Still not big on the conventional villains in a story like this one. But the wholesomeness of the larger part of the chapter more than makes up for it.
in this case i think this was a case of a punk with a terrible dose of overbloated ego and a punkass additude to match thinking he was a much bigger fish and wanted to "prove it" by defeating the mighty magician firis who seems to be such a high end figure that there is a "stay away and don't fuck with him" agreement in place. what better way to prove yourself if you got a hollow head with inflatable woopie cushion for brains.