Chapter 5 - Acting

_Slam_

"We're coming in," a non-diplomatic voice was heard.

The door of the room opened, and a group of four boys wearing navy-blue school uniforms arrogantly entered. 

"So you're still alive, you fatso?" a red-haired boy asked.

Even if he closed his eyes, Carl recognized this voice. Samuel's arrogant tone from his memories was ringing in his ears like a pendulum, unwillingly reminding him of this body's tragic death. It played like a set of dark snapshots, one-by-one.

'This clique.'

These were the students who primarily bullied Carl.  These guys were also his classmates. Their bullying started from middle school and continued to the present. In the end, they were also the one who ended his life; particularly their leader who pretty much did the whole crime by himself.

'Samuel Crone, one of one of the biggest scums in River Academy.'

Carl still could vividly remember the psychotic smile on Samuel's face as he shot a beam of light from his palms which ultimately left a gaping hole on his chest. Samuel broke his bones before that, but that beam was the final blow on his life.

'Jordan, Rylee, Fergurson.'

Right at the spot he awoken from. Carl saw flashes of the three lackeys being there watching him heave his last breath. 

Compared to him, these boys were already level 2 acolytes.  They can launch spells,and has collected enough power from their cultivation books. They were superior in every category so they had always trashed him around.

'Each and every one of these boys inflicted a painful memory on this person's mind.'

Carl felt his head ache seeing the surge of memories. The trauma that they left on the original Carl absolutely left a big scar on the walls of his mind. It was the most vivid thing he could remember! 

Samuel and his group immediately started to invade his private space.

"How are you still alive?"

"I sometimes forgot you have a resilient body."

"Should we start naming you Iron Body?"

'Oh shit...this is so cliche.'

Suddenly, Carl's eyes widened as Samuel winded up and aimed a slap at his face! It was so abrupt and fast. Too fast for anyone in the room to react. Unlike everyone in the room, Samuel was level 3. 

But unfortunately for him, the fat boy was no longer the same person. With such speed, he can easily dodge this or so he thought.

Slap!

'Fuck! I can see the attack coming, but my body cannot react quick enough.'

"Hmp."

Samuel put on a smug face.

Then he was about to slap again, and the same thing replayed in Carl's eyes, but this time, no slap sound was heard.

"Hahahaha."

A mocking smile cracked on Samuel's face, and he retracted his arms, and stopped just before he hits his face.

"Of course, I won't do my pig like that." Samuel chuckled. He pinched the fat boy's cheeks instead and the entirety of his expression showed off his sadism.

"Huh? Are you still in shock?"

The muscles on Samuel's face suddenly dropped, and showed unhappiness. This was because he was not expecting such a stone-like expression from the fat boy. On top of this, the fat boy was staring at him at him in the eyes!

"This damn cockroach!"

Samuel clenched his teeth, furious. Since when did this pathetic pig become so daring and arrogant? To think he could look at him eye to eye as if they're equal! Did he finally gone nuts?

Carl on the other hand did not change his face and was just carving the boy's face on his mind. If there was a reason he was still alive, Samuel was the one who made it possible. He should actually thank him for his ultimate service.

'This is comedic.'

Samuel could no longer bear the look on Carl's face, and his eyes started to glow.

Then a blur of movement followed by a violent sound was heard!

Suddenly, Carl felt his nose stung, and his back went straight back to his bed. 

Drip, drip, drip.

Lying in his bed, Carl felt something dripping around his face, so he clutched at his face and saw some red liquid pouring out of his nose.

'Huh? Is this my blood?'

He had not expected Samuel's strength, which was beyond the realms of a regular human, but he was also reminded how his reaction time had decreased greatly.

"!!!"

Samuel was about to roar at him, but stopped. 

He gazed at Carl's body and noticed that most of the fat boy's injuries were gone! From what he could observe, even the hole on his chest had closed.

"This hospital is too generous to save a scum like you, wasting their healers. What a waste!"

To Samuel, the hospital had probably used one of their healers to save him. He in the first place knew how severe Carl's wounds were.

