"Look, Poul! Our boy opened his eyes!" said a woman softly.

"Shouldn’t he be crying?" Poul asked with a doubtful look.

"Maybe not all babies cry at birth, dear."

"Yeah, maybe you’re right."

The father glanced at the window and saw a man passing by outside.

"By the way, honey, I’ll go buy the things we need."
He left the room right after, heading into town.

‘What’s he going to buy? I hope it’s food. Well, that doesn’t matter. I’ll just enjoy the best stage of life—the stage where I don’t have to do anything.’ Gabriel thought.

"Ah… I wish Poul and I could’ve chosen your name together," the woman said, lowering her gaze slightly.
"But since he’s not here… let’s call you… hmm… oh, I know! How about Hyou Jay?"

‘Hyou Jay? That’s my name? Well… at least it sounds kinda nice.’

Maria gently lifted Jay, holding him up so he could see a glimpse of the world outside.

‘Am I somewhere deep inside a continent?’ he wondered.

She lowered him again and hugged her newborn son tightly.

Time passed since his birth, and Jay was satisfied with his new life and family. But when he turned one, strange things began happening around him.

One day, the children in the village were covered in bruises, and the next—gone. The wounds simply vanished, as if the accidents had never happened.

‘Could this be healing magic?’ Jay thought as his mother pampered him.
‘If that’s true, then… I’m in a magical world.’

From his mother’s lap, Jay noticed a bookshelf filled with books.
‘Those look like history books. I need to make her read to me.’

He began to crawl, stretching his tiny hand toward the shelf.

Maria noticed and asked, "What is it, Jay? Why are you crawling like that?"

He pointed his little finger toward the bookshelf.

"You want books, Jay?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

Jay nodded.

"Alright, I’ll get your ‘book’."

She picked a children’s book. Jay stared at it, disappointed.

‘What? He doesn’t want a children’s book?!’

He pointed again, this time at a specific book.

Maria froze for a moment, mouth slightly open. Then she sat near the window and began to read aloud.

"Before the world itself existed, there was only darkness. Until one day, a god—bored of seeing nothing but the void—decided to create. He made the earth, the sun, the moon, and many other worlds."

She looked at her son, who was gazing at her with eyes shining like stars—filled with pure excitement.

‘How can a baby have such expectations?!’ she thought in disbelief.

"This god was called the God of Creation. But the earth was made only of rock, so the Goddess of Life looked upon that barren land and decided to bring life to it."

‘I bet he’s burning with excitement right now,’ she thought. And indeed, he was.

"She stretched out her hand and said, ‘Let there be water.’ And water sprang forth from the ground. Then she spoke again and again until life began to fill the world. She created animals, humans, dwarves, and elves…"

When Jay heard “dwarves” and “elves,” his heart raced.
‘So this really is a fantasy world!’ he thought, stunned.

Maria continued reading.

"But the Goddess of Life noticed something: there was no balance among the races. So together with the God of Creation and the God of Chaos, she created magic, giants, and dragons."

"As the years passed, the species spread across the continents. Hybrids began to appear… and conflict followed."

"The God of Spirits created magical and elemental spirits, along with spiritual energy itself."

"Time went on until, one day, the Elemental Spirits rebelled against the gods. As punishment, they were sealed within humans and giants."

"In humans, the spirits were sealed into families: Hyou, Hi, Kaze, Chikyū, and Mizu. Each spirit would be bound to a newborn of these families."

"In the giants, the sealing happened randomly. Every ten years, only four elemental giants were born. This was both a blessing and a curse for their kind."

She closed the book and looked at her son. "That’s enough for today, little one. It’s time to sleep."

Jay pouted, but after hearing her soothing lullaby, he fell asleep instantly—like a rock.

Days turned into weeks, and Maria read more and more from the same book. With each story, Jay’s fascination grew.

‘What an amazing world! So many different cultures... Humans worship the God of Creation and the Goddess of Life, while the elves only worship her.’

He learned that most giants were irrational beings, while dragons were intelligent but atheistic. And that magic, faith, and culture shaped each civilization differently.

He also discovered that a person’s elemental power could only awaken between the ages of three and eight.

"The Hyou family shall bear the spirits of ice for all eternity," said the God of Spirits.

"It’s an honor that this duty falls upon our family," replied the head of the Hyou clan.