Reysi and I exchanged attacks, defenses, and evasions countless times.
During that, the sensation as if time had stopped came to me several times as well.
But that feeling always slipped through my fingers just barely, like it was almost within reach but not quite.
‘Still, I roughly grasped what it was… If I keep practicing, someday I’ll be able to use it freely as I intend!’
Repeating sparring throughout the entire four-hour lecture was exhausting both physically and mentally.
It wasn’t just me; nearly all the students felt the same.
So, breaks were given every thirty minutes, during which I reviewed the sparring sessions and pondered over the mysterious sensation.
My body got some rest at least, but my mind never really rested.
Because of that, by the time the lecture was nearing its end, a throbbing headache set in.
But readers wouldn’t care about my headache; they’d be far more interested in what exactly that sensation like time stopping was, and what conclusions I came to after my contemplation.
So to explain: first off, it wasn’t that time actually stopped.
It only felt that way because my thought process had sped up.
‘It couldn’t be otherwise—stopping time isn’t exactly a common munchkin skill, is it?’
Even if time were stopped for just a moment, an enormous amount of Aether would have been consumed—far more than creating dark clouds and changing the weather.
Yet, the actual Aether consumption was negligible.
Only after the sensation had manifested about four times did I even notice a drop in my Sky-Blue Aether.
Moreover, when the sensation of time stopping came, I could only continue my thoughts—I couldn’t move even a finger.
This also supports the conclusion that time wasn’t stopped, but that my thought speed had accelerated.
There was one more thing.
I realized this was a passive skill that automatically activated under certain conditions.
No further explanation is needed there—if Aether was consumed, it’s obviously a skill. What else could it be?
‘The reason this skill has only manifested now must be because recently I separated the Sky-Blue Aether from the Purple Aether and moved it to the upper field. Before that, consciously drawing out the Sky-Blue Aether wasn’t easy.’
However, two questions arose here.
The first: what exactly is the activation condition?
I separated the two Aethers early Monday morning, and today is Friday.
The Thought Acceleration skill didn’t activate during those past four days.
Could the condition be “focus on combat”?
‘Or maybe it can be used outside of combat as well, but only now has it manifested because the Sky-Blue Aether has finally adapted to the upper field?’
Nothing is certain yet, so I’ll set that aside for now.
The second question is…
‘Why was the Sky-Blue Aether consumed?’
If the Purple Aether had been consumed, I would have taken it lightly.
Karvald Austri in the original story didn’t have such an ability, but even if born with the same Aether, additional skills can emerge depending on one’s disposition.
Just as Karvald’s possessiveness created the skill 【Encourage】, perhaps my own tendencies reflected in the Thought Acceleration “buff.”
But what was actually consumed was the Sky-Blue Aether—the power that changes the weather.
‘How could I not be curious about that?’
‘So, does Sky-Blue Aether have two traits—weather alteration and thought acceleration?’
That was strange too.
In this world’s setting, dual-trait Aethers have two related abilities.
For example, an ability to manipulate plants symbolizing life combined with healing power, or wind representing freedom combined with spatial teleportation.
The Austri Ducal Family’s buff and poison Aether might sound unrelated at first, but they are actually very closely connected.
The poison they use is a slow-acting toxin that saps vitality and eats away the body—a kind of debuff.
‘But how can weather manipulation and accelerated thought speed have any connection?’
No matter how I forced a reason, nothing came to mind.
Yor has known his abilities since birth and naturally manipulates Sky-Blue Aether.
‘Maybe if I asked this wise baby dragon, I’d get an answer?’
“Alright, everyone! Stop right there!”
The Martial Arts professor signaled to end the sparring.
The lecture time was finally over.
For reference, Reysi and I had finished sparring about five minutes earlier and were resting.
Reysi looked perfectly fine, but I felt pain all over my body and was completely drained.
At least I wasn’t the only student who had collapsed from exhaustion before the four hours were up.
“Karvald Austri, are you feeling better now?”
The professor was droning on about reviewing the points he had given us and encouraging us to improve.
Reysi ignored the professor’s words and asked me carefully how I was feeling.
He sounded quite cautious—probably because he felt guilty for never taking a single hit himself and only hitting me.
‘There’s no need to feel sorry since it’s sparring anyway…!’
My body ached here and there, but I had no regrets.
I was a bit annoyed that he never let me land a hit, but since I knew it was because I lacked skill, I wasn’t really displeased.
