Wish upon the Stars chapter 1024

I needed to sit down. Luckily, I was standing inside of a massive marble palace with lots of seating. So I found a chair and flopped into it, trying not to wince at the clang of armor on marble. “Remind me to get you guys cushions,” I told Azazel with a grimace. “These chairs can’t possibly be comfortable.”

He shrugged. “Haven’t really used them yet. Things are still settling. I take it you’re still trying to wrap your head around the changes?”

“You mean how my entire system of cultivation has fundamentally deviated from the norm?” I asked wryly. “Yeah, it’s still sinking in. How am I going to progress? What even AM I at this point? Am I still an Ascendant?”

Zeke snorted. “Don’t be so dramatic. You’re a divergent. It happens. Not OFTEN, granted, but it does. In fact, almost every Demigod and higher is some sort of divergent. Normal cultivation doesn’t have methods for gathering Impact. You kind of have to blaze your own trail. Like how the Unity created Heroic Cultivation.”

“Yeah, why exactly does that count as its own separate method?” I asked bluntly. “I’ve always wondered about that. Like isn’t it just…NOT having a Job?”

“Heroic cultivation is pretty intuitive,” he allowed. “But it works because of the infrastructure that the Unity built. The Job system was created because just letting raw renown wear away at you was considered dangerous and reckless. The underlying bedrock of Heroic cultivation is the society of heroes and villains that the Unity created to manage and refine that renown. Rather than change the input, he changed the source. It counts.

“Of course, it IS rare for someone to diverge so early,” he admitted. “Most only do it later into S-rank. But it DOES happen. Think about how Lark gets stronger by eating others. Reaching Demigod is doable without diverging, because S-rankers are pretty close, and there are other ways to get Impact, but past that point, there’s no other way to become a god. Rather than freaking out about how different you are, it would be best to figure out what this means for you. Can you access your stat sheet yet?”

Wishmaster heir status. C-rank. Ability: Grandmaster Wish- Nine times a day grant a Master 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.

Grandmaster Path of the Demonbinder- The budding Domain of a Great King.

Wishmaster candidate points-1000

Might-640,923

Impact-155

Fantasy-325,780

Vitality-331,257

Focus-529,835

Perception-361,873

Creation-312,871

Progress to next rank:2,502,694/10,000,000

Soul strength- Tanzanite Soul Body

Chronicle: Ten Demons Tome (pages bound:2- 1 Zagan, 1 Leviathan)

wish scrolls stockpiled: 9 (5 in the possession of friends to be used over time)

Bonded companion: Archimedes (Life Nova Phoenix)

Weapon: Ten Demons Tree (reincarnation tree staff that lets him simulate alternate lives to perfect his forms, and when combined with the library lets him simulate and deduce techniques in a process called the "Wisdom of Solomon")

Stored: 10 Adherent Fire, 7 shadow attacks, 10 shadow jump (seven in reserve), 10 Stealth charges,10 triple strength tranq blows (ten in reserve), 10 spider leg attacks (ten in reserve), 3 gravity attacks, 1 shadow clone, 18 scan heals (I-rank ability so Shane can hold more)

Financial resources: 0 B-ranked, 0 C-ranked, 0 D-ranked(worth 100 E-ranked, past master rank is a watershed)

Court of Gehenna:

1.Doom Sovereign- Tier 7

2.Valtek- Tier 2

3.Cooking- Tier 7

4.Inventing- Tier 2

5.Balam- Tier 3

6.Fire Manipulation- Tier 1

7.Piano- Tier 1

8.Guitar- Tier 1

9.First Aid- Tier 1

10.Angelic Bond- Tier 6

11.Dust Construction- Tier 5

12. Stone Limb- Tier 6 

13.Moonlit Night- Tier 4

14.Consecration of Flame- Tier 6

15.Ripple Running- Tier 3

16.State of Grace- Tier 4

17.Steam Arrow- Tier 4

18.Afterburner- Tier 6

19.Pit of Despair- Tier 6

20.Mountain Stance- Tier 6

21.Heart over Body- Tier 6

22.Mercy Kill- Tier 5

23.Double Trouble- Tier 6

24.Touch of Tears- Tier 5

25.Flurry of Blows- Tier 3

26.Heavy Hands- Tier 2

27.Marked for Death- Tier 4

28.False Fatality- Tier 3

29.Blood Curse- Tier 4

30.Creeping Darkness- Tier 2

31.Final Strike- Tier 6

32.Overlay- Tier 4

33.Song of the Soil- Tier 3

34.Rhythm of the Wild- Tier 2

35.Eye of Revelation- Tier 6

36.Danger Sense- Tier 5

37.Piece of Mind- Tier 6

38.Empty Spirit- Tier 6

39.Belial- Tier 7

40.Abomination Engine- Tier 6

41.Mephistopheles- Tier 7

42.Cosmic Collapse- Tier 6

43.Circle of Damnation- Tier 6

44.Mephisto's Waltz- Tier 6

45.Mornax- Tier 7

46.Zagan- Tier 7

47.Life Nova- Tier 6

48.Genesis Burst- Tier 6

49.Bael- Tier 7

50.Beelzebub- Tier 7

51.Agares- Tier 7

52.Dantalion- Tier 7

53.Sammael- Tier 7

54.Limbo- Tier 7

55.Gluttony- Tier 7

56.Wrath- Tier 7

57.Pride- Tier 7

58.Retribution- Tier 7

59.Murmur- Tier 7

60.Leviathan- Tier 7

61.Behemoth- Tier 7

62.Glory- Tier 7

63.Abaddon -Tier 7

64.Wisdom of Solomon- Tier 7

65.Promethean Fire Soul Body- Tier 6

66.Fate Sense- Tier 6

67.Scent of Truth- Tier 5

68.Damnatio Memoraie- Tier 6

69.Dark Reflection- Tier 6

70. Asmodeaus- Tier 7

71. Astaroth- Tier 7

72. Azazel- Tier 7

It was different. Cleaner in some ways, though also more dense. But beyond that, it was also just…more. I could FEEL them. Each of them. Feel their intent, their emotions. As my eyes scanned the list, I got impressions of them. Zagan’s energetic glee, Behemoth’s slow regard, Leviathan’s fiercely protective nature. Azazel’s wisdom.

