Pat Life Hero, Chapter 37

Max woke up in what was becoming an increasingly familiar field. He sat up, looking around himself.  “Ugh,” he grunted.  He spotted his clothes, which he'd been wearing when he'd been killed, neatly folded in a pile next to him on the ground. The clothes he currently had on were the same basic starter rags he was always wearing when he came to life in the Quartet.  There were no blood stains on the clothes he was wearing or the ones on the ground. Wow, he thought, not only did the Quartet system return all my belongings, it washed them too!

On the ground next to him was his sword.  The dagger was missing.  Lavinia! He called mentally.

The spirit appeared immediately. You’re back! Don’t worry.  After you died, everything happened pretty close to how you predicted it would.  As far as I know, you’re not in any immediate danger.  You are probably going to get yelled at a lot, though.

Max grunted again and somewhat relaxed.  If Lavinia had alerted him to danger, he’d been prepared to take off at a sprint and fight for his life if he had to.

He stood and noticed a group of people in the distance who seemed to be walking over to him. Unconcerned about his modesty, Max took off his starter clothes and put on his clothing that he'd won from Prince Regal in his first duel. It somehow felt appropriate to be wearing the clothes at this point.

Are they from Summoner Academy? He asked

Yes.

Alright.  Anything else you need to tell me?

Nothing that can’t wait.  I’m going to check on something.  Good luck.  As soon as she answered, Lavinia vanished from his vision.

He was done dressing far before the group of people reached him, and when they had, he counted six. Five of them were actually the same five people he had met when he'd first come to the Quartet. He didn't quite remember all of the professors' names and didn't know the names of the guards. There was one extra person who looked like another professor.

"Do you remember me?" said the man in front. He was the person who had greeted Max's group when they'd first appeared in this place weeks ago. With that thought, Max surreptitiously checked his tablet and verified that he'd been gone for an extra two days longer than his last death. He assumed that he’d only stayed dead a little bit longer because he'd actually reached his one-star mana body, which the system had registered as improvement.  He could have checked his tablet for the professor’s name, but didn’t bother.

Max said, "I recognize you, but I don't remember your name, Professor."

"It's Professor Third," said the man with a frown. "I don't enjoy coming out here more than I have to, so please help us speed this process along."

"Oh, I'm so sorry you have to do your job," said Max. He was done playing nice with these people. For the Mystic Spear Path students to have been hunting him down before, that meant the Summoner staff were either bribed or incompetent or lazy. And since he undoubtedly had to pay for his own way from now on anyway, the Professor's goodwill meant almost nothing to him.

Even as he stood talking, the system ran window after window of demerit notifications past his vision. There were a few other messages as well, but Max kept mentally clicking out of all of them. Maybe later, he'd review everything, see how many demerits he had.  The current situation was not exactly a surprise.  He hadn't even kept track of how many students he'd killed at the Mystic Spear Path Academy.

Professor Third groused, “Oh, stow it!  Don’t be cheeky with us.  We are not the enemy!”

Strangely, as Max was closer now and began truly scrutinizing the expressions of the professors that had come to meet him, he noticed that Professor Happy had a slight smile and a sparkle in his eyes while looking at him. The Sorcerer Professor, whose name he also forgot, had an entirely neutral expression. An open frown crossed the face of the unfamiliar professor.  Max figured that not all of the professors were on the same page about his actions.

Suddenly, Lavinia's voice appeared in his head again. Hey, boss, you feeling better?  Awake now?  Ready for some information?

I thought you said talking could wait.

Sure, but you still might want to know stuff now.  And we don’t even need to talk about it.

What do you mean?

Then suddenly, Max got a mental dump of information from his contracted spirit that was unlike anything he'd ever experienced in his life. It was like she just downloaded facts into his brain.  Now he suddenly knew everything Lavinia knew from when Max had been dead.

Apparently, there had been a major uproar, not only in the Mystic Spear Academy, or the Summoner Academy, but through the entire Quartet.  Even the authorities in the central area had gotten involved.

