"YueChen..." The deity lightly tapped his vessel's shoulder. "YueChen, listen."
The boy gave a soft hum to acknowledge him, still chasing the other teens.
"I found a clue."
•
To shorten the story, YueChen whom was playing with his classmates got pushed into the water. The water only reached his calves, but at the contact, the water became restless. It only lasted for a short moment as YueChen sprinted with all his might to chase them.
Yuan Ji, on the other hand, sensed something familiar called him. A surge of coldness circulated in his veins. He felt a spark when their feet touched the wet sand. A flash of memory when YueChen lost his balance and stumbled into the water.
Supposedly, the deity had a sword that almost never left its sheath.
"Zhen Ding Lang Jian."
Its purpose was just for formalities, but there was something more to it than meets the eye. Zhen Ding Lang Jian (Calm Wave Sword) could cut through the storm and even the strongest tides. On other hand, it could also easily cause a disaster related to water, like a tsunami. For that reason, the deity never wanted to unsheathe his sword.
To describe it, you only need a few words: steel made, Japanese style, and dangerous.
Zheng Ding Lang Jian itself had a conscience on its own. Perhaps, the sword followed its master to mortal world. Or he might brought it to the Mortal Realm, but lost it as he descended. Either way, Yuan Ji suddenly got an urge to reclaim his weapon.
"What?"
Yuan Ji turned his head and replied, "It was a sword, my sword. A terrifying weapon which grant its owners powers beyond a god's."
The boy half-raised his hand, "Here's a stupid question: the sword is yours, and it grant powers greater than a god's. But, you're a god."
He received a glare as an answer.
"Anyway, so I sealed most of my powers in my sword. Reclaiming Zhen Ding Lang Jian will certainly grant me my lost memories. Ascension will be possible."
YueChen ran his hand through his messy hair, trying to brush off the sand on his raven locks. "You want to get back your sword."
A nod, a rather determined one.
YueChen stood still and rubbed his chin, as though he had a thought, "Sorry for breaking the news then, but this dumb vessel of yours can't swim for his life. I mean, even if we can reclaim it, how do I carry it back home?"
Right, bringing a four feet or so katana-styled sword out of nowhere was suspicious.
"But—" A word slipped from his mouth subconsciously.
He kept his voice as low as possible, and began to elaborate, "This sword, whatever its name is, followed you to this realm. In that case, there'll be a big chance that it laid deep in the lake. With my swimming skills, we'll be dead before we got into fifty metres proximity."
The boy took the deity's silence as an unapproving silence, and tried to console him. "It's fine, A-Ji. When the timing is right, I'll help you reclaim it."
The deity nodded, his gaze never left the lake.
•
"Yang YueChen, social studies, the second class."
At the mention of his name, the boy perked up. At least the committee didn't say his name wrong. How shameful would it be, if they called him Yang LeChen instead of YueChen?
He spared no time to rush to the line, where his future classmates lined.
Few people he knew—his old classmates from junior high school—actually blinked in confusion. Well, it wasn't a great surprise. The biology lover boy chose social studies, it was a surprise.
Even Huang OuLin, "What?? You're not going into science? Why? But your biology is great!"
Wu ZhenNie, "Social? Not science?? I mean, there's biology subject in science studies."
And more...
Even the teachers, after a couple of weeks...
Yuan Ji didn't comment about the choice, after all, he had played a part in this matter.
The deity convinced him that science studies wouldn't work with him. He failed physics and chemistry, on addition to the fact that HuaLi was in the same choice as most of his classmates.
A lot of people—students or teachers—asked YueChen to consider his courses of choice. The boy certainly had talents, and perform better in science studies, yet he decided to learn in social studies class. Everytime they brought the topic, YueChen would always smile and said no. If they pursued further, he'd say that he wasn't great in physics and chemistry. Although he did great in biology, his score of that one study surpassed all the school's tenth grade students.
In three months, Yang YueChen had already been the teachers' darling. Smart, kind, active, quiet, everything they could ask for. A perfect student, with only few flaws. Performing terribly in sports and gaining friends.
OuLin and YueChen became even more distant. They almost never talked to each other again.
The religion teacher loved him dearly, for he had the answers to most of the quizzes. The homeroom teacher, whose subject was sports, often praised him for good grades. The geography teacher once wanted him to participate in Geography Olympics. Same case with the biology teacher. His English surpassed his teacher.
But for the very same reason teachers loved him, his classmates picked on him.
"Go back to where you should be, you arrogant!" on better days.
"You shouldn't ever be born!" on worse days.
They have the right to mock and ridicule him, though. YueChen himself was aware that he had a tendency to be selfish, arrogant, egoistic, and unapproachable.
He had broken down by the first semester, bawling his eyes out for no special reason.
The now teen only wanted a friend, and he had gotten one. He prayed for knowledge, and he easily became the first place in his class. All he ever wished became true, with a cost of his social circle.
•
"Ah, Mister Yang? Yang YueChen got the first rank." The call was vague, but it brought pride.
•
The boy had expected it. He waited for the teacher to call his name. Who knew, not only he topped his class, he also got the first rank for social studies.
From the mass of students, a slow, clear clap which could only be heard by YueChen resonated.
"I'm proud of you, really."
/Defeat the irony, don't let your depression and disorders dim your light. You're a sun, Yang YueChen./