Villainous Instructor at the Academy
Chapter 94: Painful lessons

Chapter 94: Painful lessons

Mira and Wallace were still catching their breath, bruised in both body and ego. Meanwhile, the rest of the class looked like they wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to.

That was smart.

I wasn’t done yet.

I turned to the rest of them with a slow, predatory smile. "So? Any of you want to try your luck?"

No one moved.

"Come on," I gestured, scanning their faces. "Surely, someone here thinks they can do better than those two."

Silence.

Even Julien, who usually had some cocky remark, was suddenly very interested in adjusting his sleeves.

"I see." I nodded, feigning disappointment. "All bark, no bite."

"Professor, we just fought for our lives," Felix grumbled. "Maybe we deserve a break?"

"A break?" I repeated, tilting my head. "Felix, what exactly do you think an enemy is going to do when you ask for a break? Are they going to say, ’Oh sure, take your time, I’ll just sip some tea while you catch your breath?’"

Felix muttered something under his breath.

"What was that?" I cupped a hand to my ear. "Speak up. This is a classroom, Felix."

"...Nothing, Professor," he said through gritted teeth.

"Good answer." I nodded. "Because if I did hear you complaining, I’d have to give you extra lessons. And I really don’t want to do that."

That was a lie. I absolutely did want to.

I paced in front of them like a general inspecting his troops. "Now, let’s talk about what went wrong. And before you all start thinking, ’Oh, he’s just going to yell at us again’—yes, I am, but that’s beside the point."

I clapped my hands together. "Let’s start with Garrick!"

The big guy stiffened.

"Garrick, how many times did you almost die?"

"...Twice?" he guessed.

I laughed.

Loudly.

The students exchanged nervous glances.

"Twice? Twice?" I wheezed. "Garrick, buddy, I counted six. And that’s only the ones I know about!"

He turned red but didn’t argue.

"First, you charged into a situation without thinking. Second, you got separated from the group because you charged in without thinking. Third, you were nearly flattened by a collapsing crate because—say it with me—you charged in without thinking."

"I get it, Professor..." Garrick mumbled.

"Oh, we are so far from done." I smirked. "Number four: You mistook an enemy shadow for a student and nearly tried to apologize to it before it tried to kill you."

The class snickered.

"Number five: You tried to punch a rune trap."

Garrick sighed, covering his face.

"And number six," I continued, "you almost tripped and impaled yourself on a broken branch."

There was silence.

Then, Julien leaned toward Mira and whispered, "Wait, that actually happened?"

"Oh, yes, it did." I crossed my arms. "And if I hadn’t grabbed him by the collar, we’d be having this lesson one student short."

More snickering.

I turned my attention to Felix.

"And you."

Felix paled.

"You spent half the event screaming."

"I did not!" he protested.

I arched an eyebrow. "Would you like me to reenact the moment you ran from a harmless beetle?"

Felix opened his mouth, then shut it.

"That’s what I thought." I nodded. "You also tripped over your own feet four times, nearly fell off a ledge, and at one point, mistook a floating leaf for a ghost and almost fainted."

Felix groaned, burying his face in his hands.

"And—and this is my favorite part—when we were surrounded, and I told you to hold your ground, you ran straight into Garrick and knocked both of you over."

The class erupted into laughter.

I smirked.

Now for the last one.

I turned to Cassandra.

She was just... standing there. Quiet. Blank. Unaffected.

"As for you," I said, staring at her.

She blinked slowly.

I stared harder.

She blinked again.

...This wasn’t fun.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "You know what? I’m not even going to bother. You did your job, even under that weird puppet magic. Congratulations. You’re the least embarrassing one here."

Cassandra didn’t react.

"Alright, class dismissed," I finally said, waving them away. "Go celebrate your pathetic survival or whatever."

They scrambled to leave, some laughing, some groaning.

As they walked away, Julien nudged Mira. "I can’t believe he’s this brutal after we won."

Mira smirked. "This was his way of celebrating."

They weren’t wrong.

I sighed, stretching my arms. Maybe I’d get some peace and quiet now—

"Professor," Julien called from a distance. "Wanna spar?"

I turned to glare at him.

He grinned. "No magic. No weapons. Just a friendly match?"

I took a deep breath.

Maybe it was time for another lesson.

"Alright," I clapped my hands together, breaking the awkward silence. "I hope that was enlightening. Now, onto the next lesson—"

"Next?!" Felix blurted out, eyes wide in horror. "Professor, we just—"

I turned to him with a slow, amused smile. "Felix."

He immediately shut up.

I continued, "As I was saying, onto the next lesson. Since most of you have the combat awareness of a half-dead squirrel, it’s time for some real training."

Julien, lounging comfortably in the back, raised a hand lazily. "And what exactly does real training mean, Professor?"

I grinned. "It means pain."

Julien blinked. "...Pardon?"

I turned to face the class fully, crossing my arms. "Since some of you still think you can rely on magic and fancy little tricks to win a fight, I’m going to drill something important into your heads." I pointed at Wallace and Mira. "Those two got a firsthand experience of how dirty fighting works. But now, it’s your turn to learn something crucial."

I cracked my knuckles.

"Today, we’re going to talk about how to get hit properly."

Silence.

Leo coughed. "Uh... what?"

I smirked. "You heard me. Most of you flinch the second you think you’re about to take damage. That’s a bad habit. Hesitation gets you killed. If you don’t know how to take a hit properly, then you’re useless in a fight."

The students exchanged nervous glances.

"So!" I clapped my hands again, stepping back. "One by one, you’re all going to learn firsthand what it means to take a proper hit."

Felix took a step back, eyes darting around as if searching for an escape route. "Uh... I-I don’t think that’s necessary, Professor."

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying you already know how to get hit?"

Felix gulped.

"Good," I said. "Then come here."

He looked like he wanted to throw himself off a cliff.

The rest of the class watched in barely-contained amusement as Felix was forced to stand in front of me, shoulders tense like a rabbit about to be eaten.

"Now," I said, cracking my neck. "I’ll be generous. I won’t actually hit you full force. Just enough to prove a point."

Felix looked about two seconds away from passing out.

"Relax," I sighed. "I’ll just give you a light shove."

I took a step forward and—

WHAM.

Felix went flying backward, skidding across the dirt with a yelp.

The class erupted into laughter.

Julien clutched his stomach. "That was a light shove?!"

I shrugged. "I held back."

Felix groaned from the ground. "You—held back?"

I ignored him. "Now! Who’s next?"

The laughter stopped instantly.

"Don’t all volunteer at once," I said dryly, scanning their faces. Most of them were trying to look anywhere but at me.

Cassandra, standing eerily still as usual, tilted her head. "I’ll go."

The class immediately shut up.

I sighed. "Of course you will."

I gestured her forward, but this time, I gave a warning. "Unlike Felix, I actually expect you to react properly."

She nodded.

I stepped forward and aimed a quick jab at her shoulder—nothing serious, just enough to test her reflexes.

Cassandra didn’t dodge.

Instead, she adjusted her stance, absorbing the impact in a way that barely moved her.

The class went silent.

I smirked. "Well, well. Someone actually has some instincts."

Cassandra didn’t say anything. Just stared at me, blankly.

I waved her off. "Alright, you’re done. The rest of you? Take notes. Because I’m not going easy on the next one."

Leo groaned. "Professor, please—"

I grinned.

Lecture Hell had only just begun.

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