My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

Kina felt her whole body go weak the instant she saw the E-Grade skill materialize in front of her.

Time seemed to slow.

On Roland’s staff, what took shape was a massive, solid cone of red-tinted ice, dense and enormous, radiating a wave of Mana that was overwhelming in its concentration.

No matter how Kina looked at it, there was no way she could dodge that entirely. Unless, of course, she had Flash Step. But Flash Step was currently locked in cooldown.

Ever since she’d forced her way into tinkering with how that skill actually worked, the cooldown had grown longer too, as a side effect.

The air turned bitterly cold, the grass around them slowly freezing over with a faint reddish sheen. Roland smirked, his expression dark, and the moment Kina caught sight of that ice cone streaking toward her, her mind went completely blank.

There was only one way to counter an attack like that: meet it with force of the same nature.

’He’s trying to kill me first, so I’m treating the rules of this duel as officially void.’

Kina raised her wooden sword. She had no idea whether a flimsy wooden blade could even hold up to unleashing One Slash, but there was no other option, she’d just have to force it through.

With the wooden sword raised above her head, Kina began drawing in an enormous amount of Mana. She felt herself draining fast, and a cracking sound rang out from the wooden blade itself.

Crack—!

Right in front of Kina, the head of the wooden sword split apart and fell past her. But that didn’t stop her, she let the blade drop, a faint pale point of light expanding into a single, streaking line of a slash.

The slowed time snapped back to normal in an instant.

The ice cone shot forward at full speed, several students screamed in shock, professors moved to step in, but they all froze mid-motion instead.

Slash—!

Baam!!

That single pale line split the red ice cone clean in half. Fragments scattered violently in every direction.

But it didn’t stop there. One Slash carried on, the remaining momentum of the strike still surging forward, and it reached Roland.

Spray—!

”Kagh!?”

A deep gash tore across the left side of his chest. Blood sprayed out, not just from his chest, but from his mouth as well. He looked down at his own chest, then began to panic.

”A-ah...!”

The pain sent him into terrified, uncontrollable thrashing.

The professors, still frozen in shock, quickly snapped into motion, rushing toward Roland as he panicked, slowly slipping out of consciousness.

Kina let out a slow breath.

Around the training field, the frost-covered grass lay scattered, the split halves of the ice cone, along with fragments of the shattered cone itself.

There were also patches of grass still charred and burnt from Roland’s earlier attacks.

”Ah,” Kina murmured softly, watching Roland lying there badly wounded. Then, her homeroom professor turned toward her, his expression grim:

”Seize that girl!”

Of course, that was exactly what was going to happen. Kina understood it instantly, to them, Roland’s life clearly mattered far more than her own.

So what if she was talented?

Talent meant nothing if she wasn’t even given the chance to develop it in the first place. So, what were they planning to do next?

Watching several staff members rush forward, trying to grab her, Kina startled when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder, spun around, and found someone she recognized.

”Stop.”

***

The moment Julian heard what the professor had just said, he immediately felt a wave of irritation and unease.

’Kina? Seize Kina? Seriously, is his brain broken or something?’

Without a shred of hesitation, Julian used Flash Step, already advanced to D-Grade by now, covering a considerable distance in an instant, reaching Kina’s position immediately.

Then, looking at the staff members trying to grab her, Julian furrowed his brow and said:

”Stop.”

There was no way he’d let Kina get caught here.

Especially not through some blatantly unjust judgment like this.

The staff members froze, their faces turning grim, startled that Julian, who’d been standing quite far away moments ago, had suddenly appeared right in front of them.

Faced with Julian’s cold, utterly indifferent expression, they hesitated for a moment.

Before any of them could act, Eland approached after checking on Roland’s condition, glaring at Kina with a dark expression.

”Kiena just tried to kill my son, Master Julian, don’t you think it’s only fair if I take her to trial?”

’If we were actually holding this to any real standard of fairness, I’d agree without hesitation. But unfortunately, the moment all of you decided to try seizing Kina here, fairness stopped meaning anything at all.’

They’d all openly sided with Roland, the one who’d tried to commit murder first, so what exactly was going to happen at this so-called trial?

Julian glanced around briefly. The students had been ordered to clear out, leaving only the adults, all staring at Julian and Kina.

Every single one of them stood firmly on Eland and his son’s side, not one of them backing Julian. Given that, what was he even supposed to do here?

’This is getting complicated, ugh....’

Julian felt his stomach churn, thoroughly sick of this whole situation. If it were possible, just like the old days, he wanted nothing more than to run straight to his manager, break down crying, and beg for help.

But there wasn’t a single soul Julian could rely on in this world except himself. Worse still, he was supposed to be the one holding things together for Kina, who was still just a teenager here.

Julian let out a small sigh.

Without him even realizing it, that sigh registered with everyone present.

”How dare he disrespect Master Eland like that?”

”This man’s practically asking to die. Sighing like Master Eland doesn’t even matter.”

Naturally, Julian ignored every one of those whispers, not even bothering to listen. He looked up, meeting Eland’s gaze again, and found that, somehow, Eland had grown even more furious.

’Hm? Now what? I don’t think I even said anything...?’

Julian felt his frustration deepening. People in this world always acted however they pleased, flying into anger over nothing, drawing whatever conclusions suited them. Setting aside the fact that this was an entirely different world, maybe their brains were just wired differently too, enough to warp how they thought altogether?

’I don’t get it, but since it’s come to this...’

”I’m not handing Kiena over.”

Julian decided he couldn’t back down from this. Kina had become one of his responsibilities the moment he’d arrived in this world, and Julian, despite how lazy he might look, actually held onto one simple principle.

Once he decided to do something, he saw it through properly. It was just that, lately, he’d been avoiding doing anything properly at all costs.

All he’d ever wanted was a peaceful, comfortable life, and he’d pursued that goal with genuine dedication, but this world, in its own strange way, didn’t seem willing to let him have it.

Eland clenched his fist tight. ”Do you have any idea?” he said, a crooked sneer spreading across his face. ”I hold more than enough authority to strip you of your right to live in the Central region. That would make you nothing more than a trespasser.”

It might prove difficult, since it would put him at odds with the Academy’s headmaster, but that didn’t mean it was impossible.

”And someone from the Slums who’s illegally trespassed into Central, well, I happen to have every right to have them executed.”

Kill the guardian, then take Kiena for myself.

That was exactly what Eland intended to do right now. He might’ve been a little startled by Julian’s Flash Step, wondering where on earth he’d learned it.

But that was surely all there was to it. Julian was clearly nothing more than an F-Rank Hunter, nothing worth fearing in the slightest.

So, the very next second, Eland activated his skill, having already decided, once and for all, that he’d kill this arrogant, insolent Slum dweller right here.