Heaven's Greatest Professor

Agnes watched as Warden came out of the array, his whole upper body swollen with angry red patches of blood. It had oozed out all over his body; his eyes were red-shot, looking like a maniac.

"Are you alright?" she asked hesitantly, even though he did not appear to be.

But she had seen signs of Warden's resilient physique; this much should not be enough to stop him. She could not sense what was going through him internally.

Warden waved his arm to dismiss her concern, though his movement didn't have the ease at which he acted. He looked haggard, out of place, and probably couldn't see clearly with the intense light playing its trick on him.

He sat on the ground and began meditating. He stayed there for about 15 minutes, eyes tightly shut as all the swelling on his body healed, even if it left a trail of blood on his skin.

He stood up and poured ten grams of the quintessence into the array and increased the intensity to 30%. Agnes did not know if she should stop him, but he did not look like he would listen to her.

Warden entered, while she waited outside, with a disturbed frown wrinkling her forehead.

About half an hour later, Warden came back, his figure even more emaciated than the previous time. This time, he did not go straight to meditation. He held a deep breath and put his new power to the test.

Flickers of bright golden light flashed from his palms. He poured more energy, as the light only rose in intensity. On the verge of his limit, he thrust the light into the ground, scorching the grass and creating a small hole there.

He had a frown on his brow now, his eagerness diminishing a bit. Probably not satisfied with his display, unaware it was nearly impossible for anyone else to repeat this feat.

"Still not enough," he muttered and looked at her blearily. His eyes weren't working perfectly after the intense stimulation of the quintessence of light.

"I think you should sit and think it over a bit," Agnes advised.

Warden did sit down, though moved onto meditation to heal his wounds. Half an hour later, he shot up and entered the array, this time increasing the intensity by another 10 percent.

Agnes heard a few moans and groans coming from the barrel, but Warden didn't make any attempt to leave, nor did he ask for help. All she could do was wait for him to finish up. . . 40% intensity was something only a few peak silver rankers could handle.

Perhaps her power would allow her to do it in iron rank, but she was sure it would be a damnable battle, one that would've left her stressed out and weakened. Well, that certainly brought back memories, as goosebumps crawled through her skin.

She hadn't awakened her power through this way, but certainly, she was forced through a similar process to purify her essence of darkness. It certainly hadn't left any good memories, not to mention she was forced through the process over months, against her will.

"Perhaps Warden would say it was worth it," she thought out loud. "Considering he was going through a similar experience willingly."

The runic glares of the barrel calmed down, and Warden came out, looking beyond exhausted. His haggard body fell to the ground, smearing the grass with his goldish-red blood. . . It was glowing slightly.

Was his blood always had that golden sheen to it? Agnes didn't have the time to consider as she came to help him up. Although his body wasn't working as he willed, he was still conscious.

"Warden," she called, hesitating a moment before holding him tightly.

"Agnes," his voice was raspy as his palms clutched her arm, his hold wasn't weakened at all. And from the looks of it, he didn't realise he was clutching her arm with force. "I can't see. . ."

"Calm your nerves, I'm sure it's temporary," she said, stating the obvious.

His intense regeneration power had already begun to patch up his wounds, though it would take some time to regain the lost sensation, especially for the eyes.

"Forty percent is too much," he said. "But it did improve my regeneration power. . . and my Physique. .

. It's at 14% now. . . Never had such a spike of improvement in such a short time."

His voice came out in a wheeze, but the excitement was all too clear as he spoke.

"Still no notification from the system, though."

Agnes sighed. "You're trying too hard," she said. "Even if your affinity to light attribute is high. . . The process is to stimulate the body slowly and evolve it over time.

. . Your approach is more like forcing it. While it may seem like it's working, it will leave a terrible residue of impairment."

She would know it, after all, she had gone through something similar. Even known, her body could barely sense temperature or other sensations. The darkness had evolved... mutated it so that she could use it without holding back. There is always a price for strength... most people regret it after paying...

Warden didn't say anything for a while. Agnes thought he would disagree, considering how headstrong he was. But surprisingly, he chuckled. "I think I got it wrong. . .

Radiance. . . light shouldn't be about harming others. . ."

He sat upright with the epiphany and began meditating. He visualised the wisps of golden light flowing through his wounds, leaving a warm, soothing feeling behind. . .

"I recognise this feeling," he mumbled, a knit appearing on his brows.

Under Agnes's gaze, his body glowed in a golden shimmer like a weak light bulb. All the swelling, torn skin, and spasmed muscles healed within only two minutes. His skin was replenished with new fair skin as the dirty blood was cleaned into nothing.

This kind of regeneration power was something different compared to essence healing or anything similar to the healing process of trolls or Moonspawns. . . It's more like. . .

The answer came to her without even thinking about it.

"You are. . ." she blurted out without thinking. "You're a celestial?"

Warden opened his eyes and didn't answer her. Instead, he checked his body, his bare chest literally glowing weakly with smooth skin that seemed like it had gone through a beauty care routine. None of his wounds remained on his exterior, though there was still some discomfort in his channels.

Finally, he met her gaze. "To answer your question," he said with a sigh. "I do have some Celestial blood in me; don't tell anyone, though."

The guy had the audacity to wink at her after saying that.

"What do you mean by some?" she questioned.

"As it sounded, I'm not completely celestial. Half of me is human..."

"What, that's not possible!" Agnes said, her excitement mounting. "There have been no records of a half-breed celestial. They are incompatible with all humanoid races to give birth to a half-breed. . . Oh.

. . apologies if my words hurt you. . . I didn't mean it like that, you know, it's—"

"It's fine," Warden said, shrugging. "Honestly, there's a huge mystery in my origin. I'm as surprised as you are when I found it out."

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