Villainous Instructor at the Academy

The classroom was filled with the exhausted groans of students who had absolutely no interest in continuing their education today. Felix was practically draped over his desk like a dying noble, while Julien spun a pencil between his fingers, looking more entertained by the suffering than concerned. Garrick, as always, was unfazed—because of course he was. Mira looked like she was debating escape routes, Wallace was trying to disappear behind a stack of papers, Leo was contemplating his life choices with the intensity of a man facing execution, and Cassandra… well, Cassandra was just there.

I turned to the board, chalk in hand. "Alright, now that we've established that most of you have the physical endurance of a wet paper bag—"

Felix weakly raised a hand. "I object."

"Objection overruled." I flicked a piece of chalk at him. It bounced harmlessly off his forehead.

He groaned. "I hate this class."

"You've said that before," I pointed out. "I'm beginning to think you just like complaining."

Julien smirked. "You're only figuring that out now?"

Felix let out a long, dramatic sigh. "I think this class is actively trying to kill me."

Leo mumbled, "Honestly, same."

Wallace, who had been trying to subtly shove papers into his bag, cleared his throat. "Professor, is studying really necessary right now? I feel like we've learned enough through… pain."

Mira nodded sagely. "We already had that intense training session earlier. Maybe we should… you know, rest? Reflect?"

"Recover?" Felix added weakly.

I gave them all a long, unimpressed stare. "So what I'm hearing is: you don't want to study."

Julien grinned. "See? You do have good hearing."

I threw another piece of chalk at him. He dodged.

Leo slumped forward, groaning. "Come on, Professor. Can't we just have one lesson where we don't immediately suffer?"

"You want a break?" I asked.

I leaned against the desk, crossing my arms. "But I want to watch you suffer." I smiled brightly as I said those words to them.

The collective groan that followed was nothing short of theatrical.

Felix dramatically flopped onto his desk. "This is cruelty. Pure, unfiltered cruelty."

Leo muttered, "I knew he was a sadist."

Mira rubbed her temples. "Professor, don't you think we'd learn better if we were alive to absorb the information?"

Wallace, who had gone disturbingly quiet, tried one last desperate plea. "What if we pretended to suffer? Would that satisfy you?"

I pretended to think about it before shaking my head. "Nope."

Julien smirked. "Well, I guess that settles it. We're doomed."

Garrick, who had been unbothered this entire time, finally sighed. "Just get it over with."

Cassandra blinked slowly. I had no idea what she was thinking, and that was somehow more concerning than anything the others were saying.

I picked up the chalk again and tapped the board. "Alright, quit whining. I'm generous, so I'll make this fun."

Leo groaned. "Your definition of fun terrifies me."

"Good," I said. "Now, today's lesson is on battlefield strategy, specifically how to not die like an idiot."

Felix lifted his head just enough to complain. "I feel like this lesson is coming too late."

Julien snickered. "Pretty sure it's a personal attack."

I gave them a sharp grin. "Oh, it absolutely is."

Another wave of despair washed over the class.

Mira sighed. "Fine. What do we have to do?"

I smirked. "Simple. You just need to answer some of my questions, so I can figure any of you morons had brain."

A brief silence followed as they processed my words. Then—

"Wait," Felix narrowed his eyes. "Just… answer questions?"

"That's it?" Wallace sounded suspicious.

Leo frowned. "There's no catch?"

I let the silence drag for a few seconds, watching their collective tension grow. Then I tilted my head slightly. "Do you want there to be a catch? If you want I can add one."

Felix immediately backpedaled. "Nope. No catch is great. Love that. Big fan of no catches."

Wallace nodded rapidly. "Completely unnecessary. We're good with just answering questions."

Julien, however, looked far too amused. "Oh? And what would the catch be?"

I smiled. "If I added one? Hmm… Maybe a lap around the training field for every wrong answer. Or push-ups. Or—" I turned to Garrick. "What do you think?"

Garrick, unbothered as ever, shrugged. "Laps sound fair."

