Ball of Nothing

After a hearty breakfast that Zero found pleasing despite the simplicity of it, the trio set off to Amon's domain. Along the way, Zero found himself getting drawn into the stories that Sekkin shared. The teenager became starry-eyed when the spider demon shared with him about the manly training regimes under Amon's tutelage. Baal was bored of such tiring details so he chose to nap instead.

Zero didn't realise it until they left Lilith's domain and sulked. He wanted to check out the town but was too distracted by Sekkin's tales that he missed it. By now, the scenery was changing to something less beautiful and more hardboiled. The lush landscape was transforming into cracked and dry soil. In fact, the climate felt hotter as they closed in on Amon's region. Zero felt sluggish under the heat and Baal's quality of sleep declined when the heat became almost unbearable in the carriage.

"How do you tolerate this heat?" Zero asked and fanned himself with his hand.

Sekkin smiled serenely. "This is mental training," he explained and Baal who had woken up deadpanned.

"Mental torture if you asked me," the Lord of Sloth sulked. Unable to take any more of this nonsense, Baal cast a magic barrier around the carriage that regulated the temperature. Zero almost let out a sigh of relief but caught himself just in time. He didn't want to appear rude in front of Sekkin who took Amon's training very seriously. Being a warrior must be tough if they had to practice under this ridiculous heat every day.

Amon's castle was nothing like Zero had imagined. If he thought Baal's castle was the worst among all the Demon Lords, he apologised after seeing the state of Amon's castle. The castle... no, the fortress was very rundown. The walls were cracked and didn't deter anyone from attacking it. Some parts of stone crumbled away so badly that a monster could easily pass through the gap. the gate was always open because the drawbridge didn't work. The moat was dried up so anyone could simply jump into it and climb up. Why the fortress even existed when nobody bothered to care for it puzzled Zero greatly.

Amon's appearance here in the castle made Zero's mind go blank. The Demon Lord was almost naked save for the loincloth he wore. He was sweating heavily under the heat and looked ten times scarier than Zero knew him to be.

"Come at me! Is that all you can do? Stop swinging the sword like a twig and do some damage for once!"

Zero cringed at the sheer volume of the hard-boiled warrior lord. Baal raised his hand perpendicular to the Demon Lord of Wrath and yawned. A mid-tier barrage of mana arrows was fired straight into Amon's direction. Zero's eyes went wide with horror. He was going to shout at Amon to duck when the warrior blew them away with a mighty swing.

The powerful swing of Amon's broadsword sent Zero flying through the air literally. The young doctor wasn't expecting for the wind to lift his feet off the ground and tumbled to the ground painfully. Baal didn't bother with a graceful landing and ended up crashing into the wall behind Zero. Sekkin was smarter and shot a rope of web to the nearest fixture, securing his foothold on top of a broken pillar.

Amon threw his head back and laughed heartily while his guests brushed the dust from their clothes. Zero went to check on Baal who complained about a creak in his neck after the magnificent crash.

"Good sneak attack but not good enough from me! Have you finally decided to abandon the lazy ways of a mage and join me in the battle of muscles?"

Baal deadpanned. Of all the Demon Lords, Amon was the one he found most annoying to deal with. The battle hungry idiot always found a way to rub him the wrong way. Although Amon was far from dumb, the Demon Lord never bothered to exercise his intellect unless absolutely necessary. If given the option, Amon would always choose to resolve the problem with sheer force.

His motto? If something isn't working then you're not using enough force.

"No, I'm not interested. I'm only an escort this time," Baal replied monotonously.

Amon didn't take offence to the disinterested tone. Instead, he redirected his interest to the young thing beside Baal.

"So we finally have a chance for a heart to heart talk. I've heard much about your accomplishments, young Zero. Come! Let us have a good talk in the castle."

Zero couldn't refuse and gave pleading eyes to Sekkin who only shook his head and told Zero to comply if he wanted things to be easier for him. Knowing Lord Amon, they would be spending the whole afternoon talking. The spider demon decided to prepare Lord Baal and Zero's rooms while Lord Amon entertained his guests. As dilapidated as the fortress looked, there actually was a decent living quarter. Outside appearances can be deceiving especially if one didn't know the history of the fortress.

"So, tell me more about yourself. I've heard a few things from the snow woman but I'm deeply intrigued to hear them from you," Amon smiled.

Zero thought that Amon was a fairly friendly person when he wasn't battling and lowered his guard. He returned the smile and introduced himself as best as he could. Baal followed behind them without speaking. He was curious to know what Amon wanted to gift Zero. Was it a weapon or something dangerous that could harm someone? Knowing the Demon Lord who was crazy about fighting, it was highly possible. That kind of gift wouldn't sit well with Zero and the thought made Baal slightly uncomfortable.

The Lord of Wrath cackled with laughter when Zero retold how he ended up in the abyss and what had transpired thus far.

"Sometimes I think that Gugu and Jevy are fighting in my head. Also, Mii might be overworked. Bob is still growing and I can't wait to learn magic combat from Ruth!"

The smile on Amon's face never disappeared. In fact, it widened when he heard how enthusiastic Zero was about learning combat.

