They returned to the kitchen, and Sarah resumed her instruction, guiding Kaelen through the complex energy manipulations required. The work was intricate, requiring precise control and deep understanding of how matter could exist in multiple states simultaneously.

Thirty minutes later, Elias and Aria returned from their tour, both looking satisfied with their conversation.

"The cultivation chambers are incredible!" Aria announced. "Father, the temporal acceleration arrays go up to fifty-to-one! I could cultivate for fifty hours in just one real hour!"

"Correct assessment," Elias confirmed. "The chambers also have adjustable energy density, dimensional stability controls, and safety failsafes to prevent cultivation deviation."

"Sarah's arrays are very well constructed," Aria said generously. "Almost as good as yours, Father."

"Actually, I designed them," Elias admitted. "Sarah asked me to upgrade her defenses last year."

"Oh. Then they're exactly as good as yours. Obviously." Aria grinned. "Is breakfast ready? I'm starving."

"Just finishing," Kaelen said, using a technique to plate the food with artistic precision. "Everyone sit. We have something we want to discuss."

They gathered around the table, and Sarah served the dimensional resonance pastries. Each one appeared different to its consumer—to Elias, it looked like experimental protein bars from his space station; to Aria, like her favorite childhood treats; to Kaelen, like something from her grandmother's kitchen.

"This is amazing," Aria said through a mouthful. "Sarah, you have to teach me this! Please?"

"I will," Sarah promised. "Actually, that relates to what your mother and I want to discuss. Aria, how would you feel about attending a cultivation academy?"

Aria stopped mid-bite, looking confused. "An academy? But I learn from you and Father. Why would I need an academy?"

Kaelen and Sarah exchanged glances, and Kaelen took over the explanation. "Not for cultivation instruction—you're already beyond what most academies could teach at your level. But for socialization, experiences, relationships with peers your own age."

"I have friends," Aria protested. "I have Lian Silverwind—we spar sometimes through dimensional communication arrays."

"One rival you've met twice in inter-realm tournaments isn't quite the same as real friendships," Kaelen said gently. "Sweetheart, you've been homeschooled your entire life. You're brilliant and talented and we're proud of you. But you've never had normal social experiences. Never formed friendships with people your own age who understand cultivation struggles. Never collaborated on projects with peers."

"You think I'm socially stunted," Aria said flatly.

"No! We think you're perfect. But..." Kaelen struggled for words. "You're going to live for millions of years, potentially forever. Don't you want to build connections now, when you're young? Have friends who grow alongside you? Experience things beyond just family training?"

Aria set down her pastry, considering this seriously. Her emotional maturity—result of over a century of life—showed through. "You're worried I'll end up like the isolated cultivators we read about. The ones who become so powerful they forget how to relate to people."

"That's part of it," Kaelen admitted.

Aria turned to Elias. "Father, what do you think?"

Elias had been silent during this exchange, processing the proposal analytically. "From a cultivation efficiency standpoint, academy attendance is suboptimal—you could advance faster with private instruction. However, from a long-term development standpoint, social integration and peer interaction provide benefits that can't be quantified but are nonetheless significant."

"That's not an answer, Father. That's analysis."

"You're correct. My answer is: I think you should decide. This is your life, your cultivation path. If you want to continue training with family, we support that. If you want to try an academy, we support that too. There's no objectively correct choice."

"But if you had to choose?" Aria pressed.

Elias was quiet for a moment. "I would choose the academy. Not because our instruction is inadequate, but because I've observed—through eighty-five thousand years of Sarah's experiences and my own year here—that the most successful cultivators in the Infinity Realm are those who maintain social connections. Power alone isn't enough. You need allies, friends, people who understand you. An academy provides structured environment for building those connections."

Aria looked at Sarah. "Tell me about this academy you're suggesting."

Sarah launched into the explanation, covering everything she'd told Kaelen—the history, the structure, the competitive merit-based system, the exceptional teaching staff, the success rate, the dangers, the opportunities.

Aria listened with focused attention, asking occasional clarifying questions, her mind clearly working through implications.

Finally, she sat back. "It sounds... exciting, actually. Challenging. A chance to test myself against other prodigies, not just in combat but in everything. Research, cultivation speed, technique development." She looked at her family. "You're sure you're not just trying to get rid of me?"

"Never," Kaelen said firmly. "But you'll be living at the academy—students stay there for duration of their enrollment. We'll be able to visit, and you can come home for breaks, but it's not a day school. You'd be living independently."

"I'm over a century old, Mother. I think I can handle living independently."

"I know. I'm just..." Kaelen's voice wavered slightly. "You're my baby. Even if that baby is a century-old cultivation prodigy."

Aria got up and hugged her mother tightly. "I'll always be your daughter. Living at an academy doesn't change that."

"So you want to attend?" Elias asked, seeking confirmation.

"I think I do," Aria said, returning to her seat. "It sounds like exactly the kind of challenge I need. And honestly..." She smiled sheepishly. "It would be nice to have friends my own age who understand what it's like to be young and powerful. People who don't treat me like a child because I'm 'only' a century old, or like a threat because I'm stronger than them."

"Then it's decided," Sarah said. "And you're in luck—the academy's recruitment trials are tomorrow. They happen once per decade, and the timing couldn't be more perfect."

