Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 390 - Kabak Inter-Academy Exchange (3)

The other teachers watched their bet with interest. In fact, the other teachers weren’t on Teacher Kai’s side.

If it were another teacher, not Teacher Draxler, facing Teacher Ethan, it might be different. But a master teacher is different.

To receive that title, great achievements are necessary.

The reason Regia Malcher could receive the title of master from the imperial family was because he was an educator great enough to be called the master and teacher of the imperial family.

Since the title of master was created based on Regia, the criteria to obtain it were quite strict.

Draxler, as Regia’s disciple, achieved the feat of raising Freya Academy, which had been a perennial second place behind Ivecar, to first place, while simultaneously elevating the level of Freya’s students through his own educational methods.

He earned the title of master through achievements built up over more than a decade in the teaching profession, not through short-term results.

This was a match between that Draxler and Ethan. So no one thought Ethan, who had just started teaching this year, would win.

Naturally, they could only predict Draxler’s victory.

Of course, Ethan wouldn’t lose helplessly.

But Ethan would eventually be defeated by Draxler due to the crucial difference in experience.

That was the normal prediction for the match.

“Teacher Kai, why did you do that?”

“We can see for ourselves how strong Teacher Ethan is.”

The new teachers from Freya who attended the training session with Kai knew well how strong Ethan was.

But that place was, after all, a gathering of new teachers.

While he might be overwhelmingly superior to other new teachers, once he steps out of the framework of a new teacher, his competitiveness would naturally decrease.

“Teacher Ethan Whiskers, Teacher Draxler X. Please come up to your positions.”

At the gesture of the facilitator, the two teachers stepped onto the stage.

Ethan was fully aware of the atmosphere around him.

‘It wasn’t intentional, but starting with a match like this from the first duel is bound to attract attention.’

Draxler probably knows it too.

That whoever wins here will be the winner of this swordsmanship exchange duel.

‘Everyone must be predicting Draxler’s victory. It’s natural. A master teacher versus a new teacher.’

But there’s one thing everyone doesn’t know.

Ethan stared at Draxler X.

‘As expected, he looks old. No different from when he was older.’

As a member of Freya Academy who had won the exchange festival multiple times, Ethan had received a great deal of teaching from Draxler.

Come to think of it, Draxler was also one of Ethan’s teachers.

And that means…

‘I know everything about him.’

Ethan already knew everything about Draxler.

“Begin!”

***

As soon as it started, Draxler moved first. He swung his sword with full force from the beginning.

This duel is literally for exchange.

So the duel should mainly be about exchanging swordsmanship.

Nevertheless, there was no hint of intention to exchange in Draxler’s sword.

It was literally a full-force strike.

And in that strike, confidence was evident.

‘He thinks I can block it.’

Although it looks like he’s using full force, he’s still controlling his strength to some extent.

Ethan lightly blocked Draxler’s strike.

Kwagagagagak-!

Draxler’s famous sword Ascarn strongly struck Ethan’s Frost Sword.

Kkaang-!

Since this duel was a swordsmanship exchange, Ethan completely removed the cold air from the Frost Sword.

Ethan received the sword and simultaneously put his weight on the ground, swinging his sword from top to bottom.

Kwagak-!

And Draxler accurately blocked that attack.

But he frowned as he blocked the attack. It seemed like considerable impact was transmitted.

After two exchanges, the two distanced themselves slightly.

Just twice.

Crossing swords with Ethan, Draxler clearly realized.

‘This won’t be easy.’

As expected, he lived up to his reputation.

Draxler’s sword was quite heavy and had a sticky feeling.

To be more precise, it felt like there was a magnet attached to the sword. It was impossible to deflect, and above all, if you applied force to the sword incorrectly, your posture would collapse immediately.

‘It will be difficult to subdue him easily without inflicting wounds.’

It’s difficult to subdue without inflicting wounds.

Moreover, Draxler’s eyes were filled with the determination not to give up this duel under any circumstances.

‘It’s the first exchange on the first day. If I win here, I can leave a considerable impact.’

This was a battle of momentum.

If you win in the first exchange between teachers, you can gain a psychological advantage in subsequent exchanges.

Moreover, this duel wasn’t just a simple duel with one win at stake.

It was a duel between Ivecar and Freya, both considered potential winners.

On one side, a master.

And on the other side, a teacher who is evaluated to potentially become a master in the shortest time in history.

‘Then there’s no choice.’

Ethan grinned.

He had no choice but to take the difficult path instead of the easy one.

‘Rather, it’s possible because it’s Draxler.’

***

“Teacher Ethan’s movements are all readable.”

“Teacher Draxler is controlling the flow. As expected, a master teacher is different. The history they’ve built up so far is different.”

“No matter how great Teacher Ethan is, he’s helpless before a master teacher.”

Kwak-!

