Ichiro wasn’t dead. He felt a little ill. Very tired. There was sunlight from a window and birds chirping. Opening his eyes took an effort. When he saw the Keeper sitting there watching over him he closed his eyes again.

  “You’re finally awake.”

  It was early morning, but he had been unconscious for a day and a half. Ichiro was vaguely aware of this passage of time. Whatever had been taken from him was returning, but slowly.

  He was in a small bed in a small room. A monk’s cell. They must have found him, put him here. And they were worried about him. He should probably feel grateful for the attention. What he really felt was annoyed, and also now, a headache. He inwardly weighed the odds of being able to fall back asleep. It seemed unlikely.

  “Do you have any water?”

  The priest, Haalox called in a low ranking novice from the corridor and had him bring some. Ichiro sat up even though he didn’t feel like a conversation. The old man was sitting in a chair and didn’t appear to be going anywhere.

  “Your things are there. I see now you’re not a simple transient.”

  Ichiro’s book and gold coin were sitting in an alcove set into the wall by the bed. He retrieved them, putting the coin into his pocket and holding the book to his chest.

  “I couldn’t read the book, although I suppose a translation spell would do. You are not from our fair kingdom of petals.”

  Ichiro was relieved that the privacy of the book was maintained, but also annoyed again that the man had looked through his pockets.

  “I thought I was going to die.”

  “An unpleasant experience.”

  The priest appeared empathetic, even contrite, but he didn’t actually apologize for what had happened. Ichiro felt like a captive being interrogated even though no one had told him he couldn’t leave, and the gentle Keeper hadn’t yet asked any questions.

  “What happened is uncommon, you are not an ordinary child. I hope you don’t mind my taking an interest in you personally?”

  “Umm, kinda, yeah. And I’m nineteen. But, thankyou for feeding me, and the bed. I guess.”

  Ichiro gathered himself. He hoped his condition would improve with some water. And that he would be allowed to leave. He looked uncomfortably around the room, which was very small. It was meant for sleeping and reading and praying and had only the bed, a tiny desk and chair, and the shelf alcove.

  “Wait. What. Is that?”

  There was one more thing in the room that Ichiro was now staring at. It was a mirror, but not a normal one. He was reflected in it’s surface, a perfect three dimensional picture of himself, but it wasn’t a current image since the mirror version of him was asleep. It was creepy and unnerving.

  “It is an artifact! Normally I wouldn’t use it on someone without their permission… but I have a feeling you aren’t too worried about things, well, like privacy.”

  “Ohhhhkay. But why am I inside it like that?”

  “Because I was curious! At an observance we all give a little energy to The Tree, and it gives it back to us all by helping us in other ways. But why were you treated differently? Well, I had a hunch. This mirror is an attribute measuring artifact, you see, and it measures sixty different attributes. Sixty! Did you know there were that many?”

  “Attributes? Like, Strength and Intelligence?”

  “Yes, yes, of course. This corundum here measures something we call ‘Pondus’. It is a attribute. It measures your ability to, sort of, get the attention of the gods. It’s complicated, but, see how bright it is?”

  The mirror was a free standing piece of furniture, full length, maybe six and a half feet tall. It had a gaudy frame covered in gold leaf and gemstones. Ichiro was looking at the large gemstones on it’s circumference now. They seemed to all be glowing and glittering subtly, most not very brightly.

  “Sixty? What are they all?”

  “Well, it’s a very old artifact, recovered in the foundational wars. Some of them are still a bit of a mystery to us, and some of the gems are broken. But it’s still a very comprehensive appraisal device. Here, looking at this little garnet I can see that you have enhanced your Vigor. An interesting choice for someone your age! I don’t mean that as a criticism, us old people probably value it too much, and young people not enough.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  “Ahhhh, but look how strong your Pondus is! That’s the real interesting thing, the reason I wanted to have a look. You have real potential as a priest. A potential I would like to nurture, if you would like to stay here with us.”

  This news was interesting to Ichiro. It made sense and explained things that had happened. He supposed it even might be an excuse for being taken advantage of by this Tree god. It didn’t make him any more happy about it though, if anything it was a good reason to stay away so it didn’t happen again.

  “No. I can’t do that. I should go.”

  Ichiro tried to stand up, but he was still very weak, and had to slump back down when he became lightheaded for a moment.

  “You stay.”

  “No. Where I come from we don’t worship trees.”

  Ichiro didn’t even try to sound polite and the Shrine Keeper was rightfully offended by this rudeness. He glanced at the book, Ichiro’s only possession. He didn’t seem to recognize the design on it’s cover, but it was distasteful to him anyway.

  “Our hospitality at least, is yours for now. Since you are far from home, I think.”

  “Very, very far.”

