Almost

"I've exhausted your use. Scram." Theo spoke right into the crowd. The crowd of people that were out for his blood.

And in this single moment, all stars aligned perfectly within the universe.

Something clicked. The probabilities of different factors converged for this one, lone instant.

The eyes of everyone within the crowd twitched.

In this one instant, their instincts connected the dots.

The change in Theo's disposition, the aura that he now carried. The shift in his voice and general behavior. The few words that he uttered.

For a single instant, they all made sense, forcing a fight or flight response. This feeling spread around the crowd.

And thanks to the influence of Theo's suggestion, they all chose the latter.

"I just remembered I was supposed to go and grab some scrolls for the teacher…" one disciple muttered. He turned his eyes away, escaping with them to his feet.

Theo's former bully turned around and moved out of the crowd.

The entire area remained silent for a moment. Everyone observed the movements of the first guy to leave, as if in shock.

And then, one by one, everyone started to leave.

'Did I do it?' Theo thought. He slightly raised his eyes, taking a quick glance at the state of things.

He then breathed a tiny sigh of relief.

'I wasn't sure if it's going to work, so it's one hell of a relief,' Theo thought, lowering his eyelids for a bit.

He never wished for this confrontation. It was baggage that this body came with and that Theo now had to deal with.

'But for a second important encounter in this world, it didn't go all that bad,' Theo admitted to himself, slightly relaxing his body.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" A voice rang in Theo's ears.

His soul writhed in pain, even before his mind accepted the likely consequences behind those words.

"Are you all in a daze or something?" The same voice rang again. "This is just… Theo!"

Theo closed his eyes. His fingers involuntarily squeezed down into fists.

'Just Theo, huh?'

The young man didn't even need to open his eyes to sense it.

The connection with the universe was broken. The strange link with fate ended.

"Right, what was I thinking…" another voice joined.

"Did I just get scared by… Theo?" Someone else joined the choir.

And in just a few seconds, the tranquility that Theo recovered burst into flames.

The entire crowd started to converge on the young man again. And this time, no one cared to give Theo any time to prepare for his next suggestion.

Fists shot forward, landing all over Theo's flesh. Two struck his face, sending Theo's mind into scrambles. Another three strikes then fell upon his abdomen, depriving him of all the air in his lungs.

'Fuck…' Theo cursed under his breath, unable to gather enough air to curse out loud.

"You fucking trash!" Someone's kick vented out their anger for the humiliation Theo served them.

After all, how could mighty cultivators with great potential be scared of the worthless trash, the greatest shame of the division, and maybe even the entire sect?

Theo fell down to the ground. He hoped to, at least, restrict the comfort of those who pummeled him by getting out of range of their fists.

Now, they needed to bow down if they wanted to strike him.

Sadly, Theo's bullies solved the issue by using their legs to kick him instead.

"Die, you piece of shit!" Someone added their voice to the fury of their kicks.

'Shit!' Theo cursed in his thoughts again, barely holding on to his consciousness.

His body was torn between thousands of burning flowers of pain. All of his old wounds reopened, negating Theo's hard work of the last few days to recover.

'Is this how I fucking end?' a single thought flashed through Theo's scrambled brain.

His body already died once as a result of a beating. And back then, it was the job of a single bully!

A disciple of the inner sect, but still!

And now, every inch of Theo's flesh was marked with kicks and spit.

Theo took a glance at his system, hoping that this worthless cheat ability he got upon reincarnating to this world would come in clutch…

Only to see the installation process still stuck in the exact same spot as before.

'For fuck's sake!' Theo's rage somehow overtook all the torture filling his mind.

Blinded by the wrath, Theo somehow regained a flawed clarity of his mind.

'I came out because it's about time for the Elder's disciple to pick me up,' he thought, recalling the details of his plan.

He didn't spend the last few days in the library just studying.

Sure, Theo consumed every book that he found interesting, every piece that he believed he could use to his advantage in the coming trial.

But he spent studying three whole damn days. And even by using every trick of a college student in the book, he couldn't maintain focus for that long.

And so, in the few short breaks Theo took from studying the ancient literature, he would place his chips on the board and try to figure out the best setting for the coming events.

'Right now, only Elder's authority keeps me safe,' he reasoned back then. 'So, I need to invoke it within the greatest crowd possible.' Theo's deduction centered around one of the few ace cards he had in the long sleeve of his disciple's uniform. 'And invoke it while proving the validity of the claim.'

Theo's words were worthless. No matter what he said, no one would take it at a face value. Any of his bullies would claim that his words were nothing more but the desperate pleas of the life's victim. A set of lies only serving to improve his immediate situation.

And so, Theo timed the end of his study precisely for when he was supposed to be picked up by one of his seniors.

This was the only strand of hope that allowed him to weather through the beating, desperately clinging to his life through all the torture.

And soon enough…

"What the hell is going on here?!" A loud shout full of rage filled the air.

Theo's eyelids twitched.

It was a familiar voice… but not the one he expected!

"What the hell is going on here, I ask!" Paichi screamed out, his aura pulsing all around his body while his eyes threatened to burn the entire area.