But Ultear quickly caught on.
She narrowed her eyes at Shane, suspicion written all over her face. "Weren't you supposed to be training magic? And you can still stroll around this leisurely?"
Erza answered as if it were obvious. "Shane's magic can be trained as long as I stay by his side, so it's fine."
Ultear frowned. "What kind of magic is that?"
She considered herself well-read in magical literature, and she'd never heard of such an absurd training method.
But—Erza's reminder made her notice something she'd somehow overlooked.
These two had been sitting way too close since earlier—practically shoulder to shoulder.
Since she didn't have a bad impression of Erza, Ultear couldn't help warning her, "Are you sure… Shane isn't just lying to you?"
Erza blinked and asked back, "Why would Shane lie to me? What would be the point?"
Ultear fell silent.
On second thought, these two practically lived together. Shane really had no reason to deceive her.
So… a world where this kind of ridiculous magic exists is possible?
For once, Ultear's curiosity stirred. She looked at Shane. "What exactly are you training?"
She remembered Shane mentioning Senji Muramasa and Arash, and pressed, "Is it—again—some 'special existence' giving you power? Who is it this time? What's their legend?"
That question instantly made Shane's face darken, like he'd just swallowed a fly.
"…I don't know. Stop asking." He forced the words out through clenched teeth.
To this day he still hadn't found even the slightest clue about Lancer's true name.
Ultear blinked, puzzled.
That reaction was so unlike Shane.
Normally, the moment he got new power, he'd start talking nonstop, desperate to spill every detail.
And now he was dodging the topic?
Watching him very clearly take an L—and stubbornly endure it—Ultear went from confused to faintly amused. A small smile crept up her lips.
No matter what, anything that made Shane unhappy made her feel… pretty great.
Maybe this was "revenge satisfaction." After all, he'd been needling her in every possible way before.
Shane realized it immediately. To keep her from mocking him, he snapped his expression back under control, picked up his empty plate, and stood.
"I'm done. You two enjoy."
Then he turned and headed to the kitchen sink, pointedly avoiding Ultear's amused gaze.
Erza's lips parted—she wanted to say, Washing dishes is my job.
But Shane had already turned on the tap. Water rushed out with a steady whoosh, so she quietly swallowed the words.
Trying to ease the awkwardness, she turned to Ultear and, after thinking for a second, offered, "The weather looks nice today."
And just like that, after breakfast, the three of them headed to Fairy Tail together.
Magnolia's morning streets were lively and crowded, full of energy.
Ultear walked in silence beside Erza, letting her eyes sweep the scenery while subtly observing how the two of them interacted.
Shane and Erza's conversation flowed naturally. They'd occasionally disagree over something small—like which route was shorter to the guild—but they always reached an agreement quickly.
That effortless coordination made Ultear feel something unfamiliar—and, faintly, something like envy.
Without meaning to, she looked back over her own life and realized she'd never really had companions she could get along with like that.
And if she thought about it… the person she'd interacted with most among her peers lately…
…was actually Shane.
That realization annoyed her. She bit her lip a little harder, irritated at herself.
She felt like she'd been getting too soft. The old her wouldn't have cared about any of this.
"We're here," Shane said, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Ultear looked up. A building came into view—nothing especially grand, but it had a style all its own.
Last time she'd been here, she was a captive. This time she was a guest. The contrast felt oddly novel.
Just then, Shane spotted something "rare." His gaze jumped past the threshold to the figure by the guild entrance—a person wearing headphones.
"Yo, Laxus!" Shane grabbed Erza and walked over quickly.
Ever since the Ivan incident, Laxus had become almost impossible to catch in the guild. Aside from occasionally showing up to take a job, he barely spoke to Makarov. Running into him at the door was genuinely lucky.
"Shane?" Laxus turned at the call, eyebrow lifting. "Need something?"
In his mind, Shane wasn't cold, exactly—but he wasn't the type to greet people enthusiastically for no reason, either.
If you show up, you've got a purpose. That was Laxus' first assumption.
"…Hold on a second." Shane scratched his head instead of answering, then studied Laxus closely.
If anyone else made a vague request like that and stared at him, Laxus would've already snapped, "Get lost."
But remembering he owed Shane for Ivan's situation, he begrudgingly tolerated it.
Seeing Laxus stay put, Shane steadied himself and reached into the "Book of Heroic Spirits" deep in his mind.
[Select Companion: Laxus Dreyar]
Even as he committed the choice, a tiny bit of anxiety lingered.
He'd failed to bind the guild master earlier. If this went wrong too, he was going to lose his mind.
Thankfully, the next moment, beneath Path of Kindling, a clear chibi portrait of Laxus appeared—wearing a cocky grin.
Yes! Shane clenched his fist internally. Another success.
Just as he was about to say, "All good," a new prompt surfaced in the book—and froze him in place:
[Progress: 1/5]
The second long-chain trial had advanced by one-fifth the moment Laxus was confirmed?
So Laxus' strength had already entered the "world's front ranks"?
Shane couldn't help re-evaluating the blond teen with new eyes.
Laxus definitely wasn't on the level of the Ten Wizard Saints… so that meant the standard for this trial was likely to raise five S-class-level mages.
Shane rubbed his chin, thinking.
If that was the intended design, it made sense.
The trial said "front ranks," not "absolute peak." An S-class mage was already an elite in the magical world.
If the book wanted him to raise five Saints, that would be absurdly harsh—way too brutal for the second stage of a long-chain trial.
And there was more.
Shane caught another key detail: Laxus didn't even have an officially granted S-class title from the guild.
Meaning the trial cared about only one thing:
Companions whose strength reaches S-class.
For Shane, that was incredible news.
"If that's the case… then maybe I can finish this trial in just a year or two."
~~~
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