Ball of Nothing

Wii turned out to be a very fast worker. Zero was still going through some of the recipes that Mii completed and cooking the fifth dish for Bib to learn when the eggplant fairy declared that the experiment was a success and that she had all the research notes ready.

Zero wasn't expecting to be leaving Arabesque for the second time within the same day. Still, he sent Merlin another apology note and sent Bib upstairs to deliver the lunch he made Merlin. He hoped his teacher was a fan of spicy food but if he wasn't, Merlin could always go back to eating food from La Boutique. Zero did leave some for his teacher before he headed out. He would finish whatever Merlin didn't touch for dinner when he returned.

After the note was sent, Zero quietly set the portal coordinates to Lotus Pier. The young doctor arrived without a hitch and his arrival was immediately noticed by Buddha. It was rare for Nirvana to receive uninvited guests and the unique mana signature could only point towards one boy. The Enlightened One sighed and exited his meditation chambers to meet the teen who was waiting for him. If Zero didn't even drop him a text before coming over, it must be something important.

\"Hello, Zero. What brings you here?\" Buddha greeted with that serene smile.

Zero returned the greeting almost hurriedly and shoved a stack of thick papers into Buddha's hands. \"It's related to chaos magic and qi. I don't know what you can do with this but I thought you might be interested to know. I'll be leaving now. if Merlin asks, I'm with Steve and Wiser!\"

With that, Zero hopped on a boat and set off for Heaven. Buddha didn't know why Zero didn't want to use the portal to travel. It was faster and more efficient after all. Could Zero be up to something again? Also, he spoke as if Merlin wasn't informed of his activities. This doesn't sound good.

\"Hello?\" someone picked up Buddha's call at the end of the other line.

\"Hello, Steve. Buddha here. Zero boarded the boat at Lotus Pier and said that he was going to see both you and Wiser. Have you heard anything from him?\"

The God of Technology laughed. \"Yes, he just sent me a text not long ago. I'm actually on my way to meet Wiser at the Garden of Roth. He's applying for some time off from the Academy now.\"

Buddha heaved a sigh of relief. At least somebody would still be in contact with the teen.

\"Is there something wrong?\" Steve asked when Buddha was silent for a long time.

\"No, it's alright now. Thank you,\" he replied and ended the call. Buddha looked at his contact list and wondered if he should inform the old magician about his apprentice's whereabouts. Then he decided against it. It was none of his business and Merlin should be more than capable of locating Zero if there was a need.

The Wise One looked through the thick stack of papers that Zero shoved at him and his eyes widened in surprise. He turned to one of the monks and told him to put up an announcement that he will be cultivating in seclusion for an unknown amount of time. Nobody was to disturb him and Lotus Pier should be closed. The monk was slightly surprised but didn't question Buddha's decision before he scurried to do as he was told.

While Zero was still churning out research notes with Wii's help on the boat, news had reached the entire Heaven that the cultivation monster had declared the isolation of Nirvana as he was preparing for another ascension. Even the Great Gods were surprised and excited about the announcement. The last time Buddha achieved a breakthrough in his void research, it was three thousand years ago. While Buddha was able to document his research and pave the way for cultivators, it was still missing a little more information required before Steve could translate Buddha's findings into more practical uses. Rumours went around saying that if Buddha could achieve yet another breakthrough, Gods would be able to set up their own planes in the void instead of borrowing dimensions that often had clashes with others whenever there was a time shift.

\"Wii, what's that number again?\" Zero groaned, feeling slightly seasick even if they were sailing over clouds.

The eggplant fairy sighed and wished that she could also materialise like her sister and help her master to write the notes. Mii sensed her sister's thoughts and gave her a stern look, warning her not to meddle more than she should. Lily couldn't blame Mii for being so salty. After Zero dumped so much work to the strawcherry fairy, it was only fair he got a taste of his own medicine.

The journey from Nirvana to Heaven took about a day and Zero groaned. If he knew it was going to be so uncomfortable writing on a boat, Zero would have delayed his departure and completed writing the notes first before setting off. If he was still back at the tower, Zero could have borrowed some of Merlin's tools or simply had Wii to get the spare golems to write the notes for him. Why did he even listen to Mii's suggestion? He'd been a fool.

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Zero finally reached Heaven looking like a hungover ghost. It was torture trying to write on a boat and countering nausea with healing magic simply because he didn't have pills for seasickness. On the bright side, the notes were done and all Zero had to do was pass them to Steve and Wiser while he took a long nap in his cosy lamp.

Wiser was waiting at the pier for Zero and the researcher caught Zero who was unsteady on his feet as he disembarked.

\"Zero, are you ok? You look ill... how about resting first?\" Wiser asked full of concern. The Zero he knew was usually full of vigour so this haggard version of the young prodigy scared Wiser.

Zero shook his head and refused help. \"I'll be fine after resting for a bit. Seasickness had never been such a scary thing. Let's walk for a little before we get on a carriage to see Steve, shall we?\"

Wiser agreed and they took their time walking the seasickness away. When Zero was feeling better, he hailed a carriage that took them straight to Steve's office in the House of Gods. Steve received Zero's text informing him of their arrival in about ten minutes. The God of Technology dropped what he was doing to rush down and welcome his guests.

\"Hello, Zero. It's nice to see you again. Nice seeing you in person at last,\" Steve smiled at Wiser who took the outstretched hand to shake it. Zero let Steve and Wiser talk for a little before reminding them of his visit's purpose.

