Ball of Nothing

The rain tasted weird but nobody was complaining. After all, it was not an easy task bringing down rain for five minutes. As the cacti-folk watched with awe and respect, the village elder thought that Zero was truly a child blessed by Gaia and Tanya.

To celebrate the rare sight of rain, dinner was made more luxurious than the cacti-folk had eaten in years. Nobody disliked mushrooms and Zero thought that they made a good decision introducing this to them. He wanted to stay up the whole night to wait until dawn just to see the magic take place around the village. If the village elder wasn't lying, Zero might be able to see a slow time-lapse of the scenery changing after the rain.

The feast lasted long and loud with cacti-folk getting drunk on the quality underground spring water pumped by hand from the newly installed water pump. Children blossomed flowers on the top of their heads and plucked them to make flower crowns. Adults ballooned in size from overdrinking and the elderly regained some of their vigour with enough water in their aged bodies.

Zero was amazed by how lively and jovial the cacti-people were at night. Bob explained that cacti were plants that bloom at night because, in the desert, not many animals are active in the day with the intense heat. Most desert creatures were nocturnal and these creatures help to pollinate cacti in the night when they are active.

"What about the monsters that keep attacking us during the day?" Zero asked.

Bob raised a brow. "These are monsters, they are not to be confused with animals and insects. Monsters don't need a lot of food or water to survive, they thrive on mana. Derby Desert has mana hotspots too. The places with more mana will attract more monsters and the powerful monsters usually gather at these spots, eating and hunting other weaker monsters to grow stronger. This is why guilds hand out missions to adventurers with ranks based on the level of difficulty. The better a mana hotspot, the more dangerous the monsters in the area."

Zero thought about it. "Is that why Endow Hill is a restricted area? Mystic Meadows is a huge mana hotspot too, right?"

Bob grinned. "Yes, master. There are many mana hotspot areas on this planet, including in the ocean. However, there are also planets without mana at all. Very few races on this planet are incapable of using magic because we have so many mana hotspots."

Zero looked over to Jermine. "Beast folks must be really unlucky to be one of the few species that cannot use mana."

The dragon looked over to their comrade and shook his head. "That isn't the case, master. While beast folks do not have mana, they are born with bodies that can use mana in a different way. Mana is in the air that we breathe, like cacti-folk, beast folk utilise it within their body and not outside of it. Jermine's blood as a mole beast folk allows her special abilities. Her movement underground isn't normal and her ability to sense things that even your map couldn't detect is part of that ability enhanced by mana. I don't know the details but there is more to Jermine than what she shows us."

Zero blinked and sipped on honey tea. The cacti-folk slowly returned to retire and the only ones awake were Truen, Bob and Zero who were waiting to watch the sunrise. Truen tucked Jermine in and covered the girl with a blanket. The night temperature in the desert can be freezing and even with temperature-regulating magic, it can still be cold.

"It's past both your bedtime," Truen said and Zero rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we have a radius of five miles to collect flowers within two hours of dawn. We need as many people as we possibly can. Also, do you really want to miss out on watching a desert miracle?"

Truen thought about it and gave in. "Only this time," he told Zero who gave Bob a hi-five in victory.

While waiting for the sun to rise, Zero told Truen all about the things he heard from the village elder.

"The Weeping Willow? I haven't heard of it but if it is in Altear's territory, I'm not surprised why not many people know about it. The elves have a notorious reputation. Nobody who walks in Altear uninvited walks out of it alive. Even those who were invited had to be blindfolded upon entering the territory until they have been escorted to where they are meant to be. The elves there hate outsiders a lot."

Zero looked slightly concerned. "Should we skip going to Altear? They don't welcome outsiders."

Bob scoffed. "What's the deal with just a few puny elves? I'm a dragon, master. If you ride a dragon, even the King of Elves must bow to you. Also, I heard from Olaf that they have been making quite a name for their travelling party. Gerlad is now known as the "Claw of the Light Dragon" and Vrald is called "Fire Dragon's Wrath" on top of their old adventurer names."

Zero whistled lowly. "They sound so cool now!"

Truen smirked. "They're not the coolest ones. I received a hawk mail from Desert Lily. She has gotten in touch with Mitchnew to verify the information I traded with her. Guess what's Mitchnew's title now?"

Zero thought hard. "The Super Seamstress?"

"Wron!" Truen tapped Zero lightly on the head as if shidding a small kitten. "They call her Lady Death."

Bob made a face and Zero blinked. "Hades would be offended. He says that death should be a welcoming experience and not a nightmarish one."

Truen raised a brow. "Has Hades ever made death a welcoming experience for anyone?"

Zero tried to think about it. "I guess? At least I think he tried. He normally tries to show someone's happiest memories of their life just before they die or the most impactful one."

Truen shuddered. Having retained memories of his previous life and as a wandering hungry ghost, he didn't think that was a gift at all. Still, he kept his opinions to himself.

They chatted a little more while dismantling beetle corpses until the first crack of light appeared.

"Truen! Bob! Look!" Zero pointed excitedly to the ground a distance away from the village.

Breath taken by the sight of flowers blooming everywhere as far as the eye could see, They dropped their work and ran outside of the village to get a closer look. There were flowers of all colours and all three men started to inspect the flowers one by one, stuffing them into Zero's inventory.

The hunt for the first desert poppy began.