When Max had died, he’d actually kept his clothing and gear…because his body had been blown apart, destroyed so badly that his killers hadn’t been able to find or claim any trophies from it.  But he hadn’t gotten his dagger back.  The system decided that the student he’d attacked got to keep it since the dagger had literally been in the man’s body when Max died.  But somewhat ironically, the dagger had been a big part of the evidence proving Max’s story. It turned out that quite a few Mystic Spear students had testified that it had belonged to Regal.

This fact, plus the huge commotion Max had made, much too large to suppress or sweep under the rug, had led to multiple inquiries and investigations.  Max had learned from Lavinia’s story of her own life.  Individual professors could be threatened or suppressed.  Conspiracies and injustice thrived on secrecy.  Max’s actions had brought several things out into the open, into open discourse and public knowledge.  Ugly truths that students and even professors might normally avoid talking about, had become a hot topic of conversation.

The fact that there’d been trespassers on Summoner Academy grounds had been verified.  For Summoners who could speak with spirits, this actually ended up being easy to verify.  Once Max’s accusations had been verified, a number of Summoner professors had been outraged, enough to override those who didn’t care or wanted to maintain the status quo.

And even though nobody was taking direct responsibility for any of it, a large number of professors were facing added scrutiny. The different academies were strictly forbidden now from visits by students from other academies unless they got official permission. This new, official change in policy had caused some frustration with some students because there had apparently been a lot of inter-academy romances going on.

All four Path schools in this Quartet had convened emergency meetings first with staff, then with the rest of their student body. Most students were aware of Max’s existence now, even in the  Replicator and Elemental Shifter Academies.  Some were pleased with Max for rubbing everyone’s noses in the corruption and inequality of the Quartet. But an equal number were angry at him, though

And of course, there were plenty of people in the Mystic Spear Academy who had an open price on Max's head.  The central area was still buzzing with Gossip.

Prince Regal was being vilified by practically everyone, a fact that warmed Max’s heart.  Even the other lifers thought Regal had gone too far, or was petty or cowardly.  Some of them seemed to think that a lifer needing a group to deal with a single first year Summoner was pretty pathetic, even if that Summoner had just ran amok in the Mystic Spear grounds.

Professor Third frowned and his voice brought Max back to the present.  "I would appreciate it if you would focus on your conversation with me instead of conversing with your spirit." Max didn't apologize, just nodded. It was likely the professor couldn't actually hear his conversation with Lavinia or catch any of her download of information or he would have been more upset.  He could obviously sense some of it, though.

The professor gestured to the sorceress and said, "Professor Munka, please provide a portal for our errant student," he said, dragging the word out, "to meet the Dean."

After a nod, the woman gestured.  A portal appeared in midair.

Max didn't go through immediately. He put his sword on his belt, which got him a reprimanding look from Professor Third. Max gave the man a cheery smile before walking through the portal.

On the other side of the portal, he found himself in an office that was fairly lavishly appointed with polished wood, all with an aura of extreme age about it. Even without gold or any other flashy wealth on display, the office communicated that it belonged to somebody of importance. And the woman sitting behind the desk glaring at Max over steepled fingers must have believed her own hype because she was not hiding how she felt nor the fact that she definitely expected Max to be cowed.

He wasn't.

The woman was wearing a high quality robe.  Her severe, joyless expression seemed to suit her dour appearance.  The woman was old, probably even older than she looked.  But so was Max.

He walked forward nonchalantly, grabbed a chair from one side of the room, pulled it in front of the desk, and then casually sat down with one leg crossed.  His hands were placed on top of his knee. He cocked an eyebrow and said, "I assume you're the Dean?"

The old woman grimaced and said, "Max Cunningham, from the world known as Earth.  I am Professor Dalton, Dean of Discipline and Extracurricular Student Affairs, I have the misfortune of dealing with you.”

"What is there to deal with?" said Max. He waved his hand to one side of him and said, "I can already see all of the system messages about my demerits. And I just got a system message stating that I need to vacate my dorm room within the next three days.  The system is not telling me where my new home is yet.  I’m assuming I need to make my way over to the Truancy Barracks or whatever the hell their official name is. I've heard like six different names for it by now."

