Skanda actually used up all four wishes himself. Which was fine with me, I could always come back tomorrow. Though I was annoyed about wasting ten chits on the stupid production room. Luckily it turned out you didn't need to use the time consecutively, though you did have to wait until it was empty to claim the rest of it. I pocketed the key after thanking the contractor for telling me and decided to head out to look around.

I'd managed to get stat points from Skanda, though not Might. A point of Fantasy, a point of Focus, and two points of Creation. Skanda had a preference for which way his build should go, but much like everyone else his reputation decided his stats. Steering four points more into line with what he wanted wasn't going to change that, but it would at least help him give the vibe he was trying to project a bit better, and that alone was priceless. In the meantime, I got to a whopping ninety five points, only two days from G rank at this rate.

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 15 Impact 2 Fantasy 12 Vitality 12 Focus 14 Perception 22 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

Though the contract wouldn't let him discuss anything that happened, giving me a general recommendation was still on the table. He promised to mention me to his friends, and didn't think keeping quiet on details would bother them much given how crafters usually did business. As we walked out though, I realized I'd gotten really lucky and got done way too early.

Luckily I had a local to guide me, so I turned to Skanda with a questioning glance. "Hey big guy, most of the tests and stuff are aimed at G rankers, but we have to be able to do SOMETHING before getting there. How do H rankers manage to work their way up here?" I didn't believe that the tests were the only things to do here, especially since the crafting points prove tasks could be given independent of testing.

He chuckled. "There are plenty of tasks a lower ranker can do. One of my favorites is actually around here, I can take you if you want to check it out?" I nodded happily, I'd been hoping for something like that, so I wasn't going to argue. Skanda led me through the hall and out the door before circling around to the back of the building where there was a large metal...thing. Maybe a barn or a big shed? I didn't know how to describe it.

He led me inside, and I stayed on my guard until I got inside and saw all the busy people and realized he wasn't luring me into the woods where nobody could hear me scream. I looked around and saw that the number of shapes here were deceptive. More than half of these things weren't people at all. They were...robots? But not robots. No moving parts or gears, just rock, wood, or metal. I turned to Skanda, raising an eyebrow.

The grin he shot me was pure glee, and he spread his arms to encompass the huge space around us. "Welcome to the golem battledome! Golem making is fairly niche in the Academy, but even a niche discipline has thousands of people. Because the golem making Skill is so inefficient at low levels even G rank golems have most of their points poured into Vitality and Creation to make them actually function. It leaves them light on everything else, so the crafters have this place, where H ranks can challenge golems for ranking points."

I blinked, my eyes going wide as I felt excitement begin to bubble. "I can...fight robots for reputation?" Well, magic robots, but who fucking cared? That was awesome. "How many points are they worth? How many of them can I fight? And how the hell do you win?" I wasn't sure what the hell the chances were of beating one, but this sounded like a blast either way. Still I couldn't didn't ignore the fact that low stats or not these were G rank golems, so they would have six times my Impact.

He chuckled. "One point for every round they survive. Some of the really well designed ones can be near unstoppable, depending on the stat allocation. The golem making Skill uses enchanting and inventing both, so materials play a big part but there's some wiggle room. As for beating them, they supply G rank weapons for use in the matches, nothing fancy, but enough to offset the Impact difference."

That made sense, I was also intrigued by the fact that there were skills you could only get when using other skills. But then Ian had also said there were skills that you got from using enchanted items enough too, so I guessed unlock conditions were something I'd heard of before. I also sounded like it wasn't the same as combining them. Something to think on later but I had other things on my mind now. I grinned behind my mask. "I want to give it a shot. This sounds like a ton of fun."

He led me along the wall past a bunch of people repairing golems. "It is, but be careful. Lots of Vitality means even with the Impact difference partially mitigated by the weapons they can take a beating. This is a marathon, not a sprint." We came to a table where a pair of girls were sitting, almost identical except their hair and eyes. The one on the left had red hair and green eyes and the one on the right had green hair and red eyes. Skanda knocked on the table to get their attention, nodding at me. "Hey my buddy wants to set up his first golem match, and I'll take a shot too."

