“Joe! It is good to see you! I wished to congratulate you!” Kukurnal smiled a bit forcefully with a slightly pale face.

Joe jumped and looked to the voice before surprisingly finding Kukurnal, “Kukurnal! Hi! I didn’t expect to see you here so early!”

“Yes! As I said, I wished to congratulate you.”

“Oh. Why are you cong… well, wait. Do you want to join us for breakfast? We cannot have a long discussion, but we can enjoy breakfast.”

“Yes! That sounds wonderful.”

“Great. Let’s sit down for a meal,” Joe settled into a seat at a table with Kukurnal before continuing, “So, why are you congratulating me?”

Kukurnal began grinning, a smirk forming on his face, “I’m congratulating you on joining me in Mimir’s temple!”

Joe’s eyes flew up into his eyebrows. How did he know? Where did… Joe hid his surprise and smiled in reply, mind whirling, “I’m surprised that you have heard. I did not know that priests engaged in gossip. Is gossip acceptable amongst the people here?”

Kukurnal’s face actually flashed in surprise then with a hint of anger before replying, “I’m… uncertain…”

Joe quickly interrupted when he saw Kukurnal’s flash of anger, “I did not mean to offend, but I am surprised that I am the subject of discussion in the temples.”

Kukurnal’s face cleared as he heard Joe’s explanation, “Aah… yes, I see. I could see how you would see such a thing. But we do not…” Kukurnal quickly cut off, looking around quickly around the room before continuing, “… gossip. I did not find you through gossip with the priests and priestesses. This is something of hidden knowledge amongst the priesthood, but those who join the priesthood are shown to fellow priests.”

Joe’s eyes rose again at hearing this, “Shown? How?”

“We see an image of you.”

“Huh. A photo?”

“Photo?”

“Oh, um… well it is a device that holds an image similar to what you describe.”

“Ooh, interesting. How is this image…”

Joe interrupted quickly, “I’m OK answering your questions on this, but may I ask a few more questions about what you said?”

Kukurnal quickly nodded, waving his hand in permission. Joe nodded back and asked his next question.

“Who all sees this image? How does this work? Does this work with other … like for mages or swordsman or nobility? What else do you know or see from the image?”

Kukurnal grimaced at the questions before glancing around and leaning in a bit, “It is a secret of the priesthood, as I said, but each God has made such a gift and it is available to the priests. All the priests of Mimir will have seen you join our brotherhood with a simple image of yourself and nothing else of meaning. As for others, such as nobility, I cannot say, as if it is so, it is kept secret.”

Joe’s thought’s wrestled with the implications while asking a last question, “Just one more, if you are willing. Do you also see those who leave?”

Kukurnal considered, eyes looking at Joe closely, “No. Do you… why do you ask?”

Joe shook his head before continuing, “As you know, I am a scholar. I will explore as much as I am able. I wished to see and know the priests of Mimir myself, as well, but there are many I wish to learn and know as well. If I find the priesthood matches my scholarship and learning, then of course, I will stay and continue. But if I find I can no longer learn as a priest of Mimir, I will continue my pursuit of personal growth.”

Kukurnal seemed satisfied with that, leaning back and nodding his head with a sublime smile, “This seems appropriate. I could see nothing less from a follower of Mimir. Knowledge drives all, and you will easily find it amongst our kind.”

Joe grinned in return, revealing his own happiness while suppressing his relief at having deflected Kukurnal, “I hope your faith matches my hope!”

Kukurnal laughed brightly, nodding, then quickly understood that Joe had no more questions and immediately leapt into his own, now incredibly curious about Joe’s ‘photographs’ and how they functioned.

Joe, of course, found explaining photography difficult and was soon distracted into radiation and photosensitive materials as he tried to explain what photography was and how it functioned. He found himself almost overwhelmed when the discussion turned to digital photography and he could only struggle through, sighing in relief when the three apprentices and the meal arrived at the table almost at the same time. But the arrivals were only able to distract Kukurnal for a short while.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The conversation began again rather quickly, but Joe was able to end it almost as quickly when they finished their meal and Joe called everyone to head out to the dungeon. His nervousness betrayed him, and he was not able to sit calmly at the table with Kukurnal so chose escape using the dungeon as an excuse.

They offered their farewells and Kukurnal promised to return that evening to train him in the ways of Mimir. Joe hid his thoughts on that and could find no excuse to escape the evening. Kukurnal left them once again returned to quite good cheer, and Joe calmed to see him so happy, although now his worry was struggling to find what to do next. Should I change jobs then? If he needs me to use a skill, then… but what if… well, he shouldn’t expect me to level that fast, so … no… OK. I can change my job without worry, then. He said he wouldn’t see me change, so that would be… good? And he can’t see my level at all; they can’t read. And they can’t read my job name, so I should be fine just leveling up, right? Keep on going?

Joe’s heart calmed completely at finally coming to those realizations and he found himself turning his thoughts to preparing for the day and training the other three. They made the dungeon and the first floor quickly enough and Joe had the three set up to begin their morning combat in pairs. Joe took Garnedell first while setting up the two Acokzau for the first combat of the morning. Once the two were doing well enough, Joe went back to Garnedell for his own lesson.

