"So, I'd like to start out saying that I'm not willing to commit to more than three wishes a day." I kept my tone firm as I stared down  Melinda. I wanted to make sure she took me seriously as a partner, which  meant making my terms clear and refusing to bend on basic framework as  much as it meant being flexible and amenable to change. I wanted to have  a reasonable and productive discussion, but if I gave too much too fast  I'd get taken for everything I had.

My reason for picking  three was simple. It left me two a day to work with my friends, and it  also allowed me to gain a massive amount of access to the stat pool of  the whole faction while seeming like I was doing them a favor. As much  as liked to make sure my team was up to speed, it was a fact that too  confined of a circle would put a strain on resources. I could  theoretically give stats for attacks, but I didn't grow from that, not  in a direct sense. I could only hold so many attacks too. Doing it this  way would mean they'd feel like I was showing a lot of sincerity but it  would leave me with wishes to burn for myself and my people while  gaining more points. It was a win win.

As expected,  Melinda didn't object to that at all. "Three is fine." She said with a  warm smile. "I have plenty of people who would love the chance to focus  their stat distribution into something a bit more suited to their style  of combat. Even that is a huge boon. I can't help but note however, that  you've described something you can give us. I'm curious about what you  want in exchange for this gift."

"Well there's the  obvious. Protection and backing against Sanctuary Hall." I said matter  of factly. I wanted a direct commitment to help with the healer problem  first thing, and while I was pretty sure she would give it I was hardly  going to base the whole negotiation on that assumption. That said,  filling her in on the more important aspects of the battle might ease  some tension. "Specifically in G-district. They're trying to consolidate  the whole district under their banner, presumably without anyone  noticing. The Flame Riot Militia picked up on it, but I'm surprised that  more groups haven't stepped in to stop it."

Melinda  shrugged. "G-district is a feeder district, but none of the real power  players bother with it. Most of the powerful groups have their G-rankers  deployed to the dark districts. It's more dangerous, but they reap  better rewards. The Militia is pretty weak in the grand scheme of  things. Burning Fist is young for an E-ranker. It's not exactly a stupid  idea to take over G-district if you can swing it, but most powerful  factions don't bother with low hanging fruit like that. Besides,  Sanctuary Hall is a particularly influential force. They may have paid  some people off to stay out of the attempt."

Considering  the existence of the other candidate I could believe that. It wouldn't  be impossible for them to make up any losses. It also didn't shock me  that the high rankers considered G-district expendable despite it being a  large gathering. I imagined it was easy to underestimate that kind of  force as an E-ranker. Hell, thinking back to what I'd been like at  I-rank it was hard not to do it myself. The further you got from mortal  the less you had in common with what you used to be.

I  stared at Melinda, not making any other comments, until she finally  sighed and nodded. "Fine. I have some G-ranked forces I can pull to send  down to support you. I suppose it'll be a good opportunity to blood  some of our people in any case. A battle between large factions in a  district that low isn't a common occurrence.  This might be the first  one in my lifetime. You can get to know some of the warriors with  potential among our ranks."

That sounded interesting, but I  was worried about something else. "Will they send more F-rankers? They  sent one down there last time, albeit in disguise. If they don't we  should be fine, but if they do it could be a problem." I wasn't worried  about anyone managing to beat Abel and Mel at G-rank, but enough  F-rankers could drown them in raw force. I wasn't sure even Abel could  fight too many opponents up ranks.

"No." Melinda's voice  was firm. "With our attention on this matter, any room for backstabbing  or double dealing as at an end. Their only recourse now would be to  either face Travis and myself, or to stick to the structure of the  battle and drown you in G-rankers. That said, don't dismiss them. As I  mentioned, they are wealthy beyond measure. There are plenty of powerful  Ascendants they can higher that would abide by the restrictions of the  district. We are fairly well off, but not nearly so much as Sanctuary  Hall, and I'm afraid that hiring outsiders would be a bad decision given  the unusual nature of your gift."

I cursed. She was  right. She could control her own group and limit the spread of  information, but there was not possible way to control mercenaries.  Which meant we couldn't use them. Not in such a short time anyway. It  might be possible tp arrange a contract or something if we had more time  to work. but nothing short term. Still, I was confident in Mel and  Abel. I doubted anyone would see them coming. They'd been out of the  game for years, but were scary powerful still. Most of their peers were  probably F-ranked already, so they would be relative unknowns to start I  bet.

"Alright." I said decisively. "You put together the  group you want to send and I'll bring them down. Do you want me using  the wishes we agreed on to improve their capabilities? Also can we get a  contract written up, just for my peace of mind." I wasn't sure if that  would be offensive, but I didn't really care. Cicero had fucked us over  even with a contract, I absolutely wasn't going without one for  something this important.