"They are called the alternative dorms," said Professor Dalton with a pinched voice.

"Ah, ‘alternative,’" said Max softly. "Pretty words for the same thing.  I see that some things don't change regardless of what world you're on."

"I have no idea what you’re talking about, but it was a riveting observation, I’m sure.  However, that's enough nonsense out of you," said the Dean. "Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?"

"I think I have a pretty good handle on it.  After all, I planned everything out and went through a lot of trouble to get killed as flashy as possible." said Max. "It's too bad that those Mystic Spear Academy students trespassing on Summoner academy grounds hadn't just killed me after I came back to life last time, right?  If I were still dead right now, killed over and over again, you wouldn't have ever had to actually do your job now, right?"  Despite his acidic words, he gave the Dean a sweet smile.  “It must be hard having eternal life in safety and luxury while the rest of the universe burns and the students you’re responsible for are suppressed.”

The woman glared at him.  "I will not fall for your provocations, but I can see that you are a hopeless case. Too bad for you." Suddenly, she smiled vindictively, the expression cartoonishly exaggerated, and said, “Due to the number of demerits you have acquired, it is highly unlikely that you will ever receive any free support from the Quartet and specifically from this Academy ever again."

"What a shame," said Max. He began picking his teeth with a pinky.

"I don't think you understand the severity of the predicament you are in," said the Dean. "This means from now on, you'll be paying for your own food too, and classes." She glanced meaningfully down at one of Max's pockets where he would have had a money bag if he owned one.  "It seems you do not have any means.  What's truly sad about this is how the people who will ultimately be suffering from your lack of wisdom, will be the civilians back on your home world that you will not be able to protect.  Without attending classes, the amount you can grow anymore  is limited."

"Yeah, about that," said Max. "I actually looked it up, and a student cannot be rejected from taking a class if they enroll, or were enrolled, and if they pay out of pocket.  They can be kicked out of that particular class for bad behavior, but that's up to the individual professor."

The Dean kept smiling woodenly and said, "I'm not sure how that's of any relevance to your situation."

"Oh, but it is," said Max. "On a related note, could you please point me in the direction of somebody who can give me my first and only free money bag for my time in the Quartet?"

Now the professor's expression faded, and she frowned. "Money bag? But you need to prove that you have money in order to request one. And you were killed…  It was reported that when you were killed, nobody got anything from it. Despite your body being destroyed, the system still should have awarded your money to someone for your death.  After the number of students that you mercilessly ambushed in the Mystic Spear Path Academy, it should have been counted as self-defense by the system for practically anyone to kill you.  At least somebody should have been awarded money. Nobody was.  So you were, no, are broke."

"That's none of your concern," said Max. "How about instead of worrying about whether I have money or not, you and all the other professors actually protect your students, hmm?  It’s hard for me to believe that an academy with professors that have contracted spirits can’t figure out that there is a group of Mystic Spear students running around, all the way to the fields where we revive.  Maybe do your job that you basically get to do forever without having to fight anymore?

“See, as you kindly pointed out, I still have to go back to my world and kill monsters in a few years. That means I can't sit in my very important-looking office being super mad that now people are actually paying attention to what I do.  They might even question why I or my staff don’t do anything to stop lifer students from other academies from doing whatever they want to my students.  Or, for instance, looking into  why lifers from other academies can murder my students who are in their first year and have no money or connections, all while Quartet authorities or other professors mysteriously don’t intervene."

This time when Max smiled, he showed all of his teeth.

The Dean glared daggers at him.  "It is perhaps a bit unprofessional for me to say so, but I hope that after your time in this Quartet, likely seven years of feeling nothing but stinging hunger pains and regret for your foolish actions, that you die quickly on your home world. This way your horrible attitude will not cause others any more pain.  But I hope that before you do perish, you'll be able to at least help somebody, to give your miserable life some sort of meaning."

