Internet Mage Professor-Chapter 98: No way!

"Let’s go test it then!" Nolan declared, slamming a palm on the nearest desk.

Inside, he grinned darkly. Not the usual smug grin, but something deeper, almost demonic. His thoughts churned like a conniving villain in the middle of a grand scheme. Test it, yes. Let’s burn their confidence to the ground. And maybe, just maybe, make some Mana Crystals off the ashes.

But the students weren’t shaken.

"No way!" Emily snapped, stepping back with her arms crossed. "You just want our Mana Crystals again!"

Sophia leaned forward, fire in her eyes. "Yeah! You’re not really here to teach us!"

James slammed his desk, echoing their protest. "You’re trying to trick us into your stupid illusions again!"

"And we know what you’re like," Liam added, pointing an accusing finger. "Professor Granfire told us everything about you!"

That name hit Nolan like a thrown rock. His left eye twitched.

Several other students chimed in, like a dam had been broken.

"He said you were always like this!"

"He told us how you always faked your lessons and relied on cheap illusions just like your illusion!"

"Granfire told us how last month you tried to fake your qualifications—"

"—before you even got the Academy’s system!"

"—and how you were always trying to get students to buy into your so-called ’special training modules’ that doesn’t work!"

"He said your favorite method was the ’Relaxing Car Ride’ because it was cheap for you to cast but terrifying for us!"

"—and you were banned from using it outside class because one of the admin staff had a breakdown!"

"Granfire said the only reason you’re still here is because the administration pitied you!"

Nolan’s teeth clenched. One after another, they stabbed at his pride like angry crows, squawking and pecking, and all with that same cursed name in their mouths: Granfire.

Although some parts were true, some were just added by Granfire.

This bastard! How dare he poison these kids against him?

He wasn’t getting those Mana Crystals. Not today.

"Professor Granfire this, Granfire that," he growled. "What’s so damn great about him?!"

That lit the fire.

The students burst out, practically shouting over one another.

"Granfire is a real teacher!"

"He’s strict, but he actually cares! He trains us hard, but he trains us right!"

"He doesn’t manipulate us!"

"He doesn’t ask for payment to teach! He even gave us his own potions when we got hurt!"

"He explains everything—down to the spell root calculations!"

"He gave up his personal time to help us prepare!"

"He told us the truth, even when it was hard to hear!"

"If it weren’t for him, most of us would’ve failed the assessment yesterday!"

"He pushed us to the limit! But he stayed with us the whole time!"

"Unlike you, who vanishes the moment a class ends!"

"He’s got experience, wisdom, and doesn’t talk like he’s better than everyone!"

"And he doesn’t laugh when we’re terrified or struggling!"

"Granfire saved my brother from dropping out last year!"

"Granfire showed us what it meant to actually deserve to be in Silver Blade Academy!"

"Granfire’s nothing like you, Nolan! NOTHING!"

The classroom was seething. Their loyalty to Granfire burned in their eyes, hot and bright.

Nolan’s mouth was slightly open, caught between sneering and blinking in disbelief.

What the fuck... he thought.

It wasn’t the first time people praised Granfire—everyone always loved the old goat—but this much? It stung. Bad.

And worse, he realized—Granfire must’ve told them. The whole damn story. Back when Nolan didn’t have the system, when he was scrabbling for relevance, when he’d faked spell scrolls, sold ’consulting sessions’ that were mostly stalling tactics, and even used illusion magic to scare off a rival teacher. He didn’t think that would ever surface again.

So this was revenge, eh?

But Nolan wasn’t going to blow his top.

No.

He took a long breath, collecting himself.

There was no formal way to teach these kids anymore. They didn’t trust him, didn’t respect him. If he wanted to survive this class—and maybe still find a way to squeeze out some gains—he had to shift tactics.

He smiled, calm as ever.

"Oh really?" he said lightly. "You’re all praising him now. But do you know what happened when I showed Granfire the ’Relaxing Car Ride’ illusion?"

