Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 377 - Not Much Time Left Until the Exchange Festival

Freya Academy.

The students representing this inter-academy exchange were gathered together for special training, just like at Ivecar Academy.

A large number of Freya’s elite students were assembled in the enormous training ground.

However, unlike Ivecar, Freya’s students were extremely relaxed.

“Huff! Huff!”

But among them, there was one who was full of intense malice.

Nathan Whiskers, a student who was frantically sweating while synthesizing and casting magic, let out a rough groan.

“He’s going to collapse at this rate. If he gets injured, he won’t be able to participate in the exchange festival. He wasn’t like this before, why is he suddenly acting this way?”

“I know. He’s not like his usual self, is he?”

The students pointing fingers at Nathan were those known as Freya’s Five Stars.

The Five Stars were the five students who maintained the highest grades at Freya Academy. Nathan Whiskers was also included among them.

These five stars were expected to become the representatives for this inter-academy exchange, serving as the core of Freya.

While the inter-academy exchange was a grand festival in which all students participated, each academy was required to select separate student and teacher representatives.

It was a way of giving them the spotlight. It was also used by each academy to put pressure on the others.

“He used to be so cool.”

Nathan had quite a cold side to him.

Among Freya Academy’s top students, his family background was the poorest, which led to him being looked down upon by Freya’s noble children, shaping Nathan’s unique personality.

As they belittled him by flaunting their family prestige, it seemed to have sparked a rebellious spirit in him, making him act as if he had become one of Freya’s Five Stars through sheer innate talent.

He also tended to act as if he could accomplish anything with ease.

But now, Nathan was engrossed in training, seemingly not caring at all about maintaining his usual image.

The other Five Stars found this behavior puzzling.

The usual Nathan would never show such a side of himself.

“Is it because his family has now become one of the Twelve Families?”

“That could be it. No matter how much we try to tell him, it’s meaningless unless he overcomes it himself.”

Freya’s Five Stars didn’t care at all about Nathan’s background. As long as one entered Freya and achieved high grades, it was proof of their exceptional talent, regardless of their background.

They believed that if one had talent, they could create any background they wanted.

Of course, this was a perspective that came from the fact that all of their families, except for Nathan’s, were extremely well-off.

“You guys, this isn’t the time to be fooling around.”

Nathan, who had been immersed in training, spoke while looking at the other Five Stars.

“Nathan, is this because of the Demon Empire’s academy that’s newly participating this time?”

“Vogue Academy is certainly an unknown factor, but…”

“It doesn’t seem like something to train this desperately over, does it?”

They couldn’t understand why Nathan was so urgent.

Although the sudden participation of Vogue Academy was concerning, no matter how great they might be, would they have received as proper an education as Freya?

Moreover, if their skills were truly extraordinary, rumors of their prowess should have spread to the Holy Empire by now.

These were the children of high-ranking noble families. They were the ones who would be able to access such rumors the fastest.

“Vogue Academy? I don’t care about them at all. What I’m concerned about is Ivecar Academy.”

“Ivecar?”

“Ah.”

“Oh, I see. You’re talking about your brother?”

If it was Nathan’s brother, it must be referring to Teacher Ethan Whiskers.

Originally, Ivecar Academy didn’t have many outstanding talents aside from Claudie Hyde, who was certain to become a Master.

Among the students, Roanna Prochet had been showing prominence, but that was about it.

Compared to Freya, the talent pool of both teachers and students was considerably shallow.

In such an Ivecar, Ethan Whiskers was known as an excellent new teacher, reputed for giving very good lessons.

However, Ethan’s current fame wasn’t due to his reputation as a teacher.

His reputation stemmed from his various achievements, including elevating the Whiskers family, which was originally just a small provincial noble family, to the status of one of the Twelve Families.

He had gone beyond being a rising star and could now be considered one of the continent’s power players, but his achievements as a teacher weren’t particularly numerous.

“Teacher Ethan Whiskers has certainly accomplished many great things. Didn’t the followers of the Moon attack Ivecar recently? I heard he played a significant role then too.”

“But that’s not about his capabilities as a teacher.”

The inter-academy exchange is a festival for students.

And it’s the teachers who lead these students.

No matter how great Ethan Whiskers might be, his capabilities as a teacher were still essentially unproven.

“I heard he received separate education from Master Regia of the Empire, and he’s done many unprecedented things for a new teacher, but…”

“We already have Master Teacher Draxler at our Freya.”

“Compared to Teacher Draxler, Teacher Ethan is just a rookie who’s barely started.”

Nathan quietly listened to the words of the other Five Stars.

As soon as they finished speaking, he lifted the corners of his mouth in a smile.

“You guys don’t know. You don’t know how my brother teaches his students.”

Nathan recalled Ethan’s teaching methods that he had experienced in the Whiskers territory.

The weak image of his brother was no longer there.

The image of his brother that Nathan had once aspired to be was also gone.

What was there instead was… an academy teacher who ruthlessly taught students to make them the best.

“Lacking in teaching ability…? You fools, you must have heard all the stories through your families. Among them, there must have been things you dismissed as nonsense, right?”

The others nodded at Nathan’s words.

