"Heh…" Shane's lips curled as his gaze met Erza's wide eyes, mischief written all over his face.
"Scared you, huh?" He slowly swept a hand from left to right in front of his face.
With that motion, the faint, ember-like glow in his irises suddenly flared up—two blazing furnaces igniting in his eyes, heat wrapped in an inhuman gravity.
Erza's mouth fell slightly open at the sudden "face change," but she recovered quickly.
She'd been played.
Her first instinct was to sit up and clamp this smug idiot in a chokehold.
But the moment she moved, the sensation under her hands made her freeze.
She abruptly realized she was wrapped around Shane in a very intimate position, clinging to him like an octopus latched onto a heater.
So that's where last night's cozy little "heater" had come from.
"…"
A faint, almost imperceptible warmth crept across her cheeks. Her gaze skittered away, unable to meet the amused red glow in his eyes.
With a sleep posture this bad… he's definitely laughing at me, she thought grimly.
She released him in a hurry, movements a bit frantic, and sat up straight.
Only then did she notice he was still propped against the headboard, body a little stiff—as if he'd stayed in that position for a long time.
Had he really… just sat there all night and let her use him as a body pillow?
Her lips pressed together. The irritation of being teased popped like a bubble, replaced by something strangely soft.
Fine… if my sleeping posture is awful, I'll let him laugh. If it makes him happy, it's not so bad, she told herself, quietly dropping any thought of payback.
Shane, for his part, had no intention of mocking her—he just watched with a smile.
Seeing that, Erza's face returned to its usual frankness. She steered the conversation back on track, eyes flicking to the flames in his irises.
"So your eyes—what is that? Is it the… 'magic breakthrough' you mentioned last night?"
Shane was in a great mood, completely oblivious to the emotional gymnastics she'd just gone through. Her question lit him up at once.
As for lying half the night without moving so she could sleep—he didn't think much of it. She'd gone a full day without rest watching over him. A little give-and-take was the least he could do.
"Pretty much," he answered easily, the red fire dancing in his pupils.
"As for what it does…"
His tone switched, a provocative grin tugging at his lips. "Want to test it out? It's been a while since we had a real match. Let me see how much you've improved."
He sounded unusually sure of himself.
After successfully resolving his second class card—Saber, Senji Muramasa—he could feel it: his understanding of class powers had reached a deeper layer.
During his night watch, he'd tried something he'd been theorizing about for a while—partial Spirit embodiment.
Fully releasing a True Name and taking on the complete Heroic Spirit state put huge strain on body and mana. It was his trump card, not something to throw around lightly.
For everyday fights—or long engagements that didn't require pulling out all stops—it was clumsy.
Now, though, he'd found the perfect workaround.
These burning "Eyes of Karma" were proof he'd successfully partially manifested Muramasa's sensory traits—and learned to hold them.
The benefits were obvious.
First, it made True Name use vastly more flexible.
Before, he'd always struggle when he ran into an enemy his normal self found hard to handle but who didn't feel "worthy" of full release.
Now, he could just maintain these "Eyes of Karma"—or Arash's Clairvoyance—and get specialized vision buffs at a tiny fraction of the cost.
In practical terms, it meant his daily True Name uptime had effectively shot up.
Roughly speaking, if he kept Strength, Endurance, and Agility at around D– while fully embodying Saber, he could hold that for about twenty-five minutes.
But if he only maintained the Eyes of Karma—or one spirit's specific organ trait—the duration shot up to a ridiculous three hours.
Enough to cover practically any fight in a day. Strategically huge.
And he'd noticed something else: this "partial embodiment" forged his body much harder than simply manifesting Saber's weapons ever had.
Better return on investment.
To reach this level of tempering through weapons alone, he'd have to keep fifteen or more conjured and active at once.
The mana and stamina drain from that would crush him.
Nice, he thought, mentally pumping his fist.
Being able to feel real progress and see a clear path ahead—that tangible sense of getting stronger left him giddy.
And this was just the start. He hadn't even used Muramasa properly in combat. Just from a brief taste of his abilities, though, Shane felt the two depth upgrades hadn't been wasted in the slightest.
Even he had no idea how much stronger he'd become now.
On the other side of the bed, Erza watched his bright grin—the obvious "I have a new toy and you're my test dummy" look—and couldn't help clicking her tongue.
"Sneaky."
Two days ago, when she'd been begging for a match, he'd brushed her off.
Now, the moment his magic advanced and he learned a new trick, he was the one springing a challenge. Clearly he just wanted to test his new power on her.
She didn't care—if anything, seeing him stronger suited her just fine.
The stronger he became, the more her own battle lust burned.
"Fine! Let's try it," she shot back.
Even before she finished, she'd flipped off the bed in one smooth motion.
The hem of her thin cotton nightgown flared, showing a flash of pale, shapely calf.
Then white light wrapped around her—the glow of Requip swirling like a falling maple leaf.
In a blink, the nightgown was gone, replaced by a knight's armor.
The set was mainly silver-white, edged with crimson magical patterns, balancing grace and power. The skirt armor was made of overlapping metal plates, protective but unrestrictive.
She swept a hand behind her head; magic flashed again, and her scarlet hair pulled up into a high ponytail.
With a clear "clang," two longswords appeared in her hands, tips angled toward the floor.
A month of grinding paid off. Her entire aura shifted—like a blade bared from its sheath, edge gleaming.
~~~
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