Sworded Affair

Neither Noah nor Elizabeth looked in any shape to talk, giving Emma brief nods as they headed upstairs to sleep. Emma was happy to leave them to it, returning her attention to the last of the notifications just received. The attribute gained from the Hydra Venom was more or less as expected, but far more important was the Level Up that followed.

[Half-Demon Homunculus: Level 10 Chandler

HP: 100

MP: 100

EXP: 2025/3000

This Level Up will award max-grade skills due to stacking buff.

Choose one of the three options below.

1) Trait - Everlasting: Your candles will last forever, barring external interference.

2) Trait - Fireside Chat: You can see, hear and speak through any of your candles when lit.

3) Trait - Wax and Wane: Injuries suffered are redirected to your nearest candle.]

"Well, you certainly weren't underselling things," Emma muttered, thinking carefully as she took in the choices on offer.

None of them were particularly verbose, but each was a vector for immense potential. Everlasting effectively turned her candles from consumables into permanent enchantments, as long as they weren't physically destroyed. This wasn't too important for the basic products, but became more valuable the stronger the candle, since it would allow those made from rare ingredients to go the distance. Eternal Wind, in particular, was a massive point in favour of this choice. Fireside Chat, on the other hand, would turn Emma into a makeshift Big Sister, capable of passive and active surveillance anywhere her candles burned. That had a lot of potential by itself, but also synergised extremely well with her new Pathfinder attribute, which laid the ground for a potentially global teleportation network. Finally, Wax and Wane would make her homunculus body functionally invincible, as long as there were candles still intact to take the damage for her.

"I'm not sure Wax and Wane helps me much," Emma eventually decided. "If this was my main body, I'd take it in a heartbeat, but I'm going to be storing it away at the first sign of trouble anyway. A toss-up then, between the other two. Something to decide later, I think, depending on what we're up against in the Summer. Or, well, later this season I guess, since we've already skipped past the last of Spring; that's a head trip for sure."

[If you don't get a headache when thinking about time travel, you're doing it wrong.]

That got a laugh out of Emma as she dismissed the notifications, before returning her crafting bench to storage.

[Not going to dive deep into making new candles?]

"Maybe later," Emma demurred. "We've been gone for a while, so I've got no idea what the town needs, if anything. Better to talk with Mom and Dad first, rather than jump the gun and end up with piles of useless candles sitting in storage."

[Fair enough. Go take a break, I should have more information for you in a bit, once I properly resynchronise with the present timeline.]

Emma sat herself back down on the sofa, scooping Saint up into her arms, the latter giving only token protests before curling up in her lap, settling in for some rest and headpats. The Hydra slept on next to hear, too tired to stir even with her close by.

[Fire Slime - Level 2]

There was sadly no television on offer, so she simply sat there, staring at the Fire Slime in the hearth, bubbling away merrily and filling the room with warmth. Emma did attempt to check the Weave, but nothing popped up, the System returning only a generic ERROR message when she tried to bring up the window. Finally given the chance to relax, it didn't take long before Emma nodded off to sleep.

—

[Finally done, if you want to hear it.]

Emma drifted back to wakefulness, the faint ping of the System enough to wake her up. Looking outside, it was already dark, so she'd slept for quite some time, which Emma's mind appreciated: even if her armoured form didn't get tired, physically, mental fatigue still tended to accumulate, and there had been little time to rest at Blenheim Palace.

"What have you got for me?" Emma asked blearily, as she set Saint down next to the Hydra, before heading to the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

[Overall, it looks like England is over the worst of it. Your actions defused the biggest threat in the South East, whilst other assets performed similarly in removing anomalies in the Midlands and the North. Scotland suffered from a partial detonation, so there's still a lot of ambient magic in the air: I can't get a good look at it yet, but high casualties are expected. More positively, Internal Affairs are working with Magical Research to investigate how Empire communications were compromised. They haven't found any evidence of external tampering, despite the obvious false orders going around, so the leading theory is either the exploitation of a pre-existing vulnerability, or a traitor in the ranks.]

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"A traitor, capable of hiding from you?"

[It's possible, with external assistance. Every continent has a handful of old monsters on it, otherwise we'd have conquered the entire globe centuries ago. That's going to be an important topic of discussion, at the Solstice.]

"Right. That's in a week now, isn't it? Any advice."

