Ball of Nothing

It wasn't very difficult to locate the library. In fact, there were many students heading towards it too. Zero didn't know that it was such a popular spot and was slightly concerned about being able to find his target with so many demons around.

The library was a very grand looking building, only second to the atrium. In fact, it was located conveniently behind the atrium and beside the garden. Zero wondered why the gardener thought it was a good idea to design high thorny hedges in a way that led people deeper into it only to be met with no place to go. Zero did find the idea of putting small fountains, trees and benches in those places to nowhere really cool. He just didn't think it would be very convenient to walk out of such a place with some of those hedges constantly shifting positions. The thorny bushes were alive after all, ready to snag some unsuspecting people's ankles for a tasty sip of blood.

Yes, Zero recognised them now. They were definitely blood vines, an extension from a blood willow. The blood willow was a tree that survived by feeding on blood. As terrifying as it sounded, there was one good thing about this tree. It was a guardian tree that protects the territory of its owner. If Zero wasn't mistaken, the owner of this blood willow had to be Lucifer. He knew that this tree existed somewhere on the campus away from sight because it grew underground. Judging by the mobility of these thorny roots, Zero wouldn't be very surprised that this tree guarded the perimeter of the Academy grounds. Lucifer had very good security against uninvited intruders on the ground. He just wondered what sort of precautions Lucifer had against aerial opponents.

Zero was climbing up the fifth level on this long spiral stairs and wondered why the library's entrance was located on the very top floor of the building. Weren't building entrances usually located on the ground level for easy access? This magnificent architecture had eight levels to it too! Why couldn't they make life easier by introducing a teleportation gate if they were going to put the entrance on the top floor?

Zero reached the eighth level and huffed. It wasn't a tough climb up but it certainly was unnecessary. Zero wondered if he could introduce Raj's invention for the pulley system to Lucifer. That would make accessing the library a lot easier. Heck, it could help save precious time too!

Without waiting for any longer, the teenager pushed open to huge double doors and was taken aback by the luxurious interior. There were rows of books neatly aligned on the shelves mounted onto the wall. Zero expected the entire space to be filled with piles and stacks of books lying everywhere but the library was more spacious than he expected. Either Truen was lying about libraries or Merlin's personal library simply differed from the norm.

Zero walked in and marvelled at how organised everything was. He walked past the lavish single-seated couches and made a beeline to the nearest bookshelf. There was nobody else in the library and Zero wondered where everyone else had gone. There were many students making their way over to the library earlier, where did everyone disappear to?

The first book that caught his attention had a red spine. Zero reached for it and was startled when the book shot a fireball at him. The fireball dissipated in the air but Zero's eyes were as wide as plates. Baal wasn't lying when he said that everything in the Abyss was dangerous. Truen never told him that books were capable of attacking people!

There was a low chuckle behind him and Zero jumped.

"Don't do that, I'm not sneaking up on anyone. Just thought that you might drop by someday so I invited you over to the restricted section of the library. How did you like the climb all the way to the top? This place has one of the best views you can find in the Academy other than the bell tower."

Zero blinked. "It's you!"

Olaf did a little bow and Zero wondered why a teacher would bow to a student like him. Wasn't it usually the opposite? That made the young doctor slightly confused.

"Indeed it is," the librarian smiled. "How would you like some tea? I have moonlight citrus and Poxie blended tea."

Zero raised a brow. "I thought Poxie fruits were dangerous?"

Olaf laughed at that. "Indeed, they are. However, their leaves make the most fantastic fragrant teas in the Abyss. It's the only reason why we grow them in the greenhouse."

Zero hummed and followed Olaf's lead to what looked like the librarian's office. It was a spacious room with french windows behind his overly large desk. Unlike Baal's desk, Olaf had hardly anything on his table. Other than a sign that indicated his name and position, there was only a pen holder with a feather pen in it.

"I'm very glad you decided to visit the library, I heard a lot about you from Lord Baal and have been eager to spend some time alone with you like this."

Zero took a sit and watched Olaf pour him some of that fragrant tea. "Why is the entrance to the library located right at the top? Wouldn't making an entrance on the ground level be easier?"

Olaf settled the cup of steaming tea before his guests and took a seat. "That is true. There is an entrance located on the ground level for ordinary students. As the keeper of the library, I can manipulate it to my will. Forgive me if I made you suffer getting here. I just really wanted to talk to the person who smelled so similar to an old friend I thought I would never see again."

Old friend? Zero was confused. He didn't know Olaf at all, they only met yesterday.

Seeing the confused look on Zero's face, the dragon-demon smiled. "No, I know that you are not him. We've never met before but for some reason, I smell him on you. You might be in possession of something that belongs to him and I am curious about how you met him. Some know him as the Eternal Dragon but I don't know what humans know him as now. Last I heard, he was assigned the job as the Keeper of Endow Hill back on Earth."

"That would be me," Bob told Zero through their mental connection.

