Ball of Nothing

\"Argh!\" Zero screamed in frustration.

In theory, everything worked out in his head. However, the truth was that none of the papers wanted to listen to him. The book couldn't be bound and not even his mindscape assistants knew what was wrong. It was as if every single piece of paper crafted from the barks and leaves of the Tree of Life and Tree of Knowledge had their individual personality. He didn't think that crafting the grimoire using unique materials could pose such a huge problem.

It was at this point that Zero felt his stomach protest loudly. Disoriented, the teen looked up and smelled something delicious coming from outside his door. The young doctor didn't have much time to get up before the door opened. Merlin was seen with Bib carrying a tray of what looked like breakfast.

\"Have you been up all night again?\" the wizard asked and Zero's tongue felt heavy. He didn't know how to react now that his teacher had started talking to him again. Was he not going to scold him or punish him for what he did at the Spring of Vitality?

Merlin noticed how tense his student looked. Zero didn't appear to be in a good physical condition either and the wizard casually cast a rejuvenation spell over his overworked student. It worked better than those vitality pills that Zero often ate.

\"You shouldn't skip meals no matter how busy you are,\" Merlin fussed and Zero felt like crying over the show of concern.

\"Are you not angry?\" Zero asked meekly, making Merlin stop for a moment.

The wizard sighed. He knew that he was acting immaturely before but the fact that his student felt so afraid of him made him feel horrible for what he had done. Still, the magician had his pride and wasn't willing to apologise. At least not verbally. Merlin decided to bring breakfast up personally as a form of apology but his student only made him feel worse.

\"No, I'm not. I've come to help you with the grimoire, you look like you're still struggling.\"

Zero smiled and sniffed away the unshed tears. Merlin was back to normal and that was all the young doctor wanted.

As Zero ate, Merlin decided to look at the materials Zero had gathered as well as the formation he was using to create the grimoire's spirit. It was a commonly seen summoning circle written out using runes that would have worked for any other ordinary grimoire. Merlin remembered using something similar for his very own grimoire too but he modified the perimeters of the summoning. This was something he didn't tell Zero and felt slightly bad that he forgot about it until now. If he told Zero about it sooner, would the teen have succeeded in creating his grimoire without him?

The papers shifted and Merlin raised a brow. Were these the sheets that Zero created from the Tree of Knowledge and Tree of Life? In an ordinary grimoire, the book after getting bound would possess life energy. However, Merlin could sense great powers coming from every individual page and immediately understood why Zero wasn't able to bind his book. These sheets weren't cooperative and the leather that Zero was using as the grimoire's cover was just an ordinary piece of leather from some randomly slain beast.

\"Zero, we need to go shopping for some better materials. This thread, glue and leather cover will not hold your pages.\"

The young doctor tilted his head to a side in confusion. \"Did I get it wrong?\"

Merlin laughed. As brilliant as Zero was, his inexperience still hindered him. \"No, it's not wrong. However, not everything should be done according to the book. Have you not noticed how your pages wouldn't cooperate with each other? When using powerful materials such as the barks and leaves of those two trees, you should find something of equal power or more to suppress them.\"

The frown on Zero's forehead was adorable. \"But sir, where can I find something more powerful than the plane guardian of Heaven and Hell?\"

Merlin hummed. His student brought up a very good point. Then, he remembered the perfect thing that could suppress both trees. A power greater than magical trees is a magical beast that can tear them down, preferably something with fire.

\"Zero, let's go on a trip after you're finished with breakfast.\"

Startled, Zero couldn't help but ask where they were going.

Merlin grinned. \"To the moon.\"

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The moon was nothing like Zero had expected it to be. According to the books from the reading device, the moon was a gravelly place with no signs of life. It often revolved around a planet and was basically a rock of some sort with gravitational pull in the solar system.

For a rock hanging in space, the moon was a rather cool place to be in. The grandiose of the palace before him did not pale in comparison to the architectures of Heaven. Zero didn't know why this reminded him greatly of Buddha's pagoda but kept the thoughts to himself.

They were greeted by many white rabbits hopping around and Zero figured out that they had landed in somebody's garden. The palace could be seen from behind the garden walls and that only showed the scale of how big that was.

\"Who is it?\" a lady's voice called out and Merlin smiled.

\"Apologies for the sudden visit, lady Chang E. I'm here with my student on official business. Could you help me to make an appointment with the Qilin?\"

The moon deity was a woman who didn't look a day past her mid-twenties and smiled at the wizard. Zero didn't know who she was but she didn't seem to be a mean person. The rabbits in her garden were very well taken care of and Zero didn't think anyone who raised pets well could be considered a bad person. Still, he had to search his vast mindscape library for any mentions of a qilin.

\"We found it!\" Wii cried out in joy. \"Chang E is the Chinese moon fairy. The Qilin is a mythical creature also known as the Chinese Unicorn who happens to be a guardian of some sort similar to Ouroboros.\"

However, what wasn't recorded in the books was how none of these creatures was supposed to exist after the destruction of the first Earth. Merlin explained how he wanted to be granted an audience with the Qilin who ruled the Zodiacs and Four Guardians.

