Villainous Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 87: Wolf’s den

Chapter 87: Wolf’s den

The forest was eerily silent as we moved deeper, away from the chaos we’d just escaped. Only the rustle of leaves and the crunch of dirt beneath our boots echoed through the stillness.

"Keep moving," I muttered, voice low but firm.

Felix was barely keeping up, panting like he’d run a marathon. Garrick’s jaw was clenched, his grip on his sword still tight. Cassandra glided alongside us, her movements graceful but her expression distant—still that unsettling calm.

"Professor..." Felix gasped between breaths. "H-How... far?"

"Not far enough," I murmured, scanning the surroundings.

Kellan wasn’t stupid. He’d regroup, and when he did...

We needed to be gone.

"Garrick," I murmured.

"Yeah?"

"Anything following?"

Garrick didn’t answer right away. His eyes narrowed, focused on the path behind us.

"Nothing... yet," he muttered, but there was tension in his tone.

They weren’t chasing.

Why?

I didn’t like it.

"Professor," Cassandra murmured softly.

I glanced her way.

"Left," she said, her tone barely above a whisper.

I didn’t question it.

"Move," I barked.

We veered left, cutting through denser brush. The path was uneven, the foliage thicker, but it offered more cover.

"Where... are we going?" Felix panted.

"Somewhere they won’t follow," I murmured.

"And where’s that?" Garrick grunted.

"Somewhere even they aren’t stupid enough to chase us."

Felix’s eyes widened. "Wait... you don’t mean—"

"Quiet."

They didn’t need to know yet.

"Cassandra?" I murmured.

Her head tilted slightly, her expression blank.

"Still nothing," she murmured. "But... it’s too quiet."

Exactly.

Something was off.

"We’re being herded," I muttered under my breath.

"Professor?" Garrick frowned.

"Not by Kellan."

I felt it now—subtle, almost imperceptible.

Mana.

Strong.

"Trap?" Garrick murmured.

"Not yet," I muttered.

But it was close.

"Slow down," I ordered. "Stay close."

Felix practically tripped trying to stop.

"W-Why are we stopping?"

"Because if we keep going..."

I pointed ahead.

"...we’re walking straight into a kill zone."

The clearing ahead looked harmless—lush grass, scattered stones, nothing out of the ordinary.

But I felt it.

A pulse of mana.

An array.

Subtle. Hidden.

"Cassandra?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Illusion," she murmured softly. "Faint, but layered. It’s covering something."

"Trap," Garrick murmured.

"Obviously." I rolled my eyes.

"Can you dispel it, Professor?" Felix asked, his voice hopeful.

"Not without setting it off," I muttered.

And we didn’t want that.

"Options?" Garrick murmured.

"Two," I murmured, my mind already working through the possibilities.

"We go around," I said, eyes narrowing. "Or..."

"Or?" Felix gulped.

"We set it off on purpose."

Silence.

"Uh... how about we go with option one?" Felix suggested weakly.

"No," I murmured.

Felix’s face fell. "Why?"

"Because," I murmured, eyes narrowing.

"They’re waiting for us to take the safer route."

If they wanted us to go around...

That’s where the real trap was.

"We spring this one," I murmured, my mind already calculating.

"Isn’t that... dangerous?" Felix asked, his voice shaky.

"Very."

"And we’re... doing it anyway?"

"Obviously."

"Of course," Felix muttered, his shoulders slumping.

"Cassandra," I murmured.

"On it."

She stepped forward, her hands moving through the air with precision.

"Wall runes. Hidden under layered illusion."

Her fingers traced invisible lines in the air.

"Can you disable it?" Garrick asked.

"Not without triggering it," she murmured softly. "But..."

Her eyes flicked to me.

"Detonate?"

"Do it," I murmured.

"Professor..." Felix’s voice was barely above a whisper.

"Relax," I murmured, already backing away.

"Why... why are you backing up?"

"Because," I smirked, "this is going to be loud."

"Wait—"

Cassandra’s fingers danced across the air—

Snap.

The air shifted—

BOOM.

The clearing exploded in a wave of raw mana, the force sending debris flying in all directions.

"Down!" I barked, already pulling Felix to the ground.

Garrick dropped, shielding his head as the blast swept past us.

Cassandra barely moved, her expression eerily calm even as the blast shook the ground beneath us.

When the dust settled, I pushed myself up, coughing.

"Well," I muttered, brushing dirt off my coat.

"That was... dramatic," Garrick grunted, standing up and surveying the now-scorched clearing.

"Effective," Cassandra murmured softly.

Felix was still on the ground, trembling.

"Is... is it over?"

"Get up, Felix," I muttered.

He peeked up, his face pale. "Are we... dead?"

"Not yet," I muttered.

Felix groaned as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Why do I feel like that’s only temporary?"

"Because it probably is."

I straightened, scanning the surroundings.

The array was gone.

But...

"Professor..." Garrick’s voice was tight.

I followed his gaze.

Ahead...

The clearing was gone.

Revealing...

Ruins.

Ancient. Crumbling.

But the mana...

It was stronger now.

"Great," I muttered. "Because we didn’t have enough problems."

"Professor..." Cassandra murmured softly.

"Yeah?"

She didn’t speak.

She didn’t need to.

Because I felt it too.

We weren’t alone.

And whatever was waiting...

It wasn’t friendly.

