After the excitement of mastering Requip Magic subsided slightly, Shane felt a wave of exhaustion in hindsight.
The high mental tension for more than a month suddenly relaxed, making him even a bit dazed.
He liked reading, this was true.
But he preferred the colorful and broad worlds in travel notes and history books, rather than dry and hard-to-chew magical theories.
He couldn't help but look at Levy, who had entered a state of focus again on the side, sighing in his heart that it was truly amazing for her to read any book with gusto.
"Truly a bookworm—" A few points of admiration rose in Shane's heart.
Looking at the pair of glasses he gave Levy on the bridge of her nose, he thought about helping the girl change to a pair of the latest "Wind Chant" series glasses when he had time.
He heard the top configuration model could increase reading speed by an astonishing thirty-two times, which was perfect for her.
While this thought flashed by, Shane also closed the book.
Rarely not needing to study hard, he didn't want to stay a moment longer in this place filled with the smell of ink.
Stuffing the magic book back onto the shelf neatly, he walked quickly out of the library, eager to breathe a mouthful of fresh air.
As soon as he arrived at the guild hall, lively voices hit his face, forming a sharp contrast with the quietness of the library.
He saw at a glance Gray and Cana nestled at a table in the corner playing cards.
These two seemed to have increased the number of commissions recently due to wallet problems, rarely seen lately.
It was just somewhat strange to Shane that not only Erza but also Cana and Gray seemed to dislike forming teams, preferring to do missions alone.
Gray had sharp eyes and spotted Shane immediately.
Perhaps because he hadn't been "trained" for a long time, his arrogant personality showed signs of resurgence. He raised his chin to greet, "Yo, Shane, finally learned Requip Magic? Really hard on you; when I learned Ice-Make—"
Before he could finish, he felt the temperature in the air seem to rise a bit. Faint orange-red sparks flashed out of thin air around Shane's body.
The words in Gray's throat choked instantly. He withdrew the second half of the sentence very cowardly, lowering his head to pretend to study the cards in his hand. "—Cough, anyway, congratulations."
Only then did Shane relax his narrowed eyes, the abnormal temperature and sparks around him disappearing quietly.
"This idiot," Cana glanced at Gray somewhat speechlessly, shuffling the cards skillfully. Knowing his fist wasn't as big as the other's, he still provoked in different ways every time they met.
She turned to Shane, asking casually, "Speaking of which, it's Spring Festival in two days. Hasn't Erza come back yet?"
"Spring Festival? There's Spring Festival here too?" Shane was stunned, then somewhat understood why Cana and Gray both returned to the guild at this time.
"Of course there is. Have you forgotten even the dates?" Cana roasted.
Shane frowned and thought, "Not too sure. Erza just went out two days ago; don't know if she'll be back."
"Is that so," Cana was somewhat regretful. "I wanted to call you and Levy, us few of similar age to gather. Not joining the fun with those uncles this year."
"It's okay. I'll go back and check; maybe she has already arrived." Shane waved his hand, estimating the time in his heart. Erza should be back in these two days.
He didn't chat more, leaving the guild straight away.
Returning to the small house shared with Erza, the thin warm golden sunlight of the winter afternoon painted lazy traces on the window.
Shane threw himself onto the sofa. However, this idle comfort lasted less than five minutes.
Switching suddenly from high-intensity hard cultivation to "standby mode," he actually felt uncomfortable all over.
Shane paced two steps in the living room, his gaze falling on the open space in the backyard through the rear window, suddenly remembering the grand wish when buying the house.
"Hot spring—just right to take advantage of free time to get it done."
Said and done.
He rolled up his sleeves and went to the backyard. First, he cleared the scattered dead branches and messy stones to the corner.
Then, he went into the city to buy a batch of green bamboos of uniform thickness, driving stakes along the edge of the yard. In a short while, a circle of dense and private bamboo fence rose from the ground.
Then selecting the location. Since he could use magic to divert water and heat it in the future, he didn't need to consider things like pipe layout.
Shane manifested a shovel directly, digging a soil pit about five meters square.
Thanks to Senji Muramasa's precise control over "physical properties" and "structure," subsequent work like leveling the ground and paving with appropriately sized pebbles proceeded smoothly.
He even specially cut out two huge rocks with smooth surfaces, one high and one low, as the platform and seat by the pool.
When night fell and stars appeared, a decent hot spring pool pit was completed.
"Done! Can divert water tomorrow, then can soak—" Shane stood by the pool, patting his mud-stained hands, an expectant smile on his face.
The goal set casually a few months ago was finally about to be realized today. This feeling was no worse than learning Requip Magic.
He stretched lazily with satisfaction, turning to go back to the house to wash. Just then, a light creak came from the front door.
Immediately after was Erza's crisp voice carrying obvious surprise: "Mhm? Shane? Why are you back so early today?"
Shane looked in the direction of the voice and saw Erza struggling to drag a cart several times larger than herself into the house. Luggage was piled like a small mountain on the cart, looking quite heavy.
Immediately, the girl reacted, her eyes brightening suddenly, her tone carrying undisguised joy: "You learned Requip Magic?!"
"Ah, consider it just getting started." Shane nodded.
Although knowing she was genuinely happy for him, hearing this from Erza who mastered the magic in a few days always made him feel somewhat subtle, couldn't help touching his ear helplessly.
He turned his gaze to that overloaded small cart, deciding to change the topic. "Why did you bring so many things out again—"
These days he soaked in the library while Erza went in and out alone, seeming to have developed a—well, unique habit.
Every time she went out for commissions, she wished she could move half the house away.
Tables, chairs, lamps, even the wooden stick he picked up by the roadside before thinking the shape was nice to play as the Golden Cudgel, could be found on her "packing list."
"These things are useful!" Erza emphasized righteously while starting to untie the ropes on the cart.
Shane shook his head, too lazy to investigate what use bringing the pot lid from the kitchen out had, causing him to have no lid when wanting to stew soup a few days ago, only able to cover it barely with a plate.
However, he didn't intend to say much. After all, he also had quite a few quirks, like having to be the first to take a bath, otherwise feeling uncomfortable all over.
"Fine, if you say useful, then useful." He gave up arguing, turning sideways wanting to slip into the bathroom. "Sweaty all over, I'll go wash first."
"Wait!" Erza stopped him, her face glowing with excitement like discovering a new continent. "I saw the backyard when coming back! Did you really change that place into a hot spring?"
As long as not chatting about Requip Magic, Shane's patience had always been sufficient. Asked by her like this, he also got interested, grabbing her wrist backhand. "Go, take you to see; basically done."
He led Erza to the backyard.
Moonlight spilled like water into the newly fenced bamboo courtyard.
In the center was the pool paved with pebbles. The rock surface by the pool was polished smooth and handy. Although not filled with water yet, the comfort when hot steam permeated could already be imagined.
"Look, basically completed, only short of diverting water. When using it in the future, just heat it directly with my Heart Fire; very convenient." Shane introduced, his tone not without pride.
Erza hadn't soaked in a hot spring for a long time either, her eyes sparkling. "So, can soak tomorrow?"