The Villain Professor's Second Chance

The night air was thick with mist, clinging to Kael's skin as he stumbled forward. His legs were leaden, his lungs burned, and every muscle in his body ached from the desperate escape from the Shadowfang Mines. The damp grass of Theron's Rest cradled him as he collapsed onto the ground, the town's distant lanterns flickering like stars in the darkness. For the first time since they had entered the mines, he allowed himself to breathe, to close his eyes and feel the cool earth beneath his fingers.

Liora, standing beside him, showed no such signs of exhaustion. He remained upright, his sharp eyes scanning the shadows beyond the tree line, his dagger still in hand. His stance was coiled, tense, as though expecting another ambush at any moment.

"You always this dramatic, or just tonight?" Liora muttered, nudging Kael's boot lightly with his foot.

Kael groaned, rolling onto his back. "I think my everything hurts."

Liora smirked, but it was a ghost of his usual teasing expression. He crouched beside Kael, his dagger twirling between his fingers as he kept watch. "Yeah, well, at least you're still breathing. That's more than I expected back there."

Kael cracked an eye open, frowning. "You thought I'd die?"

"I was fifty-fifty on it." Liora shrugged. "You're greener than fresh grass. Figured you'd either wise up or get eaten."

Kael let out a dry chuckle, though it was short-lived. His mind churned, replaying the events in the mines—the way the spiders moved, the presence of the runes, the eerie coordination of creatures that should have been mindless. It didn't add up.

"They weren't acting like normal spiders," he said, voice quiet. "Something was controlling them."

Liora's gaze flickered, but he didn't respond immediately. Instead, he let the silence stretch, the mist curling between them like a restless specter.

"You're starting to think like an adventurer," Liora finally said, though his tone was unreadable. "That's good."

Kael pushed himself up on his elbows, watching Liora's profile. "You knew something was off the whole time, didn't you?"

Liora snorted. "Kid, I've been doing this long enough to know when something smells rotten. But some things? They're better left unspoken."

Kael frowned. "So you're just going to ignore it?"

"No. I'm just not going to shout it from the rooftops and get a target on my back." Liora's voice was sharper now, his grip tightening on his dagger. "You learn real quick in this line of work—sometimes the truth gets you killed."

Kael wanted to argue, but before he could, something caught his eye. A faint, flickering light deeper in the forest. It was distant, barely more than a wisp of flame in the thick mist, but it was there.

"What is that?" Kael whispered.

Liora followed his gaze, his expression darkening. "Nothing good."

Kael hesitated. Every instinct screamed at him to leave it alone. But then he thought of the spiders, the runes, the strange coordination that had almost gotten them killed. If this was connected…

"I have to check it out," Kael said, standing. His legs protested, but he ignored them.

Liora sighed, rubbing his temple. "Why are you like this?"

Kael offered him a weak grin. "Curiosity is a terrible affliction."

Liora grumbled under his breath but followed.

____

The clearing was unsettling, the ground scorched and cracked as though something unnatural had torn through it. The air felt thick, charged with an invisible energy that made the fine hairs on Kael's arms stand on end. The trees surrounding the space were blackened at the edges, their bark curling as if licked by ghostly flames.

Kael's gaze swept the remnants of the ritual: stones carved with runes, their inscriptions faded but still thrumming with residual magic. The very earth beneath their feet pulsed faintly, an unnatural heartbeat lingering in the air.

"Someone played with fire here," Liora muttered, crouching near one of the runes. His fingers hovered over the etchings, tracing their intricate patterns without actually touching them. The deep grooves in the stone pulsed faintly, almost as if something within them still breathed. The air was thick, charged with the same uneasy energy that had been present in the mines—like the echo of a spell that refused to die.

Kael swallowed hard. "Think it's connected to the mines?"

Liora exhaled sharply, glancing at him with a half-lidded gaze. "Do I look like a scholar to you?"

Kael ignored the quip, stepping closer to the center of the clearing. The earth beneath him felt brittle, cracked and scorched as if something had burned its way through reality itself. The mist clung stubbornly to the clearing's edges, reluctant to invade, curling and twisting as though recoiling from the magic that had once saturated this place.

