"Congratulations, Mr. Karvaldr. You've successfully manifested a new Ether."
Professor Radvisin offered his congratulations.
This body truly possessed a hidden power that even its original owner had never known about, and I had succeeded in uncovering it.
Was it that realization stirring up excitement within me?
Or was it the sensation of another Ether filling the void left behind by the depletion of the original Purple Ether that lifted my spirits?
My heart pounded.
The breath caught in my throat finally escaped, and the dizziness was gone.
I was filled with anticipation and curiosity about what attributes this Sky Blue Ether possessed and what I could do with it.
It happened just as I tried to draw out an even greater amount of Ether.
"Stop."
Along with his firm voice, Professor Radvisin placed a hand on my shoulder.
Come to think of it, we had agreed that today we would only confirm the existence of the Sky Blue Ether.
Snapping back to my senses belatedly, I stopped trying to draw out Ether and withdrew what I had wrapped around the whip.
The moment I did, overwhelming exhaustion washed over me.
The sensation of being energized had merely been a temporary effect caused by adrenaline.
My actual physical condition was no different from right before I manifested the Sky Blue Ether.
I was completely exhausted.
"Thanks to successfully drawing out the Sky Blue Ether, you managed to avoid fainting from Ether Exhaustion, but if you don't want to damage your body, you must begin Ether Cultivation immediately. Here, this medicinal herb helps with Ether recovery, so put it in your mouth and sit down quickly."
"Yes."
I immediately followed Professor Radvisin's instructions.
With the medicinal herb in my mouth, I sat down in the Lotus Position and closed my eyes to focus.
The 'Lotus Position' mentioned here was indeed the same sitting posture seen in Buddhism and commonly found in martial arts novels.
This wasn't particularly surprising.
Even in Western fantasy novels, there were plenty of cases where people meditated in the Lotus Position to train energies such as magic power or aura.
'...More importantly, isn't it a little late to nitpick over something like the Lotus Position? In terms of things that break the setting, the braised mackerel and radish I ate for breakfast at school this morning was far worse.'
I should stop the pointless thoughts and focus on Ether Cultivation properly.
The medicinal herb left a bitter minty taste lingering in my mouth, but as I concentrated on the Ether circulating through my body, even the tingling sensation on my tongue quickly faded from my awareness.
How much time had passed?
The exhaustion had disappeared, replaced by a sense of fullness spreading throughout my body.
My Ether had fully recovered.
Meanwhile, the medicinal herb I had been holding in my mouth had disappeared, despite the fact that I hadn't chewed or swallowed it.
'In the world of 《NaSE》, there's only one plant with these characteristics.'
Ether Grass.
This medicinal ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) herb, saddled with the unimaginative name of simply combining 'Ether' and 'Grass,' was commonly found in the Demon Realm.
Later on, its price became ridiculously cheap.
But at this point in time, before the Demon Realm had opened, things were different.
Since it could only be found in natural environments rich in Ether, it was an extremely expensive rare medicinal herb.
Grateful that he had given me something like this without making a show of it, I looked around for Professor Radvisin the moment I opened my eyes so I could thank him.
But he was gone.
Instead, I saw the senior research students sitting on a silver foil mat spread across the floor, tearing open bags of snacks.
"Um, Seniors...? What's going on?"
"Yes! I knew you'd finish recovering your Ether and wake up around now!"
"Wow~! Our timing is perfect!!"
Neither of them answered my question, so my confusion remained unresolved.
As I blinked at them, the seniors patted an empty spot on the mat with their palms.
The gesture clearly meant for me to come sit with them.
I did as they wanted and asked another question.
"Where did the professor go?"
"When we said we were going to have a snack party, he said an old man shouldn't intrude while young people are having fun and went ahead to the research lab."
"But he stood guard the entire time while we went to the health center and cleaned ourselves up, you know? So make sure to thank him properly the next time you see him. Got it?"
Senior Elska answered first, and then Senior Blida, showing respect toward her professor, handed me a wet wipe.
As I wiped my hands with it, I replied that I would definitely thank Professor Radvisin.
Satisfied expressions immediately appeared on both seniors' faces, showing just how much they liked him.
"You entered a state of Ether Exhaustion, even if only briefly. Are you feeling alright?"
"Yes, I'm completely fine."
"That's a relief, but you shouldn't take Ether Exhaustion lightly. Even if you don't feel anything wrong, your body or Ether Core must have suffered some strain."
Senior Blida spoke with a serious expression, but honestly, her words didn't really resonate with me.
As far as I could tell, my body's condition was perfectly normal.
"The professor said your body needs time to recover, so training will be held on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, you can come to the research lab whenever you have time. On Thursdays, since there's an 'Ether Attribute Enhancement' lecture in the afternoon, training will take place in the lecture room immediately afterward, so keep that in mind."
Isn't training three days a week too little?
I felt like I could train more often.
I was also curious about the attribute of the Sky Blue Ether and wanted to figure it out as soon as possible.