Not to mention, despite taking hits one-sidedly, no fearful memories resurfaced.
Throughout the sparring, I could feel he was considerate of me.
What we did wasn’t just ordinary sparring but sparring combined with instruction.
Reysi corrected my posture several times during the match.
If I failed to properly respond to his attacks, he told me how I should move in such situations.
He also gave me plenty of advice.
‘And… he even praised me, saying my reaction speed seemed to be improving!’
It was so much that the professor, after observing us for a while, turned away immediately to check on other students.
Reviewing everything made me feel like I owed him something.
‘Could today’s sparring also have been a kind of inspirational event?’
I realized I really couldn’t let my guard down.
“Don’t worry about it; you’re fine.”
“Ahaha, that’s a relief!”
Reysi responded only to the first half of my words and ignored the latter.
Feeling a bit sour, I glared at him as students began leaving the lecture hall one by one.
The professor had just declared the lecture over.
“Good job, Reysir. If you’re aiming to win this tournament, you have the skill to back that confidence…”
Vigdis Shalbrady didn’t join the other students leaving but instead practically ran over quickly to Reysir and said that.
Her expression and voice showed excitement.
“Um, um…! If you have time later, could you spar with me as well? Please!”
“I’d be the one thankful if you sparred with me. The more experience, the better.”
Bowing deeply to her waist, Vigdis’s request delighted Reysir greatly.
The talk about experience was just an excuse.
In reality, he was pleased that someone within his circle—Vigdis—was working hard to become stronger.
He had a trauma about those close to him facing unexpected danger…
‘Huh…? It stopped again.’
***
As soon as I thought that, the perfect silence was broken, and several noises poured in all at once.
Though I couldn’t maintain the Thought Acceleration state for long, I wasn’t disappointed at all.
In that brief moment, I understood exactly what triggered this passive skill.
‘It’s not about focusing on combat, but about guessing or analyzing someone’s actions or psychology—that’s the real condition.’
Feeling like I’d solved a difficult puzzle was very satisfying.
But if I just stayed still and smiled quietly, others might think it strange, so I deliberately pulled down the corners of my mouth and hardened my expression…
That only caused misunderstandings.
“Karvald Austri, don’t misunderstand. I wasn’t planning anything with your fiancée behind your back… well, I was thinking about sparring, but nothing inappropriate. Ah! I just thought it’d be good if you were there when we sparred!”
Reysi seemed to think I was jealous.
Considering the original Karvald’s extreme obsession with his fiancée, it’s no wonder he thinks that way.
But I have no feelings for Vigdis at all.
“You’re the one misunderstanding, not me. So don’t worry about it. You two can meet and spar or whatever as you please.”
“You don’t have to pretend to be cool. Obsessing too much isn’t good, but suppressing emotions too much until they explode is even more dangerous.”
“That’s not it. I really don’t care.”
“You can’t not care. Come to think of it, no matter how innocent the meeting, me, a man, meeting a woman who has a fiancé alone isn’t right. It’ll harm the reputation of all three of us. Besides, you’re also planning to enter the tournament, right? So let’s all meet together and spar, taking turns as opponents!”
“……”
“Sunday afternoon works again, right?”
“……”
Reysi’s argument was both logical and practical, so I failed to come up with a counterpoint that would overturn the original protagonist’s intention.
I only hardened my expression, and it was settled that I would meet with them again on the holiday.
If Yor were here, he’d probably shake his head again.
“By the way, shouldn’t we start heading out soon?”
“……”
I didn’t really want to follow Reysir’s suggestion just now, but there was no choice.
I couldn’t stay sitting in an empty lecture room forever.
So I stood up, but my legs felt weak.
Though I had rested for a few minutes, it wasn’t enough to recover my depleted stamina.
The bruised parts ached too.
Still, I thought, ‘Maybe I should stop by the infirmary on my way back to the dorm after washing up and before going to the cafeteria.’
With that in mind, I used a buff to replenish stamina.
Since using the [Goyang] skill silently is inefficient, I used the [Encourage] skill instead.
Just that was enough to restore stamina to a level that wouldn’t hinder normal movement.
So I managed to walk out of the lecture room without staggering or collapsing, only to witness an ugly sight once more.
“Ugh… uuaaah…”
“Hyaaah…”
Riolikyn was trembling, his pale face full of fear.
Yor was watching him with heavy sighs.