When I woke up, my mind was foggy as I looked around. I was laying on a surprisingly comfortable bed of moss. It was perched on a flattened-out log, raised a foot or so off the ground. There was a roof over my head of what looked to be…also a log. And the wall…same thing. Jeez. Somebody needs to hire an internal decorator. There does seem to be a door that led to another room of this 'house'.

Just then I heard a shout," Yes!" My head snapped toward the noise.

I jumped up from the bed, legs wobbling slightly. I stumbled to the door and leaned up against it, waiting for it's sole occupant to notice my presence.

He was mumbling to himself with something about spirit light transducers*. I certainly couldn't make sense of it. After a minute or so of watching him pace back and forth his head finally whipped up and he was surrounded by a glow until he abruptly lifted from the ground and vanished.

My eyes were blown wide open as I stared at the spot where I saw him vanish. I took a step into the room, looking around for any trace of the missing spirit.

I heard a sharp crack, like a small explosion from a firecracker. My head spun towards the disturbance only to see Atsu smiling at me.

"Hey kid, how'd you sleep?"

My jaw dropped in shock. "You're just going to act like that didn't just happen!? What the hell!?" Taking a few deep breaths, I Asked, "Where is Tatsu?"

Atsu let out a chuckle and replied, "She went out to get food. She thought you would be hungry after you woke up."

"Ok… but that doesn't explain what just happened, or where you went."

"Ahh." He said while rubbing his neck. "It's rather simple really. With my link to my torch, I can travel between where it is, and wherever I place this anchor." He picked up a stone disk of some sort from where he appeared.

It had markings around the edges that glowed as soon as he touched it. "It works kind of like the spirit wells, except they are a separate web of connections. It took a lot of testing, and reworking the required sequences, but I finally figured it out!"

"Ok… So, it's like a private server for a computer." I spoke.

"Yes! You get it. The others thought it to be impossible, but the wells were created somehow. I just borrowed a few of its inner workings."

"Ya know, Some people could call you a genius for figuring that out."

Atsu started to grin like a madman after hearing that. "Thanks. I appreciate it. Everyone other than Tatsu and Sein think that I'm crazy. With good reason too" he said referring to earlier. "By the way, how did you know or understand anything about what I said?"

"Memories from a past life. A life wiped from existence." I said morosely as I started to frown. I let out a huff, "Better to continue their legacy than to have their memory disappear like dust in the wind."

He frowned in confusion and started to walk over to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, "I'm sorry for your loss."

I smiled up at him. "Thanks"

Wiping away the tears that had formed, I questioned, "Hey where did Tatsu go?"

"She went to go get some food."

"Ah… could you show me how to do that?" I abruptly asked.

"Do what?" he replied. I motioned over to the tablet that he had set down on the floor. "Oh that. That is a little too complicated to start off with. Hmm… I know! Did she show you how to make a spark?" I nodded in confirmation. "Ok. Well, the next step is to mould that spark into something. I think she said that you were an out-lighter. So, try to do that outside. My first thing was a ball, so perhaps you could try that."

We sat down and I scrunched up my face in concentration. I felt around inside for that spark of energy that I had used before to generate that spark. There! It was easier to find than the first time. I willed it to move to my arms and then right to my fingertips. I could feel little bursts of energy jumping in between my hands.

"Yes!" I heard him say," Alright now concentrate the light."

I cupped my hands like I would to drink water. I poured the energy with all my will out of my fingertips. I felt something start to coalesce in my hands. I opened one of my eyes to see a half-formed ball in my hands, before it abruptly disappeared, and the lightning shot back through my hands and back to where the spark was before.

Strangely, I could feel that spark. Even without actively looking for it, I knew where to look for it.

"Good! That was good!" Atsu exclaimed.

"But…I didn't do it. It went away." I retorted," I didn't even get the full thing to form!"

"Everything takes practice, this is no different. You will get better at it as you practice." He smiled, as he stood up.

