Heaven's Greatest Professor

"Don\'t hold back, boy," Elder Vess told the kid. "You too, June. Show him what he lacks."

Gene licked his lips, his staff glowing in a deeper shimmer, while June simply nodded. She had no wand, staff, or other magical items on her person, perhaps only the earrings and her enchanted robe, but she looked solemnly confident.

Gene began his casting as lightning crackled around his staff. He held the magical staff up, pouring in all his magical power to overcharge it. The buzzing of lightning grew, as the lightning combined to take the form of a great serpent bolting towards June.

The attack happened in less than the blink of an eye; even Warden wasn\'t sure if he would be able to dodge or block the lightning, but June looked as if she was prepared for it before Gene even began casting.

A wall of translucent energy manifested before her, stopping the lightning from moving even an inch further. She flicked her finger, and then the lightning dispersed into thin air.

Gene swallowed his breath, brows wrinkled together, sweat dripping from his forehead even though it was rather cold in the dungeon.

"My turn," June said. "I\'ll return the exact spell to you; try to defend."

June lifted her hand as lightning and wind danced on it. She paid more attention to the lightning as it soared into the sky. Compared to Gene\'s blue lightning, June\'s was transparent and whitish.

"Ready?" the elf asked.

Gene nodded, manifesting his best defense with pure energy. He had charged multiple layers of ward before him and was even preparing more. But when the lightning struck, his grasp over all his wards fumbled as they shattered like clear glass, sending him hurtling down to the ground.

Gene closed his eyes, fearing the lightning would strike him and claim his life, but none of that sort happened. June had pulled, had dispersed her spell before it could hurt the boy. Even still, the dispersed energy was strong enough to fling him away.

"Stand up, boy," Elder Vess ordered.

With his expensive clothing disheveled, Gene stood up at once.

"Do you know why you lost?" the elder asked again.

"Um, my spells are lacking," Gene said, biting his lips.

"Even a blind man can tell that," Elder Vess snorted. "Your grasp over your Lightning spell was better than anyone at your rank."

Gene was easily flustered by her praise.

"But your wards are shit," Elder Vess spat. "Didn\'t that old witch teach you any better?"

Gene\'s cheek became red as he looked down.

"You\'re dismissed." Under Elder Vess\'s order, Gene went back to his spot next to Warden.

"Now, the next candidate..."

"With all the elders\' permission," June cut in, "I\'d like to propose something."

"Professor June, you should be aware, there\'s a protocol to the test," the stuck-up elderly man said. "We can\'t just change something on a whim."

"I\'m aware, but thank you for your reminder," June was unfazed. "I\'m merely proposing that you let me test one of my recommended candidates for this test."

"Interesting," Elder Vess said. "If I\'m not wrong, you recommended two candidates, both performed well in the combat test so far. Whom are you asking to test?"

"Him," June said, eyeing Warden.

Soon everyone\'s eyes moved to him as well. Warden was a little startled, but he met her challenge in full stride. He might give the wrong idea that he looked down on women for combat; perhaps this would be a good chance to rectify that.

"Professor June," the elder argued. "Don\'t you think it would be unfair to let you test the candidate you recommended?"

"You can be rest assured, Elder Pavlov," the elf said respectfully. "I\'ll not go easy on him just because I recommended him. And if you are still unconvinced after my performance, you can test him however you want."

"I see no problem with it," the elderly woman said.

"Much appreciated, Elder Allen."

"I agree as well," Elder Vess narrowed her eyes. "This will be interesting."

One by one, the others agreed as well, as June turned her attention to Warden again.

"Before you come on, you should know I\'ll push you to your limit," June told him. "If you\'re not interested, you can give up now."

Warden smiled slightly. "What can I say, I\'m intrigued by the attention you have given me, Professor June," he said as he came forward. "One thing you should know about me: I don\'t stand back from a challenge."

"Like before, I\'ll suppress my power within the Iron rank," June said. "Don\'t hold back, or you won\'t know how you lost."

He stood a dozen or so paces away from her, sword drawn and extended to over one and a half meters. Now, Warden didn\'t have any misconception that he would be able to deal a blow before she would bombard him with spells. More importantly, how should he deal with that lightning spell?

Dodging was out of the question. Warden could only try blocking with [Void Shroud].

"Begin."

Warden shot forward, void energy surging through him and the blade. But before he could even cross half the distance, lightning crackled and bolted towards him with the same intensity as she forced Gene to defeat.

There was absolutely no way for Warden to dodge. He wasn\'t nearly fast enough. He was pretty sure even most Gold rankers would be unable to dodge lightning.

So he had to go back to his one line of defence, enabling [Void Shroud] of his legendary grade cloak.

The lightning struck the shroud, hammering it, hurtling Warden backwards, but it was unable to penetrate Void Shroud.