They weren’t just skills anymore. They were actual living beings. They could grow and learn. And each of them was BUILT to be what they were. They knew how to improve, how to get stronger, because it was baked into their very being.

It was kind of scary. I was responsible for all of them now. They were my subjects, my people. But when I thought about it like that, the pressure kind of vanished. I already had subjects. I was going to be the Wishmaster. This was no different. They were my responsibility, sure, but I’d accepted responsibility for far more.

More than that though, I was still catching up to the fact that I had completely changed the game. I’d created something truly new. The Great Book Heavenly Library, the Ten Demons Tree, Doom Sovereign, none of them were dispensable from this new thing I’d created. My experiences had shaped it, my encounters had created it. Gehenna was…well, me. But also not. The staff had simulated real lives for them, all of them perfectly suited to their own progress. The growth potential of my demons was off the charts. No bottlenecks, no renown.

“So…are you all just going to be gods tomorrow?” I asked worriedly. “My soul and Chronicle definitely can’t handle that. Maybe one or two of you becoming B-rankers, but nothing beyond that.”

Azazel chuckled. “Hardly. Most of us are Tier 7, like you saw, which equates to Grandmaster. Essentially we’re as strong as you. But only hypothetically. The forms and pseudo-Domains you made were limited by your own understanding. We’re about equal to very low level C-rankers. And we’ll grow fairly slowly. For the most part. Your Domain is tied to your Chronicle, and so are we. You’ve bound pages to Leviathan and Zagan so far, normally that would have been a slight power boost, but given all the changes, it’s…more.”

I considered it, and it felt like something just whispered the answer to me. “Talent. They’ll grow faster. And not just them, the demons…under them?”

“Heirarchies are important in a court,” he acknowledged. “Zagan is above Life Nova, for instance. So Life Nova will grow faster, though not to the same extent. Of course, it’s a tradeoff. Binding pages to something like Doom Sovereign will dilute the effect. You’d need a lot more of them for it to matter spread across so many demons. Doom Sovereign is one of the core Ministers of the Court. Along with myself and Sammael.”

I nodded in understanding. “How about Fate Sense?” I asked. “Isn’t that just the same as you?”

He shook his head. “Fate Sense is a natural instinct that all Ascendants have. A factor of the stats affecting your relationship with reality. Your FateWALKER senses are something else. The two did occasionally get mixed up in each other, but they’re fundamentally different forces. In fact, that’s an example of how Gehenna has changed you. Fate sense is stat based, and is fundamentally impossible to improve without ranking up or gaining stats. The fact that yours can grow is…monumental.”

“It’s a lot,” I admitted. “Almost too much. Like I’m bound to these skills forever now? I can’t grow or learn new abilities? Can’t invent new techniques?”

He rolled his eyes. “Of course not. The Domain is part of you. You can change your Chronicle, why wouldn’t you be able to change your Domain? You can reincarnate demons into new forms, and even upgrade and refine them manually. Don’t forget that we were created by a combined effort of yourself and the staff. I wouldn’t recommend tinkering with our matrixes until you learn a bit more about them, but your talent for creating techniques is PART of this Domain.”

That made me feel better. I’d been worried all the work I’d done had been pointless. But knowing I could improve the demons myself, that I could add or remove skills and techniques, it really put me at ease.

Azazel noticed that, and held up a warning hand. “The higher ranked a demon is the harder they are to alter. Reincarnating one into a new skill or technique is best done at VERY low ranks. As for alterations, small changes done in stages are your best bet, once you reach that point. For now, I would suggest you learn more about how to work with them as they are.”

I nodded. I could still tap into those skills. The connection I felt when I looked at the Domain list told me in no uncertain terms these techniques were all part of me still. In fact, I was pretty sure I could combine my pseudo-Domains into even more powerful forms…eventually. That would inevitably involve reincarnation and not to mention the Domain was weighing heavily on my soul.

The Chronicle and the staff had offset the frankly absurd amount of soul strain I should be under constantly, but adding any more functionality to my Domain in the short term was off the table. I was coming to terms with most of it, but I still had another thing to check on. I stood, turning to glance up to the head of the hall, where a large ornate chair stood.

The chair was tall and dark, made of cracked glowing stone in the style of Agares. On either side of it sat pedestals, one with my Ten Demons Tome floating above it, and the second sporting a purple book of lightning and fire. Above the throne hung an illusory tree, representing my staff, while the weapon itself floated across the throne as if waiting for me to take it up and take my rightful seat.

Walking up the stone steps, I reached out, grasping the staff and bracing it on the floor as I turned to sit down. From this vantage, I could look out over my entire Domain, see the faces of every member of my court. Staring down at them solemnly, I nodded once to myself, this was my power now. This was who I was. And I couldn’t wait to see what I could build with it going forward.