Chang E politely bowed and ushered her two unexpected guests indoors to serve tea before she excused herself to relay the message. Zero could only give his teacher questioning looks the whole time.

\"We're in the preserved dimension of the Moon. I managed to duplicate it before the Earth was destroyed. It's an extension from Arabesque. The Qilin is the ruler of that huge palace. In that palace, the twelve zodiacs and the four guardians reside in it. Chang E is the general manager of this dimension and the only one with actual power because she's a real deity. The rest of them are now mere magical beasts who have lost most of their divine abilities after Earth's destruction.\"

That explanation only served to make Zero more curious. Thankfully, most of his questions could be answered by Wii who was already pulling out books about the twelve zodiacs and the four guardians.

\"They're all very famous legends from the Chinese of the old world. The four guardians are four very powerful beasts. They are the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the White Tiger of the West, and the Black Tortoise of the North and each of them represent an element. It isn't in the records but I think the qilin represents the missing element. As for the twelve zodiacs, they are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, lamb, monkey, chicken, dog and boar. Every zodiac is a guardian of a particular year and the cycle repeats every twelve years.\"

Zero nodded and took in the short lecture that Wii gave him from the mindscape. Merlin didn't seem to be in a rush and Chang E didn't seem to be returning any time soon. Zero thought back about his conversation with Swift and wondered if he should tell Merlin about Solo now.

Closing his eyes and deciding that it was better to do it now or never, Zero held his teacher's rob sleeve.

\"Teacher, there's something I think you should know... it's about the reason why I acted so recklessly at the Spring of Vitality and why I desperately needed the Tree of Life to grow there.\"

Merlin wasn't expecting such a serious topic and looked at Zero in the eyes. The teenager looked serious and slightly fearful. It must be a huge thing for the young doctor and Merlin put his teacup down.

\"I'm listening,\" he said. After their fight, Merlin felt like this was the olive branch reached out to him. If he didn't accept it, there might not be another chance ever again.

Zero looked down at his hands in his lap nervously. \"You might know about the Great One already but not in the way that it should be. I'm Zero, the future self of the Great One but at the same time, I am also not the Great One.\"

Merlin looked confused. Was Michael's theory about the twins wrong?

\"The Great One has a name and he is called Solo. That's the name of my past self that's currently trying to destroy the world he created. He is also the one responsible for putting me in the void to sleep for so many years.\"

Merlin listened and held onto his questions as Zero explained from the very beginning how Null's magic and creation of the new Earth woke him up. He didn't know how long he spent trying to get out of the void after he awoke but a lot of time must have passed for Hua Tuo to settle at Endow Hill on the new Earth for many years and for the Earth to develop as much as it did. Zero also expressed his confusion to his teacher about Solo's intentions.

\"It's why I decided to create a grimoire with the unique magic of recreation. Solo's natural power is creation and I think he can control the chaos energy in the void. On the other hand, my natural power is absorption and control over the space within the void. If I don't take it, I cannot use it. Without the ability to produce qi or mana or energy on my own, if I get trapped in the void again, Solo will lay this world to waste. I want to stop him but to do that, there are many things I need to do.\"

Merlin nodded, getting a better understanding of the picture with Zero's story. If what Michael told him was the tip of the iceberg, Zero's fears about Solo's true intentions confirmed Michael's suspicions.

\"Thank you for confiding in me, Zero. However, I have just one question. How sure are you that Solo is really your past self? What if he was a twin brother that you never knew you had?\"

Zero shook his head. \"Impossible. Solo and I are one and the same. Solo doesn't exist in this timeline but he can leave traces of things from the past to affect me in the future. If both of us were to meet in the same timeline, the world will destroy itself. Solo isn't doing that yet because it would mean this barrier between us will send us both into a stalemate of getting suspended in the void with nothing all over again.\"

Merlin knew a thing or two about Zero's mission. Other than creating a grimoire and gaining powers to counter Solo's schemes, he had to also find and regain all his lost memories by merging with Divine Entities that was deliberately left behind by Solo for Zero to seek out. The one thing Merlin couldn't understand was why Solo would plot his future self's destruction in such a roundabout fashion. Zero was at a serious disadvantage without power and memories. If Solo wanted to, he could easily take Zero down without going through the hassle of making so much preparation.

He looked at the teen who hunched his shoulders, looking small after he had been silent for a long time. Merlin placed his palm on Zero's head gently and smiled. Although he had many doubts, he trusted Zero's words. The one who should not be trusted is Solo even if they were one and the same person. For now, the wizard decided to withhold all the information to himself. He didn't know how much the Great gods or Buddha knew but right now, Merlin trusted nobody except himself. Not even Zero's information could be trusted in Merlin's mind even if he rusted the teen's heart. Solo could easily influence Zero's mind from the past by laying down clues leading to the young doctor's current deduction.

After he helped Zero create his grimoire, the wizard was determined to carry out some private investigations of his own. Lovina's curse as the void guardian should be no coincidence. Zero's appearance at Half Moon Village and his meeting with her should have been pre-planned by someone too. The only question was, who?