Both Isabel and Todd glared at Noah. Their anger turned to nervousness when Noah didn't back down from his stance.
"Easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to kill them," Todd said. "Can you even fight one yourself? I don't see how you're going to protect us when you're literally the same Rank as we are. Slashers might not be the strongest monsters in the Scorched Acres, but they're far from the weakest. False confidence isn't going to do anything when they tear your throat out."
Noah opened his mouth, then let it close.
It did take me a few deaths to figure out how to avoid getting killed by those things, but they really aren't that unrealistic to beat if I managed to take two out with my level of experience.
"See?" Isabel asked. "Look, I don't know why you suddenly decided to become a teacher again, but don't get us killed because you're trying to repair your self-image."
Noah pursed his lips. "I've killed two Slashers. They're dangerous enemies, but they aren't impossible to defeat. You say you're at my level, so you should be able to handle them as well."
"You're full of it," Todd said promptly. He pushed his chair back and stood, glaring at Noah. "There's no way you beat a Slasher unless someone else held it down and beat it to an inch of its life first."
"Sit," Noah said firmly. Todd pressed his lips together. They stared at each other for several terse seconds. Slowly, Todd lowered back into his chair.
"You're serious?" Isabel asked.
"Yes. I killed one yesterday using just my Wind Runes, and they're all lower ranked. I think it went down in two or three strikes, so I only used a single Rune during the fight. You're both confident you're at least as strong as I am, aren't you?"
Isabel grimaced and looked out the window, avoiding Noah's gaze. "Please don't do this. I don't care what you're planning, but I don't want to die. If you want to start becoming a good teacher, start with the next class. We're already screwed. Don't get us killed as well."
Noah drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He couldn't deny that Isabel's suggestion was tempting. He had more than enough on his plate already. Surviving while making sure nobody figured out his true identity wasn't exactly a simple task.
Ignoring his class and letting them cheat their way through everything until they were someone else's problem would certainly lighten his load, and it was clearly what Vermil had been doing for quite some time.
I won't fail my students. I don't care if they aren't even technically mine – Vermil screwed these kids over, and I'm going to make that right. It's my duty as a teacher.
"No." Noah shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do that. I apologize that you had to deal with my incompetent teaching in the past, but there will be no more of that. I won't be letting you leave this class without the proper abilities to defend yourselves in the future."
"You're going to get us killed," Todd said flatly.
"I swear on my life that I won't." Noah pressed a hand to his chest. "I'll die buying you time to escape the monster if need be. Once they get a kill, they focus on eating it instead of attacking other threats."
At least, I'm pretty sure they do. The monkey seemed pretty distracted eating my corpse.
Neither Todd nor Isabel looked all too convinced by his proclamation.
"How about this. Show me what you can do right now, and I'll do the same," Noah proposed, raising his arms out to his sides, palms up. "I'll be as honest as possible, and you'll do the same. If I truly don't think you can defeat the Slashers, I'll let you cheat your way through the exam, and you won't even have to pay me that bribe. But, if I'm right, you train with me and we pass the exam normally."
"We can't beat them," Isabel said without an ounce of doubt in her voice. "It's not like I've sat around doing nothing. I've trained. I've practiced. I know my limits, Professor Vermil. I can't kill a Slasher."
"First, there are two of you," Noah said. "And second, we've still got a month until the exam. That's more than enough time to practice. Let's take things one step at a time. We'll go test out how strong the two of you are. For one month, you'll do what I say and train together with me. When the month is up, if we decide you can't do the test, then I cheat for you. Otherwise, you do it. Wouldn't you rather learn something from the class than waste your time?"
Isabel sat silently for a few moments. She and Todd exchanged a glance. Todd shook his head slightly, but Isabel clenched her hands at her side.
"What if he's right?" she whispered.
"It's stupid," Todd replied, equally as soft. "Some other teacher probably figured out what he's doing and he's trying to save his own ass."
"I am not," Noah put in.
They both ignored him.
"But what if he's serious? We're shafted in our next year if we don't get him again," Isabel muttered. "We really don't have a choice, and he's right. I don't want to be a worthless mage forever. Eventually, we have to get stronger."
Todd let out a heavy sigh. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, glaring at Isabel. "You've already made up your mind."
"Only if you agree with me."
"Fine," Todd said. He rolled his eyes and looked back to Noah. "You got one month before the exam, man. If we aren't convinced, we're out."
Noah grinned. "Fantastic. That's all I needed. You're in as well, Isabel?"
Isabel nodded. "Against my better judgement. Don't get too excited. You're still a terrible professor, and we all know it."
Noah waved his hand dismissively and gestured for them to stand. "We'll see about that. Is there somewhere good for you two to show me what you can do?"
Isabel and Todd both rolled their eyes.
"The training grounds, I guess," Isabel said. The mention of the training grounds took the stress from her spine, and she straightened up as confidence welled up in her expression. Noah raised an eyebrow, but he didn't address it. "Seriously, how much have you forgotten?"
"This isn't about me," Noah replied. "To the training grounds! It's a field trip. Isn't that fun?"
"No," Todd and Isabel chorused but, despite their sarcasm, they rose from their seats and joined Noah as he headed out of the classroom.