Ball of Nothing

Zero didn't know what to expect in Arabesque. Merlin introduced it as the City of Night where the magic takes a physical form. The young doctor didn't quite understand what Merlin meant but he had quite the imagination. If magic had a form, Zero was expecting them to be like Robo Mike or in the forms of floating books. Wisps instead of candle lights and perhaps even a flying carpet or two.

The teenager wasn't disappointed to see the streets of Arabesque. Although it wasn't quite what he expected, it was close. Merlin smiled. Despite being in eternal darkness, there was a light of colours and lights that made the place feel festive and lively. The City of Night was bustling despite the lack of occupants.

"Is this where you live?" Zero couldn't help but ask. He thought that Merlin would be like Hua Tuo and preferred the silence over the hustle and bustle of activities.

Merlin grinned. "Not really, we're not there yet. However, this is the city filled with my inventions. Some of them I had help with but all the ideas are mine. I usually welcome guests here once every few years. Arabesque is usually closed to everyone but for a few nights in a few years, it will be opened to everyone who can afford to travel over. It's a magical amusement park that's second to none."

Zero's eyes sparkled. There were just too many interesting things around but he didn't know if he was permitted to touch anything. Merlin walked down the streets and showed Zero some of the inventions that the young doctor found more amusing than interesting. Merlin reminded him of the lab members. Not all the inventions and ideas had practical uses but it was definitely fun to see them.

"Fireworks that use gunpowder can be tricky and dangerous. Over here, in Arabesque, we use magic. It's perfectly safe and one hundred percent renewable. Why don't you create a design and fire off a few?" Merlin suggested.

Zero looked at the design panel and cautiously created the design he wanted from the pre-selection. He added some colours and arranged them in sequence to be fired. Merlin smirked at the teen and taught Zero how to set them off.

"Charge this magic stone here with your mana until it is white then hit the launch button at the side."

Zero did as he was told and was pleasantly surprised by the impressive light show. Unlike normal fireworks, the lights never disappeared. Instead, they hung up in the sky like a painting that could not be taken down.

"Merlin... it's not going away?"

The wizard laughed. "Of course, it isn't. This is a memorial wall but in the sky. Visitors usually write their messages and fire them here so that the message stays for a century. I don't have many messages in the sky because it's been a while since I've had any visitors. However, you can take a look at the message Truen wrote before he left Arabesque for good."

Zero walked to the other side of the viewing gallery and teared up at the message.

[No parting is too painful with the promise of a reunion in the future. No training is too harsh to endure for a worthy dream to pursue. No uncertainty is too daunting to face if there is a friend to face it together with. - Truen Zheng.]

Merlin sighed. It was a good thing he told Truen to write a message too. Zero might pretend it was alright back there but everyone knew how soft-hearted Zero actually was. The young doctor had never once left his friend ever since arriving at Heaven. Having to part so quickly was just cruel. They might have been better off not meeting to spare that unnecessary pain but Truen insisted on wanting to affirm with his own eyes that Zero was doing well before he went on his errands.

The wizard couldn't blame the wood elf for wanting to do such a thing. Like Zero, Truen had changed a lot from the harsh training. Forming Zero's Onion Union and coordinating things behind the scenes couldn't be easy. While it was unspoken, the magician knew that the archer just wanted to see if Zero would still be all-encompassing when they saw each other.

Naturally, Zero didn't disappoint. In fact, the tears running amok on Zero's cheeks right now were evidence that Zero would never abandon Truen no matter how much the wood elf had changed.

Merlin didn't show his new student any more gadgets and cool inventions in the festive square. He'd done what he could.

Zero collected himself with difficulty, the writing in the sky a painful reminder but it helped strengthen Zero's resolve to complete the training. It wouldn't be long before they could start their adventures together.

"Sorry about that," he apologised and put on a smile. "I'm alright now."

Merlin grinned. Zero definitely grew more mature ever since absorbing the memories of four divine fragments. Merlin actually quite liked this current version of Zero. He wasn't whiny and weeping all the time. This Zero knew how to brush off a setback and march forward without looking back. As a magician, this perseverance and ability to keep calm was highly desired.