"That's nice of you to say," said Max. "Did you give your miserable life some sort of meaning on your world before you came here to sit on your ass all day and cast judgement on me?" The woman growled at him, and Max lifted an eyebrow. "Again, with respect, could I please get some direction on where to receive a money bag?  If it’s not too much trouble?"

Max raised an eyebrow.  Short of killing him, there really wasn’t much the Dean could do to him now that hadn’t already been done, and they both knew it.

She snarled, "First floor, front counter. Get out of my office."

Max stood, gave a courtly bow, and left the room. He didn't slam the door, even though he was slightly tempted.

As he moved through the building towards the first floor, Lavinia giggled in his ear and said, "That was fun to watch. That horrible woman has been here since my time."

"Really?" muttered Max.

"Yup," she replied. "And she was just as lazy and corrupt back then. I heard rumors in my sixth and seventh year that she got bribes from other professors to give them some of the Academy's resources."

Resources?  Like to study?  But why? thought Max, projecting the question mentally.

Lavinia said, "I don't have proof of it because I was just a student and being heavily ostracized, remember? But I heard rumors.  And now believe that there is more to the universe than just everyone's home worlds and the Quartets. I believe, crazy or not, that some of the professors in the Quartets are still trying to get stronger so that they can go somewhere else…maybe somewhere better."

Huh, thought Max. At this point it was just speculation on Lavinia's part, but he had to admit that it made a certain amount of sense. After all, if the professors in the Academy couldn't attain anything more or didn't want anything past just creature comforts, he didn't understand why else they’d be motivated to take bribes.

Regardless of their motivations, they were still pieces of shit, though.

It was one thing if they were regular professors at a regular college where people were learning basket weaving or something. But in this college, in this university, people were literally learning the skills that they needed to save billions of lives on their home worlds.  Doing anything but helping the students be the best they could be was morally repugnant.

But Max conceded that some of these people had lived for hundreds of years and might have lost their passion. It could also be that they were truly just lazy. It was something that Max would have to discover later. For now, he focused on the present again.

On the first floor of the building, he didn't go directly to the desk where he could get a money pouch. Instead, Max walked out the building and headed directly for the road out of the Academy. A few students recognized him and began whispering to others as he passed. Max even noticed a piece of paper on the bulletin board with a crude drawing of him and the words "Enemy of Love" underneath it. That actually made him chuckle a bit.

Near the gate out of the academy, Max went off of the road into the forest, pointed, and said, "Was it that direction?"

Lavinia's voice echoed in his head. Yes.

"Okay, I'll just wait here then." A few minutes later, an awkward-looking set of ectoplasmic legs with a blob of ectoplasm on top walked towards him out of some bushes. In the blob, Max could see the single mana unit that Lavinia had hid for him before. He grinned, collected the mana unit, and stuffed it in his pocket.

Then he went back to the administration building/  He presented the mana unit at the front desk, asking for a money bag. After he did so, and the man behind the counter, a sixth-year student, did the paperwork for it, Lavinia whispered, "You know, it really shows something about that horrible woman's character, the Dean, that she couldn't even imagine that another student would have loaned you or gifted you a mana unit to get your bag."

She paused and said, "And I suppose it says something about you that you likely never considered it either."

Max frowned and sent a mental shrug to Lavinia, Quiet, you, he sent. Lavinia's amusement came through their bond.

A couple minutes later, the student teaching assistant behind the counter unceremoniously handed Max a little bag, his forest official money bag in the Quartet, and instructed him to drop a bit of blood on it in order to bind it. Max used the edge of his sword on his thumb, ignoring the TA's offered pin.  He managed to get a bit of blood on the bag. The moment he did, a few new system notifications popped up.

Congratulations!  You have bound a money bag.

Your waiting balance has been deposited.

Max grinned.  It seems I'm not broke anymore, he projected to Lavinia. You were right.  After getting the bag, the system deposited what I’d earned before.

Great, said the ghost girl, What are you worth now? She appeared next to him, meeting his eyes.

Max smoothed his face to neutral again before leaving the building and sent to Lavinia, It appears that I am now worth about two thousand one hundred units.

Excellent, said Lavinia, her smile dark.  She chuckled.