Are birthdays really that important? I don’t remember having any birthdays while growing up. Mm, I didn’t have a lot of things while growing up, and birthdays were one of them! Apparently, six years old is a very big deal in the Immortal Continent. That’s when cultivation begins! Softie was moving around the house all night; I had such a hard time sleeping because of her. What was she even doing?

“Good morning, Mommy.”

“Sophia!” Sophia always wakes up so early. I wonder who she gets it from? Probably Softie. Softie hardly sleeps at all unless I drag her to bed. Ah, I’m feeling a little down now. Sophia used to want to sleep with me all the time, but then I almost suffocated her with my tail in my sleep once, and she’s never slept in the same bed as me again. I even promised her it wouldn’t happen again, but she didn’t believe me! Can you believe that? Just one little near-death experience was enough to scare her away. How’s she going to grow up to be amazing and stuff if she’s scared of dying? Eh? I’m scared of dying too? Mm, well, yeah, but I’m special. Ahem, anyways. “Happy birthday! Here’s a present for you.”

That’s right. Birthdays involve presents, and I got Sophia the bestest present ever! Eh? Where’d I put it? Here it is!

Sophia tilted her head and stared at the present in her hand. “What is it? Can I eat it?”

“It’s a spirit seed! If you put it in a weapon, you’ll have your very own Durandal or Puppers!” Yup! Getting Durandal was the best thing to ever happen to me. I’ll let Sophia experience the joy of owning a weapon spirit too! “But, um, you can eat it too, I guess. Let me test first.” I’m not sure how it’ll taste…. Well, it’s a good thing I have a few spare seeds!

Chomp.

“Blech. Never mind. Don’t eat it.” Ugh, that tasted disgusting. Eh? Did I just murder a spirit? Nope. Eating a spirit seed is like eating an egg, and if eating an egg is murder, then call me a murderer! But it isn’t, so don’t call me a murderer because I’m not.

“Thank you, Mommy.” Sophia put away the spirit seed. I’m glad she likes it! Actually, I wanted to give her so many more things, but Softie said we shouldn’t spoil her. What’s wrong with spoiling my child, huh? Hmph. I’m listening to Softie this one time because she promised to find me ten new and delicious things I haven’t cooked with yet. Did I mention cooking is fun? I think I have. It’s really fun! There are so many things in this world just waiting to be eaten.

“Alright, Sophia, come along now. You don’t want to be late for school, do you? Today’s a very important day.” Mm? Softie looks like she hasn’t slept in a long time, like way more than just one night. Her eyes have bags underneath them, and her hair is a bit frizzy. What’s going on? “Lucia, are you coming too? Today’s the day everyone in Sophia’s grade gets their potential checked.”

“Eh? They check potentials on her birthday?” Such a coincidence? This potential thing, I think it’s a bunch of nonsense, but everyone here takes it really seriously for some reason. …I can’t even remember what potential is anymore after Softie explained it to me once. Why would I remember something so worthless?

“Sister Ilya’s the principal,” Softie said and took Sophia’s hand. No fair! I wanted to carry Sophia on my back. “She decided to sync the curriculum with Sophia’s birthday. Everyone who’s turned six or is going to turn six this year is taking the potential test along with Sophia.”

Ah? Ilya’s that nice? Of course. She loves Sophia. No one can resist her awesomeness! “Great! I’m coming too.” Even though potentials are a bunch of nonsense, I want to see Sophia’s potential! If everyone else thinks it’s important, then I want to see their faces when Sophia’s potential is better than everyone else’s. Mm? What if it isn’t better? Oh, that’s simple. It’s a bunch of nonsense anyway, so why does it matter?

Alright, let’s teleport over to the school. I might be rich and the ruler of this place, but that doesn’t mean I can freely waste resources! Besides, teleporting is faster. It’s not like I just want to hug Softie and Sophia to teleport them or anything. And … we’re here! “Ah? It’s empty?”

“Sophia’s classmates were meeting at the square, not in their classroom today.”

Oh. Well, that’s just one teleport away too. And … we’re here! Again. “Wow. It’s super crowded!” How many people are there? I thought there wouldn’t be that many, but there practically isn’t enough space for everyone! There’s so many people standing in the square, and there’s even more people standing in the sky! “I thought there were rules against flying?”

“It’s probably an exception,” Softie said. “It seems like entire families have shown up to witness their younger generations’ potential tests. It’s strange though; they should have their own testing devices within their family. Why would they all show up here?”

Eh? “Do we have a testing device too? How come we didn’t test Sophia before coming here?”

“You woke up late, Mommy,” Sophia said and broke free from my hug. “We were waiting for you, but you never woke up.” Oops. Sophia pointed at the center of the square. “My teacher is over there. I’m going now.”

Even though the place is super crowded, the people are standing in such a way that there are paths to the different classes. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen so many people gathered like this. Eh? All of them are closing their eyes. It’s probably from the light coming from the door in the sky that always follows me around. Oh! This is the perfect opportunity! “Selling light-blocking lens thingies! Super-duper cheap! Get your light-blocking lens thingies and watch the potential thingy without a problem!”