Ball of Nothing

Zero didn't know why he was suddenly allowed to go off and play. In fact, now that he had so much free time, the young doctor didn't know what he wanted to start with first. There was a long list of things he wanted to do by himself without the strict supervision of the adults but he looked at his assistants in the mindscape. Neither of them was free to entertain him. Zero vaguely entertained the idea of travelling back to Half Moon Village but then dismissed the idea quickly. It would be the same all over again. There would be adults and it wasn't easy for Zero to have such opportunities to be truly alone.

With that, the boy decided to let his feet take him to wherever it wanted to go. Mindlessly, Zero ambled through the familiar forest grounds of Endow Hill.

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Back in the hut, Hua Tuo and Ruth sat crossed-legged on the floor. They put their heads together to demystify the cryptic messages translated by Bob. Sure, Hua Tuo understood some of what the book was saying. After all, it came from his old world where Chinese philosophy ran strong in the blood of all Chinese. The mysterious art was a strange modified form of the old martial art called Tai Ji, fashioned after Hua Tuo's qi gong foundation.

Ruth was amazed by how quick they were able to decipher the martial arts manual with Hua Tuo's involvement. The vampire was initially sceptical about enlisting the Sage God's help because the doctor wasn't exactly a combat expert. However, he was also at a stalemate with the final puzzle at the end. The physician knew a lot of meditation so Ruth allowed Hua Tuo to join in with the decryption process.

It was strange how Hua Tuo was able to look at the translated text and match it with the moves it portrayed without even referring to the reference guide that Ruth had prepared. The Roth vampire had spent hours trying to understand which phrase of the meditation state belonged to which moves. It wasn't always very clear what the phrase was referring to. However, if Ruth had to describe it, the phrases were often captions for the movements portrayed. For example, the shifting of centrifugal force from the attacker to counter their offensive strike was captioned "Receive and transfer the received gift". The Roth vampire could understand why such a caption would be formed but for the more elusive ones like "Hiding a knife behind a smile'', the magic-combat teacher was lost.

On the other hand, Hua Tuo couldn't believe that although the Chinese from the old Earth were extinct, their teachings remained. It was even more surprising that they lived on through the teachings of weaker demons in the abyss. The marsupial demons were known to be small and weak but they never lost against the bigger and stronger opponents. Many could not understand how they did it but Hua Tuo knew. Back in those days, Hua Tuo knew how the Chinese fought against terrifying weapons made from gunpowder with their bare hands. The God of War during his time cut down enemies from horseback using his reclining moon blade spear. That terrifying human defied cannons, flaming arrows and guns without a shield. His name was Guan Yu.

That strong general instilled the bravery that weak Chinese lacked and they formed an art based on the wisdom of Confucius' teachings. Martial Arts were birthed based on philosophy. Scholars of the old were famous for both their wits and martial skills. Without both, one would only be labelled as a brute or empty-headed academic. Hua Tuo also lived through the age of pugilists where martial arts were created by different philosophies found. Some hermits created weird arts that only they could practice. Ou Yang Feng was one such renowned recluse who specialised in the philosophy of "countering poison with poison" and formed the Toad Skill martial art.

With his rich life experience, it wasn't very difficult for Hua Tuo to identify what the meditation scripture was for. While the physician hasn't seen a real martial art manual even in his earlier days, he knew that there were two types of manuals. The first type was for external arts where a person practices it according to the illustrations and become stronger physically. However, for many skilled pugilists, they were only third-rated books. The true masters were able to comprehend martial arts through their philosophy.

A good example was the Nine Yin True Classic. That was a powerful skill cultivated wrongly by Mei Chaofeng by the wrong understanding of the arts. While the practitioner was able to master the skill, the wrong application and practice with her beliefs turned it into something sinister. The original Nine Yin True Classic was a virtuous martial art built upon Budha's teachings. However, with Mei Chaofeng's hatred in her heart, she was unable to fully master the manual's true intent to balance out the nine uses of yin qi against the yang qi produced by the nature of living humans. With that, Mei Chaofeng wrongly mastered the art and turned into a fearsome cultivator who increased her powers by killing countless people. The twisted art was then known as the Nine Yin White Bone Claw.

Hua Tuo was thankful that Zero hasn't started cultivating the manual on his own. Amon was right to advise Zero against doing so. The physician knew that his student was very wise but some of the philosophy written in the Tai Ji manual made Hua Tuo hesitate with their interpretation. The physician would require more time to understand the depth of this philosopher's mind before he could be certain of what it meant.

While Hua Tuo worked diligently, scrutinising each line for an accurate interpretation, Ruth tried the movements out and thought about his student. Zero wasn't going to be growing much taller because the vampire heard about the limitations of his created vessel from the physician. Gaia was careful to make the body stagnant. That means Zero would eternally appear like a teenager.

Standing at about five feet tall, Zero was about as tall as the marsupials who once practised the combat art with some exceptions. Those marsupials had an extra limb that Zero did not have. They included tail whips into their routine and had shorter arms with extremely powerful hind legs. The Roth vampire found it ridiculous to follow the book step by step.

