"Good thing there's no mandatory time limit," Shane dryly comforted himself.
With a god's sense of time, where centuries and millennia could pass in a blink, maybe letting him live for eighty or a hundred years before fulfilling those three promised "struggles" would be acceptable.
Of course, that optimistic thought was only there to soothe his strained nerves.
He obviously wasn't going to actually slack off that badly.
Even taking ten thousand steps back, even if it weren't for the sake of protecting his own life, he absolutely couldn't allow the permission points he had painstakingly saved for so long to go completely to waste.
"No matter what, even if the contract keeps me from directly reciting the True Name and releasing the Noble Phantasm, I should still be able to use the basic abilities that come with the Heroic Spirit card."
Shane clenched his fist slightly, sinking his awareness into his body.
He felt the five invisible cards turning into steady trickles of warmth, continuously seeping into his limbs and bones.
That was the subtle refinement the Heroic Spirit cards carried out on their host.
His bone density, muscle toughness, and all attributes related to Strength were clearly being refined far faster than before.
"The refinement speed… is probably around A-rank now?"
Comparing it with his previous stats, Shane silently assessed the change.
The Smoking Mirror's A-rank Strength was undoubtedly very good news. Before this, among the four Heroic Spirit cards in his hand, the highest Strength rank had only been B.
Jumping an entire major rank in refinement speed made him raise his brows in satisfaction.
Good. Although he had taken on a messy debt that couldn't be calculated, he had at least taken another solid step toward becoming the perfect all-round warrior.
Then Shane turned his hand over.
As magic flowed into it, the dark-gold card dissolved between his fingers.
In its place appeared an ancient round mirror polished from a single piece of obsidian.
It pressed heavily into his palm. The deep mirror surface seemed capable of swallowing the surrounding light.
"So this is the Noble Phantasm granted by Tezcatlipoca…"
Shane lowered his eyes and studied it.
Even a Class Card whose True Name had not been fully deciphered would still grant the host one representative ability.
For example, Senji Muramasa's manifestation that could forge all things, or Melusine's Eternal Arms Mastery, which made one's mind clear and empty.
But even though Shane had prepared himself mentally—
when his consciousness entered the mirror and he understood what kind of power this chief god had entrusted to him, he still couldn't stop his mouth from falling open.
[Black Sun EX]
It was the sun reflected from obsidian, the supreme manifestation of the Smoking Mirror's rank as the "First Sun."
Shane truly hadn't expected that capricious chief god to be this generous.
He had directly entrusted Shane with his core authority.
As the full expression of a chief god's rank, the ability of the Black Sun naturally went without saying. It was practically cheating.
It could see through the future and manipulate the flow of all phenomena.
Although it could not create something from nothing, could not fabricate something that did not exist in the world, it could freely disrupt and reconstruct things that already existed in the world.
For example, in a fixed span of history, suppose there was a kingdom that "first achieved victory, then suffered defeat."
Through this authority, one could directly alter the causal order of those events, forcibly changing the conclusion to "first suffered defeat, then achieved victory."
In plain terms, it was "reversing effect into cause," ignoring the causal laws of the timeline.
It trampled the iron law of cause preceding effect underfoot and freely rearranged the state of things.
This was an outrageous authority absolutely worthy of the title "omnipotent chief god."
However—
in all ancient myths, the more powerful a force was, powerful enough to disrupt balance, the more it tended to carry limits and consequences of equal weight.
If Black Sun were used frequently to perform such severe violations of the world's logic, backlash was inevitable.
Even Tezcatlipoca himself would suffer irreversible punishment if he overused it.
In legend, once Tezcatlipoca's right leg made of obsidian could no longer reflect the sun's radiance, he would be stripped of his divinity and fall into an ordinary "mortal."
And this restriction applied equally to Shane.
When the obsidian mirror in his hand completely lost its luster due to overuse, all of Tezcatlipoca's power would be stripped away with it.
If this had been before, that would simply mean losing one Heroic Spirit card and one trump card.
Painful, yes, but still barely acceptable.
But now, things were different.
His current life depended entirely on Tezcatlipoca in order to remain in this world.
