Heaven's Greatest Professor

The paperwork was completed without any disturbances. Warden was asked a few questions, such as whether he had any other expertise he would like to be tested on, including artificing, smithing, or potion making. Although Runesmithing might have been a possibility, Warden declined to test anything further. He had decided to keep it under wraps until he had tested it for himself.

"For the reputation," Jess inquired, "do you have anything you'd like to add?"

Warden considered for a moment before responding, "I helped a small village by clearing out a Grade-8 dungeon in their vicinity just a couple of days ago."

Jess narrowed her eyes. "That might be worth half a star, but I can't issue one without verification," she said. "And it would take at least a week for verification."

Warden shrugged.

A few minutes later, he was given the badge and asked to register his aura in the directory. They seemed to have a device for everything. Warden's badge was just as he had anticipated: zero stars and Grade A for potential.

"Just between you and me," the woman told him as he was preparing to leave, "there are 23 Grade-A prospects just within this city."

Of course, Navin was a great city that hosted the Third Arcane Academy; other cities might not even have half the number of such prospects, but she didn't mention anything about that.

Warden nodded, reassessing the magnitude of rankers' power. "How about Grade S?" he asked, curious.

"Confidential," Jess replied, dismissing the question.

Warden left the office with Jason, his mind filled with thoughts.

"So, what kind of benefits will this badge get me?" he asked.

"You know how society values great prospects," Jason explained. "They show it by offering various discounts on their facilities. Even outsider organizations offer more benefits to someone of greater potential or a respected figure. Oh, with Grade A, you can get access to items restricted to the public in all auction houses."

Warden nodded. "Anyway, thanks for helping me with all this," he said. "If I didn't get the job, let's just start a guild."

"That's great," Jason wasn't as enthusiastic as before. He probably was sure that Warden would get the job of a combat instructor. "Well, if you get the job and don't like what it offers, feel free to drop out and join my guild."

They both laughed as they parted ways. Jason went to attend to his usual business, while Warden returned to Velvet Kiss.

***

It was nighttime, and Warden had taken care of most things. Finally, he had a chance to examine the new ability that came with the newly opened aperture.

Stirring the Gate of Spirit, he triggered the new ability [Void Space]. A chilling pull jerked him completely, and Warden found himself in a different realm of existence. It was as dark as the dungeon, with twinkling stars overhead. As Warden thought, he had partially become a dungeon. Or rather, the dungeon had partially become him.

The dungeon was more barren land than it used to be. It was still rugged, rocky terrain, but all the trees had withered in the last two days. There were still corpses of dozens of dire wolves lying around, already in the process of decomposing.

Warden didn't know if this Void Space was within him or if he had somehow gained access to it. But whatever it was, he didn't see what use it had other than storing stuff. He was instinctively aware that the space would not spawn tainted creatures anymore, or any type of creatures. Nor was it a livable place.

"So, this is just a glorified dimension cube?" Warden muttered.

Of course, the scope of space it possessed was immaculate. Warden could store a lot of things in it. Not to mention, it was merely a Grade-9 subspace, the lowest grade. The potential for its growth was immaculate, though thoughts of absorbing other dungeons clawed at his mind.

Warden wore white on his way to ace the Combat Instructor recruitment test. It didn't matter that he had no clue what the test would be about, but he was sure to ace it. He used a ride to the academy because, of course, he didn't know the direction.

The carriage could only take him to the conference point of the Warp gate. Although the academy was within the academy, it had its own region, which was restricted to most people.

The warp gate would directly transport him to the academy once he verified his identity and stated his intention. However, he didn't think he would need to spend a couple of gold coins for the teleportation. The cost wasn't reduced even when they added more people to the teleportation array.

Warden was studying everything layered in the warded room. This was some kind of rune magic, alright, though the specifics were hidden behind dozens of layers of wards for him to take note of anything. The ward lit up as they readied for the transmission when a voice came in alarm along with a woman running towards the room.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Wait a second!" the woman said.

As she came closer, Warden recognised the woman to be Aurel, one of Jason's friends, who was also applying for the same job as him. Meaning his competition.

The man in charge did stop for her as transporting a single person was never worth the cost.

"Sorry, sorry," Aurel apologised to the people as she entered the chamber.

Although her combat suit wasn't readied in time, she was dropped on fine attire, which looked elegant and battle-ready at the same time. Warden didn't know what her class was, but he was pretty sure it was a close combatant type with her toned muscles and athletic shape.

She was only shy shorter than June, with short chestnut hair and a toned oval face. After she entered, the person in charge warned about the teleportation as the wards lit up.

The light became blinding, and they vanished from the chamber.

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