Once we got everything worked out with the contracts and we got our wishes granted, we went our separate ways, agreeing to meet up and discuss the details of the tournament soon. Even as I walked away though, I officially regretted the wish I made. I could have asked for anything, and I would have been able to get it. Rare Skills, items, some more stats, there was just so many options to pick from. Instead I'd gotten an upgrade to a Skill I already had and could have upgraded manually anyway. It just seemed like such a waste.

Despite the second guessing though, I knew deep down it had been the right call. Beginner Enchanting Mastery at the level I got wouldn't just get me to the next rank, it would be a crazy solid foundation that would let me get to Intermediate much more easily. It already doubled the number of charges I could use per day, putting me at forty eight DS Mastery skills in a twenty four hour period, but brought me within spitting distance of doubling that number again once I put some more work into it.

I had enough tricks in my arsenal, another Skill wouldn't make or break me, it would just split my focus even more. I used DS Mastery in all of my fights, and recently I'd been hitting the wall on the number of times I could do that. With my whole stored attack thing I could churn out damage like a rainstorm if I needed to, but I needed my DS Mastery to augment and amplify those.

I wasn't second guessing my choice not to upgrade that Skill though. Getting a one off wish might help me get DS Mastery to Intermediate, but that would make getting it past that level all the harder without the same wish to rely on. Sure, it would be reasonable to do that with a more common Skill with lots of source material to pull from, but aside from being stupidly expensive (if I could even do it) upgrading DS Mastery would just mean I had less of an understanding to upgrade it myself later. Eventually I wouldn't be able to just wish it higher, even if I did find someone to make the wish to, because there would be no information to source at all. The cost would shoot up so high that it wouldn't even matter.

It didn't matter though. I'd made it back to the tent, and I had to shake off my second guessing now as I got back to the others. They seemed relieved I was safe, but not relieved enough for another group hug. I guess they'd gotten past the worry when I was gone. Callie was the only one who put her arms around me when I got back, and I gave her a tight squeeze in return before stepping back with a long sigh. "Alright. Since that issue is taken care of for now what's our next move. I have information but this isn't the place to talk. We can save that for later."

Callie just nodded. "Sure. Sounds good. In that case I think we need to go and have a chat with Cicero. Probably best to do it while the others are here. just so he doesn't try to weasel out of it." I blinked, having forgotten the whole 'we get our own territory if we helped him out' thing. Hell, we were technically done once we figured out who was doing all this, but realistically collecting the prize before making sure the entire place wasn't going to be burned to the ground wouldn't have been useful.

So we all headed over to where Cicero was standing next to Abel, looking a bit pale but otherwise unharmed. The two of them were in a quiet conversation, with Mel standing off to the side glaring at the top hatted man, when we finally came close enough to hear and they stopped talking. It was weird that we couldn't hear it before given our Perception, but I guessed they'd been using Stealth, which was a use for that Skill I had never even considered. It was definitely the right tool for the job.

Abel saw us come up and gave an exhausted smile. "Sorry you lot, probably not the best time. I'm arguing with my idiot brother. Apparently the genius here wants to expel the Pavilion from the Cavalcade. Never mind that the majority of the G-rankers in the circus are dead now, and that the Pavilion has more than the rest of the circus put together." His words made it pretty obvious the exhaustion was from dealing with this shit and not from the actual fight, which even with the heal burst was impressive as hell.

Cicero actually snarled at Mel, ignoring the rest of us and his reputation in favor of venting his frustration. "She fucked all of us over. Stabbed us in the back. This entire thing is her fault, and everyone knows it. If she hadn't been fomenting insurrection like a sneaky little backstabbing harpy no one here would have died! I won't have her in my circus, I've put up with her nonsense for too long. She goes. No discussion." He was snarling the words at her, and to my surprise, Mel was flinching as he said them like she was being hit.

For the first time since I'd met him, I saw Abel do the one thing I hadn't thought he was really capable of. He got mad at his brother. The eyes behind the rabbit mask hardened into a stony flatness as the aura of danger and violence he wore like a bloody mantle in combat fell over all of us. He took a step toward Cicero, and the mustachioed man paled and stepped back, visibly terrified of his enraged brother.

