Ball of Nothing

It was late and Zero was tired. After a week of tutoring Princess Dorothy, he was starting to understand the difficulties of a teacher. Hua Tuo must be the world's best teacher and Zero found himself respecting his shifu even more now that he understood how difficult it was to be a teacher.

Initially, Princess Dorothy would cling onto Zero's every word and did her best to cultivate. Zero didn't seem to see anything wrong with it until he found out that the princess had been doing more than what he was telling her to do in not a good way.

The doctor kept finding it weird that while the princess' soul cultivation progress was getting better, the girl was looking more and more haggard even though she should be getting better after a few days. It took Zero a week to find out the cause and when he did, not even King Darius dared to speak to Zero.

The story about how Zero's murderous aura leaked out after he found out Princess Dorothy was secretly training herself in magic while practising soul cultivation became known overnight throughout Rocket Mountain. Nobody knew that the elven healer was a powerful person but after the incident of Zero's anger shaking the ground and collapsing mines, the chancellor immediately whistled to a different tune and ordered that whatever Zero wanted, everybody should do their best to please him.

Magic and qi cultivation often cannot go hand in hand. Zero taught the princess qi cultivation because she had weak chakra channels. When he found out that the princess was trying to match Fae King Vivian's ability to use magic freely, he lost his self-control for a moment and allowed his emotions to get the better of him before he managed to reel it back. Unfortunately, the damage was done and Princess Dorothy became mentally scarred by Zero's wrath. Truen wasn't around to do damage control so Zero had to figure out what to do about the situation. He didn't like everyone walking on eggshells around him all the time.

The patients that came to see Zero were also more quiet and humble. In fact, Zero was able to leave the clinic earlier than he expected. Initially, he thought that some of the patients weren't able to come to the clinic due to certain circumstances so he closed it early and went around making house visits.

Their reactions to seeing the powerful healer made Zero stunned. So far, he had never had this sort of treatment where others would fall onto their knees and put their heads to the ground to beg mercy from him as if trying to appease an angry god. He felt alienated and sad that the trust and image he worked so hard to create was shattered so easily. Truen was right. He should have listened to his best friend's rules about not using overly powerful magic.

What's done is done and now, Zero lay in his bed wondering what he should do. Princess Dorothy was the most affected person. She would tremble and try to hold back tears whenever Zero tried to speak to her. The girl wouldn't listen to anything Zero wanted to say and instead, would bow and sincerely apologise. Who has ever heard of a royalty bowing their heads so easily before a commoner? Even though he might be a powerful being greater than the gods, Zero was technically a commoner on Earth.

Troubled, Zero decided to give his shifu a call. Right now, he could use a little advice.

"Have you gotten yourself in trouble again so quickly? Didn't you just finish with Magnus Hilda's strange sleeping spores?"

Zero grimaced. That was right. According to the time flow between the abyss and Earth, it shouldn't be too long since he settled Magnus Hilda's plague even if that was a few months ago.

"Sorry, shifu. Sorry for all the trouble I've caused you so far but I don't think I'll ever stop causing trouble..."

Hua Tuo laughed at his disciple's honesty. "Yes, you should be. Then again, it's not anything I haven't expected when I took you in as my student. So, what did you get yourself into this time?"

Zero grumbled. "I didn't get myself into anything I can't solve... I just need some advice. Due to circumstances, I'm now a teacher but I don't know how to be a good teacher. Just yesterday, I lost my temper at my student and now they're terrified of me. They won't even let me speak and will only apologise profusely when they see me. How can I fix my mistake?"

The physician nodded. "Fixing a mistake has nothing to do with being a teacher. Tell me, what is the primary job of a teacher?"

Zero smiled. "It's to guide the student on the right path and impart their knowledge. I don't think I've been a very good student but now I'm required to become a teacher. Shifu, I don't know what to do."

Listening to Zero's genuine concern at the expectations others have placed on him, Hua Tuo sighed. He ordered his hospital assistants to take over while he took a break and continued the conversation outside, away from the hustle and bustle.

"Every teacher has a different teaching style. Most teachers started off as a student too and they tend to teach in the way that they were being taught or the way they learned best. The teaching method is not as important as being able to be completely transparent with your student. Since you know you've made a mistake, fixing it should be the right thing to do. The most important thing between a teacher and a student is trust. If the student cannot trust a teacher, nothing you teach will go to their heads. If a teacher doesn't trust the student, no matter how brilliant the student is, they will never reach their full potential."

Zero thought about it and Hua Tuo explained how he didn't always know if what he did was right. In fact, Zero was thrust so unexpectedly in Hua Tuo's hands at the start that Hua Tuo didn't know what to expect.

"It was only through time that we spent together and through observations that I understood you better and knew how I could help you become your best. All I did was offer you guidance and resources, you did everything else on your own and worked hard to become a doctor that the world cannot replace. As a teacher, I'm definitely proud to have such an outstanding student. It only means that my efforts were not in vain my and poor hut not destroyed for nothing."

Zero laughed uneasily as Hua Tuo reminded him about the trouble he caused his teacher in the past. It was true. Compared to what Princess Dorothy did, Zero was more troublesome to handle but Hua Tuo never once complained about having him as his student or given up on him. The physician has lost his fair share of temper more times than Zero can count on one hand because of Zero but even when Zero screwed up big time, Hua Tuo was always there.

"I think I understand now. I will try again tomorrow to fix my mistake and apologise for losing my temper. Communication has always been the key between teacher and student, it should never be one-sided. Thank you, shifu!"

Hua Tuo smiled and told Zero that he was going to head back to work. Zero didn't stop his busy teacher and bade him a good night as well. The call ended and Zero put his communicator away. He felt bad for losing his cool in such a manner when he found out that the princess was destroying herself. Mana and qi are never meant to be cultivated together. Even for Zero, if it weren't for Tanya and her sisters' expert help to create both channels in his vessel so that they don't intertwine with each other, cultivating and practising magic at the same time will cause the body to erupt from built-up pressure. It was his fault for not expecting it or explaining it before he flew into a rage. The princess was also probably not aware of the risks and Zero can only be thankful that he found out sooner rather than later. He would hate explaining how he turned Princess Dorothy into a corpse instead of a great beauty by the end of the month.

For now, Zero worked on making arrangements to catch the princess and make his apology. This time, he wasn't going to put up airs. He wasn't going to do it as the arrogant elven healer, he was going to do it as Zero, the doctor.