SRS 18

But regardless of the angel professor’s questionable mental state, his approach and the definition of divine power were both novel and beneficial.

The statements were just somewhat radical and came out in an absurd manner, but if you dissected what the professor was saying, wasn’t he saying that because divine power is the power of gods, you can accomplish everything gods can do?

If you considered the professor’s definition of divine power, it was a reasonable theory.

“But in your worlds, they wouldn’t have told you this. Of course not. If you use divine power carelessly, it damages the dignity of the gods, so they would’ve taught you to use it only for good deeds that don’t harm that dignity. That’s why your answers were only predictable, formulaic ones. But Fantasiademia is different. If luck follows you, you’ll return to your original world and become beings who perform miracles. You have the right to properly understand what divine power is and exercise authority as representatives of the gods.”

At the angel professor’s words, the students who’d been tense began to regain their composure one by one. Pride appeared in the eyes of some. Yohan felt the same.

Indeed, there’s value in having endured the past month and passed.

If he awakened to the true meaning of divine power and returned to his original world, he could easily defeat the demon that bewitched Cheplen.

Yohan withdrew his intention to drop the course, which he’d only held internally, and immersed himself in the class.

Next to him, Mikael was still dozing with his chin propped up and eyes closed.

“At this point, you’ll have a question. If divine power is the power of gods, can users of divine power be omnipotent?”

The angel professor, who asked the question on everyone’s behalf, walked among the students. The students’ gazes naturally followed the professor.

“To give just the conclusion, the answer is yes. You can be omnipotent. Look. Right now, I shattered the window with divine power alone, and I can also restore the broken window with divine power alone.”

As he spoke, the professor brought the glass fragments he’d been floating in the air to the window. Then, just as the professor said, the glass window was restored as if time had reversed.

“Wow.”

“…It’s like magic.”

“You can do that with divine power?”

The students exclaimed in awe. This first-time method of utilizing divine power was enough to shatter the students’ formulaic thinking, just as the professor said.

The angel professor pointed to a student sitting in front of him.

“Lamb. Try breaking the window.”

“Pardon?”

“I told you to break the window.”

“…..”

The student, singled out just for being near the professor, looked back and forth between the professor and the intact glass in bewilderment. At the face that seemed to ask “Me?”, the angel professor’s gaze turned cold.

“I’ll, I’ll try.”

The nervous student swallowed and glared at the window.

“…..”

“…..”

“…..”

“Don’t just have a staring contest, use divine power.”

“…I am using divine power.”

“Is that so.”

When the student answered sheepishly, the angel professor accepted it without blinking and returned to the platform.

“As you just saw, users of divine power can be omnipotent. But you are not. Although you say you use the power of gods, that’s only power bestowed by the gods, not your own power. The range of power that can be used by those with divine status and mortals without it is different. Recognize your limits. This is the first step in utilizing divine power.”

So in the end, we can’t break a window with divine power alone?

The students who’d been hopeful wilted again after hearing the professor’s scathing assessment. The angel professor continued the class whether the students lost their will or their hope.

“From now on, you’ll have time to check how much divine power you’ve received from your gods.”

Clap.

When the angel professor clapped, a yellow ring-like object appeared at everyone’s seat.

“Hold the ring and inject divine power into it. If the ring’s color changes to white, raise your hand to exchange the ring. The replacement ring can accept more divine power than the original. For each ring you surpass, I’ll record your level on the evaluation sheet by assigning stages.”

At the advance notice, one student looked at the professor’s face cautiously, saying they had a question. The angel professor furrowed his brow.

“Speak.”

“Um… Professor. We still can’t use divine power as proficiently as we could in our original worlds.”

At this friend who hit the core issue, Yohan nodded in agreement. As dimensions changed, the difficulty in releasing divine power was a phenomenon everyone experienced. To properly use divine power here, they had to resolve that phenomenon first.

And Yohan had chosen this major believing this class would help him overcome that phenomenon.

“Is that so.”

The angel professor answered indifferently, as if he understood.

“Inject divine power into the ring. By repeatedly releasing and injecting, you’ll explore on your own and learn a method to easily release divine power.”

“Won’t you teach us directly, Professor?”

“Why should I tell you something the lambs need to learn themselves?”