"How would you like to learn some non-magic combat tricks? Seeing as we don't have much time before you have to leave, how about learning one of my most powerful escape techniques?"

Zero thought about it and nodded. It wouldn't hurt to learn new things. Although he was strong, there might be people stronger than him and he might find himself needing to escape.

"Sure!" he beamed and Amon went straight into teaching mode.

Sekkin was fairly surprised to see the Demon Lord demonstrating some of the most obscene moves to the innocent teen. He was more horrified to know that Baal was observing them from the side with great interest. Knowing the lazy Demon Lord, these 'techniques' would be put to no good uses. He wanted to run over and beg Lord Amon to undo what he did but at this point, not even Isis can salvage the situation. Zero was already mimicking Amon's actions much to the spider demon's horror.

Zero was disappointed. It didn't seem like a very powerful move. How could a few shabby kicks and stabs using fingers render a person immobile for him to be able to run? Surely Amon was joking...

"Am I doing it right?"

Lord Amon looked at Zero's stance and nodded with pride. Zero was a fast learner and showed promise of becoming a great warrior. Alas, he wasn't Amon's student. If he was, the Lord of Wrath would have imparted the dirtier methods of street brawling and market scuffling.

"You're doing very well, young Zero. I am impressed by your progress. Remember, in order for this trick to work you must locate the right point."

Zero nodded. Studying acupressure points from Hua Tuo had never been more useful. However, Zero didn't know that Hua Tuo's knowledge on the humanoid anatomy was lacking. He knew that eyes and anything exposed were sensitive spots for any living creature. Zero didn't know that all humanoid males had another vulnerable place that could be exploited. It was very interesting and Baal had termed it the "nether region". The teenager couldn't understand why it was so vulnerable but he learned quickly what he was taught.

"Yes, that's the right pose. Now once you find it you must kick them hard with all your might! The harder you do it, the longer they are rendered immobile. In some cases, you might even be able to knock them out while you make your escape. Don't forget to distract them by aiming for their eyes. No, don't straighten your fingers when you try and stab them. You might break your delicate fingers if they have hard eyeballs. Curve them so that your nails will exert a greater pressure for easier penetration. That's right! It's perfect!"

Sekkin wanted to cry. What kind of creature had stones for eyeballs that Amon needed to be so vicious? Also, it was mentally traumatic to see the Demon Lord corrupt the youth with his less gentlemanly knowledge.

"Remember, in front of an enemy there are no rules. The winner takes it all so don't give them a chance to retaliate or gain an advantage over you. You need to attack any weak spots you see without holding back or you'll be in trouble. I know that you're a doctor and killing goes against your principles so I taught you the ways only to immobilise them temporarily but not permanently."

Zero nodded, unsure if he should believe Amon and practice what he was taught. Then, Amon spotted Sekkin and decided that a live demonstration would help Zero understand better. Sekkin who sensed Amon's evil thoughts paled and tried to make his escape. Unfortunately, he was three steps too slow and the Lord of Wrath dragged him over.

After the short but impactful demonstration, Zero rushed over to Sekkin immediately who was bent over in half from the excruciating pain. Although Mitchnew and he had made the decision to never want children of their own, it didn't mean he was willing to let his manhood become a sacrifice for the sake of uncouth education.

Zero was mentally shaken. He'd never seen a tough warrior, especially with such a strong will like Sekkin, contort with so much pain. Amon even went easy on him and used not even a hundredth of his full strength but the results spoke for itself. Zero was utterly convinced that this was a useful technique and stored the knowledge away for future use. He would certainly be practising it when he got back to Endow Hill.

Sekkin felt the healing magic do its thing and the cold sweat that soaked through his clothes felt clammy on his skin. Colour slowly returned to his face and the spider demon felt as if what happened before was simply a cruel nightmare. Zero was a very talented healer and the spider demon felt better than he did before.

Amon watched the small teen weave his healing art and wondered if that book in his library would be beneficial to him. It was an ancient picture book with some very weird looking martial arts that Amon couldn't understand. He tried practising it initially but found that it wasn't very suited for him. To the Demon Lord, it felt more like a dance that was completely unsuitable for combat. Still, if it existed in the ruins, it must have been rather valuable.

The progenitors of this strange art were beastfolk shamans who could communicate with spirits from the Natural Plane. They drew very simple pictures illustrating how this strange combat worked and Amon didn't throw the book away despite how it seemed like a bunch of nonsense because he knew exactly how famous these beastfolks were when it came to combat prowess.

Most interestingly, the type of beastfolk who wrote the book were small marsupials. For the vertically challenged teen, it might be perfect. The only thing that made Amon hesitate was not knowing if Zero would practice it wrongly without a teacher to guide him for the more complicated parts at the end of the book. It involved meditation and from what he understood, Zero's meditation always brought a whole string of trouble.

Amon frowned, unsure of what he should do. Meanwhile, Baal observed the warrior with interest. He'd never seen Amon look so serious or be so quiet outside of battle. If anything, Baal would say that Amon looked troubled. Then again, it wasn't very surprising. Anything involving Zero is bound to be complicated, not because the boy was difficult to please but because of the people backing him from the shadows. He was only glad that his parting gift for Zero was not as complicated as what the other Demon Lords had prepared.