This Novel is not my Novel

After my conversation with Reisir ended, I skimmed the combat applications he'd written beneath 【Thunder Dominance】.

A moment later, Professor Radvisin collected everyone's papers.

He read through each one carefully, contemplating them for quite some time before finally speaking.

"First, Ms. Lissy. As long as your Ether reserves permit it, I recommend maintaining 【Super Cognition】 throughout your daily life. If you learn when to consciously regulate your output and when not to, you'll distribute your stamina far more efficiently during combat. Improving the coordination between your muscles and nervous system will also help you draw out your maximum physical strength."

Lissy already looked displeased, probably because she was being forced to sit through a lecture she had no interest in.

As Professor Radvisin continued his lengthy explanation...

...his advice gradually began to resemble a lecture.

The crease between Lissy's brows deepened until her face plainly showed she'd had enough.

Yet there wasn't the slightest trace of rebellion.

Rather than irritation...

...what I saw on her face was sorrow.

Her resentment toward the Special Class itself had diminished considerably, but it seemed she still hadn't fully come to terms with everything.

"...Power that cannot be controlled will inevitably injure its owner. Wouldn't it be dangerous if you were hurt during battle because you lost control of your own strength? So even if it makes daily life a little inconvenient, please continue your training every single day."

Professor Radvisin seemed to notice the state of mind she was in.

Watching her with sympathetic eyes, he spoke gently and softly.

Only then did Lissy seem to realize what expression she herself had been wearing.

She flinched, her eyes darting about helplessly before she bowed her head deeply.

"...I'm sorry."

Her apology was barely louder than a whisper.

She's apologizing even though he wasn't criticizing her...

Unlike the version of her from the original novel before the remake, her real personality seems remarkably polite.

This time, everyone had learned she was an Awakened before circumstances could force her into the Demon Realm while society condemned her for it.

Judging from the current situation...

...perhaps that side of her personality would remain intact.

Still...

I couldn't be certain.

Author Senna wasn't the sort of writer who let the students of the Special Class for Awakened live peacefully.

"For the time being, I'd also like you to practice controlling your strength during my classes."

He glanced toward me.

"While receiving Lord Karvaldr's enhancement."

"...Yes."

Seeing Lissy answer obediently, Professor Radvisin smiled with obvious relief.

He then shifted his attention to Sveinn.

"Mr. Sveinn. Under your skill description, you wrote that you would trap a monster inside a sphere of water and drown it. When you awakened after being swept into the Demon Realm, did you actually defeat a monster that way?"

"No. At the time, my family and I were hiding... I've never fought a monster before. I just wrote down what I thought might work."

"Ahem... I see."

The professor nodded.

"The idea itself is quite good. Unfortunately... it lacks practicality."

An entirely obvious conclusion.

If it were really that easy...

...Water Attribute users would be the strongest people in the world.

"A monster is not so unintelligent that it would calmly leave its head inside an enemy's water sphere until it suffocated. It would either escape immediately or burst the water apart with its own Ether."

"Monsters can use Ether too?"

"According to the information available to us, yes."

He nodded again.

"If you could trap it inside enough water to fill an entire room and then create a powerful whirlpool that prevented it from swimming out... you could probably defeat an ordinary monster that way, but..."

He deliberately left the sentence unfinished.

He couldn't very well ask outright,

"Can your current skill actually do something like that?"

I wasn't completely certain...

...but creating the sort of whirlpool Professor Radvisin described probably required something like 【Water Dominance】, not 【Water Current Control】.

Fortunately, Sveinn understood his own limits.

"I don't think a whirlpool would be necessary. If I simply trap the monster in water, Senior Reisir could paralyze it with lightning."

"And where would you obtain enough water to trap it? Creating that volume yourself would consume an enormous amount of Ether."

"...Then... Senior Karvaldr could help...?"

He spoke as though cooperation between Reisir and me were simply a given.

His tone wasn't arrogant.

In fact, he even glanced at me hesitantly.

For some reason...

...that only made me dislike it more.

It felt as though my role as everyone's supplier of water had already been decided regardless of my own intentions.

Well... if the goal is surviving against monsters, cooperating isn't strange.

From everyone else's perspective, I'd probably be the one acting childish if I refused out of wounded pride.

If not for Sveinn's betrayal in the original version of the novel...

...I probably would have agreed without feeling this knot of unease.

"Hmm... yes."

Professor Radvisin nodded.

"Since you fight as a group rather than alone, helping one another is certainly important."

"Exactly!"

"However, Mr. Sveinn, if you train under the assumption that someone else will always assist you, your own growth will stagnate."

His voice remained gentle.

"You must also prepare for situations where you're drawn into the Demon Realm alone... or when your party becomes separated unexpectedly."

"...Ah."

"So we'll practice cooperation during other classes designed for that purpose."

He smiled kindly.

"But during my lessons, I'd like to focus on developing your own abilities."

