Ball of Nothing

Jermine dug down till she hit a literal wall that Zero and Bob took turns analysing. It didn't feel like solidified sand rocks. In fact, the surface was so smooth that it surprised Zero. Who knew that underneath all that sand and sand rocks, there would be a rocky layer?

Mii did some research. While Jermine dug through and mined through the sand and broken rock layers, her claws were not strong enough to break metal or bedrock which was what Zero and Bob were working with. The monsters inside the underground cave were also not strong enough to break the thick wall of bedrock but more surprisingly, Mii concluded that this was no ordinary cave. It was a dungeon.

"Be careful," the strawcherry fairy warned as Zero and Bob progressed deeper. "This isn't a normal cave, it's most likely a desert dungeon. These rocks have been formed using magic over time and strengthened by feeding off mana from the creatures in the cave."

Hearing that it was a dangerous journey, Zero quickly sent Jermine back.

"Bring Truen and the sand walkers down," he told her. "Let them stay here for a bit. These rocks will be a steadier shelter than the shabby shelter I created. The sandstorm might tear down the walls if it doesn't go away by tonight and I don't want anyone suffocating in sand falling through the roof."

The mole girl agreed and left at once. Zero sent word back to his grouchy friend that Jermine was going to pick him up. "We found a desert dungeon with a better roof. Come down with the sand walkers so that we can have a good night's sleep without worrying if the sandstorm will tear through that roof!"

Needless to say, his friend agreed and started packing up. Worried about Jermine, Zero made a weak mud doll to follow after the speedy mole.

Bob worked on breaking down the thick wall and had to rest to recover his mana. Zero and Bob found out that blasting it with magic wasn't as effective as shovelling through it with claws or objects coated with mana. As Mii suspected, the dungeon walls absorbed magic and Zero was reminded of Sleepy Cave who did similar things.

"Mii, are dungeons common on Earth?"

The strawcherry fairy who was arranging new books stopped her work when Zero asked. "I'm not too sure, Zero. Some dungeons are discovered and have become hot hunting spots for adventurers while others like this and Sleepy Cave remain undiscovered or banned from exploring because they are too dangerous. You can say that dungeons are part of this planet's life cycle because it doesn't have a managing God."

Zero told Bob to rest and recover his mana before taking over. He didn't know how thick this cave wall was but according to his mini-map, they were a lot closer to the critters moving around behind the walls. The hostile monsters don't seem to know that Zero was coming and remained idle.

Eager to put his transformable tonfas to good use, Zero fashioned a pickaxe from one of the tonfas and coated it with mana. Hooray for self-cleaning spells, Zero didn't have to worry about his weapons getting dirt on them or rusting. Heck, these weapons didn't even need maintaining or oiling. Zero was certain that even if they remained in some storage for a thousand years with nobody to care for them, his YY Tonfas would still look brand new.

Bob transformed into his miniature dragon body and recovered while Zero toiled. His master worked methodologically without breaking a sweat or tiring out. Sometimes, he forgot that his master wasn't a living creature. His vessel was also a model made to look life-like but Zero himself existed on an entirely different plane from everyone else. In times like this, Bob was reminded again how powerful his master was.

Jermine wasn't back yet but Zero could see that Truen was already on the move. Hence, he called off the mud doll that he sent to follow the girl and poured his focus into breaking through that wall. Right now, there was only five metres separating him and the critters from the map. Strangely, Zero couldn't hear or sense anything from even this distance beyond the wall. Jermine had some insane abilities to know where they were without the mini-map and Zero wondered what else the girl could do.

"Here," Zero threw the other YY Tonfa at Bob who rested enough. "There's only this little distance left between us and them. Just smack the wall normally and leave the mana coating to me. Conserve your strength because we will be up against fifteen critters. Unfortunately, Mind's Eye is not experienced enough to apply appraisal on creatures I cannot physically see. The mini-map simply marked them out as hostile mobs."

Bob felt conflicted when his insanely powerful master just declared that he wasn't powerful enough for more cheat-like abilities. Then again, Hua Tuo did say that there would always be one mountain higher than the last. The same must be true for Zero as well who was at the top of this world's hierarchy.

"Understood," he said and got up.

Only five more metres, he could manage that. The duo swung their pickaxes with an unspoken rhythm as the distance between them and the monsters closed. The dungeon moaned as its walls were breached and the duo made a dynamic entrance with a well-placed kick to the weak spot. Wii and Lily cheered from the mindscape, that wall was no more!

"Welcome to the desert dungeon," Mii announced and materialised to capture the scene for a live broadcast. After she sent word back to the chat group, Merlin and Isis demanded to have front row seats. "We didn't start with level one because we didn't know the entrance but this would be the level one we now know. That wall isn't going to fix itself anytime soon, better secure a safe area!"

Zero and Bob didn't need to be told twice. While the dragon fought it out with the ghoulish scorpions, Zero focussed on making a spot homey enough. Jermine and Truen were halfway here, they had another twenty minutes to make this room cosy.

"ETA twenty minutes, we need five minutes to clean the mess," Zero reminded his dragon and Bob growled.

"Bring it on land lobsters," he grinned. "I wonder if ghoul scorpions taste good."

"Only one way to find out," Zero grinned, liking the idea more than he should. "Don't destroy their stingers."

Bob ran towards the centre of the ghoul scorpions and unleashed a splendid circle of fire as he transformed into his dragon hybrid form.

"Let's dance."