The ruins stretched before us, jagged stone pillars reaching toward the sky like skeletal fingers. The air was heavier here—thick with residual mana that clung to the atmosphere like mist. The ground was cracked, uneven, and littered with fragments of old carvings.

"Professor..." Garrick’s voice was low, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

"Yeah," I murmured, already feeling the hairs on my neck stand on end.

This wasn’t just old magic.

It was alive.

"Cassandra?" I asked, my tone sharper than usual.

Her head tilted, eyes narrowing as she focused.

"Residual mana," she murmured softly. "But... something else."

"Define ’something else,’" I muttered.

Her expression darkened.

"Emotion," she murmured. "Fear. Anger. Desperation."

I didn’t like that.

"Great," I muttered. "Just what we needed."

Felix’s voice trembled. "D-Does that mean something’s... still here?"

"Maybe," I murmured. "But..."

My words trailed off as I felt it.

A pulse.

Faint.

But growing stronger.

"We’re not alone," Garrick murmured, his grip tightening on his sword.

"No," I murmured. "We’re not."

The ruins weren’t just ruins.

They were a graveyard.

And something didn’t want us here.

"Move," I murmured, voice low.

"Where?" Felix whispered, eyes darting around.

"Deeper."

"What?!"

"Do you want to stand here and wait for whatever’s watching us to come closer?" I shot back.

Felix shut up.

"Thought so."

We moved, staying low, weaving through the ruins.

Cassandra led, her senses sharper than anyone’s. Garrick was close behind, his movements silent despite his bulk.

Felix... was Felix.

"Keep your eyes open," I murmured.

"Like I could close them now," Felix muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.

I ignored him.

We weaved through broken archways and crumbling pillars, the pulse growing stronger with every step.

"This isn’t right," Garrick murmured, his tone tight.

"You’re telling me," I muttered.

"Professor..." Cassandra’s voice was barely a whisper.

I glanced back—

Her eyes were fixed ahead.

"Something... big," she murmured.

I followed her gaze.

And I saw it.

A den.

Nestled between the ruins, half-buried beneath the debris. But the markings...

My stomach dropped.

"Silver wolves," I muttered.

Felix’s face went pale. "You mean..."

"Yeah."

We’d found the source.

"Shit," Garrick muttered.

The den was quiet.

Too quiet.

No movement. No sounds.

But I wasn’t fooled.

"Cassandra?"

"Still," she murmured softly. "But... watching."

I felt it too.

Eyes.

We weren’t alone.

"We need the fur," Garrick murmured.

"I know," I muttered.

We had no choice.

"Garrick, Felix—stay back," I murmured softly.

"Cassandra—"

"On it."

Her fingers danced through the air, tracing faint lines of mana.

"Disruption rune," she murmured softly. "If anything moves... we’ll know."

"Good."

I moved forward, keeping my steps light.

The den’s entrance was barely wide enough for me to squeeze through.

Dark.

Silent.

But I felt them.

Eyes watching from the shadows.

I crouched low, scanning the den.

And then...

I saw them.

Silver wolf cubs.

Huddled close to their mother’s lifeless form.

"Shit..."

They were barely a few weeks old. Their tiny bodies trembling, their eyes wide with fear.

Orphaned.

And the den...

Littered with shed fur.

"Got it," I murmured softly.

I moved carefully, gathering the silver fur while keeping my eyes on the cubs.

"Professor?" Garrick’s voice was low, but urgent.

"Almost..."

My fingers brushed against the last tuft of fur when—

Growl.

My blood froze.

"Lucian..." Cassandra’s voice was barely a whisper.

"Yeah," I murmured, my eyes narrowing.

I didn’t need to look.

I felt it.

Behind me.

A presence.

Big.

"Move," I murmured softly.

"Professor..." Felix’s voice was trembling.

"Move."

I grabbed the last of the fur, shoving it into my pouch.

And then—

I ran.

The den exploded with movement behind me.

"Go!" I barked.

Garrick and Felix didn’t need to be told twice.

We sprinted.

Cassandra’s rune flared behind us—

A barrier.

But it wouldn’t hold for long.

The alpha was coming.

"Out!" I barked, shoving Felix forward.

We burst from the ruins, the pulse of mana behind us growing stronger—

Faster.

"Move!"

The ground trembled.

Shit.

We weren’t out yet.

But if we didn’t make it—

"Professor!" Garrick’s voice was sharp.

"Keep running!"

Cassandra was already ahead, her movements smooth and calculated.

Felix was tripping over his own feet but somehow keeping pace.

"Almost there..." I muttered, my heart pounding in my ears.

The den was behind us now—

But the alpha...

Wasn’t far.

"Get to the clearing!" I barked.

We were close.

So damn close.

"Don’t stop!"

The ground shook again—

And then—

We were out.

Bursting into the open, the ruins behind us.

"Cassandra!"

"On it."

Her hands moved—

A rune flared.

Illusion.

The den vanished behind a veil of mist, obscuring it completely.

"Good," I panted, finally slowing down.

We made it.

Barely.

"Everyone accounted for?" I asked, breathless.

"Here," Garrick muttered, his chest heaving.

"Alive," Felix wheezed.

Cassandra gave me a small nod.

"Fur?" Garrick asked.

I tapped my pouch.

"Got it."

"Good," Garrick murmured.

Felix, however, was still staring back at the ruins.

"Uh..."

"What now?" I muttered.

"Why is the ground still shaking?"

My blood froze.

"Run."

Again.