Shane's chopsticks paused mid-air for a heartbeat, then continued as if nothing had happened—only his chewing slowed slightly.
Didn't expect Ultear to move this fast… Does she hate me that much? he thought, unconsciously touching his cheek.
Then his gaze shifted to Gray, slumped like a wilted plant.
Ultear shouldn't have known Gray was traveling with him. That she'd bothered watching him too… Could it be she really was Ur's daughter?
Gray shivered under the weight of that thoughtful stare and looked up. "W-what?"
Shane pulled his eyes away and waved a hand. "Nothing." His tone was calm—but his next words left no room for argument. "But from now on, you stick with me. No wandering off alone."
"Why?" Gray immediately bristled. Sit around in the forge with Shane? He'd rather go swim with the fish.
"Use your brain," Shane said flatly. "Someone's got their eye on you, and you still want to go solo?"
Gray's face shifted as it sank in. "You're saying… that gaze on the sea—that was Ultear?"
"Who else?" Shane shot back. "Who would stalk you from the shadows besides her?"
"So what?" Gray's voice tightened.
He knew she was roughly his age. When it came to Ice-Make, he didn't think he'd lose to any peer.
"If she comes for me, I might not necessarily—"
"Relax," Shane cut in mercilessly. "You're nowhere close to Ultear."
Gray's expression collapsed. Shane pressed his advantage. "Anyway, you're with me. End of discussion. No negotiation."
Steamrolled by Shane's dictatorship, Gray dropped his head and swore he'd never tag along with this guy again.
Shane ignored the sulking—Gray was the one who insisted on coming.
The next morning, Shane brought them back to the smithy.
Hammer blows rang all morning long.
Erza got her wish: a slender sword forged from the other lacrima.
"Breaker" was elegant and thin, with a faint purple glow along the blade—completely different from the heavy, iron-cleaving greatsword.
She couldn't stop swinging it, savoring how it moved through the air.
Gray sulked by the door, staring longingly at the street traffic like a puppy someone had abandoned.
Shane, watching him, eventually relented. "Come on. Take us to that spot you went yesterday. Maybe we'll actually see a winter-tail fish."
But "searching" was really just for show.
Shane stood at the bow, scanning the water with only half his attention. Within two hours, he declared, "Looks like our luck's bad today. Let's head ashore and train instead."
They walked to a secluded beach nearby.
Shane pointed at Gray and Erza. "You two spar. Gray, use Ice-Make. Erza, get used to the new blade."
Gray had no idea how strong Erza really was and wasn't very motivated at first. But once the swords came out, the fight was almost entirely one-sided.
With Breaker in hand, Erza moved like a flash. Every purple arc she traced shattered Gray's ice shields, lances, even his more complex constructs.
He had to drop his attitude and go all out—and still couldn't find an opening.
Shane watched from the side, arms crossed, nodding in satisfaction.
Gray was definitely too weak. This was the perfect chance to toughen him up. Erza could sharpen her new weapon at the same time—two birds with one stone.
For the next few days, their lives fell into a rhythm.
Mornings, they'd take the boat out to the same patch of sea and make a token sweep for winter-tail fish. Afternoons, they'd hit the beach and Erza would "coach" Gray.
During that time, not only Gray, but Shane as well caught that faint sensation of being watched more than once.
He didn't call it out. He pretended not to notice, returning to the same sea, at the same times, and the same stretch of sand, every day.
Until one day, when they stepped onto that familiar beach again.
Everything looked the same as always. The breeze was gentle; the waves rolled in softly.
But the moment Shane's foot hit the sand, a slight wrongness tugged at his nerves.
Because the Eyes of Karma were too conspicuous, he quietly switched to Arash's Clairvoyance. His enhanced sight swept over the entire shore.
Just as I thought.
Beneath the sand, seeds and sprouts lay buried—ones that did not belong to this beach.
It reminded him of Ultear's trick with the rapidly-growing trees last time. He could only sigh.
She's not seriously trying that again, is she?
Gray, oblivious, did what he always did—charged toward the middle of the sand, ready for another day of "getting beaten up."
Given his habit of going shirtless, Shane had no choice but to snag him by the waistband and yank him back.
"We're not training today," Shane said, letting go. "I've got something else to show you."
He shot Erza a look; she understood and stepped back.
Shane walked forward alone, calm and steady.
The instant he stepped into the center, the sand erupted.
Across dozens of square meters, countless green shoots burst from the ground, growing in the blink of an eye—twisting trunks and vines surging upward in a snarling green tide that swallowed him whole.
"What the hell?"
Gray gaped. "This… is what he wanted to show me?"
Almost at the same time, a cold, hate-laced voice sounded from empty air nearby. "You sensed something was wrong and walked in anyway. You're as arrogant as ever, Shane."
Ultear's form shimmered into view. Her long hair hung loose, a white robe wrapped around her like a bath yukata, a sensuality far beyond her years.
"U—Ur…?" Gray stared at the face so strikingly similar to his master's.
"Don't call me that! Especially not you, Gray!" Ultear snapped, fury flaring in her eyes as if he'd scraped open an old wound.
With a flick of her hand, dozens of crystal spheres floated into the air like stars.
"I thought she used Ice-Make?" Gray sputtered.
"Why would I learn that woman's magic," Ultear said coldly, cutting a glance toward the charred tangle of vines. Clearly she knew who had spilled that detail, and mentally added another mark on Shane's tab.
She swept her hand—the spheres streaked toward Erza and Gray like a shower of meteors.
Gray gritted his teeth, raising his arms to cast Ice-Make—but Erza's arm hooked around his neck. "We're leaving."
"What about Shane? He's still in there!" Gray shouted.
He might butt heads with Shane constantly, but he was still a guildmate. They couldn't just leave him.
And the way Ultear attacked—cold and merciless—was nothing like he'd imagined. It shook him.
"Watch," Erza said, dragging him back quickly. "Really look at what Shane can do."
Before she even finished, the scene changed.
From within the tangle of plants, thick smoke began to seep out, accompanied by a rapid hissing—moisture being boiled away.
The green vines browned, shriveled, blackened right before their eyes.
Heat pressed outward, making it hard to breathe.
A moment later—
BOOM!!
A pillar of crimson fire roared upward, like a beast bursting free of its cage, shredding and devouring the dead vines, flinging charred fragments in all directions.
A wave of hot air tore across the sand, pushing the top layer aside in a ring.
At the center of the blaze, a white cloak snapped in the heat.
Shane stood there, still as a drawn blade, embers and heat swirling around him.
"I've been waiting for you, Ultear."
~~~
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