Ball of Nothing

The journey to the nearest town would take a week. In that week, Zero spent it talking with Camie and Truen who seemed to know a lot about Earth already for some reason. The wood elf denied it but Zero knew he was lying. Still, he didn't call out on Truen's bluff. He'd long known that while Truen was loyal to him and treated him well, the wood elf wasn't kind to everyone. Zero didn't mind that too much. After all, Baal and Beelzebub were similar too.

"Truen, you said that there are nine continents on Earth. What are they? Other than humans and giants I mean..."

The wood elf smiled. Camie also listened as the archer explained about Earth's history and how it came to have nine continents.

"I heard this from Schaf, it's a common story that humans tell their children but I don't really know what the truth is," Truen said and Zero smiled.

"A long time ago, Earth had mountains, rivers and seas where every creature lived together in harmony. However, one day, the creatures on the planet all heard a voice coming from the sky that gave them knowledge. Armed with new knowledge about mana and magic, the creatures begin to explore their new powers and claim territories best suited for their gifts. However, due to disputes over territories, a war happened."

Zero shuddered. He could almost picture it in his mind how everything came to be. Camie's eyes grew dim when Truen went into details about how the lands were divided. While the wood elf tried to make it less depressing to listen to, the giantess was familiar with a different version of the story.

In Truen's version, the races came together to settle the dispute by signing peace contracts and dividing the territories on Earth. The version that Camie knew from her childhood was different. After a huge massacre that led to the extinction of several races, the remaining races only called a truce when the enraged Gods of the Earth threatened to destroy the planet. Of the known Gods that made a trip to Earth, the Norse Gods were one of them. Hyndla was the goddess that descended and founded Magnus Hilda with her power in society. She taught the giants about the other Norse Gods but the most famous ones that Magnus Hilda still worships till this day are Odin, Thor and Loki.

Zero nodded as Truen concluded his tale.

"So the nine continents are Magnus Hilda where Giants rule. Rocket Mountain where Dwarves rule and where Tambolt should have originated from. Smargdas Kingdom, the land of humans and also the smallest territory. The Great Forest of Altear where the elves roam even though they don't like dark elves like Mitchnew for some reason. Derby Desert where all the amazing gnomes and technology come from. Indra Seagloo, the place that Douglas wanted to go find his kin and where Jacqueline should go to if she wanted to know more about mermaids. Lycantopia the land of beast folk like Lady Zenobia and Coux or even Qin Yun? Mystic Meadows where Bob should have been at if he wasn't bound to guard Sleepy Cave. Lastly, the United Nation of the Uncanny that Xvyal and Yxaan are heading to even though the land isn't as united as they sound like with an ongoing civil war."

Truen nodded. "That sounds about right. Earth is rather interesting, isn't it?"

Zero made a face. "It doesn't sound like a good peace treaty. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone learnt how to share? It's ridiculous for a race to occupy all the sea or all the mountains or all the deserts. Where can we get the resources only unique to those places?"

Camie smiled. "This is why guilds exist. Adventurers, traders and even magicians have guilds all over the planet so that these people can travel freely as some kind of global ambassador to fulfil the request of countries that require certain things that they cannot get easily because of the treaty."

Truen nodded. "Which is why we are going to get you registered as quickly as possible. If you want to be a travelling doctor, you have to be approved as a doctor and get the permission required for you to be able to pass all sorts of borders and territories. There is currently no greater travel freedom than being registered with a guild."

The doctor thought about it. "Is there a guild for doctors?"

Truen didn't know. He honestly hasn't heard of such a guild even if there were guilds for assassins and criminals. Camie shook her head. "There isn't one for doctors so far. Most healers register with the church and represent their god. We call them missionaries because they go around healing people, praying, exorcism and doing all sorts of good deeds in exchange for alms."

Zero raised a brow. "Represent a god?"

The giantess nodded. "Even in Half Moon village, many of us have religions where we devote our prayers to a god. Some people choose to follow a few gods but most people will follow one that they believe in who will answer their prayers. For example, Lovina prays to Merlin the god of magic and alchemy. The giants in Magnus Hilda mostly pay to Odin the founder god, Thor the god of protection or Loki the god of mischief."

Zero's jaw slackened. "Why would anyone pray to the god of mischief?"

Camie giggled. "Loki is a god of mischief but he is also said to play tricks on only the bad people. Naturally, those who pray to him are asking for help with revenge or a better life. Also, I actually don't pray to these three gods. My family and I pray to goddess Hyndla instead because we ask for peace in Magnus Hilda for as long as possible although our prayers seem to be unanswered. The people of the land are falling ill but nobody has answered our prayers."

Zero frowned. That was odd. He knew about the Norse gods but the only one he knew survived the massacre was Freya who had later become a Great God. He had an inkling that the gods Earth worshipped played a crucial role in how their land developed and how much they prospered. Maybe the giants were praying to the wrong gods which resulted in the misfortune that they had now but Zero couldn't say that aloud without seeing for himself the actual cause of that plague.