The twins looked up at us blandly, speaking in perfect unison when they asked. "Very well, your options for combat are novice, veteran, or elite. Novice golems have survived ten or fewer fights, Veterans between ten and fifty, and Elite golems have survived fifty or more fights." The whole unison talking thing was extremely creepy, but at least they were informative. I picked novice, obviously. I'd never fought a golem so it made sense to try for one that was as weak as possible to test the waters. Mitigating factors or no, I was fighting up a rank.

They gestured me towards a ring at the back before handing me a paper ticket with a number on it. Skanda picked a Veteran, so he headed off in another direction, but we agreed to meet up at the entrance after the fights. once I got there I passed the ticket to man standing by the entrance to the small ring and he ushered me in. The ring was about fifteen feet across, so there was room to move. Ticket guy followed me in and brought me to a chest against one wall which he unlocked, opening it to reveal an assortment of shabby looking weapons.

The guy gestured to the weapons. "Please select a weapon, and be aware that any harm or injury suffered during your match is not the responsibility of the Academy or the Golem Battledome, just as any material damage to the golems themselves will not fall on your shoulders." I nodded my understanding and knelt down to pick out a weapon. Since this was a golem I could let loose, and I had three shots here. I reminded myself to stack a bunch more Doom Sovereign Mastery skills when I got the chance, I could definitely find those on the game. Because it was the weapon I used most in game I picked dual daggers.

I'd been going for blunt weapons until now, but with all my Perception I should be good enough to aim. I gave the man a nod and headed over to stand on the x marked on one side of the ring for me, while the gate on the other side opened and let in...a big hunk of wood. I activated my overlay, seeing the arrows telling me what attacks would and wouldn't work. Seeing an opening I darted in, deciding to attack normally before wasting one of my three enchanting charges without knowing what I was up against.

I darted in swept under a surprisingly quick backhand from the long limbed wooden creature, and buried my dagger in it's gut before darting back out. I was shocked at how easy the knife went in. Like I still had to put all my Might behind it but it slid a few inches into the wood. I looked at the gash as I backed off...and felt my stomach sinking. It was healing. Shit, I should have assumed a wood golem would be heavier on Vitality than most.

That was...good and bad. I could assume doubling down on the already heavy Vitality stat would mean it would be much weaker for it's level, which was good for me. But since golem making relied partly on enchanting, I could assume the same rules held true. Vitality enchantments always took much better to things that used to be alive, wood in particular was excellent for them, which was why I used it in Jessie's wand. I could assume a G rank wood would be even better, meaning my main issue with this thing was going to be regen and not straight combat.

Luckily, it was alive, and wood was close enough to flesh for me to have a counter to this. I triggered my DS Mastery, along with my Lesser Enchanting Mastery, as I activated a subset of my rogue skills I had been actively avoiding. I triggered the lowest level poison skill I had access to, an ability called Touch of Tears. My daggers began to glow green. Not the vibrant green of life, but a toxic, virulent bright green. I darted back in, and used my second charge of the day on a second ability. Flurry of Blows.

Flurry of Blows was basically only useful with damage over time attacks. It sped up attack speed but didn't actually improve your attacks at all, but that worked well in combination with Touch of Tears. I circled the golem, daggers biting into it as viciously as I could manage. The wood healed after each blow, but it healed sickly and yellowing, and each consecutive healing spread that discoloration even as it worsened on the scar itself.

As I suspected the thing's powerful Vitality gave it lots of regen but robbed it of any real physical ability. This golem was made to outlast an opponent, not outfight them. Touch of Tears lasted one minute, and with Flurry of Blows on top of my own Might I managed one hundred thirty two attacks in that time. Despite it's relative weakness I did still have to put some force into the blows because the poison stack only applied if it broke the 'skin'.

After my attacks ended I ran circles around the damn thing for another ten minutes while the poison finished spreading, finally stopping as the wooden monstrosity, now shrunken and twisted, collapsed to the ground, shattering on impact. I turned to the ticket guy, who looked more annoyed than surprised or impressed. He gestured to the chest again and I walked over to return the daggers before making my way out of the ring. He held out a hand wordlessly and I handed him my coin. He pressed it to a pad he had off to the side and the number on the back dropped to seven hundred forty eight thousand nine hundred eighty six. I grinned. This was turning out to be a good day.