Mr Carter was sat at his desk as usual. Piles of books were stacked to its side and a crossword puzzle lie on the table before the man. He was chewing on the end of a pencil, eyes scrunched in thought.
"Now... What is a five letter word that means proportion..."
"Ratio, maybe?" Nergal asked, peering over the man's shoulder.
Mr Carter shook upright, pencil falling from his mouth. "Hurgh! Darn it boy, don't keep doing that! I'm an old man, a few more frights like that and It'll be the end of me!"
Nergal scratched his head. "Well, I've been here for five minutes. Called and everything, you were just too focused on your crossword."
"Of course I was! That was the last question I needed to answer on this bloody thing. I've been stuck on it since lunch! And now look! The whole thing- ruined!"
Nergal looked apologetic. "Sorry about that Mr Carter. I'm just really eager to get going, and I have been here for a while..."
Mr Carter sighed. "Ah. It's no problem lad. I'll do another... crossword... tomorrow." He shivered.
[What a weird old man. Why does he even do those crosswords if he hates them so much?]
'It's his cultivation method. His monster form is a sphinx.' Nergal mentally answered.
[Oh! That makes sense... Kinda.]
"Now, what can I do for you, lad? Anything you need, old Howard Carter will help you out. We troubled cultivators have to stick together!"
Howard Carter was a British scientist who'd emigrated to China after years of battling for acceptance. Acceptance of his preferred field of interest-- Cultivation. The field, despite being the single greatest influence on life in the past two centuries, was not highly regarded in Europe. There it had been largely ignored by the intelligentsia and regarded with some degree of suspicion. A study incompatible with real, hard science. A distraction from their real work.
In Asia, however, cultivation science was a serious business. One with hundreds of billions of dollars in funding. Combined with the discovery that many ancient Chinese concepts were compatible with the strange energies of the Other Side, China had been the logical place to go.
Nergal smiled brightly. "That's just the thing, Mr. Carter. I've finally found my cultivation method!"
The elderly historian chuckled happily. "Really now? I knew you'd get it eventually lad! What is it?"
"That's sort of the problem. To cultivate I have to fight evil creatures... I'm not exactly sure which creatures count as being evil."
[And I keep telling you, it's simple! They just need to have a negative affinity!]
"Hmm... That is a rather vague method... You sure this is your actual cultivation method, lad?"
Nergal nodded. "I've already raised my level once, by fighting a giant goblin who'd done some sort of murder ritual."
Mr Carter stared. "... What have you been getting up to?"
"It wasn't my fault! I just... ran into him!"
"Sure it wasn't... Hmmm... I suppose goblins in general could be considered evil, of a sort."
"I'm not sure if regular goblins work, though."
[They do.]
"Well, they do attack a frightfully large number of merchant caravans. I've been having trouble with them in recent weeks, they keep making off with shipments on their way to the shelter."
Mr. Carter eyed him carefully. "Though, I'm afraid you're not quite ready to take on goblins just yet."
"I could handle a goblin! I've trained in martial arts for years!" Forget about the last time, that was a fluke. He was better now, a legitimate cultivator!
"I meant no offense, Nergal. I don't believe that standard martial arts will help you against a goblin. Especially since they run in packs as large as thirty. You think your taekwondo is good enough to take on a couple dozen goblins?" Mr. Carter asked, smiling cheekily.
"It's Muay Thai, actually..." He grumbled "But I see your point. What else could work, then?"
Mr Carter pulled an empty scroll and a pot of ink from his desk-drawer. Dipping his quill into the purplish ink, he began jotting.
"Well, let's think this through shall we? Any high level monsters are out of the question, as are ones that run in packs. We'll have to go for weak, solitary creatures."
Nergal gave a reluctant nod of agreement. "That narrows it down- a lot. But what about the evil part of the equation? I mean, greyrats can be a nuisance, but I wouldn't go so far as to say that they are evil."
"Ding Wei would disagree with you there. The man hates those little blighters, keep getting into his food lockers. But yes, I would agree with your assessment. I think that evil monsters would have to be creatures who go out of their way to damage or harm others."
"Dragons!" Nergal called excitedly.
He laughed. "Well, they fit the solitary bit but I think it will be quite a while before we can send you questing to slay dragons, lad."
Nergal blushed. "No, I didn't mean that I wanted to hunt a dragon. I just figured- dragons are always attacking shelters for no reason. That must mean they count as evil, right?"
"Hmm, sure. Though there are many dragons who prefer to mind their business and don't go around attack places to cure their boredom."
"So, they have to be weak... They have to be solitary... They have to go out of their way to damage things..."
Mr Carter grinned. "Perhaps they need not be as solitary as I first thought... Here's what I propose..."