Ball of Nothing 301 Saving Heaven

The young doctor squirmed under the magician's heated stare. Eventually, Merlin sighed. He should have expected something like this to happen. Thankfully, he was on the same page as Zero even if his student was a few steps ahead of him. He did back Zero up with the claim of being able to repair the crack in Heaven's plane. Visiting Titan Cliff was only going to be a matter of time. Reviving the Tree of Knowledge and planting the Tree of Life were quests by the three divine sisters of Heaven. Nobody could stop Zero from doing what he needed to do. Addressing the Gorgon's grief and undoing Athena's curses was something Zero was burdened with too. No other Gods can undo the curse of Zeus daughter, not even Zeus himself who was said to be less powerful than her. A greater power capable of doing that would naturally fall onto Zero's shoulders.

Merlin took a look at Zero's list of five items and sighed heavier this time. Despite living for a long time, the magician had never once felt old. However, today, he was willing to admit that he was old.

"Zero," he called his student tiredly. "How do you know that your grimoire can help to repair the plane? Do you know what the situation is like at Titan Cliff?"

Zero shook his head. "That's why I have to get Hades' permission to inspect the damage done to think of something. Besides, don't you have an idea that you're already working on to create that seal? I just need to replicate a few more golems like Robo Mike and leave the rest to you, right?"

Merlin gave Zero the stink eye. He was jealous of Zero's ability to manage such complex tasks easily. In order to build that golem which Zero is now employing as a gardener in the Spring of Vitality, Merlin spent centuries studying and revising the design. Robo Mike was Merlin's proudest product of magic and alchemy. It was a groundbreaking invention that got lost after that unfortunate accident. Zero's claims of being able to easily replicate that with enough raw materials made the old man's heart burn with dark envious fire.

Swallowing that ugly feeling, Merlin nodded. "That's right. However, we have not made any significant progress. Why are you in such a rush to inspect Titan Cliff? Have you completed your grimoire?"

Zero blushed. "That's the thing, sir. I can't complete my grimoire without first reviving the Tree of Knowledge and planting the Tree of Life."

Merlin blinked. "What do you mean? How is that related to making your grimoire? All you need to do is bind a spellbook, tie it to your soul with a ritual and write your unique casting circles in rune language."

Buddha decided to keep his comments to himself. Merlin spoke as if that was a basic thing to do. The Wise One might not be a magician but from his knowledge, no ordinary mage should be able to create a grimoire of their own. Firstly, the price for making something so precious tied to their souls can be seen as a suicidal move. Any damage done to the grimoire will directly affect the castor's life. Secondly, not everyone had a seemingly endless supply of mana like Merlin to be able to support the high levelled magic spells of that grimoire. Zero's mana capacity might be endless but his source wasn't. As someone who helped create Zero's new vessel, he knew that better than anyone else. Lastly, if Zero was going to use recreation magic, his grimoire cannot be made from ordinary books. According to the teen, recreation magic is the only thing that can counter the power of creation. The grimoire Zero was creating had to act as a shield for him against the chaos energy from the void. Merlin's grimoire may be great but with only mana, it was weak and couldn't resist the overwhelming might of chaos energy in an attack.

Zero laughed nervously. He forgot that Merlin still doesn't know the plans he had for his unique magic. The young doctor had only explained it to Buddha but his teacher was still in the dark. "How about I tell you more about it over lunch? Bib picked up some really good things today."

Merlin agreed and invited Buddha to the kitchen where the Enlightened One enjoyed a vegetarian meal. The chefs of La Boutique certainly lived up to their names. He'd never tasted a tastier vegetable soup back on Nirvana. Even Hua Tuo's broth paled in comparison.

Merlin listened as Zero explained his idea for the new magic carefully. The teen didn't seem to be missing out on anything and that made Merlin proud to have such a diligent student. Zero must have finished reading all the books in his library and understood their concepts before he formulated such a complicated type of magic.

"I understand now. No wonder you require materials from those two trees. Indeed, I heard that your weapon will also be crafted using those two trees. Might as well start with that. However, I cannot allow you to go to Titan Cliff by yourself. If your theory about chaos energy is correct, they would be targeting you first because you are technically hollow."

Zero flinched. He didn't like being described as hollow but it was true. His vessel didn't possess even an ounce of mana or qi, the chaos energy would find him the easiest to target and devour.

"One of the Great Gods must accompany you. Of course, I will be there but it would be even better if Buddha can come along. A combined wall of mana and qi is the strongest as seen from the experiment the other day. Great Gods have the natural ability to resist chaos energy so they should be able to buy time for you if you get attacked. I need you to promise me that you will evacuate the area immediately if the chaos energy starts attacking. Retreat to the lamp and meet up with us somewhere nearby. If you cannot agree to this, I will not allow you to visit Titan Cliff."

Merlin looked very serious and Zero had no choice but to agree.

