‘Something feels… a bit dazing…!’
From the moment I stood up until the moment I sat back down, no one spoke a word of ridicule or sarcasm.
I didn’t make any mistakes like stuttering or mumbling, either.
Above all, I wasn’t nervous for long, and the time I spent on my self-introduction was even shorter.
To the point that my momentary dizziness felt like a waste, a simple thought came to mind: ‘It was nothing.’
While I felt a bit bashful for no reason, I also felt a strange sense of pride and a boost in confidence.
‘When Fjodra suddenly pointed at me, I felt like crying…’
Now, I felt relieved.
Thanks to that, I could quickly shake off the fear stemming from my past memories and listen to the others’ introductions with a relaxed mind.
“My name is Vigdis Shalbrady. I am 20 years old, and my main weapon is the sword. I possess an Aether Characteristic Skill called [Iron-Blooded Steel Body], which hardens and strengthens the physical body.”
The person who introduced herself after me was Vigdis, who was sitting next to me.
There was no need to disclose the skill name, but seeing as she went out of her way to mention it, she must have been quite fond of the name [Iron-Blooded Steel Body].
“I am Helga Vitnir. I am 18 years old, and my Aether Characteristic Ability is manipulating fire…. I don’t really have a main weapon since I’ve never held one before.”
Helga introduced herself in a soft, gentle voice.
“My name is Reysir Daudabina. I am 18 years old. My main weapon is the spear, and my Aether Characteristic is lightning. And… I look forward to working with you all.”
Did he think his introduction was too short after saying it?
Reysir added a greeting that the others hadn’t used and gave a light smile.
‘It seems he still has no intention of revealing the Silver Ethere.’
Over the past two months, the number of Demonic Realms that had appeared reached double digits.
However, since none of them provided clear rewards or special privileges, no one would suspect a connection to the Demonic Realm from 11 years ago even if Reysir revealed his Silver Ethere.
‘They’ll probably just think he managed to draw out and use a Second Ether that was inherent within him, just like me!’
The fact that he could read the Status Windows of others obviously had to be kept secret.
Still, it should have been fine to reveal the existence of the Silver Ethere and the fact that he could read information about various objects.
Was it because he had never taken off his blindfold when facing monsters, so he didn’t realize [Truth-Reading Eye] could read monster information as well?
Did he not yet realize how helpful that would be in a fight?
Or did he decide it was too early to reveal the Silver Ethere because he couldn’t trust the strangers here yet?
‘Well, whatever the reason, I’m not in a position to interfere.’
Putting aside [Writing] and [Crustal Movement], which were still locked skills, I hadn’t mentioned my [Character Analysis] skill, which had a mental acceleration effect, nor had I mentioned the buff-type skills [Encourage] and [Goyang].
‘Come to think of it… [Encourage] requires a Keyword, but should I have mentioned [Goyang]?’
To be honest, I had completely forgotten about the existence of the [Goyang] skill due to the pressure of having to introduce myself.
But what could I do?
I couldn’t exactly raise my hand now and say, “Actually, I forgot to mention I have more skills.”
I decided to let it go, thinking I would have an opportunity to mention it eventually.
“Next student…. Let’s see, was your name Lisi? Why are you just sitting there watching instead of standing up to start your introduction?”
“Pardon…? Since the first row started from that side, I thought the second row would be the same…”
“Do you want it to go in a circle? In that case, you’ll be the one to provide the grand finale for the introductions.”
“Ah…”
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who found the self-introduction time burdensome.
Seeing Lisi, who had been hesitating and trying to push her turn back, listen to Fjodra’s words and stand up in a hurry with a startled expression.
“My name is Lisi Styrkr, and I am 19 years old. I’ve never held a weapon before, either. My Aether Characteristic is… a physical reinforcement type… and among those, it’s strength…, raising stats…”
Lisi’s voice, as she spoke with her eyes squeezed shut, gradually trailed off until it was eventually inaudible.
Judging by how her voice grew hesitant the moment she spoke about her Aether Characteristic, it didn’t seem like she just found public speaking difficult.
She was either embarrassed by her Aether Characteristic Ability, or she didn’t want to mention it because knowing it would increase the likelihood of her being placed on the front lines.
It was likely one of the two, or perhaps both.
“I am Svein Od. I am 18 years old, and I started learning the spear last month. It’s only F-rank, but since [Spearmanship] is registered in my skill window, I guess I can call it my main weapon. My Aether Characteristic Ability allows me to manipulate water.”
In the version before the remake, this character was moved by seeing Reysir fight and begged to be accepted as a companion.
He had said that since his Aether ability was “water,” it would definitely be of help to Reysir, who handled “lightning.”