  Ichiro was tempted to take advantage of the Priest’s offer, at least for a few days. He really didn’t know where else to go and the idea of finding his own way out in the city was intimidating. But, he still had his pride, and wanted to be done begging or taking charity.

  He sat on the bed, trying to gather his strength and avoided looking at Haalox. Maybe he should ask for a guide, Ichiro thought. Directions, at least, to somewhere else he could stay like an inn. It was an awkward silence. The Keeper didn’t know what he was thinking but hoped maybe he was changing his mind.

  “If you would like to pray to The Tree, your prayers will be accepted. Benevolent gods do not hold… prior affiliations against you. The Tree protects and provides and is a comfort to all who rest in it’s shadow. If you leave, remember it. You may pray from anywhere. Distance means nothing.”

  Ichiro shivers. He doesn’t like the sales pitch. In his experience The Tree was the opposite of comforting. Ichiro then to his turn to glance at the book. KORG wasn’t exactly comforting either, and didn’t even advertise himself as benevolent. Ichiro didn’t want to argue about gods, especially since he didn’t know anything, at all, really.

  “Distance does mean something. There must be some limitation.”

  Ichiro was now thinking more about home than his religious options. How far exactly was Earth? How were his parents? Were they having a funeral for him? Could he go back?

  “Limitations? Are you ignorant of the world, gods, and the three planes of existence?” The priest chuckles to himself, happy for a chance to talk about theology perhaps. “The Infinite Plain upon which we live, vast beyond all understanding, is still somehow inferior and lesser to the Celestial and Infernal planes— which are infinite!

  “Imagine that the entirety of existence is a leaf. One side of the leaf is Celestial, the bottom side Infernal, and where then is the Infinite Plain? No, It’s not the middle— it’s the edge of the leaf!”

  Ichiro just nods. Haalox had pulled an actual leaf from somewhere and was shakily holding it as a prop.

  “Look how jagged the edge of the leaf is. It goes in and out, in and out, in and out. There are big jaggies, and little jaggies, but there are even smaller zigzags that you can’t see without looking more closely. No matter how close you look at this leaf you will see ever smaller and smaller jagged edges. And if you were to trace the edge of the leaf at the tiniest of scales, the line would be infinitely long! So, the circumfrence of the leaf is infinite! But! The edge of the leaf is still lesser than the actual leaf— which is NOT infinite, I can measure it’s area easily.”

  “Okay.”

  Ichiro agrees. He hadn’t been paying perfect attention, but it was a mildly interesting concept. He’s not sure the edge of the leaf is truly infinite; there has to be a point which you can’t zoom in any more. Anything smaller than an atom is irrelevant anyway, right?

  “Ah, and of course the point of my lecture there, was that The Tree, through it’s Celestial nature, is not limited by any distance. Even though we are thousands of miles from it’s branches, you made a powerful connection last night by accident, without even trying!”

  Thousands of miles? That meant the tree in the courtyard was not ‘The Tree’. Did that make a difference to Ichiro? No, it didn’t. Clearly there were things he should learn.

  “Sorry. I just haven’t heard of The Tree before, so I’m sorry for being rude. Do you think it could send me back to my World? It’s a lot farther than thousands of miles.”

  “There’s only one World. That’s why it’s called World.”

  “I’m from Earth, another planet.”

  “Pla-net? What continent are you from? It’s not possible that you’re from another Realm.”

  “Why isn’t it possible?”

  “No one can traverse the mysts between.”

  “I didn’t do it. A god did.”

  Ichiro thought that he had won the argument, but this statement only made the priest angry.

  “Insolence! Don’t think you can play games with words just because you are a special child! Yes, gods can traverse the mysts, but I know that you didn’t! Your message book has maps of The Realm, but none of Pla-net? Do you think I’m a fool, or someone to toy with?”

  Ichiro pointed to the first page where it said . “Use a translation spell on this.”

  “No. This language? Is it a Tekuani cipher?”

  “It’s English.”

  “Nevermind, of course it’s Inglys, you’re too stupid to be a spy.”

  The two of them were not getting along, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. The Shrine Keeper was by nature compassionate and good hearted, and Ichiro was simply too tired to argue indefinitely. Before long he gave up trying to convince the old man about planets and the priest gave up on converting him to his religion.

  When some novices brought Ichiro a large breakfast the old man left him to eat in peace. It was much better food than the porridge he’d been served before. It was eels and potatoes, some sliced up fruits, and a bowl full of some weird mead-like drink. He ate it all slowly, savoring or trying to come to terms with the new flavors.

  One of the monks who served him, about Ichiro’s age, did apologize for the whole ‘incident’ at the ritual, but it didn’t seem sincere. Haalox had never apologized at all, but if he had he would have meant it. And while the Keeper was not necessarily a big fan of Ichiro’s he had shown him respect. The other monks were rude and unfriendly.

  Ichiro knew again, he couldn’t stay with them.