I soon turned 5 and had to participate in the festival of life that occurs at the end of every year. Five is an important age in this world's culture. It represents when someone 'graduates' from being a baby to a child.

It is a festival that celebrates when a person's 'will' is fully formed. The 'will' is what allows us to have a consciousness and to feel emotions.

It is also one of the two parts that make up our soul. The first part is the 'force' of the soul. This is mana, while the will allows us to give direction to the mana.

When a baby is born, their soul isn't fully formed and their will is very weak, meaning they only act upon their instincts and nothing else. Over time, the will becomes stronger allowing for more coherent thoughts and actions.

Most babies have a fully formed will by the age of 3 or 4, but the extra year is given to those who take a little longer. It is rare for someone to not have a fully formed will by the age of 5.

Since I reincarnated 8 months after the baby's birth, I possessed a fully formed will at 8 months old. I think a broke a world record.

The location of the event is in the town centre. My parents live on the outskirts of town so I have never actually been inside, and the only people I have talked to other than my parents are the people who work for my father on the farm.

***

Walking down a street leading to the central square, I could see many colourful banners being hung up around. They crisscrossed between the buildings and I could see people on the balconies.

The town wasn't very big and only had a population of a couple thousand, yet the streets were busy because of the festival.

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The roads were made out of a substance similar to tar used in modern roads and were neatly paved.

The houses were made out of concrete and lined up right next to each other. The houses looked semi-modern, not the cobblestone houses you would expect in a medieval setting nor the ones you would expect on Earth.

The colour of the houses varied from white to grey with different patterns carved into them. They were unlike any houses I had ever seen in America and they had their own distinct charm. The roofs were flat and you could see clothing being hung up on racks.

As we closer to the town square I could see different permanent shops along with temporary stalls being set up. The centre of the town seemed to be where the businesses were concentrated and the closer to the centre, the bigger the store.

"What kind of rip off this, this is only worth 15 Sonas."

"Good sir, this is high-quality equipment. The lowest I can is 25 Sonas before I go into the negative."

"High quality my ass, 18 Sonas or I am leaving."

Similar conversations were occurring all around, people haggling to obtain the best deal. It reminds me of the open markets I saw when travelling overseas.

The currency Midori uses is called Sona and its symbol is (S). Midori uses a paper currency system, but each bill is enchanted with a specific mana signature.

It is obvious to recognize just by touching it and to replicate the signature enough to fool the average person would require at least an A rank enchanter. However, enchanters, especially A rank ones and above usually have enough money to last multiple lifetimes. Also, most don't want their license revoked, so counterfeit currency rarely appears on the market.

We arrive at the central square. It is a massive 200m by 200m area with a fountain located at the centre. A temporary platform is set up around the fountain on which we have to perform.

I could other children my age along with their parents.

'Everyone is nervous, some are on the verge of tears.'

I was probably the most confident one here.

The ritual itself was extremely simple - we had to learn and perform a choreographed dance called Vita to a tune, then inject some mana into a special card and throw it up into the air.

I stood up on the platform along with around 80 other children who turned 5 this year.

I can't remember how many hours my parents spent drilling the dance into me to ensure I don't make a mistake.

I could see others shuffling while we all waited for the music to begin.