I took my potential test today. I don’t think I did very good. My mommy looks like she wants to bite something, and my other mommy is being extra nice to me. My mommy is only extra nice when something bad happens like when Uncle Claw cooked my rabbit or when a plant bit my tail while I was playing with Big Sis Mirta. After the potential test, we went home. There wasn’t any time for classes. The test took all day! Tomorrow, I’ll find out who’s in my class.

Right now, I’m at home. There’s a lot of people here. They’re celebrating my birthday. I only know some of them, but all of them are my mommies’ friends. No, not all of them. Some of them are my grandpa’s and grandma’s friends too. Mommy said I should invite all my friends, but I only have one. Her name is Hong Ri, but I call her Ri. Her potential was much better than mine! Nine phoenixes appeared when she touched the testing thingy. I wish animals came out for me too.

Ri has the same birthday as me, but she has no family to celebrate with. There’s a lot of people like her. Auntie Ilya says they’re orphans. Dying is very common, and when people die, they leave children behind. I asked Ri what happened to her parents, but she doesn’t know. She said she grew up in the sect’s orphanage.

“Happy birthday, Sophia! I made you a present.” Ri came up to me and gave me a bracelet. It looked a little ugly. “Look.” Ri showed me her arm. There was a bracelet around her wrist, and it was as ugly as the one she was holding. “I made one for both of us. We can wear matching bracelets to show that we’re friends forever.”

“Thank you, Ri!” Even if it’s ugly, I still like it. “Happy birthday to you too! I also got you a present. I wanted to give it to you today at school, but there were too many people. I couldn’t find you until after it was over.” I drew it myself! “It’s a drawing of you and me beating people up. Self-defense class is a lot of fun with you.”

“Oh, it looks so pretty!” Ri said. “I’m going to hang it up in my room!” Then, Ri looked around. “Is it okay for me to be here? There’s a lot of people I don’t know.”

“That’s okay. I don’t know them either.” Auntie Ilya says they’re all here to flatter my mommy. I don’t know what flatter means, but I know what flatten means. If they want to flatten my mommy, she’ll squish them first with her hammer. I tried to pick up Mommy’s hammer once, but I couldn’t. It was too big! “Ri, do you know what weapon you want to use?”

“Yeah!” Ri nodded. “I’m so excited for tomorrow! I’m going to sign up for the fans class!”

Fans? “Like the things you wave to make cold air?”

“That’s right,” Ri said. She looked around. It was only us in my room. She leaned forward and whispered, “I have a secret. When I was left at the orphanage’s doorstep, there was a nametag left with me. That’s how I know my name.” She looked around again and leaned even closer. She was whispering right into my ear! “Today, the nametag glowed and entered my body. Inside of it, there was a secret technique! It’s called the Blazing Blood Phoenix Art.”

The Blazing Blood Phoenix Art? That sounds strong! “That’s great! Your parents must have left it for you!”

Ri nodded. “Remember, it’s a secret between us. I’m only telling you because you’re my best friend. You can’t tell anyone!”

“I have a secret too.” Auntie Ilya says I can’t tell anyone about it, but Ri is my best friend, and she’d never tell anyone else. “I also have a secret technique inside my body. It’s called the Divine Dream Scripture! My auntie gave it to me. Not even my mommies know about it. You can’t tell anyone.”

“I promise,” Ri said and held out her pinky. I wrapped mine around hers. “I’ll keep your secret forever.” Our fingers separated, and she went back to her cushion. “What about you? What weapon does your technique need?”

The Divine Dream Scripture doesn’t need any weapons. “I can pick whatever I want, but I’m not sure which to pick.”

Ri nodded. “What about a sword? Everyone likes swords.”

“I don’t like swords.” Mommy uses a giant hammer. My other mommy uses a whip. Mrs. Feathers doesn’t even use a weapon. Puppers uses a spear. “A sword doesn’t smash like a hammer. It isn’t as sneaky as a whip. It isn’t as long as a spear. They’re a little boring.”

Ri shrugged. “Swords are good because they can do a little bit of everything. Oh, I know! Why don’t you use a bow?”

“A bow?” I don’t know anyone who uses a bow. “What’s that?”

“It’s a weapon that can attack people from far away,” Ri said and grabbed a piece of paper. She drew a picture of a curved stick and string. “It looks like this. You put an arrow on the string, and the bow shoots the arrow.”

I think I’ve seen something like that in Auntie Ilya’s interspacial ring.

“Didn’t you say it was annoying how people ran away from you in self-defense class?” Ri smiled. “With this, you can shoot them if they run!”

“That’s perfect! I’m going to sign up for the bow class!” Wait. If I sign up for the bow class, I won’t be in the same class as Ri. “Will we still see each other at school?”

“Of course, silly,” Ri said. “The weapon classes are different, but we’ll still see each other in body training and foundation theory. We—”

“Sophia! It’s time to cut the cake! Where are you!?”

Oh, that’s Mommy! “C’mon, let’s go! My mommy made the cake, and she’s the best cook in the world!”