My Scumbag System - Chapter 250

Chapter 250: My Professor’s Ringing Endorsement Comes With a Stipend
On day seven we gathered in the living room at the end of another grueling day with our bodies strewn across couches and chairs like casualties on a battlefield. The setting sun cast long golden beams through the dust-speckled windows and turned the room into a strange tableau of exhausted youth.

Every one of us wore the badge of Braxton’s training in some form, whether it was bruises in various shades of purple and yellow, scrapes that had scabbed over, or simply the thousand-yard stare of people who’d been pushed past their limits.

Raphael sprawled on the couch with his muscular frame taking up more space than necessary, an ice pack pressed against his shoulder where Braxton had “demonstrated” a joint lock that had the bone creaking. His face was a mask of barely controlled pain and fury that he tried to hide behind closed eyes.

Emi moved quietly among the wounded with her hands glowing in that gentle healing light as she triaged the worst injuries, and her touch brought visible relief to whoever she attended.

Natalia sat by the window with her spine straight despite obvious fatigue, her gaze focused on something in the distance while Soomin dozed lightly on the floor beside her with pink hair spread around her like a halo.

In the corner, Juan and Jacob were engaged in a quiet game of shogi where the clicking of pieces punctuated the heavy silence. Isabelle watched them with mild interest from her solitary armchair and occasionally offered a suggestion that made Juan’s eyebrows rise with grudging respect.

I sat in my usual spot and took inventory of the room while my mind catalogued everyone’s condition and status. This was the perfect time to observe since everyone’s guards were down when they were exhausted. You learned more about people in their moments of weakness than you ever did watching them at their best.

The front door banged open and caused several of us to wince at the sudden noise. Braxton sauntered in while looking annoyingly fresh compared to the wreckage of his students. His shirt wasn’t even wrinkled, while most of us looked like we’d been dragged behind a truck for several miles.

“Alright, puppies,” he announced while clapping his hands once, and the sound was sharp as a gunshot in the quiet room. “You’ve spent a week learning how not to die. You’re still terrible, but you’re slightly less terrible than you were last Monday. Progress.”

“Thanks for the ringing endorsement,” Skylar drawled from her perch on the windowsill without looking up from her datapad, her fingers scrolling through what looked like weaponry catalogs. “Should we expect certificates of achievement? Maybe a participation trophy?”

“You’re welcome, Bubblegum,” Braxton replied with a smirk while using the nickname she despised and ignoring her eye-roll. “Now, next week is the Gate run with the Sentinels. Which means you need to get geared up because standard-issue training crap won’t cut it in a real Gate. Those Silver Guild princesses will laugh you right back to the boat if you show up with basic kit.”

He tapped his datapad and a series of pings sounded around the room as notifications appeared on our devices.

“The academy has graciously deposited a stipend into your accounts,” Braxton continued while leaning against the wall with casual ease. “Before you get too excited, it’s not because they love you or even like you. The academy has partnerships with several up-and-coming weapon and armor smiths on the mainland, and they get to use you lot as field testers for their new prototypes while you get custom gear for cheap. Win-win situation.”

I checked my datapad and saw the number that had appeared in my account. Not bad, considering we were essentially guinea pigs for experimental equipment. The academy was smart about this since they got free testing data while we got gear that might actually keep us alive.

Still felt like we were getting the short end of the stick, but that’s how these things always worked.

Hikari bounced to her feet with sudden energy despite having run ten miles that morning, and her green eyes sparkled with excitement that made her look years younger. “Shopping trip! Can I get a bigger flail? One with spikes? Or maybe flames? Do they make flails that light on fire when you swing them?”

“Sweet merciful Gate-spawn,” Juan muttered from beneath the arm he’d thrown over his eyes, his voice muffled but clearly pained. “Please don’t give her anything more destructive. She already broke three training dummies yesterday with her bare hands.”

“That was an accident,” Hikari protested. “The first one was an accident. The other two were testing a theory.”

“What theory?” Jacob asked while looking up from the shogi board. “Were you measuring force distribution across different impact angles?”

“I was seeing how many I could break before Braxton noticed.”

“Tomorrow,” Braxton continued, “we’re taking the ferry to the mainland. You’re going shopping, and you’ll try not to get arrested before we make it back. I don’t have the budget for bail money in the department account.”

“What if we get arrested after we make it back?” Skylar asked without looking up from her datapad.

“Then you’re on your own.”

As the others began excitedly discussing what gear they wanted to buy, I leaned back in my chair and mentally calculated how to maximize my own stipend. Tomorrow would be interesting since nothing revealed a person’s true nature quite like how they spent their money, especially when that money might be the difference between life and death in a Gate.

“What are you getting, Satori?” Emi asked from where she’d finished healing Marco’s twisted ankle, and her voice was bright with curiosity as she looked at me with those big eyes.

“Haven’t decided yet,” I said. “Depends on what they have available.”

“You should get a sword,” Hikari suggested while making exaggerated slashing motions with her arms. “A big one! With lightning! Everything’s better with lightning!”

“Everything’s better with fire,” Marco countered from the couch where he was testing his newly healed ankle. “Lightning is overrated.”

“You’re both wrong,” Natalia said without turning from the window. “Functionality over flash. Get something that won’t get you killed.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I asked with a grin because I knew exactly how to push her buttons.

She turned to look at me with those purple eyes narrowed. “The fun is in staying alive long enough to enjoy your victory.”

“Boring.”

“Practical.”

“Same thing.”

She threw a couch pillow at my head, which I caught without breaking eye contact. The corner of her mouth twitched like she was fighting a smile.

“You two are disgusting,” Raphael said from his spot on the couch while still pressing the ice pack to his shoulder. “Get a room.”

“Green is an ugly color on you Raph,” I replied while tossing the pillow back to Natalia, who caught it.

“I’m not jealous of anything involving you, Nakano.”

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that.”

His jaw clenched and his knuckles went white around the ice pack, but he didn’t respond. Smart choice since he was in no condition to start something he couldn’t finish.

“Play nice, children,” Braxton said with amusement in his voice. “Save the fighting for the training grounds where I can charge admission.”

“You’d charge us to watch our own fights?” Skylar asked while finally looking up from her datapad.

“Of course. That’s basic capitalism.”

“What time are we leaving?” I asked Braxton while pulling myself out of my strategic planning.

“Ferry departs at eight sharp,” he replied while checking his datapad. “Which means everyone better be at the dock by seven forty-five or you’re swimming to the mainland. I don’t wait for stragglers.”

“He absolutely will leave you behind,” Carmen added from where she’d been quietly reading in the corner, startling several people who’d forgotten she was there. “He did it to the last group. Three students missed the ferry and had to charter a private boat. Cost them half their stipend.”

“Good life lesson,” Braxton said without a hint of remorse.

“Punctuality matters when your life depends on it.”