In the world Al has found herself in, there are three empires, each having dominion over a single continent.

This is not to say that there are only three continents in existence, only that three of them are well known and tend to be more advanced than the rest. The other continents have a variety of smaller kingdoms spread across them, with each ruling a small part of the continent, similar to modern countries.

Now, Liu is a village. It’s small, almost forgotten, and is located inside Restorius, the continent ruled by the empire of Tuntia.

Normally, such a village wouldn’t be noteworthy. There are no main roads that lead towards or even past it; the place is practically isolated from the rest of the empire. If it wasn’t for small trades or the village being in the empire’s registry, it would have been forgotten.

But Liu is not as unimportant as most would believe.

For Al, the first reason Liu is important is because it’s the first major tragedy that the protagonist of Blood for Blood faces, or at least the first one readers learn about.

It happens at the start of the series, and it’s there where the main character meets a young Rai child named Adnia—aka Al—who is also the only survivor of the village.

The village of Liu is destroyed, burnt to a crisp by Rai hunters who try to—and successfully—prevent the escape of the captured Rai, who also happen to be the friends of the main character.

They had all been kidnapped while journeying towards Elydor, a city built by and for the Rai.

The second reason this little village is important is because of the forest that covers the rolling hills surrounding the village.

The people of Liu are all wary of this forest because anyone who dares to wander in never returns. Despite this ominous happening, they carry on as if the forest isn’t there.

This is because the forest has a clear Divine aura.

Naturally, humans are not meant to enter the sacred locations of Celestials, and the villagers feel blessed living so close to such a place.

For Al, this forest is important because the cabin Adnia occupies before the tragedy of Liu, and the cabin Al assumes quite correctly that she’s woken up in, is located within the center of this forest.

Her small feet tap, tap, tap in an excited rhythm as she runs through the surprisingly spacious cabin, her head snapping from side to side as she takes in as much as she can, a grin splitting her face in two.

According to her system, the entire building now belongs to her. Of course, Al owned a house in the previous world, but nothing can ever beat the thrill of someplace new.

Also, she’s relieved to not be homeless.

Al skids across the paneled floor, almost knocking into a long, thin display cupboard as she takes a sharp turn into a different hall.

She’s gone through the three bedrooms already, found a fascinatingly big library, and a kitchen with an open-plan living room reminiscent of her old home.

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In fact, most of the layout reminds her of her own house. It’d be creepy, but she was magicked into this world and shoved into a new body. Why would whoever did this not have the ability to duplicate her house layout into a fantasy cabin equivalent?

Now, while Al is distracted with exploring and discovering that most modern electric equipment and utilities are still available but replaced with talisman equivalents, she doesn’t pay enough attention to where she is running and is far too distracted to notice that she’s not as alone as she thought.

Of course, this results in her running straight into the other entity inside the cabin. While the system spams her with messages asking if she’s okay, Al stares up at the shocking form of a leopard—a purple leopard.

Her lips twitch as her mind spasms for an appropriate response to being stared down by something that can eat her. “Hi?”

The leopard blinks slowly, and Al blinks back just as slowly.

It’s a cat, right? she thinks to herself. Just big, and blinking at cats says you’re not here to hurt them or something soft like that, right?

Al doesn’t remember well; she’s never owned a cat, but Richi did, and Richi said something about blinking being a thing.

The big cat huffs and tilts his head. "Hi," he says and Al has a crashing reminder that Spirit Beasts are a thing in Blood for Blood.

These creatures are masses of pure Divine energy which have taken form and gained consciousness. That is not to say that they have the same IQ as humans; some are just as dumb and dull as regular animals. However, the more powerful the Spirit Beast, the more intelligent they are. Those of the higher levels of power are the ones who can speak human languages.

She has a Spirit Beast in her new fantasy cabin. Al draws a subtle breath and smiles blindingly to cover up her shaking nerves. She has a powerful, human language-speaking Spirit Beast inside her fantasy cabin.

“May this Adnia ask what such a mighty one is doing in her humble home?”

Al internally does a fist bump at being able to refer to herself as ‘this Adnia.’ Body possession is actually a common problem the people in Blood for Blood had, and when a body is possessed, the soul cannot refer to themselves as ‘this insert-the-name-of-whoever-had-been-possessed.’ So if a person doesn’t refer to themselves as ‘this whatever-name’ in their first dialogue when speaking to someone, then they can be considered possibly possessed or pretending to be someone else.

The Spirit Beast blinks at her again before he shrugs and yawns. “No idea, just woke up here.”

Al bobs her head as if she completely understands, deciding to ignore the rude way he’s speaking to her. Casual tones are not allowed and are considered a very intimate way of speaking. Doing so with a stranger, even one of lower status, is just not done.

“And what is the mighty one planning to do now that he has woken?” Al asks sweetly. Get lost, she thinks, this is my cabin.

The beast lays his head on his paws and stares at Al silently. She waits for an answer patiently. The seconds tick by, and the whistle of the wind blowing through the trees is clearly heard through the dead silence inside the cabin.

“Will the mighty one be leaving?” Al prompts after she grows tired of the silence, her blinding smile not wavering as she resists the urge to glare.

“No,” the beast says, and Al makes an ‘ah’ sound, her head bobbing in false understanding again.

She should kick him out. Her gaze travels to the maw that is hiding sharp teeth and the massive clawed paws. She doesn’t have the power to kick him out, and she’d rather like to live to meet her future daddy.

Dad, Al thinks as she decides on her next words, I’m patient, aren’t you proud of your future daughter?

“Nia understands. Nia hopes the mighty one rests well. She will be going… to explore.”

The beast hums and stands. Al crawls backward as she eyes him. “Exploring,” he says, drawing the word out as if tasting it. The beast grins, those sharp teeth finally being shown and glinting under the scattered rays of sunlight bleeding in through the windows. “Sounds fun, let’s go.”

The beast trots forward, and after a few steps, he pauses, staring imploringly back at Al, as if asking her if something’s wrong. Al smiles again and hops up, skipping until she’s walking side by side with the beast while her heart screams at her to just bury herself inside the cozy bed in the room she woke up in and wait for the beast to slink off somewhere else.