"Doctor," Ruth called out as he paused at yet another move. "Can we change this move here? They're using the tail weight to shift their weights and throw the enemy off in two directions. Unless Zero grows a tail, it can't be done."

Hua Tuo looked up from his transcribing work and nodded. "What do you want to change it to? The text for this move is "Steady and firm like the roots but flexible like the branches swaying in the wind". I don't see a problem with the philosophy but you can't remove the footwork."

Ruth frowned in deep thoughts. Even with Hua Tuo's identification of the texts, Ruth still had problems comprehending the meaning behind the words. For a magic-combatant, mobility and power were what concluded the fight. Instincts and skills were other factors but that was about it. Vampires played fewer mind-games when fighting because they didn't need it. Their speed, instincts and senses were superior to a lot of other species.

Hua Tuo looked at Ruth's troubled expression and studied the diagram.

"How would it look like if you did it without the tail without modification?" he asked.

The Roth vampire put the book down and got into position. His legs were shoulder-width apart and he explained that a tail should be adding weight to the back while he bent one knee forward in a lunging position, preparing to twist his waist while grabbing two enemies attacking from both ends to throw them opposite sides.

"In some cases, the flexibility of the practitioner and the shorter height advantage allows them to bend their waist backwards like a windmill to throw their enemies in a wider circle. However, the legs will not leave this half-bent position on one knee. The tail is meant to support the lack of support on the straightened leg and pull the weight back if the attacker's force is greater than what the force of standing still is. More often than not, the weight of the enemy plays a huge factor."

Hua Tuo nodded as Ruth explained how the gravity will interfere with how the marsupials will apply this move with the following move combination.

"We have five options from here depending on how the situation plays out," he told the physician with a heavy sigh. "The tail can trip the enemies after throwing them off balance, help the marsupial swing over their enemies and use that momentum to throw them over by their necks, help them avoid a knife slash from the horizontal field by falling back onto their coiled tails making them less than a foot tall in height, use it to hit someone in the groin or go for a hind kick feint and tail whip combo."

The physician nodded. He had to hand it to the marsupial demons. They were clearly witty and had good reflexes. No wonder the larger and more powerful demons often couldn't win them. The only limitations these small demons had was stamina. From what the Sage God knew, they were wiped out in a war against a clan with larger numbers. It was truly a shame. Hua Tuo felt that if this art was taught to many, the level of martial arts will once again reach the golden age back in the days of the first Earth.

"I understand now. It is indeed frustrating. With only two hands and two legs, Zero's options are limited. You have the same number of limbs as Zero. What would you propose if it were you?"

Ruth sighed and sat down. "I don't really know. This method of fighting is very different from what I was raised with. We Roth vampires prided ourselves in instincts and speed. You could compare our fighting style with assassination. It's usually swift and precise. There are no real wasted movements or compromises. We deliver one-hit kills if possible and if it doesn't work, we edge into the enemy's space as much as possible attacking all openings. It's the reason why we are famous as close-combat fighters."

Hua Tuo took a look at the diagrams drawn. Indeed. The martial arts manual was something more for mid-range combat than close-range combat. There weren't many close-combat skills but the physician found the few skills written in the manual interesting.

"How about this?" he pointed at a different page. That was a joint locking technique and Hua Tuo was impressed by how advanced their anatomy knowledge was to create such an effective lock hold.

Ruth took a look at it and raised a brow. "How does this work? I've never done it before in my entire life. Also, the image looks complicated. How can we execute this is a high-paced brawl?"

Hua Tuo hummed. He wasn't very experienced with combat either but if it was simply getting into position, Hua Tuo would be able to demonstrate. This was something like chiropractic therapy. The art of bone setting existed long before he became a doctor. Locking techniques were rather similar.

"I could demonstrate how it should be applied if you'd like to know how it works," Hua Tuo offered.

Ruth took a look at the diagram and sighed. "Sure. I don't know what to do so you'll have to guide me."

Hua Tuo grinned. Without reservations, the physician coerced the vampire who was beginning to regret his decision.

Mitchnew arrived at the hut and was pleasantly surprised by the sight of two men playing wrestling at their age. Ruth didn't look like he was doing too well with how he was yelping in pain at that immobilising lock hold.

"Am I interrupting something?" the dark elf asked as she put her bag down.

Hua Tuo released Ruth who immediately went slack and groaned on the floor.

"Hello Mitchnew, it's still rather early. We are not quite done with lunch preparations yet. Would you like to help Ruth with his work? We're currently exploring a new martial art book. I've put all the translated text for the meditation portion to the movements but the moves need modification before Zero can start practising them."

The ex-assassin became interested at the mention of a martial arts manual. She only heard of those books but they were usually a collector's item. For a trained fighter like her, she wanted to know how cultivators fought without magic.

"Sure," she smiled and joined Ruth as Hua Tuo excused himself to get started on lunch preparations. He didn't know where his apprentice had gone but he wasn't worried. Zero would return as soon as his stomach started protesting. The physician would bet his sanity on that.