My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

’D-Grade!? Seriously?’

Julian nearly short-circuited for a moment. He couldn’t help but feel stunned all over again, thinking back to just how ridiculously beneficial this tournament had turned out to be.

I mean, the prize was a D-Grade skill book?

Julian mentally slapped himself, then looked over at Kina, positively glowing with excitement.

Worth noting, there was a massive difference between an F-Grade skill that got upgraded into a D-Grade skill versus a skill whose quality was set at D-Grade right from the very start.

Which was exactly why hunters tended to avoid F-Grade skills entirely, preferring instead to start with an E-Grade skill for their very first book, or something even higher up the chain.

Julian had originally assumed Kina would need several more months before she’d finally manage to secure a genuinely high-quality skill for herself, yet here she was.

’This kid... isn’t she just a little too incredible?’

Julian wanted to cry tears of pure joy.

After that whirlwind of thoughts flashed through in an instant, Julian nodded and smiled.

”Good work.”

Kina giggled happily, just as thrilled as Julian himself. Besides, the skill book she’d received wasn’t something the Academy had chosen for her, Kina herself had actually been given the chance to pick whichever D-Grade skill book she wanted, along with full permission to study it.

’I didn’t even think the prize would be this good.’

Whatever the reason, the Academy had suddenly turned remarkably generous toward her. Kina didn’t dwell on it too much, after all, this was clearly a wonderful turn of events.

”By the way, why are you here, Ilunia?”

No need to ask why Ilunia hadn’t watched the tournament, I mean, who would even ask her to?

Everyone knew she was blind.

After a brief pause, Ilunia simply tilted her head and said, ”I was just taking a walk in the park and happened to run into Mister Julian.”

Hearing that, Kina nodded in understanding. She thought it over for a moment, glancing between Ilunia and Julian, a few things nagging at her mind as always.

Like, why exactly did her Master want her to keep watch over Ilunia?

At first, Kina had brushed it off, but thinking about it again, it felt strange for her Master to ask something like that. He clearly wasn’t the type who seemed romantically interested in women, so the reasoning had to lie elsewhere.

And the right direction for this was...

”Hmm...” Kina glanced at Ilunia, then turned to look at her Master.

”Master.”

”....?”

”Don’t you think you should make Ilunia your disciple too? She’s really smart, you know.”

’K-K-K-Kina!?’ Julian nearly shouted in shock. He’d been trying to figure out how to bring this up in front of Ilunia himself, but it had felt genuinely difficult to broach. So when Kina handed him this assist out of nowhere, Julian was stunned, but also deeply moved.

’You’re the best!’

Then, Julian didn’t say anything for a few seconds, because Ilunia spoke up first.

”Becoming your disciple, sir...?” She let out a small laugh, her face flushing slightly with embarrassment. ”Kiena, I’m blind, you know, I’m not amazing at anything, and I don’t have anything worth being proud of.”

In truth, Ilunia’s talent did sit at D-Grade, and while that was genuinely impressive on its own, her disability changed everything. Especially given that Ilunia had mentioned both her skills fundamentally operated passively, entirely beyond her own control.

Because of that, Ilunia’s talent had been written off as essentially useless. Of course, they all had no idea, since Ilunia had never once mentioned that she’d actually been activating her skill passively, quite often.

And the effect itself was substantial.

Julian, meanwhile, had no idea about any of that, he simply understood that an SSS-Grade potential was more than enough for him to bet on the outcome.

So he didn’t let this chance slip by, looking at Ilunia and saying, ”You’re selling yourself far too short.”

That line caught Ilunia completely off guard, since she hadn’t expected that response from Julian at all, while Kina looked thoroughly pleased, nodding along, practically radiating sparkling stars of satisfaction around her.

”A person’s Talent doesn’t determine their final outcome. If anything, you should know that a Talent’s Grade can still be improved. Human potential goes far beyond that.”

Just as expected, Julian had spent enough time observing the machines here and understood how talent measurement actually worked in this world.

With technology only capable of reading the surface Grade of someone’s talent, but incapable of uncovering any hidden potential beneath it.

Julian kept mulling this over, while Kina looked at him as though she’d just found some kind of validation, growing even more excited, and Ilunia found herself receiving information that perhaps even the world itself didn’t fully understand.

After a moment’s hesitation, Julian settled the last traces of awkwardness in his mind, clearing his throat internally, and outwardly, he calmly turned to Ilunia.

”Ilunia, you actually carry an incredibly high potential, you could surpass the legends of today, and become an even greater legend than anyone currently alive. If you’re willing, I could become your Master, guide you, and help you grow.”

The wind blew hard, leaves scattering freely through the air, Ilunia’s expression turned faint yet flushed, her hands clenched tight against her chest.

Watching Julian’s cold expression, Ilunia found herself struggling to say anything at all. As for Julian himself...

’Oh, that was a perfect performance. I feel a little guilty for lying like that, since I’m probably not going to be much help anyway. Well, guess I’ll just do whatever I can manage later.’

Julian cleared his throat awkwardly in his own head, brushing that guilt aside.

Back to Ilunia.

’Me... becoming his disciple...?’ Ilunia had already known this would happen, sooner or later, she’d seen it in her dreams, in the moments when fate whispered to her.

Still, experiencing it firsthand felt entirely different. To Ilunia, this was equivalent to becoming the trusted hand of her god, the one she worshipped, the one she admired, the one she’d sworn to devote herself to entirely.

Her heart pounded furiously, and by the time Ilunia realized it, her head had already bowed low.

”In that case... could I become your disciple, sir?”

’Oh! Oh! Yesssh!! There it is!’

Julian leapt for joy internally while smiling calmly on the outside. ”Of course.”

His cold voice, his blank expression, everything about him radiated pure indifference, an overwhelming charisma so powerful it left both teenage girls who’d become his disciples utterly captivated by him.

At the same moment, Julian watched a system screen appear before him.

[MASTER AUTHORITY]

Ilunia Novalin Has Been Bound As Your Disciple.

100× Progress Return Activated.

Dip! Dip!

[User has received Skill: —]