I stood up with him, "If you say so… I can feel the energy now. Without searching for it. Is that normal?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, that happens after you get a read on your internal energy. Your body gets used to manipulating it. After a while it becomes as simple as breathing. But that takes a while of constant practice. I like to see it as a muscle. To make it stronger, you use it. And also, like a muscle, you don't want to overwork it. It'll make you feel like shit for a few days. The first (and last) time that I did it was creating the vessel for my torch. I had a headache for a week before it went away."

"Wow."

"Oh, I forgot to mention, the wells don't do anything for this type of thing."

"Ok! I get it! No overdoing it."

"Good.", He clapped his hands as he moved over to inspect the stone circle again., "Tatsu should be back any minute now. If you want, I can show you how this thing actually works." He asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Sure" I said. Walking over to where Atsu stood examining the disk, I noticed him running his fingers over some tiny crevices along the edges. I eyed the ridges and noticed something peculiar," Is that… writing?"

"Of a sort. It is like a language that can be used by a mind way less complicated. Like a computer for example. Or a animal below a certain intelligence. In fact the Spirit Tree likes to use that to talk to us from a distance. He can remotely upload the language through the ground it's really quite fascinating…"

"Hey! Stay on topic."

"Right." He nodded to himself, "so, back to the language. It uses a series of channels inside this." He detached the middle of the circle with a wave of his hand. It floated upwards about five inches where he grabbed it and set it off to the side. He pointed to a rectangular stone that positively glowed with light. He put his palm against the device and it turned off.

There were miniscule carvings in the stone. Pathways carved intricately through it. It almost looked like a computer part, but instead of using wires and electricity it uses light.

"…"

"Cool, isn't it?"

"Did you make this yourself?" I said with disbelief.

"Not completely. Sein helped me concentrate my light enough to get the carvings small enough…"

"Atsu. You are one of the smartest people I have met. In either of my lives. You made a fucking computer. From scratch!"

"Well…thank you for one. And two it wasn't from scratch and I had help."

"Still" I cut him off," That was one of the best inventions that we had ever made! (And perhaps one of the worst.) Well done!"

"Did something happen?" There was a voice coming from the door.

I looked over and found that Tatsu was there with an armful of fruit. She was standing in the doorway with a confused and concerned expression on her face.

"Oh hey Atsu! Did you get some of those fruits by the Ginso Tree?" Atsu asked as he ran up to her," oh you did! Yes!" He took one from her pile and quickly bit into it. "Yeah, no problems, just the kid nerding out over my newest invention." He answered through a mouthful of food.

"What did you do this time?" she asked tiredly.

"Oh, I just finished that thing I had been working on. Ya know, the portable transport devices."

"Really? You got them to work?"

"Yeah! Well, mostly. They only work with these." He held up the disk and gestured over to where I was pacing back and forth" He thought it was neat. That's what was happening when you arrived."

She nodded in response. "Hey kid! Catch!" She said as she tossed a fruit at me.

I caught the fruit that came flying towards me and examined it before taking a bite. It was red on the outside and was shaped like a pear and no brown spots could be seen on it anywhere. Certainly different from the fruits that I was used to. I took a bite out of it and a burst of flavor not unlike a pear. It was more like a combination of pear and something else that I couldn't put my finger on.

"Wow. I can see why you like these Atsu." I said while chewing the delicious fruit. "It's really good!"

"I know right!" Atsu agreed, "Tatsu thinks that they are not as good as some of the other ones, but that is just wrong!"

Tatsu set the rest of the fruits that she had gotten in a stone basin and lifted a stone top and put it over the top. As soon as the lid touched, the lights around the rim of the basin lit up with the same light as the ones on the teleporter.

"I'm not wrong, the peaches from the mountain taste way better than these." Tatsu argued, "You just haven't had them freshly picked."

"Fine! Next time you go up there take the transport device with you and I'll judge them myself."

