Ball of Nothing

The next morning, Zero woke up before Truen and left a note for his friend that he was going hiking and dragon hunting. Crudgel and Grandma Moppo were very helpful last night and Zero got the gist of the situation. Currently, as the village leader, his primary concern would be the lack of population. The only new couple that they've had were Gweshr and Moona. However, they cannot have children due to Moona's unique constitution.

With no new couples in the village, they aren't able to increase its population. Half Moon Village was a place for misfits to gather at and a shelter for those who need it. Grandma Moppo wasn't concerned about who came along previously. Now, she had to be more cautious because there were big secrets within the village ever since Zero became the leader. They also didn't want another Douglas incident so recruiting villagers was out of the question.

Hence, the only other way was to adopt orphans or homeless folks and make them sign an agreement with the village. Grandma Moppo suggested that they started with the slaves in the Smargdas Kingdom that Mitchnew reported were mostly from Lycantopia. Apparently, humans have started enslaving other races such as elves and beast folks with the majority of them as beast folks. Some of the undead and even humans were sold as slaves and Zero didn't like it.

He told Truen about slavery and Truen explained that depending on the country, slavery could be considered legal even if it was morally frowned upon. Unless Zero was rich enough to pressure everyone who did slavery into closing their shops or pressuring the king to change his laws about it and enforce them strictly, the selling of lives cannot be stopped. Naturally, when Zero heard this, he immediately knew what he needed to do. That one thousand gold coins that he received from Rocket Mountain will be the seed fund he needed to grow that money. Zero was going to try and abolish slavery in Smargdas Kingdom.

But first, he had a dragon to check on.

Sleepy Cave was moaning and not in a good way. Zero cringed as he approached the entrance. The cave sounded pathetic and Zero did not spot Kerberos guarding the entrance. The hell hound must have accompanied Bob on the dungeon raid but Zero wasn't happy about it. Kerberos' main duty was to guard the cave so that nobody goes into it accidentally. That was his punishment but it wasn't even a year into it and the dog was already slacking off. Zero wasn't going to let this go. He sent Hades a text about Kerberos' misbehaviour and didn't feel sorry that Hades was going to punish the three-headed mutt. If anything, Zero wished the God of Death would be stricter in punishment so that Kerberos wouldn't treat this duty lightly.

Without hesitation, Zero ventured into the cave after setting up some magic wards at the entrance so that nobody would wander into it unknowingly. Mii brought out the minimap and Zero navigated his way inside with ease. He had dark-vision and Origin in his hand. There was nothing to fear, those monsters weren't going to faze him after he had been here with Merlin once.

As he went deeper, Zero followed the sound of the growls and yells. Explosions could be heard and if this was any ordinary cave, those two would have been trapped inside by the falling rocks of the cave ceiling. Zero shook his head. They might be powerful toddlers but they were still toddlers.

"Take that! Mighty Howl!"

"Ha! You call that a howl? Pathetic... Watch me. Dragon's Howl!"

The cave shook and Zero lost his balance mid-step. The cave rumbled and groaned loudly, making Zero's ears ring and his head hurt. Some rocks crumbled and Zero quickly threw up an arcane barrier to avoid getting flattened. It lasted for about a minute and the cave was oddly silent after that. Zero remained on the ground and listened carefully with a frown. Kerberos and Bob couldn't have been flattened, right? One of them was a hell hound and the other was a dragon. Surely they wouldn't be this weak...

Zero shoved the rocks away and climbed out of the disaster. He shook his head at the mess and consulted the minimap before running off to where he last heard the toddlers.

As Zero neared the location, he could hear groans and some light squabbling. Bob and Kerberos were blaming each other for the fiasco and Sleepy Cave was oddly quiet. It must have passed out from too much pain. Zero felt a little bad for the cave but he didn't feel bad for too long. After all, the cave tried to eat people. Still, that Dragon Howl was overkill.

"Bob! Kerberos!" Zero yelled and his voice echoed in the tunnels. With their keen hearing, both beasts perked up.

"Stop bullying the poor cave and get out right now before I become mad. I'll count to three. One... two..."

Zero didn't have to count till three to see them running in his direction. Satisfied, Zero glared at them. Kerberos' tail drooped when he saw Zero and Bob froze at the sight of his displeased master. While Kerberos didn't look any different from before except for his shrunken size, Zero couldn't recognise the dragon.

Bob had indeed become stronger even though he trained recklessly. The dragon who had hatched not too long ago was now able to maintain a human form. The dragon was a boy of similar eight to Zero when he was a teenager. He had yellow eyes, light blue hair that was almost white and wore royal blue clothing that matched the colour of his scales. Zero looked at the messy hair and dirty face with a frown. If he didn't know that Bob was a dragon, he would have mistaken this child for a wild barbarian. Bob had no manners and was unruly. Was he like this before? Zero shook his head. He would deal with it later.

"Bob, bathe first and we'll talk later. Kerberos, I think Hades will be coming to talk to you as well. How could you leave the entrance of the cave unguarded? Have you forgotten why you are here?"

The hell hound flinched and Bob felt the temperature drop several degrees. Zero was mad and it wasn't a good thing. Ever since he started hanging out with the dumb mutt, Bob felt that his intelligence had been affected too.

"I'm sorry, master."

Kerberos keened and bowed his head in repentance. Zero remained unmoved and barked out orders. He came to get a dragon thinking that Bob would be ready for an adventure but what he saw greatly disappointed him. As he walked back to the village with Bob, Zero mulled over his decision. Right now, he was still fuming a little so he decided to take some time off and attend to the other matters that needed his attention. He would get back to Bob later.

"Go bathe and help Zoe out. I'll be back later to talk so you better have a good explanation for what you were doing back there. Although Sleepy Cave hasn't been good, it doesn't mean that you could bully it. Power isn't something meant to be abused. It should be used to aid others. I hope you will reflect on it well."

Thoroughly ashamed, Bob couldn't say anything and watched as his master greeted Truen and left for the abyss after a few words. Truen looked at Bob's direction and shook his head. "You best get going before Zero returns. Don't forget to apologise before you start explaining."

Bob nodded and ran to the river for a bath. He had gotten too carried away and now, Zero was upset. What kind of servant was he? As he showered in the icy water, Bob reflected on his actions with a heart heavy with regrets.