Fortunately, no one dared to speak carelessly about my beast companion right in front of me.
In fact, they seemed reluctant to even start a conversation with me.
If they accidentally said the wrong thing and got on my bad side, it would be a huge problem.
They treated me like a ticking bomb, deciding it was better to just watch from a distance.
Even Tridrick held back today.
We crossed paths in the cafeteria during lunch, but he didn’t bring up Yor once.
Instead, he cautiously asked about Sky-Blue Aether, showing some curiosity.
‘Since I haven’t fully figured out the properties of Sky-Blue Aether yet, I had nothing to say. Besides, I don’t want to explain everything in detail to someone like Tridrick!’
So, I flipped the question back on him.
“Why should I report my abilities to someone like you?”
And I added that if his reason was reasonable, I might explain about Sky-Blue Aether.
Naturally, Tridrick couldn’t give a valid reason.
He immediately stood up, bowed deeply from the waist, and apologized for his presumptuous behavior.
‘Did that make me feel good? Not at all.’
‘To everyone else, it probably just looks like I’m being petty and bullying the weak.’
Instead of feeling satisfied, I was irritated.
But I couldn’t show it.
Because that irritation could be misinterpreted as me revealing a weakness and getting defensive.
Without batting an eye, I finished my meal calmly and stood up.
Then, I went to my afternoon class: Dagger Arts.
“Wow~! A cat floating in midair~?! Is that your beast companion? Did it just hatch today?”
Professor Scati showed some interest in Yor.
But it was only momentary.
The moment Yor and Scati made eye contact, she was flustered, just like Riolikin had been.
Still, unlike Riolikin, she didn’t blurt out nonsense about eye colors or anything like that.
“Then, today must be your birthday~? Happy birthday…! But no way am I shortening the class because of that.”
Scati winked, making an unreasonable comment even though I never asked her to end the class early using my birthday as an excuse.
I was about to point out how ridiculous that was but stopped myself.
Even though she’s a professor, it’s not wise to make an enemy out of someone who used to be the heir to the assassination guild leader.
Besides, Scati didn’t mean any harm by her words.
She had previously mentioned the Austri family’s poison abilities, which caused students to whisper about me.
She clearly tried her best to change the topic before something like that happened again.
True to her word, she finished the full four hours of the lecture.
This behavior was completely opposite to what she said in the first class about not wanting to teach enthusiastically.
She was actually very passionate during the second week of lessons, so that first comment must have been a joke.
‘This might be something minor to overlook… but considering this world is from a novel, this contradiction must be a foreshadowing!’
I had a feeling.
There must be an untold story about Scati in the original work.
If I dig into this, I’ll probably get closer to her quickly.
‘The original author, Senna, must have thought it was fine to leave this part out, so I won’t dwell on it.’
Suppressing my curiosity, I headed straight to the private training ground with Yor.
***
We arrived at a place perfectly shielded from prying eyes.
I immediately took off the mask I’d been wearing to pretend to be a vessel and asked Yor,
“Yor, how are you feeling today?”
“LF?”
Curiosity isn’t always the same.
There’s good curiosity and bad curiosity.
If it comes from a desire to see a huge flaw in someone, that’s definitely bad curiosity.
Most of the gazes that had been following us today belonged to that category.
Of course, not every student was looking at us maliciously.
Some were just amazed to see a beast companion—a cat—that not only ate with a spoon but also flew around.
Still, it was no better than being treated like a monkey in a zoo, so that curiosity couldn’t be considered good either.
That’s why I asked…
“LFO?”
I asked a random question without any explanation, so Yor seemed puzzled.
He stared at me curiously and tilted his head.
His innocent, sparkling eyes left me at a loss for words.
“You look great. More than okay, you look fantastic.”
Earlier today, just before going to sleep, I had held onto Yor and poured out all my worries.
Now, it felt like all that was for nothing.
I must have been overthinking things.
I sincerely felt relieved and hoped everyone would keep their mouths shut from now on.
“Meow?”
Yor made a sound that vaguely resembled ‘what?’
Even if I imagined it, the meaning behind that meow probably fit.
Yor had just hatched today but was already confident beyond measure.
Realizing I’d been the only one insecure and anxious about others’ stares made me feel extremely awkward and embarrassed.
So, instead of explaining the types of curiosity in detail, I changed the subject.