Leo groaned. "Garrick, why?"

Garrick shrugged again. "Better than getting hit."

Mira gave me a dry look. "You were never actually planning on letting us off easy, were you?"

I feigned offense. "What kind of heartless monster do you take me for?"

"Do you want the list alphabetically or by severity?" she shot back.

Julien snickered, Wallace sighed in defeat, and Felix looked like he wanted to cry.

I raised a hand. "Alright, alright. Fine. No catch this time. Just for today." I leaned against the desk with a mock serious expression. "But mark my words, I will never be this merciful again."

They collectively gave an exaggerated sigh of relief.

I clapped my hands. "Alright, first question. You are fighting a mage that specialises in fire magic and you lost your sword, what would you do?"

silence filled the room as the students processed the question.

felix blinked. "uh… die?"

i gave him a deadpan look. "incorrect. that's one lap."

felix let out a strangled noise of betrayal. "you said there was no catch!"

i shrugged. "there wasn't—until you gave such a dumb answer that i had to make an exception."

julien grinned. "i mean, to be fair, it is realistic."

i pointed the chalk at him. "you want to run with him?"

julien raised his hands in surrender. "nope, i like my legs intact."

mira sighed. "fine, fine. fire mage, no sword… if you have a water spell or some way to disrupt their casting, that'd be the best move, right?"

i nodded. "acceptable. but what if you don't have magic?"

wallace adjusted his glasses. "find cover and use the environment to limit their range?"

"better. but say there's no cover, and they're already mid-cast. now what?"

leo groaned. "this feels like a setup for failure."

"it is," i admitted. "but figuring out how to not die in a no-win situation is a valuable skill."

cassandra, who had been quiet up until now, finally spoke. "close the distance."

the class turned to look at her, surprised.

she continued, her voice calm. "if they're mid-cast and you can't block or dodge, rushing them might be the only option. mages need space. get too close, and most can't handle melee combat."

i grinned. "correct. and depending on how reckless you are, you might even make it out with only minor burns."

felix groaned. "that still sounds like suffering."

i shrugged. "i did say the lesson was about how to not die, not how to win comfortably."

mira sighed. "i hate that this actually makes sense."

i clapped my hands again. "good. next question—"

a chorus of groans filled the air.

I smirked. "What a pleasant sound."

Felix muttered something under his breath that was probably an insult, but I chose to ignore it.

I tapped the board again. "Alright, next scenario: You're in a duel against a swordsman who's faster than you. Their attacks are relentless, and every attempt to create distance fails. What's your move?"

Julien leaned back, looking amused. "Hope for divine intervention?"

I pointed at him. "Wrong. And also, not happening."

Mira sighed. "This feels like a trick question. If they're faster, running won't work. Blocking risks getting overwhelmed. That leaves… countering?"

I nodded. "Go on."

She frowned, thinking. "You'd have to bait them into overextending or using predictable patterns. If they're attacking non-stop, eventually they'll make a mistake."

I grinned. "Correct. Use their speed against them. A reckless fast opponent is just a free opening waiting to happen. That said, if they aren't reckless…"

Wallace adjusted his glasses. "Then you're screwed?"

"Exactly," I said cheerfully.

Leo groaned. "This class is just an elaborate way to tell us we're all going to die, isn't it?"

I gave him an approving nod. "Now that is a lesson worth remembering."

Another round of suffering-filled groans followed.

I leaned against my desk, watching them. "See, now you're finally starting to think. Maybe there's hope for you after all."

Julien smirked. "Don't lie to us, Professor. We all know you don't believe that."

I chuckled. "Fair enough."

I glanced at the clock. "Alright, that's it for today. Just rest for now."

The collective sigh of relief was immediate. Felix practically melted into his desk, looking as if he had been granted a divine pardon. Leo slumped back in his seat, murmuring a quiet finally. Wallace looked like he wanted to double-check if I was actually dismissing them or if this was some cruel trick. Julien smirked, stretching lazily.

