Wish upon the Stars chapter 550

Waking up in the morning was surprisingly relaxing because I realized  up doing so that Callie had been wrong. We didn't have training, we'd  both gotten so wrapped up in working with our centuries we'd forgotten  weekends were free time, even for commanders. Callie had to force me to  promise not to strain my soul today, since I was still raw from creating  my Dust Construction Mastery.

So  we headed for Anna's place after stopping to pay, Camden and banking a  tenth wish. When we arrived, we didn't even have a chance to go in. Anna  met us at the door. "Oh good." She said, stepping out and pulling a  shawl around her shoulders. "You're both here. I arranged a meeting with  my historian friend, but we need to go now." It was surprisingly cold  today, not that I really felt it in my costume. Our meeting with  Camden's artisan had been pushed back, and would be tomorrow, having  been delayed when he found out about the plot against him.

I  glanced at Callie, shrugging. "I kind of wanted breakfast, but if it's  time sensitive I'm fine waiting." I smirked at Anna. "But it's going to  be on the house." We were supposed to meet everyone, but Zeke would have  heard this conversation even if Anna hadn't told him, and my uncle  wasn't going to leave everyone hanging.

"You're  a petty little thing for someone from one of the richest families in  the universe." She complained as we set off. "Shouldn't you be inured to  the trappings of wealth?" She was talking in her formal businesslike  tone, which kind of clued me in to the nature of her friend.

I  burst out laughing at that. "First of all, I'm a candidate. I grew up  on a backwater psuedo D-rank planet in the ass end of Conglomerate  space. No one on my planet has even MET a D-ranker, much less become  'inured to their wealth' second of all, have you met scions of wealthy  houses? They're the most particular people I can imagine. In case you  missed the overarching theme here, I'm cheap, and I want you to give me  free food."

She  threw her hands up. "Don't you have any pride as a Wyndham?" She said  in disbelief. "The other people I've met with your ability carry  themselves with a bit more...decorum. I doubt they would be impressed  with your demeanor." Despite the words, I could see a twinkle in her  eye, like this was some kind of test, not that I cared.

"Fuck  em." I said bluntly. "I'm not overly impressed with them either. This  whole cuckoo bird child rearing strategy is bullshit. I love my dad, and  my cousin, but I don't know anyone else in my family. I'll act however I  want to, and if they have a problem with it they can kiss my ass."

Part  of my big soul realization in the temple was that I wasn't doing what I  was doing for my family. Not really. I wanted to change them to make  things better, but I didn't need their approval for that. All I needed  was my own peace of mind, and I was going to prioritize that. It was the  biggest part of what Abel had said that resonated with me. I wasn't  like him, I cared what other people thought, but only to a certain  extent.

Honestly,  it almost felt hypocritical to make a declaration like that while  trying to learn politics, but it made sense to me. I was here to make my  own faction, to draw people in and convince them to support me. To do  that I needed to know how to act in political situations, even if I made  the choice to act counter to that information. Knowledge was power, and  being stubborn wasn't the same thing as being stupid.

She  laughed aloud at that. "Well look at you. How bold. How about you? You  going to support your man as he tells his whole clan to go to hell?" She  aimed that question at Callie, but I wasn't worried.

I  felt a torrent of love and support rush through the bond, enough to  stagger even me. Callie took my hand and held it tightly as she stared  down the D-ranker. "Without a second of hesitation. You might not know  this, but Shane supported me when I went against my family back home.  It's the least I can do to offer my own support. He wants to win the  competition, and I support that dream, however he decides to pursue it."

"You  know." Said Anna thoughtfully. "Seeing you two looking all devoted and  steadfast, I'd ALMOST believe he might pull it off. Almost. It's almost  sad you kids have no clue of the depths of the waters you're wading in.  But hey, I've been surprised before. Even if you don't go the distance, I  think you'll make it far." Her tone was firm, like she'd just made a  decision, and part of me realized this HAD been a test. She wanted  to  see if we were worth following. I didn't know what she'd decided, but I  wouldn't have changed my answer even if it had been a negative.

Finally,  we arrived outside a large stone building, columns holding up a massive  stone roof. "Welcome to the Saltzberg Archives of Imperial Knowledge,  the largest library in a thousand miles. It's not under the control of  the nobles, but is an extension of the imperial power. All citizens are  entitled to basic knowledge about possible jobs and career paths. It's  what makes the empire function. Though some, like nobles, require  certain conditions like birth or bestowal to gain."

"That's  actually kind of cool." I said with interest. "Shame we don't have time  to hang around. Maybe we should mention this place to m-" I caught  myself. " To my friend Chelsea, she loves books." My sister had moved  away from the Holy Dominion to experience life, but that didn't mean she  automatically hated reading now. I was sure she'd be excited about such  a big expansive library.

I  was also hoping that Anna hadn't caught my slight slip up, though even  if she had it would be covered by our contract. Gesturing us inside, she  steered us through the stacks and to the back of the library. In a far  corner, surrounded by walls of books, we found an overburdened table  stacked with piles of tomes. I could hear someone moving around. "Syl."  Called Anna loudly. "I brought guests, come say hi."

