Introductory Monster Ecology [2]

Professor Ethan Caldwell was good at teaching. Too good, actually.

His lectures were sharp, engaging, and delivered with the kind of charisma that could make even the dullest topics feel like grand revelations.

Students liked him. So did most of the faculty at Velcrest Academy.

And, in return, he liked his students too.

Not in the typical, professional way. No, Ethan's fondness for his students ran deeper—darker.

His affection was twisted.

There was something off about the way his eyes lingered when a cadet smiled too brightly, or how he praised passion and ambition with a little too much intensity in his voice.

To the others, he was a model professor—dedicated, charming, approachable.

But behind that glowing smile and polished exterior, he harbored desires that had nothing to do with education.

Ethan Caldwell idolized youth. Beauty. Passion.

And that obsession had begun to fester.