...
Shane opened his eyes abruptly, his chest heaving slightly. The scorching scent of rust and charcoal fire seemed to linger in his nose.
"Edged again!"
He couldn't help but complain. The dream came to an abrupt end at the most crucial moment; that feeling of being left hanging was really frustrating.
Outside the window, the sky was already bright. Sunlight cast long, narrow spots on the floor through the gaps in the cheap curtains. It felt like not much time had passed in the dream, but in reality, it was already broad daylight.
"What's wrong?"
A voice came from beside him. Shane turned his head and saw Erza sitting on the edge of the bed, already dressed neatly, looking at him with clear eyes.
Shane rubbed his brow and sighed: "Nothing, just had a dream."
He felt a bit regretful, not knowing when he would enter that kind of illusion again.
However, this experience was not entirely without gain.
Quite the opposite, the gain was huge.
Before yesterday, he had many conjectures about Saber's identity, covering a wide range:
From Hephaestus, the god of fire and craftsmen, one of the Twelve Olympians of Greece;
To Wayland the Smith, the legendary Norse blacksmith who forged the dragonslayer sword Gram for the hero Siegfried;
To Goibniu, the mysterious smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Celtic mythology...
He even thought of Ou Yezi, the master swordsmith of the State of Yue who forged a series of famous swords like Zhanlu, Juque, Shengxie, Yuchang, Chunjun, etc., so many that it sounded like reciting a menu.
There were candidates from mythological genealogies of various eras. Any of these names was enough to shine through the ages, and becoming a Heroic Spirit was no surprise.
But through the observation of this dream, he found a key clue sufficient to confirm the range.
The forging technique used by the swordsmith in the dream was the unique "folding and forging" technique, which eventually formed that beautiful and unique pattern on the blade, like waves or chaotic clouds, known as the "hamon."
This was the signature craftsmanship of Japanese swordsmiths.
Knowing this, the range of speculation instantly shrank by more than half.
There were only a handful of famous swordsmiths in Japanese history, nothing more than those few:
Amakuni, honored as the ancestor of Japanese swords, who created the single-handed Tachi with a double-edged tip—Kogarasu Maru;
Sanjō Munechika, who forged one of the Five Swords under Heaven, "Mikazuki Munechika," with a blade pattern elegant as a crescent moon;
And Okazaki Masamune, the famous smith of Soshu known for his "Nie" (martensite crystals) technique, with blade patterns sparkling like fine sand, and his disciple Muramasa, known for his eccentric style and forging "cursed swords."
Shane's thoughts raced, starting to eliminate them one by one.
First, he ruled out Amakuni and Sanjō Munechika, two figures mainly active in the Heian period.
The technique of the swordsmith in the dream was extremely experienced and mature, carrying a calmness after thousands of temperings, definitely not the style of a period when the craft was just being created or finalized.
Next, he also ruled out "Muramasa."
Because "Muramasa" was more of a school or a brand of swords, referring generally to swords produced by the Muramasa clan, not specifically to a specific swordsmith.
Then, the remaining answer was ready to come out.
"Saber's identity... is most likely this Okazaki Goro Nyudo Masamune." Shane silently recited this name in his heart.
Legend has it that this famous Soshu smith's skills reached the peak of perfection, but because he saw that his disciple's nature was biased and eccentric, he never taught the most crucial secrets of fire temperature and water temperature.
However, the secrets of the school were eventually spied on by the disciple. In a rage, Masamune cut off his wrist. Since then, the seed of hatred was planted, indirectly creating the legend of the "Cursed Sword Muramasa" in later generations...
Such a swordsmith who poured his heart and soul into forging, striving for perfection in his craft to a harsh degree, perfectly matched the behavior in the dream of constantly creating, examining, and then unhesitatingly destroying works because of minor flaws.
Plus that widely spread, dramatic anecdote that indirectly created the Cursed Sword [Senji Muramasa], his "fame" as a Heroic Spirit was also completely sufficient.
Shane was almost certain that the answer was Muramasa's master, Okazaki Masamune! He felt he was gradually understanding the Book of Heroic Spirits.
"Thanks again to my past self for not slacking off in class!" Shane put his palms together.
"Hey! Get up if you're awake."
At this moment, a slightly dissatisfied voice interrupted Shane's contemplation.
He came back to his senses and saw Erza puffing her cheeks slightly, glaring at him aggressively.
She seemed to have just realized that Shane, this guy, had secretly moved to the other end of the bed during the night and pointed his feet at her.
"Ah, what's wrong?" Shane was still blank, his consciousness immersed in the brainstorming.
Seeing Shane finally react, Erza couldn't help tapping the edge of the bed gently with her scabbard, making a tap tap sound.
"We agreed to go to the guild immediately today; is there time to space out?"
"Oh... right! Got it, got it."
Shane reacted, subconsciously touching his empty pocket. The remaining sleepiness and the excitement immersed in reasoning vanished instantly.
His brain became clearer than ever before!
Money, money! Short of money!
He rolled out of bed, "Washing up now, leaving immediately!"
The two quickly got ready and left the small inn room.
Magnolia Town in the early morning had woken up. Pedestrians on the street gradually increased, full of vitality. Sunlight sprinkled on the brightly colored buildings, different from the scenery seen yesterday evening.
They familiarly came to the Fairy Tail guild again. Before pushing the door, they saw Cana standing at the entrance, talking to a blue-haired girl holding several thick books.
The girl was petite with delicate features. When talking to people, she habitually lowered her head slightly, appearing very quiet.
"Yo! Shane, Erza!" Cana had sharp eyes and saw them first, waving enthusiastically. "You're here really early!"
She naturally put her arm around the blue-haired girl's shoulder and introduced:
"This is Levy. She just happened to be away when you came yesterday. Don't look at her small size; she knows the collection in the library much better than I do. If you have any questions about text or history, you can ask her for help!"
The girl named Levy seemed a bit shy. Being introduced so carelessly by Cana, her cheeks turned slightly red, and she added in a low voice:
"Not... not that amazing..." She bowed slightly to Shane and Erza, her voice weak but clear: "H-Hello, I am Levy McGarden. Please take care of me."
Shane was still savoring last night's dream and nodded to Levy as a greeting.
Erza bowed back seriously: "Hello Levy, I am Erza, and this is Shane. We might have to ask you for advice often in the future."
"That's right, Levy is very smart!" Cana patted Levy's back hard, making the latter stagger, then turned to Shane and smiled: "Running to the guild so early, really proactive, rookies!"
Shane spread his hands helplessly: "If we aren't proactive, we're really going to starve. We can almost not afford the inn anymore."
Hearing the accommodation problem, Cana showed a look of realization and suggested enthusiastically: "Speaking of which, if you have nowhere to go, you can come to stay temporarily at the church. I live there too. Although the conditions are average, Father Brock is very nice and welcomes children with nowhere to live."
"Thank you for your kindness, Cana." Shane smiled and declined. "But we still want to try on our own first." He changed the subject, pointing to the huge request board in the guild. "As a 'senior,' could you introduce us to some commissions suitable for newcomers?"