Heaven's Greatest Professor

The first thing he saw after opening his eyes was Agnes staring back at him. She sat cross-legged with his head resting on her lap.

"You're awake," she said. "Congratulations..."

That meant everything went well. He let out a breath of relief. "How long did it take?"

"Not too long, I believe," she said. "I woke up to find you—"

He rose from her lap to sit upright, only to find his clothes missing. A blanket covered his body, which was almost completely bare underneath. Thankfully, he still had his underwear, though it was in poor condition, torn and soaking wet with sweat.

"What happened to my clothes?" he blurted. He didn't remember removing them but looked around to find no sign of them, only his torn inner vest. They were still in the godfallen chamber, though it was completely empty now. He had stored the most valuable items—the sceptre and the corpse of a traitor god.

He turned to Agnes, eyes accusing. Was this a prank she orchestrated? But Agnes didn't seem like the type to pull such a prank.

"Don't look at me," she said. "I found you like that when I woke up."

He bit his lip. "Then what happened to my armour, my cloak?" he rasped. "Even my blade is gone."

"I thought you stored them before going through your advancement, in case they would hamper the process," Agnes said, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Wait, you said advancement," he said, realisation dawning on him. He flared his aura, causing Agnes to wince. "I'm actually Silver rank..."

Agnes gasped as he retracted his aura. It had a far more tangible presence now.

"You're only noticing that now?" she snorted. "Wait, if you're only noting it now, does that mean you—"

"I did not intend for it," he mumbled as he jumped to his feet. The blanket fell away, and he moved around the vast chamber in his underwear, revelling in how great he felt. It was beyond his imagination. He felt like he could lift—

"Ahem!" Agnes coughed awkwardly, not looking at him. "Weren't you worried about your artifacts just now?"

"Oh right," he stopped. Could somebody have come in while they were unconscious and stolen them? But they wouldn't have had any reason to keep them alive if they didn't want to leave loose ends.

"They are bonded to your soul, right? Can you still feel them?"

His eyes sparked as he looked inward. "I can..."

Actually, he could feel them more clearly than ever. They weren't stolen, nor was Agnes playing a prank on him. They were with him, just more intimately than he thought.

Golden and purple light sparked on his body, and under his command, the light armour [Maya's Protection], the cloak [Cloak of Void Radiance], and the weapon, [The Divider] manifested on him, perfectly equipped as if they were part of him.

"Wow!" He was impressed, though unsure how he did it. Moreover, the soul relics didn't look the same as before. There seemed to be more significance to them now.

Even Agnes gasped in stunned silence. "Is that common with celestial advancement?" Continue your journey on m|v-l'e m,p| y- r

He shrugged.

"Well, you have dried the essence vein completely, so it better be worth it."

"What?" Unwittingly, he spread his awareness—which was far stronger than before—to the source, only to find it nearly empty. It was impossible for him to sense all that before, but now his awareness moved deeper into the veins, completely to the root, confirming Agnes was right. He had really dried up one of the most sought-after things in the world.

It would probably take centuries, if not millennia, for it to grow back.

"I guess we're taking all the prizes from this place," he grinned at her. "Let's get out of here before others can come in..."

"Are you sure?" she said. "While I doubt they would find this place anytime soon, I thought you'd like to check your newfound abilities and examine the rewards we got from here..."

The warden closed his eyes for a second and visualized his void space, where he had left the sceptre and the dark core. Immediately, his brows furrowed. Many things had changed within his subspace as he went through the advancement. No, it wasn't the void space anymore at all. It had turned into a Neophyte Spirit Domain.

His senses drifted within the space to see the boundary, only to find there wasn't one...

"What is it?"

He came back to reality and let out a gasp. "From a glorious storage cube, I may have turned into a small cosmos."

"What?" she quirked her eyebrows.

"Let's get out of here first," he said, as wide celestial wings unfurled on his back. "Want a ride?"

He drew his palms towards her, even though he thought she would refuse. The captain, although preferred efficiency, she liked herself to be more independent. She could fly on her own, even if at a slower speed.

Yet to his surprise, she took his palm, only after thinking for a moment.

"The labyrinth would be a bitch to cover," she said, clutching his arm. "Go as fast as you like."

***

Twilight's spirit body saved her from being crushed under the collapse of a great subspace. Unfortunately, not everyone was so lucky.

Her spirit body let her phase through physical matter without any difficulty, so even if she was under the towering structure before her, it wouldn't have crushed her.

Sadly, she didn't think any of the Iron rankers made it. It was even tough for Silver rankers who were close to the vicinity. Only a few lucky ones, who were close to the Gold rankers, were saved.

Rest in peace, she prayed for their souls and was about to leave when a pack of orcs and trolls attacked whatever was left of the humans.

Twilight could have left if she wanted, but these people had already gone through a disaster; she didn't want to leave them to another one just after their rescue.