This Novel is not my Novel

This feeling is... strange.

From the moment I stood up until I sat back down, no one sneered.

No one made sarcastic remarks.

I hadn't stumbled over my words or stuttered.

More importantly, I'd only been nervous for a brief moment, and my entire self-introduction had lasted even less time than that.

To the point where the lingering dizziness I'd felt beforehand suddenly seemed ridiculous.

...So that was all?

An odd sense of awkwardness settled over me.

At the same time, I felt a faint sense of accomplishment.

Even a little confidence.

When Fjodora suddenly called on me, I honestly felt like crying...

Now, though...

I was almost grateful she'd done it.

Because she'd forced me to confront those old fears so quickly, I was able to shake them off before they could consume me.

The rest of the introductions became surprisingly easy to listen to.

"My name is Vigdís Sjalfráði."

"I'm twenty years old."

"My primary weapon is the sword."

"My Ether Attribute Skill is 【Iron Blood Steel Body】, which hardens and strengthens my body."

The next person to introduce herself was Vigdís, seated beside me.

There wasn't really any need to state the exact name of her skill.

The fact that she emphasized it anyway suggested she was genuinely proud of the title 【Iron Blood Steel Body】.

"My name is Helga Vitnir."

"I'm eighteen."

"My Ether Attribute allows me to manipulate fire."

"I've never used a weapon before, so... I don't really have anything I can call my main weapon."

Helga finished her introduction in the same soft, gentle voice as always.

"My name is Reisir Daudabiner."

"I'm eighteen."

"My primary weapon is the spear."

"My Ether Attribute is lightning and thunder."

"And..."

"I look forward to working with all of you."

Perhaps he thought his introduction sounded too brief.

Unlike everyone else, Reisir finished by adding a warm greeting and a small smile.

So he still has no intention of revealing his silver Ether.

More than ten Demon Realms had appeared over the past two months.

None of them, however, had granted any obvious rewards or special benefits.

Even if Reisir revealed the existence of his silver Ether now, nobody would connect it to the Demon Realm that had appeared eleven years ago.

They'd probably just assume he'd awakened a second latent Ether, like I did.

Naturally...

He couldn't reveal that the Truth-Reading Eye allowed him to read other people's Skill Windows.

Still, he could have mentioned the silver Ether itself...

Or the ability to analyze various objects.

Since he'd never removed his eyepatch while fighting monsters...

He still didn't know that the Truth-Reading Eye could read a monster's information as well.

Was that why he hadn't realized how overwhelmingly useful it would be in battle?

Or had he simply decided it was still too early to reveal the existence of his silver Ether to people he barely knew?

Whatever the reason... it's none of my business.

After all...

I hadn't mentioned either Writing or Geological Shift, both of which remained sealed.

Nor had I revealed Character Analysis, despite its Thought Acceleration effect.

Even my support skills—

Encouragement...

And Encouragement...

Remained completely unmentioned.

Come to think of it...

Leaving aside the one that requires a keyword... shouldn't I have mentioned the other Encouragement skill?

Truthfully...

The pressure of introducing myself had been so overwhelming that I'd completely forgotten the skill even existed.

Well...

What was done was done.

There was no way I could suddenly raise my hand now and say,

"Actually, I just remembered I forgot another skill."

I decided I'd mention it if a suitable opportunity arose later.

"Next..."

"Let's see... your name was Lissy, wasn't it?"

"Why are you still sitting there instead of standing to introduce yourself?"

"Huh?"

"I thought... since the first row started from that side..."

"...the second row would start from there too..."

"So rather than going around in order, you'd prefer to save yourself for the end?"

"In that case..."

"You'll have the honor of closing the introductions."

"Ah..."

Apparently...

I wasn't the only one who dreaded self-introductions.

The moment Fjodora pointed it out, Lissy hurriedly stood with an expression that practically screamed,

Oops.

"My name is Lissy Stirkr."

"I'm nineteen years old."

"I've never used a weapon before either."

"My Ether Attribute is... body enhancement..."

"...Specifically..."

"It..."

"Increases..."

"My physical strength..."

Her voice weakened little by little.

By the end...

It had become completely inaudible.

She'd already begun hesitating the moment she reached the subject of her Ether Attribute.

So it wasn't merely stage fright.

Either she felt ashamed of her ability...

Or she feared revealing it because everyone would immediately place her on the front lines.

Most likely...

It was both.

"My name is Sveinn Oddr."

"I'm eighteen."

"I only started learning the spear about a month ago."

"Even though it's only ranked F..."

"Since Spear Techniques has already appeared in my Skill Window..."

"I guess I can call the spear my main weapon now."

"My Ether Attribute allows me to manipulate water."

In the original version before the remake...

Sveinn had watched Reisir fight.

After admiring him, he'd stubbornly followed him around, begging to be accepted as a companion.

He'd proudly declared that his water ability would surely complement Reisir's lightning and thunder.

To be fair...

It really was useful.

The problem was...

Sveinn had been an ordinary civilian with absolutely no combat training.