\"Naturally,\" Steve smiled and led the way to his office that doubled as a research lab. Wiser was impressed with the high-tech equipment that Steve had and wondered if he could try them out after the discussion. Steve noticed Wiser's interest and beamed. Zero caught on quickly and had no doubts that these two people would hit off very well despite being difficult people to get along with normally.

\"Here,\" Zero said and pulled out two copies of notes that he made on the boat. Wiser and Steve received the thick stack of documents and looked through them with questioning looks.

The young doctor explained that these were research notes about what he found out regarding chaos energy and miasma's true nature.

\"While I am still unable to do any real testing for chaos energy, this is what we've been able to determine so far. It is not a comprehensive result but I think you can use the general formula and concept to fine-tune the machines. I heard that the project to create a miasma conversion device is still stuck at the definition stage? The same with the chaos energy seal.\"

Zero flipped through the notes and pointed out parts that he wasn't too sure about and explained that he still added them in so that both researchers could follow up on his behalf. Wiser wanted to cry when he saw the research notes that Zero put together. While it wasn't very complete, it was a very good indication of which direction he could start digging into. Besides, the most important discovery that helped Wiser get a few steps ahead of his progress was Zero's solidified findings of miasma's composition.

On the other hand, Steve looked like he wanted to call Buddha up and discuss Zero's theories about chaos energy being negatively charged energy that could be powered by sins. However, the programmer remembered that Buddha had announced his secluded training not too long ago and sighed disappointedly. Zero must have given Buddha some tips too that made the Enlightened One inspired to start training in a different direction.

Zero noticed Steve's unhappiness and offered to be a listening ear but the God of Technology declined.

\"I will see what I can do to modify the chaos energy seal. Thank you, Zero. These notes were certainly helpful. I heard from Merlin that you manage to complete creating your grimoire?\"

Zero nodded happily but then remembered how everything went and was immediately moody again. Wiser raised a brow at the sudden change of attitude. From what he last knew, Zero was most excited to work on his grimoire. Now that it was completed, shouldn't Zero look happier?

\"I got grounded,\" Zero admitted with his head bowed.

Steve wasn't expecting such an answer and froze but Wiser decided to pry for details. It was difficult to get the full story from Zero but both inventors were smart enough to piece the pieces together and understood at once why Zero was grounded. Wiser didn't look pleased and Steve wasn't smiling.

\"Zero, your teacher grounded you because you were being too reckless back there.\"

The young doctor sulked stubbornly. \"I know, that's why I apologised. Who would anticipate such a thing happening when creating a grimoire? However, that was an ancient spell... once I started on that path I had to stick with it all the way to the end. If I stopped halfway or mischanted even one syllable, it would have backfired badly on me. Besides, it was teacher who said not to look for him until I created the grimoire and drafted the new spells.\"

Wiser nodded. \"Technically, you're not wrong. However, don't you have something called common sense? Is your self-preservation instinct broken? Did you not even consider the dangers of doing such a thing? You knew you could be badly hurt doing it but yet you still proceeded without even bringing it up to your teacher who is supposed to be responsible for you. Have you ever considered Merlin as your teacher? You didn't even place enough trust in him to inform him about the difficulties you were facing. Being independent is good but sometimes, you need to rely on someone else especially if they care for you.\"

Zero wanted to retort but after seeing both Wiser and Steve's scolding gazes, he held his tongue and nodded miserably. As if getting grounded for what he did wasn't enough, he had to sit through another lecture about his recklessness.

Steve saw that Zero still didn't seem to understand and decided to teach the boy with a very real example. He picked up the seal used for chaos energy trapping and told Zero to look at him.

Without hesitation, Steve unsealed the chaos energy and put himself in the way of harm's path. Zero who saw that immediately reacted in alarm. The chaos energy was quickly shot down with a good blast of qi and mana by the teen who stared at Steve with wide eyes, not believing what just happened.

\"You didn't have to do that, I knew what I was doing,\" Steve said.

Zero glared at the God of Technology. \"You could have gotten hurt! Nobody knows what chaos energy actually does, it's dangerous.\"

\"I had it under control,\" Steve insisted and Zero felt his doctor's anger boil beneath the surface.

\"Still, it was dangerous. You could have gotten hurt.\"

Steve smirked. \"But I didn't. Just like you, everything turned out fine when you created your grimoire. I did the same thing. I don't think you have the right to be angry at me now, do you?\"

The teen froze and Wiser inwardly praised Steve for thinking of such a brilliant plan to get the message across to Zero. There was no need for further elaboration because Zero understood now what he did wrong even if he was not at fault.

\"I understand now, I'll apologise to Merlin when I return.\"

Wiser patted Zero on the head. \"Good boy. Don't make your teacher so worried about you all the time. While Merlin may not be the most reliable adult, he is always there when it counts. Give him a chance, alright?\"

Zero nodded and yawned. \"I'll leave both of you to your work. I haven't slept in a few days so I will do that now. I'm going to take a nap... please tell my teacher I'll be back soon.\"

Wiser didn't hold Zero back and wished him a good rest while Steve only smirked in amusement. Once the teenager left, the two researchers started discussing serious business. Wiser updated the God of Technology on his project's progress. Steve took some time to sit down and read through the notes Zero passed them before deciding on their next course of action.

Very soon, the dream that Zero had about terraforming Hell would come true. It's so near that Wiser could taste it already.