"You would never know-" An Thần replied and ventured forward while the ghost meticulously observed the surroundings. "You seem like you have not seen a school before."

"It's refreshing!" The ghost dashed onto the outdoor basketball court where the boys were doing some hoops. Some of them dribbled the balls and passed to each other; some of them dunked on the court to attract the attention of the others. "Smell like teen spirits."

"Yo, G-'' an anonymous student noticed and called from afar. "Come and do some hoops!"

"Aye, comin' right up-" An Thần strove towards; received the ball and initiated a 3-point shot from the line. Scored! The boys, hence, cheered and conducted a half handshake, half high-five Beside, some students continued a one-armed-hug-slash-shoulder-bump straight afterwards and finished with a pat on the back. "Starting fresh today!"

"G, you're on time-" An Thần conducted a half handshake with one of his friends. "I heard you get fucked yesterday."

The two sat on a stone bench at the court, observing the boys playing afar. The ghost was aware of that conversation as well and paid attention to the details. Hoàng Lâm, the ghost described after skimming through the shared memories, befriended An Thần since they were a child. The boy used to protect An Thần from a vicious dog assault, which caused him a mark on the left leg. Hoàng Lâm usually came to the shop eating noodles, as well as befriending his mother.

"Bro, ain't nothin-" An Thần confessed and laid back on the bench when Lam addressed the issue. "Let it slide, just some lame-ass territory bullshit."

"Ain't bullshit to me-" Hoàng Lâm expressed disappointment with his long exhale. He rubbed the combed, neat hair multiple times until it messed up. "Bro, you know I'm all in, why you keep'in to yourself-"

"Shit ain't worth it-"

"Then what's worth it?" Hoàng Lâm immediately raised his voice. He gazed at the startled friend for a moment; looked afar and rubbed his eyes slowly. "You almost died, G, you want to end like that?"

Hoàng Lâm and the boys used to play at a court in Phan Đình Phùng stadium, An Thần recalled. Although that court presented a narrow length, a food vendor situated nearby allowed buying energy drinks quicker. Basketball groups divided into groups after school, so the earliest group came could rent the court; and those who failed would feel resentment towards. The heat became vividly shown when a group of Lê Quý Đôn High School confronted face-to-face; and, it failed to end well for An Thần that day.

"G, we're going to beat some asses-" Hoàng Lâm presented a bear claw to his anticipated friend; continued that the boys already prepared some "gifts" for the upcoming battle. "No forcing here, just decide-"

An Thần stared at the bear claw, hesitating. Since the recent discharge from the hospital, the boy had experienced some bizarre phenomena - a ghost, a Gomboc and the mother's fury. Until now, An Thần tried to wrap every element up one by one; however, he was aware that it would take a long time. The mind swelled with thoughts and doubted the next action which would affect everyone around him.

"Kid, don't look at me-" the ghost recognized the doubtness gaze of the boy. In times of war, playing with swords only meant dead or alive. The ghost had seen many lives lost and blood shed; and, most of the consequences led to an advice which referred to negotiating more than throwing fist. He sat side by side with the perplexed boy and joined the observation with Hoàng Lâm. "Look, all I can say is to find a better way to solve the problem."

"Make a move~" Gomboc raised many voices in the deep dark; persuaded the host the pain had undergone. If An Thần conquered the next battle, he would become stronger and eradicate the bullies once and for all. Gomboc knew deep down inside of the gut, that desire of vengeance was unquenched, only if the host accomplished the goal. "Pay blood by blood~"

"Cool cool-" The choice of his friend satisfied Hoàng Lâm when he took the bear claw. Lam stood up, received the passed ball and scored the hoop. "Let us meet at the court after school."

"Splendid~" Gomboc raised a pleasurable, content voice. "Thee shalt s'rve vengeance~"

The bell rang to start the first class of the day, An Thần entered the classroom and sat at his table. The ghost observed, that class presented 52 people, and 2 people sat at a long table. Thus, the school plotted the room with each cell grouped into four rows.

Teachers entered the classroom sequentially during each hour of ringing the bell. An Thần yawned most of the time in the advanced math class, biology class and basic history class. The ghost noticed these subjects failed to interest the boy. It seemed the method of teaching forced students to memorize word-by-word. That kind of teaching presented a failure in education, the ghost concluded; indeed, the ghost should advise some better ways to study for instance.

The high-noon bell rang alas. Students screamed in excitement and rushed down to the cafeteria as if prisoners successfully escaped from prison. Students loved the cafeteria - one of the favorite corners of school. One could hear the chattering, singing country music loudly and out of tune from the chefs at tables afar. Moreover, students here joked and teased each other. The canteen served simple food, such as grilled pork chop with broken rice, steamed buns and fried noodles in a box. An Thần adored the crowded atmosphere for the conversations he would conduct and the routine of bonding with his friends casually. In the end, most of the students knew when the high-noon bell rang, their day would become vibrant again.

"We're all like this-" An Thần confirmed the fact to the surprised ghost as they bought a box of a grilled pork chop with broken steamed rice at the place. "You will get familiar with it."

A day at school ended shortly. Approaching the destination, An Thần gazed in front of a basketball court, where the battle would begin. The skin shivered as if the boy knew that action could be undone, so the mind ought to prepare itself for the upcoming event.

"Playing with swords only meant dead or alive-" the ghost confronted An Thần since he felt an uneasy emotion of the boy towards the place. However, the ghost ought to warn that the next action would alter some consequences. "Don't force yourself-"

The boy hesitated, then walked onto the battleground where Hoàng Lâm and the boys were waiting beyond.

