1 Tower of Trials

"I can't believe it, I am back in high school." I, Riyan Rebel a professional artist, world-renowned painter, and a high school dropout, clearly remember that today was my 21st birthday instead I was reborn as a 15-year-old and am sitting in a classroom filled with smelly, hormone-oozing, immature teenagers spewing outlandish theories about a mysterious tower that has surfaced in the southern pole a week ago. Back when I realized that people were willing to pay for my art I dropped out of high school, pursued a career in my passion, and never looked back. But the all-mighty and his mysterious ways have me back in high school. I cannot help but think that he is punishing me for not completing high school along with the rest of the normies. I want to laugh at the impossibility of this bizarre situation. But this has been my life the last few days. To be exact it has been a week since I woke up on this parallel earth. I don't know why or how I ended up here, in this world, in this fat body. But my life here so far has been hell because the poor soul whose body I am occupying lived a hellish life. I used to be Riyan Rebel, now I am Ryan Hunt, an abandoned child of divorce who developed a stress eating disorder because he blames himself for his parents splitting apart. Ryan Hunt's parents were selfish people who abandoned their six-year-old child after divorce and went on to live happily with their new partners, building new happy families for themselves. Thankfully, Ryan's paternal grandmother took him in and raised him into a fine young man despite the traumas inflicted by his parents, which made him a problematic child to handle. Unlike his parents, who got a fresh start in their life, Ryan never got to live his life. For a good part of his life, his traumas haunted him, right when he was walking out of the shadows of his past trauma and about to live a normal life thanks to the effort and dedication of his grandmother. Life threw a curve ball at him. His grandmother died of heart disease two months ago. Ryan got to meet his estranged parents again, nine years later, at his grandmother's funeral. They visited the old rundown home in their fancy cars with their new families. Ryan spent nights thinking about what he would say to his parents when one day he would finally get to meet them. Will he yell at them in anger, beg them for their love, forgive them and be the bigger person or will his past traumas resurface? None of the above. It did not matter to Ryan that he met his parents after nine years or saw them pamper their kids right before his eyes without the guilt of having abandoned him. Because he was sad, his grandmother had died, the only person who genuinely loved and cared for him had left him. He was alone again. Neither his mother nor father wanted Ryan back in their life. They did not want his presence to ruin the perfect life they had built for themselves. So, they made the excuse that moving in with either of them in the middle of the school year would affect his studies and voted that it would be best for him to stay by himself at his late grandma's house and continue his studies. Worst of all, when it came to giving Ryan living expenses, the ex-couple argued viscously, trying to save a buck. They finally agreed that since Ryan got his paternal grandmother's house in her will, his father won't have to pay him living expenses. His mother would shoulder all of it. In contrast, regarding the school fees and other academic costs, they decided to share them equally. By the end of it, both of them couldn't wait for Ryan to turn eighteen so that they could legally renounce him. Having swept their past mistake under the rug, both returned to their happy, peaceful life. Abandoning Ryan again. After this ordeal, Ryan locked himself up in his grandmother's room for four days until he found the hidden stash of cash that his grandmother had saved up for his college. The hidden stack of cash reminded Ryan of the promise he had made to his grandmother that he would never skip school, study well, become a doctor and treat her heart disease. Though his grandmother wasn't here to see him keep his promise, Ryan did not want to disappoint his grandmother in heaven, so he forced himself to reconnect with society and attend school to fulfill the promise. In school, because of his sumo bod, bullies would avoid Ryan. Which was a plus point until the jock named Huffman switched to his history class period a few weeks ago. He found Ryan's large physique a perfect target to show his masculinity. 'You big fat ugly bastard, I will make you my Mitch.' Huffman verbally and physically abused Ryan into clinical depression, almost forcing him to take his life once. Ryan couldn't go through self-harm because he had a purpose, a goal, and a promise to keep until he fulfilled them, he did not plan on giving up. 'Fatty, the girls in our class envy your man tits. And the boys in the class lust for them.' The night before I took over Ryan's body, he cried himself to sleep, praying for help. That's the last memory of Ryan I can remember as the following day I woke up in his place. 