Ball of Nothing

Today is the day that Zero was going to take the literal jump. It was an all or nothing gamble. If he failed, that would be the end of it.

Bob looked atMii feeling very uneasy. Their master was standing on top of a tall cliff on Endow Hill. That morning started off relatively normal with Hua Tuo going away for a few days for seclusion training. Zero was left to his own devices and it was good for a while.

The boy slept in and tended to the garden before hunting a little. Zero didn't have many things to play with and he had finished reading all the books Hua Tuo had. Bob and Mii were called out by the bored young master. They played some games for a while before Zero asked Bob where the tallest cliff was on Endow Hill. The trio went on a short hike and came to the current situation.

"Why did you have to answer him?!" Mii shrieked with the mental connection and Bob flinched. He didn't think that answering such an innocent question would bring them to this.

Zero grinned. Baal had taught Zero how to shapeshift and the young doctor had been practising a lot. He was able to maintain an alternative form after eating enough of that same kind of animal. Zero transformed into fishes and furry bears easily but he wasn't able to transform into rabbits or pheasants too well.

Zero knew that too well and for the past few weeks, he made careful pre-preparations for such an opportunity. Zero would often hunt birds whenever he could and Hua Tuo didn't suspect a thing because he was enjoying the change in diet choices. Bob and Mii were also slow on the uptake. Mii thought that she would understand her master's habits and train of thoughts by now but she was proven wrong once again. Bob tried to dissuade Zero from learning how to fly today.

Zero took a look at his assistance and grinned. "No. Actually, it would be better if you could teach me how to fly. I'm almost able to maintain transformed wings for a full minute now."

Mii took a look at Zero's 'wings' and shuddered. If Zero jumped with these mutated limbs he called wings, the boy wouldn't survive.

"Where are the feathers for the wings?" the strawcherry fairy asked and Zero laughed carefreely.

"What are you talking about? Bell didn't have feathers on his wings. It was more like a thin stretchy skin with a leathery feel."

Bob went up for a closer look. "Zero, this is fur. You're not going to be able to go air-borne like this."

Zero blinked. "But it helps with trapping air."

Bob unfurled his wings."This is what a wing should be like. Firstly, your bones structures are wrong. Secondly, your wing shape isn't wide enough for gliding and maintaining altitude. It has to be in an arc shape and longer than your entire height. Lastly, You must be able to flap them with enough strength to lift yourself up. Most avian creatures have hollow bones and weigh lighter so they can fly."

Zero took down notes and revised the structure of his wings with much difficulty. Mii watched Bob teach Zero about aerodynamics and the different methods of flying. As a strawcherry fairy, she was thankful that there weren't many different techniques. She activates fairy dust to propel the air currents beneath her wings and zip off. Still, she wasn't going to tell Zero that. After all, the boy was insistent on looking good with wings. She highly doubted that butterfly wings would suit Zero's artistic sense.

"I don't think I got this right..." Zero moaned.

Bob went around to snap a picture of the new design. "I think it's functioning now. All you have to do is remove the fur. There should be feathers and not fur if you don't want leathery skin."

The young doctor reluctantly removed the fur and was embarrassed by the pinkish colour of his wings. Bob tried his best not to laugh. Now he understood why Zero was so insistent on covering them up with black fur.

"Don't worry, what's important is being able to fly. How about adding some feathers to them? It can cover the colour up."

Zero sulked. "It takes too much energy trying to grow the feathers one by one. Who knew that after eating so many pheasants, I would take on the skin colour of pheasants after transforming... if I knew this would happen I would have hunted bats!"

Bob laughed nervously. He didn't know what bats tasted like but he wasn't that desperate to try them. Instead, the Eternal Dragon did his best to convince his master that he could practice with these wings first and worry about the aesthetics later.

Thankfully, Zero listened to the advice and practised launching off on the clifftop instead of jumping off it. With the new wings, Zero found it exhausting to hold onto the transformation. The boys took frequent breaks to recover strength. Zero found it exhilarating when his feet left the ground successfully for more than three seconds the first time it happened. The feeling of not standing on anything was a little scary at first but once Zero started to trust his wings, the feeling of defying gravity became addicting.

Bob watched over Zero's progress like a proud parent. The boy went from bad wing structure to able to hold them out for five minutes and balance himself in the air. However, there was still a lot of room for improvement. Zero's landing was still terrible. He might be able to propel himself forward and turn mid-air in wide circles but Bob didn't trust this airhead to land without issues.

"Glide and drag the wind under your wings! Stop trying to go against it!"

Zero was so confused and lost with the instruction and it became worse as he tried to process it in his head. The boy yelped and found himself spiralling with another gust of wind. He didn't spread his wings wide enough to catch the air current and those huge wings worked against him instead.

Mii covered her eyes when Zero crashed into a dead tree. Bob groaned. Zero still hasn't gotten the hang of catching a drift. Flapping wings took up a lot of energy which was why it was used to gain altitude for the initial take-off. The rest of the time, reading air currents played a crucial part in flying. If Zero couldn't master becoming one with the wind, Bob wasn't going to allow his reckless master to fly off a cliff.

