My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

”Is this really possible?” Lurker couldn’t wrap his head around it. The girl’s Talent was only F-Grade, so how in the world could she display enough intelligence to grasp One Slash to that extent?

It was even reported that not even two weeks had passed since she received the Flash Step Skill book, yet she had already mastered it and was now standing on the path of Progression.

Then there was her unique swordsmanship style, along with the gap between her and the Academy’s top student, a gap that was far too wide. No matter how Lurker looked at it, everything about her was too suspicious to simply ignore.

”What about her identity?”

”That’s the difficult part, my lord,” Unlike the central district or the elite territories, the Slums were an extremely lawless region, so much so that tracking someone’s identity there was often next to impossible, since its people weren’t even recorded in any government registry. ”We couldn’t pin down her identity clearly. All we know is that they suddenly appeared a few weeks ago, then bought a Mimic Serum.”

”A Mimic Serum...? Hm... Who used it?”

”I believe it was Kiena. Because whenever she was in the Slums, that girl never once showed her face.”

That was the key, then. They might be able to trace something if they started from the fact that Kiena had infiltrated the Academy while hiding her identity.

After hesitating for a moment, the woman, Lurker’s subordinate, spoke again, ”As it happens, a certain organization has been forming in the Slums. They operate as an information network and trade in it. If my lord wishes, we might be able to ask them for help.”

Lurker nodded. He was the type who went all in on every goal he set, so even if the odds were slim, he would still see it through.

Because a slim chance still meant it was possible, not impossible.

”Do it. And... tell Obey to head back to the main house and fetch those glasses for me.”

A pair of glasses capable of seeing through Mimic Serum.

’Yes, let’s see what’s really hidden behind that appearance of hers.’

Lurker let out a small sigh.

He hadn’t expected this little trip to bring him something so intriguing.

His gaze drifted to the window, where the moon hung in the sky, scattered with stars. The night felt warmer than usual.

***

After the Academy tournament ended, Kina wasn’t given any time to rest at all. She went through quite a few procedures, direct interviews with the Academy staff, photo sessions, and more.

All of it happened in a single night, and once it was finally over, Kina was about to head back to rest, but before that could happen, the Headmistress called her to come to the office.

”Ugh... Why does everyone just do whatever they want? Can’t we push this to tomorrow?”

Kina grumbled irritably as she walked, yawning several times, kicking at the air with a scrunched-up face.

Once she reached the door of the Headmistress’s office, she knocked three times and said, ”Headmistress? It’s Kiena.”

A few seconds passed in silence before a voice finally came from inside, ”Just come in, the door’s not locked.”

It was the Headmistress’s voice, soft and gentle.

Kiena pushed the door open, letting out a low creak.

revealing a minimalist office lined with bookshelves along the walls, along with a scattering of decorations mixed among various collectibles.

In the middle of the room sat one long sofa and two single sofas. Then, at the far end of the room, the Headmistress, Adelle, sat in her own chair behind a desk piled high with documents.

Adelle smiled sweetly, yet Kina felt a shiver run through her whole body.

’W-when was the last time she slept?’

Could someone really have eye bags that dark and that thick?

Kiena hesitated for a moment before greeting Adelle. After being given permission to sit, Kina watched as Adelle let out a tired sigh.

pushed aside the entire stack of documents, and turned her full attention to Kiena.

”First off, congratulations on your win. I watched your match, and aside from being cute, you really are incredibly talented.”

’Cute again...?’

Kina was a little annoyed by that, but since it was Adelle, the Headmistress, sitting in front of her, she held herself back from saying anything rude.

”Thank you, Headmistress.”

Adelle nodded, ”Alright, since you look tired and so am I, let’s just wrap this up quickly, okay?”

Adelle raised one finger. ”Answer my question honestly. Are you really from the Slums?”

Kina was, admittedly, very suspicious. After everything she had done, it would have been strange if not a single person grew suspicious of her identity.

So, after hearing that, Kina still reacted calmly. After all, it was only natural for this to happen.

”Yes, that’s true.”

”Hmm...” Adelle mulled it over for a moment, then raised a second finger. ”How did you manage to grasp the skill book so quickly?”

As for this question, Kina only thought about it briefly, then smiled and answered:

”I just did what the Academy explained: read, understand, and practice until it worked.”

It was an honest answer. Kina didn’t have anything special to hide about it. Her understanding was simply on another level, since she’d been talented from the very start.

Adelle furrowed her brow slightly, but kept her smile in place, since she still hadn’t found anything meaningful.

So she raised a third finger. ”What about One Slash, then? With an F-Grade Talent, your progress with One Slash reaching E-Grade is theoretically almost impossible. You’d need decades just to understand it up to that level, and looking at your age, it seems like you’ve only been training as a hunter for about a month or two.”

And then came this part.

The part that made Kina have to think for almost thirty seconds straight. Fundamentally, this too still fell within the context of her own understanding, because of her own talent.

But with Adelle bringing up her Talent, it was easy to see that if Kina gave the same answer as before, it would be as good as admitting she was hiding something, even though Kina herself didn’t know what she was hiding from herself.

So after hesitating, Kina silently apologized in her heart, then, on the outside, she looked calm and answered hesitantly:

”Master... it was my Master who taught me what to do.”

A Master.

Adelle listened for a moment, then thought it over for a few seconds, her memory drifting back to a certain handsome man.

”That Master... your guardian?”

Kina nodded, and Adelle nodded back with a low hum, showing she understood.

She sank into her thoughts for a moment, and...

’So, maybe Kiena’s growth has something to do with this Master she mentioned.’

Then, Adelle felt that she probably needed to meet this person for herself.