Indeed, a lot of information about Ethan Whiskers had come in.

Not only his achievements outside the academy but also information about his accomplishments within the academy.

However, there were quite a few stories about him achieving things that were common-sensically impossible.

Naturally, they thought these were false information intentionally spread by Ivecar.

“It’s all true.”

Nathan said emphatically.

“All of it, every single bit, without exception, all of it!”

As he spoke, he tensed his eyes. He put so much force into it that blood vessels became visible in his eyes.

“I went home during the last vacation and met my brother. And I received a brief education from him, you know? That’s when I realized.”

Nathan said.

“That I can’t win against my brother in a fight.”

The expressions of the other Five Stars also turned serious at Nathan’s sincere attitude.

He wasn’t the type of student to joke about such things.

“You might think I gave up right away, but I believe it was the wisest and most correct decision in my short life. However… that doesn’t mean I’m going to live having lost to my brother.”

Then Nathan said the same thing he had said when he had consulted with Draxler, the Freya’s Master, earlier.

“Even if I can’t win one-on-one, we can win if it’s academy against academy. But not in our current state. You guys are too weak right now.”

“…You’re saying we’re weak?”

It would have been natural to get angry, but they quickly understood the hidden meaning in Nathan’s words.

“Is it that much of a difference?”

“It will be that big of a difference. If it’s students who learned from my brother…”

Nathan knows because he experienced it firsthand. If they receive such education for an entire semester and then participate in the inter-academy exchange.

No, among them, there must be students that Ethan has been nurturing since the first semester.

If that’s the case, he can be certain.

“Right now, neither I nor any of you will be a match for them. We’ll only end up embarrassing ourselves.”

“…”

“…”

The atmosphere rapidly froze.

“This isn’t advice, nor is it a warning.”

Nathan said.

“You guys, if you don’t train like me starting from today, I’m going to kill you. If you can’t keep up with my level, I’ll kill you with this staff and bury you in that ground over there.”

***

Ethan’s Introduction to Practical Studies was originally quite challenging.

Although it hit the core points, Ethan’s teachings were inherently difficult to internalize.

Theory plus practical application. One had to perfectly master these two aspects to keep up with Ethan’s class.

But now, the difficulty level had skyrocketed.

Of course, as much as the difficulty had jumped, the students’ mindset had also changed dramatically, so they were slowly but surely starting to keep up with Ethan’s class, even as they struggled.

The first class after resuming.

By the end of the second class after resuming, the students had completely adapted to Ethan’s teaching method.

“People don’t die easily, huh.”

“If you work hard with the resolve to die, you don’t die!”

They didn’t leave the training ground, their eyes filled with a hint of madness.

“My condition feels strangely good. It’s weird. I definitely did enough to collapse from exhaustion.”

“Is this… growth?”

“Those guys seem even crazier. What should we do?”

“Is Teacher Ethan’s class a class for raising monsters?”

The students who had been struggling with the Introduction to Practical Studies class, finding it too overwhelming until just before the attack, had now started to adapt to that class.

And that impact extended even to the joint classes.

“Hmm.”

After confirming the students’ progress in the joint class, Claudie called Ethan and Duty.

“I came running quickly because I wanted to ask too. What’s going on with these kids? Their growth rate is no joke.”

Duty was extremely surprised.

“It’s not all of them, but the growth rate of the students taking Teacher Ethan’s class is exceptionally outstanding. What on earth are you teaching them?”

Claudie and Duty were also increasing the pace and intensity of their classes in preparation for the inter-academy exchange.

It was natural to hurry as they had fallen behind due to the break.

However, it wasn’t as if students could absorb everything just because they were pushed relentlessly.

If the intensity wasn’t carefully controlled, it could lead to overpacing, so Duty and Claudie were paying a lot of attention to the students’ pace.

“It’s nothing special. The students have grown up after experiencing this recent attack incident.”

“Grown up?”

“Yes, they’ve all clearly realized what they can and cannot do.”

Ethan said with a confident expression.

“So I’m conducting the class accordingly.”

“How… accordingly?”

Duty asked cautiously.

“I made them get used to it. In the easiest way possible.”

At that moment, Duty felt a chill run down his spine.

“Shall I show you, Teacher Duty?”

“Ah, no. It’s fine. I’m a mage, so…”

Duty hastily waved his hands.

“Repetition? And that class using golems looked good too.”

“You mean the special golems. Please wait a little. New products should be coming out soon.”

Since Entrosa was working like crazy, various improved forms of special golems should be coming out soon.

“When it’s complete, I’d like you to send me some prototypes. I’m thinking of making a bulk purchase.”

“I’ll send them as soon as they’re completed. Do you need some too, Teacher Duty?”

“Ah, I’d be grateful if you could send me just a few prototypes as well.”

The three teachers discussed joint training separately before disbanding.

Time flew by, and two months had passed before they knew it.

***

“We will now begin the midterm evaluation.”

As Ethan stood on the podium, the students greeted him with solemn looks.

“Yes, teacher!”

“We’re ready!”

It had been three months since the Introduction to Practical Studies class began.

The students had become excellent warriors.