After wiping the blood from his nose, Carl on the other hand could not believe it. He almost fainted with that blow. How weak is this body? Or was that just a testament how strong Samuel was?

Gulping, Carl then lowered his head. 

He calmed his mind, and think more rationally.

'These people obviously came here to warn me. Heh, what a dirty tactic. Silence me about the incident.'

'From what I'd observed, school bullying is very common in mage academies and the teachers pretends they could not see it.' 

'But a student's death by the hands of another student is still a big deal. Even outside of the academy's premises, it might even make the news.'

Carl was not dumb to not know this. 

A school's reputation was very important.

If a River academy student died from another student's hands, the biggest loss would be the loss of potential investors. The academy was still a private company and in the end it had a business to prioritize.

"I would not say anything. I swear."

Carl then lowered his head and produced his Oscar-worthy acting performance. As if he was scared of every cell in their body.

Fake sniffles was heard.

His bluff started to work.

The other boys were a little scared at first of Carl being a snitch, since Carl acted a little different than usual, but now this was the scenario that everyone in the room was very familiar with - the loser piggy was back!

What they did not know here was Carl was hiding his face. He could hardly resist to smile and laugh with his stomach. In the end, his fake act only lasted for 30 seconds.

After that, he suddenly moved.

Pluck!

With force, he removed the dextrose injections from his wrist, drawing some of his blood, and tried to get out of the bed.

'Here comes my apology and determination!'

With his big fat body, Carl went out of the bed like a nervous cat and fidgeted weakily, as if he was struggling to get his calm together, until he finally spoke.

"U-u-u I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Carl stuttered, and bowed all the way to the floor like a turtle. His blood was falling in drops. "I know my life isn't worth much, but please spare me. Please forgive me. I won't say anything to anyone!"

Samuel and his group were speechless, hearing Carl begging.

Carl could feel that his acting was effective.

'Can you feel my sincerity? Do you feel superior looking, hearing, watching me?'

While bowed down, a wide smile grew on Carl's face.

"I'm sorry, I promise I won't tell anyone about what happened. I just want to live my life! No one will ever know anything that happened there."

Silence occupied the room for about three seconds. Three  hilarious seconds that Carl had to resist laughing.

"Nice, nice," Samuel then said, and kicked his head slightly to make him get up, "You really are a good person. I really like people like you."

Dark eerie flowers seemed to bloom on Samuel's face, and his tone also got friendlier.

"Thank you, thank you for sparing me," Carl stated and did not forget his sniffles.

As he stood up, Carl then shot a glance at Samuel's friends, seeing their reactions. The other boys were now very confident and were more like their usual arrogant selves. Their eyes met, and the boys' eyes looked at him as though he was the most pathetic and weakest human they'd seen.

But little did they know there was somewhat mocking glow on their prey's eyes.

'This Samuel might be a hard nut to crack for now, but once I get into fighting shape, his lackeys would be ripped apart like lunch meat!'

Carl was just enjoying his thoughts when the lazy-sounding voice of a man traveled onto their ears just as the door opened.

"What's happening here? I didn't know you already have visitors. You're putting me on the spot here."

A man in his early thirties in a black suit suddenly went in while scratching the back of his head. He had an Italian mustache, a long black hair tied to a pony tail and a patchy beard followed by a slick smile that seemed up to no good.

Behind him was a beautiful blonde girl with fair pale skin, and short hair. She seemed a decade younger than the man, making her look like a girl fresh out of college. She did not wear suit, but had a beautiful office dress.

Seeing her though, the only thing that everyone thought was she was hot.

Sauntering towards them, the man roamed his eyes on his audience until he stopped at the fat boy,

"Forgive me for the intrusion, er--Oh Carl Craze, I have a few questions to ask you."

His deep grey eyes studied Carl's with a quick look, very subtly Carl felt the need to increase his guard.

Whoever these people were, they were not small fry like Samuel and his clique. If his last memories was right, these were the people that he sensed just as he passed out. They were mages.