Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 392 - Riding the Momentum

Ethan raised his fist high in the air.

At this sight, the Ivecar Academy students watching the match cheered loudly.

On the other hand, students from other academies looked at Ethan with surprised expressions, saying it was impossible.

“Wow-!”

“W-what is this? It can’t be……”

“Teacher Ethan won? Against our Teacher Draxler?”

“A new teacher beat a Master teacher…!”

The joy and sorrow of the students and teachers from each academy were starkly divided by Ethan’s victory.

Ivecar’s students shouted like mad, reveling in this victory, while Freya’s students repeated in shocked tones that it was impossible.

Among them, some students were so surprised that they froze with that expression on their faces.

The teachers were even more so.

Freya’s teachers couldn’t even open their mouths at this bewildering situation.

Ethan was a new teacher.

Draxler was a Master teacher, who could be considered the pinnacle of teaching.

Of course, they were both representative teachers, and Ethan came out to represent Ivecar Academy, but their experience and strength itself were different.

Nevertheless, Ethan had won. Moreover, the result was heavily skewed towards Ethan.

It wasn’t a close victory.

It was Ethan’s overwhelming victory.

“…It seems you still have strength left.”

“Hah, on the first day, this is just……”

The Freya teachers who opened their mouths held their foreheads.

They never thought such a disaster would happen on the first day.

No, they didn’t even think Draxler would lose in the first place.

The Draxler they had seen was an absolute strongest.

He was also Freya’s Master teacher and had the background of being the disciple of Regia, the first Master teacher.

In addition to these two powerful backgrounds, his teaching skills were genuine.

He had produced countless excellent students at Freya Academy over a long time.

The teachers had seen it, and the students had seen it.

That’s not all. Last year’s inter-academy exchange was truly overwhelming.

Claudie Hyde came out as the representative teacher from Ivecar and fought hard, but in the end, couldn’t beat Draxler.

He alone won numerous exchanges, securing a massive number of points. He took the victory with an overwhelming difference.

At that time, Freya was confident. They thought that Ivecar was no longer a rival, and that as long as Draxler was at Freya, Freya’s long-term dominance of the exchange festival would begin.

No matter how they thought about it, there was no teacher in other academies who could beat Draxler.

That’s why they were a little worried about Vogue Academy’s participation. Because there was no information about them.

Ivecar Academy wasn’t even considered a contender.

“It was real……”

In a secluded corner of the spectator seats.

There, Ruard, one of Freya’s Five Stars, was staring at the dueling stage with a blank expression.

“Nathan.”

If he hadn’t participated in other exchanges, he wouldn’t have come here.

That’s how serious Nathan was about this exchange festival.

He probably would have told Ruard to participate in the free participation exchange if he had time left.

But Ruard was curious. He wondered what kind of person Teacher Ethan Whiskers was, whom Nathan had so earnestly urged them to prepare for, saying he could never win in a one-on-one match.

That’s why Ruard, who was the only one with free time, came to see Ethan.

He thought it was bad luck that Teacher Draxler was the opponent from the first match. He thought that this way, Teacher Ethan would lose too miserably, and he wouldn’t be able to see Ethan’s true skills properly.

Still, he thought he’d watch till the end since he came.

“You were right……”

However, the result was sheer terror.

Draxler loses?

It was something he had never thought of.

But it happened.

Now it was starting to sink in.

Why Nathan Whiskers had trained like a madman.

Why he had told them to take it seriously.

And…

“When he said he couldn’t win one-on-one, I thought why he was giving up before even trying……”

In this situation, he had no choice but to consider Nathan, who gave up quickly, as smart.

Meanwhile, while Ruard was in shock, there were others who were also in shock.

“……”

It was the teachers of Goode Academy who had been watching the duel between Ethan and Teacher Draxler intently from start to finish.

Among them, Incine, the representative teacher, stuck out his tongue while exhaling roughly.

“It was an incredible duel. An incredible duel, I tell you.”

“I’m really surprised. I had a feeling, but…”

“Until the middle, I thought Teacher Draxler was leading for sure!”

The teachers of Goode Academy were feeling joy rather than despair at this high-level duel.

Everyone stood up and applauded the incredible duel shown by the two representative teachers.

And Kai Felix grinned as he watched the Goode teachers.

“I won the bet, Teacher Incine. I apologize for being rude. I had seen how strong Teacher Ethan was through the training seminar, so I might have gotten a bit excited.”

Kai went to Incine and apologized politely with a bow.

As Kai had predicted, the winner of this big match was Ethan.

He could apologize as much as needed.

Incine shook his head as he looked at Kai.

“I would have reacted the same way if it was the opposite. Huh, I didn’t know. That Teacher Ethan Whiskers was this strong……”

He was in a good mood after seeing such an excellent duel, but on the other hand, he was starting to get quite worried.

He saw why Ethan became the representative teacher, pushing out Claudie.

Claudie probably acknowledged it willingly too. But just because he’s not the representative teacher doesn’t mean Claudie’s skills have gone anywhere.

Claudie will also properly vent his frustration of not becoming the representative teacher. Incine started to worry whether Goode Academy would be able to score points in the exchange festival.

“Here, take it.”

Incine first handed the dagger to Kai.

“I’ll be looking forward to Teacher Kai’s exchange as well.”

“Thank you.”

By the time the noise in the spectator seats had somewhat subsided.

Ethan went to Draxler and held out his hand. Draxler, who had lost, also exhaled and took Ethan’s hand after a moment.