With that settled, the wizard asked about Zero's plans to deal with the three divine sister's quest. According to the magician, Garden Eden has been withering and weakening with the lack of mana. The Tree of Knowledge could not be easily revived using conventional means. There was also a snake guarding the garden that Zero needed to pass. Even with Gaia's permission to enter, the snake guardian might not allow Zero to get close to its favourite tree.

"If we can redirect water from the Spring of Vitality to Garden Eden, will it help revive the Tree of Knowledge?" Zero asked.

Buddha hummed. "It is possible but there might be parties who will be unhappy with that."

The young doctor laughed. "Hell? I don't think they have any reason to be unhappy. After all, if the Spring of Vitality is easily accessible in Heaven, no angels would have any real reason to visit the Spring of Vitality and disturb the mana lotus farm. There will be no fights over territory. Not to mention, Earth has already done this."

"Earth?" Merlin looked confused.

Zero grinned. "Half Moon Village has one. It's the only reason why I can grow all sorts of strange herbs there for my medical use. Nobody said anything about it so this should be alright. The Spring of Vitality wouldn't run out so easily. As long as the cycle of souls is maintained well in the Purgatory, it will continue to flow."

"If there is nothing else, can I start sending a reply to the invitation to the House of Gods?" Buddha asked.

Merlin nodded and Zero agreed. In a few days, they will be meeting the Great Gods involved at the House of Great Gods. Zero was slightly excited to be able to see them again in person. Gaia, Hades, Isis and Freya will be present on Zero's request. 

After a hearty lunch and seeing Buddha off, Zero sat down with Merlin to explain what he wanted to do before the meeting.

Merlin listened carefully and raised a brow. "I can understand needing to see Hades, Gaia and Freya. But why do you need to go to the Pharaoh's Crypt? Isis might be nice to you but she is very strict with the records there. It's not something we should mess with."

Zero nodded. "I know. However, there is something that I must confirm. Swift told me that I can only find information from there. It's regarding the Great One. Ever since I created the Parallel Minds, I understood some things and have my suspicions. It's just a trip to clarify my doubts. Not even Queen Shittomi, the best information broker, can get the information and the Pharoah's Crypt is the only place I can think of that can answer my questions."

The magician felt uneasy. Was Zero really going to visit it? He didn't think that Isis would permit it but it was not his decision to make. "I won't stop you," he told his student. "However, I will advise you to proceed with caution. You have no idea how many secrets the Goddess of Time likes to hide. It isn't just a Restricted Library, that place controls the fate of worlds that we can and cannot see."

Zero smiled. "Thank you, sir. I won't change anything there, it's just to clarify my doubts. If my fears are confirmed, I think we will have more to worry about than saving Heaven and sealing Titan Cliff."

The wizard shook his head. "If you are talking about the end of the world then don't. It's going to have to happen one way or another. That's the cycle of life, we might be able to postpone it but not avoid it forever."

As the wizard stretched and yawned before excusing himself, Zero frowned. His teacher's last advice didn't seem to sit right with him. If anything, Zero disagreed by how accepting Merlin was of doomsday. He could accept that life has to come to an end. However, creation was something that was decided by Solo and up to Zero to decide the ending. If Zero didn't want it to end, how can the world possibly cease to exist one day?

No, Zero decided that the day wouldn't come. He didn't want to allow it. Wasn't that why he chose to master recreation magic? If he could help to patch the holes in creation and make it better, there was no need to dispose of anything. 

Zero looked back at his notes. The Tree of Knowledge was something Zero felt would hold the final hint for him to understand how Solo created the world. As of now, the teen still hasn't found a way to understand how planes are able to continuously resist chaos energy that attacked it. A plane didn't have constant mana and qi to protect it. It was vulnerable to attacks but never faltered. Man-made planes like Nirvana and Arabesque were able to hold their own against the chaos energy's attacks simply because the master of these planes were blessed with literally unlimited qi and mana to resist it. Ordinary Gods wouldn't last which was why many chose to build personal dimensions using a plane instead of building personal planes.

Zero also had doubts about the Tree of Knowledge's cause of withering. He asked Cleo and Latitia about the behaviours of magical plants. Magical plants are like normal plants who only feed on water, soil nutrients and sunlight. They produce mana or life energy when given the right conditions and are strengthened further when given mana to form a monster crustal. During his appraisal, Zero understood that this monster crystal was a small soul fragment in development. When the monster crystal reaches a certain level, they become a mana core. At that stage, it could be considered a cultivated soul which can bring life to a different vessel using alchemy. However, this Tree of Knowledge didn't have any soul fragments or cultivated soul even after feeding on mana for so long. It was no ordinary magical plant. Zero highly doubt that its withering is caused by the lack of mana. If anything, the Tree of Knowledge might be Heaven's plane guardian.

Chapter end