I CHOSE to be a VILLAIN, not a THIRD-RATE EXTRA!!-Chapter 232: The Time Where the Villain Shines(4)

'Bullshit', Ashok thought, remaining completely unfazed by Frederick's words.

Unlike Althea, who had begun slipping into a quiet internal crisis after hearing them, questioning the Academy's credibility and even the value of her own efforts, Ashok was not foolish enough to believe that anything spoken by this scheming old man came from genuine goodwill.

Praise or agreement from Frederick always carried another layer beneath it.

And, as expected, he was right.

"However," Frederick said, turning his gaze toward Adlet, a mocking gleam briefly flashing through his eyes, "is there truly any point in teaching a student who has no ambition?"

"You are right," Frederick said calmly. "The Academy grants its students complete freedom when it comes to choosing their courses, and we teachers—who have been instructing for decades—do not expect every student to take an excessive number of classes."

"This is precisely why, over the four years or eight semesters of the Academy, the number of compulsory courses never exceeds three or four. Even those compulsory subjects are chosen only after lengthy discussions among the faculty, taking multiple criteria into account."

His gaze shifted briefly toward Althea and Isolde as he continued, "All of it is designed so that, even in the worst possible circumstances, you will still possess enough knowledge and skill to survive and make a living in the world beyond these walls."

"So?" Adlet retorted, a grin tugging at his lips before Frederick could continue. "Do you want me gather students and recite a slogan under the entrance of the Academy next? Something like 'All Hail the Greatness of the Academy' or 'Teachers shall remain till the end of time'?"

Althea and Isolde snapped their heads toward him at the same time.

Isolde's cheeks puffed out for a brief second before she quickly composed herself, turning her face aside as she fought down a laugh with remarkable self-control.

'That was dangerous', Isolde thought, her gaze sliding back to Frederick. The teacher's eyes were slowly shedding their calm, revealing the intent simmering beneath the surface.

Unfazed by the blank, unreadable eyes of Frederick, Adlet continued, "Your words may sound impressive to some, Teacher, but considering the reputation of the world's greatest institutional organization, this is simply the bare minimum that the Academy shou—mm… umm?"

He couldn't continue any further. His lips suddenly felt as though they had been sealed with glue, refusing to part no matter how much he tried.

Only a few muffled, incomprehensible sounds escaped before he was forced into silence. His eyes hardened as he glared coldly at Frederick, frustration clearly etched into his gaze.

There was little need to guess who was responsible for sealing his lips so abruptly.

"My words were never meant to make any student recite empty praise for the Academy," Frederick said coldly, his voice sharp and controlled. "You will speak only when I allow you to. Until then, remain silent." His eyes hardened as he added, "If you dare utter even the faintest sound without permission, I will make sure your lips remain sealed permanently."

The glare he delivered left no space for argument or defiance.

Althea and Isolde both swallowed instinctively, their throats dry, while Ashok could only remain seated in silence, resentment burning clearly in his eyes.

With his mouth forcibly sealed, even a sharp retort was denied to him, leaving only his stare to convey his displeasure.

Frederick had resorted to silencing Adlet this way because Mana Pressure had failed to produce any effect.

When Adlet had spoken earlier, Frederick had deliberately released his pressure while targeting only him, yet Adlet continued speaking as if nothing weighed upon him at all.

'Troublesome brat', Frederick cursed inwardly.

Yet he did not throw Adlet out.

Instead, he chose to silence him. In those brief seconds earlier, Frederick had released the pressure of an SS-Ranker for longer than he ever did during Arts and Spell demonstrations, yet this brat had spoken without the slightest difficulty.

At such close proximity, that level of pressure would have made most students collapse or faint on the spot.

As a hardcore believer of 'Talent should never be wasted'. There was no way he could simply expel a talent he had never encountered before.

"Now, coming back to the point," Frederick said aloud, regaining his composure, "the compulsory courses exist only to prepare you newborns for the worst possible scenarios. That does not mean, however, that you will always face the worst possible situations."

"This is where the additional courses come in. Although they may appear optional on paper, these courses are what truly decide the path you will walk in the future. They form the foundations that will ultimately determine the extent and direction of your mastery."

"In the past, the world believed that a warrior had no reason to learn magic, since they would never be able to use it, and that a mage, no matter how arduously they trained, would never defeat a warrior in close combat."

Frederick's voice steadied as he continued, "That way of thinking changed only after the birth of Magic Warriors and Close Combat Mages—and the very first of both emerged from this Academy."

Adlet raised his hand, clearly on the verge of giving a round of applause after all if your mouth is sealed go with your body but stopped midway when he caught sight of Frederick's face.

