Once we got home, we gathered up Benny and Jessie into the living  room while Cark took Cass out for some ice cream to give us privacy.  Zeke tagged along, partly for the same reason, and partly because I  think he had a soft spot for the kid after watching her for so long, and  we were left in the living room with the wolves. I used Jin as a  pillow, because why wouldn't I, and we filled the others in on  everything that had happened and what the ramifications were for that.  Benny was the first to speak up after the story, and his first question  echoed my own sentiments. "He was that strong?"

I grimaced  but nodded. "Yeah. I think some of it was stats, he was high G rank,  but even without them...it was bad. He was just on a different level  than us. Even people like Fisher couldn't hold a candle to him. I was  actually wondering about that, since you graduate at F rank and Fisher  is a freshman G ranker. I wondered how he could be so clearly at the top  of the rank in terms of power, but I clearly have a LOT to learn about  what Ascendants are capable of doing with the proper training and  dedication." I paused with a grimace. "Speaking of dedication, Jessie,  how's our girl?"

Callie, who was sitting under the green  glowing hands of our healer, glared at me. "She's fine, and not a fan of  being talked about like she doesn't exist. That was suspiciously close  to patronizing me again." I held my hands up in mock fearful surrender  and she rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked a bit. "Alright, fine. As  long as you're not hovering, I don't mind the question." She reached out  to grab my hand, giving it a firm squeeze. I even felt a bit of the  energy coming off her. "I feel much better so don't worry. Now, lets  talk about your costumes the both of you."

She focused on  Benny and Jessie. "Jessie you have a look already and it works. The  green looks great on you and the cloak is pretty. It's distinctive  enough to catch attention but not specific enough to be jarring when you  switch it up. You can try something new if you want, but my personal  suggestion is keep the broad strokes and maybe fill in some details that  are more to your taste. Nothing too crazy, but just some ornamentation  to help you stand out. Benny, you're going to be in a similar situation,  but I'd say even more so. To the point I'd say you almost have to add  some flavor."

Benny nodded. "I know. Clockwork's gear is  generic to the point of being embarrassing. I have some concept work  I've been sketching out in my spare time. I considered making my own but  inventing isn't stable enough to be good for armor. Defensive items  that do random terrifying shit are a pretty terrible defense. What about  you two? You going to make any big changes or stick with the iconic  gear? Well, more Shane, you kind of have your brand solidified at this  point I think, given your time on the scene."

She just  shrugged. "You're not wrong, changing at this point would be more  trouble than it's worth. I'll get a similar set made up from the higher  tier materials. F rank kicks my current armor's ass, and I'm hoping to  get a few tricks added in to help me out of tight spots. I saw how much  use Shane got out of that energy absorbing feature in his old gear.  Having a trump card like that will be a comfort even if I never end up  having to use it. As for Shane, he's sticking with his current look from  what he said, but he's trading the cloak for a hooded long coat."

I  was, though given the damage I was almost regretting it. I lifted the  remains of my poor ragged cape with a sad sigh. "I know its not a big  change, but it seems almost sad. These clothes have been through lots  with me. Wish I could have at least retired them with dignity. That  isn't the biggest question though. The biggest question is are we taking  the jobn. I'm not in charge and I didn't feel ok committing us to this  half assed sham of a plan without your input Cal. I think it might be  our only shot here though."

A groan of  frustration tore  from her lips. "I know! Trust me. I can't think of an in either. We need  a quick way to get in contact with whoever is pulling the strings here  so we can use them to track down the other candidate. I just hate to  cave to such obvious manipulation and backstabbing. That mustacheiod  asshat is sure that we'll dance to his tune. It pisses me off having to  fall in line, even if its to our benefit." Her eyes were blazing with  anger, and I could tell the situation we'd been in still enraged her.  Despite her cool head, she wasn't ready to forgive or forget.

I  understood, but I also had a better idea. "That's true. But we have  other options." I produced a rolled up piece of paper, unfolding it to  show it to her." I pointed to a few clauses, and as she read over them  she began to smile. "Did you do that on purpose? Because I can't believe  he would leave a loophole like that for us to exploit. I knew he was in  a hurry, but not that he was in THAT much of a hurry."

The  smirk on my lips was pure evil. "It was give and take. I let him screw  me over on some minor technicalities to make him think I wasn't paying  attention and then slightly amended the wording on that clause. It looks  functionally identical to the original wording. But changing it from  the original wording to 'no more than F rank' completely alters the  agreement. We can special order the most expensive F ranked gear we can  find and he'll have to pay for it. I'm absolutely going to punch him in  the mouth when I get a chance, but I plan to hurt him more where it  counts. His wallet." We were going to spend that smug bastard into the  ground.

