Subscriber of the Gods Chapter 401 - Herb Identification Exchange

At those words, Nathan was momentarily speechless. But he quickly understood.

“I see.”

Flexibility.

Ethan had certainly set an example, but he didn’t insist on blindly following it.

It also meant that Ethan’s favorite disciples already knew this.

Nathan felt a strong motivation. No matter what, he was determined to beat them and score points.

“I can’t live with losing.”

“Nathan, even if it’s just once, let’s win and take first place over them.”

At the Four Stars’ words, Nathan also gritted his teeth.

“We still have many chances.”

***

The second day of the exchange was truly a fierce battle.

Ivecar Academy fought to maintain the lead they had taken on the first day, scoring points in each exchange centered around their aces, while other academies strongly countered Ivecar.

“We won!”

“Finally!”

And the results started to show clearly.

Ivecar Academy, which had never missed first place until now, ended up in second or third place in some situations.

“Phew.”

There had been several instances where Ivecar had come in third or fourth after securing the overall victory. But this was the first time they had given up the win itself to another academy.

However, Ivecar’s students didn’t mind.

They knew well that it wouldn’t be like the first day.

Each academy certainly has students specialized in exchanges. Once they start to come out in full force, it would inevitably become difficult for Ivecar to keep winning.

But that was okay.

“The meaning is in accumulating points.”

“It’s fine even if we lose some.”

Because Ivecar had their representative students.

Ivecar’s representative students were all students taking Ethan’s class. They were not only skilled but also had incredible mental fortitude.

Even in relatively weaker fields, they displayed superhuman concentration to not miss out on victories. Even if they did miss out, they would at least secure second place without fail.

There was nothing below that.

“Those crazy bastards.”

Vogue Academy students clicked their tongues and looked at Ivecar’s representative students with dumbfounded expressions. Just how many specialized fields did they have?

“How on earth did Teacher Ethan Whiskers educate them?”

“Or is it the opposite? Did Teacher Ethan Whiskers create them like that?”

Vogue Academy is also second to none when it comes to toughness.

Nevertheless, Vogue Academy students were not as mentally prepared as Ivecar’s students.

On the second day, while Ivecar was far ahead, Freya and Vogue were neck and neck fighting for second place.

“Damn, we can’t lose to Saturn either.”

“We’ll score points at least!”

“It’s too precious a place to end up as just a supporting role.”

This exchange festival was a big opportunity that wouldn’t come again.

Because they couldn’t end up powerless without achieving anything at such an opportune event, Covington, Goode, and Saturn tried their best to score points somehow.

“We need to make an excuse at least. We need to show how difficult it is to score points in this situation.”

The situation was different from previous exchange festivals.

Freya Academy, which won last year, wasn’t this strong.

The exchange festival continued with such back-and-forth competition.

“Hahaha-. It seems they’ve all been influenced by Ethan.”

The Demon God Spear enjoyed seeing the enthusiastic appearance of students and teachers.

If the students from other academies had lost their momentum once more, they would have just gone back. It wouldn’t be fun, and there wouldn’t be anyone worth taking as a disciple.

But that didn’t happen.

Rather, the atmosphere of the exchange festival heated up, and students and teachers began to challenge their limits.

The Total Academy Management Bureau director was also pleased.

“Thanks to Teacher Ethan, the exchange festival is heating up. They’re becoming stimuli for each other.”

The students were continuously drawing out their potential.

He saw them breaking limits several times that they normally wouldn’t be able to break.

“Separately from that, it seems the winning academy has already been decided.”

Day two. Ivecar’s score was already far higher than the combined scores of the remaining schools.

“Teacher Ethan, you really came with determination.”

If the exchange festival ended like this, it seemed that title would really be attached to Ethan.

“The fastest Master Teacher.”

The title of Master Teacher.

***

End of day two of the exchange festival.

And the third day of the exchange festival dawned.

As with the second day, the atmosphere on the third day had changed considerably.

Since Ivecar had gained a large score, judging that a reversal would be difficult, they changed their goal to somehow scoring more points and gaining experience.

As the last day approached, there were many exchanges where experience was necessary and winning by strength alone was difficult, so everyone had expectations for those exchanges.

And the first exchange of the third day.

The magic department exchange, the herb identification exchange, began.

The teachers and students participating in the herb identification exchange opened their eyes wide as soon as they went on stage.

“What?”

“Teacher Ethan is here?”

For some reason, Ethan was also present at the first exchange of the third day.

“Isn’t this a magic department exchange?”

“Teacher Ethan is a representative teacher, so it doesn’t matter.”

“That’s true, but…”

“I didn’t expect him to participate in the herb identification exchange.”

This herb identification exchange is quite high in difficulty.

That’s why only veteran teachers among those belonging to the magic department participated.

Even on Ivecar’s side, Nadia and Iris didn’t apply for this exchange.

Not only was the probability of winning low, but it wasn’t their field either.

Everyone was quite puzzled that Ethan was participating in such an exchange.

“Did he just decide to participate in all exchanges?”

“This isn’t something a swordsmanship department teacher would apply for.”

