The Nightmare Wizard
Chapter 103: Practical Experience

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: Practical Experience

William walked alone down the corridor. Each step felt heavy, as if he were carrying a great weight on his back. His mind was focused on the image of Lía on the infirmary bed, her tear-filled eyes and swollen skin. Her voice trembling. "Don’t do anything crazy." Despite her severe condition, she was still worrying about him, even to the point of enduring everything herself. "If I don’t screw them over, I’m not a man..." William muttered as he walked back to the greenhouse.

After making a decision, he quickened his pace. Each step echoed more forcefully than the last, showing his resolve. As he opened the door, the scent of sap and damp earth flooded his lungs again, like poison. The class was still in session. Professor Silga Mern was explaining the process of spore extraction for study without even turning to look at the door.

Normally, it would be difficult to find the culprit, but this time William didn’t need to look far. There they were, Julien Tavros, Erel Vanvar, and Mikkon Velth, the three nobles sitting together, smiling, one of them even absently shaking a dwarf genoderma leaf. Their faces showed no remorse whatsoever. Only arrogance, as if the tragedy were just a funny note from the morning. Seeing their attitude, his resolve grew stronger; he had doubted a little before, but now he was sure of what he had to do.

Without a word, William headed to his desk. When he sat down, the teacher finally turned her gaze.

"William, is everything alright with your companion?" she asked in a flat voice, as she wrote formulas in the air with a blue sage wand.

"She’s stable," he replied, without emotion.

"I’m glad. What happened earlier was an unfortunate accident. Let’s continue with the class, please."

William laughed. It was brief, dry, a hollow laugh. Everyone turned to look at him. Even the three nobles stopped pretending indifference.

"An accident..." he murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.

In front of him, on his table, were many compounds to be used for the classes. Among them was a small vial with concentrated extract of fiery nettle root, a substance that only reacted to traces of shadow sap. He knew this because he had been studying with Lía for this class the day before.

When the nurse mentioned the shadow sap, William knew something was seriously wrong. That material was not on the list the teacher had given them; even the book mentioned it as an extremely dangerous extract that should be handled with care.

William was sure that no one should have it among the provided materials, so someone must have brought it. This was not an accident but a planned trap against them. The nurse had been clear: just contact with the slightest trace of sap was enough to cause a chain reaction.

William grabbed the vial gently. His gaze didn’t leave Julien, Erel, and Mikkon. Ignoring the teacher, he walked towards the three, opening the vial before saying, "Perhaps it was an accident... like this one." William said, throwing the powder without any warning.

The contents hit all three squarely.

The three received the full blast of powder. Julien and Erel looked at each other, bewildered, not understanding what was happening. They were about to mock him when they heard Mikkon scream; the howl was heartbreaking.

"MY HAND! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME, YOU BASTARD COMMONER!"

His right hand was covered by a pattern of blackish veins that instantly began to swell. The skin bubbled as if burning from within, opening into pus-filled sores that released a purplish smoke. The tendons in his fingers tensed until one of them snapped with a crunch. Mikkon fell to his knees, holding his hand, crying and screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

"I don’t like repeating my words," she said, walking between the desks. "Congelum!" A blast of ice shot towards William, who had already moved, easily dodging the professor’s spell. His speed was such that he seemed to teleport; the most important skill of knights was being magnificently demonstrated: "Instant Step," the captain’s last gift to William. Although he hadn’t had much time to practice it during the battle against Neri, he had been practicing it without fully using it to keep it a secret, but at this moment, he had no choice if he wanted to finish things before the teacher subdued him.

Everyone stepped aside, frozen. William was now in front of Julien Tavros, who recoiled, visibly nervous. But William wasn’t talking to him; behind him, trying to hide, was another person.

"Shadow sap... It wasn’t on the materials list. The nurse said you need special permission to request it, and just a little of it can cause that kind of reaction. How did you get it?" he asked, and without giving him time to answer, he turned his face to the right side of the classroom. "Though I can already guess."

A trembling student cowered at his desk, trying to become invisible. Mors Tharn, the student William had hit the day before. Mikkon turned to look at him, screaming.

"One hundred Black Points, right, Tharn? You said there was no way he could know it was us, you bastard."

The boy’s eyes widened. William didn’t wait for a response.

He turned and hit Mors with a closed fist directly in the face. The crunch was dry, brutal. The noble flew three meters through the air and crashed against the greenhouse’s glass wall, leaving a stain of blood and broken teeth. He fell completely unconscious with a grunt, his nose broken and cheekbone sunken.

The entire class fell silent.

Silga Mern didn’t move. Her lips trembled, but she didn’t say a single word. She just watched.

Mikkon continued screaming, the skin of his hand turned into a swollen, black mass. His fingers hung, looking as if they would fall off at any moment.

"And now it was an accident too?" William asked without looking back at the professor.

The teacher remained silent, her lips trembling with rage.

Then, slowly, William returned to his table and sat down.

"Let’s continue the class, teacher. I’m learning a lot about poisonous plants," William said with a sarcastic tone.

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