Heaven's Greatest Professor

Chapter 99: Oathbound (2)

"There are no more than a couple dozen or so of such items on the mainland. Great wars had been fought with thousands of rankers dead whenever a sole relic appeared in the world," June said with a deep voice. "Even the Emperor managed to establish the Sivian empire because he had the complete inheritance of a soul relic set.

Powerful people wouldn't like seeing some common-looking iron ranker having one of them."

Well, I have two of them, Warden added mentally.

June looked at him suspiciously and shook her head, probably guessing what he was thinking, which made her bring up the soul oaths again. "Are you prepared for it?"

"Well, one question," Jaron asked. "I don't have a class. So what should I be taking the oath on?"

"Just repeat after me," June said and took a deep breath. "I took an oath on my name and my soul, to never divulge any confidential information about Warden without his explicit permission."

Warden repeated her words with his version and finally couldn't help but ask, "Sensitive information is, I guess, open to each other's interpretation?"

"Yes," June said. "That's why we need to be more clear about which information should be sensitive."

"Well, I feel like my fatemarks and the gravity script and the other stuff I will be teaching you, will be somewhat sensitive," Warden said easily. "And the celestials part too."

"You forget about the soul relic, which might be the biggest thing that would get you into trouble the fastest," June added.

"And that." Warden nodded.

"I won't tell a soul about them," June said.

Warden could feel the weight of the oath on his soul and her as he fixed her with an intense gaze. "That won't do," he said.

June frowned.

"You know so many of my mysteries, almost figuring me out," Warden grumbled. "At least you've got to tell me one about yourself. It is only natural."

June shook her head disapprovingly.

"It doesn't have to be anything noteworthy," Warden said, "but it would be great if you could share any embarrassing memories."

"I'm not going to tell you about any of my embarrassing memories," June replied. "Because I don't have them."

"You're lying," Warden said. "Everyone has embarrassing memories, and you've lived for so long."

"I have not," June said through gritted teeth. "Fine. Let me see if there are any."

It took her a couple of minutes to come up with something that might be somewhat embarrassing.

"It happened when I was very young," June said. "My father took me—"

"Young? How many years were you then?" Warden interrupted.

"I was about 20," June stated.

Warden gave an incredulous look. "I guess you can call 20 young. Just cut out the 'very' part."

"Elves age differently," June explained for the last time and continued with her story. "So my father brought me into the Great Wilderness in the southern lands for me to bond with a spirit beast. Of course, he had everything prepared, and the ritual for the bonding would have gone without a hitch.

Unfortunately, he thought it would be a great idea to leave me to meet a spirit beast with Godbeast Bloodlines alone."

"What happened?"

"I was to go alone to the Starfire crane's nest to find Sylvie," the elf said. "Unfortunately, I found her mother, who was hundreds of times larger than me, nestled with her eggs in her nest. She shrieked at the very sight of me, causing my heart to lurch inside my chest. And I fell backwards, thinking the bird would eat me alive." June sounded abnormally nostalgic recalling those memories.

"Only when I burst into tears and called for my father did he arrive."

"That was not embarrassing," Warden commented. "So that's how you found Sylvie?"

"Sylvie was only an egg back then," June explained. "Her mother inspected me for more than a week and checked the match between us after Sylvie hatched to let me bond with her. Although the bloodlines have thinned out, she was, after all, a descendant of a godbeast, it was very hard to get her approval.

"I guess it was all worth it, and I'm not just saying that because the bond with a beast of a primordial bloodline gave me fatemarks. Sylvie has been my best friend since the day I bonded with her."

"That is a little lonely," Warden said with a smile. "Anyway, where is your best friend?"

"She's out hunting," June said.

"I didn't know bonding with a spirit beast could give one a fatemark," Warden added.

"It depends on the pedigree of the spirit beast as well as the degree of the bond," June explained. "Not everyone can get a spirit beast with primordial bloodline, no matter how thin it was."

"About cupcake," Warden cut in hesitantly. "Is she..."

"It is not confirmed, but Cupcake is unique," June said. "I shouldn't be saying this to you, but I guess you have already figured it out, even with your condition."

"I knew that little bunny is not common," Warden said. "Still, it is hard to guess with Cupcake looking so small and cute that she came from a god beast."

"I didn't know at the beginning as well," June admitted. "Like myself, it was her family who found Cupcake for her. I'm pretty sure they didn't know it before, either. I believe Kiara would get one when she bonds with Cupcake, though she would have to wait sometime."

"I wonder what power will she get from the fatemarks? Warden said. "Considering yours likely to be the Starfire and lightning, your mentee might become a glutton in no time."

"Oh, you can consider me having a fatemark from Sylvia as a secret," June said with a radiant smile. "Only a few people know that."

"Can I see it?" Warden asked immediately.

"What? the fate mark?"

Warden nodded.

"Not... today," June said and changed the topic quickly to rune spells.

_____________

It has been dialogue-heavy chapters for a while... Some fight/battle will be coming up soon...