Once the mirror lost its light and Tezcatlipoca's power was stripped away, it meant Shane would instantly revert into the dead man whose soul had been annihilated in the boiling sea.
Until he fulfilled the contract and reclaimed his own life, he was destined to be unable to use this mirror without restraint.
"Sigh…"
Shane sighed helplessly.
Such an unreasonable bug-level authority was sitting right in his hand, yet he could only look at it and not use it freely. It really made his fingers itch.
"Still, some basic testing is necessary."
Shane lightly tapped the edge of the mirror frame.
He had always disliked anything outside his control. Since he had gained a new ability, he had to understand its rules.
If he was too timid to test it now, only to be helpless when he truly needed to use it, that would be far worse.
"I'll find a chance to experiment a little later."
With a thought, the obsidian mirror turned into particles of light and vanished.
Shane calmed his still somewhat chaotic breathing and properly hid the emotions from having just undergone life and death deep in his eyes.
Then he spread his wings and flew down from the barren mountain peak, landing lightly in his own courtyard.
Ultear was leaning against the courtyard wall, bored. Seeing him fold his wings and return safely, she raised a brow.
"You hid so far away by yourself… finished dealing with it?"
"Mm. Let's go. We're short on time."
To avoid making her worry unnecessarily, Shane nodded calmly and didn't reveal the slightest hint of what had happened.
He stepped forward directly, wrapped an arm around the woman's soft waist, and as magic surged, the courtyard beneath their feet rapidly shrank away.
According to the intelligence, Grimoire Heart's target this time was a border city in northeastern Fiore.
With Shane's current absurd mobility, even almost crossing half the kingdom did not take very long.
Clouds rolled by. Soon, the outline of a small city built against a mountain gradually appeared in their field of view.
The two landed in an empty forest outside the city and entered on foot.
Though this was a remote border area, the small city was unexpectedly lively.
Thick snow weighed down the low eaves. Along both sides of the bluestone streets, the aroma of freshly baked food and hot oil mixed with the white mist breathed out by loudly calling vendors, rushing straight toward them.
Shane restrained his aura and stopped at a street corner like an ordinary traveler.
Deep in his pupils, a hidden flame quietly lit up.
The vision of the Eye of Karma spread silently like ripples across water, swiftly sweeping over the entire city.
A moment later, the flame went out.
"I don't sense any unusually powerful magic."
Shane looked around, his gaze cold. "Looks like Grimoire Heart hasn't arrived yet."
"The enemy is hidden while we're in the open. Let's first find a suitable place to stay and wait for them to come to us."
Ultear suggested softly, casually raising a hand to tuck a strand of hair, mussed by the cold wind, behind her ear.
With that motion, the high-collared fishtail dress on her body tightened slightly.
The style of the dress was clearly quite conservative, covering her tightly from the neck down, yet it clung to her full figure like flowing water.
Every slight pull of the fabric outlined the breathtaking curves of her waist and hips, giving off a lazy sensuality with strong visual impact.
Passersby, men and women alike, could not help letting their eyes linger on her for a few extra seconds.
As an Ice-Make mage, Ultear was not afraid of winter's chill.
But in weather cold enough to turn breath into frost, a woman this beautiful and captivating walking through the street in such a thin long dress drew far too much attention.
Shane shook his head helplessly. He casually pulled a wide cashmere coat from his storage space and tossed it over her.
"Put it on. Don't stand out so much."
Ultear caught the coat and wrapped herself up tightly.
Not only did she not get angry, she even winked teasingly at him. "You're getting more considerate."
Shane couldn't be bothered to respond to her teasing. He turned and began looking for a suitable temporary lodging.
The two walked along the main street for a while and found a clean, tidy-looking timber-framed inn at a corner.
Perhaps because few travelers visited this small city, the inn's business seemed rather quiet.
The proprietress at the front desk was lying over the counter, yawning out of boredom. In the corner of the lobby, oak logs crackled in the fireplace, warming the whole room.
Shane was just about to step forward and negotiate when warm body heat carrying a rich fragrance pressed against his side.
