It goes without saying, but the reason I linked Aether Traits with individual dispositions is because such content appeared in the original work.
For example, in the original story, Karbaldr gained an additional buff skill called 【Encourage】 through the disposition of ‘possessiveness.’
The activation condition for this skill was to assign a keyword in the format of ‘my ᄋᄋᄋ’ to the target.
Karbaldr is not the only character whose skill window mentions a ‘disposition’ in this way.
While not all, most named characters gained derivative skills or additional effect options according to their dispositions.
I know this because I read about it in the original, not because I analyzed the accumulated data from the Austri Ducal Family.
But since I can’t reveal this truth, I have to lie.
“As Professor said, I was able to reach this conclusion through the accumulated information. However, this is purely my personal inference and not knowledge from the family’s archives. So, there’s no need to share this secretly with the seniors.”
“If this is something that can be publicly known, why not write a thesis about it?”
Professor Radvisin lowered his voice, probably out of consideration for me.
He likely intended to ensure I kept the promise not to disclose the submitted report’s contents to others.
Besides, the connection between Aether Traits and personal dispositions isn’t exactly a secret.
In a few months, when Awakened Ones emerge and see their ‘skill windows,’ they’ll naturally realize this fact. Since it’s not confidential information, I simply said there was no need to be cautious, but suddenly I received a proposal to write a thesis.
“To have my inference accepted as orthodox, wouldn’t I need numerous cases and evidence? For that, I’d have to get cooperation not only from my family but also from others in the Ducal Houses or the royal family, which is practically impossible.”
“That’s not true. Only the royal family and the Four Great Ducal Houses have maintained the same Aether for generations, but cases of parents and children possessing the same Aether are quite common. You can gather cases from them.”
“…I’m still a first-year student, so I don’t know how to write a thesis.”
“I will kindly teach you, so you don’t have to worry about that. And just from your concern about how to gather cases, Karbaldr, I can tell you have potential.”
“…….”
I wonder if I should have just used my age as an excuse from the start.
Trying to persuade him logically only led to the misunderstanding that I’m suited for writing theses.
I mulled over how to overcome this sudden obstacle.
Finally, I found a suitable excuse.
“Right now, rather than focusing on a single research topic, I want to concentrate on growing myself in various ways.”
“Well, Karbaldr, you’re still a teenager, so that’s exactly what you should be doing. Maybe I got ahead of myself. You’re such a promising talent that I keep getting greedy.”
It seemed I had somehow escaped the crisis, but seeing Professor Radvisin’s sharp gaze, I felt it was just a temporary patch.
Pretending not to notice that heavy stare, I tried to distract myself when suddenly the senior research students staggered toward us and collapsed with a thud.
Professor Radvisin immediately stopped looking at me and halted his stopwatch.
‘We’ve only just completed a lap around the lecture hall, right? And they’re already exhausted?’
It didn’t seem like they were faking to avoid running. Their panting alone made it clear they were about to collapse from lack of breath.
Though this practice lecture hall was quite spacious, even considering that, their condition was deplorable.
I thought the body I had possessed was weak, but compared to these research students, I wouldn’t even be able to show my card.
‘Can they really survive in this harsh world with such poor stamina…?’
Contrary to my worried thoughts, Professor Radvisin seemed to take the students’ frailty for granted.
Without showing any sign of distress, he passionately fueled his experimental spirit.
“Karbaldr, use your ability now. I’m curious what happens if you cast a buff while exhausted. Will it be like maximum stamina increases and physical strength recovers? Or will the buff increase proportionally to remaining stamina, meaning they still can’t move much while tired? And if it’s the former, what happens if the buff ends or is intentionally removed and then reapplied? Will the recovery effect occur again? As the holder of this skill, aren’t you curious too?”
In Nas-e’s status window, there is no separate health bar. Only a stamina value exists.
Therefore, buff skills activate based on the ability stats shown on the status window.
To put it simply, the professor’s initial assumption was correct.
‘So, it should restore strength so you can run again…
But what happens if you use the buff again after fully depleting the stamina restored by that increase? I don’t know either.
There’s no scene in the original where Karbaldr does that.
Even the protagonist’s skill window read by the [Truth-Reading Eye] skill had no description about that.
If health restored infinitely each time a buff is cast, it would be broken. It overlaps slightly with the healing trait Aether’s domain.
So there are two possibilities:
You can only get the recovery effect once, and only if you didn’t buff before the battle started.
Or the recovery happens every time but the body accumulates strain, eventually causing collapse later.’
