The scene changed again, and they were back where they started, close to his home world. Ray just stared at the little guy, not knowing what to say. He was living his life, minding his own business, and someone had to come and flip his worldview upside down.
But the more pressing question was why. Why would someone go out of their way and take him out for a little f*ing universal tour? His mind was reeling from all the questions he had no answer for.
"That's enough. here," the little guy said, and a book appeared in between them. He hesitated, an act that earned him a glare, so he hurriedly took the book.
"What… huh."
He'd meant to ask something, finally, but the moment cracked, and he was back on the staircase he'd just left.
Wrong step.
Wrong angle.
He tumbled, limbs flailing, down the stairs like a dropped puppet.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch-f*ing hell."
He tried to sit up. His knee barked. His arm pulsed.
So he stayed there, hunched and hurting, trying to piece together whatever had just happened.
"The book."
He looked around—nothing. Gripping the railing, he dragged himself upright. Then a sudden voice dropped from above:
"Looking for me?"
His balance vanished, and he rolled down the next flight like fate had it out for him. By the time he stopped, his thoughts were static.
No questions. No logic.
Just pain, and the primal urge to disappear.
"That must have hurt."
Ray looked up.
His vision swam—everything was a blur.
A small figure drifted across his face.
He blinked, shook his head, squinted hard.
The shape sharpened: palm-sized, vaguely human, wrapped in a robe of green leaves. Wings fluttered behind it like nervous thoughts.
It hovered awkwardly, watching him.
"Ah. A fairy, huh?" Ray muttered, glancing around like a dazed tourist.
"I take the form you wish me to."
"Right," Ray nodded, still glassy-eyed, drunk on confusion.
"So I wanted to see a fairy, and poof—here you are?"
He chuckled to himself, soft and strange, like someone laughing at a dream they weren't sure they'd woken from.
They sat in silence for a moment, then he looked up and scrutinized the fairy, noticing that she was female.
"So, what's your relationship with the earlier guy. And did you turn from a book, to… you"
"We are both creations of master. And yes, I changed form"
"Master?" Ray asked in surprise, "You mean…" He was going to continue, but the sound of steps approaching from upstairs was heard. "Is it okay if you get seen by humans? I mean, don't you need to hide or something?"
"Nah, I have a feature that makes me visible to only you."
A few youths passed by, glancing his way with that quiet, puzzled look, the kind of look that asked questions without words: who is this guy? what's his deal?
He shifted to the side with a wince, offering them space to walk through, and managed a weak, awkward smile. then he stood up, gripping the railing for support as he climbed to his floor. But instead of heading to their room, he veered towards the toilets, stepped into one, and locked the door behind him.
He then turned to the fairly still hovering above him.
"So, what's your name?"
"I haven't been named yet. You give me a name if you deem one necessary."
"Then I'll call you Sylen for now." From a movie he had watched. " So, Sylen, who's this master you mentioned?"
"You can't learn about him. Not yet."
"I can't learn about him now? Wow, mysterious and vague. Classic." Ray let out a laugh that sounded more like a sigh.
"I mean, you literally can't. In your current state, you're not qualified."
"Oh, I'm not qualified. Right. Someone yanks me into space, dumps a fairy on me, and I'm apparently too underwhelming to know who's behind it all. Fantastic. Just fantastic."
"Here, I'll tell you something about him," Sylen said smugly, one hand resting on her waist.
"******&&&&&%%%%%//////!!!!!!!****¤¤¤¤¤¤…::%%%%#####!**"
At first, it was just sound—something his ears caught but his brain refused to process. It slipped through one side and strutted out the other, proud and untouched. Then it hit.
Like a truck.
His chest seized. His limbs locked. His entire being trembled. It felt as if he'd brushed against something far too vast, too sacred. The heavens cracked open, not to welcome him—but to inspect the fool who dared. He saw death—not metaphor, not symbol, but the end itself. And he couldn't move. He was a sitting duck in a butcher's grip.
That's when it sank in.
He was too small. What he'd been told was too immense. He really wasn't qualified.
Sylen touched a fingertip to his forehead.
And just like that, he came to. The memory was gone—scrubbed clean—but the dread lingered, clinging like smoke. He dropped to the floor with a thud, breath ragged, soaked in sweat.
"You see, a part of cultivation is about elevating one's being. And right now, you are almost the lowest of the lowest."
"A-almost?" he stuttered, still not over the experience he had just gone through.
"There are races inferior to you, humans. It's kind of a rank in the universe. but you can elevate your rank through cultivation."
"And what does that existence want with me?" He asked, getting up to sit on the toilet lid
"I don't know, my purpose is to guide you on cultivation, you can say i´m your cultivation information that gained sentience or something" Sylen said, fluttering around, checking out the toilet.
"What about the guy from earlier?"
"To give you some exposure to cultivation." She then stopped in space and put her hand on her chin. "Strangely, this place doesn't have spiritual energy."
"Can someone cultivate without it? the spiritual energy, I mean." He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, there are different kinds of energies, but at your level, you need to start with spiritual energy." She replied, sitting on top of the door with a bored expression. "Can we go out? I'd like to look around your world"
Ray scratched his head. "You are here to guide me on cultivation, but there is no spiritual energy here."
"We can just go where it's available." She replied, trying to open the door lock, which looked ridiculously huge against her hands.
"Is there somewhere on this planet with spiritual energy?" he asked, feeling like laughing at her comedic attempts to unlock the door.
"There is actually almost none in your whole solar system." She replies between breaths, giving up on using her hands to kick it with her feet
Ray stands up and helps her unlock it.
"Then where are we going to g…" he stops after realizing something and looks at Sylen, who was already outside waving for him to follow
"We will walk, I mean fly, or teleport to a place like those planets you saw or something."
Ray remained stuck in place.
"Come on, can we go look around your world now?" Sylen says, circling him excitedly
"I'm gonna go see a doctor first," he says, limping out of the toilet
"Oh," Sylen said, stopping in front of him. She raised her hand and slapped his forehead.
Well, slap might be generous. Her hand was tiny, after all. But he felt it.
A pulse of energy surged from the point of contact, rippling through his body like cool water down a parched throat. It was instant—refreshing, electric, unreal.
By the time his senses returned, his body felt... fine. Better than fine. The bruises were gone. His limbs light. His breath steady. He felt more alive than he had in days.
He looked up at Sylen, who was tagging on his hair, eyes closed like her life depended on it. "Can we go nooww?"
Hah. He wasn't even surprised anymore
"Okay, okay." He smiled and followed her,