"Yes!"

Seeing Sveinn answer enthusiastically, Professor Radvisin smiled warmly.

Then he offered an idea Sveinn himself hadn't considered.

"What about compressing your Ether into an extremely thin stream of water and firing it under tremendous pressure? That would require far less water, reducing your Ether consumption while increasing its destructive power. At the same time, your control over water would improve."

"I'll practice that."

"Excellent."

The professor then turned toward Fjodora.

"So... 【Space Leap】 only allows travel to locations within your line of sight. If Your Royal Highness wishes to use it effectively during battle, you'll need to develop the ability to instantly identify safe destinations."

"At present, this humble one is merely your student. Please address me as you do everyone else."

Apparently...

...she intended to repeat those words every single class.

Personally, I thought it would be easier if she simply gathered all the professors together and explained it once.

Then again...

...doing that itself would only emphasize her authority and make them even more hesitant to approach her.

"I appreciate Your Highness's consideration, but... at the moment, it would be difficult."

Professor Radvisin smiled apologetically.

"I still perceive Your Royal Highness more as the Princess than as one of my students."

"If that is how you feel, then it cannot be helped. Should you become more comfortable with this humble one later, please feel free to change the way you address me."

"Thank you for your understanding."

The elderly professor bowed respectfully before continuing.

"In any case... how about training by sitting in a rapidly spinning chair, locating Lord Pret, and teleporting directly behind him? His familiar can remain flying overhead."

...

That sounded suspiciously like astronaut training.

True, the chair wouldn't spin nearly as fast.

But unlike an astronaut, Fjodora would have to activate her Ether Attribute Ability while enduring the rotation.

It was hardly a trivial exercise.

"But... why am I using Lord Pret as the target?"

"That relates to his own training."

Professor Radvisin looked toward Pret.

"Lord Pret, I'd like you to keep moving continuously around the classroom. While cloaking yourself in Ether, constantly change your camouflage to match your surroundings. Don't stay beside the walls. Walk between the other students instead, and try to remain as inconspicuous as possible from every angle."

"...What?"

Pret blinked.

"That's normally something you'd do in bushes or against a wall. You want me to camouflage myself while walking through the middle of a room with no cover at all? And from every angle? That's impossible!"

"It's merely a goal."

Professor Radvisin chuckled.

"Even if you never achieve it perfectly, wouldn't repeated practice naturally increase the speed at which you can alter your camouflage? If so, it would become invaluable in situations where a monster's attention is divided."

Pret's Ether Attribute Ability was fundamentally designed for infiltration.

Trying to adapt it directly to combat inevitably produced somewhat unreasonable training objectives.

"Next, Ms. Helga."

Professor Radvisin smiled warmly.

"You fought monsters in the Demon Realm only last week, did you not? You burned countless centipede monsters in the middle of a forest while controlling the flames so precisely that they never spread into a wildfire. That demonstrates exceptionally delicate control."

He nodded approvingly.

"So during my classes, let's focus on increasing your maximum firepower."

"Understood."

"For both safety and efficiency, your training should be conducted together with Lord Karvaldr and his familiar."

So it was finally my turn.

"Once Lord Karvaldr and Yor create a fog dense enough to resemble a rain cloud, Ms. Helga, I'd like you to generate a fireball inside it, gradually increasing both its size and temperature."

He looked at Helga.

"Do not enter the fog yourself. The steam could cause serious burns."

Then he turned to me.

"Ms. Helga's flames will evaporate the water droplets, producing an updraft that naturally disperses the fog."

His eyes settled on mine.

"Lord Karvaldr, your task will be to prevent that from happening. Hold the fog together with everything you have."

He smiled faintly.

"In doing so, you may discover the key to 'Air Current Manipulation,' the second-stage evolution of 【Weather Manipulation】."

"I understand."

After that...

Professor Radvisin continued calling each student forward one by one, patiently explaining individualized training plans in his gentle, meticulous manner.

If I reproduced every word he spoke...

...this chapter would never end.

So I'll summarize instead.

To Vigdís, he suggested concentrating the effect of 【Iron Blood Steel Body】 into individual body parts—her arms, legs, or torso.

Doing so would make those areas even tougher than spreading the skill evenly across her entire body.

To Ríolíkin, he recommended practicing changing the shape of 【Armor of Protection】.

If he could reshape the armor around vulnerable joints in an instant...

...it would become an emergency defense whenever he failed to evade an attack.

He also explained that angling the armor's surface appropriately could even deflect incoming blows instead of merely absorbing them.

And finally...

...when it came to Reisir...

"I'm honestly not sure how much guidance I can offer."

Professor Radvisin smiled wryly.

"Mr. Reisir, your skill already appears to be functionally complete. Simple drills no longer have much meaning."

He folded his hands behind his back.

"I believe you've reached the stage where practical experience will teach you more than I can."