Heaven's Greatest Professor

But it couldn\'t be overlooked that more than a dozen rankers had died, and several went missing, including a couple of Captains and a few sergeant-ranked soldiers.

"The ruin hasn\'t been kind to anyone higher than Iron rank," Agnes explained. "While everyone\'s rank was suppressed in the realm of Iron Rank, they thought Silver rankers would get the job done easily. As you can imagine, the suppression is only in the output of their power, but not in their mastery. But unfortunately, that truth is more convoluted.

"Only one silver ranker came out of the ruins."

"What happened?" Warden asked, becoming more and more intrigued with this ruin.

"The ruin isn\'t just some broken-down infrastructure," she said. "It is like a testing ground. There are multiple tests and trials where the rankers had to take part in teams or alone to move forward. The tests aren\'t particularly vicious, but if you bite off more than you can chew, it is easier to fall into traps. Many of the silver rankers hadn\'t returned after overestimating their capabilities."

"Thankfully, the danger is not without its rewards." Saying that, she brought out a small crystal bead and tossed it to Warden.

"What is this?" Warden asked, inspecting the item. A notification window popped up shortly under his inspection.

[Ability Gem: Iron grade

Flame Control: On absorbing the gem, the user receives an intimate connection with the fire element.]

"A reward from the expedition," she said. "I received a few more similar items. Sadly, I only get to keep a couple of them."

"An Ability gem of iron grade, hmm," Warden considered. "An item like this can go for at least ten thousand contribution points in the emporium."

"More, as it\'s an elemental control-based skill," Agnes argued. "If it were simply a skill like Fireball, it wouldn\'t cost more than five thousand points, but this one is easily worth a few times more."

"I see," Warden said, tossing it back to her.

Agnes shook her head and passed it to him again. "This is your payment," she said. "I\'ll be needing your expertise in fixing my equipment-, or rather crafting a new armour for me... I think the old one is beyond repair."

"Still, this is too much," Warden muttered, examining the peculiar red gem again.

"I\'m aware of its value," she said, waving off her palms. "Just take it as an advance for all the repairs you\'d do for me in the future. I don\'t know if you have noticed, but I\'m pretty good at wrecking my equipment."

"That is something we have in common," Warden muttered, although he had a few good pieces of equipment that didn\'t break from the harassment of his diabolical void energy.

"I have no need for a fire element; it will do more harm than good to my path," she said. "I fear you don\'t either, but you can sell it. Or better, you can exchange it for something you actually require."

Warden\'s expression brightened at that prospect. He remembered the elixirs he saw in the emporium, especially the one that could help in awakening racial powers. Perhaps he could exchange it for this ability gem.

"Looks like our deal is settled," Agnes smiled. "Now all I require is for you to use that big head of yours and craft me some fine armour. After all, I have my freedom to earn back."

Warden always liked how straightforward she was when she talked. "My blacksmithing skills are pretty subpar; you\'d need to find someone better if you don\'t want to end up with oversized armour."

"I can do that," she said with a sigh. "Just don\'t know how fast they can work... the higher-ups are moving fast in assembling teams for the next expedition."

"How quickly do you require them?" he asked.

"A couple of weeks at the very least," she said. "I think they will do some team organising drills after the teams are assembled before jumping into the ruins."

"So, this time they will only be sending elite Iron rankers?" Warden asked, knitting his brows.

"I think so," she said, meeting his gaze, easily understanding what he was thinking. "You\'re thinking of joining the expedition?"

"Can I?" Warden asked. "Can you help me with this?"

"Probably," she said. "Considering what I know of your powers, your addition will be welcome."

"Well, if you can help me get a spot, it will be my honour in getting you back your freedom."

"It\'s not a big deal. They will probably put up a notice to recruit people soon. But, of course, through them, you have to meet some certain criteria, which you won\'t have any problem overcoming if you keep your mouth shut."

"Sounds good," Warden said. "That reminds me, you still haven\'t mentioned the thing you said you\'d talk about later."

"What are you talking about?" Agnes frowned, not remembering any of it.

"You don\'t remember? The night of my departure from the 16th infantry... you mentioned you have something to talk to me about."

"That..." she sighed and bit her lips. "It is on my mind, but I don\'t remember saying anything about it."

She didn\'t say anything about it, other than mentioning she\'d talk about it later. "So what is it?"

"That... I don\'t know if it\'s right for me to ask..."

"Just out with it; aren\'t we friends?"

Agnes met his gaze for an extended amount of time, and finally, her shoulders slumped.

"I was going to ask you for a favour," she said, sounding embarrassed.

Probably, this was the most embarrassing he had seen her being.

"Agnes," Warden shook his head, "I can\'t believe you\'re embarrassed just asking for help from a friend. I mean, isn\'t that what friends are for?"