Celestials

In the northern expanse, under the vast blue sky, stretched open plains. The grass and the trees were lush and green, and in the distant mountains stood tall on the horizon. In there nestled a little village named Dali, surrounded by rolling hills and misty peaks. The whole village was filled with mortals who never showed interest in worldly matters. Living as a farmer, having enough to eat three times a day was a happy life for them.

Today was a special day in the village. The Chief of the Village sat outside the room, waiting for the good news. He was a middle-aged man wearing a blue dress that covered him from top to bottom. His eyes were closed and an old man beside him patted his shoulder.

Suddenly, the door in front of them opened, and a maid came out with a smile on her face. "Sir, it is a healthy baby boy."

The Chief sighed in relief, and the old man beside him busted into laughing. Both entered the room and saw the baby boy and his mother soundlessly sleeping. Slowly, they approached the mother and child.

"He looks just like my daughter," said the old man with a wide smile on his face as he looked at the baby.

The Chief just smiled and picked the baby into his arms. The baby opened his eyes and looked at the chief without blinking.

"Son…" he gave a gentle kiss on the kid's forehead. He was happy; it was the happiest day of his life. Hearing their voices, the mother woke up and looked at them; she was also very happy.

The Chief took the baby boy out with him to show the villagers.

"Today we are going to celebrate!!" Chief said in a loud voice as he held the baby high in the air.

"Yes!!" villagers outside saw the baby and roared happily.

On the 21st day after the birth, the boy was named Lod. He was a very silent child who liked to stay in his mother's arms all the time. As Lod was growing up, everyone started to like him more. He was kind and passionate about everything in the village. But not much time passed before they noticed something strange.

When he was 2 years old, he almost jumped into a fire, and when he was 3 years old, he walked into the forest and started fighting with wild animals there. Not even when he was locked down in his house, he would do something that was not something done by a kid. He was just… fearless.

Even though he was fearless, he felt and understood pain. That was why whenever he did something and got hurt, he wouldn't do that thing again. Not because he was afraid of pain; it was just that he felt it was worthless to get hurt for something that wouldn't worth pain.

Lod's parents were worried about him as he was not a normal kid like others. He was energetic but had a very weak body. Still, that didn't stop Lod from doing whatever he wanted to do. He was intelligent, loved to read books, and thought deeply about matters. Almost everyone in the village agreed that he was a prodigy. Every time his father heard someone praise him, a bright smile would appear on his face.

Just like that, Lod turned fifteen. He was tall, with long black hair and fair skin, his face bearing a captivating beauty like that of a girl's—an inheritance from his mother, the most beautiful woman in the entire village, and also a scholar who studied for some years in an academy. Everything he learned till now was because of her, she taught him how to read, write, and many more.

Inside the chief's home, Lod and his mother sat in the garden. He held a book about the Prime Minister of the Kingdom Wu.

"Mommy, where is this Kingdom Wu?" he asked, this being his first time hearing about it, as they lived in the county called Silvercrest.

"It does not exist now; it used to be our neighboring kingdom. But they offended a celestial, and he wiped the whole kingdom off the map," his mother explained as she cut some vegetables for dinner.

"Celestials…" Lod sighed, feeling disappointed as he stopped his reading. "I wonder what made them offend a celestial."

His mother chuckled. "Do you want to know?"

"Hm… yes?" 

"They were hiding something called Glory Stone, something that belongs to that celestial. I don't know what it is, but it must have been something very valuable."

"I understand," Lod nodded. It wasn't the first time he'd heard of a celestial wiping out an entire county with a snap of their fingers, but it was still shocking.

"It is almost time for your father to come home; I will go make dinner," his mother said as she walked into the kitchen.

Lod sat there, gazing at the blue sky. While watching the half-moon in the clear sky, he saw four white dots from far away in the sky.

"What is that?" He raised his eyebrows; the dots were getting closer and closer. "This…"

In no time, he could see what the dots were, they were four… celestials!

"Mom!!" Lod shouted, uncertain why celestials were here, but that nothing good would happen when they visited mortals.

"What is it" Mother came running and was shocked to see Lod who was standing like a statue. 

"Look there." He pointed at the sky; the celestials were just above the village. Mother looked in that direction and saw four celestials. Her mind spun when she saw them; she couldn't see their faces, but their mere presence made her shiver.

"This… this is bad…" she didn't know what to do. There was nothing in this small village that would attract a celestial.

Lod observed the celestials floating there without making any move. They seemed to be making a decision.

"I don't think they came here to harm us, Mom," Lod said in a low voice, approaching her and standing beside her.

"I… hope so." She closed her eyes, relying on Lod for support.

Outside the village, people noticed the arrival of the celestials and were scared to death. Many were already on their knees. In the eyes of the villagers, they were equal to gods.

The celestials descended slowly, their faces covered with some kind of mist, leaving the villagers in fearful anticipation.

"Don't worry; we did not come here to trouble you all. We are from Divine Sky College. Because of a shortage of workers, we had to come here for some workers who can work in the college." A man's voice echoed throughout the whole village.

The villagers didn't know what to say; they just sighed. They didn't have any chance to refuse because that would offend them, and that would just bring disaster to them.

"You can refuse, but working in the college is a very prestigious thing. If you have talent, you can even become a student. This village is not far from the college, which is why we came here," and now people could see their faces.

Gasps could be heard all over the village. Their whole aura made them look like they were not even humans. They had an immortal aura all around them.

Lod looked at them in silence. He had heard about the Divine Sky College before; it was one of the biggest and most powerful colleges that even mortals knew about. He looked at his mother who was slightly better than before.

"Mom, I want to go with them," he said in a low voice to his mother.

His mother was shocked by hearing it, "No, no… you shouldn't do that. It is very dangerous!" she said worriedly. Never would she expect that this would happen.

Lod was not interested at first, but the thing that piqued his curiosity was that they could become students. A student in the college meant they would become a celestial!

Just as he was about to reply to her, the chief, who had been silent, spoke in a loud voice.

"Please, sires, this is just nothing but a small village… we—"

"Take your time talking with everyone; maybe some kids want to join in," the man on the right side suggested gently.

The Village Chief looked around and saw some kids' eyes shining. He couldn't help but sigh heavily. He understood that the kids were tempted by the words of the celestials.

'Wait… Lod…' Chief rubbed his forehead; he understood Lod more than anyone. He knew that Lod would go…

"I will, sires," Chief said and bowed. Even though he felt things went for the worse, he didn't show it on his face.

"Everyone in the village, gather here!" he said, and everyone walked to him while taking a few looks at the celestials.

Lod and his mother came too. And without wasting any time, the chief asked, "Whoever wants to work in the celestials' college, respond with, 'I do.'"

Lod looked at his mother, who was shaking her head, saying no, "But… mom," he hugged her, "don't worry, Mom, I won't do restless things. I am your son! You have to trust me; I really want to go."

His mother couldn't hold back her tears.

"I do!" Lod said loudly, being the first person to respond, and with him, others who wanted to go responded.

The Chief looked at Lod and sighed; he felt he aged many years when he heard his son's voice. He absolutely wanted to stop him, but… he knew Lod was different from the other kids; he would not stay in a small village like this forever…

"Okay, if you want to go, I hope you all have a good journey."