The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 215

Chapter 215: 215 | Adequate is the New Failure

The ten minutes passed faster than I wanted. I spent most of it near the water station, hydrating and watching my classmates move through their own recovery routines. Caden had found a patch of grass and was lying flat on his back, staring at the sky like a man who had made peace with death. Marco sat beside him, apparently explaining something about optimal snack distribution during field operations.

Rina had retreated to her usual position near the bleachers. Her white hair caught the afternoon light as she sipped from her sheep mug, which she had apparently brought to a physical evaluation. The mug had a little cartoon sheep face on it. The sheep looked happy. Rina did not.

Felicity appeared beside me again. She had a talent for that, materializing in my peripheral vision like a friendly ghost with excellent bone structure.

"You’re thinking hard about something."

"Just appreciating the scenery."

"The scenery being Rina’s sheep mug or Camille’s death glare?"

"Both, honestly."

Camille was indeed watching me from across the field. Her expression suggested she was mentally cataloguing my performance data and finding inconsistencies she intended to interrogate later. Her dark hair was still damp with sweat, clinging to her neck in ways that drew attention to the curve of her jaw and the sharp intelligence in her eyes.

"She’s going to figure you out eventually," Felicity said.

"Everyone keeps saying that."

"Because it’s true." She smiled, soft and knowing. "You’re not as subtle as you think you are, Lukas. Whatever you’re hiding, it’s going to come out. The question is whether you control the reveal or someone else does."

"You sound like you’ve thought about this."

"I think about everything." Her blue eyes held mine for a moment longer than necessary. "That’s the curse of being smart. You see all the ways things can go wrong and you can’t stop analyzing them."

Steele’s voice cut across the field before I could respond. "Agility assessments. Everyone to the obstacle course."

The obstacle course was a nightmare made of metal and rubber. Climbing walls with varying handholds. Balance beams at different heights. Rope swings over what appeared to be foam pit but might have been filled with broken dreams for all I knew. Sprint sections with hurdles. A final section involving some kind of crawl through a tight tunnel system.

Steele walked us through the course layout without enthusiasm. Her explanation was thorough but delivered with the emotional warmth of someone reading a grocery list.

"You will be timed. Aspect use is permitted only if your Aspect is permanently active. Any deliberate shortcuts will result in a penalty that makes the shortcut not worth taking. Begin on my signal, end when you cross the finish line. Questions?"

Nobody asked questions. We had learned by now that questions just gave Steele more opportunities to be disappointed in us.

"Ashida. You’re first."

Ren approached the starting line with the same focused composure he had displayed during his Aspect demonstration. When Steele signaled, he launched into the course with competent efficiency. Not flashy, not slow, just methodical progression through each obstacle.

His time was decent. Steele noted it without comment.

The pattern continued. Each student ran the course. Steele recorded their time. The cohort watched and waited and tried not to look nervous about their own upcoming performance.

When my turn came, I approached the starting line and did the math.

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