“That is certainly a curious point.”
“Right? I think not only we but also Blida and Elska must be curious. Though they’re still research students, they’re scholars after all. So right now, to burn up the gradually recovering stamina, they’ll be getting up and jogging in place any moment now—even without my orders!”
It was obvious to anyone that the professor was telling them to get up and jog on the spot immediately.
Responding to their supervising professor’s order, the two senior research students transformed into zombies just like when we first met, groaning “Uwaa~” and swaying their bodies.
“Well then, Karbaldr? Please use your buff ability just before the seniors collapse from exhaustion. On all of us.”
Professor Radvisin’s last words implied the situation demanded using as much Aether as possible.
I must reach a state of Aether exhaustion to accomplish today’s main goal.
It was also to personally experience how effective the buff is.
Since the answer was obvious, instead of asking why, I untied the fixed holder on my waist and took the whip in hand.
The zombie seniors staggered back in fear.
Their scared faces told me exactly what they were thinking.
“To clear up any misunderstanding in advance, I’m not going to hit you, seniors. My buff skill enhances efficiency through sound waves, so I intend to use the sonic boom created when I swing the whip.”
This sounds absurd—like a bard class in an RPG, not a serious story.
I think so too.
Is it even reasonable for a whip-wielding character’s skill to have an ‘increase buff effect through sound waves’ option?
‘And even after using this method and focusing on the flow of Aether, I have no clue what mechanism produces this result.’
I wonder what Senna, the original author, was thinking when designing Karbaldr’s character.
Did they imagine it would look cool if everyone’s attention was drawn the moment he swung the whip down and the buff activated simultaneously?
Or did they add the sound wave explanation to justify why the Austri family insists on using whips as weapons?
‘Either way, carrying a whip is better than carrying a harp or lyre. From a portability standpoint, and because swinging it causes physical damage. And also… because I’m tone-deaf!’
Since this mystery can’t be solved and it’s not a critical problem to dig into, it’s better to just accept it positively instead of getting a headache over it.
With that conclusion, I filled the whip with ‘unfiltered’ Aether and swung it swiftly.
The senior’s swaying bodies suddenly staggered, almost collapsing.
The moment the whip’s tip broke the sound barrier, the Aether attached to it exploded.
A sharp “Zzakk~!” and a “Bang!” sounded simultaneously, followed by a “Thud!” as the whip’s tip hit the floor with a slight delay.
Yet the floor remained undamaged thanks to Aether Engineering technology absorbing the shock.
“U-ugh…!”
“Uwaaah!!”
The zombie seniors screamed as if they had never been close to collapsing, then began to sprint.
Was it because the buff raised their strength and agility, enhancing their push-off power and bodily elasticity?
Just by looking, their running speed was noticeably faster than before.
But soon, they slowed down and collapsed weakly like lifeless dolls before even completing half a lap around the lecture hall.
The restored stamina from the increased stamina value had already been depleted.
‘It can’t be helped. Unlike [Encourage], which adds a fixed value to stats, the basic buff skill [Exalt] increases values proportionally to the target’s stats. So if the original stats are poor, the increase will be minimal.’
Still, the seniors’ quick exhaustion meant we could verify the buff’s effects faster, which was a plus.
If we’d experimented on Riolikin, we wouldn’t even have gotten to apply the buff yet.
“Karbaldr, can you cancel the buff at will?”
“Yes, I can.”
“Then cancel it and use it again.”
I promptly followed Professor Radvisin’s instruction.
The seniors, who had been limp like corpses, sprang up again, ran a distance similar to before, then collapsed once more.
I felt a sense of guilt, as if I were doing something I shouldn’t.
“…Do I have to do it again?”
“No, since the hypothesis has been confirmed, there’s no need. But I’m curious—what happens if you activate the skill in complete silence? Does the effect not manifest at all?”
“No, that’s not the case.”
Even without amplifying the buff effect through sound waves, there is a base increase.
I canceled the currently applied buff and this time cast the buff without swinging the whip.
The targets were only myself and Professor Radvisin.
“When will you cast the buff again?”
“I already have.”
“Hm? I don’t feel any difference.”
“That’s because the base buff increase is small, and probably because your baseline physical abilities are too low, professor…”
“Ha, ha ha… Looks like I’ll have to exercise a bit.”
Saying that, Professor Radvisin avoided eye contact and stared into the distance.
He looked like someone who always vows to exercise but never actually does.
If he had any intention of working out, he would have run alongside the seniors earlier to experience the stamina recovery effect himself.
XD