Orange-red flames greedily licked the stone tower. Thick smoke rolled and rose like giant pythons, dyeing half the sky a dark gray.
In the interrogation room deep within the tower, the temperature was climbing.
Jellal sat against the wall. The choking smell of smoke drilled into his nose, making his cheek twitch unconsciously.
"Shane... you bastard..." He almost squeezed these words out through gritted teeth. By now, how could he not know what "be careful with fire" meant?
It wasn't a reminder; it was a criminal confession!
He totally didn't expect that guy to leave him such a huge "gift" before leaving, seemingly unafraid that Jellal would actually burn to death.
However, despite his internal complaints, looking at the intensifying fire and the gradually collapsing structure, Jellal couldn't help but feel a wave of satisfaction.
This broken tower deserved exactly this!
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the unconscious purple-clad girl on the ground seemed to move. She let out a faint groan, her eyelashes fluttering, appearing on the verge of waking.
Jellal's gaze sharpened. All emotions on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a deliberately crafted, icy indifference.
He quickly adjusted his posture, straightening his back and broadening his shoulders to make himself look more imposing.
When the girl fully opened her eyes, looked around blankly, and subconsciously searched for that "monster"—
What she saw was a blue-haired boy looking down at her from above.
He lowered his eyes to look at her, his gaze like a frozen lake.
Then, his cold voice fell:
"...Who are you?"
---
---
On the other side, dusk was falling. After sailing for most of the day, the ship finally docked at an unfamiliar coast.
A group of hundreds pouring into this coastal town all at once inevitably drew attention and could easily cause trouble.
Fortunately, Grandpa Rob was no stranger to this place. He had completed several guild missions here in the past.
He led Shane and a few steady individuals, expertly turning into several secluded alleys, and found the underground channel run by his "old friend."
The process was smoother than imagined.
The source of the underground channel was the butler of the city's ruler. His master was a noble who fit everyone's stereotype perfectly: as long as there was money to be made and no trouble in his territory, he couldn't be bothered with the details.
The ship, supplies, and magic items they brought were all appraised together.
The price was definitely slashed by more than half, but right now, what they needed most was cash, efficiency, and zero trouble.
The exchanged coins were piled in temporarily found wooden chests. Not as much as imagined, but enough for everyone's travel expenses home.
Shane didn't hesitate. In front of everyone, he distributed the coins equally.
After splitting the money, the crowd began to disperse.
Some who were eager to return home left overnight, while others decided to stay in this temporary foothold to wait and see before making plans.
Simon was the one in the biggest hurry. He hugged everyone tightly, his eyes red, thousands of words melting into one sentence: "Take care!"
After speaking, he ran toward the station without looking back.
Millianna stuck close to Rob. The old man patted her head lovingly and said to Shane and Erza, "We'll rest here for a bit first. She's young and has suffered a lot; she needs a good rest."
In the end, Shane, Erza, Rob, and Millianna stayed in the same clean and tidy inn.
As soon as they entered the room, the first thing Shane did was rush into the bathroom.
With his slight mysophobia, his tolerance for the environment at the Tower of Heaven had long reached its limit. He had no idea how Erza kept her hair so smooth.
Warm water washed down, seemingly washing away the lingering smell of the Tower of Heaven along with the grime.
He changed into cotton clothes provided by the inn. The fabric was ordinary, but it carried the scent of having been dried in the sun.
Then, standing in front of the full-length mirror, Shane had the leisure to seriously examine his appearance in this world for the first time.
The boy in the mirror was about twelve or thirteen years old. Wet black short hair stuck to his forehead. His features were delicate, and his eyes held a composure beyond his age.
Although his body hadn't fully developed, due to the continuous breakthroughs in various stats, his limbs were outlined with smooth muscle lines.
Not bulky, but full of restrained power.
Shane raised an eyebrow slightly, and the person in the mirror did the same. This face was seventy to eighty percent similar to his past life, which gave him an inexplicable sense of reassurance.
"Not bad. Handsome." The corner of Shane's mouth curled up in a slightly narcissistic smile.
After drying his hair, he almost impatiently lay down on the soft bed, closed his eyes, and sank his consciousness into his mind.
The Book of Heroic Spirits floated quietly.
With a thought, the pages automatically flipped to the one recording the "Trials."
After working hard for so long, it was time to harvest.
Sure enough, now that the dust had settled on the events of the Tower of Heaven, the trial [The Method of Departure] was flickering with a faint light.
[Trial Complete. Initiating Behavioral Evaluation...]
[You did not choose to escape alone, but united everyone to rise up and resist. Not only did you successfully lead everyone out of the cage, but you also settled everyone afterward, giving them a foundation to choose their future. Such benevolence and responsibility are quite in line with the spirit of a "Heroic Spirit."]
[Based on your performance, the reward has been increased.]
"Evaluation is nice, but 'reward increased'..." Shane muttered inwardly. "That phrasing is too vague. How much was it increased?"
With a thought, he tried to communicate with the Book of Heroic Spirits, attempting to understand the score of this "trial" in a more intuitive way.
"If divided by ranks, like S to D, what level would my performance be?"
As if responding to his thought, the characters on the page flowed and reorganized, finally freezing on a clear symbol:
[A+]
"A+, huh..." Shane was thoughtful. Just one step away from a perfect S-rank. This meant that saving people, burning the tower, and the subsequent settlement all met the book's expectations of him.
He speculated that points might have been deducted because his current "settlement" was just giving them a sum of money, not truly solving everyone's problems.
However, Shane quickly felt relieved.
He wasn't a god; he couldn't cover everything. Given the limited time and energy, achieving this step was already doing his best.
This A+ evaluation was undoubtedly the greatest affirmation of his efforts. Thinking of this, the slight regret in his heart vanished, and he accepted this evaluation calmly.
As the evaluation was finalized, the specific content of the reward also emerged:
[Summoning] Depth Increase: 2 times.
[Filter Summoning Heroic Spirit Characteristics] Authority: 2 times.
"Depth Increase?" Shane savored the term carefully. At the same time, more information flowed naturally into his consciousness from the book like a trickling stream.
With the influx of information, he gained a deeper understanding of the new capabilities displayed by the Book of Heroic Spirits.
According to the book's explanation, the initial summon was like a newbie tutorial.
The targets summoned could only touch the shallowest part of the Heroic Spirit pool, like testing the water temperature.
Although there were veritable great heroes there, they ultimately couldn't compare with protagonists like Heracles, Gilgamesh, Arjuna... those who shone brilliantly in their respective epics.
"Depth Increase" meant being able to dive into deeper "waters."
In more common terms, it was... switching from the Standard Banner to the Limited/Rare Banner.
And the legends of the Heroic Spirits there were naturally more glorious, their power more majestic. As long as the Depth Increase authority stacked high enough, it was even possible to touch the existences of Chief God-level beings in various mythologies.