Despite the fury painted across his face, when Abel spoke, his voice was calm and quiet. Almost a whisper. "That's enough. You brought this on yourself. You spent years after I left shoring up power and playing your political games, and you ignored the needs of the people here. Mel was just doing what she thought was right, and seeing you acting like this, I'm not sure she wasn't right. I've spent far too long enabling your power plays and ambition. I love you little brother, but Mel isn't going anywhere, and if you try to make her I'll toss your ass out the front gate myself."

The calm, soothing tone of his voice made the threat much more visceral as he spoke it, ensuring we all knew exactly how serious the masked man was. He wasn't dealing with this anymore. Despite the heavy vibes, Callie actually put a hand up. "If you boys are done measuring, I might have a solution that works for both parties." They turned to glare at her, but she just blithely ignored Abel and strode up to his brother, poking him in the chest as she planted a fist on her hip. "You. Asshat. You owe us a territory within your borders as payment for this whole mess. We want the Pavilion."

My jaw fell open in shock. That was...perfect. Holy shit that was absolutely perfect. Why the hell hadn't I even considered that? I'd been trying to figure out a way to ally with Mel and the others without getting in bed with Cicero, and this was absolutely the easiest way. Even if the Pavilion was part of the cavalcade physically, if the place was handed over to me, a guest elder of the Beast Lord Garden, it would politically removed from Cicero's sphere of influence completely. Hell, even Abel could stick around, because he'd be spending his time in a protected area under the aegis of an E-ranked faction.

Cicero, naturally, was far less impressed with the idea. "What? That isn't..." He trailed off as Abel turned his icy gaze back on his brother. "I mean...that's a large and incredibly lucrative portion of the circus. I promised you territory, but that's going to cut into my bottom line." He hurriedly raised his hands placatingly before Abel could respond. "Not that I won't do it. I'm just saying that while it's not technically outside the parameters allowed for territory in the contract, it violates the spirit of our deal, so I would require some...additional commitments from you both. "

Callie looked genuinely floored. "Spirit of our deal? You dropped us in a potentially fatal labyrinth to pick up the deed to this place and tried to claim it was a test of capability. Fuck you! It would be within the 'spirit' of our deal for me to let Solomon break your kneecaps like he was hoping to do in the first place now that this is all over. You're lucky we're both under the impression your brother would intervene, or I'm pretty sure you would already be mid assault."

For effect, I cracked my knuckles menacingly and drove a fist into my palm, which I was proud to see drew a harsh swallow from the top hatted man. I was a big guy, and while there was no way I was fighting Abel, this asshat had almost gotten my girlfriend and I both killed, so I had zero compunctions scaring him a bit. He wisely chose to shut up and Callie turned to check with Mel. "How about you?" She said to the older woman. "I know that's not really ideal for you, but what do you think? We wouldn't interfere in your leadership or anything."

Mel stared for a minute and then gave a long sigh. "That's...probably the best we're going to get, isn't it? You're good kids, and despite a rough start I think we get along. Plus if you don't take the Pavilion you'll just get some other part of the circus, and I'd still be stuck figuring out what to do next. So...what the hell. Sure. The Starburst Pavilion officially accepts Nightstrike and Solomon as co-leaders provided you sign a few documents ensuring our people positions and certain levels of treatment."

Callie glanced at me and I nodded, I could put together an employment contract no problem. With that our of the way we all headed out back to the Pavilion to talk over details. Cicero insisted on it, probably because once the Pavilion was officially ours he wouldn't have to deal us being in his circus and could just leave. As we walked though, I finally let myself truly relax. We'd done it. Repelled the invaders, completed the job, even inherited our own faction, which was pretty crazy when I thought about it.

The amount we had been through in this short time was staggering, and there was still so much to do. The tournament, the Academy, and we still had the Jerks to deal with, even if we had cut off this one avenue. I somehow doubted Sanctuary Hall was going to let this go, even if they probably wouldn't try anything else in G-district. We'd have to be on the lookout in the city proper, in the other districts, and maybe even back at the Academy. We also had the Academy mission to collect points for, given we thwarted the invasion.

Aside from that I was betting we'd all gotten more than a few points for this and I wanted to check in with everyone to see where they were at before we went any further. Before any of that though, I just put an arm around my girlfriend as I walked, enjoying the drained tension as I processed the lull in my crazy life. I loved getting stronger, picking fights, and finding treasure, but it was nice to just take a breath sometime. I might as well do it while I could, because I had a hell of a lot more crazy coming based on the looming threats. I gave Callie a squeeze. Yeah, a quick breather was enough, my life was crazy, but I wouldn't have it any other way.