‘That ability certainly was helpful, but…’
The problem was that Svein was an ordinary person who had never received combat training.
Because of that, Reysir had to teach him spearmanship personally.
That was why, when Svein betrayed him, the readers felt not only anger and a sense of betrayal but also a feeling of being cheated…
‘[Spearmanship] is already registered in his skill window? Even though it’s only been one month since he learned it?’
Compared to Vigdis’s talent for swordsmanship, it was no more than a drop in the bucket, but it meant he had a talent for using the spear.
Svein likely wouldn’t change his main weapon.
This meant that the author, Senna, definitely intended to have Reysir teach Svein spearmanship again to encourage them to build a friendship.
I should think about how to prevent that.
“Hello, I’m Pret Hullid! I’m 17 years old, so I guess I’m the youngest here? So please look at me kindly!”
The next person to start his introduction was the successor to an information guild, but I didn’t know whether to believe his words or not.
This was because, before the remake, this character had told Reysir that he was one year older.
Given that he had enrolled under the fake surname “Hullid,” there was a high possibility his age was also a lie.
However, it couldn’t be ruled out that Senna had changed his age for the remake, or that the age he stated before the remake was a lie to begin with.
“Should I say my main weapon is a dagger? I used to be in a circus, and my specialty is juggling with daggers. Oh! Of course, I’m also good at hitting targets by throwing them. That’s another one of my specialties as a circus member.”
According to the original work’s setting, Pret was the biological son of the current head of the information guild and had been exposed to and handled all kinds of information since he was a child.
Since this was a setting that greatly influenced his character, it was unlikely Senna would have changed this past.
Therefore, what he just said was likely a lie.
“And I can change the color of my Aether. Saying it like that makes it sound like nothing special, and it really is… oh, I should just show you.”
Pret drew out a brown Aether, the same color as his eyes, to show us.
Then, he shouted “Ta-da!” and made the color transparent.
“As you can see, I can change it to transparent as well. So if I do it right, I might be able to catch monsters off guard, don’t you think? That’s what I believe.”
As I mentioned in chapter 56, this character’s [Camouflage] skill allowed him to change his Aether color at will.
However, it was impossible to change it to “transparent.”
That was because his Aether was originally transparent.
His brown eyes were simply the result of his natural iris color showing through because his Aether was transparent.
Pret used this to trick others into thinking his Aether was brown, then used his natural transparent Aether — which was unaffected by the [Camouflage] skill — to take opponents by surprise.
However, him saying that he could use “transparent Aether” now meant…
‘He probably decided this was better than revealing the fact that he can change his appearance at will!’
Furthermore, we were all destined to be deployed to Demonic Realms and fight together against monsters.
Sharing techniques that could be used in combat was advantageous for survival.
“Then, I’ll end my introduction here!”
While thoroughly hiding the truth about himself, Pret finished his presentation and sat down.
The next and last person to stand for his introduction was Liolikin.
“I am… Liolikin Tremmler. Age 17… no, 18. I use a mace as a weapon, and I also use a shield. My Aether Characteristic Ability is… uh… the Aether turns into armor and wraps around my body? It’s something like that.”
For the record, even though his birthday had passed this year, it wasn’t a mistake for Liolikin to say he was 18.
His birthday was in January, and the entrance ceremony was in March.
He had enrolled as soon as he turned 17 last January.
“I’m glad to see only two people haven’t decided on a main weapon. Miss Helga and Miss Lisi. I’ll have a few combat professors assigned to you during tomorrow’s dawn training session, so you should start by finding a weapon that suits your aptitude. Since Miss Helga’s Aether Characteristic allows for long-range attacks, weapon techniques aren’t mandatory, but it’s better to learn something to protect yourself in an emergency.”
After everyone, including Liolikin, finished their introductions, the floor was given back to Fjodra.
She truly acted like someone in power, making the decision to assign professors at dawn on the spot.
Unlike me, who was secretly impressed by Fjodra’s words and actions, Lisi looked visibly relieved.
She probably thought choosing a weapon was better than rolling around and training.
“And from what I know, the Austri Ducal Family’s buff skills should be able to stack with physical reinforcement-type skills…. Miss Vigdis and Miss Lisi, do your skills increase stats by a multiplier when using Aether Characteristic Skills? Or is it a fixed value? In the latter case, the efficiency changes depending on the order the skills are applied, so I am asking.”
She had said she’d mentioned all the announcements earlier, and the introductions were just finished.
I thought she would let us go now, but there was no such luck.
It seemed Fjodra wanted to grasp the combinations of our Aether skills right now to set up strategies in advance.