Heaven's Greatest Professor

Cassandra swallowed a breath, watching the sheer force the Silver Rank woman forced through her ice spells. She didn't rest after her first round of attack failed to clear the way. Instead, she concentrated on her spells even more. After a strenuous round of stress on the barrier, it finally began to lose its integrity.

The alarm blared amidst the cheers of the people, but it wasn't over yet. Jessica Forger threw three isolating wards into the hole, preventing the barrier from restoring itself. Her wards held it back as she rushed through the opening to the other side. She backed in as well, just before her wards collapsed against the torrential force of the barrier.

"It is more work than I'd initially thought," she said, letting out an exhalation. Unlike Jenni, who used her mastery over Runes to create a safe way in and out, Jessica simply bombarded it with overwhelming force. "How long did it take?"

"One minute and thirty-eight seconds," Adept Aki answered, as nobody else seemed to be counting.

"So barely enough time to call for reinforcement if someone forces their way in," Jessica muttered. "Better than the rest of the formation, I suppose. They won't be able to withstand even a couple of my full-power attacks."

"Congratulations, Captain," Sergeant Aerel said, as many others congratulated her. "You're the fourth captain to win it, and the second fastest among them, if you care about statistics."

"Doesn't matter," Jessica said. "I already spent a long time here; it is time for us to depart. Also, I don't have any need for new equipment at this moment. How about you, Aerel, wouldn't you like to get a better sword?"

"I do," Aerel said. "But I still have one more chance left... I think I have a 50-50 chance of making it…"

"No need. You can take my reward," Jessica said.

Aerel narrowed her eyes at her captain. "Are you sure?"

Jessica nodded as they departed from the scene. The competition continued with full fervour, with all the soldiers attacking where Captain Jessica had created a hole a moment ago. However, unlike the captain, their attacks were unable to find purchase in the barrier.

"These suckers," Adept Jenni snickered. "They think attacking the same spot will leave it weakened for at least one of them to win."

"Technically, their plan is sound," Adept Aki said. "Unfortunately for them, the Restoration scripts are just too impressive. Can't believe we completed this within a week."

"We only did like 10% of the job, maybe 12%," Jenni said with another burp.

Aki looked like he wanted to refute, but he couldn't bring himself to do it because he knew it was the truth. "How do you think he gained such stamina and resilience?"

"Practice, the guy said when Dawg asked him," Jenni swore. "I'm certain that's absolute crap... Anyway, are you going to bring me the bottle of wine or what?"

"I have some good-quality wine with me," Cassandra cut in with a smile. "If you like, I can—"

"Thanks, yeah, I'll gladly take it," Jenni said before Cassandra could even offer. "See, Aki, this is how you win people..."

Cassandra gestured to one of the women in her entourage as she brought out the storage cube to retrieve a couple of bottles of wine.

"Master Warden fed you free food, wine, and the dessert you're so enamoured with," Aki snorted. "He couldn't win you over."

"Gah!" Jenni made a weird drunkard noise and came closer to Cassandra. She wiggled one of her arms around Cassandra's waist as if they were familiar. "How can I compare such a vicious sadist to a lovely woman like…" She let out a hiccup, meeting Cassandra's eyes. "What did you say your name was again?"

"I didn't mention it," she sounded a little uncomfortable, getting so close to the drunkard adept. "But it's Cassandra."

"See, even the name is better," Adept Jenni said, almost embracing her. "Even the name has more weight... while Warden... It sounds like a fake name, to be honest. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if he tells me he's actually a Warden, because the way he treats us is no better than how they treat criminals in prison. I swear if he didn't—"

Jenni's eyes darted to the bottles of wine as she seized them immediately. The cork flew out instantly as she poured the wine into her mouth in wild abandon.

Cassandra was probably regretting her decision to give this woman alcohol, but it was too late to regret it now.

"Man, she's wasted," a new voice said. Everyone turned to find a raven-haired woman walking along with the party who had been camping just a few meters away.

"Jenni," the elder among them grunted, his face twisting into a scowl. Cassandra observed, as goosebumps crawled up her arms, finding this Oldman to be a Gold Ranker. And not just any common ranker, either. He's possibly the Master Runesmith who threw the competition.

Unfortunately, he wasn't too happy seeing the adept wasted like this.

"Watch yourself when you're in public," the elder shouted. "Your absence of decorum is staining my name as well as the Artificer Department. If I cannot even discipline my own—"

"Oh, if it isn't Elder Ming," Jenni said, stepping forward to the group. With another hiccup, she continued, "What a surprise! I'm terribly sorry for staining your name. Give me an opportunity to make it up to you."

Cassandra wanted to take a step back. She only tried to befriend this woman because her personality seemed like she didn't care about their background, but looking at her defiance now, Jenni didn't give a fuck to a Gold Ranker, either.

Cassandra made a great miscalculation this time. If her act of giving alcohol to Jenni offended the elder, then perhaps she would have to apologize. Well, she would have to apologize either way. However, she hadn't expected what happened next.

"Daughter," the elder said, his voice growing softer.

Cassandra didn't expect that. Hell, even the people who the elder was with so far seemed surprised at the revelation.

"Perhaps it is my fault for giving you too much freedom," the elder said as he came closer to Jenni. "If I had known you'd act in such a way…"

"Then what?" Jenni challenged her father. "You'd have put me in a cage?"

The aura around the elder changed as he was about to give the girl a piece of his mind.

"Perhaps it will be better for you to leave her be for now, Elder Ming," said the tallest man in the group. He nudged the raven-haired woman who came to help Adept Jenni. He turned to the Half-elf woman in Marcus's retinue and asked, "You're a healer, correct? Help her regain her composure."

"No need," Jenni said, struggling out from the grasp of the Raven-haired woman who came to help her. "I can do it on my own. It's not like I drank a lot; I'm just a little tipsy. That's all. Besides, Elder Ming's face is enough of a medicine for me."

Jenni did regain all her mental faculties as she surged her power to digest all the effects the alcohol had on her mind.

"See?" she said, meeting her father's eyes.

"This is not over," Elder Ming said. "We'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Oh, we can—" Jenni was about to say when the other woman who stood by her side stopped her.

The elder didn't bother with any of them and flew out of their sight instantly.