They were of the opinion that no master ever took on so many disciples at once unless they were the useless kind who charged money for their lectures. Only such people had the audacity to take in crowds of people as disciples and still dare to claim that they were doing them any favor.

The people were full of indignation as they had previously revered Zach but this side of him put off their mood for some reason. They even began to wonder if the previous spell had been some kind of a fluke. Otherwise, Zach’s strength was enough to enroll any talented disciple. Instead, he was choosing all of them.

Was it that their abysmal luck had taken a turn for the better or was it just Zach’s desperation?

Unknowingly, Zach had turned himself from an enigmatic figure with unending strength into a con artist who wanted to deceive his own family members using his position as the family head.

“What is happening? Why do they look so disgusted when it is a good opportunity for them?” Zach asked under his breath from the only person who could help him understand the situation; Bruce, who was standing right beside him trying to clear up the suspicions he had brought onto himself.

“Because they don’t believe what you said, or what I said for that matter?” replied Bruce hoarsely. His throat was slowly swelling up from all the shouting he had done to clear Zach’s name.

“But why? Can’t they see that I am doing this for them and the Smith family?” asked Zach incredulously as he couldn’t understand why the people would behave in such a manner when he had presented them with such a huge opportunity.

“That’s the problem. They don’t see it as the truth. No good teacher would ever take in such a huge number of disciples. This strategy is mainly used by con artists and cheats. That’s why they can’t bring themselves to put their belief in you even though you want to help them out.”

Bruce explained everything to Zach patiently who in turn slowly understood why these people were acting so out of character.

Had Zach been aware of the unspoken rules of this world, he wouldn’t have made such an announcement. Instead, he would have chosen his words a bit differently or at the very least he would have discussed with Bruce before making a fool of himself.

“Please listen to me. I think you and my good friend here are misunderstanding something. Not all of you will be able to become my personal disciples but all of you will be given an equal chance to do so while I teach you the basics. Until the course is complete, the relationship between me and you will be that of a teacher and a student, not that of a master and a disciple. But…I will choose the most exceptional out of you all as my disciples if you have what it takes to surpass my expectations of you.”

Zach amended his words without causing too much suspicion and the members of the Smith family finally accepted his words as the truth. They brought out their brightest smiles and began to shower him with praise.

The transition was too sudden.

If someone could witness how the crowd was practically fawning over Zach at the moment, they would definitely refuse to believe that the same crowd was cursing him like anything for being a petty thief and a liar just a few minutes back.

With acceptance came excitement. The crowd went out of control as each of them was thinking of the dreams they had pushed back into some dark corner of their minds. They suddenly felt that their dreams were within reach if only they could become the personal disciple of a man as great as their family leader.

The competition was going to be tough, but they were determined to excel in everything he decided to teach them.

Most of them had been stuck in a meager position their whole lives. They had either been slaves or servants from the moment they opened their eyes in the Smith family.

Despite trying their best, they were unable to transform into a butterfly and continued their puny existence akin to wriggling worms on the ground.

Finally, they had been given an opportunity to undergo metamorphosis but not a single one of them was willing to waste such an excellent one.

Becoming his disciple was the biggest chance that these people could ever encounter in their remaining lives. Therefore, they considered it their greatest blessing that they had probably used up the luck of a lifetime to encounter.

Anyone who successfully became Zach’s protégé would have a free trip to the top. This was a sure shot method of raising one’s status. Not to mention that it would definitely increase their personal ability and would allow them to stand up on their own without the support of anyone else. They would be able to look themselves in the eyes without feeling ashamed of how little they had achieved in their entire lifetimes.

“It’s too early for you to be happy. Those of you, thinking that it is going to be easy need to reconsider. No road that leads to the top is easy. You must break your back if you want to improve, and I will make sure you do that.” 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝑙．𝑐𝘰𝘮

A hush fell over the audience and each of them was busy contemplating what Zach meant through those words. They already knew that it was probably not going to be a walk in the park, but it should not be that difficult to pull off either considering that Zach wanted to give them basic training.

“Since, the turnout is exceptionally good, I can’t give enough attention to all of you at once. Moreover, we need you guys to effectively manage the family businesses as well. Therefore, we will conduct this training in two separate groups. Group one will train from breakfast to lunch and will perform their duties as members of the Smith family in the latter half of the day. Whereas Group two will do their duties as part of the Smith family in the morning from breakfast till lunch and will train with me from dinner till bedtime. One group will handle the routine tasks assigned to you by the family and the other will attend classes to ensure that each group at least attends one session a day whether morning or night. That’s up to you.”

The audience unconsciously nodded their heads in acceptance as Zach had been quite authoritative when conveying the details of his arrangement. To them it felt like Zach was leaving them no room to negotiate. After all, this way their burden of work would increase by almost a hundred percent.

While they were previously working in shifts, they now had to devote themselves to training tirelessly even during their free time.

Only then did they understand why Zach told them not to be happy so soon. Those who wanted to take part in the practice would have to work twice as hard just because they wanted to be stronger and upgrade their status. This was the price they had to pay if they wanted to evolve into a better and more literate version of themselves.

“Diana will be responsible for teaching you all in the beginning. She will teach you everything you need to know to understand what I have planned for you. Most of you are still unable to understand my teachings early on. As such, pay attention to what Diana teaches you and make sure to commit every word of her to memory.”

Diana heard Zach mention her name and was instantly alerted. It was as if her ears were standing on alert after hearing Zach call her name.

But she was severely disappointed after hearing the contents of his talk with the Smith family. She was actually quite against the responsibility he had given her without even asking. Had he asked her beforehand, she would have stopped him from ever uttering such nonsense in front of the whole family.

While she didn’t say anything to discredit his words during the family meeting, she intended on showing her dissatisfaction to Zach at the very least. She just didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the entire family by showing her dissatisfaction right there and then.

The reason why she was hesitant about teaching the members of the Smith family was her status. As the mistress of the family, she was worlds apart from the servants and the slaves of the family.

But Zach expected her to teach them basic knowledge despite knowing the obvious chasm in their statuses. He wanted her to act as their teacher all the while knowing that her students would probably be unable to lift their heads up in her presence.

In Zach’s defense, he had no other option as well. There was no one else who was as perfectly suited for the position as Diana had been. She was his best student and was perfectly capable of imparting his teachings to others without him needing to correct her at every other turn.

Unfortunately, the men he had chosen to teach were barely literate. They didn’t even know how to read or write, and Zach had handed over that part of the teaching to Diana which was obviously the hardest part and the most insulting to someone of Diana’s level.

Zach dismissed the family meeting after announcing the schedule for the training he had planned. There was a lot of commotion as such a large number of people scattered everywhere after they were dismissed by Zach.