Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 396 - Exchange Festival - Day Two

Day Two.

The atmosphere was fierce, unlike the first day.

Just like Ivecar on the first day, it seemed everyone had changed their mindset, grinding their teeth all night.

It was natural. They couldn’t be helplessly pushed back by Ivecar like on the first day.

Freya’s Five Stars appeared in the wide main square.

Four stars, centered around Nathan Whiskers, took their positions. The first exchange of the second day would begin in 10 minutes.

At that moment, Mason Yellowd and Oz Lazarus appeared. Behind them walked Roanna, Ron, and Yuna.

All the students present had witnessed how those five had performed on the first day.

While all Ivecar students were quite skilled, these five stood out.

Especially Oz Lazarus and Mason were difficult to rank against each other. Those two had dominated both swordsmanship and exchanges, while Roanna had single-handedly won all the magic exchanges.

“Today’s exchanges include team exchanges with two people and group exchanges with five people.”

The event staff explained about today’s exchanges.

“The first exchange today is dungeon conquest.”

Artificial dungeon conquest. That was the first exchange of the second day.

Since everyone had already seen the schedule, they had all prepared strategies for this.

Those five from Ivecar Academy were individually quite strong.

But what about when all five gathered?

There was a high chance their teamwork wouldn’t match up. Because of their individual strength, there was a high possibility of division.

This was the judgment of students from other academies.

But they didn’t know.

That these five disciples of Ethan had been training together, matching their rhythms, every week without fail during the second semester.

While students from other academies thought this was an opportunity, Nathan Whiskers was different.

“They’re brother’s favorite disciples. Watch them carefully. They’re the ones we need to beat.”

The four stars nodded at Nathan’s words.

Ethan’s favorite disciples also looked at Nathan and the four stars.

“Isn’t he Teacher Ethan’s younger brother?”

“I knew the name, but I didn’t know he was the teacher’s brother. I only knew the name Nathan. I heard there was an outstanding magician in Freya.”

“A magician?”

Roanna’s eyes lit up. If he was Ethan Whiskers’ brother and a magician, his skills must be extraordinary.

“I saw a few exchanges yesterday, and right now, Nathan Whiskers has secured the most points within Freya. The other four stars have also secured points, but even combined, they’re below Nathan.”

“We were planning not to give up a single point on the first day.”

Oz looked at Nathan.

Nathan Whiskers probably knew this would happen.

“He must have prepared. Being the teacher’s brother, he probably knew everything.”

“That’s likely. Well, should we complain to the teacher?”

Yuna said with a smile.

“Let’s do that. It’s rather good that we have a chance to complain to the teacher.”

Several students from Ivecar Academy had been defeated by Nathan.

As expected of Ethan’s brother, his skills were outstanding.

He would likely be a good rival in this dungeon conquest exchange.

“It’s no fun if it’s too easy. We should feel the rewards of our hard work, right?”

Oz and Mason nodded at Yuna’s words.

Although Yuna and Ron were from the swordsmanship department, they had changed from their usual weapons to ones that suited them perfectly.

Ron had switched to a heavy greatsword, while Yuna had enchanted her previous chain sword with magic to make it lighter and able to become heavy at will.

“Roanna, what are you going to do?”

Roanna smiled at Yuna’s question.

“I’m going to do it properly. The teacher gave permission.”

“Teacher Ethan did? Well then, we’ll just have fun.”

“That’s a shame.”

Ron sighed.

“I have the worst grades among us here. I’ve been told I’m not living up to my size.”

Bang-!

Yuna slapped Ron’s back hard as he became dejected.

“You’re doing fine. We all have our roles!”

“… Thanks for the rough encouragement, Garnet.”

After the event staff briefly explained, the students began to move en masse.

“Are we going right away?”

“No, didn’t you see the schedule? Today’s exchange starts with the teachers first.”

The second day’s exchange began with the teachers’ exchange, not the students’.

***

“They say he’s a veteran teacher from Vogue Academy?”

“Wigen? I’ve never heard that name before.”

“Since he’s coming out as a representative teacher, his skills must be certain.”

“He’s strong. I saw him on the first day of exchanges, he was the only teacher from Vogue Academy to win.”

“But as far as I know, he didn’t overlap with Teacher Ethan Whiskers or Teacher Claudie Hyde yesterday.”

“Today’s exchange…?”

“They overlap. With Teacher Ethan Whiskers. It seems they’re going out for the swordsmanship dungeon conquest exchange. And there’s also a sword path exchange after that?”

“Even Teacher Draxler couldn’t beat him. But you never know. Teacher Wigen might win.”

In the spectator seats of the stage where the teacher dungeon conquest exchange was taking place.

