Chapter 2: Chapter 2: The Strongest
"Bro, I think you hit him too hard on the head."
"What!? You're the one who said to kick him!"
Even with the putrid smell lingering and dancing on his nose, Zac continued to stare at the 3 young students clamoring in front of him. Although it was quite hard to see since most of his hair was blocking his vision; he was sure of it.
If he was right, the uniform that the students were wearing was the same uniform that he wore back in high school.
Does this mean he was sent back in time?
That was the only other explanation he could think of other than he had dreamt everything that had happened to him for the past hundred years. But since the pain of being literally swallowed by a fiery light was still fresh in his mind, then the reason was probably the former.
...He could also be crazy and just imagined everything-- but that would be crazy.
"What… what are you staring at, you son of a bitch!"
Well, if anything was a dream, then it was definitely not this moment as Zac could definitely feel the kick that the student in front of him just gave him.
He stumbled backwards, landing himself back on the toilet where he was previously being drowned by the people in front of him. And without him even having the time to recover, the students began kicking him all over his body.
But even from all of this, even as the pain started to register in Zac's mind… he whispered,
"...Oh, that's right."
The memories of his childhood that had been erased by the harsh environments of the apocalypse were slowly starting to come back to him. Before the existence of the Curtains, before he became known as the world's strongest mage; he had another whole new life.
He was the target of bullies.
And as soon as he remembered this, he quickly grabbed one of the feet that threatened to once again kick him in the stomach.
"Wh--"
And without even allowing the student to talk, Zac stood up.
A mushy snap could then be heard snapping in the air as the student quickly lost his balance, falling head-first into the cold, hard, slippery floor of the boy's lavatory.
"F… fuck, Mark!"
"Are you okay!?"
And with that disgusting crack whispering into their ears, one of the 2 remaining students slightly stepped away, while the other checked on their fallen friend.
"F… fuck, I don't think he's breathing."
"W… what!?"
"What did you do, you freak!?"
"I suppose bullies are the same, no matter if it's at times of peace or bloodshed. And you don't have to be such pussies, the boy's alive."
And even with all the tiny chaos ensuing in front of him, Zac only carelessly dropped the student's foot on the floor, before casually stepping out of the cubicle and pushing the other students to the side.
But before he could take any more steps, one of the students grabbed his shoulder.
"Where… where do you think you're going!? You just killed Mar-- Kh!"
Midway through his sentence, the student felt his lungs tighten as Zac suddenly pulled his arm, before hitting him right in the center of his chest with his elbow.
The last remaining bully was about to rush towards Zac and help his friend, but as soon as the pained gasp of his friend disgustingly whispered into his ears, his feet stopped by themselves.
There was also the fact that the one they have always been bullying all these years, was looking at him like he was some kind of dirt that needed to be wiped away from existence.
"Don't fucking try it," Zac then let out a sigh as he moved his eyes away from the student,
"I already feel somewhat bad for almost killing a child, please don't add to it," he said before kicking away the gasping student kneeling in front of him.
He might have been considered a mage in the past iteration of his life, but that didn't mean that he didn't know how to do hand-to-hand combat. After all, he wasn't always the strongest mage in the world-- he needed to suffer at first. But of course, if it wasn't for his current scrawny body, then he might have truly accidentally killed 2 of the 3 bullies that were in the room with him right now.
A sigh of relief almost escaped the last remaining student's mouth as he watched as Zac slowly made his way to the door; this sigh, however, was cut short as soon as Zac stopped walking.
"By the way, son. What year is it, exactly?" Zac muttered as he grabbed the door handle.
"Y… year? W… what do you mean?"
"...Never mind."
With stutters the only thing that was coming out of the student's mouth, Zac could only let out a short but deep sigh as he left the lavatory. And as soon as he stepped out, he saw more students-- looking at him with expressions of shock, and some disgust.
"..." He should probably get a change of clothes soon. But first, there was something he needed to confirm.
"Z… Zac, are you alr--"
There seemed to be someone who knew him from the crowd of students. Zac, however, could not be bothered to stop as he made his way across the hallway. He didn't really remember having friends before the apocalypse, so whoever it was, then it was probably just someone pretending sympathy.
And so, Zac continued to rush through the hallway, climbing the stairs without pause until he reached the school's highest level. He could feel his lungs slightly collapsing from the exhaustion that it was not used to, but Zac ignored it.
"...This is it," he then whispered as the door to the school's rooftop presented itself to him.
A high-pitched squeaking noise then pestered his ear as he forced open the door, and without his eyes blinking even once, he looked towards the sky; and without meaning to…
...tears quickly trailed along the lines of his face.
To see the skies completely cleared; without Curtains blocking them, truly… what a wonderful sight that the people of this time had taken for granted. This confirmed it, then-- he truly was sent back to the past.
As for why and how? Right now, it couldn't matter less for him as he continued to stare at the bright blue sky until his eyes almost burned.
"..." And finally, when he had enough, he then grabbed something from his pocket.
"Didn't think I would use one of these things again," he then let out a small chuckle as unlocked the phone in his hand; his eyes, carefully looking at the date shown on the screen.
July 25, 2022.
"3 months before the Curtains appear," Zac then whispered, "And 3 months…
...before I decided to kill myself."
Zac then slowly made his way to the edge of the roof; his eyes, staring at the ground a hundred meters below. Looking at it now, it truly did feel like it wanted to swallow and drown him whole.
Zac's eyes were staring at the exact same spot where he decided to commit suicide. He had enough of all the pain and suffering that his classmates were inflicting him, the teachers that ignored his cries, as well as the disappointment he had in himself.
3 months from now, the Curtains would appear; and like a twist of fate, he landed on one of them when he jumped.
And with the momentum he carried when falling, he was able to kill the creature waiting for him on the other side, a Goblin Sorcerer. Call it dumb luck, or just sheer fate-- but that was what granted Zac his System.
It was just an ordinary Mage System, but due to his perseverance, he grew to be the strongest mage-- he thrived in the apocalypse.
"Pft."
A small chuckle then escaped from his mouth as he continued to reminisce about his past… or perhaps future life.
An ordinary System?
No.
He was sent back to the past for a reason. He will be damned if he would still try to get a normal one.
Strongest Mage? Forget that. Chris Williams, Diana Williams, Tyler Curry, Ai Tanaka, Chandra Singh, and Isabel Reyes. He needs a System that would be able to protect all of them. No, he would make sure that they wouldn't even have to fight.
What he needs to be…
...is to be stronger than all of them combined — and he knew exactly how he would do that.
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