The Scumbag's Guide To Heroism novel Chapter 325

Chapter 325: 325 | The Motivational Poster Cancelled [PS BONUS]

The Meridian thing faded from conversation by the time we bused our trays. Not because anyone forgot about it, but because first-year Hero students possess a remarkable talent for compartmentalizing problems that don’t have homework deadlines attached. By two o’clock, the cafeteria had emptied and the topic had been replaced by speculation about what Radiant had planned for Hero Basics that afternoon.

"I heard he’s bringing in live combat dummies today," Eden said as we walked the covered pathway toward Building C. He flicked his Zippo open and closed in that compulsive rhythm he maintained whenever his brain needed a fidget outlet. The lighter caught afternoon sun with each snap. "Like, actual reactive dummies that fight back. Not the entrance exam robots. Something new."

"You heard that from who?" Maribelle walked beside him, her crimson skin catching the warm light in ways that made the gold of her irises stand out even more than usual. Her tail swayed with each step, the spade tip twitching in what I’d learned to read as relaxed interest. She bumped Eden’s shoulder with hers, a gesture so ingrained between them it looked involuntary. "Because the last time you heard something, you told me the cafeteria was getting a soft serve machine and it turned out to be a yogurt dispenser."

"Yogurt is just cold milk that went through something traumatic. Basically the same thing."

"It is aggressively not the same thing, Eddie."

The nickname made Eden’s ears go red. Nobody else in the cohort used it. Nobody else was allowed.

Behind us, the rest of 1-B spread across the walkway in loose formation. Caden walked with Marco, both gesturing at their phones about something that involved a lot of hand waving. Finn drifted along at the back with the boneless ease of someone whose schedule existed purely as a suggestion. Percy had his notebook out, because Percy always had his notebook out, and was explaining something to Rina about the acoustic properties of Building C’s ventilation system that she appeared genuinely fascinated by. Her sheep mug steamed gently between her palms despite the California afternoon warmth, and her tail had relaxed into an easy swing that told me she’d gone from tolerating Percy’s information density to actively enjoying it.

Felicity found me at the front of the group. She did this every day now, materializing at my elbow like she’d been assigned the position by some authority I hadn’t been consulted about.

"So. Radiant today."

"Radiant today," I confirmed.

"What do you think he’s got planned?"

"Something that’ll make at least three people cry and one person question their career choice."

"That’s every class."

"And it works every time."

She grinned. The freckles across her nose scrunched when she did that, a detail I’d catalogued against my better judgment. Her blonde hair was down today, falling past her shoulders in waves that caught the light with an almost unfair consistency. The fitted white top she wore beneath her open blazer didn’t help. The Ecchi Logic trait was doing its usual background work of making sure every incidental detail about every woman in my radius registered with pornographic clarity whether I wanted it to or not.

I did not want it to.

My body disagreed.

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