Chapter 46: Fearless

"I must have been possessed by a monster!"

An hour later, Shizuka, now curled up beside Ryuji, could barely move as she muttered this complaint under her breath.

Wasn't this exactly like being possessed by a monster?

"What about your girlfriend?"

Suddenly calming down, Shizuka's mind drifted back to reality. What was she now? Some kind of mistress?

"Shizuka, you know I'm a sorcerer. You can't be that naive, right?"

Ryuji's tone was light, almost playful. He didn't seem to think much of it, and given that Shizuka didn't resist in the first place, it had been pretty clear what she wanted.

"Tsk!"

Shizuka clicked her tongue, annoyed but not denying the truth. Sorcerers were different from ordinary people, and their lives often followed different rules. In the world of sorcery, things like bloodlines were essential just look at the famous families like the Gojo, Kamo, and Zenin clans.

Sorcerers would do anything to ensure their bloodlines continued, and some families would even send their children into arranged marriages to ensure the next generation had sorcery talent.

Given that, could she really be mad at Ryuji? Sorcerers tended to have complicated personal lives, and Ryuji wasn't exactly breaking any unwritten rules.

"Well, I'm the last one in my family, so I do need to expand it," Ryuji said casually, as if expanding his lineage was a perfectly normal conversation topic.

"..."

Shizuka didn't reply for a while. After a moment of silence, she raised her hand and lightly swatted him.

"The nerve!."

"Haha," Ryuji laughed, clearly pleased with himself."

"Oh, and you still haven't fixed my problem!" Shizuka suddenly remembered the main reason Ryuji had come to her house to deal with the barrier cat that had possessed her.

"Don't worry, I've got this."

Now that she was his, Ryuji had no intention of letting any harm come to Shizuka.

With a wave of his hand, Ryuji activated Soul Devouring, and a chain of spiritual energy shot from his palm, wrapping around the spirit of the barrier cat hiding inside Shizuka. The spirit was pulled out effortlessly, still looking confused as it hadn't realized it had been exposed.

Shizuka, not having the Yin-Yang Eyes, couldn't see the spirit, but she immediately felt lighter, as though a weight had been lifted off her body.

"Ah, much better!" she exclaimed, feeling the tension in her body disappear.

"Wait a second!"

Suddenly, Shizuka's expression changed, and she glared at Ryuji with suspicion.

"What's wrong?" Ryuji asked, still a bit confused.

"If it was that easy to solve, why did you come to my house?" Shizuka demanded. She had just seen Ryuji wave his hand and resolve the problem with ease so much for the "troublesome process" he had mentioned earlier.

Had she been tricked?

Seeing the realization dawn on her, Ryuji didn't bother trying to come up with an excuse. Instead, he laughed and leaned back. "If I hadn't come to your house, how else would I have had the chance to get close to you?"

At this point, there was no use in pretending. He didn't need to lie about his intentions.

"Hmph!"

Despite her annoyance at being tricked, Shizuka couldn't help but feel a little proud. He had wanted her all this time? She must still be quite attractive, then. The thought brought a small smile to her lips, and her mood lifted.

She shifted slightly in bed, her newly grown cat tail swishing playfully behind her.

"Wait... my tail?"

Shizuka suddenly realized that despite Ryuji exorcising the barrier cat's spirit, her cat ears and tail were still present.

"What's going on?!" she demanded, alarmed. "Why am I still like this?"

"Relax," Ryuji said calmly, as if he had expected her reaction. "I only removed the spirit of the barrier cat. I left part of its spiritual power inside you. Now, you can control the appearance of the cat ears and tail at will."

"Control it at will?"

Shizuka took a deep breath and concentrated. Sure enough, after a moment, she was able to make her cat ears and tail disappear, and then bring them back again with just a thought.

"...But why leave its power inside me?" she asked, still feeling a bit confused. "What's the point of keeping it?"

Ryuji sat up slightly, looking at her seriously.

"The world isn't as safe as it seems, and I need to make sure you're protected, even if I'm not around. The power of the barrier cat left inside you should give you enhanced strength and reflexes. It's harmless to you but will help you defend yourself if anything happens."

For a moment, Shizuka was silent as she absorbed his words. She tested her new strength, feeling the lightness in her body, the agility in her movements. She had become something more than an ordinary human. She was now... different.

A rare look of tenderness crossed her face as she glanced at Ryuji.

"What? Are you touched?" Ryuji teased with a grin.

Shizuka didn't deny it. She was indeed touched by his thoughtfulness.

Without waiting for him to say anything else, she suddenly rolled over and pinned him down.

"Let's start round two!" she declared boldly.

And so, they began again. This time, Shizuka's new physical capabilities gave her the stamina to keep up, though even she was eventually worn out.

---

The next morning, Ryuji glanced at Shizuka, who now lay completely exhausted beside him, unable to even turn over.

"Good thing I've got some tricks up my sleeve," Ryuji muttered to himself, feeling grateful for the enhancements to his own stamina.

After a quick wash, he returned to the bedroom to find Shizuka still sprawled out in bed, looking like she couldn't move a muscle.

"I'm heading to school. Take the day off and rest, okay?" Ryuji said, slipping on his shoes. With her current abilities, he was confident she'd recover after a full day of rest.

"Mmm..." Shizuka could only give a weak response before slipping into a deep sleep, completely exhausted from the night before.

Ryuji smiled and shook his head before heading out the door.

---

Stretching lazily as he stepped outside, Ryuji walked toward the school, checking in with his system along the way.

He hadn't had a chance to look at the entries that were triggered the night before. Two golden entries had appeared in total.

"Hmm, let's see what we've got here," Ryuji said to himself, pulling up the system interface.

Golden Entry: Reactive Nerves!

Golden Entry: Fearless!

Ryuji chuckled. The "Reactive Nerves" must have been triggered by Shizuka's cat-like reflexes during their time together. Cats were known for their incredible speed and agility, after all.

As for "Fearless," that was probably an attribute of Shizuka herself. Her boldness and headstrong nature made her pretty much unshakable.

"Fits her perfectly," Ryuji thought with a smirk.

Still, while these entries were interesting, they weren't particularly useful to him. His own reaction speed had already been enhanced by his soul devouring abilities, and fearlessness was only helpful if backed by real power.

"Let's just decompose them," Ryuji decided with a wave of his hand, converting the two golden entries into points.

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