Ball of Nothing

Zero tumbled through the other side of the gate and landed with a heavy oof. He didn't know which part of the library that door-gate took him to but he knew for sure for a fact that the world he was seeing wasn't in the right orientation.

It took Zero a few clumsy attempts to right himself. Landing with his butt in the air on his back upside down while crashing into a wall isn't the best landing position. Zero adjusted a few kinks and tested his joints before studying the new area. This room didn't have any windows or furniture. It only had some light emitting crystals hanging from the ceiling and another door to his left, adjacent to the door he exited from. This new door didn't have keyholes so Zero put the key away into his inventory and opened it.

The teenager was mildly surprised to see students roaming around and seated on some of the provided desks. Zero didn't know which level he was on but the sight of students made him happy. At least there was some progress.

Nobody paid him any attention as he entered and Zero skittered around the side of the library trying to find any hints about his whereabouts. He pulled up the map in his head but didn't know what to make of it. All it told him was how he was in the library building but not the level he was on.

"Funny," he thought to himself. "Is the map broken?"

Zero tried to look out for any staff that might be on standby on this level but found none. Everywhere he looked, there were students he didn't know. It was strange that Zero couldn't find anyone from his class or from Beelzebub's class on this level. In fact, now that Zero had a closer look, the uniform they wore was slightly different too.

He was turning around when he bumped into someone.

"I'm sorry!" he squeaked when he noticed how he bumped into someone's chest. That demon had a furry chest and Zero had to crane his neck upwards. Zero didn't know if should run or apologise again after getting into trouble with a chimpanzar demon.

Instead of getting angry, the chimpanzar demon calmly stared at Zero.

"You seem lost. This is the second floor of the library meant for the regular stream students. If you're looking to go to the third floor of the library for special stream students like yourself, you should head to the lifting lobby."

Zero blinked. "Lifting lobby?"

The chimpanzar demon roared with laughter. "I'll take you there," he said and Zero thanked him. Who knew that there were nice demons around? Now, he wouldn't have to worry about getting lost with such a nice guide.

The library was massive! Zero ogled at the number of books and the rows of shelves along the floor in aisles. There was an area dedicated to writing and reading, an area for relaxing and a counter that students can check out the books they wanted to loan.

"Here we are," the chimpanzar demon smiled and Zero stared at the lifting lobby. It was a huge empty room with nothing but a runic circle on the floor.

"Thank you," he smiled at the good samaritan. The chimpanzar demon left and Zero stepped onto the magic circle.

"Now to figure out how to use this circle..." he frowned. It wasn't anything that Mii would help him with. Zero was stuck. Should he ask Bob who was with Olaf to know how to use the lifting lobby? While the brunet was contemplating, someone else entered the room.

The newcomer blinked at the sight of a strange teenager whose face he had never seen before muttering to himself while staring at the floor. While it wasn't common to see new students appear every now and then, this particular student was different. Even without looking at his face, he could tell that the brunet wasn't in the same class as the rest. He may rival Beelzebub the Demon Lord who was also known to be the most powerful student in the Academy.

"Is there anything you require help with?" a polite voice asked, breaking Zero away from his muttering.

He turned around and was about to thank the stranger for offering help when he saw a familiar face. The newcomer had blue skin, wild looking hair that was shaved on one side and the other covering his eye, multiple facial piercings and beautiful aquamarine eyes.

"Target encountered, I repeat. Target encountered! Abort mission, Zero!" Bob cried out in the young doctor's mindscape. Mii smacked the dragon over the head.

"Don't listen to this buffoon, carry on as planned. I've marked him on the map," the strawcherry fairy told Zero.

Rayneld was observing the transfer student with interest when Zero froze up for a second. It was almost as if Zero was cautious of him for a while. Also, another thing struck him as odd. He was almost certain that he'd seen this person somewhere before. If only he could remember where he saw this particular brunet...

"I was just wondering how to use this lifting lobby, could you teach me? I need to get to the third floor..."

Rayneld grinned. "Third floor huh... looks like you're in luck. I'm heading to the third floor as well so it's not a problem. Lifting lobbies only work when you have a special access pass. As a new student, I doubt you've received yours yet. All you really need to do is channel some mana into the pass and the lifting lobby will activate. You can select the level you wish to go by standing on the runic circles dedicated to the floor you wish to go. Of course, you'd have to be authorised to access them first otherwise, it wouldn't work. From the crest on your uniform, I think you'll be able to access just about any floors apart from the seventh and eighth."

Zero smiled and thanked the manta ray demon as they parted at the third floor. Rayneld didn't seem to suspect a thing so Zero allowed himself some time to calm himself down. Now that he made contact with his target, there was no real reason to continue associating with him and risk exposing his cover. He checked the map just in case and was satisfied to know that Rayneld was on it.

