Ball of Nothing

Zero gathered the mindscape assistants and let them know of his plans. Of course, he was met by silence.

Being the unofficial leader of the mindscape assistants, Mii gave Zero a levelled look. \"In short, we are going to be the sacrifice for your power over the grimoire. You're going to bind us to the grimoire. Really?\"

The young doctor didn't know how he should respond. Something told him he should tread very carefully. As it was, the situation was like walking on the cracking surface of a frozen lake. One wrong move will result in a very ugly consequence.

\"I thought I should ask for all of your opinions before I did such a thing...\" he began meekly but was interrupted by a loud slam on the library desk.

Mii's face was red with anger, her eyes hidden behind her hair so that Zero couldn't tell how she was feeling but there was no mistaking that aura of rage. Zoe, Lily and Wii looked worried. They tried to calm their leader down but Mii was not having it.

From experience, it was common knowledge that once the strawcherry fairy boiled over, there was no stopping the trainwreck that followed. However, to everyone's surprise, she actually collected herself and calmed down without anyone persuading her. Zero was very impressed but also fearful at the same time. Was this new and improved version of Mii going to be scarier?

\"Are the rest of you alright with this? If Zero binds the grimoire to Mind's Eye system, all of us will become collateral damage and cease to exist or become severely harmed in the process.\"

Wii smiled. \"I'm a product of the Mind's Eye system like you, sister. Our duty is to aid our silly master. It doesn't really matter if I'm being used to give the grimoire power. It's part of the job.\"

Lily didn't really mind either. \"If the mindscape falls apart, I will still accompany you on your journey in the real world.\"

Zoe looked slightly sad but signed that she would be fine in Half Moon Village although it would be sad not being able to come along for Zero's adventure in the future. Hearing everyone else's opinions, Mii's anger dissipated.

\"Why are all of you so kind to him? He practically wants to gamble us away.\"

Zero grinned. \"I won't do such a thing. Besides, the grimoire will not be damaged or lost, at least not before my fight with Solo. The only being capable of hurting me is myself. You said this too, didn't you?\" Zero directed that question to Mii who scowled.

\"Just because you've grown eight hundred floors worth of knowledge doesn't mean you can act cheeky around me. It doesn't matter how smart you've become or how powerful you are, I will still be able to lecture you!\"

With the tension broken, Zero and his mindscape assistants fell into a comfortable routine of banters, mostly with Mii. The young doctor thanked them sappily at the end of it and apologised for having to do such a thing. Instead of getting smacked over the head by Mii again for being so reckless, he only received a light pat on his hair.

\"We're always here for you even if you can be an unreasonable prick at times. Just do what you think is right and what makes you happy, Zero. Leave the rest to us. You will never be alone.\"

Touched, Zero wanted to give the strawcherry fairy a hug and plant a slobbery kiss but Mii saw that coming a mile away. She reacted swiftly and dodged the hug before planting a tiny foot on Zero's face and flying away.

\"Now that you have our consent, don't slack off! The grimoire won't create itself. Also, you need to deliver the branches to the two lab rats. Even if Merlin let you go, I will not permit you to resolve Athena's curse without your weapons. Truen isn't here to guard you, you need to defend yourself and magic alone isn't good enough when facing creatures like those gorgons.\"

Wii agreed with her sister and Zero nodded. \"I know, I know. I'll go deliver them now. Zoe, could you help me let Raj and Tambolt know that I'll be coming over? I need to let Merlin know that I'm leaving Arabesque for a while.\"

Zoe signed back quickly and asked if Zero would like to stay for a little longer in the village for a meal. The young doctor thought about it and decided that he would help out in the kitchen to learn some new recipes. Merlin was still in a bad mood after learning about what Zero did so the teen thought that baking some desserts might help the wizard forgive him faster.

The zashikiwarashi was delighted to know that Zero would be staying. She left quickly to make preparations and Zero exited the mindscape, leaving the three fairies to decide how they want to spend their rare day off.

Zero wrote his message on a piece of paper and added a small transformation spell onto it so that it became a pigeon. He knew that Merlin was still very mad and didn't want to see him so the best way to let his teacher know about his activity was to leave a message. When Hua Tuo was angry, he would often sit down and talk it out with Zero. It was very different from how Merlin was when the wizard got angry. Zero tried to talk to his teacher but the wizard always ignored him and avoided him. The teen didn't know how to resolve this situation. Merlin wasn't in a talking mode and Zero didn't like not being able to patch things up with his magic teacher. He really hoped that lemon tarts would do the trick.

Once the paper pigeon left, Zero made preparations to go to Half Moon Village to deliver the branches.

Lunch at Half Moon Village was always a loud affair. Everyone gathered in the feast cave and Zero met up with Bob who spent his days keeping Kerberos company.

\"Master! It's so good to see you again,\" the Eternal Dragon smiled.