"Tomorrow?" Aria's eyes lit up with excitement and nervousness. "That's fast. What are the trials like?"

"Three stages: comprehension test, combat evaluation, and character assessment. They're designed to identify not just power, but potential, creativity, and temperament. I can explain the specifics as we travel—the academy is located in the Eternal Ascension Dimension, which requires spatial teleportation to reach."

"You'll take us there?" Kaelen asked.

"Of course. As a guest teacher, I have standing access. I can bring you all as my guests." Sarah smiled. "We should leave this afternoon—gives us time to tour the academy grounds, meet some of the faculty, let Aria get a feel for the place before the trials tomorrow."

"That's extremely soon," Elias observed. "Are you certain you're ready for this, Aria?"

"Father, I was born ready." Aria grinned with youthful confidence. "When have I ever backed down from a challenge?"

"Accurate historical assessment," Elias conceded. "Very well. We depart this afternoon."

They spent the next few hours preparing. Sarah provided Aria with information crystals about the academy—its history, rules, notable alumni, current top students. Aria absorbed it all with characteristic speed, her mind filing away relevant details.

Kaelen packed a storage ring with things Aria might need—though at their cultivation level, material possessions were largely optional. Still, some emotional comfort items made the cut: a cultivation manual Elias had written specifically for her, a memory crystal containing family moments, and Lumie.

"Wait, Lumie can't come," Aria said, holding the crystalline spirit beast. "Academy rules probably don't allow pets."

"Actually, they do," Sarah corrected. "Spirit beasts that have achieved Reality Stage or higher are considered companions rather than pets, and are permitted. Lumie qualifies."

Lumie chirped smugly, as if she'd known this all along.

By early afternoon, they were ready. Sarah led them to a specific chamber in her mansion—a teleportation room designed for long-distance spatial transit. The arrays carved into every surface glowed with barely contained power.

"The Eternal Ascension Dimension exists outside normal space," Sarah explained as she activated the formations. "It's anchored to the Infinity Realm but separate, accessible only through authorized portals. This will feel different from normal teleportation—we'll be crossing dimensional boundaries, not just space."

"I've crossed dimensional boundaries before," Elias noted. "When we ascended."

"True, but that was one-way transit. This is a round-trip portal through dimensional membranes that actively resist passage. It requires Sovereign-level power to force through." Sarah's aura blazed, her 91% Stage 4 Dimensional Infinity comprehension asserting itself on reality. The arrays responded, channeling her power into a stable gateway.

Space tore open. Not metaphorically—actually tore, revealing a swirling vortex of dimensional energies that hurt to look at directly.

"Everyone stay close to me," Sarah instructed. "My power will shield you from the worst of the dimensional pressure."

They formed a tight group, Lumie tucked safely in Aria's arms, and stepped through together.

The sensation was violent—existence itself seemed to resist their passage, dimensional barriers pushing back against Sarah's forced entry. Colors that shouldn't exist flashed through the void. Sounds that predated language echoed around them. For a moment, they existed nowhere, suspended between dimensions.

Then they emerged.

The Eternal Ascension Dimension materialized around them, and Aria gasped audibly.

They stood on a floating platform overlooking a valley that defied normal physics. The academy spread below them—not just buildings, but an entire miniature world. Massive structures the size of solar systems that existed in multiple architectural styles simultaneously. Training fields where students sparred, their techniques creating localized reality distortions. Gardens that grew impossible plants. Libraries that seemed to contain infinite shelves.

But that wasn't what made Aria gasp.

It was the students.

Thousands of them, scattered across the academy grounds, and every single one radiated power that would have made them legends in the multiverse. She could sense their auras—Initiates, yes, but Initiates who'd comprehended 15%, 18%, even 20% Infinity Law. Adepts who were approaching Master level. All of them young, by realm standards. All of them exceptional.

"This is the Epochal Ascendance Academy," Sarah said proudly. "Home to the Infinity Realm's most talented youth. And if you pass tomorrow's trials, it will be your home too."

Aria stared at the academy grounds, at the impossible architecture, at the powerful students who were her peers, at the opportunity spreading before her like an unfolding map.

"Tell me everything," she said, her voice filled with excitement and determination. "I want to know every detail about this place. Because I'm going to pass those trials, and I'm going to become the best student this academy has ever seen."

Sarah smiled. "Ambitious. I like it. Come on then—let's give you the full tour. And I'll introduce you to some of the faculty. They're going to love you."

They descended from the platform toward the academy proper, Aria's questions already flowing in a constant stream, Lumie chirping her own excitement, Kaelen and Elias following behind with expressions mixing pride and apprehension.

Their daughter was about to enter a new world. About to forge her own path, separate from family, building her own legend.

It was exactly what they'd wanted for her.

So why did it feel so bittersweet?

But they pushed those feelings aside and followed Sarah down toward the academy, ready to see what the Epochal Ascendance Academy had to offer their remarkable daughter.

Tomorrow, Aria would face the trials.

Tomorrow, she would prove herself to the realm's best institution.

Tomorrow, everything would change.

But today, they walked together as a family, exploring this new possibility, supporting each other as they always had.

And that was enough.

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