Chapter 72: Time to face reality

Julian couldn’t hold back his surprise. Not because Kina had won, nor anything related to the match itself, more precisely, he was stunned by how consistently Kina managed to develop herself entirely on her own.

Julian understood well enough that his own role in Kina’s growth had never been particularly significant. Nearly every crucial part of it was accomplished by Kina herself, and no matter how Julian looked at it, that always struck him as genuinely extraordinary.

His gaze froze on the translucent blue screen, his smile turning rigid.

[System]

Disciple Skill Progress detected.

Skill: [Frost Edge]

Source Skill Rank: [D]

Progress Gained: [+16.75%]

MASTER Authority activated.

Return Multiplier: [100×]

[Status Update]

[Frost Edge] — [C] — [23.1%] → [Frost Edge] — [B] — [9.1%]

A B-Grade Skill.

’Does this even make sense anymore?’

Julian was only Rank-E, yet his skill now sat just one grade below legendary status. This showed clearly that, no matter how monstrous his disciples turned out to be, they still had nothing on Julian, given he had the system working entirely in his favor.

That was an enormous disparity.

Because the stronger his disciples grew, the wider that gap between Julian and them would only continue to stretch.

Julian let out a small sigh, staying out of whatever happened next. He simply stood in silence, waiting, listening as the various sponsors patiently laid out their offers.

How Mivelo had presented such a remarkably generous offer, how the other great families had offered their own generous terms, and how Zoldia had presented the most unrestricted offer of all.

Then, how Kina had finally looked at Mivelo, before shifting her gaze toward Zoldia and smiling.

"Lord Lurker, could you discuss this sponsorship further with my Master?"

And here Julian now stood. Just as promised, Kina would choose to place herself directly under Lurker’s supervision, a trusted ally.

What remained now was simple. Julian only needed to follow the necessary procedure, provide a signature, and once it came down to Kina’s turn, everything would come to light.

But Julian’s thoughts were cut short when he heard Cessel slam his hand against the barrier railing and glare at Kina.

"Two C-Grade skill books! I’m revising my offer."

He didn’t bother with pleasantries. Even though the man clearly couldn’t understand why Kina had chosen Zoldia over him, he obviously wasn’t willing to accept it.

But Kina simply looked at him in silence, let out a small sigh, and turned her gaze away.

"I don’t want it."

"....!?"

Two C-Grade skill books was, fundamentally, an insanely generous offer. That was the kind of offer typically reserved only for those already at Rank-C or above. Yet here was Kina, still stuck at Rank-F, being offered the exact same deal.

And she was still turning it down?

What exactly was her benchmark here? What would it actually take to win them over?

Cessel hesitated, then suddenly recalled how Zoldia had been fawning over that man, Kina’s guardian and Master.

Could that man be the key here?

Was that exactly why Zoldia had been buttering him up from the very start?

Cessel felt a flash of clarity, his lips curling into a smile.

’Ah, that explains it.’

He shouldn’t have tried appealing to Kina’s own needs alone, if he wanted to win this, he needed to win over that man too.

So, with renewed confidence, Cessel shifted his gaze toward Julian.

"I’ll add to it further. 5,000 Credits/month for the guardian, permission from the Mivelo family to freely enter and exit the Elite Region, and finally, full protection and backing from the Mivelo family."

’Well?’ Cessel smiled with satisfaction. All of that was an incredibly tempting offer, he was certain of it, especially for someone from the Slums, this was practically heaven itself.

There was no way he’d turn this down after all that.

’So, hurry up and accept my offer already. I have no intention of letting this one slip away.’

The air fell into a heavy silence, the remaining tension leaving quite a few people holding their breath at just how extravagant Cessel’s offer had become.

Even the others, all from equally great families, looked genuinely stunned. They waited, expecting some particular reaction, but the man’s expression didn’t shift in the slightest, he simply stood there, silent and completely blank, closing his eyes before finally speaking:

"I refuse. We’ll be taking Zoldia’s offer, and no other."

His voice came out cold, utterly final, commanding the entire field into silence.

Cessel found himself frozen completely stiff, feeling genuinely humiliated. He stood there rigidly, smiling in disbelief at what he’d just heard.

His expression twisted completely as he sank back into his seat, glaring at Julian with a mix of hostility and irritation.

"...Guess Zoldia really did offer something extraordinary, huh? Fine, fine, I concede this one."

His voice trailed off, carried away by the wind, leaving the field in silence. Then, Lurker finally let out a breath of relief and smiled.

"In that case, let’s proceed with the necessary procedures now, Lord Julian."

***

To ensure there was no coercion, exploitation, or fraud involved, the signing procedure was always carried out directly under the Association’s supervision, not just them, but also under the watchful gaze of every gathered elite family.

The procedure itself was simple. Julian only needed to provide his fingerprint as a signature, and what would be checked covered a surprisingly wide range of things.

From that fingerprint, everything would be read, whether Julian was fully human, whether he’d been corrupted, whether he carried any parasite, and so on.

So Julian felt a flicker of nervousness as he pressed his thumb onto the electronic signing device. A light beep sounded, followed by a soft, flickering green light.

Then, after thirty seconds of scanning, another beep rang out as the electronic machine radiated a deep, fairly bright blue glow.

That signaled everything was safe and in order. Julian was genuinely human, uncorrupted, and carried no Alien parasite within his body.

Now, the next issue, and the major revelation, fell on Kina. Because she too needed to provide her fingerprint, undergoing the exact same procedure.

The problem here lay in the fact that Kina’s identity was already registered within that very system, meaning the moment she placed her fingerprint down, the electronic signature device was bound to react against her attempt to disguise herself using the Mimic Serum.

And that’s exactly what happened. Kina placed her thumb down, the electronic signing device scanned for seven seconds, before a bright red light finally lit up.

It was time to face reality.