“Why on earth?”

While everyone was deep in thought about Ethan’s participation.

“He’s underestimating us.”

“The Teacher Ethan we’ve seen for the past two days wasn’t that kind of person…”

“Did he has to participate because no one else did?”

The veteran magic department teachers who were proficient in herbs were quite offended.

As they were veteran teachers, they knew each other’s faces, so they gathered together to share opinions on why Ethan participated in this exchange.

“No matter what, it’s strange to apply for an exchange in a field where you have no knowledge at all. He’ll obviously come in last. Has Teacher Ethan ever come last in an exchange at the festival so far?”

“No. He’s won 100 percent of the exchanges he’s participated in.”

That meant it wasn’t an exchange he entered expecting to come last.

And that implied that he took this exchange quite lightly.

“This is nothing but disrespect.”

“He might enter an exchange lightly… but if he did, we should show him.”

It was as if a beginner had joined an exchange for teachers who were serious about herbology and potion-making.

As there were no Ivecar teachers here, no one knew that Ethan had taken charge of potion classes.

But these were veteran teachers with decades of experience. Even if they had known that fact, they wouldn’t have cared.

“That’s right. We have no choice but to clearly show that this isn’t easy.”

The veteran teachers stared at Ethan.

Ethan was already concentrating.

He was raising his senses to the maximum by breathing as if meditating with his eyes closed.

“Is everyone ready?”

“Ready.”

“Ready, sir.”

“Then I’ll prepare to start right away.”

With the signal of the proceeding officer, the herb identification exchange was prepared.

The herb identification exchange was simple like the previous dungeon conquest exchange.

It was about opening boxes containing dozens of herbs one by one and identifying what those herbs were.

The herbs in the boxes were different for each teacher, and some even had to identify without seeing the actual thing.

It was truly an exchange for veteran teachers where experience and sense were important.

Most of the magic department exchanges were empty during the time this exchange was taking place.

Therefore, many students from the magic department specializing in herbology were sitting in the audience seats.

“Teacher Ethan, did he really come out with the intention of winning?”

“He must have a plan. Surely he didn’t just come out for no reason.”

“He probably won’t make it into the rankings. There are so many impressive teachers here, no?”

Moreover, there was a magic department teacher from Vogue Academy whose entire body was covered in black.

Her nails were quite long and dark circles were deeply set under her eyes.

“… She’s not a dark magician, is she?”

“No way.”

“Even though it’s Vogue Academy…”

But they couldn’t help but look suspiciously.

Her name was Shuka.

Although she had an appearance that looked like a dark magician, this was nothing special in the Demon Empire.

For magicians in the Demon Empire, this was normal and the bright side was abnormal.

The deeper one delves into magic, the more tired the body inevitably becomes.

Especially those majoring in herbology inevitably had darker circles under their eyes.

Most of the herbs in the Demon Empire are not fit for human consumption.

To distinguish between what can be eaten and what can’t, you ultimately have to eat it, but the herbs of the Demon Empire have too strong toxicity.

It was a kind of side effect. Of course, it was possible to eliminate the side effects, but it was inevitable because they ate them so often.

“Ha, you’re all just talking nonsense.”

A herbology student from Vogue Academy was angered seeing their teacher being treated like a dark magician.

“That’s a medal of honor. To become like that, you need to eat countless herbs, which means you can identify countless herbs.”

In short, it meant she was an incredible expert. When you reach the divine realm where you can identify almost all herbs, you end up looking like that.

“But why on earth is Teacher Ethan…”

Both Vogue Academy and other academies were all wary of Ethan’s participation in the exchange.

No matter how great Ethan is, there are limits.

Herb identification? While dungeon conquest could be dominated by talent alone, this required extensive experience.

“Preparations are complete. Please come forward, everyone.”

On the stage.

Dozens of herb boxes were prepared in front of each teacher.

Each herb box was enchanted, and the magic would be released as soon as it was opened. There were herbs you could see and herbs you could only smell.

The scores varied depending on the difficulty of herb identification, and the winner was determined by the total of those scores.

“Begin!”

With the signal of the proceeding officer, the herb identification exchange began.

The teachers carefully opened the boxes and smelled them.

As each box was different, some lucky teachers could even see the appearance of the herbs.

Therefore, it was best to focus on the herbs in front of you rather than paying attention to other teachers.

Various herb scents mixed on the exchange stage.

“With the smells mixing like this, will they be able to distinguish properly later on?”

“That seems to be the key.”

While it might be easy to distinguish in the beginning when the smells aren’t mixed, from the middle, the nose gets quite tired.

In that case, from the latter half, you have to identify only by appearance or with a dulled sense of smell.

Controlling nasal fatigue was also an important factor in preparation for this.

“… What?”

Ethan, who had been quietly biding his time, opened his eyes and immediately opened a box and smelled it.

Then he wrote down the name of the herb without hesitation.

Scribble-. Scribble-. Scribble-.

Smell, confirm, write.

Smell, confirm, write.

Ethan repeatedly opened boxes to check herbs and wrote down their names at an incredible speed.

“W-What?”

Something.

Something was happening.