Shane never quite figured out why Erza got angry when she saw the piece of iron he handed her that day.
But anyway, the food the girl brought back was delicious, and his blacksmithing skills were top-notch.
The days that followed seemed to have hit the fast-forward button, becoming regular to the point of monotony.
Since the first time he pulled the bellows, Shane had become completely obsessed with that small forge. The original plan of going to the library in the mornings was indefinitely shelved.
He spent almost all his time at the furnace by the creek.
The clang-clang of hammering, mixed with the whoosh of the bellows and the murmuring of the stream, rang out together every day. Fortunately, they were the only household here; otherwise, if neighbors came knocking, Shane really wouldn't know how to handle it.
This made him somewhat proud of his eye for real estate. Not only was the house nice, but the location was superb among superb.
As for what the real estate manager said about "someone died here, it's unlucky," he didn't feel a thing.
Relying on that peculiar sensitivity to metal from Saber, Shane improved rapidly.
It was as if he could "see" the subtle structural changes of the ore in the fire and "understand" the internal feedback of the material when the hammer fell.
When to blast the air, when to quench—he knew it all by heart.
The result was telling.
Although the tools were crude and there was no systematic guidance, the swords Shane forged now, in terms of material and performance alone, were no longer inferior to weapons reconstructed using [Arrow Construction].
On the other side, Erza's progress was even more astonishing.
Requip Magic, a magic that combined spatial and armament applications—she was using it freely in less than three weeks. This was more than a step faster than the expected month. He heard that Master Makarov even praised her talent.
The swords Shane forged almost all became materials for her practice and enrichment of her armory.
However, what Erza felt slightly regretful about was that Shane had never managed to forge a true Magic Weapon.
Every time this topic came up, the answer was always "soon, soon."
This wasn't Shane being perfunctory.
After nearly a month of uninterrupted forging, besides his Agility naturally breaking through to D- Rank, he clearly felt that a certain accumulation in his mind was approaching saturation. A feeling that something was about to come out became stronger and stronger.
He was certain that the next descent of the illusion would be within these few days.
This also meant that he would know Saber's True Name, and naturally, he would be able to master all of the other party's abilities related to iron smelting and creation.
---
On this morning, Shane uncharacteristically didn't light the furnace fire.
He carefully cleaned the furnace chamber, put the scattered tools back in place one by one, and polished the hammer and tongs until they shone.
Only after doing all this did he return to the house and stop Erza, who was preparing to go out as usual.
"Erza, accompany me out for a bit today."
"What did you say?" Hearing this, Erza raised an eyebrow in surprise.
For the past month, Shane had practically taken root by the furnace. Even when Cana and Levy occasionally came over to play, he couldn't spare time to entertain them.
Even Macao in the guild had grumbled several times, asking why that kid Shane was so elusive. If not for Erza's confirmation, he would have really thought Shane had already left Magnolia.
"Did the sun rise from the west?" Erza sized him up.
"Gray came by yesterday," Shane explained. "Said there's a letter for me at the post office."
"A letter?" Erza found it even stranger. According to common sense, Shane should have shamelessly asked her to pick it up for him.
Shane smiled and pulled out a letter that was already written and sealed from his pocket like a magic trick. "If I don't go, how can I mail this?"
He waved the letter in his hand. "We've been settled in Magnolia for a while now; we should tell Old Man Rob we're safe. Plus, he definitely wants to hear about what Fairy Tail is like now."
"So that's it!" Erza's eyes lit up. "Then I want to send a letter too!"
Shane spread his hands helplessly. "Of course you have to write one. Otherwise, why would I ask you to come along? Hurry up, hurry up."
Erza moved quickly and was soon hunched over the desk writing a letter to Grandpa Rob.
In the letter, besides greetings and reporting safety, she also mentioned with slight excitement that she had mastered Requip Magic, and described the lively atmosphere of Fairy Tail with a light touch.
At the end, she didn't forget to add a sentence complaining that Shane sometimes had too low of an EQ and didn't know how to live without her taking care of him.
Then, the two went to the post office in the city together.
Shane handed the two letters, along with a small, exquisite short sword he had specially forged for the blacksmith apprentice Knoll, to the staff member.
The content of his letter was quite standard. Besides basic greetings, he simply described what he saw and heard on the journey, the local customs of Magnolia, and the process of joining Fairy Tail.
After sending the letters, they picked up the letter addressed to Shane on the way.
The handwriting on the envelope was unfamiliar. Shane turned it over suspiciously. "Who could it be? I don't know anyone here... Could it be that Old Man Rob sent a letter first?"
Harboring curiosity, the two walked home quickly.
However, the moment they opened the envelope, a faint light flashed, and an unexpected figure emerged.
It was a blue-haired teenager with a tattoo on his face.
"Jellal?" Shane was somewhat surprised. He didn't expect Jellal could still send letters from the Tower of Heaven.
Immediately after, he was a bit worried. Did something happen to him...
In the image, Jellal seemed to be in a slightly dim room, draped in a coat with a solemn style, his expression still carrying a composure beyond his age.
"Shane, long time no see," Jellal's image spoke. "Even I heard about it here—Fairy Tail got an incredible newcomer who wiped out a Dark Guild as soon as he made a move. If this news hadn't spread, I probably wouldn't know you went to Magnolia."
"Tsk, when we meet later, will I have to call you Boss Jellal?" Seeing the other party's solemn attire and style, clearly living quite well, Shane couldn't help teasing.
"He probably can't hear you," Erza reminded him in a low voice.
The voice in the image continued, the tone turning serious. "Regarding the follow-up of the Tower of Heaven. I followed the plan and deceived that purple-clad girl—she calls herself Ultear—making her believe I have been completely affected by her 'bewitchment.'
The subsequent development was indeed as we speculated before; there is indeed someone else behind her."
"Not long after she 'controlled' me, a man named Brain found this place. He claimed he wanted to teach me how to use magic correctly, and... gave me considerable autonomy, allowing me to continue leading the construction of the Tower of Heaven. It is precisely because I obtained this relative freedom that I could find an opportunity to manage to send you this letter."
Then, Jellal's image frowned slightly, revealing a piece of information worth pondering.
"Through observation, the relationship between Brain and Ultear doesn't seem harmonious. There is some kind of barrier between the two. It's currently unclear if they are merely in a cooperative relationship, or...
But in short, above them, there is an even deeper mastermind behind the scenes."
"This is all the intelligence I know currently. I think it's necessary for you to know. I will find ways to contact you later."
When he spoke up to here, Shane thought the image was about to end, but the letter flashed with a faint light, and Jellal suddenly added with interest:
"Ultear seems to completely hold a grudge against you, constantly swearing to find trouble for you. Be careful not to get entangled by her."
This time, the image completely dissipated.
"This guy... learned to joke now." Shane shook his head, folded the letter casually, and didn't take Ultear's threat too seriously.
But when he and Erza exchanged a glance, they both saw the gravity in each other's eyes.
Jellal successfully infiltrated the enemy's interior; this was certainly good news.
But Brain's appearance, and the subtle relationship between him and Ultear, all announced that the water behind the Tower of Heaven was deeper than they imagined.