“It’s nothing. By the way, Yor, do you think you can apply the body movements from today’s Dagger Arts class to Whip Technique?”
“OF?”
Scati said that to use Dagger Arts effectively, you should be able to throw a dagger from any stance.
If you hit the target, that’s great, but even if you miss, you can still keep the enemy at bay, which is very useful in real combat.
‘Makes perfect sense.’
So, Scati had us doing flexibility training along with various acrobatic moves while swinging our arms.
Practicing throwing daggers from a stationary position and hitting targets?
She left that to us to figure out on our own.
“Ordinary ranged dealers can just stand still, protected by allies, and attack. It’s called ‘stake-out DPS’ style. But a whip is a mid-range weapon and almost impossible to use against enemies beyond your allies. So, you have to get close. Standing still? That’s just asking to get killed.”
“Meow.”
“In the original story, Karvald did nothing in battle except cast buffs. He just hung back, protected by his subordinates.”
That worried me.
Although it seemed safer to be protected like Karvald, it was actually the opposite.
It meant entrusting your life to others.
If someone betrayed you, or your bodyguards died or fled, you’d just stand there and die.
“Anyway, back to the main point: I think if I can swing the whip from any stance, close combat becomes somewhat possible.
And while throwing a dagger isn’t exactly the same as swinging a whip, both require wrist snaps and arm swings.”
“Nyah!”
Yor responded with a lively sound, showing he understood.
That felt like a sufficient explanation.
Though I worried someone might think, ‘Why not just use a sword instead of a whip in a fight?’
The truth is, moving my body while wielding a whip is much easier than when I hold a sword.
‘Maybe it’s because I inherited the bloodline of a family that’s followed the Whip Technique for generations.’
‘Or maybe it’s because ‘Karvald uses a whip’ is part of my character’s unique traits.’
I’m not sure of the exact reason, but I definitely have a talent for handling whips.
So, I have no choice but to develop techniques and find ways to utilize it.
“All right! Now that I’ve set the training direction, before we seriously start practicing Whip Technique—”
“LF?”
“Yor, do you know what your Aether trait is? Can you use and control your ability?”
I ended up rambling about something else the moment we got to the training ground.
But the real reason I came straight here after class without even stopping by my room was to check Yor’s ability.
I did plan to train in Whip Technique too, but that would be later.
“Meow, yawn~!”
Yor responded with a proud expression, signaling ‘yes.’
I already knew that beast companions could instinctively use Aether abilities from birth, but hearing it confirmed by Yor himself made me very happy.
Unfortunately, Yor can’t speak human language, so I couldn’t learn the details of using Sky-Blue Aether directly from this baby dragon.
Still, just seeing him use the ability would be helpful.
Above all, I’d been very curious about the nature of Sky-Blue Aether, so I was most excited that this mystery was finally about to be revealed.
“Then, can you show me right now?”
“Yaaaooong!!”
Yor let out a long cry and spun his body in a spiral.
‘Is that movement something he must do to use or enhance his ability?’
‘Or is it just for fun?’
‘I hope it’s the latter… Please don’t make me copy that!’
I focused on the flow of Aether I sensed from Yor.
The energy felt unusual. Yor’s eyes shone with a vivid sky-blue glow.
But nothing happened for five seconds.
“Um, Yor…?”
“Nyaooh!!!”
At that sharp roar, as if telling me not to disturb his concentration, a white mist began forming near the ceiling.
It gradually thickened, turning into a gray so dark it was almost black, blocking the ceiling lights.
The training room grew dim.
And then—
A drop of water fell on my head.
“No way…?”
Realizing what the mist was, I immediately threw the bag containing my clothes for after training into the shower room.
Right after, rain poured down inside the training hall.
“To create rain indoors by summoning clouds… Sky-Blue Aether really does have properties connected to the sky.”
Standing drenched in the middle of the training ground, which had instantly turned into a puddle, I clicked my tongue.
“Nya nya nyang, nya nya nyang~♬”
Yor flew around me in circles, meowing as if singing a tune.
He looked very spirited and excited.
He must have taken my astonished and impressed reaction as praise, so I said, “Yor, you’re amazing!!”
I don’t know yet if he can just make it rain or control all weather, but either way, being able to cause natural phenomena is an incredible ability.
Wow.. seems kinda broken.