My Disciples Grind, I Get 100x Their Progress

Julian found himself in a wide corridor. He was inside a long-abandoned building. The windows had long since shattered, dark stains scattered everywhere, along with blood that had dried ages ago. But Julian wasn’t paying attention to any of that.

His body went rigid on the spot when he found bodies, fresh corpses. Dark blood seeped across the floor, coming from the bodies of creatures Julian didn’t recognize at all.

Each of the creatures had been utterly mutilated, some of them still twitching, trying to cling to life despite their shredded bodies.

It was a brutally violent scene, draining every bit of color from Julian’s face. He’d been holding back his nausea this whole time, but now he couldn’t hold it anymore.

Vomit climbed up his throat, he nearly threw up right then, but Julian quickly bit down on his lip and clamped his mouth shut completely. He forced himself not to vomit, closing his eyes and steadying his vision as the world spun around him.

He took a breath.

’...What kind of world is this?’

Unknown creatures, a long-abandoned building, a horrifying sense of dread.

’Monsters? No... an apocalypse? Or is this genuinely horror?’

His heart pounded hard. Whatever the case, he needed to get out of here fast and find someone, anyone, to help him. He turned to leave, but Julian’s gaze landed on a knife lying among the corpses.

"Ugh...!"

Julian felt reluctant, but he forced himself forward. He walked among the strange creatures, then, closing his eyes, he gripped the knife’s handle and lifted it up. Dark blood dripped thinly from it onto the floor.

He needed that knife to survive.

’Alright, let’s hurry and get o—’

His body went rigid.

Julian heard footsteps moving fast. Not just one set, several. The sound of impacts came with them too, the whole thing felt exactly like a horror scene where a ghost was hunting down its prey.

Just imagining how terrifying that ghost’s face might look...

’S-shit.’

Julian found his legs wouldn’t move at all, he froze in place, and by the time he registered it, whatever had been chasing him was already there, stopped right behind him, staring at him.

Cold sweat crawled down his back.

’I’m going to die, for sure, I’m definitely going to die! You idiot! You absolute idiot, Julian!’

For a moment, nothing happened, but not long after, Julian heard a strange sound, it sounded exactly like one of those artificial monster voices from a movie.

A voice deliberately made raspy and shrill:

"Who’s he, kek!?"

’Who... is he... kek? What’s a kek?’

His body went rigid.

"Keke, another human?"

’Keke....?’

Julian’s breath quickened, and yet the more terrified he felt, the calmer his face somehow looked. He probably wasn’t even aware of it himself, but he looked genuinely composed and indifferent as he turned around, gripped by fear underneath.

Then, his gaze landed on a girl with black hair streaked with blue, the color running through the underside of her strands.

’A... a human?’ Julian felt his heart pound hard. He also realized right away that the girl seemed to be running from a group of strange creatures.

Right, the same creatures currently lying scattered around him. Julian tensed for a moment, but he let out a breath.

’Not too scary... thank god...’

He wanted to press a hand to his chest in relief, but he understood he wasn’t fully safe yet. So Julian decided to stay quiet and careful.

He needed to figure out the situation—

"Sir...? Could I ask for your help.... I’ll pay you whatever price you name!"

"....."

’What? Miss! What am I even supposed to do here?!’

Julian was about to say something, but he went silent when his system screen suddenly appeared in front of him.

[DISCIPLE INSIGHT]

Name: [Kina Mivelo]

Rank: F — [33.8%]

Talent: [Lower Swordmanship] — [F-Grade]

Potential: [Sword Maiden] — [SSS-Grade]

Skill: [One Slash] — [56.12%] — [F-Grade]

Suitable as Disciple: YES

[MASTER AUTHORITY]

Suggestion: Take Kina Mivelo as your disciple.

Potential Return: 100x.

Julian froze as he stared at the system screen.

’This...’

The memory came rushing back to him, what exactly he could gain through a disciple. He recalled the important details quickly and realized that with a disciple, he could grow stronger.

With a disciple, a lot of things became possible. Julian might not be particularly great at this kind of thing, he didn’t exactly have sharp survival instincts, but he at least knew that in stories like this, becoming stronger was always the answer to staying alive.

Especially in a situation as dire as this one. If he left now, abandoning the girl, he’d survive, but then what?

There was no way these strange creatures were the only ones around, there had to be more somewhere. And if that was the case, he wouldn’t be able to save himself either.

But the girl, she was from this world. She could give him information, maps, all kinds of things about this place, and information like that would give him far better odds of survival than being alone.

Especially with the reward the system offered for taking her as his disciple. Everything pointed toward a much bigger advantage.

There was another problem too, his conscience simply wouldn’t let him leave a helpless girl behind on her own like this.

All those thoughts wove together in an instant, the girl staring at him with pleading eyes, while Julian slowly let a small smile curve at his lips.

He drew on his talent for acting, and in a heartbeat, became a master with every intention of taking on a disciple, entirely unbothered by the carnage around him.

"I’ll save you... if you’re willing to become my disciple."

The words finally slipped past his lips. Julian could see clearly just how badly those words had shaken the girl.

Julian also remembered one of the system’s notes, that loyalty was required to truly bind her as his disciple. So what kind of loyalty, exactly?

Coercion wouldn’t count, would forced compliance count then?