The representative teachers of the two academies had shown how exchanges between academies should be conducted and how they should end.

“Waaaaaah-!”

The cheers and applause grew even louder.

“I lost completely, Teacher Ethan. As soon as I received the first sword, I forgot this was an exchange festival. Who could see you as a new teacher? You were quite composed.”

“It’s thanks to having a good master.”

Draxler thought Ethan was referring to Regia.

But the master Ethan actually meant was Draxler.

The things learned from Draxler were also fully incorporated into Ethan.

Especially this composure. Although Draxler himself had just shown it earlier, the composure of not being flustered in any situation was originally learned from Draxler.

“I may have lost the duel, but there’s still a lot of exchange left. It’s me who lost, not Freya.”

Draxler left those words and went down from the stage first.

Ethan remained on the stage for a moment, bowed politely to the teachers and students in the spectator seats, and then looked at Roanna, who had been quietly watching.

Roanna had already gone out to the exchange and won two rounds, waiting for the quarter-finals.

Ethan looked at Roanna and grinned. Then he clearly mouthed, “You’re next.”

Roanna also responded to Ethan’s smile.

“Did I encourage too much? We shouldn’t destroy everything.”

***

Meanwhile, duels were taking place on other stages as well.

“Mason Yellowd!”

On one side was Ethan’s favorite disciple, Mason, and on the other side was Mark from Saturn Academy.

Although it was Mark’s first participation in the exchange festival, he had quite good grades within Saturn Academy. Therefore, the students and teachers in the spectator seats focused more on Mark than Mason.

“I heard Mason has changed.”

“Did he come out last year?”

“He’s still a problem child anyway. How much could he have changed?”

“Even becoming a representative student must be due to the power of the Yellowd family. They’re one of the Twelve Families after all.”

So far, rumors about Mason were only good within the academy. Other academies didn’t know the detailed circumstances.

“I heard he’s the favorite disciple of Teacher Ethan, this year’s representative teacher.”

“I’ve definitely heard that Teacher Ethan is an amazing person. But why did Teacher Ethan take such a guy as his disciple?”

“I heard his standing isn’t good even within the Yellowd family.”

“This could lead to an upset. If Mason gets humiliated, Ivecar’s momentum will be broken right there.”

The students were hoping for the underdog, Mark, to win.

Everyone had seen when Ivecar first entered this Kabak. How much they had sharpened their swords to participate in this inter-academy exchange.

So if Mark could defeat Mason here, their momentum would surely be broken.

“Both students, onto the stage.”

Mason and Mark looked each other in the eye.

Mason was quite calm. He was so calm that no energy could be felt from him, to the point where one might wonder if he was scared.

If the past Mason saw the current Mason, he would doubt if this was really himself.

“Are you scared?”

Mark sneered as he looked at Mason.

“There are a lot of rumors about you. Enough to reach our Saturn. Everyone was wondering how on earth you became Ivecar’s representative student.”

Saying that, Mark drew his sword.

“Seeing a guy like you as Ivecar’s representative student, I think I could be a representative student at Ivecar too! I’ll knock you down here and transfer!”

“Start!”

With the facilitator’s shout, Mark rushed in first.

Quick resolution. He had information about Mason, but Mason had no information about him.

This happened because they hadn’t fully grasped all the students of Saturn Academy, who were participating for the first time.

Mark’s swordsmanship was extremely aggressive.

A red aura burst out from the outside of the sword, and at the same time, a slashing swordsmanship unfolded.

Seeing Mark’s swordsmanship, Mason recalled Ethan’s teachings.

-The opponent came to kill you. They will never wait. Flashiness is meaningless.

Mason’s sword was originally quite aggressive.

-The style of swordsmanship is, in short, to intimidate the opponent. My swordsmanship is fast. It’s telling them to be careful because there’s a powerful single strike. But the real ones intentionally show weakness.

Aggressive swordsmanship is not about swinging vigorously.

It’s about showing it at the moment the sword reaches the opponent.

That this swordsmanship can’t be blocked even if they try to block it.

-The real single strike should extend silently and secretly.

Mark’s swordsmanship, which didn’t know real combat, was, as Ethan said, a noisy swordsmanship that tried to intimidate the opponent by loudly proclaiming what kind of swordsmanship it was.

In short, that swordsmanship lacked practicality.

‘Now I understand how we must look in the eyes of Teacher Ethan, who knows real combat.’

To Mason’s eyes, which had come to know real combat even for a short time, Mark looked like a greenhouse flower.

‘It’s a common saying, but now I understand why they call it a greenhouse flower.’

All the shortcomings of the Introduction to Practical Studies students that Ethan had mentioned were visible.

Flashy.

Giving too much information to the opponent.

Above all, it was noisy.

Attacking like that is equivalent to asking to be killed.

Mason just took one step forward.

Despite having the same aggressive swordsmanship as Mark, Mason’s sword showed no characteristics or individuality.

Sling-.

And at the moment of drawing the sword and clashing.

The secret technique of the Yellowd family, the aggressive swordsmanship, shone.

Clang-!

It wasn’t the usual sound of swords clashing.

“Ugh.”

“I controlled my strength. It’s the first day today. If it was the last day, I would have left you with a lesson.”

Mason looked down at Mark, who was falling from the powerful impact.

“And that provocation skill. It was terrible.”

As Mark fell, the facilitator raised his hand.

“Ivecar Academy Swordsmanship Department! Mason Yellowd wins!”

The result of their efforts for the exchange festival was just beginning.