Jason was obviously fascinated by Fairy Tail.
Even while talking to Shane, his eyes kept sweeping around the guild hall like radar, as if he wanted to scan every corner of the place.
But since this was supposed to be an exclusive interview focused on Shane, he could only force himself to suppress the urge to go bother the other mages and drag his attention back to the star in front of him.
"Well then, Shane-san, let's begin! COOOOL!"
Jason pulled out a small notebook and started asking questions while bouncing his leg excitedly.
At first, the questions were still fairly normal.
Things like, "What made you join the guild?", "What are your hobbies?", and "What's your favorite food?"
Those were easy enough for Shane to handle with some polished, official-sounding answers.
But little by little, Jason's questions began racing off in a very strange direction.
"I heard you transform in battle. So when you transform, does your underwear size change too?"
"What color casual clothes do you usually like to wear? Wild style, or pure and innocent style?"
"Do you have a girlfriend? Or a boyfriend? COOOL! A love triangle would be even better!"
"Sorry. I only like girls."
Faced with this whole chain of ridiculous interrogation, Shane could feel the veins at his temples twitching.
He took it back—Jason was exactly the kind of maddening, headache-inducing reporter he had imagined.
Massaging his brow tiredly, Shane tried to steer things back on track.
"About that, Jason-san… maybe we should ease up a little on the personal privacy questions. Actually, compared to me personally, our guild itself is much more interesting."
"For example, the guild's home-like atmosphere, the deep bonds between companions… and our Master Makarov, who has sacrificed so much to protect the guild…"
As he spoke, he glanced toward the bar.
Over there, Makarov was frantically winking and gesturing with both hands—Guild! Promote the guild!—his eyes bulging so hard they looked like they were about to pop out.
Unfortunately, Jason was completely immersed in his own world and didn't hear a word of it.
"Oh! None of that matters!"
With a big wave of his hand, he cut Shane off, clearly uninterested in those cliché stories about bonds and friendship.
"Shane-san, what I want to hear about is your magic! I did my homework before coming here!"
"I heard that aside from your signature move, 'Azurefall,' you've mastered quite a few other powerful spells. Could you reveal a little about them?"
"Azurefall?"
The corner of Shane's mouth twitched.
If he wasn't mistaken, that probably referred to the scene that night when Arondight had turned into a pillar of blue light and smashed down onto the earth.
Still, he had no idea how a title that chuuni-sounding had spread so far so fast.
But…
He had to admit, Jason had accidentally hit the exact topic he wanted.
This was the perfect chance to promote that.
"Ahem."
Shane cleared his throat strategically, his expression turning solemn.
"While it wouldn't be convenient for me to go into the details of the abilities themselves…"
"I can explain a little about the legend and origins behind those powers."
"Oh?" Jason's ears perked up at once.
And the guild members who had been standing around watching the fun all changed expression the moment they saw Shane taking on that tone.
"Oh no. He's starting again."
"Run! If we stay any longer, our ears are gonna grow calluses!"
The crowd scattered like birds and beasts. Only Erza remained where she was, standing firmly behind Shane like a bodyguard.
In the distance, Makarov panicked and jumped down from the bar.
"Hey, hey! Shane! Actually, there are plenty of other things about the guild worth talk—"
Shane completely ignored the old man's desperate call.
At this moment, he looked like a wildly zealous preacher who had finally found a listener.
He dragged over two chairs, forced Jason into one of them, then sat down across from him, his gaze deep and distant.
"It is said that two neighboring nations were locked in war for sixty long years…"
When it came to Arash's legend, Shane told it in exhaustive detail.
From the geopolitical situation between the two countries, to Arash's birth and background, to the heroic arrow he fired into the earth—
As he talked, Shane would occasionally pause and look at Jason encouragingly.
"Did you follow that part? Want me to go back and explain the character relationships again from the beginning?"
At first, Jason had been ecstatic at Shane's sudden enthusiasm, thinking he had stumbled upon a shocking scoop. His pen flew across the page as fast as it could.
However—
Half an hour passed.
Then an hour.
Then two hours…
"…And so, in order to bring this endless war to an end, Arash climbed to the highest mountain…"
Shane was still talking on and on, seemingly tireless.
Jason's expression had gone from excitement, to blankness, to full despair.
