161 An Old "Friends" Invitation (1/2)
Lunch only lasted an hour and he did not have much time to waste.
As he ran through the hallway, he noticed that those same looks were not niche to that one part of the school, they followed him everywhere he went as people moved out of the way immediately after they saw him come near, something that he fully expected. Some even got extremely startled, clenching their hearts as soon as they saw Moby speed right past them as they did not notice him at all before loudly breathing out, wiping the sweat off their face in relief.
However, out of those looks of terror and unease were a few mellow smiles sprinkled in the crowd. Moby's actions of saving an E rank bald kid in the morning had already spread to nearly every corner of the school, especially amongst all of the weaker students. The news came as a shock to everyone, most thought that it either must have been a fluke, a lie or that he had a bigger plan at work. There were only a few people in the entire school that were genuinely nice, one of whom was of course none other than Alex Hart.
The idea of Moby being on their side felt like a delusion as it was too good to be true. They thought that the only plausible explanation must have been that he must have had a bigger plan to lure them into trusting him. It was by far the more popular opinion.
However, the other side also existed.
Some people really did believe that Moby did what he did out of the pure goodness of his heart. After all, he was also of course a bullied, badly treated F rank just like them before gaining his ability, making him probably sympathize with their conditions. Not to mention the fact that Alex Hart was his roommate who had probably rubbed off on him and inspired him to use his newfound powers for the sake of protecting others.
That small group saw Moby as a hero, no, a messiah who had come to save them from their high ranked, selfish, power-hungry, almost demonic abusers.
Of course, Moby did not notice those looks that were too few and far between as they were too subtle to pick up on. He instead tunnelled everything out and focused his attention on getting to the cafeteria as fast as possible alongside examining the faces of the many short people he passed by to see if he could find Ray in the hallway, he had absolutely no idea that his previous plans were actually working right under his nose.
At the edge of the blockade, there was a short, pink-haired student facing a much taller and skinnier black-haired student, his hands firmly planted against a locker as he prepared to punch him, it was like the most stereotypical bully situation imaginable.
Moby did not at all find that to be an odd sight, the sight of a larger person being bullied by someone half his size. 100 years ago before the discovery of abilities that might have been extremely bizarre, but in this age, size differences meant nothing in the face of greater power.
Moby smiled as he knew that he could use this situation to his advantage, running straight at the bully, not even slowing down in the slightest.
”Pay me your daily $50 now or else I'll eat yo-” The short bully said, ready to punch the weaker, larger kid in front of him before suddenly, he felt an intense pain crash right into his face, his jaw completely shattering as he was launched far away like he was a football, sliding on the ground as every other student dodged his incoming unconscious body, faces of shock, fear, and admiration looking straight towards him after what he had so easily and nonchalantly done.
[ System Alert! ]
[ You gained 2000 XP for defeating a low C rank enemy ]
”Get out of my way dickhead! Take care kid! Hopefully, he doesn't bother you again!” Moby casually said as he bolted right past the scene, the tall kid looking at him with a mixture of shock and admiration, too speechless to even properly thank him.