Struggling as a Villain

"Good morning, class; I am Lucy, your homeroom teacher and I will be teaching the fundamentals of magic and about the common enemy of humanity: Ambrobates."

The woman looked like she was in her late twenties with long violet hair tied in a ponytail and a pair of sharp grey eyes. She wore square glasses and possessed a very alluring physique which was accentuated by her style of clothing.

Moving her eyes around the class she stated, "There would be enough time for you to know each other, so let's skip the introduction and get on with the rules you must follow in my class."

"First, no fighting within the class; if you want, you can challenge someone through a formal procedure, but brawling and bullying are strictly prohibited and can get your points deducted."

"Second, no skipping classes or arriving late. That will also get your scores deducted so beware."

"Any questions?" Lucy asked, allowing the students to take their time before they could ask.

Slowly it was someone from the back who hesitantly raised his hand, urging Lucy to say, "Yes, student Ethan?"

Nora and Emily instantly turned to look at the silver head while Ethan ignored them and asked,

"How...important are these student points?"

Many of the students snickered and laughed at such a stupid question; making Ethan a little embarrassed.

However, Lucy's glare shut all of them before she began to detail the importance,

"Student points are your lifeline while you are in the academy. Your bad behaviour and your good deeds both would affect your points. During recruitment, having positive scores would help you get a good job as well."

"Within the academy, the points can be used for some specific equipment and tools. For extra meals in the cafeteria. For renting some particular books, it can also be used in shopping complexes situated on the island. It is just like currency for students."

Ethan, with his eyes turned round, asked the lady,

"And to gain points?"

"Just work hard, stay in the top section, score high in tests, or win duels against other students and gain points from them."

Ethan nodded again, feeling grateful that at least the teacher wasn't rude like others who laughed at him and she also explained everything in simple words.

Most of the students come from high-class families, so naturally, they have heard about student points. For Richard, he heard it from his mother and Emily had her cousin who told her in the previous timeline. But Ethan comes from a very secluded place and never had the thought of enrolling here.

Once Ethan sat down, Lucy turned her attention towards a girl who sat in the left row. The pink-haired girl looked timid and barely raised her finger to ask whatever she had in mind.

"Yes, student Rose?"

"Umm...ah...a-about d-duel...i-is it necessary t-to accept?"

Lucy raised her brows, "No, it's your right to decline a duel unless it is mandated by an instructor during a training session."

The pinkette sat down instantly; feeling relieved that she wouldn't get dragged into conflicts even if she accidentally offended someone.

A few more questions were asked before the class finally began,

"Write whatever you find important, but don't ask anything unless I permit you to," Lucy warned as she wrote the name of the topic on the green board.

[Dark Star and Aembr Veins]

Turning towards the class, Lucy asked, "I assume all of you must be aware of what Dark Star is and how it brought changes to Clion, right?"

Most of the students nodded, but Ethan wasn't one of them.

Lucy started explaining things related to Dark Star,

"There was a time when this planet wasn't introduced to the concept of magic, then one day, a strange orb appeared beside the moon and a strange phenomenon struck Clion with its darkness."

Richard intently listened to the explanation, as until now, he has only received the knowledge of the Dark Star from the novel he read in his previous life. After rebirth, he didn't get much time to read the history of the world.

"Aembr Veins is the pathway through which Aembr arrives on Clion and corrupts the beasts residing here...didn't I say to not ask questions until I tell you to?" Lucy reminds the one who was raising his hand quite high.

Hearing her words, the dark blue-haired boy slowly lowered his hand, but since Lucy was already interrupted she urged,

"Okay tell me what you are confused about, student Collen."

It was the son of the previous knight commander and someone who had shown great sword skills during the assessment.

Richard glanced at the emo kid as he heard him asking, "Professor, I have always been baffled about the fact that despite being weaker than those beasts, humans were able to withstand Aembr despite remaining unawakened."

Richard raised his brows as he was also curious about it.

The resistant force which humans awakened that allowed them to wield these many skills was named Ether. However, those who didn't awaken ether were not corrupted like Ambrobates and also spent a decent life of forty to fifty years. How?

Lucy hummed before she hesitantly said, "I am not sure if I should be bringing my theory up here or not, but I can't let my students know the nonsense written in the book."

Richard inwardly chuckled. This might be the only Professor in the academy apart from Hailey, who didn't follow the norm and taught within the scope of books.

Putting down the chalk, she began, "It is believed that hundreds of years ago, before the Dark Star appeared, humans tended to live for a very long time, and the fertility rate was also quite high. As such, the birth rate was quite high, and the death rate was almost half of the birth rate, and with passing time, the number of people was exponentially growing."

Heaving a sigh, she added, "However, resources were limited. Expanding the planet was never possible nor was it to search for another habitat. Many species went extinct at that time, and many species evolved to become how they are right now."

Lucy glanced at the class and found every eye was directed at her with many of them holding complex emotions in them. However, she didn't care what they would say after she finished or if some students ended up complaining about her.

She just went ahead and said, "Our planet was nearing its extinction when the Dark Star arrived-"

"This is ridiculous! Are you saying that the Dark Star saved our lives?!" The hulking figure of the boy named Elion slammed his hand on the table and accused Lucy.

Instantly, the atmosphere of the room turned frosty and a wave of overwhelming intent washed over the students.

The hair on the back of his neck stood straight in alert as Richard reflexively summoned his bo staff.

However, he soon realised that it was unnecessary as the Professor was just agitated at the knucklehead.

"Student Elion, do I need to teach you the manners which your parents surely forgot about?"

Elion, who was at the centre of that chilling intent of an S-rank, gulped before he sat back down while sweating bullets.

Lucy heaved a sigh before releasing the intent and telling everyone, "As I said, it's not written anywhere but just myths. However, since it sounded the most logical to me, I taught you all why the Dark Star doesn't affect the non-awakened negatively."

With her eyes turning serious she added, "It just reduces their life expectancy to maintain the balance."

Pin-drop silence ensued in the class once she concluded, which soon was broken by the period bell.

Lucy took a deep breath and began to collect her teaching materials as she informed others, "We will be selecting the class representative tomorrow, so there is no need to bring books for the first period."

Just as she was about to walk away, she called out, "And Elion," The said boy instantly rose from his seat only to hear some words that made his mind numb, "Fifty points deducted. Learn from your mistakes and never repeat them."

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Since there were only four classes on the first day, Richard left the classroom nearly at twelve and walked towards the notice board where he promised to meet Amelia.

Many students were roaming around and checking out the cafeteria and other facilities. However, he couldn't do the same since he had something more important to do.

Meet the Headmaster.

Reaching the rendezvous point he reunited with Amelia.

"Shall we go?" Amelia asked as she extended her hand in his direction, hopefully.

Richard nodded and since he needed some support for this situation, he didn't think twice before holding her hand and urging,

"Let's go."

Things might get awry if Richard goes to the Headmaster and informs the truth about last night. However, he couldn't sacrifice his safety and let anyone torture him for the sake of the plot.

If someone is going to mentally break him down, then Richard would kindly pay them back.

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A/N:- Thanks for reading.