"You can come here anytime you want to. Let's head over to my research tower. It's going to be your sleeping quarters as well while you train under me. You'd be spending most of your time for the first month in the library and the study. I heard that you're not fond of Mathematics?"

Zero gulped. How did Merlin discover that so quickly?!

The wizard took a look at Zero's face that screamed 'busted' and rolled his eyes.

"I don't really care how you do it but you must master Parallel Minds with or without Mathematics. I know you've already created something similar back on Endow Hill. Like Mathematics, you're not very fond of stitching either. I don't particularly care what method you use as long as you attain at least five Parallel Minds by the end of the month. That is going to be your first task. Like Truen, I will only give you two months to complete reading the entire library collection. While you read it, you will be updating the records too. It's been way too long since they have been updated, many things are outdated. I made the notes with Truen, you just have to add them in when you come across the books that need updating."

Zero listened to Merlin rattle on about the things Zero had to do. Zero wasn't usually easily pressurised or overwhelmed but as the list of things spanned over to the next page, Zero started to sweat bullets. Is this what Truen meant by 'Merlin can sometimes be overly passionate in his teachings'?

Luckily for Zero, he had a capable assistant and system aiding him. Still, looking at the list of things-to-do was no mean feat.

"I think that's about it. Once you've completed all of that, we can start researching together for a method to seal the leakage in Heaven. I will be working on finding stable correlations between qi, chaos energy and mana while you study."

The tower that Merlin resided in came into sight and Zero gaped.

The tower was a rather unsteady looking structure with a thin base but heavy top. A large and complicated magic circle constantly spun over the top of the tower and strange magical plants grew so densely around the tower that Zero didn't know how to get in.

Merlin clapped twice and the thick foliage parted automatically. Zero followed behind Merlin closely, not wanting to be caught in the plants. He had a feeling that he would not be able to go out of the tower as easily with such tight security.

The golem guard at the tower's only door stopped Zero and Merlin turned to his student.

"These are my tower guards. I will be registering you for their recognition so that you may pass freely. Please channel your mana into them steadily in small amounts for sampling."

Zero did as he was told and waited for the golem to register his unique mana signature. The magic stone in its head turned from red to green when the registration was done. Zero thought that the design looked a little familiar. This golem was a less bulky version of Robo Mike but it had more runes written on its body heavily imbued with complicated spells. Merlin must have worked on it for a very long time.

Once they passed the main door, Zero was startled to see a huge empty hall that was way larger than what was possible. The tower's base was very narrow and was only enough for a group of five people to stand in. However, the empty hall he was in could easily fit a hundred people with space to spare.

"Where are we?"

Merlin grinned. "Welcome to the lobby of my tower. This is to deter any unwanted guests. What you want to do is access the library and the research rooms as well as your personal room during your stay here. See the checkered floor tiles?"

Zero looked down and nodded. The floor tiles were indeed alternating with white and blue. Merlin smirked and told Zero to follow closely as he hopped from tile to tile nimbly. Zero did his best to remember where the tiles were as Merlin explained.

"It's a combination. If you walk wrongly, the portals won't open for you. You'll have to head back to the door and try all over again. Right now, you only need to remember four sets of combinations."

Zero nodded and learned quickly. The combination going to the library was the toughest to remember as there were twelve tiles in total. Zero screwed up the first five attempts and Merlin only laughed at the teen, not offering any assistance.

The young doctor eventually got the combination and groaned. he was feeling dizzy from all that spinning around. Merlin patted him on the head twice to praise him for his efforts and told Zero that they were heading to their rooms first.

"When you are in Arabesque, it is very important to have protective clothing on. While my inventions are brilliant, not all of them are safe for general use."

Zero blinked. "But the clothes I have were given by the Great Gods. I think I have a lot of protection wearing these..."

Merlin blinked. "Hold on."

The wizard inspected the clothes Zero was currently wearing and immediately became blind for a moment. The list of blessings and charms were just too many! What did these Great Gods and Goddesses think Zero was going to do? Just by wearing these clothes, there isn't a need for Zero to learn how to use magic or fight. Zero was invincible.