“…..”

Disbelief appeared in the students’ eyes. Even at the looks that said “Is this really a professor?”, the angel professor maintained his impassive expression.

Realizing further questions would be useless, the students attempted to inject divine power.

“Mm…”

Yohan picked up his ring and gently tried releasing divine power. In an instant, the yellow ring turned white and he raised his hand. The students looked at Yohan with envious eyes. Yohan became a little embarrassed.

Even so, he was a high priest in the past, so shouldn’t he at least be able to do this much…? They don’t know the circumstances, so they’re all staring so intently.

Yohan swallowed his embarrassment and opened his mouth.

“Professor. I need a ring replacement.”

Clap.

When the professor clapped, a new ring appeared. Yohan infused it with divine power and turned his head. He was wondering what Mikael was doing.

But Mikael, who had woken up at some point, was only yawning with a bored face.

“Hey, Mikael.”

“Yes.”

“You’re not doing it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I can’t use divine power.”

“…What?”

Yohan frowned. He thought he had misheard, but Mikael’s answer remained the same.

“I can’t use divine power.”

“Then… why did you choose this class as your major?”

“Because I was curious.”

“……”

Maybe repeating first year three times really made him different. His way of thinking was on another level.

Well, of course, the world he and Yohan had lived in during their previous lives was different too, but…

Yohan decided it was easier to just accept Mikael’s thought process than to try understanding it.

“I see.”

Maybe that could happen.

He had seen Mikael read theology books and get along with griffins, so he had wondered if it was possible for someone without divine power to use it. It turned out to be a foolish thought.

Yohan focused on infusing divine power again.

“Ha-aam…”

Mikael kept yawning. The angel professor, as if his only job was to teach, made no comment about the student’s poor attitude.

When Yohan was changing his fifth ring,

“Ugh… keuuh…”

A strange sound came from the next row, and Yohan’s eyes shifted. One student, face visibly pale, was trembling as he held his ring.

“Shan?”

When Yohan called his name, Shan’s eyes turned toward him. The look seemed to be pleading for help, and Yohan quickly jumped to his feet.

Boom!

A loud explosion rang out, and Shan disappeared.

“Shan!”

Startled, Yohan ran toward where Shan had been. He looked around for any trace of him, but then he heard a frog croak from somewhere.

–Ribbit!

Yohan thought he was imagining it, but the croak hit his ears again, leaving him confused.

Where was that frog sound coming from all of a sudden?

Was it raining outside?

–Ribbit, ribbit!

Yohan tracked the source of the sound. When he focused his senses, he realized it was coming from his feet, so he looked down.

–Ribbit, ribbit.

“……”

There was a small frog there. Something felt wrong, and he noticed the frog’s color looked just like Shan’s hair.

–Ribbit!

The little frog looked up at Yohan and cried pitifully. Yohan opened his mouth in disbelief.

“Shan?”

–Ribbit!

The frog nodded.

…Oh my god.

Yohan crouched and reached out his hand. Shan hopped onto his white palm.

“Professor.”

Yohan went to the angel professor, holding Shan in his hand. The other students, who had seen the commotion, were shocked and watched him.

“What is it?”

“Shan turned into a frog.”

“Is that so. Leave him be.”

“What?”

“Excuse me?”

The professor’s calm answer made the rest of the students panic too. Seeing their agitation, the angel professor calmly explained.

“If a student collapses during class, I’d have to write a report, so I set it up so they turn into frogs right before their divine power runs out. So if a lamb turns into a frog, just leave it. Once their divine power recovers past a certain point, they’ll return on their own.”

“……”

The students, who had thought they couldn’t be surprised anymore, were horrified. It was far too irresponsible for a professor and far too cruel for an angel.

This is what angels are like…?

Yohan once again felt the urge to change his major.

But he could only act on that after class. He didn’t want to lose points for storming out, so he looked at the frog that used to be Shan with pity, patted him once, and set him back on the desk.

–Ribbit, ribbit.

Shan’s sorrowful croaking went on for a long time, though he probably wasn’t lonely later.

–Ribbit, ribbit.

–Ribbit, ribbit.

–Ribbit ribbit ribbit.

A moment later, other students who had also turned into frogs from divine power depletion joined in crying with him.