Heaven's Greatest Professor

Warden controlled his landing as the shroud sucked in all dispersing energy from the lightning. June's spell demanded that he use both [Void Shroud] and [Mystic Ward] simultaneously, as it was that destructive. Still, the 10% return on energy absorbed was enough to surge his channels with more power.

If this attack were to be measured, it would easily get an [A-] rank, and she was merely beginning. Was she really holding back her power? If so, how much?

Warden didn't have time to muse on all those questions as June sent a barrage of lightning spells at him. This time more lightning dispersed than in a single serpentine form. Warden's legs moved as he Willed to parry her attack away.

Warden moved fast, pushing his apertures to the limit. Lightning hammered into his shroud of void energy, biting into the ethereal obstruction from all sides. It was under the highest amount of stress Warden had ever experienced, but it would hold until his energy ran dry.

He was barely a few steps away from the elf, his blade bare, ready to draw blood. But before he could take another step, multiple semi-corporeal wards thrust into him, shoving him aside.

Warden's blade flashed, cutting through the wards. The destructive power of void energy eclipsed that of manifested lightning. Warden had no trouble breaking through her defenses, even though he had to endure the bombardment of lightning. But just as he was about to swing his blade, brilliant white flame gushed out of June like she was a goddess of fire.

She withdrew, maintaining the distance once again. The fire was pure white, yet the temperature was beyond endurance. It was consumed through the void shroud, and Warden had to channel [Mystic Ward] to the fullest to consume it back.

His channels were reaching their full capacity of the consumed energy as June seemed to be in no mood to stop her fire.

Warden bolted away, and June had to follow up with the lightning again. Although her fire was most destructive, it wasn't nearly as fast as the lightning.

If not for his Legendary rank cloak, Warden would have been already defeated twice over. His lack of abilities in his reservoirs was openly apparent. It wasn't his fault that he didn't have a class and lacked those important class abilities.

All he had was the destructive force of Void, which can break through anything. Unfortunately, he couldn't go near her.

[Maya's Protection] provided great defense; unfortunately, he was unable to use any of its abilities because he lacked light elemental powers. He would have been much faster if he could just—

No point reminiscing on that, he decided. Warden only had to hope that June didn't have that energy in reserve, and these spells cost a lot of energy. Only that way would he be able to defeat her. Consuming her attacks, Warden was already at 100%, and exhaustion was far from taking a toll on him.

So it became a contest of endurance rather than destructive force, even though both of them seemed to be experts in that.

***

Among the spectators, most candidates were in awe of their power. The elders had already cast a barrier around the fighters, so they could watch without the fear of getting accidentally hurt by the attacks.

"What do you see, Young Gene?" Elder Vess asked the young mage. "Do you think you can match them?"

"At my current state, I fear not," Gene answered truthfully.

"At least you have the eye," Vess smiled and looked at the other two.

"What about you two?" she inquired.

"I can defend against Professor June's attack," Jez'arin said, eyes still drawn to the spellwork. Even though the dungeon was cold, it was now over the normal temperature of any desert, thanks to June's fire spell. "But I don't think I'll last as long as he did."

Elder Vess's eyes were on Karz Walt, but the young man only watched, pursing his lips.

"What about you, Young Karz?" she had to ask again. "How will you fare against someone like her?"

"Not well," Karz said.

"Care to elaborate?"

Karz sighed. "My way is offense," he offered. "If I don't catch her off guard, which is nearly impossible in a clash like this, I'd be defeated in the very first spell, unless I have something like the cloak he has."

"Well, you guys can be rest assured," Elder Vess smiled. "Professor June is among the very best of the mages, and not just among humans."

The battle went on for minutes, and it became quite boring with the same thing happening. June attacked with her spells, and Warden defended with his weird cloak.

"I must say the cloak is wondrous," Elder Pavlov said. "Without it, the boy would have been defeated long ago."

"Indeed," others agreed in unison, discounting Warden's ability.

"It is unique," Elder Vess said, unsure why she hadn't picked it up when she first saw him. Or even later. "It's almost like a degraded version of a domain ability."

"Only rankers above Gold have a domain ability," one of the elders, Ryen, scoffed.

"That's why I said degraded," Elder Vess clarified.

"Whatever it is, it must cost a lot of energy," Elder Pavlov added. "The boy has a lot of energy to spare."

"Perhaps not," Vess added, unsure. "Although it was the cloak that transformed, it completely invested in the boy's energy. The synergy is just so right that you'd be unable to tell if it was an artifact if you hadn't seen it before."

"A soul relic?" Elder Pavlov sounded intrigued.

Even all the other candidates gasped upon hearing him. Soul relics were national treasures, no more than a dozen intact ones remained on the mainland. Soul relics were the type of item that could completely adapt to one's soul and function like an extension of the ranker's body. It was like having an extra ability which was completely yours.

"The boy's background must be more mysterious than we believed," Pavlov said and turned to the healer. "Elder Allen, did Professor June express anything more to you about the boy?"

"Nothing more than what she reported," Elder Allen said.

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