"If it will prove your ass wrong then I will. happily."

"I would like to taste them too" I butted in.

"Alright. Though the teleporter can only transport one at a time. We'll have to go one at a time." Said Atsu.

"Alright next time I go out there I'll take your transporter with, and I'll prove you wrong Atsu"

He smirked, "Sure you will."

We were wandering through the busy markets beneath the tree. According to Tatsu it was one of the only places where it was safe for the few sentient creatures to trade whatever things that they had picked up on their journey through life. There were a few of the Gumon here. Those long-armed crafters. They were quite spider-like in their physique with only four limbs instead of the eight of traditional. There were spines that grew on the back of their heads/bodies. They come down from their fortress in the mountains every summer to sell their various magical artifacts.

Then there were a few of the Oowa. They are of a gentle race of herbivores that populate the marshes and the fertile valley. They towered over the spirits that were intermingled throughout the crowds. They were the biggest of the creatures here. They had big bellies and some of them had horns growing atop their moon-like faces. They were selling various crops that they had farmed over the last few months.

I'm pretty sure I saw a few bird-like people, travelers according to Tatsu. They traveled through the lands between the separate spirit trees. Apparently, there wasn't much of anything there. Just fields and forests of stone and decay, with the occasional pit of what they call death water. Weird.

All these creatures mingling and living together in harmony. It is truly a sight to behold. Something that humanity as a whole had been fighting to have for as far back as I could remember.

I smiled slightly to myself while continuing to wander through the trading area. It reminded me of the old farmers market that was just out of town. Brings back good memories.

"Ok let me try this one more time."

"Alright, just don't strain yourself. Remember what happened when I did." Atsu reminded me.

"Yeah yeah."

I held my hands out in front of me as I envisioned what I wanted in my hands. Pulling on that spark inside of me kept getting easier and easier as I kept practicing. White bolts of my energy arcing around my forearms as they would around a tesla coil. I pushed it out through my hands and shaped it with my mind. I needed a weapon, and I knew just what I wanted.

First, I envisioned the blade. Sharp enough to pierce flesh, yet thick enough to not break on impact. Almost the size of my body, it measured in at about one and a half meters tall in total from the tip of the blade to the end of the tang**. The energy shooting up into the air as my mind conjured the image. The blade hovering between my two hands, held up with only the arcs of energy connecting me with the construct. Once the light reached its apex and the blade stopped looking like a beam of lightning, and more like a solid beam of light and energy.

Next was the hilt. A simple T. Made from the same stuff as the blade but thick and strong. Able to take a hit and never bend or break. Unlike the blade, which is flexible, the guard is not. The energy again came to my beckoning as my mind willed it so. The energy once again fizzled and popped around the base of the blade. Eventually it formed into a solid object and was flash welded to the blade. At this point I could feel a aching empty feeling growing from where my energy was stored. I could feel that I was running out of energy. I soldiered on regardless, determined to create.

Lastly was the hilt and pommel. My fur getting matted as my concentration transitioned onto the final part. Many layers of wrappings covered the tang. Wrappings which were made of pure energy. A dull headache forming. Around and around they went, until it was completed. With the orb of energy popping on the end the weapon was complete. A replica of an age long past. A longsword.

Or… at least it was supposed be. Opening my eyes which I hadn't realized I'd closed. Right now it looked like a droopy stick that got infused with lightning. It only held its form for a second and then vanished and flowed back into me.

I fell backward as the mental and physical pain washed over me. A pounding headache roaring inside of my head like a jet engine. The exhaustion came right after that. Atsu leaned over me with a pitying expression, and I could hear him faintly say, "Damn, too much. Well kid, I'm going to get some ice for the fever." His eyes darted back and forth. "If you can manage to sleep, do it. It helps reduce the pain for a short while."

He walked out of my vision as I closed my eyelids and trying to do as he recommended and try to sleep it off. Dreading the pain that is yet to come I slipped into an uncomfortable slumber.