"Um…"
He finally couldn't sit still any longer. Jumping to his feet, he forcibly interrupted Shane's "lecture."
"How about… Shane-san, instead of that, you just show me some magic directly? I can take some photos, and I already have enough material."
If this went on any longer, this issue of Weekly Sorcerer was going to have to rename itself The Complete Biography of Arash.
If it were at least a famous historical figure, then maybe there'd still be some payoff.
But before today, Jason had never even heard of anyone named Arash, much less some absurd legend about him.
"…"
Shane smacked his lips, still not fully satisfied, looking genuinely regretful.
"I can do that. But everything I just told you—you need to organize it properly and publish it, okay?"
"That's the important part."
"Absolutely! Absolutely!"
Jason wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and nodded awkwardly but politely.
Only after getting that promise did Shane finally stand up in satisfaction.
"My magic is similar to Take Over or Transformation magic. Depending on the form I assume, the abilities I can use—and even my physical capabilities—can be completely different."
"Oho! Multiple transformations! COOOL!"
Jason immediately revived on the spot, scribbling notes rapidly again. This was the kind of thing readers actually wanted to see.
Shane smiled faintly.
Everything he was talking about now were traits he had already displayed publicly, so there was no issue with saying them out loud.
He walked over to the bar and said to Makarov, who was still sulking there,
"Master, make one of your hands bigger."
"What for?"
Makarov was unhappy about it, but for the sake of guild publicity, he still did as told.
Bzz—
Magic surged, and his right arm instantly swelled into a giant, grotesquely massive limb, thick and incredibly heavy.
Shane walked over and, instead of using any Heroic Spirit power right away, first tried lifting it with his normal body.
Even after all his strengthening, that kind of weight was still difficult for him in his normal state. He could only barely raise the giant arm up past shoulder height.
"See that?"
Shane turned to Jason and explained,
"For example, in my current state, my strength is decent, but freely swinging around a giant version of the Master is basically impossible."
"But if…"
As he spoke, Shane focused his mind.
He had been about to release Arash's form to demonstrate the increase in strength.
But suddenly, without warning, a surge of heat burst from his heart and spread through his whole body. His muscle fibers felt as though they had been injected with a concentrated stimulant.
Power exploded through him like a spring bursting from underground. Shane instinctively exerted force.
Boom!
The heaviness from just now vanished completely.
That giant arm—along with the completely unprepared Makarov attached to the other end of it—was lifted up by Shane as easily as if he were handling a piece of straw, and then, because he used too much force, sent flying.
Thunk!
A huge crash rang out.
Poor Master—head first and feet up—was smashed straight into the ceiling, with only his two tiny legs left sticking out and flailing helplessly.
Silence filled the room.
"Uh…"
Jason's mouth fell open. He looked up at the old man stuck in the ceiling, then down at Shane, who wore an innocent expression.
"Um… didn't you just say your strength was low?"
"…"
Shane awkwardly let go, allowing the soot-covered old man to drop back down.
He hadn't expected his Strength to break through to D+ right now of all times.
But after thinking about it, it made sense.
After all, he had only recently unlocked Lancer's true name, and the stimulation from gaining a new class card had only just begun.
For some time to come, not just Strength, but all of his physical parameters would probably enter a period of explosive growth.
What surprised him, though, was that the first stat to improve was Strength—despite it not even being the most outstanding stat among his three class cards.
Avoiding the murderous glare the old man was shooting at him, Shane forced himself to explain.
"Ahem… that was an accident."
"Bad choice of reference. The Master probably hasn't been sleeping well lately. He's too light."
"COOOOOL!!"
Jason, however, didn't care in the slightest. He excitedly scribbled into his notebook:
"Azurefall-sama! Not only humble in character, but also a terrifying mage who grows stronger at any time, even in daily life! Even his own guild master is one of his training tools!"
Faced with that absurd level of praise, Shane decided that as long as he wasn't embarrassed, the embarrassment would belong to someone else.
To cover up the blunder just now, he promptly changed the subject and directly released Arash's form.
"Watch carefully!"
Shane walked over to the window and fixed his gaze on the church bell tower several kilometers away on the far side of the city.
He drew the bow, nocked the arrow, and released.
Twang!
A streak of golden light tore through the sky and arrived in an instant.
Dong—
A clear, resonant bell tone rang out across the city. The arrow had struck dead center.
