Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 397 - Dungeon Conquest Exchange (1)

“Too cocky. You might have won in a duel, but dungeon conquest is different.”

With over 20 years of dungeon conquest experience, Spel, a teacher at Covington Academy, was specially recruited for his knowledge of countless monsters and dungeons.

Similarly, Goode Academy also had a teacher well-versed in dungeons.

Deka Mozel.

He was one of the most renowned adventurers on the continent, having written a book called “Deka’s Wanderings.” The book sold over 500,000 copies.

Like Spel, Deka was also specially recruited by Goode Academy for his experience.

That’s why both Deka and Spel showed considerable confidence in this exchange.

Honestly, they had to acknowledge Ethan Whiskers’ greatness.

Ethan Whiskers was far stronger than the standard. They had secretly mocked the teachers who were humiliated during the new teacher training, but seeing Ethan in person was truly overwhelming.

This was no new teacher. He deserved the title of Master as soon as possible.

But this wasn’t a duel.

The dungeon was their main stage.

“We can’t lose.”

The two teachers stood with the mindset that they would never lose on their home turf.

However, they weren’t the only ones whose main stage was the dungeon.

Wigen of Vogue Academy.

He, too, was an outstanding teacher who had conquered all the dangerous dungeons in the Demon Empire.

“Watch, you Holy Empire bastards.”

“Meister Wigen will crush them all and win.”

“Today is the beginning for our Vogue.”

Seeing Wigen’s imposing figure, the Vogue Academy students were filled with confidence.

“Among the classes the teacher teaches, there’s also an introduction to dungeon studies.”

“He also conducted a monster encyclopedia class.”

“This exchange is Meister Wigen’s specialty.”

Hearing the Vogue Academy students’ words, the students from Goode and Covington gulped.

Who would have thought Vogue had such a teacher?

Moreover, since Wigen was a meister teacher, this was not good news for Goode and Covington, who had been expecting to win easily.

“We won’t know until we see.”

“They might just be all talk.”

As the potential winners of this exchange narrowed down to three, Mason, Ethan’s devoted disciple who was sitting, shouted loudly towards the Vogue Academy side.

“Didn’t you say the same thing yesterday?”

Mason Yellowd smiled and provoked Vogue. Although he didn’t target anyone specifically, it was a blatant attack on Vogue Academy.

“You guys, claiming to be Vogue’s representatives, not a single one of you beat me. Especially you over there.”

Mason pointed directly at the Vogue student who had just said to watch.

“I hear that Teacher Wigen is an amazing person, but for all that, he didn’t show much on the first day. I can talk big too.”

“What did you just say?”

“Just what you heard. Are you deaf too?”

Mason smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth. Enraged Vogue Academy students stood up and approached Mason.

Mason also slowly rose.

Mason’s body had completely changed since the beginning of the year.

Every day, he had pushed his body to the limit with grueling training, and in the process, his mindset had changed too.

As if to take revenge on the wasted days when he had hit a huge wall, Mason had devoted himself to training every day, building his body to a level incomparable to before.

Add to that Ron, who was originally huge, standing up together, and the momentum of the Vogue Academy students approaching aggressively couldn’t help but be broken.

“As expected of a former troublemaker.”

Yuna admired Mason.

Mason was making excellent use of his past experience.

“I guess this is why people need experience. I should give more preferential treatment to experienced members of the Merchant Guild.”

Yuna didn’t bother to intervene in the fight. These guys were the experts in this kind of conflict.

The situation was at a tipping point.

“Thanks for coming to get your ass kicked.”

As it happened, there was another former troublemaker among Ethan’s disciples.

Oz grinned as he stood up, causing the Vogue Academy students to frown deeply.

“You want to go at it?”

The top students of Vogue versus the top students of Ivecar.

Comparing their strengths, the difference was indeed significant.

The Vogue Academy students knew this well too. That’s why they didn’t dare to draw weapons or make a move.

