Ball of Nothing

With Coux, Mammon and Beelzebub pushing for slave rights instead of the abolishment of the slavery system, Zero gave in and compromised.

"Demons will be visiting Earth more often now that the Ten-Path Crossway portals have been established. I will leave it to the Demon Lords here to decide how they want to establish a demon society on Earth. Half Moon Village will be more than happy to assist and if I could, I'd propose Endow Hill as a demon territory because it is currently unclaimed. As for developing that seed fund, I trust that you'd be able to manage. If there is anything urgent, you know how to contact me."

Beelzebub escorted Zero out and arranged for transportation to bring the two busy people back. On the way back to Garden of Roth, Zero decided to stop by some of the small souvenir shops set up in the area. Thinking back on his actions, he might have been a little too harsh on Bob and Kerberos. Hence, he decided to buy them a little something as a form of apology.

The first thing that caught Zero's eye was a severed skeletal hand. He didn't know if three-headed hell hounds enjoyed chew toys the way other dogs did but seeing as this was freshly dug from some grave, Zero felt reassured of its quality.

"Can I have three severed skeletal hands please?" he asked and the pet store owner grinned, packaging them for Zero.

"Would you also like some worm eyeballs to go with the purchase?" he asked and Zero pondered if dragons ate such things.

"Do you have anything befitting for a pet dragon?" the doctor asked and Beelzebub coughed when the shop owner was bewildered.

"He means an elemental lizard," the Demon Lord said so that the poor pet store owner wouldn't be too troubled about trying to sell something to a legendary creature. The only dragon that existed in hell was Olaf but even after Lucifer put the bounty out, nobody could bring the dragon back. Unless the demon lords personally took on the quest of searching for the frost dragon, anyone else who took on that mission would be courting death.

"If you have an elemental lizard pet, I think these would be nice. It's very hot in hell lately so I think they'd like a temperature regulating magic collar."

Zero looked at it and inspected the quality of the collar before turning it down as he paid for the three skeletal hands. Beelzebub was slightly puzzled why Zero turned it down. It was obvious that Zero wanted to get Bob something. He heard from Ruth about how Zero scolded the two rampant monsters who trashed Sleepy Cave.

"Are you going to shop around for a little longer?" he asked when Zero was heading straight for the portal.

The doctor shook his head. "No, I'm going back now. Bob should be finished with his bath. I can't delay the trip for too long because Truen said we need to travel by foot. There isn't enough information about the desert on my map. It hasn't been updated either so it will take a while to find the gnome city."

With a sigh, Beelzebub nodded in understanding. "I understand. Take care and don't hesitate to ask for help when you need it! I don't know about the other races but the demons will always be your allies."

Hearing that was reassuring. Zero didn't think that the archangels were all his allies. Michael had made his loyalties clear but everyone else was very vague. Uriel, in particular, was wary ever since he kept receiving mixed prophecies about the future involving Zero. The trust between them didn't exist. His ties with the giants and dwarves weren't very firm and Zero didn't know who else he could count on other than the Half Moon villagers who were scattered, the Demon Lords, his teacher and Truen. The gods were very busy and Zero didn't want to bother them for his minor problems. They did their part of giving him their blessing, protection, affection and passed on Solo's words.

After bidding goodbye and returning to Half Moon Village with a lighter wallet and a lighter mind, Zero looked for Bob. Not much time had passed and it was only late afternoon. Truen was at Hua Tuo's lab according to the minimap and Kerberos was in Sleepy Cave. Surprisingly, Bob wasn't in the village. The dragon was at Trigression Falls and Zero wondered why his summon was there.

Zero warped through two portals and reach Trigression Falls where he found Bob looking at the water with his reflection. Occasionally, a fish would swim by and then go away again. The Dragon seemed to be reflecting seriously and Zero felt horrible for snapping at him earlier.

"Bob?"

Startled, the small boy turned around and stood up. "Master! I'm so sorry for abusing my powers like that."

Zero shook his head and placed a hand on the dragon's skinny shoulder. "I'm sorry for taking it out on you. I know that you were training and giving it your best back there. You might have gotten carried away but I shouldn't have made assumptions. This human form that you have is a product of your hard work. It hasn't been all that long since you watched and now you can maintain a human transformation. Isn't that amazing?"

Bob blushed. "It's nothing, master. I've been reincarnated a few times as the Eternal Dragon. This human form is still far from ideal. I'm afraid that even if I accompany you on your adventures, I will only become a hindrance."

The doctor pulled out a leather strip that he fashioned into a bracelet from his inventory. The leftover materials from the stitching lessons with Mitchnew came in handy now. He engraved rune writings on it and the spells he wove were so complicated that even Bob couldn't recognise all of it. The leather bracelet looked flimsy but it emitted a very powerful magical pressure by the time Zero put the finishing touches to it.

"Here, wear this on your wrist. I know how you feel but rest assured, you will not be a burden. However, we are going to a desert and you'd need something with heat regulation enchants. This bracelet also adjusts to your size so feel free to shapeshift between your dragon and human forms. It won't break and I've added a few other enchantments while I was at it."

Bob accepted the gift and let Zero tie the bracelet on for him. The leather bracelet snapped into place and Bob felt a powerful surge of magical powers when he wore it. His physical strength and stamina were also enhanced so Bob tried to transform into an adult human vessel.

To his dismay, he still wasn't able to do that and moaned. Zero laughed and patted Boob on the head. "I have one small favour to ask. When we travel can you change into your small dragon form? It's easier to explain you as an unknown magical beast than a dragon because they're technically extinct."

Bob nodded and transformed into his small dragon form and contained his powers. Zero looked at the dragon with a small frown. "Are you able to change up your appearance? You still look too much like a dragon. How about growing some fur around your neck to cover some of those scales and maybe a pair of long bunny ears so that those horns wouldn't attract so much attention?"

Bob did as Zero suggested and the doctor squealed, snapping a photo. "You're adorable!"

After he saw the flash of light and heard the shutter, Bob felt a terrible sense of shame and betrayal. "No!" he screamed but it was too late. Zero had already sent the picture and Bob wanted to cry.

"Don't worry," Zero comforted. "At least now, nobody will suspect that you are a dragon. It's a brilliant disguise, don't you think?"

Reluctantly, Bob agreed. Once Mii saw the photo, there will be no end to her teasing. The things he did for his wilful master...