Zero got up with a groan and rubbed his sore back. Some of the bark scratched him but he healed quickly. Flying was more complicated than he thought it would be. Reading the drifts, as Bob termed it, was almost as hard as math.

"If you cannot learn to use the wind, you cannot fly. Also, your landing is too dangerous. You must glide and collect enough air pressure under your wings to ease the impact of landing. Only glide when you need to and close the wings when you have both feet safely on the ground."

Zero hopped onto his feet again and attempted another flight with Bob guiding him closely. Mii yawned as she watched the boys practice. With Bob around, she wasn't afraid of Zero getting into any trouble so she returned to the mindscape. Materialising for long periods of time made her tired.

Bob corrected Zero's posture during the flight and told the boy to fly with his head pointed in the direction of his flight.

"Don't drag the air mid-flight or you'll fall out of the sky."

Zero struggled to do as told and collapsed again, his wings disappearing. He was exhausted and it was getting dark. Luckily, Hua Tuo would be out for a while. He could continue this tomorrow. Who knew that flying was harder than what Baal made it out to be? The Demon Lord made it look easy but with Bob's explanation, he knew that it wasn't the case.

Zero slept soundly that night and woke up very early the next morning to practice taking off and landing. The boy was able to do some tricks like spins and somersaults mid-air to impress Bob. The dragon only rolled his eyes at the tricks and showed Zero the true trick shots for flying.

Zero clapped loudly and cheered. "Teach me how to do the nose dive loop!"

Bob deadpanned. "Not until you mastered landing and reading air currents. I'm not going to be responsible for broken necks with your inability to control your wings well."

Zero sulked but Bob had a point. If he didn't land correctly and misjudged the distance, the landing impact would smash his face directly into the ground and break his neck. The trick looked extremely cool but it didn't come without dangers. Zero tried twice as hard as yesterday trying to grasp the concept of catching the drift. The wind wasn't as strong as it was on the top of the cliff. Zero found it easier to follow the breeze and let it take him to wherever it went. The feeling was rather relaxing and Zero smiled when he floated across the river effortlessly. He didn't even have to flap his wings other than the first few times to lift himself up into the air. The moment his feet left the ground, he assumed a good position and the wind carried him to the forest before slowing down, forcing Zero to land abruptly.

Bob gave chase quickly and smiled when Zero claimed that he could read the wind now.

"It's like swimming!"

The Eternal Dragon laughed. "Yes, it's like swimming in the river. You don't fight against the wind. If the speed falls and you need to continue flying, you can flap those wings a few more times to catch the next drift and rest in it. If you want to change directions while riding the wind, change the angle of your wings."

Understanding dawned on Zero and the boy practised for thirty minutes before taking a break. Zero really went hunting for bats in the caves nearby. He absorbed so many bats that his wings took close to no effort to summon. Bob was impressed by the pitch-black wings that felt slightly furry but not heavy unlike the fur Zero created previously. In fact, it was quite a pleasant sensation running his claws through them.

The bat wings felt terribly fragile and Zero was afraid that the stronger winds at the top of the cliff would tear a hole in them.

"Don't worry," Bob assured. "You can always strengthen them with magic enhancements. Let's go up the cliff now. I think you're ready to try flying your first long-distance flight."

Zero cheered and quickly changed into his tracksuit. Mii readied some spells to throw on Zero as a precaution if he lost control on his first flight. Bob was also prepared to catch Zero if he lost the strength to keep up with the shapeshifting abilities. The duration of keeping those bat wings might have increased but coupled with magic to reinforce them, Bob didn't know how long it would hold up for.

Zero stood at the edge of the cliff and looked down to the sea of green. The wind was chilly at the top of the cliff but the skies still remained so far out of reach. He could see Hua Tuo's hut looking very small in the distance and the river looked very thin from the top.

His wings were still folded but they trembled with an itch to spread out and ride the wind. Bob noticed that and smiled. The joy of flight could never truly be explained. One had to experience it to know how it felt. For Zero, the dragon didn't doubt that the boy was meant to fly.

Bob didn't keep Zero waiting for long and gave the boy a badly needed kick to send him off the cliff. Zero yelped and started flapping before finding the right drift to ride. His screams of fear soon turned into something pure joy. Bob laughed and joined him, jumping off the cliff and soaring towards the sky. They flew over the countless trees that made up the forest beneath them and waved to the tiny hut.

Zero tried to eat the clouds when it came towards him but realised that it was merely mist in the sky. Bob laughed at the disappointed child who tried to do some loops in the air at a slightly lower altitude. Zero felt no fear despite being so high up in the sky. He found it strangely addictive and therapeutic.

Bob was counting the minutes and didn't stay too far from Zero. They should turn back now and land before Zero's shapeshifting stamina wore off.

Zero agreed and made a wide circle back to Hua Tuo's hut, flying at a lower altitude with the slower winds. He didn't feel like he was in a particular rush to land. In fact, he wanted to do this more often.

The landing was beautiful and Bob felt like tearing up. He was so proud of Zero. Mii could finally relax and stop having nightmares about Zero's suicidal tendencies. The boy could fly now and beautifully so.