The students narrowed their eyes.

"He turned tail," Nolan said. "Left without a word. Didn’t even try to break through it. And you expect me to believe he trained you to overcome it?"

James stepped forward. "That doesn’t matter! Thanks to him, we passed the assessment yesterday!"

Sophia added, "We faced real threats! Tentacle creatures with humanoid bodies—some were giants! We survived!"

"Because of Granfire!" Liam shouted. "Not you!"

Nolan waved their shouts away. "You all probably passed because you’ve already seen my illusion. Once you’ve faced that, nothing else compares. Not even some slimy monster from the woods."

The room went quiet.

Then came a slow boil.

Emily spoke first, her voice ice cold. "Are you saying your illusion is scarier than the things that nearly killed us yesterday?"

Nolan didn’t answer directly. He just smiled, arms crossed.

"It’s for all of you to think about," he said smoothly. "But I know this much—Granfire didn’t do a thing to prepare you for my illusion. All he did was catch you while you were still scared from last time and ride the wave."

"You’re lying!" a student yelled.

"You’re jealous!" another added.

"He gave us everything!"

Nolan’s eyes gleamed.

"I’m just saying... he’s faking it."

The words fell like ice into the room.

It wasn’t just the tone—it was the smug confidence that followed. That little tilt of his head. That glint in his gaze like a card sharp about to flip the table.

And he knew he’d done it.

He saw it in their faces.

Anger. Rage. Fire.

Good.

He could work with that.

The classroom erupted. A wave of fury burst forth from the students like a dam finally snapping.

"Don’t say such nasty things about Professor Granfire!" Emily practically shouted, her voice trembling with rage.

"You’ve got no right!" Sophia added, slamming her hand on her desk.

"He’s the reason we didn’t die and passed yesterday!" James barked, face flushed, veins bulging in his neck.

"Who do you think you are?!" Liam followed, nearly knocking over his chair as he stood. "He gave us everything he had while you sat here doing nothing but play mind games!"

It didn’t stop there. The entire class joined in, every student yelling, every voice overlapping.

"Granfire stayed with us until midnight!"

"He didn’t even sleep!"

"He gave me his last healing potion when I passed out from the last training!"

"He fixed our formations and refined our stances for hours!"

"He even showed us how to clear our minds to resist fear spells!"

"He didn’t even ask for Mana Crystals!"

"Not a single one!"

"He told me that real strength comes from trusting your team—something you’ve never taught us!"

"He watched us cry, scream, and fall, and he still didn’t give up on us!"

"He taught us without tricks, without illusions—he trained beside us!"

"When I thought I couldn’t take another step, he lifted me up!"

"When I thought I wasn’t good enough, he told me I already was!"

"You want to compare yourself to him?! You think your illusion makes you better?!"

"You want our Mana Crystals, that’s it!"

"Granfire told us you only teach when it’s convenient!"

"He said, ’You’re the kind of man who likes to win arguments, not raise heroes!’"

"You—YOU—are not worthy of standing where he stood!"

By now, half the classroom was standing, some students holding back tears of frustration.

Their hands were clenched, faces flushed red with pure emotion.

They were breathing heavy, not from fear—but from passion, from loyalty, from the sense that they had found something real, something better, and now Nolan had insulted it.

Nolan was silent through it all. His smirk was gone—replaced with a raised brow and a calm, unreadable expression.

Eventually, the noise settled. The students sat back, heaving, trying to regain composure. Chests rose and fell. Teeth clenched. And then—

"All right," James said between sharp breaths. "We’ll see."

Sophia nodded, firm. "Show us."

"Yeah," Emily followed. "Show us the damn Relaxing Car Ride again."

"Let’s see if we’re ready or not."

A quiet beat. Then Nolan casually shrugged.

"No way."

The silence that followed was terrifying. It was the kind of silence that made one’s ears ring from the absence of sound.

