Clyde glanced at the three boys approaching, and in an instant he recognized the type.
Typical bullies.
Their posture, the smug way they walked, the sneers on their faces. It all felt painfully familiar.
Clyde had seen this and lived through it before countless tis in his past lives. Then he looking at his current self, he wasn’t surprised.
Pale face. Thin fra. Weak-looking body. His new vessel mirrored who he used to be in that first vulnerable life. No wonder he’d beco a target again.
He could even feel it in his bones that this version of himself had the sa timid quiet personality.
The kind of boy who avoided eye contact and kept to corners. The kind of boy who got stepped on without protest.
"So we’re back at this stage again?" Clyde chuckled softly to himself. "Figures."
The lead bully—bigger than the others witb jaw set like a thug-in-training—walked right up to him and smacked the back of Clyde’s head.
"Yo, Jack," he said with a fake grin. "You forgot our money this week."
The two others flanking him let out stupid laughs, echoing like background noise.
Clyde didn’t move at first. He blinked slowly. So Jack was the na of this body. But it didn’t matter.
Without a word, Clyde stood up.
And in the next mont he moved.
Not with magical force, not with otherworldly power. But with just a sliver of his strength. A flicker of what he used to be.
His hand snapped out and struck the lead bully across the head.
The boy’s feet left the floor. His body spun once in the air before crashing down hard then fall unconscious.
The classroom went silent.
The two other lackies froze, their grins gone. Panic blood in their eyes. They took a step back.
But Clyde didn’t let them run.
Before either could reach the door he was already in front of them. He send a blow to the stomach then a sweep of the leg. It was all a controlled clean strike.
They dropped beside their leader in groaning heaps.
The silence deepened. Every pair of eyes in the classroom was on him.
Clyde turned and scanned the room. The shock was written all over them. Of course it was. Jack—this body—wasn’t supposed to fight back. And certainly not like that.
He didn’t say anything.
He just walked past them, out of the classroom.
The hallway was quiet. Cool air filtered through the windows. Clyde’s steps echoed alone.
As he walked, his thoughts turned inward.
"Where is the soul of the boy I replaced?" he wondered. "Is he dead? Or did the Ancient One pull him out... and leave in his place?"
But in the end, it didn’t matter.
He kept walking until he found the rooftop stairs.
When he reached the top, he stepped out into the open. Wind brushed against his skin.
The sky was as wide and blue as before. The world beneath him calm and ordinary.
He was finally alone so at last, he could breathe and begin to think clearly.
His body and power was reset but not fully. Clyde knew that this was his second chance that he must use yo the fullest.
He stood at the edge of the rooftop, feeling the wind tug lightly at his uniform.
He crossed his arms. His eyes narrowing as his thoughts ran deeper.
First, he needed to prepare this body. It was stronher than normal human but still considered weak in the cosmos scale. Not nearly enough to survive what was coming, let alone stand against the beings he once faced.
His strength may have been dormant and his skills were stoll locked. But he wasn’t starting from nothing.
Then he also couldn’t afford to draw attention from the higher beings.
"They might still be distracted," Clyde muttered to himself. "But I can’t be sure for how long."
Ti was tricky here. Did he arrive in this world the mont after his death? Or had days, or weeks, or months passed between that final battle and now? He couldn’t tell.
There was no way to track ti inside that void. For all he knew, the realms above might’ve already begun rebuilding.
Maybe they were still in disarray, trying to recover from the catastrophe he caused. Most so of them must be still mourning at the death.
Either way, it ant one thing, the Selection Stage, the apocalyape, would co to this world eventually. But not soon.
And when it did, this planet, this lower world, would beco the next battleground.
He had no intention of facing it unprepared again.
"I need ti," Clyde said quietly, his hand closing into a fist. "Ti to train and rebuild my body and make so plans."
His system was still working, but his skills were sealed. Maybe that was the Ancient One’s way of protecting him for now, to keep him hidden while he adjusted.
After all, drawing magic here could easily alert sothing watching from beyond the veil.
For now, he would wait with no magic or skills. Just quiet growth.
"Well, then. I’ll play the role of a student again," he said, a small smirk tugging at his lips. "I will live the normal life and blend in for now."
He looked out over the city, its buildings shining under the afternoon sun.
After lingering on the rooftop a while longer, Clyde decided it was ti to return to class.
Back in the classroom, the bullies’ bodies had vanished. Maybe they were taken to the nurse’s office.
A few of hia classmates still glanced his way with eyes filled with quiet shock or curiosity, but no one dared approach.
Clyde simply took his seat, blending in, pretending nothing had happened.
He opened his notebook and pen in hand. But his eyes wandered to the window again.
"I wonder what kind of ho I have now," he thought. "What kind of life awaits ? Do I will have a parent right now?"
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