“Such a thing as a nickname disease couldn’t possibly exist in this world, right?! I simply rejected it because neither calling you by a nickname nor being called by one myself felt right.”
“Why on earth not?”
“I’d like to ask you the same thing. Why do you want to call me by a nickname so badly?”
“Because your name is too long. It’s five syllables, after all.”
I had expected an emotional response like wanting to get closer to me, but instead, he gave a reason grounded in efficiency.
What’s worse, it actually sounded quite reasonable, so I almost nodded and agreed to the nickname without realizing it.
‘Focus. How important are forms of address in human relationships…
Titles and names express respect and intimacy, reveal social status, sometimes reflect emotions, and define the distance between people.
Whether calling someone or being called, it affects the heart the same way.
Saying it’s about the number of syllables is just an excuse to persuade me!
If he were going to just call me whatever he wanted, I wouldn’t have a say, but the fact that he asks permission means something.
It’s a very different case from Vigdis, who still insists on being called ‘Kar’ out of necessity.
If I let him call me by a nickname, Reysir might misunderstand it as me opening my heart to him and become even more familiar with me.
Even if the name he uses isn’t my real name but that of my possessed body’s nickname.
The problem is that the feelings behind it would be conveyed to me.’
“Even so, the difference between your name and those of Vigdis and Liolikin is just one syllable.”
“But your name has an accent in the middle, so it’s kind of awkward to pronounce.”
“That’s your problem.”
“You can shorten my four-syllable name into two syllables too, and it’s easier to say.”
“It’s not a name I call often, so why bother shortening it?”
That was all.
He scowled, probably upset by my continued refusal.
But I wasn’t too worried.
Because—
“Wait! You’re the one who’s eager right now. So why am I the one begging you?”
“Isn’t it because you’re desperate to help me?”
—That’s the reason.
I proudly put on a smug expression after today’s practice, and Reysir grumbled that I was annoying.
I felt a little triumphant, as if I had gotten a bit of payback for all the teasing I’d received.
But it wouldn’t do to keep up this standoff. Like Reysir said, the one who’s in need now is me.
So, to keep him from giving up, I decided to offer a compromise.
“If you want something other than money, suggest something one-off rather than something ongoing. That might make me willing to accept the deal.”
“A deal? You really don’t know how to get close to someone…”
Reysir muttered something under his breath and then stopped.
Somehow, I think I know what he was about to say but couldn’t.
‘Does he hate it? Is he uncomfortable? If it were something that simple, he wouldn’t have hesitated and let the sentence trail off.’
‘Is he scared? Nervous? That’s probably what he wanted to ask.’
As I nervously tried to think of how to respond if he actually voiced that question, he sighed softly and returned to the main point.
“…It’s nothing. Anyway, if it’s only one-off, can I watch you train today?”
“You’re aiming to win this tournament, and you think it’s okay to leisurely watch someone else train?”
“Hey, watching how others train is a kind of training too.”
His cheeky attitude was something else.
“Anyway, this is an open space. You can’t tell me the positions of the Aether cores in your mind. Even if there’s no one around now, anyone could pass by. If someone suddenly showed up and you lost your focus, I’d be in danger. You’re not seriously expecting me to take that risk, are you?”
True enough. Whether it’s a deal or help, if I’m to get his cooperation, we’ll have to train in the private training hall together.
So letting him watch me train isn’t too big a price to pay.
Though I can’t help but wonder if Reysir is really curious about how others train and just threw out that request as a sort of price.
‘He probably didn’t want to charge me for helping him, so he just said the first thing that came to mind…!
If I refuse that too, he might make an even more uncomfortable demand, or just give up entirely.
So I decided to just pretend it’s fine.
Still, letting Reysir into my space is another matter.’
“Then let’s move to your training hall.”
Since the deal was sealed, we moved immediately.
Inside Reysir’s private training hall was no different from mine—completely empty with nothing left inside.
“I left some spare clothes in the shower room. I’ll go get them and change while I’m in there, so you prepare yourself in the meantime.”
If he was only going to watch me train, there was no real need to change clothes.
‘Maybe to backtrack on his excuse about having training clothes there, Reysir insisted on changing and went inside the shower room.’
‘Maybe he planned to butt in if my training looked sloppy.’