A silence that only existed when someone had dared to cross a line that should never be crossed.

The class exploded again—but this time with action.

The students surged to their desks, grabbing bags, pouches, belt clips. They stormed Nolan’s desk, one after another, and began slamming down Mana Crystals.

Clink. Clatter. Crash.

Dozens of radiant shards, humming with condensed magical essence, piled in a chaotic little mountain on Nolan’s desk.

"There. Happy now?!" Sophia said bitterly.

"I paid. Now do it!"

"Here’s mine! Show us what we’re really dealing with!"

"This is all I’ve got left!"

"You want payment? FINE! Take it!"

Nolan leaned back in his chair, lips twitching. He let the tension stew. Let them throw their Mana at him like it was proof they still believed in something.

And when the flurry ended, and the students began returning to their desks, still burning with fury but now gripping their seats in anticipation, Nolan let out a soft, almost cruel chuckle.

"Heh. After all that yelling, all that loyalty for Granfire," he said, slowly gesturing to the pile of glowing crystals, "you think you can just throw these at me and expect I’ll go along with it? That I’ll forget what you said? That I’ll teach you like nothing happened?"

The room went still again.

A few of the students narrowed their eyes.

"He wants more..." Emily muttered, her voice barely audible, but the wave of realization rippled through the room.

Of course he did.

Nolan was the kind of man who always pushed. Always demanded. Always made sure you bled a little before he offered his hand.

James clenched his jaw. Sophia swore under her breath. The unspoken frustration, the curse words they bit back, the sighs they dared not release—it was all written clearly on their faces.

And Nolan saw it.

He smiled like a cat who’d found a trapped bird.

Then more Mana Crystals landed on his desk. One by one, grudgingly, bitterly, but unavoidably. The pile doubled.

Except one student—a thin boy with shaggy black hair and worn sleeves—hesitated, holding a hollow pouch.

"I... I don’t have any more Mana Crystals," he said quietly. "I used them all in the last test... I haven’t even eaten yet today..."

Nolan’s gaze zeroed in. "Oh? Is that so?"

The class turned toward him, unsure of what Nolan would do. Would he kick the boy out? Would he shame him?

Instead, Nolan slowly stood up, stepped around his desk, and raised both arms like a preacher addressing the heavens.

"And THIS!" he shouted, "THIS is the proof that Professor Granfire failed you!"

A stunned silence swept the room.

"Where is your unity, huh? Your precious Granfire didn’t teach you to support one another? Look at this boy—empty pockets, trembling shoulders, and what do the rest of you do? Nothing. Nothing!"

His voice crescendoed like thunder now.

"You thank Granfire for teaching you courage, tactics, loyalty—but you didn’t learn a damn thing about what it means to fight together! If one of you lacks, you all lack! If one of you falls, you all fall!"

He pointed to the rest of the class, moving like a conductor leading a symphony of guilt.

"Did he teach you to stand as a unit? To cover your weakest link? No! You call yourselves a class, a cohort, a team, and yet you leave one of your own to struggle, alone, poor, hungry, crystal-less!"

He turned dramatically, returning to his desk. "Unity! That’s what you’re missing. That’s what Granfire never taught you. You think passing a test together makes you strong? No! True strength is carrying each other even when it’s inconvenient. When it costs you something."

He leaned forward, voice low now, almost intimate.

"So. What are you going to do about it?"

It only took a few seconds.

One of the students groaned, reached back into his pouch, and walked forward, tossing more crystals into the pile. "This is for him."

Another followed. "And this."

Another. "Take it."

Eventually, the entire class stood, walked forward one by one, and threw in more.

Until Nolan’s desk was covered in a glimmering ocean of Mana Crystals.

Satisfied, Nolan clapped his hands together, rubbed them like a merchant, and grinned.

"Alright, now," he said, voice smooth, sweet, and maddening.

"I’ll teach you all now."