The Princess, the Weaver, and the Kid

"Hngh..."

Through her futile attempt, Daiyu mustered up her strength to stand up but failed to do so due to the nausea of being endlessly plummeted and catapulted to the unknown. It was all she could remember after she welcomed death's embrace.

She could barely make up the blurry blob of face that was smiling in front of her. Perplexed by her unbearable blurry sight, her helplessness made her more and more aggravated. However, she could not vocalize anything but her loud cries. Her arms waggled visibly on her peripheral vision and her fist were as small and soft as marshmallows. Then, it hit her; she had never once believed in any religion but there she was—regressed and reincarnated back to being an infant.

"It's a she!"

The little boy with goat-like ears and blue markings below his eyes grew enthusiastic while gently holding the newborn in his arms. His name was Sigel.

"Hello, little flower," he said with a cheery soft tone.

"My little one," Everlast, her birth mother, sobbed.

Sigel walked closer towards Everlast and carefully handed the child, temptingly caressing the infant's small chubby hand, "What will you name her?" he asked.

As fate's sense of humour was rather uncanny, Everlast's husband's name was Xuanyu that means 'dark, mysterious' and 'jade, gemstone'. Hence, as living memento of her late husband she named her daughter, 'Daiyu' or black jade.

"Daiyu... Wang Daiyu," Sigel muttered, then smiled sweetly at the baby, "Hi, little Daiyu," he said.

If forever was not possible, Everlast simply hoped that this precious night would last for a long time. Praying that the time would simply stop to escape the unknown bearings of tomorrow.

———

[11 years later]

Like a vault washed ashore, Daiyu's memory had only unlocked at the age of six, revealing all her conscious memories from her past life. Daiyu could only remember fragments of the events that had happened during her early childhood. Hence, the disappearance of Everlast, her mother, was still left a puzzle to her.

She was only a few years old during the time her mother left her in Sigel's care.

Sigel was her mother's soul familiar.

He was the first face she saw in this world; his tan skin and radiant smile had always complimented his pair of bright honey-colored eyes behind his fine tousled blanc hair—the same face that was once a full of spirit and life, but had grown distant and passive ever since Everlast disappeared.

Whenever Daiyu would ask of her mother, Sigel would simply provide a brief vague answer. However on the same hand, Daiyu couldn't blame Sigel as he was barely seven when her mother disappeared. At that young age, he was shoved with the responsibility to stand as her parent, her brother, and her sole support.

Patiently waiting for Everlast's return, Sigel swore to serve Daiyu for the time being, the sole daughter of his ascendant.

Soul familiars stemmed from the unbridled discrimination against half-beast hybrids. Beasts are brute creatures that continuously pose threat to the peace and safety of the people; for each kingdoms, these beasts are the pest to their territories. Hence, hybrids first appearance was not well received by the humans. Their existence was only recognized as a result of sinful affair between man and beasts, tools that were meant to be enslaved, lesser creatures that never belonged to the human world nor the beasts world.

However, soul familiars are a special case. They're trained protectors and are meant to compliment their ascendant's power. Although soul familiars are above slaves and are close to being one's confidant, Sigel had never allowed the young miss to regard him as her friend, no matter how many times Daiyu tried to make him open up more to her. For Sigel, he's just a mere servant who must draw a boundary as early as possible before the young lady grows more fond of him.

Even though that was the case, it didn't made him neglect his duty to raise Daiyu to be a weaver. Weaving was her mother's skill and the sole legacy she left to Sigel to pass on to Daiyu. With corn husks, dried grass and bamboo as her warp and weft, Daiyu was able to help Sigel earn by crafting baskets, shoes, and rugs.

Even at a very young age, Sigel was surprised by Daiyu's crafty manner of doing business. She was cunning, a pure genius at bargaining and selling her handcrafts who even dominated their local market to only buy their weaved products.

Hybrids were just one of the things Daiyu learned different from this world. Her past life was not as magical and auspicious as this one, a world where anyone can raise in power as long as they're diligent enough to train. A path for them to live in prosperity and earn money—through applying a job class in line with their elemental attunement.

Elemental attunement is the essence of one's soul; composed of nature and earth, fire, water, hail, air, light, and dark. Elemental attunement of children are predetermined by their lineage, but only evince at the ripe age of 12. Merely 30 out of 100 people have elemental attunement whom are collectively called Elementals in general.

Every kingdoms are set to scout the strongest Elementals to loyally serve their nation and gain upper hand from other neighboring kingdoms. Hence, job class systems were created to classify the elemental attuned people accordingly.

Job classes mainly include support, crowd-control, offence, and defense. These four types are then divided into several subclasses; they can be formidable champions, possess remarkable assisting ability, a keen hunter or huntress, and such. But no matter which kind of job classes, all are further sorted and accorded to ranks. It was by-far the most sought out vocation given that it's one of the vital foundations of power for every kingdom.

Although she will be 12 within the next few days, she already had a mind and wisdom of a 29-year-old lady. She desired to repay Sigel for sacrificing his childhood to raise her and his own needs to protect her. Even if it meant enlisting in a job class and delving into the ruthless path of Elementals.

A huge part of her was still bound to her past life. Guilt was still embedded on her heart, remembering the people who had died in her stead. However, she knew continuing her life after that incident would only be a living hell—death was the only mercy she could have. For Daiyu from past life there was only despair, justice was no longer attainable, nor even had the slightest chance of redeeming her honor and dignity.

———

[Few days after]

"W-What in the heavens is this?!"

The man who was tasked to check the children's elemental attunement was flabbergasted at the sight of the young girl floating in mid air. It was just a small nameless village, how could they even have such a talented child—an erudite at that!

"You must be sent to higher academies! Such talents are favored by the heavens!" he exclaimed.