But since he was already inside, there was no use pulling him out, so I left him be.
“Yor, training clothes.”
I gave Yor a short, blunt command to get my clothes, careful that Reysir inside the shower room might hear me.
Reysir had seen me speak kindly to Yor before, and though I’d pretended to be embarrassed then, it was only natural to be cautious now.
“Nyaa~!”
The wise baby dragon seemed to understand my plight and shook his yeouiju without complaint.
With a clear tinkling bell sound, the clothes popped out.
I took off what I was wearing and handed it to Yor, then put on the garments the yeouiju produced.
Reysir came out of the shower room just as I was putting on my shoes.
Without looking at him, I finished putting on my shoes and took a hair tie from Yor to tie up my hair high.
Only then did Reysir, who had been quietly waiting, speak.
“Ready? Shall we start now?”
He sat cross-legged on the floor, so it seemed he wanted to provide the promised service before taking his price.
No reason to refuse.
“Should I put my hand on your head?”
“No. I have to guide the way, so just put your hand on my back and wait. When you feel my Aether touch your palm… you know what to do next, right?”
“So I just follow the path my Aether takes through yours.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
I sat behind Reysir and placed my hand on his back.
Doing this felt like the genre suddenly shifted from fantasy to martial arts fiction.
That was a pointless thought, so I closed my eyes and focused on the purple Aether firmly rooted in my lower dantian.
It was basic knowledge that Karvald’s Aether contained no poison.
But in the family’s purple Aether, there was said to be not only buffs but also poison attributes.
So, just in case, I gathered pure, refined Aether on my palm, excluding any innate attributes, and waited.
Soon, I felt Reysir’s Aether gently tap my palm as if knocking.
I couldn’t see the color, but judging from the situation, it was likely Silver Ethere.
I pulled the gathered Aether from my palm into a thin, long thread and flowed it into Reysir’s body.
There was no resistance.
Instead, I felt Reysir’s Aether, as if grasping my hand, wrap around the tip of my Aether thread.
In that state, Reysir slowly began to guide it, moving his Aether along his spine, climbing up his neck to the deepest part of his head.
He led the way and then suddenly released my Aether and slipped somewhere.
I sensed a calm and stable energy cluster.
I memorized its location and slowly withdrew my Aether from inside Reysir’s body, as if winding up a spool of thread.
“Phew…”
I sighed as I removed my hand, tension leaving me.
At that moment, Reysir’s voice suddenly came to mind: “Your threats to harm me almost seem harmless.”
Feeling openly relieved was embarrassing, so I quickly dusted myself off and stood up.
“There really is a vessel that can hold Aether in the mind. If it were a lie, I was just going to leave and train in my own hall, but since you kept your promise, I’ll keep mine too.”
“Can’t you just say thanks?”
“It was useful information for my growth. I don’t know if watching me train will help you grow, but I hope you get something out of it.”
It was just a deal, so I wouldn’t say thank you.
When I showed that resolve, Reysir shook his head as if he couldn’t help it.
“So, what kind of training will you do?”
“I’m thinking of practicing with an Aether whip… but honestly, it’s not a systematic training.”
“Even though your family has used whips as weapons for generations?”
“The familiars of House Austri are the type to protect their masters and fight on the front lines. Maybe that’s why there was no need to polish martial skills or develop techniques myself.”
“Then why do you insist on training yourself?”
There are two answers to Reysir’s question.
One is to increase my chances of survival in the Demonic Realm, but since only I know that the Demonic Realm is going to overflow into this world, I can’t say that.
The other is that Yor is an Eastern dragon and not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so I explained it vaguely as such.
“My familiar is a wise, noble, and mysterious being, so fighting like a dog scratch match doesn’t suit us.”
“Uh… yeah… well, cats don’t usually fight like dogs… but then wouldn’t your ancestors’ and family’s familiars…”
“Don’t compare them. Yor is special and a great being.”
I knew he treasured Yor a lot, but now it’s clear that Karvald Austri is a hopeless doting father…
“…Is that right?”
In Korean fantasy novels, the representative expression describing a dragon is “a great being.”
Wise, noble, and mysterious are the characteristics of Eastern dragons.
Therefore, I was simply stating the facts, setting aside personal opinions.
Yet Reysir managed to add a doting father label after the tsundere frame he’d given me.