"COOOOOOL!!!"
Jason was so excited he looked ready to faint. That kind of archery was practically divine.
But clearly, he still wasn't satisfied.
His ultimate goal on this trip was to witness the form Shane had used to "blast apart a Wizard Saint in a single strike."
"Um… Shane-san."
Jason rubbed his hands together and stepped closer with a face full of anticipation.
"The bow is super cool, but… could you show me that 'Azurefall' form?"
"The silver hair! The dragon wings! The one that blasted the ground into nothing!"
"Well…"
Shane hesitated.
Lancer was a Heroic Spirit power he had only just obtained, and it also involved troublesome things like the Dragon Furnace Heart, so it wasn't something he could show off carelessly.
But after Jason clung to him relentlessly and repeatedly promised that he would put "the story of the great hero" on the front page, Shane reluctantly gave in.
"Fine. Photos only. I won't demonstrate the actual abilities."
If it was just the transformation itself, without releasing the Noble Phantasm's true name, it should be okay.
With a sigh, Shane closed his eyes.
"Lancer—"
Bzz—
The air itself seemed to freeze.
When Shane opened his eyes again, all human warmth had vanished from those pupils.
His black hair instantly lost all color, turning into a brilliant silver-white like moonlight.
A pair of black, savage dragon wings—grotesque and yet strangely beautiful—slowly unfurled behind him, stirring up a sharp gust of wind pressure.
"Go ahead."
Shane kept the rhythm of the Dragon Reactor Core inside his chest under tight control, suppressing the dragon aura that wanted to erupt outward, his voice now cold and detached.
"..."
Jason reacted completely differently than he had when Shane showed Arash's form.
This time, he was utterly stunned.
A moment later, he began circling Shane like a monkey, hammering the shutter button on his camera so hard it seemed about to smoke.
"That beautiful silver hair! Those dragon wings that are powerful without losing elegance!"
"My god! Even your skin looks smoother now! So soft! More feminine than a woman!"
"That cold yet dangerous aura… too COOOOL! No wonder you're called the 'spotless' mage!"
"…"
Even knowing it was supposed to be exaggerated praise, Shane's face still darkened.
More feminine than a woman?
What kind of nonsense was that supposed to be?
"Oh right! Speaking of women!"
After snapping enough photos, Jason suddenly remembered something and immediately slid right back into gossip mode, crowding close to Shane again and returning to his earlier line of questioning.
"Shane-san, now that we're practically friends—"
"Can you reveal what type of girl you like?"
"I'm not just bragging here—I know lots of beautiful women from other guilds too! Whether it's Blue Pegasus or Mermaid Heel…"
The moment those words came out—
Makarov, who was rubbing his head in the distance, suddenly twitched an ear.
The old man, utterly shameless despite his age, instantly straightened from his slumped posture and casually pretended to cough while listening as hard as possible.
And Erza, who had been standing silently behind Shane the whole time, stiffened slightly as well.
Pressing her lips together, she unconsciously tightened her grip on the hem of her skirt, her gaze drifting.
She was confident that Shane cared about her.
But hearing someone ask that question so directly still made her both eager… and strangely nervous.
"…"
Shane was stumped.
What kind of girl did he like?
That question… was a little too advanced.
Ultear was the smart, scheming, slightly tsundere type—a difficult witch in every sense of the word.
Erza, on the other hand, was serious, upright, and occasionally adorably airheaded—a princess knight through and through.
They were basically two completely different species.
If he absolutely had to find a common point between them and answer gracefully, then it would be…
Before Shane could organize his thoughts—
"I know!"
At that moment, a bright, confident voice suddenly rang out from outside the guild, cutting straight through everyone's thoughts.
Everyone turned to look.
Accompanied by a bold, unrestrained set of footsteps, an extremely eye-catching figure appeared in the doorway.
That same moon-bright silver hair was tied high, revealing the elegant line of a long, beautiful neck.
Before Jason could even react to who this suddenly barging-in beauty was, she had already swaggered right up to them.
Mira stepped directly between the two men, threw an arm around Shane's shoulder without the slightest hesitation, and flashed a dazzling smile.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"The kind of woman my dear master likes is obviously—"
"Strong! Beautiful! And someone who can beat him flat on his back!"
~~~
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