"Ruby, Mom is going back to your stepdad's hometown with him and your little brother for the holiday. Why don't you go stay with your dad for the break?"
On the bustling street, the petite, quiet girl wore a pale blue backpack. Though the weather was warm, she felt inexplicably cold.
Ruby Rowland lowered her eyes, her long bangs hiding the emotions swirling in them. Her slender fingers gripped her phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. She pressed her lips together. After a long silence, she whispered a soft agreement.
The moment the word left her lips, the line went dead. Just before the call cut off, she heard the faint, impatient voice of a young boy urging her mother to hurry.
Ruby's clear, dark eyes grew red. She sniffled, trying her hardest to hold back her tears. The twelve-year-old girl looked blankly at the busy street, utterly lost. She didn't know where to go.
Before her mother had called, her dad had also phoned to tell her he was taking his new wife and her younger sister abroad for a while. She had parents, yet she might as well have been an orphan. They had divorced before she was old enough to understand, both quickly forming new families. Since then, she was bounced between the two households, never truly belonging. She was like a stranger boarding in their homes—no, a stranger would have been treated better. She was more of a burden.
She was always so well-behaved. She never caused them any trouble. So why did neither of them want her?
An overwhelming wave of grievance welled up in her chest, and her eyes grew even redder.
"MEOW."
A soft, delicate cry interrupted her thoughts. Sitting on a bench at a secluded bus stop, Ruby suddenly felt something furry brush against her leg. She looked down, her tear-filled eyes meeting a beautiful little kitten with fluffy white fur and bright blue eyes.
Ruby sniffled and crouched down, gently stroking the kitten's head. "How did you end up here?"
The young girl's voice was soft and thick with emotion. An unshed tear slipped past her long lashes and landed with a gentle DROP on the kitten. As she pet its impossibly soft fur, she felt a fraction of her sorrow melt away. It was okay. She could survive on her own.
"Do you not have a home either?" Ruby mumbled softly, gently squeezing the kitten's tiny paw. Meeting those clear, azure eyes, the girl's own round, feline-like eyes crinkled into a sad smile beneath her heavy bangs.
"Ah!"
"Get out of the way!"
Sudden screams and panicked shouts drew Ruby's attention. She turned just in time to see a small car swerving wildly, careening straight toward them.
In that split second, Ruby curled her body over the kitten, shielding it in her arms. A deafening crash echoed through the air. A sudden, agonizing pain ripped through her body, and she was sent flying.
Lying in a pool of blood, Ruby's last thoughts weren't about what her parents would do without her. Without her, their lives would probably be easier. She was just their baggage, after all. Instead, she wondered if the little kitten had survived. She felt a pang of guilt, knowing she had dragged the poor creature into this.
In her final moment of fading consciousness, she thought she heard a soft, delicate MEOW.
The Universe was vast and boundless. No single race could claim to have explored its entirety. This Interstellar world had birthed countless galaxies and species, and every race that adapted to this environment possessed its own unique culture and evolutionary path.
Among them, the Starbeast Clan, which revered strength above all else, was an entity that no other race dared to provoke—even if they joined forces. They possessed the incredible ability to shift seamlessly between human and beast forms. Their monstrous physiques were so resilient that they could collide with small asteroids and emerge entirely unscathed. A few extraordinarily powerful lineages within the clan even commanded Elemental Power, making them utterly invincible on the battlefield.
In this might-makes-right society, a warrior's strength was measured primarily by their spiritual power. The higher the spiritual power, the stronger the beast form. This directly translated to greater combat prowess and the ability to pilot high-tier Mechanical Beast Armor on the Interstellar battlefields.
Before the age of five, every Starbeast Clan cub underwent a Spiritual Power Level test. This single evaluation was the crucial turning point that dictated their entire destiny.
"How could it only be F Level? Is there something wrong with the machine? Check her again! She is..."
"Are you done yet?" the technician in the white coat interrupted. "The Spiritual Power Detector was just serviced yesterday. It doesn't make mistakes. Hurry up and take your kid away. We have other people waiting to be tested and no time to waste on your complaining."
With that, the technician unceremoniously chased the hysterical woman out of the room.
Elena Spencer had no choice but to grab the four-year-old girl beside her and leave. The moment they stepped out of the testing facility, however, Elena viciously pinched the little girl's arm. Her beautiful face twisted into a furious scowl.
"You worthless piece of trash! How could you be so utterly useless?!"
Ruby cried out in pain. Tears streamed down her face as she tried to shrink away, not daring to scream too loudly. "It hurts..."
The little girl's sweet voice was painfully pitiful, but the woman pinching her was selfish and cold to the bone.
"Oh, you know it hurts? You're a useless brat with F Level spiritual power! If I had known, I never would have given birth to you!"
Fuming, Elena stomped away in her high heels. If she hadn't planned to use this child as her ticket to becoming the Marshal's Wife, she never would have taken the risk. She had raised the girl for four years, only to end up with a useless failure. How was she supposed to use this child to enter the Marshal's Estate now?
She refused to accept this!
Ruby endured the piercing, agonizing pain in her arm, but she had to quickly scurry after the woman. If she was abandoned now, she would have no home in this world and no way to survive.
She had reincarnated into this body at birth. Having retained her memories, she knew from the very beginning that she was merely a tool meant to fulfill this woman's ambitions.
She was only a four-year-old child with short, stubby legs. Tears blurred her vision as she broke into a run, desperately trying to keep up. But before she could catch her mother, her foot caught on something, and she tumbled hard onto the ground.
A sharp pain shot through her palms. Ignoring her scraped hands, Ruby scrambled to look up, only to realize the woman had completely vanished from sight.
Her nose stung. Staring at her bleeding hands, she could no longer hold back her quiet whimpers.
In her past life, her parents hadn't wanted her. A fatal car crash had brought her to this strange world. Though she had a new mother here, the woman treated her horribly. She had grown up neglected, never experiencing a shred of maternal love. And now, all because of a Spiritual Power Level, her new mother had completely abandoned her too.
Why did no one want her? Why did no one love her? Should she never have been born at all? Was she truly that repulsive and unlovable?
Even drowning in grief and self-loathing, the tiny girl cried with practiced restraint. Unlike other children who would wail at the top of their lungs, Ruby merely squatted on the ground and hugged her knees. Tears fell like a broken string of pearls as she muffled her tiny sobs.
Her silent misery was far more heartbreaking than any loud wail.
"What's wrong?" a voice suddenly asked.