'Rest in peace, my friend, for I will stand in your shoes to fulfill your promises and grudges.' There, I am back in school to pay the bill for my new life as Ryan Hunt. Nothing in the world was free, hard to swallow but true. My only joy right now was knowing that 5 minutes remain before the dismissal bell. Right about now students should be aching to rush out of their classrooms screaming freedom. Surprisingly, that wasn't the case in my class. All 25 of them were keenly listening to the teacher impart her knowledge, and they didn't shy from voicing their doubts or interacting with the teacher, who patiently answered each of their questions. Looking around, I scoffed at the enthusiasm of my classmates knowing the reason behind their overzealous and undivided attention to the class. The teacher was a beauty, she had gorgeous golden-blond hair tied in a ponytail and wore a black waistcoat with a matching skirt. The waistcoat she wore was single-breasted, so it opened at her chest. If not for the tight shirt matching her sky blue eyes worn underneath, I would have a view of her buxom breast and deep cleavage. She had a pair of slender, long legs, and her white feet donned black heeled shoes. despite not having make-up on, she looked beautiful and elegant. The ID on her waist read the name Hannah, Hannah Muller. Just keeping an ear open, I knew besides the beautiful teacher what kept the students motivated and show such active participation in a history class, no less, was the topic being discussed, carbon dating and its significance in archaeology. But listening to a beautiful teacher lecture about carbon dating alone was not enough to garner such enthusiasm from students. After all, only 5 minutes remained for the dismissal bell to ring. The real culprit was the mysterious tower that surfaced in the south pole a week ago. "Miss Hannah, I read in the tabloids that the tower of trials is older than dinosaurs and existed in an era before the Jurassic era. Is it true?" I turned to look at a big, bulky Micheal Huffman with short black hair and brown eyes wearing a jock jacket seated behind me ask Hannah exuberantly. This question visibly sparked interest in the remaining students, who pricked their ears. "Yes, Carbon dating on the debris of the tower of trials has concluded that its existence dates back to the Precambrian era, the earliest part of Earth's history. Proving that tower of trials existed way before the dinosaurs walked the earth about 4,600 million years ago." Since it was about time for the school dismissal, Hannah found no harm in entertaining topics out of the syllabus. To be honest, I too was curious about the tower, though my reasons were much different. The tower had emerged on the same day I was reborn, so sometimes I cannot help but relate my rebirth with the appearance of the mysterious tower. "Miss Hannah, the first humans, emerged around two million years ago, so who built an architectural wonder like the tower of trail 4600 million years ago?" This question was well built and more accurate than the previous one. 'As expected of the class president, an ace student,' I thought looking at the bluish-black-haired class president with lily-white skin, a swan neck, and ample bulges in all the right places sitting in the front row. She appears to have done her research, so her question was much savvier than her peers. "The governments all around the world have spent billions of dollars, and world-renowned researchers worldwide are burning the midnight oil trying to find an answer to that question. When they have yet to come up with an answer how do you expect an ordinary high school teacher to answer that question?" I was not surprised to hear Hannah not give a straight answer, as a professional teacher she knew better than to answer when she did not have an answer. Answering now would only come back to bite her later. "I smell a politician. Come on, Miss Hannah, don't be like that. I want to know your opinion." The lily-white-skinned Class president seemed to be bent on getting an answer from Hannah. "Class, tower of trials is shrouded in mystery. I know tabloids and other social media outlets have spun various outlandish theories about the tower of trials. It is your choice to believe it or not. But as the young minds of the modern era, I hope you don't make premature assumptions and reach unfounded conclusions until all the facts are out. That would be the wise thing to do as we live in the age of science, not superstition, and we believe in facts, not fairy tales." Hannah stuck to a neutral answer. If it were before my rebirth I would agree with Hannah but now I wasn't sure if science had an answer to everything. A week ago, the massive ice caps in Antarctica broke, and a tall stone tower covered in various ancient engravings surfaced from underneath the ice cap. The stone tower started at the depth of the ocean and ended deep in the dark clouds covering the sky. The engravings on the tower were archaic and proved that the tower was not natural but artificial, or at least the engravings on it were. Deciphering a tiny part of the engravings on the stone tower, researchers named the stone tower, Tower of Trials. "I think the aliens created it. Think about it. Who else other than aliens can build a tower that can connect earth and sky." Huffman did not shy from sharing his opinion with the class. Surprisingly most of the students in the class seemed to share the same outlook. "Aliens? Hahaha, Huffman, had you said that god built it, I would have forgiven you for being a religious simpleton. But aliens? You are crazier than my aunt Karen." the class president turned her swan-like long neck to look at the back of the class and mercilessly mocked the small black-haired jock with brown eyes. "Class prez, You have an aunt named Karen, hahaha! I am sorry, that name always cracks me up." hearing 'Aunt Karen' I could not help but laugh aloud and the rest of the class seemed to find my words