[It is. Honestly? Take the week off. Maybe make a few candles, but beyond that, use the time to rest and recharge. You'll be better served going to Stonehenge at your best, than from any other last minute preparations. You've met a few elements of magical society in passing, thus far, but next week is going to be your big debut: first impressions are important, so make it a good one.]

"Will do," Emma yawned again, still waiting for the tea to cool, for her first hit of caffeine of the day. "Will you be there as well?"

[Only in spirit. I'm still supposed to be dead, after all.]

—

Emma Knight

Public Title: Practitioner

Hidden Title: Auditor

Commendation: Order of the Empire, First Class

True Form: Level 17 Damned Apostle

Anima: 500

EXP: 13,024/14,000

Abilities

Summon Unholy Sword {Epitaph}

Toxovolia: Epitaph can transform into a Bow, firing arrows of ambient anima.

No Pal of Mine: Capture the souls of the worthy, gaining a simulacrum of equal level to the User. Maximum 1 active per 10 levels, rounding up. 10 minute cooldown when defeated. Captured: The Leech King, Sir Bearington, Earthbound Immortal, Antipode, Duplicate, Monitor Lizard

Flying Sword: Epitaph can change size, and fly up to 60 miles per hour.

Oversoul: Instantly possess the body of a living target.

Parallel Lives (Cooldown: 1 minute): Swap places with your active Summon.

Angel of Extinction (Cooldown: 12 hours): Summon an Angel within line of sight. The Angel is invulnerable and departs after 12 seconds, killing anyone who saw it.

Return (Cooldown: 24 Hours): Teleport Home. Cooldown resets when Home is in danger.

Traits

Wolf, Ram and Heart (Toggle: ON): Attacks are imbued with Death magic, significantly increasing damage and carrying a [Level]% chance of inflicting Instant Death.

Ephemera (Toggle: ON): Become intangible.

Null Zone (Toggle: OFF): All incoming magic fails.

One with Everything (Cooldown: 10 minutes): If Anima would be reduced to 0, stop at 1.

Babble Fish+: You are fluent in every language.

Rorschach's Blot: Attempts to observe you remotely produce nonsensical images to those bearing ill-intent. You will be alerted when observation commences.

Home Is Where the Hearth Is - EXP gains doubled for 1 hour after eating a home-cooked meal.

Half-Demon Homunculus: Level 10 Chandler Stored in Eden's Echo when not in use.

HP: 100

MP: 100

EXP: 2025/3000

Appearance

Red hair, green eyes, plain complexion.

Clothes

Space Suit

Traits

I'm a Candle: A modern understanding of non-magical candles.

Noncombustible: High resistance to heat and fire from all sources.

Blood of the Enemy: Blood taken from those you slay may substitute for one reagent when making Candles. Candles made using this trait are Demonic.

Breath Control: You can hold your breath for (Level)*2 minutes without losing focus.

Candle Attributes

Black: Consumes nearby light, leaving impenetrable darkness.

Hallowed: Repels beings of evil alignment or intent.

Soothing: Emits a potent soporific that can put an elephant to sleep.

Chaos: Emits a different negative effect each time it's lit.

Pathfinder: Creates a link between two candles. When both are lit, a portal is formed.

Guardian: While lit, you are invulnerable within your own home.

Toxic: This candle's fumes are deadly.

Level Up

Choose one of the three Traits below:

1) Everlasting: Your candles will last forever, barring external interference.

2) Fireside Chat: You can see, hear and speak through any of your candles when lit.

3) Wax and Wane: Injuries suffered are redirected to your nearest candle.]

Inventory - Eden's Echo A ring containing fifty cubic metres of storage space, capable of instant transfer. Living beings are held in stasis and slowly heal. All sapient creatures are less likely to attack the wearer. This item is invisible except to the wearer, who cannot wear other jewellery. Currently contains:

Eternal Wind: No matter near or far, all are one. Light a candle with yourself for two ships in the night, build a bridge where none still stand.

Chaos Candle

24,999 Thrones

Qilin Horn

Magus Austere's Oxygen Mask

A Practical Guide to Entropy

Portable Crafting Bench

Blueprints - Menagerie

Hydra Venom

Quests

It's the Green You Need

Bonus Objective: Form a summoning contract with the Hydra

Bonus Reward: ???

Who Wants To Live Forever?

Objective: Pay your respects at the Grave of Sectmaster Horizon.

Objective: Discover who manipulated his Son to turn against the Empire.

Bonus Objective: ???

Reward: ???

Bonus Reward: ???