Mira narrowed her eyes at me. "No surprise assignment? No sudden 'but wait, there's more' moment?"

I gave her my most innocent look. "What? Me? Never."

She didn't buy it. None of them did.

Felix groaned. "I swear if there's some horrible surprise waiting for us tomorrow—"

I waved him off. "Relax. Tomorrow's lesson is mostly harmless."

I smiled. "That just means you learned something."

The groans of despair that followed were almost musical.

They didn't have any strength to argue, they all slowly leans against the desk to rest. I take out the "monocle of evaluation" from my pocket and put it on.

I adjusted the monocle and looked at the students. Text appeared over each of them, listing their strengths and weaknesses.

__

Julien:

➤ Attributes: Fast, sharp reflexes, good at adapting.

➤ Element: Wind.

➤ Combat: Quick swordplay, but gets tired fast.

➤ Weakness: Overconfident.

__

Mira:

➤ Attributes: Smart, plans ahead.

➤ Element: Dark.(specialized in curses).

➤ Combat: Prefers indirect methods, thrives in trickery and misdirection.

➤ Weakness: Overthinks, can hesitate if a plan falls apart.

__

Felix:

➤ Attributes: Strong magic, but no control.

➤ Element: water and ice.

➤ Combat: Fights best when panicked.

➤ Weakness: Physically weak, coward.

__

Wallace:

➤ Attributes: Smart, analyzes everything.

➤ Element: Lightning.

➤ Combat: Uses tools and runes, not much physical ability.

➤ Weakness: Slow in direct fights, weak in hand-to-hand.

__

Leo:

➤ Attributes: Stubborn, high stamina, Run faster.

➤ Element: wind

➤ Combat: Can dodge hits, but no means to counter attack.

➤ Weakness: Hesitates too much, lazy.

__

Garrick:

➤ Attributes: Strong, tough, hard to hurt.

➤ Element: Earth (prefers physical enhancement).

➤ Combat: Heavy hitter, takes a lot of damage.

➤ Weakness: Not very strategic, Dumb, believe others quickly.

__

Cassandra:

➤ Attributes: ???

➤ Element: ???

➤ Combat: ???

➤ Weakness: ???

(Special note: Under puppet magic and mana sealing, need to lift those to view student assessment.)

__

I frowned slightly at Cassandra's assessment. The monocle of evaluation wasn't perfect—it only analyzed what was visible to the eye and mana signature—but seeing that many question marks was unsettling.

"Puppet magic… mana sealing…" I murmured, adjusting the monocle. That meant someone had actively placed restrictions on her. But who? And why?

Cassandra remained eerily still, her gaze fixed on her desk. No reaction. As always.

I glanced at the others. Julien was already half-dozing, Felix was muttering complaints to himself, and Leo looked ready to bolt the moment I dismissed them. If they noticed anything unusual, they weren't showing it.

I sighed and took off the monocle, slipping it back into my pocket.

"Alright," I said, my voice snapping them out of their exhaustion. "You're dismissed. Go collapse somewhere else."

The students practically scrambled out of their seats. Felix nearly tripped over himself in his rush to leave, while Leo bolted as if running from death itself. Wallace mumbled something about reviewing notes, and Mira was already dragging Julien toward the door, muttering about how she wasn't going to let him slack off completely.

Garrick gave me a respectful nod before leaving, unbothered as usual.

Only Cassandra lingered.

She stood up slowly, her movements controlled, deliberate. As she passed by my desk, she paused for just a second—long enough that I almost thought she was about to say something.

But she didn't.

She simply turned and left without a word.

I exhaled, leaning back in my chair. "What a pain," I muttered.

Something was off about her. I'd suspected it for a while now, but seeing it confirmed with my monocle only made it worse.

"Under puppet magic, huh…" I tapped my fingers against the desk.

Puppet magic wasn't common. It was an advanced form of control magic, used to manipulate minds, bodies, or both. But the real question was: who put those restrictions on her? And for what purpose?

I sighed and stood up, grabbing my coat and said. "This is going to be a headache."