The expression on old man's face practically screamed, 'Do it. I dare you. Do it.'

Not wanting to get his hands stuck as well, Ashok could only put his hands down with an awkward smile.

'Serves him right', Althea thought, a satisfied look crossing her face.

Isolde, on the other hand, could only sigh quietly.

"We do not personally stop students from learning," Frederick continued, his tone measured, "but my approach is different. I have no intention of teaching people who choose courses with misguided goals, only to waste both their time and mine."

"This is precisely why I expelled those two Wyrd students earlier."

Then, fixing a sharp glare on Adlet, Frederick asked, "Since you seem so eager to speak, why don't you tell me what was wrong with their goals?"

Adlet simply pointed at his mouth. After all, his lips were still sealed shut.

"You'd better not say anything beyond what I asked," Frederick warned coldly. "I'm certain I don't need to repeat what will happen if you utter anything else. Do you want to answer?"

Unable to respond verbally, Ashok held Frederick's gaze in silence for three long seconds before finally giving a slight nod.

Receiving his confirmation, Frederick released the spell, allowing Ashok to speak once more.

"The first one was a coward," Adlet answered bluntly. "He fainted out of fear before he could even speak of his goal. The second was an idiot who believed he could achieve a breakthrough in Elemental Magic through Mana Control."

"And what exactly is wrong with achieving a breakthrough in Elemental Magic through Mana Control?" Frederick asked, his tone probing.

"In simple terms, it's like pouring extreme effort into accomplishing the easiest possible task," Adlet said calmly.

"Since those are your simple terms," Frederick replied, a faint crackle of mana slipping into his voice, "why don't you explain it in more complex words?"

Ashok remained silent for a few seconds. It wasn't because he lacked an answer—he knew it well enough—but because a sudden realization had struck him.

A certain possibility, dangerous yet tempting, surfaced in his mind. If his thinking was correct, his next words could become an opportunity, one that might resolve one of his biggest problems within the Academy.

"Heh. Gone silen—"

Not allowing the old man to get ahead of himself, Ashok finally opened his mouth and began his answer.

"Everything ultimately depends on the method used to cast magic and how mana is applied in that process," Ashok began, his tone steady and deliberate.

"It is a well-known fact that nearly all magic users across the world rely on Magic Circles as their primary means of spellcasting. Given that reality, the second Wyrd student would have been no exception and would also be using Magic Circles to channel mana."

"In Elemental Magic, the Magic Circle method breaks a spell into multiple structured components. These include the gathering of elements, their condensation, expansion or contraction, point focusing or mass coverage, and several other intermediary steps. Only after all these stages are completed does a Magic Circle fully form, allowing the spell to be cast."

"And this,…" Ashok continued, "is exactly where the problem lies. Throughout every stage involved in creating and activating a Magic Circle, Mana Control plays no meaningful role—neither during the formation of the spell nor at the moment of its release."

As Adlet spoke, Frederick's face gradually began to show faint yet unmistakable signs of excitement.

What Ashok failed to notice, however, was that Althea's expression had slowly darkened, a subtle shift betraying her growing discomfort.

"For instance, let us take the most basic elemental spells—Fireball, Water Sphere, Wind Blade, or Earth Spike," Ashok continued. "All of these spells follow a similar and standardized method of attack once they are cast. After formation, the elemental construct travels in a straight line and strikes the target directly in front of the caster."

"Now, this is where Mana Control actually comes into play. Even with only basic mastery over raw mana, a caster can slightly alter the spell's trajectory. Depending on one's level of control, this deviation can range anywhere from twenty to forty-five degrees.

Any adjustment below twenty degrees produces no meaningful tactical change, while pushing beyond forty-five degrees only wastes mana and mental energy—resources that would be far better spent casting an entirely different spell.

"Now, even to perform such a minor feat of trajectory alteration, one would need to train their Mana Control continuously for at least four to six months,"

Adlet sighed "Quite frankly, that amount of effort is a complete waste of hard work. In the same span of time, a caster could instead master a Guided Series Elemental Spell, which provides a homing effect and is easily a hundred times more efficient than merely changing a spell's trajectory."

"Not to mention," he added, "if someone possesses a solid understanding of Magic Circles or deep familiarity with a particular elemental spell, they can simply make minor adjustments to the Magic Circle on the spot and achieve the exact same trajectory-altering effect without any real difficulty."

"And for those with extremely high elemental affinity," Ashok concluded, "even such tweaks are unnecessary. They can instinctively guide the spell without conscious modification at all."