Ball of Nothing

Oblivious to Mitchnew's worries, Zero was having the time of his life. He'd been to the forest many times and had a very good map of the place. However, there were still many unmapped areas and Zero wanted to tackle everything. He had an hour to be back for lunch and that was plenty of time for the teen to do what he wanted.

The first place Zero found himself going to was the swamp in the forest. The last time he came here, it wasn't fully explored. Zero got sidetracked by the fireflies. This time, he wanted to map the entire forest accurately.

Apart from marking the entire forest of Endow Hill past the limits of what Hua Tuo normally allowed for hunting, Zero wanted to try to find out the source of the water coming from the three waterfalls. Hua Tuo said that it was a mystery because nobody succeeded in tracking down the origin of the mysterious water and that only made Zero more determined. As an adventurous soul, how could he not try to solve a mystery when it presented itself?

Mitchnew didn't know what Zero was thinking as she watched the app stall for a bit before recalculating Zero's position. The sudden jump in position a few hundred metres at a time could only mean one thing. Zero was teleporting again.

The dark elf tried to analyse Zero's movement pattern to understand what the brunet was doing to no avail. Her knowledge of the terrain on Endow Hill was extremely limited. They didn't explore more than what was needed. Hua Tuo was the only person residing so deep in the dangerous mountain despite the threat of a dragon looming above his head.

Zero hooted in exhilaration as he zipped past another vine, free-falling as he teleported upwards and targeting a new area to teleport to. This would be the closest he got to flying.

"You're not being mana-efficient," Bob reminded the teenager who giggled.

"Yes, sorry about that. I got too excited. What am I missing now?"

Mii studied the map that was slowly updating as Zero covered ground. "The forest is mostly covered apart from the underground caverns but I doubt you can do all of those today. Why don't we start heading to the Trigression Falls now? It's about twenty kilometres east of your current position."

Zero nodded and cast buff magic on himself. The young doctor readied himself for the launch and knelt down. The multi-layered buff magic worked well and Zero sent himself flying high above the clouds with a good jump.

Mii helped Zero quickly equip his squirrel onesie and the teenager glided over to the Falls gracefully, enjoying the wind in his face.

Even from the top, Zero still could not trace the source of water that was supplied to the Trigression Falls. Each waterfall also had its unique effects and Zero wondered if there was more than met the eye for things pertaining to Endow Hill. There weren't any streams or rapids leading to the waterfalls. If anything, Zero only saw barren cliffs above the deep spring where water was pouring into it. The spring had a unique shade of green, blue and white. There was also a permanent double rainbow above the spring making it look magical.

The young doctor didn't know if Hua Tuo was testing him when he told him to find the Trigression Falls. There was absolutely no road in and if Zero hadn't taken to the skies, he would never find it despite hearing the roaring of water.

"Where is the river? All I see is water pouring into the spring. Shouldn't it lead to some kind of river? Where does the water from the river behind shifu's house come from?"

Mii studied the Trigression Falls and also found that to be strange. It looked like an isolated valley in the middle of three huge cliffs with waterfalls pouring into it and unless someone climbs to the very top of the cliff to dive into it, nobody would find the secret spring.

"The water beneath that spring leads to another river and lake," Bob explained. "I've been here a few times in my past lives to recuperate from time to time. It's a hidden gem of Endow Hill, I'm surprised that your teacher even knows about it."

Zero hummed and prepared for his descend. This time, He changed into his swimming costume and felt very exposed.

"I think I should get a better swimming costume. It's freezing on the top and my butt is hanging out," the young doctor commented, making Bob laugh.

Zero was not ready for the bone-chilling coldness that almost made him incapable of moving when he plunged into the spring. The waterfalls were roaring so loudly that Zerto couldn't even hear himself think, much less concentrate on Mii and Bob's conversation.

Hua Tuo certainly wasn't joking when he told Zero not to start his training without supervision. It was dangerous and Zero almost forgot his purpose of coming over.

The teenager swam upwards and climbed up a slippery rock with the help of a friction buff. The rock had some algae and moss growing on it but it was surprisingly smooth. Now that Zero was out of the icy water, he was able to have a better look at the spring.

The spring wasn't very large. However, with three waterfalls, it had a lot going on at any one point of time.

Zero easily identified the Regression Falls because it was the only one with water clouds at the top and bubbles at the bottom. The edge of the spring was littered with some huge smooth-surfaced rocks like the one he was on. It didn't occur to Zero how strange it was as he hopped from one rock to another trying to find a good spot for his portal until the 'rock' he jumped on moved.

The boy slipped and slid to the side, digging his nails into the 'rock' but lost the battle and plunged into the icy water once more.

A shadow passed over Zero'shead and the teenager looked up. His eyes widened when something big was coming his way. With an emergency teleport, Zero put a good fifty metres of distance between him and the attacker. However, the sight from afar made Zero's jaw drop.

"Turtle?"

Bob laughed at Zero's confusion as he watched the animal swim away to rest beneath the Progression Falls.

