Malcolm Tent
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Wish upon the Stars chapter 921
🕑 Added 2025-07-03 01:23:30 +0000 UTCTrellan Saint was not an intimidating person. Not just visually (I’d long since learned not to judge books by covers), his whole demeanor was very casual and amused. Like he was in on a private joke the rest of us hadn’t caught onto yet. I didn’t like him. Like…immediate antipathy. But that wasn’t really relevant to the situation. So I sat down across from him and just bluntly said what was on my mind. “What do you want?”
He hummed with interest. “What a fascinating question. Because really, wants are so complex. They tend to vary moment to moment. If you ask what I want now, perhaps a nice filet, what I want in my life? Power and control. In a more general sense, the short term if you will, I’d say survival is high on my list. Specifically, not plummeting into the Void and being torn apart by a never ending army of nightmare creatures.”
“Yeah, I think that one is pretty popular,” I said wryly. “Am I to take it that you’ve chosen to involve yourself with my group in hopes of PREVENTING that outcome? Because that seems remarkably forward thinking of you. I get the vibe everyone else is just going to ignore it and hope it goes away.”
He snorted. “They’re idiots, but they aren’t complete dunces. They’re not being as passive as you might think. But yes, they’ll prioritize the succession war. At least until the very last moment, at which point they’ll all join forces to try to dispose of the problem.”
“But what if it’s too late?” I asked in frustration. “What if they waited too long and we’re all going to die by that point?”
“Then we die,” he shrugged. “I’m not a Wyndham, kid, I’m just telling you what I see. This competition is worth more to your family than almost anything. This isn’t just a chance at authority, it’s a chance at GROWTH. You know the Wishmaster position is temporary, holding office until you’re close to S-rank, but did you know that there is NO Wishmaster who hasn’t at least reached A?”
That seemed obvious…until I thought about it. “I mean, the sheer volume of renown would be huge, but past D-rank you can’t rank up with just stats. So there’s some way to help the Wishmaster with Path stuff? Or is just a consequence of only picking the best for the position?”
“Could be either,” he said with a shrug. “The point is that this is a guaranteed ticket to A-rank, possibly on the road to S. Some of these people will NEVER reach that level. They’ll die of old age in a few thousand years, pointless and ignored. The WCP might be this huge monolithic object to the universe at large, but the fact is that most candidates live unremarkable lives, essentially becoming reality warping vending machines until they hit a wall.”
Which was grim. But also kind of shed some light on the rabid desperation some of my family seemed to exhibit. My path to where I was hadn’t been typical. Not even for a candidate, the sheer number of advantages I had in terms of Paths and my non stat advancement was staggering, and it was easy to forget others didn’t have it.
Looking at my life, my friends, my family, so many of them were on the road to power, to longevity and health. How much would I be willing to risk if that wasn’t the case? If Callie didn’t have the talent to hit C-rank, or even D-rank, no matter how much help I provided. If Benny was stuck beyond that threshold, destined to die after what, to me, would be an eyeblink.
A lot. I’d do a lot. Risk almost anything. Maybe that was too much credit to be giving my relatives, but I was sure at least some of them had the same thought. Some of them had loved ones they wanted to bring with them to the top. Hell, how many of these subordinates were best friends like Benny was to me? Were wives or surrogate family? It was easy to look at the rest of them like the universe did, spoiled powerful children scrabbling for relevance. But how much of myself was reflected in the drive these people had, and how much was I ignoring out of my own hubris?
“So, you want to help, why do that instead of buy into their bullshit, like so many others are clearly doing?” Because the other candidates WERE still recruiting successfully. The Void incidents weren’t necessarily common knowledge, but I was sure some of the locals knew. Trellan himself was an example.
“Because my faction interacts more with the outside world than most,” he chuckled. “The Heirworld is a product of the Wish Curse Palace. If the candidates and branch heads are going ahead on a combination of arrogance and desperation, the locals are doing so out of a misplaced idealism built off lionizing the overlords that created this broken science experiment of a planet. It’s easy to see what the WCP is capable of as a whole and attribute that competence to the individual. Not to mention we have our own desperation stoked by the possibility of escape.”
I snorted in amusement. “So basically, you have no faith in my family and want to hedge your bets by working with someone you think will at least slightly prioritize the bigger picture instead of sticking their head in the sand until we get sucked into a howling vortex of eternal blackness?” I stared at him for a moment, waiting for a response, and when he nodded ruefully…I held out my hand. “Sounds good to me. Welcome to the team. I hope you realize I’m going to rake you over the coals in these contract negotiations.”
He barked out a laugh, taking my offered hand. “Wouldn’t have it any other way. So, tell me, what is it you’re looking for?”