Whether those thoughts showed on my face or not, Senior Blida frowned and warned me sternly.
"I'm only saying this just in case, but never try what you did today on your own. There's no guarantee it'll end safely like it did this time, and without someone there to stop you, you'll get greedy and overdo it. Something bad will definitely happen."
I recalled the moment I manifested the Sky Blue Ether.
I really had lost control of myself back then.
Drunk on excitement and anticipation, I had forgotten the professor's words about checking the attribute later.
Just as Senior Blida said, it was dangerous to attempt something like that alone.
"I understand. I'll just have to focus as much as possible during training with the professor and get used to the Sky Blue Ether quickly. By the way, are you two seniors alright?"
"Not at all. My whole body still aches."
"And yet the health center teacher said it was just normal muscle soreness and refused to treat us! Isn't that awful?"
The image of the seniors sprawled across the floor like corpses came to mind.
That's why I asked whether there was anything seriously wrong with them.
Senior Blida complained about body aches while rubbing her shoulders, though it didn't seem related to the running itself.
Senior Elska loudly condemned the negligence of the health center staff.
'I think the shoulder stiffness is from hunching over while reading and organizing materials, or from spending too much time writing theses... And the reason the health center staff didn't provide treatment was probably because they had a valid reason...'
Those thoughts crossed my mind, but I had no intention of voicing them.
If I did, the two of them would definitely brand me a rude junior.
To present myself as a considerate junior instead, I lowered my gaze with a dejected expression.
While idly picking at the corner of the wet wipe, I spoke.
"I'm sorry. Because of me, you two ended up going through hardships you didn't need to... And while you seniors are suffering from pain, I'm completely fine..."
"H-hardships, what hardships?! N-no. Not at all! When else would we ever exercise if not during moments like this?"
"It was just exaggeration. With those sharply upturned eyes, he looks like he'd have a terrible personality, so how can he actually be this gentle?"
My strategy worked perfectly.
Senior Blida waved her arms frantically.
In an awkwardly theatrical tone, she desperately tried to convince me I had nothing to feel sorry about.
Senior Elska wasn't quite as flustered as Senior Blida, but he was clearly rattled as well.
"Was it really just exaggeration?"
"Yeah, we're really fine. If there had been an actual problem, would the health center teacher have sent us away without treatment? Even our professor said he expected as much after hearing it was only muscle soreness. It's not like we did anything absurdly unreasonable that exceeded human limits. All we did was run. He said that if someone with exceptional physical abilities had done it, the outcome would've been much worse. Rather, because our bodies are weak, there weren't any major side effects."
In response to my question, Senior Blida rattled off a lengthy explanation, truly proving herself to be Professor Radvisin's student.
Judging by how naturally she spoke, it didn't seem like she was making it up.
I had already suspected they were exaggerating, but hearing that there were no side effects beyond muscle soreness finally put my mind at ease.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"Yeah, so our dear junior shouldn't worry about anything and should hurry up and eat some snacks. Today is a happy day—you discovered a latent Ether you never even knew you had your entire life, right?"
Speaking in a very friendly tone, Senior Blida stabbed a straw into a square carton of fruit juice and handed it to me.
If this had been me from a week ago, I probably would've felt confused just seeing the juice carton.
But now I was different.
I was confident that even if I saw a carbonated drink in an aluminum can, I could naturally accept it without a second thought.
"Thank you."
I accepted the juice Senior Blida handed me and drank it naturally.
It was peach juice, though the flavor tasted artificial, more like synthetic flavoring than actual fruit concentrate.
I decided to let that slide as well.
"Senior~! Put a straw in mine too!"
"Just put it in yourself and drink it. You're not a child anymore..."
"I see. So in your eyes, Karvaldr is still just a child, but you see me as a grown man. Sorry it took me so long to realize."
"W-wh-wh-what are you talking about?!"
Her face instantly turned bright red as Senior Blida began pounding Senior Elska with her fists.
Senior Elska accepted every hit while making noises that made it hard to tell whether he was laughing or groaning in pain.
"Haha, ack! Ugh, ha, ouch!, haha...!"
They were reacting so dramatically.
'Why aren't they dating if they're like this?'
The thought crossed my mind, but I still wasn't close enough to the research student seniors to meddle in their love lives.
So I buried my curiosity and focused on the snacks instead.
The various snacks had that familiar, almost comforting taste of mass-produced junk food, which suited my palate surprisingly well.
"By the way, our junior really eats well, huh? I thought you wouldn't even touch cheap junk food made by who-knows-who."
Perhaps because her muscles still ached, Senior Blida's barrage of punches didn't last very long.
Thanks to that, Senior Elska—finally freed from his suffering—looked at me in surprise while rubbing the spots where he'd been hit.
I'm glad I suggested we eat snacks together.
If I hadn't, that senior probably would've kept suspecting that I'd thrown away the snacks I received yesterday.
