"Hehe..." Shane's lips curled up, his gaze falling on Erza's widened eyes, revealing a bad smile like a prank succeeded.
"Scared?" He deliberately wiped his hand slowly from left to right in front of his eyes.
Following his movement, the crimson flames that were originally just faintly beating in his pupils burst into vigor with a whoosh, like two ignited furnaces, carrying a non-human majesty amidst the scorching heat.
Erza was startled by his sudden "face change," her small mouth slightly open, but she reacted immediately.
I've been tricked!
She subconsciously wanted to sit up and put this smug guy in a headlock.
But as soon as she moved, the tactile sensation from her body made her freeze.
She suddenly realized that at this moment, she was hugging Shane tightly in an extremely intimate posture, like an octopus clinging to a heater.
Where the warm and reassuring "stove" came from last night was self-evident.
"..."
A trace of imperceptible heat brushed past Erza's cheeks. Her eyes instantly drifted, somewhat afraid to look at Shane's smiling fiery red eyes.
Sleeping so poorly... he's definitely going to laugh at me.
She quickly let go of her limbs and sat up straight with slightly flustered movements.
It was also at this moment that she noticed Shane had been leaning against the headboard, his body a bit stiff, seemingly having maintained this posture for a long time.
Did he... just stay motionless as a 'body pillow' for most of the night?
Erza pursed her lips. The dissatisfaction of being teased in her heart dissipated quickly like a popped bubble.
Replacing it was a subtle, soft emotion.
Forget it... let him laugh for a while about my poor sleeping posture. It's good to make him happy. The girl said to herself in her heart, quietly dispelling the thought of counterattacking.
However, Shane had absolutely no intention of making fun of her, just looking at her with a smile.
Seeing this, Erza's expression returned to her usual straightforwardness. She steered the topic back on track, looking curiously at Shane's burning eyes.
"What's with your eyes? Is it caused by that... magical breakthrough you mentioned last night?"
Shane was in an extremely good mood at the moment, completely unaware of the girl's psychological activity just now. Seeing her take the initiative to ask, he immediately got excited.
As for the small matter of lying stiffly for half the night to let her sleep peacefully, he naturally didn't take it to heart. Didn't Erza also take care of him sleeplessly for a whole day?
Just basic reciprocation.
"Well, sort of." He answered easily, the crimson flames dancing lively in his pupils.
"As for the use..."
He changed his tone, a provocative arc rising at the corner of his mouth. "Want to try it yourself? Have a match after a long time? Just right for me to see how much you've improved recently."
Shane took the initiative to issue the invitation, appearing unusually confident.
After successfully clarifying the second Class Card "Saber·Senji Muramasa," he clearly felt that his grasp of the essential power of the Class Card was one layer deeper.
While keeping watch last night, he took the opportunity to try a possibility he had conceived for a long time—Partial Heroic Spirit Transformation!
Fully releasing the True Name for a complete Heroic Spirit possession placed a huge burden on Magic Power and the body. It was his trump card at the bottom of the box.
But in daily life or protracted battles that weren't of extremely high intensity, it appeared somewhat clumsy.
And now, he finally found an application method that could perfectly solve this problem.
These burning "Eyes of Karma" were precisely the result of partially manifesting Senji Muramasa's visual characteristics and successfully maintaining them!
The benefits of doing so were obvious.
First, this made his use of True Name Release much more free and flexible.
In the past, when encountering opponents difficult to solve in his ordinary state but wasteful to use the complete True Name on, he would always fall into a dilemma.
Now, he only needed to maintain these "Eyes of Karma," or Arash's "Clairvoyance," to obtain specialized visual enhancements with consumption far lower than complete release. His tactical choices widened instantly.
This was tantamount to disguisingly extending the total time he could use True Name Release daily.
He roughly estimated that if he maintained the three attributes of Strength, Endurance, and Agility at D- Rank as a standard for complete Saber possession, he could probably last about 25 minutes.
But if he only maintained these "Eyes of Karma," or a certain organ characteristic of a single Heroic Spirit, this time limit could reach a terrifying three hours!
This could almost cover any battle that might occur throughout the day. The strategic significance was huge.
Moreover, he also discovered that maintaining this state of "Partial Heroic Spirit Manifestation" produced a "tempering" effect on the body far stronger than manifesting and maintaining Saber's weapons before!
"The cost-performance ratio is also higher..." Shane silently felt the changes in his body.
To achieve the current level of tempering effect, he would probably need to manifest and maintain more than fifteen weapons simultaneously.
However, that huge consumption of Magic Power and physical energy was simply not something the current him could bear.
"Awesome!" Shane pumped his fist in his heart.
Being able to clearly perceive progress and see the road ahead clearly—this tangible sense of becoming stronger made his mood incredibly cheerful.
Moreover, this was just a new development of the Class Card.
He hadn't used Senji Muramasa's ability in actual combat yet, but Shane sensed its effect slightly and felt it wasn't in vain that he spent two authorities to call the other party out. The intensity didn't disappoint him at all.
Now, even Shane didn't know how much stronger he had become!
On the other side, Erza looked at the smiling Shane, who clearly harbored "bad intentions," immediately saw through his "sinister motives," and couldn't help spitting lightly:
"Cunning!"
Two days ago, she enthusiastically pestered him for a duel, and he refused no matter what.
Now that his magic achieved a breakthrough and he had new means, he immediately took the initiative to invite a battle. Clearly, he wanted to use her to test the power of his new ability!
However, Erza didn't care about this. Rather, Shane becoming stronger fit her wishes perfectly!
The stronger he was, the more he could arouse her competitive heart.
"Alright! Let's try then!"
Before Erza's voice fell, she had already neatly flipped off the bed.
During the movement, the hem of that thin pure cotton nightgown fluttered, revealing a section of beautifully lined, fair calf.
Immediately after, the pure white brilliance of Requip Magic instantly wrapped her whole body, flowing and surging.
In the blink of an eye, that nightgown was replaced by a set of female knight armor.
The main body of the armor was silver-white, with crimson magic patterns inlaid on the edges, coexisting with elegance and a sense of power; the skirt armor was composed of layered metal leaves, ensuring defense without affecting flexibility at all.
Erza raised her hand to brush the back of her head. Magic light flashed again, and her scarlet long hair, gorgeous as maple leaves, had been cleanly tied into a high ponytail.
With a clear clang, two longswords appeared out of thin air in her hands, the tips pointing obliquely at the ground.
The foundation of a whole month of hard work was revealed. Her entire aura was reborn, like a sharp sword unsheathed, revealing its edge completely.