Recap

I've been fighting with so many villains that I'm starting to feel fatigued. My funds have dropped as well.

I mainly get my usable money from villain groups, but as you can guess, the majority of their money is "dirty money" that can't be used.

And this month, my usable amount has decreased, while the rate of my villain encounters has increased. Most of the ones I fight are by themselves and have little to no money.

'I mean, I don't get it. After the new year has passed, villains usually appear more and more scarce in the open since, as the district warms up, the number of heroes active also increases. Maybe that Villain Factory has something to do with this?'

As I get out of my musing, I hear civilians talking about the building and how not everyone has been accounted for.

I decided to test something. I use the fruits of my effort in training with Stendhal.

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I light my hand aflame and block all my other senses, focusing only on this flame.

Once I've properly tuned out my other senses so that all I can feel is the heat of this flame in my palm, I start slowly increasing my range. As I do this, I think about what this new technique is.

'When I was training with Stendhal, he limited me to not using my flames while I ingested various amounts of poison that inhibited my senses.

As he did this, there would be certain moments when I could make out the difference between what was and wasn't Stendhal. I would listen to this 'instinct' and move away from whatever I thought was Stendhal.

Unfortunately, I would always end up getting slashed or knicked with his blade when that happened.

However, this past month away from him, I've focused more and more on this 'instinct' and found out what it is. At certain moments, I'm able to focus on heat and distinguish between temperatures.

As I experimented with it more, I learned that it's easier to sense the difference in temperature between objects if my starting sensed object has a high temperature.

So, I start off by making a flame in my hand and focusing on its temperature. Then gradually increase my temperature sensing range, with 150 meters being my limit.

This ability isn't combated usable because it requires precise concentration and time. However, in outside situations, it's useful for sensing.'

I come out of my thoughts and sight as I've found two distinct temperatures on the middle floors.

With it being a cold, windy day in February as the earth prepares for the incoming spring, the two (97-99 °F or 36-37 °C) different temperatures in the building are a dead giveaway of a human being inside.

'There's no need for me to intervene. I'm a vigilante who hunts down and kills villains at night, not a hero who saves people during the day. This building became like this because of some monster incident yesterday, so I'm sure that they'll send some hero to check this building soon.'

However, even as I try to convince myself with my half-hearted words, a piece of concrete falls off the building and falls and shatters on the ground.

'Right?'

*Timeskip 2 minutes*

"Sigh."

Looking at the cracked stairs, I walked towards where I sensed my targets while weaving and dogging the blocked paths and empty tiles of the floor.

'From what I sensed, it's just me and the two in here. I should be able to get in and out quickly while ensuring that no one else sees me except those two. Nothing could go wrong right now.'

However, inevitably, under Murphy's law, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong." And as I look at the boulder that's blocking my path, I can't help but believe that I jinxed myself.

I don't see any way to get out of this or go around, and I don't want to stay here and wait for a hero. Especially since this building tremors ever so slightly from losing its support.

So little that only by being in the building can you feel the intensity of the shaking and feel as if it would collapse at any moment.

I place both my hands on the boulder and focus on heating up my hands rather than spewing out flames for fear of hurting the hostages.

After a few seconds, I felt like my hands were going through the object. The boulder was melting under my hands.

After learning and getting a feel for the general temperature at which I needed my flames to be, I projected flames out of my hands to burn the boulder.

The flames didn't shoot forward like when I fought villains and instead flew to the sides and covered the boulder.

Steadily increasing the temperature slightly, in a few seconds, the boulder was out of my way.

The problem was, so was the door. I was standing at the top of the stairs, a few feet in front of the door through which I had sensed the two people.

What was blocking or what was missing from my path was a place for my feet to rest.

I take 1 large step over the gap and place one of my feet on the tiny ledge in front of the door. I attempted to open it only to find it was locked.

So, trying to finish this quickly, I placed my hand on the door, and just like last time, focusing on making my hands hot, I melted the door and the lock, allowing me to kick the door in and take a look at who I came all this way to save.

The room was covered in books, with collapsed bookshelves and glass littering the floor. I looked forward and saw two people clutching their feet.

A sumo wrestler in sandals had a distressed look on his face as he stared at the hand that was holding his foot. His blood was leaking from his foot and a bloodied shard of glass was near him. I also notice a light trail of dried blood left on his ear and assume he can't hear.

The other is a woman who also appears to have a visible piece of glass stuck in her foot. Looking at her attire, her actions, and the room, I could assume she's a doctor or someone who works with patients.

After analyzing the victims, I'm about to move out of the building when I find a problem. It has less to do with saving them and more to do with me.

'How the F*ck am I supposed to move her down those stairs, let alone him.'