Seven years had passed since Favour was born into this new world. At first, everything felt strange. The setting was wrong. It felt like she had been born back in time, like she was living in the ancient days. It wasn't too ancient, though. It was definitely better than living in the caveman era with nothing but sticks and stones.
In this world, she was no longer Favour. Her name was Deva Sunshine.
Everyone just called her Deva. Luckily for her, she had been born into a high family. She was the village chief's middle child. In her mind, that meant there was absolutely nothing to work for. Why would she? She had already done enough work for ten lifetimes in her previous life.
And in this world, things were a bit different physically. Some females had features that usually belonged to males, and she was one of them. It was a huge surprise at first. She had stared at herself for a long time trying to make sense of it, but eventually, she just learned to live with it. It was just another part of this new, weird reality.
Deva, for the first time in her entire existence, never worked for a single day. While her other two siblings went out into the heat to assist their parents on the farm, Deva stayed at home. She did absolutely nothing. She lived like a princess in a palace made of comfort.
She barely even let her feet touch the ground. She was committed to her goal. Wherever she needed to go, she made people carry her. She made them bathe her and even feed her like she was a helpless doll. She really meant it when she said she would be the laziest person ever in her next life. She was sticking to her promise.
Even though she remembered everything about her past life, she knew she was meant to have forgotten it. That knowledge was her little secret. To everyone else, she was just the most spoiled, bratty child of the village chief. Her father never complained about it, though. He was a kind man who loved all his children equally, whether they worked the soil or just sat around looking pretty.
Today, Deva was sitting in a class with her two siblings. There was Kang, her older brother, who was four years older than her and always looked like he was carrying a grudge. Then there was Sera, her younger sister, who was only a year younger than her.
Their teacher, Guru Dev, was the one in charge of their education. They weren't in a stuffy building. Instead, they sat outside under the shade of a large apple tree.
"Goddess Kali created this world. We are the direct descendants of her. That is why we bow our heads to the ground every single day. we give our thanks for her bringing us to life."
Deva sat there and watched as he lectured them. It was the same boring stuff she had been hearing every single day since she was old enough to sit up. There was nothing new to learn. There was no math to solve, no English grammar to worry about, and no science experiments.
Nothing.
It was just the same old story about the goddess Kali who created them. He talked about how she was the reason for their power, a power that no one was allowed to question.
Not just that, they had something special here called Mojo. Everyone in the land had it inside them. Deva didn't know much about what happened in other lands far away, but she had seen the people in her village using their Mojo.
Some people could control water, making it dance in the air. Some could produce fire from their bare palms. Others created blasts of air and ice out of nowhere. There were even those who had super strength, super speed, or the ability to make objects and people float off the ground.
Mojo was powered by something called Mana. Without Mana, you were just a regular person. You could not use Mojo at all. It was like the fuel that powered a car. In this world, mana wasn't just something you were born with. It could be farmed.
When someone dies, their soul doesn't just vanish. It turns into mana and is distributed among everyone in the village. It didn't even have to be a human soul. It could be any form of life.
That was the reason why every single day, goats, hens, and rams were slaughtered. They did it right in front of the massive statue of Goddess Kali. They killed them so the mana could flow into the people. In three years' time, when she turned ten, Deva was scheduled to receive her own share of the farmed mana.
But honestly, that did not concern her. She didn't care about power or magic. All she wanted to do was nothing. This village didn't even do anything useful with their Mojo powers anyway. They used all that magic just to do farm work or move heavy rocks. To her, it seemed totally useless.
Sleep. Wake. Eat. Repeat. That had been Deva's daily routine, and she loved every second of it.
When Guru Dev finally finished his long-winded teachings, he packed up his things and left. Now, it was time for Deva to head back to the house and go back to sleep. She waited for her entourage to come and pick her up, but they were nowhere to be found.
Before she could even think about where they were, something moved fast. Kang suddenly tackled her. He pinned her roughly against the trunk of the apple tree.
"What is the meaning of this? Let go of me!" Deva shouted. She tried to squirm and break free from his grip, but it was no use. He was much bigger and stronger than her. Plus, he had already started consuming mana, which gave him an extra edge.
"You lazy brat," he snarled, his face inches from hers. "Always eating and resting while we work until our hands bleed. Maybe I should just kill you right now. I could farm some good mana from your soul."
Deva wasn't even surprised by the threat. She wasn't shocked at all. She had seen the look in his eyes for years. She knew he hated her. He hated that their father never forced her to do a single chore. He hated that she got to live the life he wanted.
Instead of begging, Deva just laughed. She laughed even though the bark of the tree was digging into her back and the grip on her arms was causing her pain.
This reaction made Kang even angrier. His face turned a dark shade of red and he tightened his grip until her bones felt like they might snap. He wasn't joking. He was actually going to kill his own sister right there under the tree.
But then, the wind blew just enough. An apple fell from the high branches of the tree and landed with a loud thud right on top of Kang's head.
He drifted away for a split second. He was distracted by the sudden hit and the pain, and his grip loosened just enough for Deva to move. He reached up to attend to his throbbing head, forgetting his hold on her.
Deva didn't waste a second. She didn't run. Instead, she reached down and picked up a stone from the ground. It was heavy and the edges were sharp enough to do real damage. She didn't hesitate. She went straight for his eyes with the jagged edge of the rock.
Kang let out a blood curdling scream of agony. He fell back, clutching his face as blood started to leak through his fingers. Sera, who had been watching the whole thing in silence, finally found her voice and started screaming too. She turned and ran as fast as she could to go call for help.
Deva stood over her brother, watching him writhe on the grass. She didn't feel bad. She didn't feel a single spark of guilt.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance," she said, her voice cold and steady. "But I can't be killed twice."
She turned her back on him, leaving Kang crying. For the first time in seven years, Deva didn't wait for someone to carry her. She didn't wait for her servants. This was the first time Deva had walked home on her own two feet.