Zero noticed that the dragon hatchling was growing up very quickly. \"I'm so sorry I wasn't able to bring you along with me to Heaven...\"

Bob laughed. \"No, I expected just as much. Don't worry, I'm currently hunting with Kerberos in Sleepy Cave to become stronger. That overgrown pup is hilarious! If you have time you should drop by to watch him. Also, I heard that you did something reckless again.\"

Zero laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. He spent a few good hours simply getting updated about the things happening in the village. The dragon warriors and Olaf had left the village to get registered with the guild and begin their adventure. Olaf purposely left out the part about Truen tagging along with them because the wood elf demanded that it was a secret. Zero didn't ask much about Truen's update and Bob was glad that the teen wasn't too curious about it. The one thing the dragon wasn't aware of is how Truen had been keeping Zero 'updated' about his activities using Hua Tuo as an alibi. The physician was currently working in Hope hospital, a place Zero wasn't able to frequent.

Raj and Tambolt received the branches of the magical trees with gratitude and excused themselves early to start working on Zero's final weapons. The village head also talked to Clowis about the village's defence and the construction works to renovate it.

\"It's all going well,\" the head warrior informed him. He also told Zero that Schaf was able to build up enough finances for them by trading some of the plants Cleo and Latitia grew.

\"We're wondering what we should spend the funds on.\"

Zero thought about it and called for a meeting with Zenobia and Grandma Moppo to find out more about half Moon Village's current needs. Now that Lovina wasn't around, there was a lack of healer in the village. It wasn't a good thing in Zero's opinion.

\"We need to find a healer somehow. Hua Tuo is occupied in the abyss and Lovina will be spending long periods of time in Arabesque with Merlin for her research from now on, only dropping by occasionally. I know that most of the villagers are strong and don't need a healer or doctor but it's always good to have someone around. What do you think?\"

Grandma Moppo and Zenobia agreed. \"We actually thought about it before. Currently, with the portal to Garden of Roth, there isn't a real urgent need for a healer. Hua Tuo's hospital is stationed near the central and we can get any sick or injured there on time. Not to mention, Cleo has been growing many of your medicinal herbs. Lovina passed us some recovery potion recipes and we have some good stock with the Half Moon Trading company reserved for our internal use.\"

Zero nodded. \"How many bottles and what potency?\"

\"Fifty low-grade, thirty mid-grade and ten high-grade potions. In addition, Qin Yun knows a little healing. It's not the same as healing magic but she can use qi to transfer it to another person to aid their recovery. Apart from recovery potion, we have mana potions, cure potions and some others,\" Grandma Moppo explained.

The village head nodded. \"It sounds good but I still worry. The village has many enemies after all.\"

The chieftess smiled. \"It's nothing new for us. You've done a lot for us, Zero. We are all very grateful. However, we don't want to hold you back and worry too much about us. We'll be fine. Please let us handle this on our own and focus on the more important things. Your training with Merlin isn't completed yet, right?\"

The subtle rejection surprised Zero. Grandma Moppo noticed it and was quick to explain that the village wanted to become Zero's strength instead of a burden. \"Everyone is trying their best and working hard so that we can become Zero's support. If you keep babying us, it will only make us feel bad. Even Soon and the other two zombies have gone to the Garden of Roth to learn cultivation. The twins are learning basic alchemy from Lovina's notes. The lab rats have been meeting up with Wiser to learn more about using mana and qi to power their new inventions.\"

Hearing that everyone was secretly working very hard behind the scenes, Zero sighed and nodded. \"Alright. Since you have already spoken, I will lay my hands off this case and place my trust in everyone. However, I am still the village head. If there is a situation that surpasses your power to resolve, you need to let Zoe know so that she could inform me at once.\"

Zenobia agreed and Grandma Moppo gave her word. Relieved, Zero excused himself to look for the zashikiwarashi in the kitchen. There wasn't much time left and the teen wanted to bring back some homemade lemon tarts so that he could earn his teacher's forgiveness faster.

That night, Zero returned late. Bib heated up the dinner and Zero noticed that Merlin had already eaten his dinner without the teen. Zero looked at the household golem and quickly scribbled a note to put in the box before passing it to the golem.

\"Can you help me to pass this to Merlin?\" he asked.

The small golem beeped in affirmation and carried it away while Zero inhaled his dinner. He really didn't like the atmosphere that they had in the tower right now but Zero didn't know how to fix it. He was doing his best to mend the bridge but a certain somebody remain unmoving and stubborn. Zero didn't want to be hated by his teacher but he really couldn't have done it any other way. Back then, if he had given up halfway, the pan would fail and the Tree of Life wouldn't be able to support both planes successfully. The Tree of Knowledge wouldn't hold up for long and Heaven would crumble. Solo would have won and the world would be sent spiralling downwards into destruction. Zero didn't like keeping secrets from anyone but he didn't know if he should tell Merlin about matters relating to Solo.

After dinner, Zero took out his communicator and decided to call someone who could give him an impartial opinion about the matter.