Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 376 - Preparing for the Exchange Festival

“You ate delicious food at the Hero’s Tower, and now you’re eating delicious food as soon as you arrive in Ivecar.”

Ethan immediately summoned Lyuka. All the gifts he had received this time were destined to enter Lyuka’s mouth.

“Pyaat!”

As soon as it was summoned, Lyuka seemed to catch the scent and started spinning around excitedly on the spot.

“Just like a dog.”

Ethan fed Lyuka the pills and potions in order.

“I wonder if you can eat all of this.”

“Pyaat!”

“You say you can? Even for you, isn’t this too much, Lyuka?”

However, Lyuka was the Master of Mana. It could consume this amount of mana-infused items without much burden.

Chomp-!

Lyuka, who had eaten everything except for the Hyde family’s special potion that Ethan was holding, stared intently at Ethan’s hand.

Its expression seemed to say it wanted the special potion too.

“I feel like I’m being robbed somehow.”

Even though it would eventually return as mana, Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling of being deprived.

Chomp chomp.

Lyuka stuck out its tongue and lapped up the Hyde family’s special potion as well. Then its body began to glow.

Shaaaaaak-.

“Oh!”

For spirits, evolution is fundamental.

From low-grade to high-grade, and beyond.

Right now, Lyuka was evolving.

A bright light enveloped Lyuka, and soon Lyuka’s form became invisible.

“!”

And then, with a pop, the light scattered and disappeared.

“…What?”

Ethan looked at Lyuka in astonishment.

It was truly amazing.

Lyuka’s appearance, which had been enveloped in light…

“It’s the same?”

It was unchanged. Although its fur seemed a bit shinier than before, its overall appearance hadn’t changed at all.

“No, maybe it’s a little different?”

Its fur had become a bit more luxurious.

When Ethan touched Lyuka, he felt an extremely soft texture that could be described as the ultimate in softness.

“This is it, this is what’s different. Its fur has become glossy. Originally, because of its ethereal appearance, the fur wasn’t very noticeable, but now it’s just like a fox. A fox with luxurious fur.”

The ethereal feeling disappeared, and at the same time, its fur became glossy and more voluminous.

“Is this… evolution?”

Ethan looked at Lyuka with a dumbfounded expression. But Lyuka was proudly showing off its luxurious fur with a solemn posture.

Certainly, the feeling of touching real fur was much better than touching the ethereal substance.

“It seems to have become cuter, but I guess this counts as evolution too.”

Ethan put his hand into Lyuka’s fur and enjoyed the texture to his heart’s content.

And then he realized.

“It is evolution after all.”

The softness was undeniable.

“Congratulations on your evolution, Lyuka.”

“Pyat!”

As Lyuka climbed onto his head, Ethan could feel another advantage of the evolution.

“It’s warm.”

Extremely so, in fact.

***

Ivecar Academy began to return to normal as if the attack had never happened.

Classes resumed, and the training grounds were once again full.

And the Introduction to Practical Studies class that everyone had been looking forward to also resumed.

“…Huh?”

“Something seems different…”

In the packed classroom.

As Ethan entered, the students felt that something was odd.

There used to be a unique aura emanating from Ethan, but for some reason, that unique aura couldn’t be felt today.

He looked very ordinary.

Clearly, until recently, the aura emanating from Ethan had been as sharp as needles.

“Is he… still unwell?”

While Ghost Sword immediately realized that Ethan had broken through the wall and reached a higher level, none of the students had the skill to perceive this.

“I heard he was badly injured, so he’s not back to his full condition yet.”

“Sob… Then he returned right away for our sake?”

“We should listen with all our might.”

Seeing the ordinary-looking Ethan, the students steeled their resolve.

They would listen more earnestly.

“There was an unfortunate incident recently.”

Ethan, standing at the podium, opened his mouth.

“But fortunately, while there were injuries, no one died. This is because many teachers risked their lives to protect you all.”

All the students nodded at Ethan’s words.

It was because of the teachers who acted calmly in the chaotic situation and prioritized the students over their own bodies that none of the students were injured.

Of course, with the exception of Oz.

“But that doesn’t mean there was no damage. We were forced to come to a standstill because of that incident. The other academies we’ll be competing with in the inter-academy exchange will have taken this unfortunate incident as an opportunity to surge ahead. It’s regrettable, but they have no obligation to be considerate of our situation.”

The students began to focus as Ethan spoke.

In the front row sat Ethan’s favorite disciples: Oz, Roanna, Mason, Yuna, and Ron, all listening to the lecture.

Oz, who had been drifting aimlessly after returning to school, was now receiving quite good evaluations within the academy.

This was because the story of him risking his life to protect the lower-grade students during the Followers of the Moon attack had spread widely.

He had become a respected senior to the lower-grade students and had convinced those in the grades above that he had truly changed.