Students from Goode, Covington, and Saturn were gathered, chattering about the teachers participating in this dungeon conquest exchange.

Yesterday was Ivecar’s one-sided dominance, and Freya and Vogue Academy were humiliated.

Of course, Goode, Covington, and Saturn also failed to score any points, but talking about other academies was much more interesting than such self-deprecating talk.

“I wonder how it’ll turn out? Since it’s not a duel-style exchange like yesterday, I think the results will be different today.”

“Our academy will be able to score points today! Dungeon exchange? We have Teacher Spel in our academy! They’re a dungeon expert!”

Covington and Goode also had quite a few teachers who were well-versed in dungeons.

On the second day, fighting well alone wouldn’t be enough to receive high grades, unlike the first day.

Especially in the dungeon conquest exchange, they had to fight monsters instead of humans, and quick thinking ability was particularly important.

“I’m sure the teacher will bring back points.”

The teacher dungeon conquest exchange, which preceded the student dungeon conquest exchange, was quite high in difficulty.

If the dungeon conquest was too easy, students wouldn’t be able to learn anything, so the difficulty was intentionally set high.

Of course, teachers could get hurt in the process, but that too was education for the students, so some risk had to be accepted.

The purpose of this exchange was to improve coping abilities, so all teachers were participating in the exchange, accepting the risks.

Rather than simply conquering the dungeon, the significance lay in showing how to deal with various situations.

Seeing once is better than hearing ten times for understanding.

At that moment, students from Ivecar Academy, Freya, and Vogue Academy entered.

It was Ethan’s five favorite disciples and Freya’s Five Stars.

The students from Goode, Covington, and Saturn who had arrived earlier murmured as they saw them.

“Those five swept everything yesterday, right?”

“Freya’s Five Stars were no joke either. See that big guy there? Ron or something? One of those Five Stars restrained Ron.”

“Is Freya the only one who can stop the one-sided dominance?”

“The first day ended like that, but the second day is different. The exchange isn’t just about fighting.”

Students from other academies also acknowledged that only Freya Academy could stop Ivecar’s one-sided dominance.

In such an atmosphere, Vogue Academy students were frowning deeply.

“Just wait and see. Today our Teacher Wigen will beat Teacher Ethan and boost our morale.”

“We’ll take all the remaining victories for Vogue.”

This dungeon conquest exchange was planned for teachers to set an example, with the process of teachers conquering the dungeon visible to all students.

In other words, it meant for students to use what they saw teachers doing in the dungeon conquest in the next exchange.

As they were setting an example, all the teachers participating in this dungeon conquest exchange were representative teachers from each academy.

Led by Ethan Whiskers, the representative teacher of Ivecar, representatives from Freya, Vogue, Covington, Saturn, and Goode all participated.

Then, Ivecar’s teacher Claudie and veteran teachers from other academies entered the spectator seats.

“Teacher Claudie, you’re not participating?”

When a familiar teacher from Goode asked, Claudie answered simply.

“Condition management is necessary.”

Claudie, who answered simply, sat down and crossed his arms.

This appearance seemed quite relaxed to teachers and students from other academies.

It seemed to mean that even if he didn’t participate, Teacher Ethan Whiskers would take first place, so it was fine.

On the stage below.

The gathered teachers were preparing.

As this was the first time representative teachers from each academy had gathered in one place, other participating teachers were also watching them.

“You dominated first place, Teacher Ethan.”

Having fought once, Draxler was the first to acknowledge Ethan.

“To be honest, I was quite disappointed. In myself, that is. I didn’t think I would lose.”

Draxler smiled. But his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“My defeat had a big impact on our Freya students. On the contrary, Ivecar’s students gained even more momentum.”

Draxler was determined to win this dungeon conquest exchange.

“I will win.”

Ethan said. All the teachers were surprised by his confidence. This wasn’t a duel. Yet he had such confidence.

Even Draxler frowned slightly.

He already knew that Ethan was sick.

Especially in his childhood, he heard that he couldn’t experience many things due to illness.

There was no way such an Ethan would know much about dungeons.

Of course, his coping ability would be good, but this exchange wasn’t just about coping ability.

Based on coping ability, one had to know well about the characteristics of dungeons and monsters.

“You can divide the next rankings among yourselves, Teacher Draxler.”

“…”

At Ethan’s words, Draxler genuinely laughed.

There wasn’t a hint of doubt in Ethan.

“Let’s see.”

Draxler nodded.

He clearly acknowledged it. He lost in the duel. Even if they did it again, it would be difficult to win.

Ethan was far stronger than he had thought. In terms of individual power, he was far above him.

But this wasn’t a duel.

That’s why there was a chance.

“Is everyone ready?”

At the event staff’s words, everyone nodded.