) in my hands, grinning  madly at my new weapon and how much fun it would be to use it, and  thanked the old man before we moved on. We had more shopping to do,  looking for a weapon for Callie and possibly something for Benny to  integrate alongside the new inventions he informed me he'd just  finished. I was happy to shop though. I still had all my money to spend.  This would be so much fun.