“But it’s not just that we’ve fallen behind.”

Ethan emphasized.

“You all must have felt the same emotion during this attack incident.”

Ethan said.

“Helplessness. You must have realized that you’re ultimately just students. You must have also realized that in the face of real threats, you’re ultimately beings that need protection.”

At these words, the students’ expressions hardened.

As Ethan said, they had felt utterly helpless.

Outside, the teachers were fighting, but in an uncertain situation, all they could do was receive protection.

Whether ranked 1st or 10th or 100th, everyone received the same protection regardless of their grades.

Many felt their limitations.

“That’s the lesson you’ve gained. You will never forget the emotion you felt then. That overwhelming sense of helplessness.”

Ethan grinned.

“You’ve gained the opportunity to use all those negative emotions – your broken pride, the helplessness of not being able to do anything and just having to wait – as motivation.”

Ethan was saying that the terrible experience had actually become a good opportunity.

“Now you’ll be able to break your limits more easily. Because if you don’t break your limits, you’ll end up unable to do anything, just like during the attack incident.”

Everyone here knows how much that mentally strikes them.

‘This is usually quite difficult to teach.’

Unintentionally, the Followers of the Moon attack incident had become a very significant experience.

Everyone’s eyes changed at Ethan’s words.

“The students from other academies don’t have this experience. They remain at the student level. Their mindset approaching the inter-academy exchange can’t help but be the same. But you’re different. You can be different.”

They had gained a differentiated advantage that other academies couldn’t match.

Ethan intended to definitely capitalize on this advantage. There might be voices of dissatisfaction, but that’s not important.

Nothing is more important than seizing the opportunity for growth when it comes.

“Do you want to be different?”

“Yes!”

The students shouted loudly in response to Ethan’s question.

A different spirit could be felt from them compared to a short while ago.

“Good, you seem to have grown up a bit. Then… it would be okay to give you an education befitting that, right?”

When Ethan smiled, the students felt a chill for a moment.

“Oz Lazarus, come forward.”

“Yes, Teacher.”

Oz Lazarus, the only one who had experienced actual combat in this attack incident, stood in front.

He had been prepared to die. No, he had thought it wouldn’t matter if he died.

That’s why now, having recovered his health, he considered this life as a surplus life.

He wanted to live completely differently than before, since he had unintentionally been given more time to live.

His eyes were filled with that intense will.

“Oz is the only student who experienced actual combat in this attack incident. That means he knows vividly.”

Ethan said.

‘I can clearly educate them on how different what’s learned in the academy is from actual combat.’

This was possible because they had experienced helplessness and felt fear, even if only for a moment.

‘This will act as a big advantage.’

In the inter-academy exchange, there will be a big difference between those who have experienced actual combat with their lives on the line and those who haven’t.

If skills are similar, the outcome is ultimately decided by experience and mindset.

‘I’ll widen the gap in levels significantly.’

“Tell us what it was like.”

“Ahem.”

After clearing his throat a couple of times, Oz recalled the memory of that time. From the middle, he had almost left everything to his unconscious. He moved instinctively, solely to cut down the huge mountain that was his goal.

But one thing was certain.

“They tried to kill me. Regardless of victory, they tried to take my life.”

This was what distinguished actual combat from education.

“The problem isn’t about displaying and succeeding with swordsmanship. The focus is on efficiently taking the opponent’s life. So it’s not flashy.”

What the academy values highly is how well one can use weapons.

To show that well, it’s important to emphasize flashiness.

Originally, the swordsmanship or spearmanship or magic of noble families contains flashiness.

That also becomes another difference that separates nobles from commoners.

But the Followers of the Moon had none of that.

Even without such things, their power was sufficient.

“This is why I always emphasize actual combat, as you’ve heard. Oz, what do you think was the reason you were able to survive in that fight?”

Ethan didn’t particularly match his words with Oz on this.

He hoped Oz would honestly say what he felt himself.

“It’s because I took Teacher Ethan’s classes.”

Grin-.

And Oz, as expected, gave the answer he wanted.

“Dive. The dive and practical training that Teacher Ethan taught us were very helpful. This isn’t just something I’m saying because I’m in front of Teacher Ethan.”

Oz looked at the students. He wanted to convey exactly what he had experienced to them.

You don’t know unless you’ve experienced it.

“It’s okay if you want to stay in the greenhouse forever. But I think each of you has your own ambitions. If so, you’ll continue to face threats. Once you go outside, it’s all the same. Even if we’re just chicks that have just hatched from our eggs, they won’t go easy on us.”

To them, we’re just easy prey.

No one shows any consideration.

Ethan continued Oz’s words.

“So I’m going to teach you advanced education. You can think of it as taking preventive medicine.”

Ethan said.

“It’s better to be a little uncomfortable than to die, right?”

The true Introduction to Practical Studies had begun.