Or did the girl have to want to become his disciple entirely of her own free will?

’Ah, damn it!’

Julian cursed inwardly, he had no idea, and all he could do was work with what he had.

"If you show no sign of loyalty, I won’t help you."

His voice came out calm and indifferent, as though he wouldn’t care in the slightest even if the girl died right there. But in truth, Julian was breaking out in cold sweat, genuinely terrified of what her answer might be.

"They’re arguing, keke!"

"They’re not friends!"

"Human! You can go! But hand the female over to us! Kuakakakaa!"

Their time was running out fast, Julian started feeling his legs again, he wanted to bolt and run, but it turned out he wasn’t the only one utterly terrified.

The girl had given up. She dropped to her knees, squeezed her eyes shut, and said in a rush:

"Fine! Alright, I’ll be your disciple! I swear to become your disciple, master!"

The girl, Kina, spoke the words that were needed. The moment Julian heard them, his system screen appeared before him at once.

[MASTER AUTHORITY]

Kina Has Been Bound As Your Disciple.

Name: [Kina Mivelo]

Rank: F — [33.8%]

Talent: [Lower Swordmanship] — [F-Grade]

Potential: [Sword Maiden] — [SSS-Grade]

Description:

Kina was born with a natural talent for swordsmanship, able to wield any weapon whatsoever as long as it has a blade.

100× Progress Return Activated.

Dip! Dip!

[User has received Skill: [One Slash] — [F-Grade] has been added.]

After that, the system said nothing more. Julian took in the information about the skill, and it was as though he understood exactly what needed to be done, but...

’I can’t actually do this...’

He knew what needed to happen, but he also knew that the current him simply couldn’t pull it off.

So what now?

What now?

He watched the two remaining creatures lunge toward the girl. That sent Julian’s nerves spiking even harder, his gaze dropping to the knife in his hand.

’I can’t do this...’

But the girl, surely she could, right?

Her description said Kina could wield any weapon naturally, as long as it had a blade.

With sudden resolve, Julian held the knife out and said:

"Use this, and fight them."

His voice should have trembled with fear, his body should have been shaking too, but somehow, his movements came out perfectly natural, his voice steady, consistent with that same air of indifference.

Kina shot him an odd look for a moment, but the situation didn’t leave room for questions. She lunged forward, snatching the knife from his hand, then spun around to face the creatures.

He was honestly convinced Kina stood a far better chance with the knife than if he tried to step in himself.

What kind of master sent his brand-new disciple straight back into a fight after seeing wounds that severe?

That thought might have crossed Kina’s mind, but another thought crept in alongside it.

’It’s almost like he already knew all I needed was a sharp weapon to beat them.’

But that was probably just a coincidence. She could deal with the question of that man later, right now she needed to deal with the Grusk.

"Kekek! She’s trying to fight me! Weak little human!"

"Kill her! Kill her! Kuekeke!"

Kina didn’t waste a second, she surged forward, pushing through the pain in her leg. Her expression turned sharp and focused as she fought, a rare edge of ferocity cutting across her face.

The knife rose, and the instant she closed the distance, the Grusk swung its axe up, baring its wide, jagged teeth in a laugh, and struck straight at Kina’s neck.

Whoosh!

Kina tilted her body just slightly, dodging with razor-thin precision, the blow sailing past her, leaving behind a sharp gust of wind.

She flipped the knife in her hand, the blade turning inward toward her own body. Then she snapped her arm forward, driving the blade straight through the Grusk’s throat, dark blood spraying across her face.

Splat!

"Kueeh..kuehkeke..."

The Grusk stiffened, then its body collapsed, lifeless.

For a moment, Kina’s brow furrowed, the throbbing pain in her leg flaring up. But she didn’t complain, biting down on her lip as two more Grusk closed in on her.

One in front, the other at her flank. Both attacked with clear intent to tear her apart, but Kina darted back with quick, precise footwork.

Their axes slammed into the corridor floor.

Crash!

Leaving behind a trail of wreckage and a spray of dust.

As the dust slowly began to settle, Kina emerged from within it, catching the Grusk off guard, it barely had time to gasp before Kina had already driven her blade into its throat and slashed sideways.

"Kueeh—!"

Spray!

"You! How dare you!"

The last remaining Grusk shrieked in fury. But Kina, breath ragged and uneven, only looked back at it with a small smile curling at her lips.

A fierce killing intent burned in her eyes, and moments later, the last two Grusk were cut down just as easily as the rest. Kina hadn’t even used her skill, proof enough that her talent was purely natural.

Behind her, Julian watched it all unfold with a wave of nausea. His stomach twisted like it was being wrung out, but he forced himself to hold steady.

He didn’t show even a flicker of admiration watching Kina dance among those monsters. Why would he? Rather than dancing, Kina looked downright terrifying.

’She’s actually killing them without so much as blinking.’

As for Julian, his face had gone completely dark inside. He was terrified out of his mind but his body never let it show, he kept watching Kina with that same unshaken calm, an intense weight settling behind his empty, dark eyes.

Then, his focus on Kina began to blur. Not because his attention had drifted, or anything that made logical sense, it was something else entirely.

Before him, his system glowed with a soft, pale green light.

[DISCIPLE PROGRESS DETECTED]

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