As a result, Reisir personally taught him everything he knew about spearsmanship.

Which was precisely why...

When Sveinn eventually betrayed him...

Readers hadn't felt only anger.

Or betrayal.

They'd felt genuine outrage.

Spear Techniques is already in his Skill Window...?

After only one month?

Compared to Vigdís's overwhelming talent with the sword...

It was nothing extraordinary.

Still...

It proved he possessed genuine aptitude for the spear.

There was virtually no chance he'd choose another weapon now.

Which meant...

Author Senna probably intended to repeat the same development as before.

Reisir would teach Sveinn the spear.

The two would become close friends.

I'll have to find some way to prevent that.

"Hello, everyone!"

"I'm Pret Hulid!"

"I'm seventeen."

"That makes me the youngest person here, doesn't it?"

"So please be nice to me!"

The Information Guild's successor cheerfully began his introduction.

Whether any of it was true...

Was another matter entirely.

Before the remake, he'd told Reisir he was a year older than this.

Since he'd already enrolled under the false surname "Hulid," there was every chance his age was another lie.

Of course...

Author Senna could have changed his age during the remake.

Or perhaps the age he'd claimed before had been false from the very beginning.

"My main weapon would probably be..."

"...Daggers?"

"I grew up in a circus troupe."

"My specialty is juggling knives."

"Oh!"

"And I'm pretty good at throwing them accurately too."

"That's another one of my circus tricks."

According to the original setting...

Pret was the biological son of the current head of the Information Guild.

He'd grown up surrounded by classified information from childhood.

That background shaped virtually every aspect of his personality.

I doubted Author Senna would've rewritten something so fundamental.

Meaning...

That last story was almost certainly fabricated.

"As for my Ether Attribute..."

"I can change the color of my Ether."

"It sounds pretty useless when I put it that way."

"And honestly..."

"It kind of is."

"Ah!"

"It's easier if I just show you."

Pret summoned Ether matching the same brown color as his eyes.

Then, with an exaggerated flourish—

"Ta-da!"

The brown color vanished, becoming perfectly transparent.

"As you can see..."

"I can even make it invisible."

"So if I use it properly..."

"Wouldn't that make surprise attacks against monsters much easier?"

"At least, that's what I think."

As mentioned back in Chapter 56...

Pret's Disguise skill allowed him to alter the color of his Ether freely.

However...

Making it transparent wasn't actually part of the skill.

His Ether had always been transparent.

His eyes only appeared brown because the natural color of his irises showed through transparent Ether.

He'd used that fact to convince everyone his Ether was brown...

Only to catch opponents off guard later with the invisible Ether that Disguise had never actually altered.

Yet now he openly described transparent Ether as his natural ability.

He must've decided this was safer than admitting he could freely alter his own appearance.

Besides...

Since we'd all be fighting together inside Demon Realms eventually...

Sharing techniques useful in combat genuinely increased everyone's chances of survival.

"Well then!"

"That concludes my introduction!"

Having carefully concealed every truly important detail about himself...

Pret sat back down.

The final person to stand was Ríolíkin.

"My name is Ríolíkin Tremler."

"I'm sevente—"

"...No."

"Eighteen."

"My weapons are a mace..."

"And a shield."

"My Ether Attribute is..."

"Um..."

"It turns Ether into armor that covers my body."

"...Something like that."

For the record...

Ríolíkin calling himself eighteen wasn't a slip of the tongue.

His birthday fell in January.

The entrance ceremony took place in March.

He'd entered the Academy immediately after turning seventeen that January.

"It's fortunate that only two of you still haven't chosen a primary weapon."

"Ms. Helga."

"Ms. Lissy."

"Tomorrow morning, during the dawn training period, I'll assign several instructors from the combat faculty to assist the two of you."

"It would be best if you first discovered which weapon suits your aptitude."

"Ms. Helga..."

"Your Ether Attribute already allows ranged attacks."

"So mastering a weapon isn't absolutely essential."

"Even so..."

"You should still learn one."

"It may save your life in an emergency."

With Ríolíkin's introduction complete, everyone's turn had finally ended.

The floor returned to Fjodora.

Making personnel assignments on the spot...

She really did think like someone accustomed to wielding authority.

While I secretly clicked my tongue at her decisiveness...

Lissy visibly relaxed.

She'd probably decided choosing a weapon sounded preferable to being forced through endless physical drills.

"And according to my understanding..."

"The enhancement skills passed down through House Austri should stack with body enhancement-type abilities."

"Ms. Vigdís."

"Ms. Lissy."

"When you activate your Ether Attribute..."

"Does it multiply your physical capabilities?"

"Or does it add a fixed numerical increase?"

"If it's the latter..."

"The order in which enhancement skills are applied affects overall efficiency."

"That's why I'm asking."

She'd already claimed she'd finished all her announcements.

The self-introductions were over as well.

I'd assumed we'd finally be dismissed.

Apparently...

That had been wishful thinking.

Fjodora intended to analyze every possible combination of our Ether abilities now...

So she could begin constructing combat strategies in advance.