Her movements were precise, as if she had done this a hundred times before.
“I always wanted to try this,” she said, noticing his expression.
Neo nodded with a stiff smile when her hand brushed against his neck.
The Morrigan in the novel was interested in cutting people’s head, not hair.
‘Calm down. She is different from the Morrigan in the novel.’
Neo glanced at his reflection in the nearby mirror.
His expression was one of resignation.
“If this goes wrong, I’m blaming you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m a professional.”
‘A professional with zero job experience.’
Neo kept his thoughts to himself.
Morrigan summoned aura scissors made of lightning.
Her control of her aura was excellent—evident in the way the lightning danced precisely along the shape of blades.
But lightning would burn his hair!
Neo stiffened, his body slightly leaning away from her.
Before he could voice his protest, Morrigan condensed her aura further.
The electric glow faded, replaced by a sleek pair of scissors gleaming in solid gold.
The air around them grew warm with the energy.
‘She can condense her aura into physical substance already?’
His brows furrowed.
‘She is growing too fast.’
Condensing aura into physical objects signified high control of elementals.
It was an advanced skill that required exceptional precision.
But it had no direct relation to strength.
Neo remained silent and let her proceed.
The sound of the scissors snipping through his hair was oddly soothing.
Despite his initial apprehension, Neo had to agree—she moved like a professional.
It didn’t take her long to finish.
“How is it?” she asked.
“It’s good,” Neo replied, staring at his reflection in the mirror.
The golden glow of the scissors dissipated as Morrigan stepped back, arms crossed, watching him expectantly.
His hair now reached only his shoulders—long enough to sway with his movements but no longer cumbersome like before.
He took a bathe after the haircut.
Bright, sterile light illuminated the polished tiles as Neo stepped into the shower.
The droplets cascaded over him, and washed away the stray hairs clinging to his neck.
He took out his device while in the shower.
He scrolled through the internet while resting his head against the tiled wall.
“I can’t decide if this is good or bad,” he murmured, his voice muffled by the steady patter of water.
Nothing had changed.
Neo frowned, his finger idly scrolling.
After Neo left the Shadow World he had a single question at the forefront of his thought.
Had his actions in the past caused changes in the present?
After several searches, he found no differences.
The present seemed the same.
“Either I was too lucky, and the events did not create any butterfly effect.
“Or the butterfly effect has been created, but I can’t find it.
“Or, what I did in the past was what happened in the original timeline too.”
Neo massaged his head.
“I guess I’m not going to find answers anytime soon.”
While taking a shower, he looked at his own body.
With Intent he could look at himself from an omniscient point of view.
His arms, torso, legs, neck, and even his fingers had scars.
He chuckled softly.
“I used to think scars would look cool, but these… look ugly.”
His fingers brushed over the uneven skin on his forearm.
“I guess a scar in reality is different from imagination.”
Neo wasn’t ashamed of his scars.
They were the proof of his defiance.
Proof he never gave up.
“Well, I guess I don’t have scars in at least one place,” he muttered to himself, chuckling.
His back.
Instead of scars, a symbol of a dragon biting its own tail was ethced on his back.
Neo had ensured no attack ever landed on his back.
The reason?
It were Kane’s words.
A scar on a swordsman’s back is his shame.
As my student, I hope you will never bring shame to yourself or your sword.
Kane’s teachings always remained with him.
Neo didn’t think Kane would’ve blamed him if he had scars on his back.
After all, he was fighting enemies for centuries who surrounded him and attacked him from all sides.
An attack or two landing on his back would have been understandable.
But Neo had made sure no attack ever touched his back.
Not because he wholeheartedly agreed with Kane’s philosophy, but because he respected Kane enough to uphold his wishes and values.
The bath helped him sort his thoughts and focus.
He stepped out after a while.
His damp hair clung to his face.
He used Shadow Robe Spell to create clothes.
“This looks good enough, I guess,” he muttered, looking at himself.
Neo moved toward the laundry space where the bathroom opened.
He noticed men’s clothing hanging on the wall with a note.
[Wear these. I doubt your clothing choice will be good, seeing what you were wearing until now.]
The full-sleeved clothes, along with a jacket, minimized the exposed scars.
He didn’t understand if it was Morrigan’s consideration or coincidence.
After changing into the clothes Morrigan prepared for him, he stepped into the main hall.
Morrigan turned towards him.
She looked at him while pondering something.
“What is it?” Neo asked. “Don’t tell me I still look weird.”
“No, I was just thinking it was a good choice to choose a bigger number.”
“….?”
“I asked Henry for your clothes sizes and then bought a few sizes bigger clothing.”
Neo was surprised when he heard her.
He had… grown?
But he was supposed to be Ageless.
It didn’t take him long to realize the reason behind his change.
‘Ascension and rank-ups.’
‘Those are counted as evolution, not aging.’
‘My body must’ve matured when I ranked up and Ascended.’
Morrigan stood in front of him while he was drowned in thoughts.
She used her hand to measure his height.
“Yes, you’ve definitely grown a few inches compared to the you before you entered the Shadow World.”
“Thank—”
Before he could complete his words, Morrigan leaned towards him.
Neo was taken by surprise.
Morrigan ignored his expression and stretched her hands towards the back of his head.
She tied his hair back, leaving only a few strands to fall across his face.
After making a few adjustments, she retreated and looked at him up and down.
“This is better.”
“So this is why you gave me that haircut,” Neo said, seeing how he looked using Intent.
He had been confused given the weird haircut he had.
But he had to agree, it looked good after she tied up his hair.
“You…”
Morrigan looked at him, unpleased.
“Why didn’t you say it if you thought the haircut was weird?”
“I didn’t know it was for tying my hair up.”
Neo shrugged.
She was about to say something when Neo opened his mouth.
“Why are you helping me so much?”
Morrigan froze.
She looked around as if searching for an excuse.
“…!”
Her eyes lit up. Your next journey awaits at empire
“I’m your fiancé. It’s obvious I would want you to look good…”
Her voice grew lighter, and she stopped speaking when she noticed Neo’s expression.
Finally, she sighed.
“You said you could cook good food.”
“So you’re doing this to owe me a favor and then…”
Neo didn’t complete his words.