The Villain Professor's Second Chance

As they turned the final corner, they saw it—the entrance to the university's research facility. It was a grand, towering structure made of polished stone and steel, a blend of ancient magic and modern architecture.

The double doors were covered in intricate runes that shimmered faintly, protecting the facility with layers of enchantments only the university's most trusted professors could deactivate.

Amberine shot a sidelong glance at Elara, whose expression remained as unreadable as ever. "Ready for this?" Amberine muttered, her voice filled with a mix of sarcasm and nerves.

Elara barely glanced her way. "Are you?"

"I don't think I'll ever be," Amberine replied, trying to sound casual, though the weight of what they were about to undertake gnawed at her insides. Ifrit, her fire spirit, flickered beneath her robe, sensing her agitation.

Maris, walking just behind them, offered a soft smile. "We'll be fine," she said, her voice steadier than it had been in the past few weeks. The old timidity was still there, but she had grown stronger since her early days at the university. Stronger, braver, and far more empathetic. "We've already survived Draven's exams. What's the worst that could happen here?"

Amberine snorted but didn't disagree.

The doors to the research facility creaked open with a faint hum of magic, and the trio stepped into a world entirely unlike the rest of the university. The research lab was vast, far larger than any classroom or lecture hall. Tall bookshelves lined the walls, filled with ancient tomes, scrolls, and spell books.

The center of the room was dominated by magical instruments, each one humming or pulsing with energy.

Amberine's gaze wandered across the room, taking in the details. There was a large, swirling pool of blue liquid—mana condensate, a rare substance used in high-level spell crafting. Next to it was a towering glass structure, filled with flowing streams of gold and silver mana, which twisted and coiled as though alive. Amberine had no idea what it was for, but she couldn't take her eyes off it.

The tables in the center of the lab were covered with smaller, more familiar objects—rune-carved crystals, mana gauges, and enchanted compasses designed to track magical auras. A series of magical containment fields hovered nearby, each containing flickering spirits or elementals, swirling with energy as if testing the limits of their magical prisons.

But what caught their attention the most was the Orb of Curiosity. It sat on a raised pedestal at the far end of the room, glowing faintly with an ethereal light. It was larger than they had expected—about the size of a human head—and the surface shimmered with shifting colors. Amberine could see wisps of mana swirling within it, like liquid magic trapped in a glass sphere.

Around the orb were various instruments: delicate rune-inscribed metal arms that seemed to adjust themselves, measuring the fluctuations in the orb's energy field. The orb itself pulsed faintly, as if it had its own heartbeat.

Amberine whistled softly. "That thing's the orb? Looks… delicate."

Professor Astrid stood nearby, her silver braid resting neatly over her shoulder as she examined a clipboard. She didn't look up from her notes when they entered, but her voice cut through the silence like a knife. "Delicate, yes, but capable of incredible feats—if we can get it to work properly." She finally looked up, her sharp blue eyes meeting each of theirs in turn. "Come closer.
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I want you to understand exactly what we're working with."

They approached the orb cautiously, their curiosity piqued. Astrid moved toward the device, her fingers brushing against the surface of the orb as it pulsed faintly under her touch. She gestured for them to gather around.

"The Orb of Curiosity," Astrid began, her voice calm but filled with the weight of importance, "is designed to act as a conduit between a magician's emotional state and their mana output. Emotions, as you all know, play a significant role in spellcasting—especially high-level magic. However, most of us have been trained to suppress or tightly control our emotions to avoid instability.

The orb does the opposite—it encourages the user to channel their emotions, amplifying the mana produced in the process."

Maris leaned in slightly, her eyes widening with interest. "So, it draws power directly from emotions? Like what we did with the final question in the midterm?"

"Exactly," Astrid confirmed, her eyes gleaming with approval. "However, there's a catch. The orb is still flawed. It works best with steady, controlled emotions—determination, calmness, hope. But it struggles with rapid shifts in emotional state. Strong emotions like anger or fear can cause an overload, making the orb unstable.

That's where you three come in. We need to test its limits and refine the orb's design, figuring out how to stabilize those shifts."

Elara's brow furrowed slightly. "And how do you propose we do that?"

Astrid gave her a faint smile. "By experimenting, of course. Each of you will channel a specific emotion into the orb, one that resonates with your magical strengths. Amberine," she gestured toward her, "you'll be handling anger. Elara, you'll work with fear. And Maris, you'll channel hope."

Amberine crossed her arms, shooting a quick glance at Ifrit. "Anger, huh? Not surprised."

"I chose these emotions because they match your natural affinities," Astrid continued, unfazed. "Anger fuels fire magic. Fear requires precision and control, like your water magic, Elara. And hope is a key component in illusion magic, Maris, which thrives on positive emotional reinforcement."

Elara gave a small nod, her golden mana pulsing faintly as she considered the task. "So, we're going to push the orb to its limits?"

"Exactly," Astrid replied. "This is a calibration experiment. We need to understand how the orb responds to each emotion, how much it can handle, and what happens when it's pushed too far. I want each of you to focus on your assigned emotion and pour it into the orb. Observe how it reacts, and don't hold back. We need to see the full range."

There was a tense silence as the three students exchanged glances. Amberine cracked her knuckles, feeling a surge of anticipation. "Let's get this over with."

Astrid stepped aside, motioning toward the orb. "Amberine, you're first."

Amberine moved toward the orb, her heart racing slightly as she stared at its shifting colors. She closed her eyes, trying to summon the familiar heat of her magic. Anger wasn't hard to come by—it bubbled beneath the surface all the time, a constant companion to her fiery temperament.

She thought of Draven's cold gaze, of the sleepless nights spent pouring over spell theory, of the frustrations that built up every time someone underestimated her.

Ifrit's warmth flickered beneath her robe, responding to her growing emotions. Amberine clenched her fists, focusing on that heat, on the anger that pulsed within her. She opened her eyes, and without another thought, she channeled the emotion into the orb.

The orb responded instantly, its colors shifting violently from cool blues to angry reds. The entire room seemed to heat up as Amberine's fire magic flared, her anger feeding into the orb's core. The metal arms around the orb trembled as if they were struggling to keep up with the surge of energy.

But it wasn't enough. Amberine could feel the resistance, the orb fighting back against the intensity of her emotion. She pushed harder, her magic flaring even brighter. The room grew hotter, and the air crackled with raw energy. For a brief moment, Amberine felt a surge of triumph—she was overpowering it.

Then the orb shuddered violently, the light within it flaring too brightly. The magical instruments around the lab began to whine in protest, and suddenly, the temperature dropped, a wave of cold washing over them as the orb sputtered out. The energy within it collapsed, flickering weakly before returning to a dim, steady glow.

Amberine staggered back, breathing hard, her heart pounding in her chest. "What the hell…?"

Astrid, unfazed, noted something on her clipboard. "As I suspected. The orb can't handle raw, uncontrolled anger. It needs to be channeled more steadily, with more control."

Amberine scowled, wiping the sweat from her brow. "I thought I had it."

"You pushed too hard, too fast," Astrid said calmly. "But that's exactly what we needed to see. Elara, your turn."