“So, you spoke to me of … infusing? Yesterday? Can you show me or teach me now?”

Garnedell looked up at Joe in a bit of surprise before nodding his head excitedly, “Yes! I can do it!”

Joe smiled and turned his back to the wall and faced towards Kilniara and Zilnek to keep them in his view as much as possible. Beckoning Garnedell in front of him, Joe had him put his back to Zilnek and Kilniara as Garndell began teaching him.

“Infusion is simple, Joe. All you must do is put your mana into the weapon.”

Joe took a moment, his thoughts roiling but uncertain how to respond, “I can’t … I … um… I don’t know about mana or how to use it. My people do not have mana”

Garnedell froze a bit before looking at Joe in shock, eyes widening, “You don’t… cannot use mana?”

Joe shook his head before shrugging, “I don’t know. I have never done it before.”

Garnedell began panting slightly, agitation obvious in his manner, “You… no one…”

Garnedell froze then, unable to continue and Joe stepped forward before resting a hand on Garnedell’s shoulder, “You OK? What’s wrong?”

“Joe. You come… came from another plane, yes?”

Joe nodded. He’d already told Garnedell this had did not worry to tell him again although he was concerned with how he was reacting. The kid had proven more than trustworthy, “Yes?”

Garnedell then looked up at Joe, eyes drilling into his own with intensity, “Did your… plane… Was it with a Cradle?”

“With… a cradle? How do you mean? My solar system has four cradles, although two… what?”

When Joe mentioned four cradles, Garnedell suddenly gasped in shock, “Four?!”

“Uh, yeah?”

Garnedell’s panting increased even more, now with confusion painting his face before he shook his head and continued, “So your plane was in the Cradle?”

“I… I’m not sure I understand what you’re saying.”

“Did your plane move around a Cradle?”

“Oh! No. It orbited the sun, actually. The four cradles were furth…” Joe trailed off when he saw Garnedell flinch back from him, eyes wide in shock tinged with fear.

“Impossible… impos…”

Joe frowned, eyebrows dropping down to his nose, “No. What’s really impossible is life here, especially with how far away the freakin’ sun is. It should be much colder here. There shouldn’t be any life on this plan… moon.”

Garnedell shook his head several times in denial before taking a deep shuddering breath, fear obvious on his face as he took a step back and stared at Joe with terror. Joe saw this and paused, his eyes furrowing in thought as he tried to understand. After a bit, Garnedell seemed to take firm control of himself and made a rather significant decision, his eyes firming to hard agate as he stepped forward to press himself close to Joe, then whispered urgently, “Do not tell anyone you lived in Absence! Tell no one! Now I understand… this…” Garnedell shook his head again before returning his focus to Joe.

“Tell no one! Just… tell no one! Please be careful,” Garnedell urgently looked at Joe with pleading eyes.

Joe nodded, the seriousness of the situation obvious to him, “Yes, Garnedell. I will be careful. Thank you for looking out for me.”

Garnedell breathed a deep shuddering sigh of relief before continuing, “Then… I understand why you have no knowledge of mana. I may need to prepare you with simple exercises for children to prepare yourself. It is very difficult, especially here on this Cradle. There is little I can teach you, but that you must seek the mana and if successful, it will become imparted to you as a gift from the Cradle. Then, you must press your mana into the mana point gifted from the Cradle to make it yours. Once done so, you will have a point to hold and gather mana to use as and when you wish. Seeking mana is very difficult and all choose their own way to do so, although most seem to find some form of initial success with meditation. You cannot infuse mana now, as you have none to use.”

“Hmm… OK. Is there something you can show me now?”

“I am… I don’t know. I’m not a strong teacher. I can only show you what I have learned from my parents. What all parents teach their children.”

“Is that infusing?”

“Hmm… I can teach that as well, but you would need a mana point first.”

“But… you said I need to infuse my mana into the point. How can I infuse my mana into a point but I do not have mana until I have a point?”

Garnedell grinned at that, chuckling slightly, “All smart students ask this question,” Garnedell shook his head as he continued, “You have mana, but it is … meaningless without a point to imbue it. It is basically uncontrollable beyond just… spewing it out randomly in a semi controlled direction. This is enough to claim a mana point as your own, but it is not meaningful to create useful, powerful, or intricate mana creations.”

“Hmm. OK. Then how do I find this mana point?”

“Some say they have guaranteed ways of finding points, but most are likely… charlatans. I’m sure some great houses and clans have methods that greatly increase the chance of coming in contact with mana points, such as increasing mana density in a region, but we do not have that … benefit. You simply must press mana out of yourself until you gain a point by chance as it passes by you. After you have some points, it is possible to then use your points to capture more, using your mana points specifically instead of randomly shooting mana out hoping to capture a point.”

“Huh. Then… how do I push out mana?”

“That is… deeply personal. Everyone has their own method to do so.”

“It’s a form of will? Thought? Image?”

“It can be any of these, or all three.”

Joe grumbled, unhappy with the unhelpful explanation, hoping a demonstration might prove more useful, “Can you show me then?”

Garnedell shook his head, “No one can see mana. It is impossible”