amusing and laughed along with me. "Ryan, you are so dead," Huffman whispered in my ears from behind. Hearing the Jock, my laughter, which caused my neck fat to giggle, ended abruptly. As I thought, 'How did I offend this Mitch now?' *brrrrrrring* the school dismissal bell sounded. "Class, see you on Monday." Picking up her props, Miss Hannah exited the class. I wanted to leave the class with her, but it was too late. Three Jocks box me to my desk and one of them asked me, "Where do you think you are going, fatso?" "Fatty, it doesn't feel funny now, does it?" Asked Michael Huffman as he watched his friends with similar jock jackets block my escape routes. Huffman carried the pale white lizard skin complexion and wore a distinctive red letterman jacket of his kind, the jocks. He is relatively tall with a muscular build and has trimmed hair close on the back and sides, leaving a small black-colored crown on top. "What's your problem, Huffman? You should be thanking me for distracting others from the class prez's wicked burn on you." I never intended to help Huffman. It was all just a weird coincidence, which I did not mind using to save myself some trouble. "Do I look like I need your help? And that's my girlfriend's aunt you made fun of." Turns out Huffman came to avenge class prez's aunt Karen. "What? You are dating the class prez. No way!" I found it unbelievable and even in my second life I had yet to understand why an elegant and intelligent person like class prez would date a muscle-brained jock. "What's that supposed to mean?" Huffman's black eyes looked confused. He found my words insulting but didn't know why. "My point exactly." The jock's confusion gave legitimacy to my doubts that Huffman was a bum yet how could he bag a swan? "You think you are funny, huh." Huffman couldn't stand the smug look on my chubby face which was contrary to the fear-filled look he was looking forward to. "I know I am funny." I did not give in to the jock's intimidation, which surprised the rest of the class watching the show. "Haha, come on, fatty. You and me one on one, let's see how funny you are as I whoop your ass." Huffman challenged me with fists, feeling his IQ wasn't enough. "One on one, then why are your lackeys closing in on me? Or did you guys get the math wrong?" I taunted Huffman while the spectating students could not help but marvel at me for not taking any shit and continuing with my smartassery. "If you mess with the bull, you will get the horns." Huffman signaled his goons to back off with his black eyes, declaring that this prey was his and his alone. "..." Seeing Huffman's boys step back, I prudently positioned myself behind my chair as I knew the battle had begun. "Ready or not, here I come, fatty." Huffman charged at me and threw his fist, aiming for my face. When Huffman dashed towards me, I swiftly grabbed hold of the chair and strategically lifted it with full force aiming for Huffman's baby-makers. *Smash* "Ahh!" Huffman cried in pain as one of the iron legs of the chair smashed into his groins. "Whoa!" The male students watching the fight subconsciously covered their crotch area while sucking a deep breath. *Thud* The exuberant pain in Huffman's family jewels turned his knees weak. Unable to stand, he fell to the floor. The sturdiness of the iron leg was no joke. It wouldn't come as a surprise if it cracked open one or both of Huffman's nuts. But I wasn't done yet. I didn't plan on ending it with Huffman's fall, as this was just the battle. War was yet to begin. Not waiting for the lackeys to gang up on me to avenge their friend, I chose to use brutality to scare them away and win the war even before it started. "Stand down!" My glare pierced right into the eyes of Huffman's two lackeys before I began mercilessly stomping on Huffman's abdomen. Huffman grunted in pain, feeling the force behind my 210 pounds stomp. "I was born ready, Mother Focker!" I yelled as I continued to stomp Huffman ruthlessly while staring down the hesitating lackeys who were still unable to decide whether to gang up on me or take me by surprise. "That's what I thought." Only when the two lackey's hesitation turned into fear did I consider sparing Huffman after a few more stomps. "Stop," A voice sounded from the front of the class. The voice belonged to a beautiful girl with lily-white skin and a rather curvy figure for her young age. She had long bluish-black hair and violet eyes. A blue ribbon tied her hair into a long ponytail reaching down to her legs. Like most of the girls in school, she wore the standard St.Cardle high school uniform, along with white calf-length socks. The badge pinned to her lapel read Class President. Ignoring the class prez, I stomped Huffman until I was satisfied and said, "Class prez, I thought you left already." "..." Class prez didn't reply, but she looked at me expressionlessly without any notion of concern or pity for her boyfriend, who was rolling on the class floor moaning in pain. Strapping on my school bag, and walking past the lackeys, I headed toward the exit at the front of the class. Passing by the class prez, I paused and commented loudly, "Your boyfriend is a bully and a loser. What does that say about you? I suppose, not good things," This was my present to the class prez for not stepping in earlier when her loser boyfriend began the painful chain of events. Painful for Huffman, of course. "Savage!" A male student commented and almost burst with applause if not for the presence of Huffman's lackeys.

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