"Are there really only nine races?" the doctor asked. The party decided to stop near a stream to refill water and rest for a while. Zero took this chance to compare notes of the story he heard with the books he read before.

Camie smiled. "Of course not. If we ignore mixed races, there are plenty of other minority races that exist within the borders of these territories. They live in constant fear because there isn't a place for them wherever they go. An easy example would be demons. Where would demons belong in the nine continents?"

Zero raised a brow. "Don't they come from the abyss? Are there demons born on Earth?"

The giantess sighed. "The demons that exist on Earth are a little different from the ones in the abyss. Demons here are born from any race. They absorb hate and practise in forbidden magic that will change them into demons. Once someone changes into a demon, they can never change back. Demons on Earth can only wander around till the day they die because they carry with them curses of all kinds. Missionaries have the duty of hunting these demons and ending their misery."

"Why don't these missionaries remove the curses? Why do they have to end them?" Zero asked.

Camie sighed. "It's not possible to break a self-inflicted curse that is tied to a soul. It might be possible for you but the missionaries are just ordinary folks who cannot compare with gods."

Zero was silent for a while as he mulled over what he learnt today. He didn't want to end up as an adventurer or register with magician guilds simply because most of those magicians don't sound like they're up to any good. He briefly considered starting a guild or doctors but eventually gave up on the idea simply because it would turn messy soon enough with the increase of medical prices instead of spreading medical care to those who really needed it.

On the other hand, the thing that Camie said about missionaries sounded very much like what Zero was doing. If only there was a way for Zero to become a missionary without the worship of any god. What if he was a missionary who worked for himself instead? Was it even possible? Starting a church or something would require a lot of money. Zero didn't think that he had a lot of money to spare to start something like that. Even as the village leader, it wasn't right for him to spend money like that for his personal satisfaction. The money that Schaf and everyone else worked hard to earn should go to improving the village's defences and the lifestyle of his village members. If they had money after all that, Zero intended to expand the village and use that money to take in orphans or people who need a second chance at life just like what Grandma Moppo had been doing all along.

Zero sighed, looking troubled but this time, Truen didn't know what his friend was thinking about. Whatever that was bothering Zero certainly wasn't the story about how the nine continents came to be. If the archer had to make a guess, it was more about finding a place for those minority races to belong and caring for those who needed help that bothered Zero. Watching Zero try to solve his problems made Truen finally accept that Zero had grown up. He no longer looked at the wood elf and asked for help at the first signs of trouble. Instead, the doctor was trying his hardest to not cause inconvenience to others and work out a solution.

Camie didn't say much for the rest of the journey. They still had two more days before they would be out of the forest and one more day till they reached the first town. Truen talked to Camie a little bit while Zero went to take his bath yesterday. He didn't want to go to a human town so they will be visiting one that's in the middle of Endow Hill and Rocket Mountain.

Endow Hill's location was rather unique. It was an untouchable zone in the middle of a few territories. The Rocket Mountain territory went around Endow Hill, isolating that particular mountain which overlapped the Mystic Meadows just below it. On the other side of Endow Hill was the Smargdas Kingdom that was sandwiched in between it and the Great Altear Forest. Truen knew why the Smargdas Kingdom was allowed to exist for so long even though the humans should have been a race wiped out a long time ago during the war between races. The elves didn't want to deal with any losses fighting the beasts from Endow Hill that often attacked nearby towns hence they allowed the humans to be that territory buffer.

Nobody claimed Endow Hill as their territory for a few reasons. The most obvious reason was due to the dragon guarding Sleepy Cave on Endow Hill. Mystic Meadows didn't want anything to do with Endow Hill either because the Dragon wasn't the only threat on that mountain.

Even since Hua Tuo settled down on Endow Hill, the Sage God had made his presence known that any kingdom who tried to invade Endow Hill and steal its resources would be punished accordingly. There had never been a case of a coordinated attack from magic beasts of different types and forest spirits working together to repel intruders. Endow Hill was that only exception and ever since then, no Kingdom dared to attack it until the idiot Count Carrabas tried to destroy Half Moon Village.

Now that Camie thought about it. Zero's introduction to the village was a really lucky thing for them. Before Zero came along, the Sage God was never as friendly. In fact, the villagers were often cautious about the strange old man who exuded a powerful aura. Many suspected he was Endow Hill's god but only a few knew of his identity. Only after the incident with Douglas and Zero's interference, things started to change for the better in Half Moon village. Hua Tuo was no longer as unapproachable and many of them were given opportunities that they never had before.

The giantess looked at Zero and smiled. "Zero, thank you."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," she laughed when Zero gave a confused look. The doctor nodded and continued to walk ahead and tried to spot for any squirrels they could catch for lunch.

Watching the doctor, Camie smiled. She was thankful to Zero for giving her the chance to go back home and for giving her a second home she could return to.