Moreover, they were all from the Demon Empire, so they knew very well what consequences such actions could bring.

“We’ve got nothing to lose.”

The Vogue Academy students’ faces reddened. They knew well what would happen if they engaged in a private fight during the exchange.

But this kind of provocation was unbearable.

At that moment.

“Stop.”

The student emitting the most intense aura among Vogue Academy’s representatives stepped between the two groups.

When this student stepped forward, the Vogue representatives were even more wary than Ethan’s disciples.

“Lazent.”

“You guys step back too.”

Lazent Strickland.

He was the eldest child of the Strickland family, one of the four great noble families of the Demon Empire and one of the continent’s Twelve Families. He was also ranked first in his year and overall at Vogue Academy.

That’s why even Vogue Academy’s representative students had to be mindful of Lazent.

After stopping the Vogue representatives, Lazent turned his head towards Ethan’s disciples.

And soon, he made eye contact with Mason, who was at the front.

“The provocation was too much, Ivecar.”

“Didn’t you guys provoke first?”

“We were so badly defeated from the first day. Our pride was bound to be hurt. That’s why we exaggerated.”

Surprised by Lazent’s unexpectedly honest response, Mason’s expression turned to admiration.

He had thought he could easily break their spirit by falling for the provocation.

As expected, there are outstanding people everywhere.

“Your name?”

“It’s Lazent.”

“I’m Mason. Looks like you’ll be participating in the dungeon conquest exchange. I’ll give you a chance then, so try to get your revenge. I won’t apologize for the provocation.”

“…Sure thing.”

Thanks to Lazent’s mediation, the fight was averted beforehand.

The staff and teachers who were about to intervene if a fight broke out relaxed and started to focus on the exchange again.

A bit away in the spectator stands.

Watching Ethan’s disciples, perfect not only in skill but also in trash talking, Nathan let out a long sigh.

This wasn’t just an emotional outburst.

It was intentional, to psychologically pressure the Vogue Academy students by touching their emotions.

It seemed they had been properly educated under his brother. They knew not only about sheer force but also how to gain the upper hand in various situations.

As expected of his brother. He had hoped that maybe some disciples hadn’t properly understood his brother’s teachings, but…

“Should I be happy about this?”

Of course, he would end up laughing once the exchange was over.

But at this moment, as the exchange was unfolding, he couldn’t be happy.

Because he wanted to win.

“Nathan.”

“Don’t worry too much. The second day will be different.”

“Look at the teachers. We have three dungeon experts.”

“If the teachers win this exchange, it means Teacher Ethan has a weakness too. So there’s no need to worry too much.”

“It’s only been one day so far.”

Despite the four stars’ consolation, Nathan shook his head.

“You never know. I’ve heard a lot about my brother.”

“What do you mean?”

Goode and Covington. And Wigen, the meister teacher of Vogue Academy. These three boast a deep understanding of dungeons.

On the other hand, Ethan doesn’t have any notable experience related to dungeons.

He has strong power, but it couldn’t be certain that it would definitely work in dungeons too.

Therefore, Ethan’s chances of winning this dungeon conquest exchange seemed lower than the three expert teachers.

But Nathan thought such judgement criteria were meaningless.

“If it’s my brother, he’ll have dungeon conquest experience.”

“What?”

“It’s a bit embarrassing for me as his younger brother to say this, but before he got sick, my brother was someone who could do anything. After he got sick, he heard all sorts of humiliating things. But look in the end. He even overcame his illness. And look at what he’s achieved in a year. Do you think someone like that would have no dungeon conquest experience?”

“…That’s just speculation.”

“As you say, it could be because you know your brother very well.”

“Then you watch the other teachers. I’m going to steal everything from my brother. I’ll watch and copy exactly, so I can beat Ivecar in the next student dungeon conquest exchange.”

Hearing Nathan’s firm words, the four stars thought for a moment.

If someone else had said this, they would have dismissed it as the words of a family member who thinks highly of their brother.

