Free Web NovelReisir and I exchanged attacks, defenses, and evasions numerous times.
During that time, the sensation that time had stopped came over me several times.
However, that sensation remained agonizingly close yet just out of reach every time.
'Still, since I've roughly grasped what it is... If I keep practicing, I should eventually be able to use it freely at will.'
It was physically and mentally exhausting to continue sparring throughout the four-hour lecture.
Not just for me, but for almost all the students.
Therefore, breaks were given every thirty minutes, and I used that time to mentally review the sparring while also contemplating the identity of that unknown sensation.
In other words, while my body rested occasionally, my mind never got a chance to.
Because of that, a throbbing headache had developed by the time the lecture was nearing its end.
But readers wouldn't care if my head hurts. You're probably much more interested in the conclusion I reached after contemplating what that sensation of stopped time actually was.
To explain, I'll start by clarifying that time did not actually stop.
It only felt that way because my thought speed had accelerated.
'It can't be helped. Stopping time is usually more than just an overpowered ability, isn't it?'
Even if it had only been for a brief moment, if time had actually stopped, it would have consumed an enormous amount of Ether.
To a degree that couldn't even be compared to creating rain clouds and changing the weather.
However, the amount of Ether actually consumed was negligible.
It was only after that sensation had manifested four or five times that I could feel the sky blue Ether had decreased.
Moreover, when I felt as though time had stopped, I could only continue thinking.
I couldn't move even a single finger.
That also supported my conclusion that I wasn't stopping time, but merely accelerating my thought speed.
And there was one more thing.
I could tell it was a passive skill that automatically activated when a specific condition was met.
This required no further explanation.
Since Ether was consumed, it was obviously a skill. What else could it be?
'The reason this ability only manifested now is probably because I recently separated the sky blue Ether from the purple Ether and moved it into the upper dantian. Before that, it wasn't even easy to consciously draw out the sky blue Ether.'
However, two questions arose from this.
The first was naturally what the activation condition was.
I separated the two Ethers early Monday morning, and today was Friday.
Was the reason the thought acceleration skill hadn't activated during the past four days because the condition was "focusing on combat"?
Or was it an ability that could be used even outside of combat, but it only manifested now ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ because the sky blue Ether was adapting to the upper dantian?
Nothing was certain yet, so I decided to set that question aside for now.
The second question was...
'Why was the sky blue Ether consumed?'
If the purple Ether had been consumed instead, I wouldn't have thought much of it.
The original Karvaldr didn't possess such an ability, but even when born with the same Ether, additional skills can appear depending on one's disposition.
Just as Karvaldr's possessiveness created a skill called 【Encouragement】, I would have assumed that a thought acceleration buff had appeared as a result of reflecting some aspect of my own disposition.
However, what was actually consumed was the sky blue Ether, the power to change the weather.
Given that, how could I not have doubts?
'Then does that mean the sky blue Ether has two attributes: weather manipulation and thought acceleration?'
That was also very strange. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
In the case of Ether with dual characteristics, the basic setting of this novel's world is that the two abilities are related to each other.
For example, the ability to control plants, which symbolize vitality, being paired with healing power.
Or wind, associated with freely going anywhere, being paired with spatial movement.
The Austri ducal family's buff and Poison Ether might seem unrelated at first glance, but those two also have a very close relationship.
The poison used by members of that family is the type that slowly drains energy and erodes the body.
In short, it is essentially a form of debuff.
'But weather manipulation and accelerated thought processes have absolutely nothing in common, do they?'
Even trying to force an explanation, nothing came to mind.
Yor knew his ability from birth and handled sky blue Ether naturally, so if I asked this wise baby dragon, perhaps I could get an answer.
"Now, now! Everyone stop!"
The Martial Arts Professor signaled for the sparring to end.
At last, the lecture was over.
For reference, Reisir and I had finished sparring about five minutes ago and were already resting.
Reisir was fine, but every inch of my body hurt, and my stamina had been completely depleted.
If there was any consolation, it was that I wasn't the only student who had collapsed halfway through instead of enduring the full four hours.
"Karvaldr, are you feeling a bit better now?"
While the professor rambled on about diligence, reviewing the points he had raised, and generally putting on airs,
Reisir let the professor's words go in one ear and out the other and asked about my condition.
His tone was unusually cautious.
I wondered if it weighed on his mind that during sparring he hadn't let me land a single hit while only hitting me himself.
'It's sparring anyway, so there's no need for him to feel sorry...'
My entire body ached, but I had no regrets.
It was slightly irritating that he hadn't allowed me to hit him even once, but knowing it was simply because my skill was lacking, I wasn't particularly upset about it.
Even though I had been beaten one-sidedly, it wasn't as though any traumatic memories had resurfaced.
