Chapter #7

The black gemstone hung from it's string into a bowl of water. Nergal waited anxiously for a few moments, then groaned.

This was his twentieth attempt at getting the stone to do something. To do anything! He'd tried common phrases, powdered bone, dipping it in various liquids and sacrificing a chicken but none of it worked. Maybe it was because chickens in the Other Side were covered in scales and had a tail, so it was considered an invalid sacrifice.

He didn't think that was the reason, though.

Instead he'd begun to wonder if the voice he'd heard was an illusion and the innkeeper's tales of fairy stones a prank.

The 'chicken' had been donated to Ding Wei to fix his dinner which now sat, cold, at his desk.

He glared at the offending stone. "... Why won't you just work already?"

There was no reply.

Placing the stone under his shirt- after wiping it off on his bedsheets- Nergal rubbed his eyes. "A bit of rest would do me good. And I'm starving."

He eyed the now cold chicken and indeterminable root vegetable that sat on his plate. "... Would Wei mind warming it for me?"

But warming something in the Other Side was no easy business. Even if they could have brought it with them microwaves didn't work here. Most technology didn't, apparently.

Something to do with 'different physical properties' and 'laws of nature' in this dimension. He wasn't terribly interested in finding the answer.

And, apparently, there weren't really all that many answers anyway. Humans hadn't completely figured out earth science just yet, figuring out other dimension science wasn't the greatest priority. Much to the consternation of their local cultivation scientist.

Digging into his cold dinner with reluctance, he harbored fantasies of learning to wield fire just so that he'd be able to heat food on the fly. No more cold meals!

He just needed to get this stone working and it would be smooth sailing.

He hoped.

With a solid meal in his stomach Nergal could think more clearly. Maybe what he needed to do was revisit the place he found the fairy stone?

The clearing was easy enough to get to, close as it was. And with the lionmane petal collection being a regular mission, he could find his way there blindfolded.

Unfortunately, when he made it there some thirty minutes later the clearing was occupied.

A massive wolf, with thick black fur running from his head to the base of his tail, was crunching on one of the goblin corpses. The rest of his coat was a brilliant white, now flecked with bits of green. As for the corpses, there were a lot less of them than when he'd last visited. Their bodies had begun to rot, flies buzzing around them in delight.

"A direwolf..." Nergal muttered in surprise. Direwolves were twice the size of their reproductions on earth, with the increased viciousness to match.

This one was even larger. On its feet the creature's head would reach Nergal's shoulder.

The wolf's ears perked up at his muttering, and it's head turned. It stared at Nergal for a moment then, baring it's teeth, moved away from his meal and towards the intruder.

"Hey, I don't want any trouble..."

Ignorant of human speech, the wolf continued to approach. Despite being closer in size to a bear than a wolf, its footfalls were light. It moved steadily, without any sense of haste.

Even so, Nergal couldn't bare to run. He stood, almost frozen, as the wolf drew closer.

Then, when it was finally within arms reach, he drew a dagger from his side and thrust it toward the creature's neck.

The blade clanged against the fur, bouncing off uselessly. He tried again, aiming for its eyes, but the wolf swiped one of its claws and Nergal was batted to the side.

A large gash had opened on his right arm. His now tattered shirt sleeve was quickly dyed red. The fairy stone was knocked from his neck.

Desperate, he scrambled for the gemstone, inadvertently dodging another swipe from the wolf. A drop of blood dripped onto its surface.

It erupted into a bright red glow,

[Finally! I can't believe it's taken you this long to unlock me. You're not the brightest guy around, are you?]

The voice echoed in his head once more. "This is- this is not the time. The wolf-!"

[Isn't doing a thing.]

Nergal looked to his side. The Direwolf had backed away, eying the glowing gem fearfully.

"Is he... scared of the gem?"

[Yep. He's a smart one, unlike you.]

"How is he smart, exactly? He sees a glowing gem and backs off?"

[Oh, sure, go around grabbing every glowing item from here to Nimeria. See how long you go without being blown to bits. Idiot.]

"Isn't that exactly what you asked me to do? Also, where the heck is Nimeria?" Nergal asked, annoyed at the gemstone's hypocrisy. And also its insults of his intelligence.

[... You're actually dumb.]

The gemstone's tone was filled with regret.

"No, I'm not dumb! I've never heard anyone mention a place like that before!"

The wolf growled. Their conversation, one sided as it may have seemed to the wolf, combined with the lack of action on the part of the glowing gem must have made it feel it was now safe to attack.

"What do we do? I can't do anything against this thing!"

[Let me try something... Hopefully this works...]

The gemstone glowed even brighter and it's light pulsed dangerously. It was now bright enough that it hurt his eyes.

The Direwolf very quickly turned tail and ran, giving off a menacing howl as it did.

"So... You're supposed to be some sort of cultivation fairy?" Nergal asked awkwardly.

"I'm not a fairy! I'm a Guideling!"

"Suuure you aren't…"

"I really am a Guideling! Do you know how lucky you are to have met me?!"

"You sound a little narcissistic to me. What's so great about being a guideling? You know, besides being able to squeeze through small spaces and inhabit gemstones."

With her little lips pulled into a scowl and hands on her tiny hips the Guideling scoffed. "Oh, nothing much. We're just able to help anyone cultivate like, a million times faster."

"… Anyone?"

"Yep. Anyone. Even low-synch rates like you."

"What did you call me?"

"I said you have a low synch rate. That's why you're stuck as an initiate stage cultivator. Isn't it obvious?"

Nergal glanced around the clearing sharply, checking to be sure they were alone.

"You- you're not joking are you?"

The little fairy- guideling- twisted her hair "I don't know. I'm not sure that I like talking to rude people like you."

Nergal clapped his hands together in apology. "I'm sorry. That was very rude of me. My name is Nergal. What's yours?"

Nergal thought he saw the Guideling's eyes sparkle at his name but dismissed it as a trick of the light. Or maybe a post-attack hallucination.

"I'm Roisin."

"So… You said something about being able to help me cultivate?"

Roisin sniffed. "Aren't you supposed to try bribing me a bit more?"

Nergal laughed. "Alright. Er… What exactly does an esteemed Guideling like yourself enjoy being bribed with?"

"New clothes! Makeup! Jewelry! Flowers!" Roisin yelled excitedly.

"So stereotypical girl stuff. Got it. I'll just pop on over to the doll dress up store, then."

She glared at him, unamused. "… You don't know how to bribe people, do you?"

"Sure I do! There isn't maybe something easier to get that you'd like?"

"If I can't have those then… Apricots! Apricots will do!"

He held out a hand and Roisin patted it. "It's a deal then. Now, what do I need to be doing to cultivate?"

A nearby howl caught his attention.

"Umm... Maybe we should get out of here before it decides to come back?"

Roisin, already back inside her gemstone, replied.

[Sounds good to me!]