"You know him?" Zero was surprised. Come to think about it, there was hardly anything he knew about the Eternal Dragon apart from the kind of food he loved. Five-Plume Pheasants are Bob's favourite and he likes them roasted with Cleo's unique spice powder.

Olaf gave Zero a lottery-winning smile. "I knew it! Tell me, how did you meet? Is he doing well?"

"Actually..." Zero hesitated if he should let Olaf know that his friend was right here with him in his care. Bob isn't exactly in top form so he didn't know if this piece of news would upset the dragon-demon.

"Let me handle it," Bob offered and Zero relented control.

"It's good to see you again, friend..." Bob said and projected an image of himself. That startled Olaf greatly and he dropped the teacup in his hand, sloshing the contents all over his table. Zero was glad there weren't any documents of importance on that desk or it would be severely ruined.

Olaf looked shaken to see Bob. The Eternal Dragon reincarnate didn't seem fazed at that dramatic reaction. In fact, Zero had never seen Bob looking calmer than he did right now.

"Relic... is that really you?"

"My name is Bobbinskrier now, it's been a long time old friend. How have you been doing?"

The librarian held back tears and swallowed thickly. "I didn't think that we would ever meet again... not in circumstances like this either. Tell me, how has life been treating you?"

Bob laughed fondly. "Not too bad. I met a strong master that I would like to travel with. Honestly, if not for what happened recently, I would never have been able to leave Endow Hill."

Zero felt awkward watching the two friends talk. He wished that he could occupy himself with something else while they caught up on old times. The only small problem was that he couldn't exactly stray too far from Bob who relied on him to materialise.

The Eternal Dragon read Zero's thoughts and turned to him. "It's alright, I can use my magic reserves to hold this form on my own for about an hour. You should go on ahead, master."

Olaf gave Zero a few words of advice including to always put up a magical barrier when dealing with temperamental books. There were books in the forbidden section that Olaf banned Zero from visiting as they were too dangerous for even for a dragon-demon like him to handle. He made the young doctor promise not to go near the sanctioned out area before giving Zero the librarian's key.

The first thing Zero did when he got the key was to explore the other doors he saw. Surely one of them would lead him to the third floor. The teenager hadn't forgotten about his mission. Sure, meeting Olaf was interesting but if there was anything he learnt from Coux, it would be the ability to fully utilise the time he had. Time management was a very useful skill to master.

"Mii, is there a way to know which door would take us to the third floor? Also, would you happen to know where Rayneld is?"

The strawcherry fairy reappeared in Zero's mindscape. She pulled out the map in parchment form and Zero didn't regret letting her design the interior of their mindscape library. It was amusing how the map magic was usually similar to the app on the communicator. Sometimes, Zero would pull the communicator out just to hide the fact that he had a unique skill and blend in a little more. Mii was different. She simply loved the rustic look of ancient tools and bridged the gap of their limitations using some magic and a lot of imagination.

"Well, according to the layout of what we know, this place doesn't exist. It's not a magic that you would know either although it can be very similar to the lamp that Zeus gave you. I guess the only way to find out is to go through every door till we find it. Olaf did give us the key after all..."

Zero hummed. It sounded like a huge waste of time but this was certainly better than sitting in on the conversation of two friends who had a lot to catch up on. "Do we not know where Rayneld is now?"

Mii shrugged and put the map away. "No, we do not know his magical signature yet. It's not something that the report can include. I can only place a tracker on him after identifying him in person. You'll still have to do most of the grunt work."

Zero sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. Seeing that he only had a week to find a solid lead and that a day had already gone by, the teenager was beginning to feel the pressure. Baal and Lucifer's success greatly depended on Beelzebub and his findings. Beelzebub was already onto something with Jeremiah. Zero didn't want to waste time by chasing the same suspect and miss out on the other. He trusted the Demon Lord to be able to take care of himself despite the injuries he received from last night.

"Where is Beel?"

"Still in the room. I think he's sleeping now if anything... he didn't return at all last night," Mii replied and Zero nodded. At least Beel was safe. Thank goodness for the tracking function.

"Do let me know if he's making his move. Let's try to get Rayneld in our map today."

His assistant rolled her eyes when Zero wasn't looking. As if he needed to tell her that. "Just get going already," she snapped and promptly faded back into the back of Zero's mind.

Zero giggled. Despite maturing himself, Mii hasn't really changed much at all in terms of personality. It didn't matter. He was happy with how things were. Zero took a look at the ten doors and wondered why there were ten of them when there were only eight levels. Even if one belonged to the forbidden section of the library, there should only be nine doors...

"Oh well," he shrugged. "Here goes nothing!"

The key was jabbed into the third door from his right and Zero yelped when he felt a strong force pulling him away into the door against his will. If he was worried about having to climb long and sufferable flights of stairs, he no longer had to.

The only thing that crossed Zero's mind as he was falling through space was why hadn't Olaf put teleportation gates when he first invited him to the restricted level of the library?