Because throughout the sparring, I could clearly feel that he was being considerate toward me.
What we had done wasn't normal sparring.
It was sparring combined with instruction.
Reisir corrected my posture during the match.
When I failed to properly deal with his attacks, he also explained how it would be better to move in those situations.
Beyond that, he offered all sorts of advice.
'And... he even praised me, saying my reaction speed seemed to be getting faster...'
It went so far that the professor came over, witnessed what Reisir was doing, and immediately turned away to look at the other students.
Thinking back on each of those things, I felt as though I owed him a debt.
Could today's sparring also have been a type of influence event?
I truly felt that I could never let my guard down.
"I'm fine, so don't worry about it."
"Ahaha, that's a relief!"
Reisir ignored the latter half of my response and reacted only to the former.
As I stared at him with mixed feelings, students began leaving the lecture hall one by one.
The professor had just officially declared the end of the lecture.
"I observed your skills carefully, Reisir. You said you were aiming for victory in this tournament. Indeed, you have every right to be confident...!"
Rather than joining the stream of students leaving the lecture hall, Vigdís approached at nearly a run and said those words to Reisir.
Excitement was evident in both her expression and voice.
"U-um...! If you happen to have time later, could you spar with me too? Please...!!"
"I'd be the grateful one if you became my sparring partner. The more experience, the better."
At Vigdís's display of bowing at the waist while asking for a spar, Reisir looked genuinely pleased.
Talking about experience was just an excuse. freewёbnoνel.com
In reality, he was probably happy that Vigdís, someone he considered a friend, was making an effort to become stronger.
He had trauma related to people around him being exposed to unexpected danger...
'Huh...? It stopped again.'
The moment that thought crossed my mind, the complete silence that had descended for an instant shattered, and various sounds rushed back in all at once.
Although I couldn't maintain the thought acceleration state for long, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest.
Because during that brief moment, I realized the precise activation condition of this passive skill.
'It's not immersing myself in combat. It's predicting or analyzing someone's actions or psychology—that's the true condition.'
I felt as satisfied as if I had solved a difficult problem.
However, worried that people might find it strange if I stood there smirking to myself, I deliberately lowered the corners of my mouth and stiffened my expression.
That ended up causing an unnecessary misunderstanding.
"Karvaldr, don't misunderstand. It's not like I was planning to meet your fiancée separately to do something... No, I do intend to spar with her, but only that. I'm not trying to arrange any inappropriate meetings. Ah! You can just stay next to us while we spar!"
It seemed Reisir thought I was jealous.
Considering how obsessive the original Karvaldr had been toward his fiancée, it wasn't an unreasonable assumption.
However, I had absolutely no feelings for Vigdís.
"The one misunderstanding things is you. So don't mind me. Whether you two meet to spar or do whatever else, do as you please."
"You don't have to pretend to be cool for no reason. Being overly obsessive isn't good, but any emotion becomes more dangerous if it's suppressed too much and then explodes."
"It's not like that. I truly do not care."
"There's no way you don't care, right? Thinking about it carefully, no matter how innocent the meeting is, it does seem a little inappropriate for a woman with a fiancé and me, a man, to meet alone. It would negatively affect all three of our reputations. Besides, you're planning to enter the tournament too, right? So let's all get together and spar while rotating partners!"
"......"
"Meeting again on Sunday afternoon would work, right?"
"......"
Reisir's argument was extremely logical, coherent, and practical.
As a result, I failed to come up with a counterargument capable of breaking the original protagonist's resolve.
I had merely stiffened my expression once, yet somehow meeting them again this holiday had become a settled fact.
If Yor had been here, I wonder if he would have shaken his head from side to side again.
"More importantly, shouldn't we start heading out?"
"......"
I wasn't in the mood to follow what Reisir said right now, but there was no alternative.
I couldn't remain sitting in an empty lecture hall forever.
So I tried to stand up from my seat, but my legs wouldn't cooperate.
Although I had rested for several minutes, it seemed insufficient to recover my depleted stamina.
The places where I had been hit were throbbing as well.
'It might be best to return to the dormitory, wash up, and then stop by the health center briefly on the way to the campus cafeteria...'
Thinking that, I used the stamina restoration trick through a buff.
Since efficiency drops when 【Exaltation】 is used silently, I activated 【Encouragement】 instead.
That alone was enough to restore my stamina to a level where daily movement posed no problem.
Thus, I walked out of the lecture hall perfectly normally, without staggering or slouching, only to witness another unsightly scene.
"Ugh..., uaaaagh......"
"Hyaaa..."
Ríolíkin was trembling with fear, his complexion pale.
And Yor was letting out a deep sigh while looking at him.
