Villainous Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 139: Trial by flames

Chapter 139: Trial by flames

We fanned out instinctively. Training kicked in. Even Felix didn’t trip over himself—yet.

The thing in the center watched us without moving. Its skin shimmered like it was forged from lava, its limbs long and jointed wrong, fingers dragging ash trails in the air. But it wasn’t just fire. No sprite ever gave off intent.

This thing had it. Malice thick enough to taste.

"Identify it," I ordered, sword ready.

Wallace scanned with a shaky lens stone. "It’s... not in the database. Closest match is a flamebound wraith—but those don’t move. They’re bound to altars."

"This one looks ready to waltz," Julien muttered, already circling it with practiced footwork.

"Hold," I said. "We test first."

I picked up a broken pickaxe and chucked it at the creature. It exploded mid-air—liquified by a heat surge.

So, that’s how it plays.

"Alright," I muttered. "Mira. Curses. Now."

She was already chanting.

Shadow rippled along the ground, tendrils reaching toward the creature. But when they touched it—they hissed and curled away like burned paper.

The thing finally moved.

It blinked forward, skipping distance in bursts of flame, and came straight for Garrick.

He met it head-on with a hammer swing that cracked the stone floor—and passed straight through the creature’s torso.

It phased.

Garrick’s eyes went wide—then he took a full-body heat wave to the chest and flew back like a rag doll.

"MIRA, SHIELD!"

A dark veil snapped over Garrick just in time to stop him from smashing into the wall. He groaned.

"Still alive," he mumbled. "Barely."

Julien shot forward, daggers flashing, trying to test the thing’s boundaries. It swiped once—and his blade melted.

He backflipped out of range, cursing.

"Don’t touch it!" he barked. "We can’t win like this!"

I nodded. "New plan. Wallace, traps. Layered bursts. Felix—"

"I’ll... try not to die!"

"Do better than that."

The creature stopped again. Its eyes locked onto me now. Like it finally decided who was in charge.

I felt heat spike. The sword in my hand trembled—reacting.

My Ignition Sword skill pulsed in my blood.

Not yet.

It flickered forward again—and I met it.

Sparks exploded as I parried its flaming claw with the flat of my blade, fire licking up my coat sleeve. Pain danced across my arm.

It laughed. Low and inhuman.

I pushed back with everything, sliding it across the stone—and shouted, "NOW!"

Felix triggered a fire rune.

Wallace detonated a concussive trap.

Mira laced the area with a suppression circle.

Julien dove from behind with a backup dagger.

For a moment—just one moment—the creature staggered.

I stabbed forward, Ignition Sword half-triggered, blade flaring orange.

The strike landed. It screamed. Not in pain—more like amusement.

It vanished in a flash of fire.

Silence.

Smoke.

Breathless students.

"What the hell was that thing?" Julien hissed.

I stood straight, blade smoking, trying not to shake. "A message," I muttered. "From this mine, or whatever’s using it. It knows we’re here."

Cassandra stepped forward, speaking for the first time. "It didn’t try to kill us."

"No," I said. "It played with us."

Mira’s voice was tight. "So what now?"

I looked at them, scorched and shaken.

"We do what we came here for," I said. "We clean out this mine. One cursed freak at a time."

Even if the next one doesn’t want to play fair.

We retreated deeper into the side chamber where the air wasn’t shimmering with cursed heat. The group was silent, the adrenaline still buzzing under their skin.

I did a headcount. Everyone alive. Everyone singed.

Felix looked like he’d aged five years in the last twenty minutes.

"Anyone dying?" I asked.

"No...?" Leo said, rubbing a burn on his shoulder. "But I might wish I was."

"Not the same thing. You’ll live."

Garrick sat slumped against the stone wall, shirt scorched and eyes still wide. Mira stood by him, working a salve into his chest like she’d done it a hundred times.

Julien paced, muttering. Wallace was adjusting a trap mechanism with trembling fingers.

I sheathed my sword.

"Alright," I said, "We talk. That thing wasn’t a random monster."

Julien stopped. "You think it was guarding something?"

"Maybe. Or testing us. I’ve seen bosses with worse personalities, but not by much."

Wallace coughed. "It ignored half our attacks. Phased through steel. Absorbed heat. Probably fire-attuned mana."

"Not just that," I muttered. "It felt like it wanted to fight. Not to win. Just to toy with us."

Felix flinched. "So what the hell are we doing down here again?"

"Mission," I said. "The academy issued it. We clean out this mine, confirm the cause of the quakes, neutralize threats, return. That’s the job."

"But we’re gonna die doing it!" he wailed.

I stared at him.

"I mean," he backtracked, "we’re definitely going to die doing it!"

"Better. Accepting fate is step one."

He groaned.

Cassandra finally spoke. "There are echoes in the walls."

We all looked at her.

"Echoes?" I asked.

She nodded slowly. "Whispers. They repeat phrases. Something about a pact. Something about ’the scorched one awakening.’"

"Of course," I muttered. "Because this couldn’t be a simple mining accident. That would be too easy."

Julien chuckled dryly. "So... what now, fearless leader?"

"We rest. Twenty minutes. Regroup, then head deeper."

Felix whined again. "Why deeper?! Why not... I don’t know... up?!"

"Because the thing that nearly roasted us didn’t come from the surface. It came from below."

Leo scoffed. "Brilliant deduction."

"I am brilliant," I said. "Get some water in you before I replace it with a fireball."

They moved sluggishly, exhausted but too afraid to defy me outright. Smart.

I leaned against the wall, gaze fixed on the faint trail of scorched stone left by that creature.

It was a game event. I knew that much. But I didn’t remember it exactly. This wasn’t quite what the players saw in the quest logs. Something had twisted here.

A new piece on the board.

And whatever it was, it wasn’t done yet.

Not by a long shot.

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