Ultear naturally and intimately linked her arm with his. Like a thoughtful wife, she gently brushed several bits of snow from Shane's shoulder and hair.
Only after doing so did she turn her head and lift her chin toward the counter.
"Boss, one double room with a better view, preferably overlooking the main street."
In order to guarantee her constant position of initiative, she had not forgotten her plan to "eat" Shane.
Although there was serious business to handle right now, laying down a suitable atmosphere along the way was nothing more than convenience to her.
"?"
Shane turned his head and looked at her strangely.
In his impression, Ultear had never been the type to enjoy dealing with ordinary people over these trivial matters.
"A couple is less likely to draw attention, right?"
Ultear stood slightly on tiptoe and breathed by his ear in an extremely low voice.
"This is a small border town. Any strange outsiders who arrive here will spread through the whole city in half a day."
"Fine."
Shane shrugged and stopped commenting.
Her reasoning wasn't wrong. Besides, she hadn't lied either. Their current relationship really didn't require them to avoid suspicion too much.
After taking the key and briefly confirming the room's view, the two did not stay long. They pushed open the inn door and blended back into the market, using the excuse of wandering around to quietly survey the city's terrain.
The snow on the road had been packed hard by passing pedestrians, producing a faint crunch underfoot.
When they passed a candy shop filled with a rich, creamy sweetness, something unexpected happened.
A small figure suddenly rushed out headfirst from the blind spot around the corner.
With a dull thump—
"Ow!"
Along with a clear cry, the little figure slammed directly into Shane's calf and instantly lost balance, falling butt-first into the cold snow.
Shane stopped.
The one who had fallen was a young girl who looked quite small.
She wore a slightly oversized knitted hat. A few strands of cherry-pink short hair stubbornly poked out from beneath the brim, making her look especially cute.
The girl seemed dazed from the collision, rubbing her forehead with a mitten-covered little hand.
The paper bag in her arms had scattered too, and glass-like candies wrapped in colorful sugar paper rolled all over the ground.
"Are you alright?"
Seeing this, Shane bent down patiently, picked up the scattered candies one by one, then opened his palm and handed them over.
The pink-haired girl lifted her face. Not only was she not afraid after bumping into a stranger, she even patted the snow off herself and climbed up briskly, showing Shane two rows of small white teeth.
"Thank you, big brother!"
"Meredy! How many times have I told you not to run so fast in the street?"
At that moment, a plainly dressed couple who looked like local townsfolk rushed over breathlessly from the direction of the candy shop.
The woman immediately pulled the girl named Meredy into her arms, carefully and tenderly brushing the snow from her clothes.
The man kept bowing apologetically to Shane and Ultear, afraid he had disturbed these two extraordinary-looking mages.
"It's alright. It's good for children to be lively."
Shane waved his hand to show he didn't mind. The brats back at the guild had been far more mischievous than Meredy.
Hearing his reassurance, the couple, who had been uneasy, finally let out relieved breaths.
The man bowed gratefully again. The woman gently adjusted her daughter's crooked knitted hat, then took her small hand with a slightly reproachful expression and led her back into the flow of people on the street.
Watching the family of three hold hands again, laughing and talking as they walked farther down the street, Shane's gaze softened slightly.
He turned his head and couldn't help looking at Ultear beside him.
"They look really happy."
He knew very well that this woman beside him, who looked cold and indifferent to everything, actually cared deeply about this kind of family affection.
That was why he was a little curious what kind of expression she would show when faced with such a warm scene.
Ultear froze slightly, then drew her gaze back from the crowd.
She did not answer right away. Instead, she lowered her eyes slightly, as though truly touched by the sight before her.
Only after a brief silence did the corners of her mouth rise gently, forming a perfectly soft smile.
"Mm… that kind of ordinary life does look nice."
Her words were gentle, but Ultear couldn't help sneering inwardly.
Although this act was somewhat sickening, it was extremely suitable for stabilizing her "image" in Shane's heart.
"For Councilor-sama to have thoughts like that really is rare."
Shane did not notice her inner thoughts and simply followed her words with his usual teasing.