My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

Roland carried an intensely high sense of pride, born into a family that had already sat at the top from the very start, which had shaped his entire mindset into believing he could never be placed on equal footing with anyone beneath him.

Which was exactly why he’d felt so genuinely furious when Kina, someone from the Slums of all places, had actually beaten him and made him suffer, even if only briefly.

Brief, yes, but more than enough to leave Roland seething with rage. Armed with expensive armor suited to his current Rank, a magic staff that was actually an artifact boosting the destructive power of his skills, and finally, a serum granting him an overflowing reserve of Mana.

He couldn’t see a single reason why he should lose this fight.

Two fireballs streaked toward Kina, both dodged effortlessly. But Roland wasn’t discouraged, that had only been the opening act.

The next second, Roland summoned even more fireballs, burning through his Mana at a rapid pace, though that hardly mattered to him. With a total of eight fireballs now, he was confident Kina would never manage to dodge every single one.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The fireballs fired off one after another. The air had already been hot to begin with, but now, thanks to those fireballs, the heat around them intensified further, the smell of burning grass spreading through the air.

Roland watched Kina dodge, again and again, sidestepping every attack. Then, he raised his staff, and a massive fireball began to form, a smirk spreading across his face.

It was, essentially, an attack capable of putting Kina in a genuinely fatal condition, but he didn’t hesitate for a second to unleash it. Why would he hold back when his own father was right here watching?

His father would clean up whatever mess followed.

Woosh—!!

The massive fireball dropped, completely swallowing Kina from Roland’s view. All he had to do now was wait, and it would all be over.

”Young master, what exactly are we looking at right now?”

”...Huh?”

Baam!

The fireball crashed down, scorching the ground black. A powerful gust of wind blasted outward, and Roland, startled, spun his head around, finding Kina staring back at him with a calm smile, along with... her wooden sword, raised and already streaking toward him.

The wooden sword dropped, blotting out Roland’s entire field of vision before slamming straight into his face.

Braak!

”Argh!?”

Roland felt a burst of searing pain across his face, knocked back three full steps, collapsing to the ground in a pathetic heap. He winced, rubbing his face hard, forcing his eyes open to find Kina staring back at him with pure disgust.

”Clowns don’t feel pain, young master. They laugh.”

”Ugh....!”

Roland gritted his teeth in fury, then thrust his staff forward. It wasn’t just a staff that boosted his attack power, it also stored a handful of single-use skills.

Puff!

A burst of smoke exploded outward, completely swallowing Kina’s face from view. Taking advantage of that, Roland scrambled up, backing away in a panic.

His gaze locked onto Kina, trapped in that billowing smoke, and he raised both hands.

Roland’s Talent was tied to the fire element, sitting at C-rank, granting him two innate skills. One created fireballs, and the other was something he’d been waiting to use.

He thrust both hands forward, and flames danced wildly in his grip, twisting into a spiraling pillar aimed straight at Kina.

Once the smoke cleared, what awaited Kina was that explosive spiraling flame. But once again, there was a clear gap between those with real experience and those without.

Roland’s moves were painfully easy to read, and Kina, she could’ve easily just walked out of that smoke cloud earlier. Why would she have stayed put?

Well, she’d stayed precisely because she’d already guessed Roland would prepare a little surprise the moment the smoke cleared.

Woosh—!

Kina felt the air around her rising with intense heat. She didn’t use Flash Step, simply repositioning herself, twisting her body just slightly.

The spiraling flame swept past her, grazing her skin with a searing sensation, but nothing that carried any lasting effect. Just that, nothing more.

So far, everything Roland had thrown out had been aimed squarely at inflicting serious, lasting damage on Kina. It was genuinely infuriating, considering how the spectators and even the professor overseeing the match had all conveniently looked away from exactly what Roland was trying to do.

Watching Roland’s shock, Kina let out a soft huff and smiled again.

”What’s wrong, young master? Isn’t everything going according to plan?”

Kina lunged forward, catching Roland off guard as she appeared right in front of him, then drove her fist forward hard.

Baam!

The punch landed square on Roland’s stomach, right against the surface of his armor. Roland took no real injury from it, but his body was knocked stumbling backward.

”S-shit—”

Before he could even finish the word, Kina appeared again, lifting her leg and driving a kick straight into Roland’s temple.

Baam!

Everything was covered in armor, but so what?

The goal was never to actually hurt Roland, just to make him realize, beyond any doubt, that he stood absolutely no chance against a mere Slum girl like Kina.

And that was exactly what Kina delivered.

Baam! Baam! Baam!

Blow after blow rained down. By now, the spectators watched with visible tension and disbelief. Seeing Roland get pummeled like this was a sight none of them had ever expected.

Worse still, Roland looked genuinely pathetic, since not a single one of his attacks had managed to land.

’No wonder the headmaster herself has been keeping an eye on this girl.’

Eland wasn’t surprised, Kina had clearly been chosen for her talent. The problem was, if this kept going, his son was about to be publicly humiliated, and that would land directly on his family’s reputation.

His fist clenched so tight it left faint cracks in the chair he sat on.

Julian, on the other hand, reacted quite differently. He was surprised, yes, though not by the fact that Kina was winning so easily, he was surprised by something else entirely, something that had just happened.

In the middle of the fight, right at the very start, right when Kina had used Flash Step. Kina had made progress again, and it perfectly showcased just how absurd her talent really was.

Because the issue wasn’t just that Kina was growing stronger, she was actively tinkering with what Flash Step was supposed to be capable of, pulling off things that shouldn’t have been possible at all.

Julian could tell exactly what she’d done, since the progress had been imprinted directly into his own mind, in a version scaled up a hundred times over.

An expression of pure disbelief spread across Julian’s face.

’Absolutely insane.’

And, right about now, it seemed like it was finally time for Kina to finish the match, or so every spectator watching assumed.

Roland, his armor nearly battered to pieces, suddenly raised his staff. The ground trembled, and jagged stones burst upward, viciously wrecking the footing beneath Kina.

That bought Roland just enough breathing room to put distance between himself and Kina. The next second, Roland burst into loud, raucous laughter.

”You forced me into this!”

On his staff, a skill meant purely for killing began slowly manifesting, crossing over into reality.

Every hair on Julian’s body stood on end, while Kina’s expression froze in place.