My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

’Does this even make sense?’

Julian found himself frozen in place. Feeling the murderous intent radiating off Eland, he immediately broke out in cold sweat all over his body.

Right then, Julian realized he might genuinely die if he didn’t do something, right now.

He glanced briefly at Kina. Fine, he could grab her and run, but if he did that, every ounce of stored Mana he had left would be completely drained, and the distance they’d manage to cover wouldn’t amount to much.

They’d be caught in no time. As for One Slash, he could only use it once, just once, and Julian had no idea whether it would even be enough to take Eland down.

Worst case, Eland could actually end up dead. But if Julian didn’t do something here, he’d be the one who ended up dead instead.

”Master...” Julian heard Kina’s voice murmur beside him. Just that alone was enough, and Julian let out a small sigh.

’Forget it. I don’t understand anything anymore, let’s just let this play out however it plays out. First, I’ll do everything I possibly can.’

Julian checked his pocket, pulling out the same knife he’d used before with One Slash to kill that Invader.

That knife was one he’d deliberately bought to defend himself in dangerous situations. Julian felt genuinely grateful now that he’d picked it up.

His gaze then met Eland’s, staring back at him with a dark expression. Every staff member and the professor herself looked away, apparently indifferent to whether Julian actually died right here on the spot.

”Haa...” Julian let out another slow breath.

Unlike Roland, Eland sat at Rank-E, meaning whatever skill he used clearly wouldn’t be nearly as simple as it looked.

Which was exactly why, the moment Eland began activating his skill, Julian did the exact same thing. He intended to finish this before Eland could unleash whatever he was preparing.

He wasn’t willing to take that risk. And if there was one advantage a D-Grade skill offered, it was that its preparation time was significantly faster.

With the knife raised above his head, Kina watching him with a spark of admiration and excitement in her eyes, and his Mana finally gathering into a single point, condensing tightly around the blade.

Julian found Eland frozen stiff in place.

***

’One Slash... that’s definitely One Slash, but...ugh...!’

Eland felt his heart pounding violently, cold sweat pouring down his face. He was certain it was just One Slash, but the actual Grade of that One Slash sat at a level that far exceeded even Eland’s own rank progress.

Watching the air shift around him, seeing the trajectory of that strike already forming, aimed directly at him, Eland’s entire body froze, pale as a sheet.

’No way...! There’s no way this man isn’t some Rank-A Hunter deliberately hiding his true Rank.’

That shouldn’t be possible, but what else could explain a monster who’d chosen to master One Slash, essentially the single most useless skill in direct combat?

That thought also dragged Eland’s mind back to something else.

’His Flash Step... so, that wasn’t a hallucination either?’

Flash Step reaching D-Grade was, fundamentally, the highest level any human had ever achieved in this era, a feat accomplished only by legends, Rank-A hunters themselves.

Waaah—!

The wind howled fiercely, whipping wildly around the man. And that’s when Eland realized, this man was already fully prepared to unleash his attack.

Eland also realized, in that same instant, that he was probably done for. He suddenly looked at Julian in an entirely different light, as though standing before some colossal being that should never have existed in this world at all.

As time seemed to sink and everything slowed to a crawl, that One Slash remained the only thing still moving at normal speed, in short, One Slash moved so fast it had outpaced time itself.

Eland’s pupils shrank, his breath catching in his throat, that pale white line streaked straight toward him, but at the last instant, it suddenly veered past his side, missing him entirely.

Slash—!

The ground behind him split cleanly in two, dust billowing up into the air, the air itself sliced clean through, and a stray insect that had happened to be in its path was killed instantly.

Everything fell utterly silent.

If anything remained, it was the sound of Eland’s ragged, panicked breathing, drowning in pure, absolute terror.

Around him, every staff member and the professor herself stood frozen, unable to move. Then, their gazes turned to Eland, whose body had collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Then, he lowered his head and dropped to his knees.

Why had that attack missed?

’This... this is mercy...!’

He slammed his forehead against the ground, over and over.

”Please... please forgive me...! I had no idea it was you. Please forgive me for failing to recognize you, my lord...!”

As far as anyone knew, only seven humans in the entire world had ever reached Rank A. Even though Eland had no idea who exactly he was standing before, all he knew for certain was that he had to do absolutely everything in his power to soothe that fury.

”Please forgive me, my lord! I’ll do anything...! Yes, anything at all, I’ll do whatever you ask...! Just say the word, but please, please forgive me...!”

Baam! Baam! Baam!

Eland slammed his head against the ground, again and again. And in that once-silent surrounding, faces began twisting, one by one, into pure, undiluted terror.

When was the last time Eland Dimne had ever shown this level of respect, this depth of fear, toward another human being?

The answer was, the only comparable moment had been meeting someone at Rank-B, and even that reaction hadn’t come close to this.

Which was exactly why everyone else present, unwilling to have their own lives destroyed, joined in, dropping to their knees, slamming their foreheads to the ground in sheer terror.

”P-please forgive us too, my lord! We, we’re innocent, we were only following orders.”

But there was no response at all. Julian simply stood there in complete silence, his expression cold and utterly blank, which only deepened everyone’s terror, on the verge of tears.

Right then, Roland, slowly recovering thanks to the serum’s effect, opened his eyes and pushed himself up. His gaze swept over everyone kneeling around him, then landed on Kina and her guardian, both perfectly fine, and he winced.

”Father!? What are you doing!? Why aren’t you doing something about that damn bitch!! She just tried to kill—”

Eland scrambled up, staring at Roland with an expression of pure terror and dread, his entire body trembling, and grabbed Roland’s arm, wrenching him closer.

”Father!?”

Then, he slammed Roland’s head straight into the ground.

”My lord, I’m sorry! Please forgive my son, he’s still just a foolish teenager who doesn’t understand a thing, mistaking who stands as his equal and who he should actually be bowing to!”

Roland found himself completely unable to move.

’W-what? What’s...!’

He tried to force his head up, humiliated. His pride refused to let him kneel, he tried to rise, but his father just kept slamming his head back down into the dirt.

”Shut up, Roland! You have no idea who you’ve just insulted, and you’re still bold enough to keep mocking them?”

”H-huh!?”

”Apologize! Beg for your life, if you still want to keep living...!”

Roland flinched. ”A-are you kidding me, father?”

Him? Begging for his own life?

Roland had never once imagined a scenario like this playing out. He tried to search for some other explanation, maybe his father was just messing with him, but the expression on his face was pure, undiluted terror.

”You want to die?”

That’s when Roland finally understood.

His father wasn’t joking, and... his own life was genuinely on the line right now. He finally took in his surroundings, everyone kneeling toward the figure who stood as Kina’s guardian.

Realizing that, Roland felt a wave of reluctance, but terror quickly overtook him, cold sweat spilling down his face as he slammed his own head against the ground.

”P-please forgive me, my lord!”

’What... is actually happening here?’

Meanwhile, the figure in question, Julian.

He couldn’t manage a single word through all of this, staring at everyone suddenly kneeling before him with a bewildered expression.

Just like them, Julian was every bit as terrified, his back drenched in cold sweat, his entire body frozen stiff.

All because of one simple fact.

’Ah, shit. I completely missed.’