"I think you can keep wearing the clothes you have. It's better than the ones I made Truen wear."

Zero beamed. "I actually have a magician's outfit but because it's rather late now, I think I'll wear it tomorrow."

Merlin raised a brow. "Late? What are you talking about? The night is still young!"

Zero scratched the back of his head sheepishly. He forgot that Arabesque was always night. Then he remembered that there had to be a way to tell the time here if it was always going to be night.

Merlin looked at Zero strangely. "The time to eat is when your stomach protests. The time you sleep is when your eyes no longer focus. There aren't any fixed rules and routine here in Arabesque."

The revelation made Zero pause. Merlin was a terrible influence on Truen! No wonder his friend only ate mana recovery pills and energy snacks. As a doctor, Zero couldn't ignore this. He was going to set Merlin's schedule right. The wizard needed at least eight hours of sleep every day, three meals and a balanced diet.

The state of Merlin's magic kitchen made Zero cringe. There was nothing but pills, pills and more pills. Pills for nausea, pills for fever, pills for vitamins, pills for calories, pills for sleeping and more. Enraged, Zero demanded to know how he could travel out of Arabesque.

"Where do you want to go?" Merlin asked, slightly startled by how angry Zero was.

"Half Moon Village, Garden of Roth, Heaven... anywhere as long as I can get fresh ingredients for a meal!"

Merlin thought about it. "It's not really necessary. You can simply have them delivered over."

Zero was unfamiliar with the delivery service and Merlin explained that he could order things through the application on his intergalactic communicator. There will be someone who would deliver whatever they needed to the tower.

"I don't really step out of Arabesque unless it isn't available on the intergalactic store. It's easy to secure groceries if you want but do you have any money to buy them?"

Zero paused. He didn't really carry money around. However, for someone like Merlin who was a total shut-in, his account should have a lot of money to buy the things Zero needed. Left with no choice, Zero had to bargain.

Merlin was initially reluctant. Why should he invest in things that he didn't want?

"I will cook," Zero claimed and pointed at Merlin. "We will experiment with making food that can enhance mana replenishment while we're at it. Also, you can start looking for ways to make cooking an automatic process using magic. Doing this will kill three birds with one stone. I won't be hungry, you won't be sick all the time and we can sell the successful product at the Garden of Roth to compete with Belles and Begonia and Finest Taste. Profits will be sixty-forty with you on sixty. The forty should be added to my intergalactic account for shopping use."

Merlin thought about it. Zero's proposal didn't sound bad. As a Sage God, he often found himself falling short on finances because of his intensive research projects. Selling divine-grade mana recovery potions and some of his quirky inventions were Merlin's current main income sources. Every year, his expenses increased but his income remained the same.

"Agreed. Add what you need to the cart and let me look through it before you purchase anything."

Zero grinned and took Merlin'scommunicator, scrolling through the pages to find what he was looking for. The magician looked slightly worried as Zero continued to add things into his cart. Zero was merciless and by the end of it, the poor wizard could only cry at the money left in his account. Zero managed to convince him to get everything from a pot to a packet of seeds. What worried the wizard more was Zero's enthusiasm and draft to make a farm.

Wasn't he the teacher? Why did it feel like Zero had taken over completely and made himself home? Where was the logic in this? Merlin wanted to scream and burn his beard when Zero claimed that he was going to remodel the kitchen and untended garden for his use.

"Don't worry, training begins tomorrow. I won't slack off, I promise."

Merlin could only concede and return to his lab to prepare books for Zero's lessons. Meanwhile, Zero giggled to himself. Tomorrow would never come for a city like Arabesque where night reigned forever. He wondered how long it would take Merlin to realise that. It was just a little revenge on his part for the long list of things to do that Merlin dumped upon him on the first day. Zero was smarter now, in order to deal with the magician, he couldn't allow Merlin to gain the upper hand and sweep him up at the magician's pace. Truen's advice came in handy and Zero thanked his friend silently.

For now, Zero would secretly explore the rest of Arabesque before the delivery arrived.