To that end, we all turned to Benny. My friend  shrugged, grinning widely. "I know what you're thinking. And yes, I can  find us the most expensive and unusual F rank materials to use.  Especially since we have access to the Academy crafting hall. Getting  your hands on mats like that might be hard for normal people, but for  Academy students it's much less of a challenge. I'm betting this Cicero  guy was never a student at the Academy himself or he would know that.  One of the downsides of insane over the top PR is that its hard to trust  it. The crafting hall is kind a skeptical legend around here. People  hear stories but they figure it can't be as good as everyone says."

At  our confused looks he shrugged. "Despite its varied supplies the  crafting hall doesn't have EVERYTHING. I've been making contacts in town  through the local forums for inventors. It's all anonymous of course,  but I've picked up some useful into. I've actually been sourcing some  rare materials for my newest inventions. I want to integrate something  really good next. I haven't integrated any really powerful items, but at  G rank I should be able to make some fairly impressive things if I pick  the right materials. I can't decide what comes out, but I can steer it a  bit if I find the right item combos."

I grimaced at that.  "You ever consider just using someone else's gear? You can do that  right? Hell, you probably could have integrated some of the stuff from  the necropolis. Like the hourglass. Does your ability work on  consumables?" I'd been thinking about that for a while, it seemed like  it would be a bit too broken though. He probably would have mentioned  that since it would be a game changer.

As expected he  shook his head. "No. Consumables don't actually count as items for the  purpose of my power. They're closer to medicine as far as my integration  is concerned. Which is a weird distinction but understandable in a way.  Regardless, yes, I could use someone else's gear, but it would be  stupid long term. My inventing is my only synergized skill. I need a  solid foundation in it to improve my power. I could maybe keep wishing  for a stronger version, but I have a feeling the experience is going to  be useful for my power itself, not just for making gear."

That  wasn't something I could comment on. Besides, given what I'd just  learned about Skill wishes he might be on the right track. Granted,  Inventing wasn't a custom Skill, so I had plenty of sources to pull  from, but I wasn't entirely sure that the benefits of improving one of  your main skills personally and relying on your own conception weren't  superior when dealing with a Skill that would decide the direction your  power went. If he wished for it I would grant it, but I made a note to  tell everyone what I'd learned when we finished up this new gear thing.  In the meantime we still had to figure out what materials we were going  to use.

While Benny got on his  forum to go over possible builds, we called Cicero. He picked up fairly  quickly. After he answered I didn't give him time to continue. "We're  in." He took a breath like he was about to speak and then stopped. I  smiled, continuing my thought. "We have some stipulations though. They  fall within the scope of the contract but I wanted to clarify them with  you. The terms should change as we adjust them right? Assuming both of  the signatories are able to come to an agreement about any modifications  that need to be applied."

He  sighed in consternation. "Yes. As long as we both accept the changes  it'll be fine. Though I get the impression that I'm not going to be  agreeing so much as tolerating these changes. I'll have to see if I'm  going to allow your modifications or not." That was a bluff. I knew it,  and he probably knew I knew it. He wouldn't have acted so quickly and  burned the bridges he had if he wasn't desperate. Abel had been clear  about the fact that us being Academy students was odd. It might not mean  he was willing to screw himself, but it at LEAST meant he was in too  much of a hurry for research.

In  either case he was clearly on a clock here. I imagined the forces  closing in were making him panic, and he wanted this taken care of  before something unforeseen screwed him over. The old man wasn't as  gutsy as his brother, at least from what I got from my brief meeting  with both of them. I outlined what we wanted, trying to couch it in the  most ignorant and optimistic terms so he thought we didn't know the  value of what we were asking.

I  managed to get him to agree to letting us select materials as long as  we could supply them. He'd still be paying but we had to use our own  channels. He was undoubtedly assuming some random G rankers wouldn't  have much in the way of supply connections. I danced around the point a  bit to get him to bite, but he was operating with much less information  than he should have been, so I wasn't too worried. I was betting when  his people finished their research on us (they would obviously do some,  he wasn't an idiot) he was going to be enraged, but since the contract  couldn't be amended without both party's consent I wasn't too worried. I  was just excited about our new duds. I couldn't wait to see how they  turned out.