Luckily it didn't seem to be a  problem. Melinda just gave me another warm smile. "Of course, nearly  every faction has someone with the contract Skill on staff. The ones  that don't have to consult the Lawbinder Cavern for every little thing,  and those crooks charge more than even we can afford easily." I cocked  my head in confusion and she chuckled. "The Lawbinder is one of the  older E-rankers. His ability is contract based. Not sure exactly what,  people tend to keep that under wraps, but he can make incredibly  powerful binding documents and words for a fee. He recruits similar  talents for his faction and they serve a purpose much like we and  Sanctuary hall fulfill."

The more I found out about this  place, the more intrigued I got. I wondered what other factions there  were, with something like a hundred E-rankers around, that meant if it  was an even split between Unity and WCP there were a full fifty factions  around. There must be so many amazing groups with so many interesting  aspects to hear about. For now though, I just needed to focus on the  Beast Lord Garden. If I could help them solidify their position I'd  naturally come into contact with the others.

It occurred  to me that since we were driving out Sanctuary Hall, we could help the  Beast Lord Garden take over G-district instead. There would be some  things to work out there, but since Sanctuary Hall saw a benefit in it,  we could definitely gain as well. Plus Melinda was my backer now, which  meant the stronger she got, the more secure I was around here. It was  something to keep in mind long term in any case. "We can get that  figured out in a minute though." I said. "You never mentioned if you  wanted me to use the wishes on the G-rankers coming along?"

Melinda's  smile turned into a beaming grin. "Of course. Since you won't be able  to just add points to anyone to bump them up ranks directly, adjustment  will be priority, and the G-rankers are the ones with the least time  adjusting to their current stats. Giving them a solid foundation to  build off of will help them make better impressions in the upcoming  battles and pay dividends anyway. If they can make powerful reputations  down in G-district some of them might even break through before all this  is over."

She seemed to have come to the same conclusion  about the snowballing effects of reallocating stats that I had, which  wasn't a surprise since she was an E-ranker whose Focus was probably  higher than all of my other stats put together.

With that  decided Melinda shut down the privacy formation and called one of her  people, asking him to retrieve someone named Basken. Based on the  context I assumed he was the contract maker we needed, and I was happy  to see she was taking my comfort so seriously. Having seen how worried I  was she'd gone out of her way to make sure we got this done quickly.

Basken,  as it turned out, was a fairly normal looking guy. I was used to  Ascendants being strange or visually striking, but Basken was just a  lanky man with curly dark hair, a goatee, and thin wire rimmed glasses  perched on a thin nose, making his brown eyes seem larger than they  should have been.

He had a lazy, almost tired manner about  him and when he was introduced he gave me a sleepy smile. Melinda  didn't tell him about my ability, happily, just gave him a bare bones  framework. "Basken, this is Solomon. He's working with us for the  foreseeable future. We need a contract drawn up for a guest elder  position. Nothing restrictive, and something he can break at any time.  Support and resources in exchange for services rendered as a growth  consultant for our lower ranked members I think." She looked at me  questioningly and I gave a nod of confirmation.

"That  sounds fine to me." I said. "A guest elder position certainly sounds  like what I'm looking for. A member of the organization without being  too bound by the command structure." I noted she hadn't mentioned THEM  being able to dissolve it, just me, and looking over the shoulder of the  contractor as he scrawled out a lengthy document I didn't see a  loophole for that. It was a hell of a gesture for them to make me solely  responsible for the deal staying in place, and it made me even more  certain of my choice.

I went over  terms with them for the next hour. Despite my good impression, I wasn't  some moron who took what I was offered. I combed the contract top to  bottom, making small changes and quibbling over what looked on the  surface like minutiae. My old man hadn't been around too much, but the  exercises he had me do as a kid and the few conversations we had were a  strong motivator to understand contracts. Even before I'd know about his  power, my father treated everything like a contract.

I'd  had lots of practice finding loopholes and gaps, and I put all of it to  work, trying to get the best terms possible. Melinda, for her part,  just laughed it off. I think the fact that I was taking the contract so  seriously made her more confident I'd stick to it. Allowing me to break  it at any time was a calculated risk, and bargaining so hard was putting  her mind at ease. Eventually though, we finished the contract and we  both signed it, finalizing the deal. With that done, I was ready to head  back, but not before meeting my new entourage. I'd be bringing back a  bunch of new G-rankers for the war effort. Strong ones hopefully. Time  to meet our new comrades.