"Yes, these turtles are the guardian of the Spring with unimaginable cultivation levels. They purify the water here in the Spring and maintain the harmony between the three waterfalls. Without them, the Spring would be destroyed with the strange nature of each individual water source."

Zero hummed. From beneath the water's surface, the roaring sounds of the waterfall was much less distracting. Zero was now able to see with his Dark Vision that turtles weren't the only living creatures in the water. There were tiny fishes, strange glowing bugs and even water sprites.

"Where is the underwater river that carries the water here down to the river by the water wheel?" Zero asked as he swam around after absorbing a random fish to gain its underwater breathing abilities.

"Nevermind, I know where it is now," Zero told Bob after the memories of the fish synced with his.

The brunet decided to head up to the surface and look for a good place to put his portal. He had a feeling that Hua Tuo sent him to scout for the location because he didn't want to spend four hours hiking to the location. The mystery of the underwater cavern and currents could wait for now. According to the fish's memory, there was also a bigger monster than the turtles on the surface lurking in the spring. Sadly, that didn't give the young doctor any hint about the Trigression Falls' origin. He would have to investigate that later.

Zero swam up to the surface and climbed on the turtle's back once more, cautious about their sudden movements this time. He adhered some sticky magic to the soles of his feet as he walked in search of a safe place to create a portal.

Zero inspected the perimeters and found a secret cave behind the Aggression Falls. It was small and damp but Zero had no problems with it. The brunet spent ten minutes making it homey with Mii's help.

The cave was washed with cleaning magic, lit with light magic lanterns and had its floors and walls altered to be smooth stone. Zero took it upon himself to add patterned engravings to the stone floor for 'anti-slip' effects. None of his friends questioned him and Zero looked satisfied with his work. He faced the wall furthest away from the falls and grabbed the flint he found earlier while cleaning the cave.

The portal circle was quickly drawn in five minutes and Zero decided to make some additions to the space surrounding the cave before he activated the portal magic. It wouldn't do good for the water outside to keep splashing into the cave and it could be annoying to have to hear the continuous sound of rushing water right from the beginning. Plus, it gets cold easily so Zero decided to make buff magic to resolve all that.

"Can I design the magic array to draw its powers from the water?" he asked Bob who nodded.

"You'd need to redesign this portion here and link it all the way out. Here, let me do this. You focus on lighting the place up a little more," the Eternal Dragon offered.

The trio worked quickly and efficiently, transforming the narrow cave into a welcoming one. If Freya was around to see it, she would think that they made home makeover artists. Proud of his work, Zero snapped a photo and sent it to his teacher. He also asked if there was anything Hua Tuo wanted to add to the cave and activated the portal.

Hua Tuo was still cooking and the text was seen by Mitchnew instead who raised a brow. The dark elf zoomed in to look at the interior designing. While it looked like a portal room, Mitchnew could tell that it wasn't so before. The interior looked unstable at best with soft earth making the parts of the ceiling.

(You might want to reinforce the ceiling and walls so it doesn't cave in when it rains. Soft earth does not make for good building materials.)

Zero looked at the text and blinked before checking the ceiling. True enough, there was soft earth and the young doctor texted back.

(Will reinforce them, thanks Mitchnew!)

When the ex-assassin saw the reply, she was mildly surprised. how did Zero know that it was her and not Hua Tuo who replied?

Puzzled but happy that Zero finally reached his destination, the dark elf continued to keep an eye. Ruth was still disassembling his catch and Hua Tuo was putting the final touches to his soup. Zero had better not be late because it was quite the feast both men were preparing. Even though the physician claimed to make Zero prepare lunch by himself if he failed, he didn't seem to have any intention to let Zero do any of the cooking. That was definitely an empty threat and Mitchnew couldn't help but feel amused.

She walked over to help set the table when Hua Tuo turned to her and asked about Zero's progress. Mitchnew told the physician that Zero had found the Trigression Falls and was setting base there.

"How did he know that it wasn't you texting?"

The Sage God only laughed and shook his head. "After the countless times Zero has destroyed my hut, do you think I'll be bothered by some dirt caving in? No! Of course not. If anything, I'd be concerned about his overdoing it with the magic. Besides, if he has the time to be building portal rooms, he might as well prepare a bridge for training under the falls. The 'rocks' aren't stable and he should have found out by now."

Mitchnew was clueless about what the physician was talking about but nodded anyway. Who knew that Hua Tuo had such a unique perspective about things? Just when the dark elf thought she was able to be on the same wavelength in terms of thought process, both student and master continue to surprise her by throwing her common sense to the void.

Still, she glanced at the time. Zero had only three more minutes before lunch. Ruth had completely forgone the traditional roasting method and skewered the pheasant on a sharp stick and fired it using fire magic.

Zero popped back into existence with long-distance teleportation just in time to see the pheasant getting a nice crisp on the outside.

"Smells delicious!" he proclaimed and Hua Tuo took that as a cue to start serving the noodle soup.