Sworded Affair

Chapter 136: We Didn’t Start the Fire

[Select one of three choices.

1) Trait - Noncombustible: Gain high resistance to heat and fire from all sources.

2) Ability - Tunnel Vision (Cost: 100% MP): When activated, gain immense clarity for one minute, allowing for perfect execution of crafting steps. Whilst active, situational awareness dwindles to almost nothing.

3) Candle Attribute - Foul: Emits an indescribable stench that fills the air.]

Emma wasted no time locking in Noncombustible as her second Chandler trait. The resistances provided would always be useful when her principal tools were heat and wax, and could even be helpful in the face of unexpected danger. Tunnel Vision on the other hand didn’t provide anything that proper preparation would not, whilst carrying a potentially lethal drawback if caught unawares while it was active. The third choice was barely worth considering, compared to the former. With her decision made, Emma turned her attention to the cleanup.

[6x Black Candle stored.

6x Candle stored.]

The candles all went into Eden’s Echo, ensuring she had both cover and light on demand, to avoid a repeat of the warehouse. Now properly equipped, Emma would never be more than a lighter away from a variety of effects, the versatility of which would only grow alongside her levels. Of course, that errant thought itself raised another question.

“Where’s my lighter?”

Racking her brain, Emma wasn’t able to find a clear point where she’d lost it. She definitely had it when facing the demons on patrol, using it to light her single Black Candle at the time, before storing it again to clear her hands. Between then and now, it had somehow vanished, never to be seen again.

“That narrows it down to a few suspects,” Emma muttered, though she didn’t intend to spend much time investigating.

There wasn’t much point, when thirty seconds of rummaging through the kitchen drawers gave her another one.

[Lighter (Full) stored.]

Lighters were common even before candles came back into fashion, thanks to the ten to fifteen percent of the population that smoked. Every corner store and supermarket stocked loads of them, so existing stocks were more than plentiful given the post-apocalypse numbers. It would be a long time before more would need to be made.

Pushing thoughts of long-term logistics aside, Emma returned to the remaining half a bag of wax. Once she had all the supplies, the actual process had been simple; a glance at her buffs showed there were still twenty minutes of doubled EXP left. The candle’s she’d already made would still need to cool and set; Emma planned to take them out of Eden’s Echo later to see if that happened while stored. Thankfully, that part wasn’t a prerequisite to receiving experience, and she got it as soon as her part in the production finished. That meant she could squeeze in a second batch before her EXP bonus expired in twenty minutes, something she planned to take full advantage of before turning in for the night. Reaching for the pot still sitting on the stovetop, Emma began the process anew.

—

[You can go now, nobody will return here until the morning.]

Despite the reassurance, Mr. Fox spent another ten minutes hiding beneath a mostly empty crate of apples. He’d eaten the rest over the course of the day, along with three other crates of cherries, plums and pears, consuming several times his own body weight in fruit to fuel his rise from household pest to true sentience. There was nothing special about the product itself, the important part was none of it belonged to him. Every class had different criteria for levelling; a Thief, naturally, did so via theft and other associated acts of skullduggery.

[Good, now select the third choice, the one at the bottom. This will allow you to change the colour of your fur, an active camouflage that draws inspiration from chameleon skin.]

Doing so, Mr. Fox chirped in surprise as his fur turned midnight black, now nigh-impossible to see in the lightless warehouse.

[You still have your loot from before, yes? Take it out]

Mr. Fox grinned, producing the lighter he’d stolen from the walking suit of armour; a fitting punishment for daring to step on his tail. Holding it carefully between his teeth, having already been warned not to press the button at the top, Mr. Fox dispensed with his cover at last, sitting up straight and awaiting further orders.

[Now, take that, and head out along the back entrance. The one you unlocked with your first skill to get inside. Head north-west until you find a small house, the one with the hideous violet roof.]

Mr. Fox nodded once, before setting off on a loping run. Only a bare handful of humans were around by now, and none showed any signs of spotting him en route to the target.

[Confirm the target, what can you see through the window?]

Scampering up the solitary birch tree in the back garden, Mr. Fox stared blankly at thick blackout curtains inside the window.

[Your second active skill will help here. Not Steal, the other one.]

Mr. Fox grinned and blinked twice, as his vision dimmed in monochrome. The loss of fidelity was noticeable alongside a total lack of colour, a more than equal trade for being able to see through walls. Ignoring the household furniture, Mr. Fox focused on the two humans, both kneeling before an idol of raw meat and charred bone.

[An idol of Entropy. This is the house. You know what to do.]

Mr. Fox dropped off the tree without a single wasted movement, landing silently on his feet by the grace of his lineage. Shifting his jaw, he knelt close to the ground against the grass, placed one incisor on the lighter’s trigger, and pushed. Then, he made some distance and did it again, and again, and again.

—

[For creating 12x Candles, gain 25 (50) EXP.]

Emma looked at her second batch in satisfaction. She’d opted for regular candles this time around, as they were for the household, who would rather have light than darkness. There had been no EXP for preparing wax this time, only the making of the candles, but that was still enough to get halfway to Level 3 in a single hour. It wouldn’t last for long, but Emma was determined to enjoy the fast, early levels as they came. As she dumped the remaining water into the sink, starting to clean up, a siren split the air.

“An attack?” Emma wondered, though her minimap revealed no targets.

[No, that’s the fire siren. Someone is having a very bad night right now.]

“Sucks to be them,” Emma shook her head, turning back to her cleaning.

It was none of her business, after all.