"G, come on time!" Hoàng Lâm greeted his friend with a handshake and introduced him to the rest of the gang. "Alright, 'em puss comin'in hot, keep y'all eyes open."

From afar, a group of students who wore Lê Quý Đôn uniform walked into the scene. An Thần could tell they were some avid sneaker lovers by analyzing their footwear. They wore a Nika Zoom Freak edition, which posed a flamboyant outlook.

"What do we have here-" the enemy's leader, Tân Phong, spoke to the opponents with hands raised high in the sky. The man walked left and right; skimmed the opponent for a brief period of time, then laughed in an outlandish manner. "Look my fellow followers, these poor, unstylish peasants want to take back their court."

The group chuckled, whispered gaily in such a modest manner to the opposite side.

"One of y'all puss' fuck our homie-" Hoàng Lâm confronted their leader. He scanned each member of the opponent one by one, sharp as a chef's knife which could slice pieces apart. "Come out and we'll handle this the easy way."

When their leader gestured with a nod, a big, macho student strove forward on the scene.

"You peasants took this court hostage for too long-" the leader pushed forward with his self esteem; observed the low-graded athletic footwear's fools. Basketball was supposed to present serious manners and styles, he continued, to respect the sport enthusiast, one ought to display in proper appearance. Moreover, it seemed unfair to students who worked harder than everyone else and couldn't play in the court they wanted. The man turned and praised his comrade since they have studied strenuously for the upcoming tests day and night. Therefore, they deserved to play on that court. "We are better than you lazy-ass, second-to-none high schoolers in every way, we will take what we want!"

Hooohaaaa!

The Lê Quý Đôn chanted a battlecry which caused the ghost to raise his eyebrows intriguingly.

"Just 'cause y'all can't play-" Hoàng Lâm lowered his tone and locked his sight onto the enemy.

"Y'all hurt our homie?"

"That was an accident-" the leader chuckled in manners which caused the rest of them to chuckle in the same way. He stared at An Thần on purpose; that, undoubtedly caught the eyes of Hoàng Lâm. "This was an incident."

"It seems too poetic to me-" the ghost raised his eyebrows in doubt and commented on the heated situation in the background. "Child, does this "half-man flamboyant spartan" have weird feelings for you?"

"Shut up, gay lord-" An Thần refuted loudly which startled the people around. When the boy realized everyone looked at him, questionable, he blushed and murmured to the ghost. "When I'm done with this, I'll get you out of my head!"

Hoàng Lâm witnessed the situation and grunted furiously. "They" caused his friend to suffer hallucination, he concluded and locked his eyes on the enemies in front; and so, no more negotiation, the opponents would suffer his wrath.

"Fuck 'em-" Hoàng Lâm raged and initiated the fight. "The basketball court is ours!"

"Victory is ours!" the leader shouted with men chanting the battlecry. "We will take back what's ours!"

Two sides collapsed. A skirmish began spreading across the field. Men punched and swung their weapons onto each other. Redness splashed onto the white cloth of youth. A moment later, few strong men remained from both sides.

An Thần stood as stone amidst the chaos, figuring out nothing. Some opponents attempted to tackle the boy, but fortunately he dodged and fled.

"Do you know how to fight?" The ghost judged the situation based on the boy's reaction. "You can get us both killed."

The ghost told An Thần to wait for the enemy to make a move before doing anything. Counter-attacks and disarms should become his absolute priorities. For most of the battle, against most of the enemies, counter attacks would nullify enemies easily. To perform a counter, the boy had to exploit the enemy's weakness while blocking with a weapon, just before an enemy tried to attack. If An Thần timed correctly, it would parry the incoming attack and turn it into an instant knockout.

Pow!

An Thần successfully performed his first counter attack towards an enemy. However, the boy failed to celebrate that joy since another assailant tried to tackle him. Few attempts later, An Thần confronted the macho student. The boy first encountered a direct swing from the left; yet, failed to parry the power of the swing. The force pushed An Thần to roll a few rounds on the floor.

From here, once An Thần initiated fights with armed men, he had to learn disarms, guided the ghost. Disarms performed similarly to counter attacks, except that the boy had to block with no arms. An Thần had to catch the incoming enemy attack; snatch the weapon away and utilize it to execute the threat.

Huff!

An Thần failed to block with no arms and received a direct hit. Unfortunately, counters and disarms would require more time to master, the ghost concluded. As the boy dueled more, skilled opponents could resist counter and disarm executions.

"Attack him!" The ghost demanded An Thần to become aggressive with his assault when dueling with a skillful opponent. "Make the move random-"

"How?" the boy questioned during a vertical swing of the enemy, hence, jumped backward with heavy breathing. "I'm beat!"

"Child, you will be dead meat if you can't fight back-" the ghost cried; guided An Thần to mix up his combos. Moreover, the boy had to watch his back for cheap shots from others. If the macho student evaded or blocked hits, tried to kick groins to break his guard. "Try it now!"

"Urgg!" The macho student grunted on one knee after the boy performed a mixture of moves. "You fucker!"

The instinct pushed An Thần to perform an execution; but, from his lifetime, he never conducted such an action before.

"What are you waiting for?" the ghost urged the hesitated boy to perform an execution. "Quickly, or we're in trouble!"

Poc!

A stone from out of the blue knocked An Thần out cold, which resulted in a shutdown to the ghost.