The students’ admiring gazes gathered on Reysir Daudabina all at once.
It was a natural reaction, considering a young student their age had just been called a ‘complete form’ by a professor.
‘And this is a scene that emphasizes the protagonist’s uniqueness and overpowered nature!’
The reason elemental skills with the name [Element Control] were ranked so high wasn’t necessarily because the skill’s function itself was incredibly useful.
It was because it was possible to ‘control’ the power of that element to draw out immense destructive force, which led to its high-grade classification.
Therefore, if an elemental skill had reached S-rank, it meant one had gained everything that could be obtained through training, just as Professor Radbisin had said.
…In a normal case, that is!
Any modern person would know how many different ways ‘electricity’ could be utilized.
Reysir’s lightning ability isn’t just about shooting bolts of lightning.
He can manipulate the flow of electricity itself however he wants.
If that’s the case…
“Couldn’t you also form a magnetic field?”
“Huh?”
The protagonist of another novel responded immediately to my offhanded remark.
Since it was Reysir, he had likely already realized I was talking about his ability.
So, I decided to skip the tedious introduction and get straight to the point.
“Don’t nerve cells transmit information through electrical signals? If you use a magnetic field to interfere with and disrupt those signals, wouldn’t you be able to exert an indirect influence even on enemies who are resistant to the lightning attribute?”
The author, Senna, wants her protagonist to be a special existence, different from others.
Thus, she wouldn’t write a development where ‘Reysir tried his best, but generating a magnetic field was impossible.’
However, since she pursues the angst genre, she wouldn’t want the protagonist to become ‘invincible.’
“Of course, this technique wouldn’t be a guaranteed victory. If nerve cells are repeatedly exposed to magnetic interference, they’ll develop a resistance. Perhaps among monsters, there might be individuals who are naturally less sensitive to magnetic fields, making the effect negligible or nonexistent.”
By saying this, I placed a preemptive limit on the utility of the ability.
This was to prevent the author, Senna, from coming up with a setting that said ‘it didn’t work on monsters at all’ when we entered the Demonic Realm.
If used recklessly, the enemy could develop a resistance and make it useless when truly needed, so it must be used cautiously.
If it’s not a guaranteed powerful debuff but a result that varies depending on the monster’s settings, the balance is quite decent.
Senna should be able to accept and understand that.
‘If the original protagonist grows too quickly, the original author might introduce stronger enemies to match.’
‘But if the range of abilities Reysir can utilize becomes more diverse…’
‘When he moves to protect the people around him, including me, wouldn’t there be a possibility of him acting outside the author’s predictions and overturning a death flag?’
This was merely my hope and not something I could be certain of.
Still, if Reysir became able to handle magnetic fields and the balance I suggested was reflected exactly…
one thing would become certain.
And that was…
‘I can intervene in the settings of this novel’s world!’
Thinking that made me feel unnecessarily nervous.
It was when I was unconsciously clenching my sweaty palms.
“Hooh…”
Suddenly, a sigh escaped Professor Radbisin’s mouth.
For a moment, I felt a pang of regret, wondering if the setting was that it was impossible for a lightning user to generate a magnetic field.
“Student Karbaldr should have become a scholar. How could such a talent who could brighten the academic world…”
The old professor couldn’t contain his regret and sighed deeply, looking truly saddened.
From that sight, it wasn’t that the setting I suggested had been rejected; he was simply lamenting that he had lost a prospective research student to the Demonic Realm.
It was a huge relief.
“To think you thought so hard about how to apply and further develop my ability, Karbaldr… I’m… I’m so touched…!!”
The fact that Reysir was overcome with emotion, his voice trembling, wasn’t a relief at all.
His golden eyes weren’t just sparkling; they were glowing with a predatory intensity.
As I reflexively shrank back at that sight, Reysir’s finger briefly brushed the back of my hand before pulling away.
It seemed like he was about to grab my hand like he did in chapter 156 but exercised self-restraint.
But what was the point of clenching his fists to avoid grabbing my hand?
His entire body was leaning toward me.
“…Don’t cling so much. It’s burdensome.”
“Ah, sorry.”
“Don’t just say you’re sorry; sit up straight.”
I wanted to move aside to avoid him, but Vigdis was sitting to my left.
I couldn’t exactly cling to my future ex-fiancée just to avoid the protagonist of another novel.
I stayed in my seat and pushed Reysir’s shoulder away.
There was no way someone with a higher strength stat than me would be easily pushed back, but I decided to find meaning in the fact that since Reysir wasn’t intentionally trying to cling to me, the distance didn’t close any further.
“But how did you ever think of disrupting biological signals indirectly by forming a magnetic field, instead of just using the lightning ability as it is?”
“I just… thought you might be able to grow by approaching it theoretically to increase your understanding and finding new ways to utilize it…?”
…Rather than that, I had just thought about it from an author’s perspective and a modern person’s viewpoint.
What a lightning-attribute user could do with that power.
