Those words made Shane's expression turn a little… complicated.
Just earlier at breakfast, he'd told her he wanted to go out less and focus on training—especially Requip magic.
And now, in the blink of an eye, Erza was talking about taking jobs.
Shane couldn't help suspecting she'd considered that he wasn't in a good position to accept commissions right now, so she was planning to act alone to keep their expenses covered.
With the relationship they had, he felt he could shamelessly live off her if needed—but her quiet, wordless thoughtfulness still made him uncomfortable.
He opened his mouth. "How about I go with you—"
Before he could finish—
Erza, as if she'd already seen right through him, flicked her beautiful black eyes his way. There was understanding in them… and, if he was being honest—
A hint of slyness.
After living around him this long, she'd basically learned the "Shane user manual."
She lifted a hand. Mana shimmered faintly in the air.
The first thing to appear was the sword Shane had made for her, Flowing Water, its blade clear as water.
Then the light flickered again and again—Anti-Magic, Armor-Cutting, and various practical outfits and dresses—like a miniature exhibition of weapons and wardrobes, all appearing and swapping out in rapid succession.
As she showed him, she curved her eyes and smiled—bright and unmistakably provocative. "By the way, Shane… didn't you and I start learning Requip magic at the same time?"
The sentence Shane hadn't even finished forming got lodged in his throat.
A challenge. A blatant challenge.
How dare she—Erza was really—
Way too much!
He'd just been planning how to open trade channels later, how to forge and sell weapons to support the household—
All that careful thinking wasted!
Fueled by pure competitiveness, Shane shot Erza a resentful glare.
He gave her a look that clearly said, Fine. Challenge accepted, then turned on his heel and marched straight toward the guild's library.
Watching Shane storm off like a gust of wind, Erza's provocative grin quietly softened into a small, pleased smile.
She was very satisfied with her latest "research result."
At the bar, Master Makarov had watched the whole show with a warm chuckle. He casually peeled the orange Shane had brought, popped a segment into his mouth, and swayed his head.
"Tch tch. Youth…" he sighed.
Then the sweetness exploded on his tongue and his eyes widened. "Mm? That's sweet!"
He decided he'd definitely ask Shane later where the orange came from.
Shane reached the library at a brisk pace, pulled Basics: Space—Requip Magic off the shelf, and automatically glanced around.
He didn't see the small figure who usually lived in the book stacks. He clicked his tongue.
"Too bad. Levy isn't here? My incredible perseverance doesn't even have an audience."
After mocking himself, he took a deep breath and opened the thick cover.
But the moment his eyes landed on the dense, tangled mass of magic runes, spatial coordinate formulas, and mana-node structure diagrams—
His "ready to conquer the world" expression instantly froze.
Once again, he was forced to face, with brutal clarity, exactly what his talent level for "proper magic study" really was.
So, after that—
The days became simple and regular.
Erza started taking commissions alone.
She seemed to choose deliberately—mostly jobs that didn't require long travel, usually just in nearby towns. Sometimes she'd return in a day; sometimes two or three.
Every time she came back, she looked windblown and tired, but her eyes grew clearer and brighter—like gemstones being polished.
She would carefully put away the pay, then head to the library to check on the stubborn figure still grinding away.
As for Shane, he practically lived in the library.
He cut off almost all socializing and entertainment, pouring himself into that one book with near-monkish focus.
That kind of relentless dedication even lit a competitive spark in Levy, who often came here.
Before long, it became: if Shane didn't leave, Levy refused to leave either, burying her nose in her own books out of stubborn pride.
But it wasn't that Shane had been bewitched by magic and forgotten how to live.
It was the opposite.
He had to go this hard, because if he relaxed even slightly, his miserable "progress bar" would stop moving altogether.
It also made him truly understand how terrifying Erza's talent was—learning Requip smoothly in just a few days.
"Comparing people really does make you furious," Shane muttered, rubbing his throbbing temples.
Fortunately, he could still occasionally show up with a book in his arms and a pile of questions to ask Master Makarov.
Makarov found some of Shane's questions "weirdly basic"—after all, Shane had already demonstrated a kind of "transformation magic" even Makarov couldn't fully see through. How was he stuck on this?
Even so, Makarov answered patiently, one by one.
Thanks to the master's guidance, Shane's progress barely stayed "unstuck," instead of dying permanently on some hurdle.
In short, Shane got what he asked for:
His "astonishing perseverance" did, in fact, draw attention—at least from Levy and the master.
Time slipped by in page-turning and mana practice.
…
One afternoon, a little over a month later—
"Finally—finally! I learned it!"
Shane slapped the now-frayed magic book shut. He leaned back so hard he nearly toppled, wanting to howl into the sky and vent a month's worth of frustration.
Joy and accomplishment surged through him.
So excited he needed a test subject immediately, his eyes swept the room—and, absurdly, landed on his own clothes.
Mana followed intent. A flash of light—
His jacket and inner shirt vanished, sucked into the newly formed Requip space.
"Ah!" Levy, who'd been buried in her book, was startled. She looked up, saw Shane's bare upper body, and let out a sharp squeak.
She clapped her hands over her eyes, cheeks blazing red, and shouted in embarrassed fury, "Shane! W-what are you doing?! Don't let Gray corrupt you!"
It took several shouts before Shane's brain, still drunk on success, caught up.
He looked down at his bare torso, and cold sweat hit instantly.
"Sorry, sorry! Too excited—reflex! Total reflex!"
He forced an awkward laugh and scrambled to focus. It took far more effort than before just to "drag" his clothes back out of the space and put them on again.
If Levy started thinking he was the same kind of pervert as Gray, his life in the guild would be over.
Once he was properly dressed again, Levy was still muttering with a red face. Shane finally calmed down and carefully felt out that newly formed space.
It worked—but it was extremely unstable, nowhere near Erza's smooth, effortless control. Every storage or retrieval felt like hauling a heavy load, draining a lot of mental energy.
And most importantly—
Shane closed his eyes, sensing it. His brows furrowed. "Why is this space… only about one cubic meter?"
That capacity was barely enough for a few outfits and a weapon before it became cramped.
"A bit pathetic…"
He adjusted his slightly rumpled collar, thinking, When Erza gets back, I'm definitely asking how big her starting space was. I need my confidence back.