There  was a thump, and a curse, and then an incredibly tiny woman crawled out  from under the table between a few book stacks. "I'm here." Said the  small blonde. She had huge glasses that made her eyes look massive, and  was only about halfway past four feet tall. Her face was serious and  focused, and she didn't give the feeling of being young so much as just  very small. "What do you want?"

Anna  had explained on the way, after our heart to heart that her boys had  gone down into the tunnels. They hadn't found any easy answers, but had  found a few clues. That was why we were having this meeting now. She  wanted to get Sylvie's opinion on what they'd uncovered so we had a  direction to focus on.

Snapping  her fingers, Anna pulled out a stack of papers, passing them over to  Sylvie. I'd expected some plesantries, but the small historian was  apparently not one for niceties. She snatched the papers, scanning them  over. She paused, raising an eyebrow. "Someone is mucking around with  the Undertrek? Terrible idea. All sorts of nasty things down there. In  the deepest parts there are things even the Earl wouldn't want to  disturb. Planets don't reach C-rank overnight, after all. This one has  been here for quite a while."

She  flipped through the papers, held up a hand, and then climbed back under  the table. There were a series of bangs and grunts as the table was  battered from beneath, book piles wobbling as she knocked into them.  Finally she came back out holding a pair of books. "Those will help us?"  Anna said hopefully.

"A  bit generalist." She admitted. "But yes. One moment." She flipped  through the books. And I mean that literally, she riffled the pages,  barely glancing at them as she 'read'. "Ah." She stopped on a page.  "That might be it." She switched books, did it again, and then switched  back. She pulled a pen from behind her ear, somehow woven into the braid  and then started scribbling things down.

Callie  raised an eyebrow. "Don't you need any more details? I mean they only  went down and scouted around. Unless they found some kind of big neon  sign that said 'CLUE' I don't see how any of their accounts will help."

Sylvie  snorted, looking up over her glasses, which had fallen down her nose.  It was a very disdainful look. "The Undertrek is made up of millennia of  sunken architecture, natural cave systems, and various other oddities.  I've made a career of studying this planet's history. I know when  certain civilizations fell, how they interacted with others, and where  those interactions took place."

"So...this  planet predates the empire?" I asked in amazement. "I thought most  planets people lived on were seeded by the five factions? To grow the  population."

She  rolled her eyes. "One!" She said sharply, holding up a finger. "Seeded  by the five factions doesn't mean terraformed. Several powerful planets  had native inhabitants. Second, most is an accurate qualifier, but you  have to understand that there are hundreds if not thousands of lower  ranked planets for every one that manages to Ascend. Low ranked planets  are the strong majority, and the ones the factions seeded trended  strongly toward those. Makes it easier to raise a new population."

"People  like Sylvie aren't exactly uncommon." Anna said with a nod. "Archivists  and historians that study the ancient ruins of previous civilizations  on inhabited planets. They share and cross reference their findings  between factions freely, using their knowledge to enrich us all. The  Vikram family heads the History Hunters, and they're an S-rank clan.  There are also a few other major subfactions under the banner."

I  got the gist. "Ok, so Sylvie has all sorts of reference material and  has been crossreferencing the various societies and cultures here. How  does that help us?"

"Idiots."  Sylvie muttered as she went back to rifling through books. "The cave  systems are made up of sunken ruins as well as normal stone. The  qualities and design of those ruins heavily informs what might be  lurking there, as do the locations, the depth, the type of stone in the  tunnels, and about a dozen other factors. These caverns were relatively  close to the surface, so the problem shouldn't be too difficult to  discern. The issue is as I said, C-rank planets take a long time to  form. Close to the surface not only doesn't mean recent, but can be a  variety of possible cultures."

I  gestured to the list she'd been making as she came back out, and she  passed it to me. I scanned it. "Mykean, Radikt, Vessar. Ground dragon  nest? Bubonic hate rats. Toxic spores, Stone Lion Prides, Necromantic  Armies, Tomb Guardians, Mummies, Lantern Fiends." I scanned the variety  of possible suggestions, some monsters some just vague references to  civilizations. "What the fuck is a Spine Burrower Horde?"

"What  does it sound like?" She said sweetly. Obviously done with us, she  shoved several books into my arms, which I slipped into my ring  immediately. "That's everything you should need. There are detection  methods and tests you can run. Now I've taken too much time from my  latest paper. I'm researching the trace stat elements in the soil and  how they've leached in. Some of it is from the planet, but I think I can  conclusively prove the effect of groundwater on specific stat  proliferation."

Anna  cut her off. "That was all we needed Syl. No need to bother with us  plebian morons. Just get back to work." From her hasty words, I gathered  Sylvie would have talked our ear off. With a shrug the small woman  slipped back under the table. I glanced down at the list. Seemed like we  had a place to start.