After checking the time and discovering that he had a good forty minutes or so left, Zero decided to check out the history section on the third floor. Surprisingly enough, the Academy focuses more on combat and magic classes. Etiquette, business and literacy were taught to only aristocratic. Also, there was one class that intrigued Zero. It was called human studies. Demons study all about humans from how they look, talk, act, feel and behave. naturally, this class is only available for the special class students that Zero happened to be part of.

"Do you think they have human study materials here?" Zero asked Mii in a low whisper, not wanting to attract attention.

The strawcherry fairy raised a brow. "Why do you want to read up on that? You can study about humans on Earth when you return."

Zero sighed. If only that was true. "Other than Karris and Wiser, hardly anyone else on Earth I know is human. Count Carrabas and his army do not count. besides, Wiser cannot be considered a healthy study subject. He's plenty of weird and Karris is very used to the way of life for those who aren't humans. I don't have any references. It's nice to prepare ahead of time so that I know what to anticipate when I begin my journey..."

Mii laughed. "So you think that the best place to start researching about humans would be from a library in the Abyss? You do realise that these books will be written from a demon's perspective for demons, right?"

Zero tilted his head. "What's wrong with that?"

Mii was speechless. Bob shook his head. "It means that many of those things wouldn't be as accurate as you would want them. It doesn't cover the more human aspects of being human. Demons only learn how to imitate human speech, manner, pattern and behaviour for the sake of blending in. They're not really trying to understand them."

Zero hummed. Despite that, Zero couldn't stop being curious. After all, some information no matter how inaccurate would be better than none right? As a doctor, he understood human biology. Hua Tuo was a subject matter expert. However, Zero wasn't satisfied with simply that. He heard some stories about how great humans were in the war from Baal. Despite being so fragile and almost powerless, Zero was intrigued to know that humans were the only species that defied against their natural disadvantage and triumphed over the odds.

"It would be nice to find out anything about them, really..." Zero shrugged and walked around trying to find something that might pique his interest.

After making a few rounds, the brunet felt disheartened. There was simply nothing Zero wanted to read. Bob had been correct. After flipping through the first five books in the human study section, Zero gave up finding anything useful. The apprentice simply couldn't understand why the preference of seductive clothing was crucial enough to be written in the book and the different styles of clothing humans in different regions wore were not as important in the mentions.

Feeling tired, Zero walked over to the resting area and found that all the seats were occupied. Disheartened, the brunet wandered around trying to find anywhere to rest.

Five minutes later, Zero found the perfect spot for a short nap before he had to return. There was an inner ledge on one of the huge tinted glass windows that made a cosy corner. Zero fell in love with it immediately and skipped straight towards it. He sat down on the ledge and brought his legs up before curling them close to his chest. The glass pane felt cool against his cheek and Zero decided to gaze outside once he was comfortable.

To his astonishment, the view was something that came out of a painting. Zero didn't know that such a beautiful place would exist in the Abyss. It was almost like a hidden paradise. If the terror-inspiring blood vine maze was something out of a nightmare, this garden full of cotton flowers would be something out from a fairy tale.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Zero jumped. He wasn't expecting anyone to talk to him.

"It's you!"

Rayneld smiled. "We meet again. I didn't think that you were the kind to play hooky and sleep in the library. Then again, first impressions aren't very accurate."

"Play hooky?"

Rayneld grinned and showed his rows of sharp teeth. There was a mischievous look in his eyes and Zero grew slightly wary when the model student sat on the same ledge and wrapped an arm around Zero's shoulders.

"Dark Age History lessons are ongoing right now. You're from Class-A, right? that means you're playing hooky seeing that you're not there."

Zero paled slightly and Rayneld laughed at that. "Don't be so frightened, it's not an uncommon thing. Besides, I think you could use a tour around the Academy. How about I show you some of my favourite spots? That garden you see there is off boundaries to students. Let's start from there, shall we?"

Zero wanted to protest. He had to retrieve Bob in fifteen minutes after all but the firm grip on his wrist didn't allow him to leave. Refusing Zero's refusal, the manta ray demon cheerfully led the stumbling brunet out of the library.

"Mii, Bob... help?" Zero pleaded.

His assistants only shrugged. There really wasn't much they could do about this now.

"Just don't give him a reason to suspect you, alright?" Bob said and Zero flinched.

That was something harder than not eating cake before dinner! Where were his friends when he needed them most?

"Bob, if you don't help me in the next fifteen minutes, you're on your own."

The Eternal Dragon wasn't fazed. "That's quite alright, master. Olaf here can help refuel my mana. It's no problem at all, do enjoy yourself and practice prudence!"

Zero couldn't say anything to counter that and cursed. he felt slightly bad for doing so when he thought about Isis and Freya. Fortunately, they weren't here.

"Do I really have to do this?" he asked himself. Why did the world hate him so much sometimes? Baal couldn't blame him if something happens now. He didn't seek trouble out... at least not this time.