As the high-level duel continued, the students’ eyes sparkled. The teachers were also immersed in the duel while evaluating it.

The principals also watched intently, as if not wanting to miss a single movement of the two.

Starting with such a high-level duel from the first exchange was beneficial in many ways.

Of course, Mad Sword was staring intently at Ethan, swallowing his saliva.

Ghost Sword sighed at Mad Sword’s behavior and then looked up.

He was quite curious about what Demon God Spear, sitting in the VIP seat, was thinking.

But contrary to Ghost Sword’s expectation, Demon God Spear was watching the duel between the two representative teachers with composure.

“Count Ethan seems to be getting pushed back.”

“That’s just how it appears, Your Highness.”

“Oh? Do you see it differently, Demon God Spear?”

Princess Evangeline looked at him with genuinely curious eyes.

“That curious nature of yours is just like Emperor Cairodias. He used to look at me with such sparkling eyes when he was a prince.”

“His Majesty often talked about you, Demon God Spear. He said he was very happy to have his name listed alongside his teacher, Demon God Spear, even though he’s now listed among the Three Gods or whatever.”

“He still calls me his teacher. Back then, he followed Regia more.”

Demon God Spear said with a smile.

“Please explain, Demon God Spear. Without holding back.”

“At a glance, it might seem like Ethan Whiskers is being pushed back, but that’s not the case at all.”

Demon God Spear said, looking at Ethan amusedly.

All of Ethan’s movements were focused on controlling his opponent’s movements.

“It’s a duel where they can’t hurt each other. So they have no choice but to engage in a battle of reading moves. As a result, Ethan Whiskers can’t exert his abilities to the fullest. So he changed his method. He stopped reading his opponent’s moves.”

This meant he wasn’t predicting how his opponent would move.

“If he’s not reading his opponent’s moves, doesn’t that mean Count Ethan can’t grasp his opponent’s movements?”

“He switched from reading moves to forcing moves simultaneously.”

“Pardon?”

Princess Evangeline, momentarily not understanding, asked again.

“Like that.”

Ethan took a step forward and raised his sword.

“With that single movement, he’s controlling the choices that Teacher Draxler can make. When Teacher Draxler makes a choice within the reduced options, he moves again.”

The time required for this process is significantly less. So Draxler was moving as if being forced by Ethan.

“For example, he would normally swing his sword faster to apply pressure, but he didn’t. He’s intentionally moving slowly to force Teacher Draxler into the movement he wants.”

He intentionally offers limited choices and forces the opponent to choose within them.

“He’s intentionally showing openings to force movements. To be more precise… making it so that the opponent has no choice but to move that way.”

“Going further, he’s even interfering with judgment, making the opponent choose moves they would never choose normally. It’s quite a psychological battle.”

With such a high-level duel unfolding from the first match, Demon God Spear inwardly thought he had made the right decision to come to the exchange festival.

He said he came to see Vogue Academy’s first participation in the exchange festival, but in fact, he came to see promising youngsters of the current generation like Ethan Whiskers and Claudie Hyde.

If there were good talents, he thought of taking them as disciples and passing on the Sword Tower.

He had lived so freely that he had no successor, and naturally, he had been neglecting the issues of the Sword Tower.

There were certainly several talents worthy of being successors.

But Ethan Whiskers, whom he had expected the most, didn’t seem to be someone he could take as a successor.

“He’s already walking the path of completion on his own.”

Demon God Spear had already reached the realm Ethan was trying to reach.

That’s why he knows.

When someone with overwhelming talent surpasses their limits and reaches a certain level, extraordinariness disappears and ordinariness takes its place.

Originally, overflowing extraordinariness is difficult to control.

Even if one claims to have refined the mana in their body through long training and can control it perfectly, they can’t hide what leaks out.

Moreover, even the smallest fragments are visible to the eyes of the strong.

But when one reaches that realm, even the eyes of the strong can’t see those fragments.

It truly becomes ordinary.

The reason is simple. Because one becomes able to control the extraordinariness flowing in their body.

It was exactly like a sword without a sheath entering a sheath.

The strong can draw out that sharp sword at will and boast of that extraordinariness.

Just like Demon God Spear did during the congratulatory speech.

Ethan had already reached such a realm.

Those who have already reached such a realm don’t need a teacher. Because they themselves are the teacher, and the path they walk is uncharted territory.

That’s why it was quite regrettable.

“It seems like he reached that realm recently…”

If he had met him before that.

He would have grabbed him without looking back. Whatever he wanted, he would have given it to him and taken him as a disciple.

He would have passed on his power to handle all weapons that exist in the world.

It was truly regrettable.

But it was still okay.

“It seems he’s ready to get serious now.”

From now on, Teacher Ethan Whiskers will show even more interesting things.

That power that reached the realm in a different way from himself.