“So, did you look up theories related to my ability and study them?”
“It’s not like that. I just recalled knowledge I already had at a common-sense level.”
I replied while carefully observing Reysir’s face.
His eyes and lips were curved into a beaming grin.
No matter how I looked at it, he clearly misunderstood and thought I was making excuses out of embarrassment.
“I’m so, so thankful and moved that I want to give you a big hug.”
Did the way this protagonist expresses gratitude and emotion become hugging because Nas-e is a work where numerous heroine candidates appear, even if it is a male-oriented novel?
Was it designed so he could casually have skinship with female supporting characters?
Reaching that conclusion, the original protagonist before my eyes felt incredibly shameless.
“…It’s not even confirmed that you can form a magnetic field with your ability yet, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”
“So, what you’re saying is that if I succeed in creating a magnetic field, I can give you a hug of gratitude?”
When I spoke sternly, the other party spoke nonsense with a serious expression.
What on earth was wrong with him?
“How does it even turn out like that…?!”
“I’ll definitely make it happen.”
“…Just what kind of value is there in hugging me that you’re so determined?”
“It’s just a hug, but since you won’t let me, it gained value and meaning, right? It’s also proof that we’ve become one step closer… isn’t it?”
Wait… was I the problem?
I suddenly started to get confused.
“Um… Kar. Do you happen to have any advice for me?”
“Ah! Me too! I want to hear Student Karbaldr’s advice as well!”
The ones who rescued me from my confusion were Vigdis and Liolikin.
I could see two pairs of eyes sparkling with expectation.
But it was impossible for me to grant their wish.
I couldn’t think of anything right now.
And even if I had something to say, now was not the time.
“Professor Radbisin has given you goals, and you haven’t even started that practice yet, but you’re trying to get tasks from me too? You only know how to activate your skills and haven’t even tried to apply or control them yet, so don’t be greedy.”
It was for this reason, but after saying it, there was a slight possibility my advice could be interpreted as being superior to Professor Radbisin’s.
So, I quickly added the following.
“I can understand your impatience since we don’t know when we’ll enter the Demonic Realm, but the more that’s the case, the more you should achieve things one by one, step by step. If you try to perform several tasks at once, everything will just end up mediocre.”
“Understood. Then I’ll work hard on the training the professor taught me. Once I’ve achieved that, you’ll give me advice, right?”
It seemed Liolikin understood it as me having advice for him but delaying it until later because he already had a task.
“Regarding Reysir’s ability, I really just mentioned something I thought of by chance! Somehow! So don’t try to seek advice from a non-expert like me.”
“By that logic, couldn’t advice that helps me also be something you think of by chance, somehow?”
“…If by any chance something comes to mind, I’ll tell you, so don’t demand or pester me like this.”
“Okay!!”
In the end, Liolikin got an answer from me that he was satisfied with.
Meanwhile, Vigdis—
“Ah, come to think of it… last semester, I did all my assignments at once because I was practicing for the Bimu Tournament, and the results were a mess… If Hailga hadn’t helped me study for the exams, I would have had to take supplementary classes all through the break.”
It seemed she had recalled some bad memories.
She turned her head toward Hailga and thanked her repeatedly, using a Korean-style expression of gratitude, saying she would buy her a meal when she had time.
Hearing that, Hailga smiled quietly and nodded.
“Sophomores. May this old professor speak now?”
Professor Radbisin, who had judged that our conversation was finally over, spoke up.
We had to bow our heads collectively and apologize.
“Hohoho, there’s no need to apologize. Didn’t I say when the lecture just started that ‘collective intelligence might find a way to further strengthen your abilities’? Therefore, the process of you students giving and seeking advice from one another can also be considered an excellent attitude toward the course.”
The old professor’s gaze, wearing a benevolent smile, lightly swept over our faces before fixing on me.
“So there’s no need to hold back on advice because you’re worried about me.”
It seemed he was bothered by me saying that the thing about the magnetic field was just a lucky guess.
Did he take it as me belittling myself out of respect for his expertise as a professor?
“Ah! Still, I’d like you to consult with me regarding training methods. To prevent any possible accidents. In that sense, I’ll look up materials on magnetic fields and think about how to train until next time. So today, Student Reysir, please proceed with your usual training, as if you’re doing a final review before moving to the next stage.”
“Yes!”
Professor Radbisin locked eyes with Reysir and nodded lightly with a satisfied expression.
After that, he looked at me again and spoke as follows.
“Student Karbaldr, since you’ve taken my lectures since last semester, you know there’s no other way to train Buff skills except to use them as often as possible, right? Since this isn’t a task so difficult or complex that it would interfere with your other studies, let’s keep up with this training as well. Understood?”
He didn’t specifically say the [Enhance] skill but lumped it together as ‘Buff skills.’
Somehow, it felt like he was saying, ‘Hurry up and accept the surrounding students as friends and reveal the existence of the [Encourage] skill to them.’
No, he probably did mean it that way.