But Nathan’s words had never been wrong so far. Just on the first day, Ethan was even more shocking than Nathan had said.

“Alright. I’ll believe you, Nathan.”

“Since the second semester, not a single thing you’ve said has been wrong.”

“Then we have to believe, what else can we do!”

“I want to win too. Desperately.”

The Five Stars were outstanding students even at Freya.

Nathan had overcome his background belatedly thanks to Ethan, but the other four stars were students who didn’t have any background issues to begin with.

They were born into families with power comparable to the Twelve Families and raised as elites.

These elites who grew up had a very big flaw, but just as Ivecar had Ethan, Freya had Draxler.

Draxler gave them the experience they needed most.

Defeat.

They now know both the sweet taste of victory and the bitter taste of defeat.

That’s why their competitive spirit was also tremendous. The humiliation of the first day became a strong driving force for them towards victory.

“If we go back without even saving face, it’ll be remembered for a lifetime.”

The four stars, along with Nathan, stared at Ethan.

Ethan was moving around, warming up. In the middle of this, he looked at the spectator stands, nodded to his disciples, and then made eye contact with Nathan next to them.

Grin-.

It was a completely different smile. It was such a playful smile that it would have surprised the Ivecar Academy students if they had seen it.

“…It seems my prediction is right.”

No matter how you looked at it, that was the composure that comes from certainty.

***

“The difficulty is high. There’s a high chance of serious injury, teachers.”

At the management bureau staff member’s words, one teacher raised their hand.

“How high is the difficulty?”

“It’s high-grade even among the exchanges we’ve prepared. If you lose focus even a little, you’ll get hurt. Getting hurt means you could lose body parts too. But don’t worry. You won’t die. It’s controlled magic after all.”

It was a chilling statement.

“Is it okay to show this to the students?”

“If you make a mistake now, teachers’ hands might fly off, but next time it’ll be the students’ hands flying off. If it can definitely raise awareness, even if it’s a bit excessive, it’s the director’s intention to proceed. And…”

The staff member glanced up slightly.

On the second day too, the princess and the Demon God Spear were watching this place with their eyes wide open.

Perhaps because they thoroughly enjoyed the first day thanks to Ivecar’s performance, they seemed to have high expectations for the second day as well.

“With such eyes watching. I’m telling you the exchange can’t be conducted carelessly.”

“…We can’t complain, I guess.”

The authority of the exchange comes from its level.

With big shots like the princess of the Holy Empire and the Demon God Spear, one of the Three Gods, watching, they had to clearly show that level here.

If this exchange is concluded at a high level, the emperor himself might come to the next exchange.

If that happens, there’s a high possibility of a massive exchange where there’s no need to distinguish between the Demon Empire and the Holy Empire anymore.

And for the students, that would be much better.

After all, the most important significance of the exchange is to grow by interacting with each other regardless of nationality and friend or foe.

“Please do your best. Set an example for the students.”

The management bureau staff member gestured as if cheering them on.

“Then we’ll begin.”

Gwoong-!

Eventually, the ground opened and a huge magic circle began to activate.

At the same time, mages of 7th circle or higher from the management bureau came out and wove the magic circle.

“Total participating teachers: 15. 15 random dungeons will be generated. The difficulty is blood and flesh-flying A.”

Gwoong-! Gwoong-! Gwoong-!

A huge white smoke appeared in front of each teacher.

It was the entrance to the artificial dungeon.

As the teachers entered the smoke without hesitation, the smoke transformed into crystal balls and dropped to the floor with a thud.

“Part 2.”

Magic circles were engraved on the crystal balls, and soon images of the dungeon interiors floated above each crystal ball.

15 crystal balls. And 15 dungeons.

“15 teachers, all entered.”

The students and teachers from the six academies filling the spectator stands focused on the screens.

The first exchange of the second day. The atmosphere of the second day will be determined through this exchange.

“We will begin.”

With the sound of fireworks exploding, the teacher dungeon conquest exchange began.