That was when he saw it.

Half-buried in the dirt, barely visible against the charred ground, a small amulet rested in the heart of the ruined ritual. The metal was darkened with age, yet it pulsed faintly, an unnatural glow flickering across its surface like dying embers. Runes, eerily similar to the ones in the mines, had been etched along its edges, their symbols worn but still discernible.

Kael crouched, his fingers hovering above it, drawn to its energy despite the warning screaming at the back of his mind. "Liora—"

"Don't touch it."

Liora's voice was sharper than Kael had ever heard it, slicing through the stagnant air like a blade. Before Kael could react, Liora moved—faster than seemed possible. His hand shot out, snatching the amulet before Kael's fingers could brush against it. He pocketed it in one swift, precise motion, the fluidity of his movement suggesting he had done something like this before. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire

Kael blinked. "You just said—"

"I said you shouldn't touch it," Liora interrupted, shaking his hand as if trying to rid himself of an unseen residue. His expression was unreadable, but Kael could see the faintest flicker of something beneath his usual smirk—concern? No, something closer to recognition.

Kael narrowed his eyes. "And you can?"

Liora dusted off his hands, taking another slow, deliberate glance around the clearing, his muscles still coiled like a spring ready to snap. "I know what I'm doing."

His voice was calm, but Kael wasn't convinced. Liora always spoke with an easy confidence, but this time, there was something just beneath the surface—a careful calculation, a wariness that Kael had never seen before.

"You, on the other hand?" Liora continued, giving Kael a pointed look. "You'd probably set yourself on fire."

Kael scowled, crossing his arms. "I'm not that reckless."

Liora smirked but didn't respond. Instead, his gaze swept over the remnants of the ritual once more. The runes. The scorched earth. The eerie silence. The way the mist refused to creep into the clearing.

Kael watched him carefully. "What now?"

Liora's fingers brushed against his pocket where the amulet now rested. For a fraction of a second, his smirk faltered, his expression tightening just enough for Kael to notice. Then, just as quickly, it was gone—replaced with his usual nonchalance.

"Now?" Liora murmured, his voice quieter this time. He turned toward Kael, his sharp eyes catching the faint moonlight as he tilted his head slightly.

"We keep our mouths shut."

And with that, he turned, walking out of the clearing as if they had never been there at all.

Kael lingered for a moment, his gaze shifting back to the place where the amulet had been. The air still felt heavy, the energy of the ritual site pressing against his skin like unseen hands. He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to follow.

For the first time since they had met, Kael realized something—

Liora was hiding something. And whatever it was, it was big.

_____

The Adventurer's Guild was eerily quiet at this hour. The lanterns burned low, casting long shadows across the wooden floor. The clerk on duty—a wiry man with a receding hairline and the demeanor of someone who had seen too many overeager adventurers—barely looked up as Kael handed over the quest token.

"Cleared out the spiders," Kael said. "But something was… off."

The clerk scoffed. "They're spiders, kid. They're always off."

Kael clenched his jaw. "I mean, they were organized. Coordinated. There were runes in the mines, and—"

The clerk held up a hand. "Listen, if every adventurer came back claiming their monsters were 'acting weird,' we'd never get anything done. Your job was to clear the nest. You did that. End of story."

Kael opened his mouth to argue, but Liora's hand clamped onto his shoulder, squeezing just enough to silence him.

"Come on, kid," Liora said, steering him away. "Not worth it."

Outside, Kael exhaled sharply. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Liora rolled his eyes. "Because that guy wouldn't believe us if we told him the sky was blue. Some people only see what they want."

Kael frowned. "So what, we just pretend nothing happened?"

"No," Liora said, his voice quieter now. "We just don't let the wrong people know too much."

Kael studied him. "You really don't trust anyone, do you?"

Liora hesitated, just for a fraction of a second. Then he smirked. "Trust gets you stabbed."

Kael wasn't sure if that was a joke.