I considered my goals, my needs, and what I had available. And I sighed. I was getting a big chunk of cash for the sale of the crystals, which would be useful for my comfort here, considering the overwhelmingly consumerist atmosphere…but that had been more Yettin than it was the planet as a whole. While I was sure that money would help, it wasn’t what we needed most. Aside from the one infinity crystal I was planning to request, I also had other needs.
“Elixirs,” I told him with a sigh. “Enough for…” I trailed off. “At least four. More if possible. A full set for each of us.”
He nodded, humming consideringly as he pulled out my contract and studied it. “Fifteen percent of the bulk sales, we’re paying up front so we go off market price. There’s no real flat pricing for elixirs, it’s going to vary based on your prioritized stats, but I could probably swing…seven sets? Assuming you aren’t going to ask for something like a hundred thousand Fantasy or something. Some of the rare stats are at a premium.”
Seven was decent. Me and Callie, Benny, Jessie, Abel, Bethy, and Chelsea. I honestly felt terrible that I couldn’t help out people like Celine, Daysia, Dayna, and Alyssa. But aside from Benny (who I refused to leave behind), everyone else was vital to our success.
I tossed out my demand for a few infinity crystals too (I decided to ask for three of them, if Benny didn’t use them I was sure someone else would) and we haggled over details for a while. I DID end up getting seven sets, but I had to compromise on the crystals, lowering my demand to two to push it over the edge, because the stat distributions I wanted were worth a bit more than I could afford with my share. Once I dropped one though, I was OVER limit, and I ended up getting a hundred C-rank chits in change on top of the contract fee, which definitely didn’t hurt my mood given how low my funds were.
Once we had the terms settled, we moved onto the next part of things. I had already signed Devlan and his people in exchange for that percentage stake, and this was Trellan wanting to commit more of his forces to our efforts at stopping the void, so we were clearly in territory that required new terms.
“So, what do you have to offer, exactly,” I asked him bluntly. “I assume you DO have an offer or you wouldn’t have approached me.”
He smiled broadly, then snapped his fingers, withdrawing a folder that he tossed on the desk. “In fact, I do. Once we got a handle on what happened in Yettin, we decided to investigate our other holdings, looking for any signs of possible attempts to gather the materials for the Void Ladder. We identified several possible trouble spots, and dispatched our people to deal with them. Even if we don’t end up allying with you, we don’t want the planet destroyed, and the materials are a good business opportunity.
“We ALSO identified at least one potential area of concern in this city. We noted your presence here as a faction and it was decided that I should be dispatched to aid in the removal of this particular inconvenience,” he gestured to the folder, which I picked up and read over.
Rather than another theft, this particular operation appeared to be a brainwashing operation. Based out of an old orphanage, the Void was apparently running some kind of kidnapping ring. Orphans and former employees of the building would go out and grab people and bring them back for conversion. Some of them came out, some of them didn’t.
I called Callie in, passing her the folder to check over the details. She grimaced. “This is…this is just sloppy. They’re grabbing anyone with a weak mind and quick converting them, then killing anyone who doesn’t take. This is antithetical to the normal Void approach. Whoever this is either doesn’t care what the Void Children think or is desperate. I’m guessing the latter, given that this kind of broad spectrum numbers game conversion is something nobody would bother with unless they were firmly dedicated to the Void’s interest.”
“Fair enough,” I said with a grimace. “So, we obviously don’t want to raid this place directly. I’m assuming you’re suggesting infiltration? If we can identify the distribution channels they use to ship these converts out, we can uncover a huge swathe of operations all over the planet.”
He beamed at me. “Exactly what I was thinking. Great minds and all that. But yes, I’m absolutely planning to use these fools to uncover the main bulk of their forces. Playing defense is unlikely to get us rid of this threat before things devolve beyond the point of salvation. We’re doing our best to put out fires, but signs aren’t visible for us until it’s nearly too late.”
“Very well, so what resources are you promising for this infiltration?” I asked, getting to the heart of the matter. “I assume you aren’t expecting me to go alone, or this wouldn’t be a cooperation at all.”
“Of course not,” he beamed. “In fact, we’ve already begun our process. Not only will we not expect you to do the bulk of the work, we already have an agent inside waiting to help you infiltrate. Her name is Tilda, and she’ll be helping you establish yourself as a potential convert, as well as allowing you to bypass the worst of the conversion process.”
He outlined our strategy there, or rather, the one he intended to use, asking me for advice and letting me help streamline the process. Finally, we came to an agreement and signed a contract. Ten years of service in exchange for aid in infiltrating the orphanage. Once we signed everything over, I let out a sigh of relief. “Now, with that out of the way, how about we get our hands on those elixirs early.” I wanted to stack the deck as much as possible before this mission. Just in case.
