Ball of Nothing

Almost immediately after Zero left for Rocket Mountain with Bob and Thomas, Truen wasted no time. He wanted to meet up with Zero at Magnus Hilda if he could complete everything on time. There was simply too much to do and the archer wished he could send clones instead. Unfortunately, he was also rather low on mana after the nova cannon incident. He didn't tell Zero but his vessel was still trying to repair itself by absorbing the mana in the air. If he wanted to fully recover, it was advisable to remain on Endow Hill for a few more weeks but Truen didn't want to wait. Every minute he spent away from Zero, he felt as if he would go crazy from worry if they were away for more than a week. He made Zero promise to write regularly and told Bob to keep him posted every day if Zero didn't want to tell him anything. As the leader of the Onion Union, he was responsible for Zero's well-being.

The first thing on Truen's to-do list was to meet Monoman. The New Moon Village leader settled down at the base of Endow Hill about a month ago and started building some basic shelters for the new residents. Back then, Cleo was in-charge and the dryad helped to set up temporary tree shelters for them while they built their houses using the resources Schaf helped to procure.

New Moon Village was only a day's hike down from Endow Hill for Truen who took the shortcut of flying through the trees instead of navigating through the overgrown forest. Cleo decided to come along and Truen made a mental note that Zero might want to open a travelling portal or waystone mark in New Moon Village to spare the villagers travelling time and also for emergency evacuation.

"Most of them have started creating farms that Latitia and I helped develop. We didn't really tell anyone about the unique agricultural methods in Half Moon Village but we're still supplying them with food and tools to settle into their village. The temporary mud houses are still there because Monoman does most of the building. The other able-bodied villagers are out hunting and trading the handicrafts made by women and children in the town near Smargdas. It's not a very pretty sight," Cleo warned Truen who nodded.

They finally arrived at New Moon Village and Truen had to admit, it looked closer to a slum than a village. A lot of work needed to be done for a decent lifestyle. The first thing he noticed was the smell. The villagers were filthy. Many of them needed baths and there was no outhouse. That had to be rectified at once. Zero insisted that hygiene was the number one thing to look out for because it was what reduces the number of illnesses. If Zero was here, he might go crazy and try to fix the issue immediately even if it goes past his current limits.

Monoman was quick to notice the arrival of visitors and dropped what he was doing to welcome them. The ex-adventurer looked worn out and exhausted but it didn't keep the bright smile off. Strangely, the same could be said about the villagers despite the poor living conditions.

"Truen! Glad to see you again. How are you? I heard that the trip to Derby Desert wasn't easy and that both you and your brother were in a severe condition upon return. Zero was in a life-threatening condition, is he alright now?"

Truen shook his head. "Physically he is doing better than me. Mentally, I think it might take him a while. He will come by when he's feeling better. I just came to check on the progress. Cleo said that you're severely lacking in builders and I can see that many of the villagers haven't had a bath in weeks."

Feeling slightly ashamed at their appearance, Monoman led them into a half-built hut to talk, away from the curious children who wanted to meet an elf.

"It's not easy. The soil at the bottom of Endow Hill isn't fertile and we're far from any water source. It's not that I don't want to provide the best for the people here but it's a little tough to create a proper barrier when we're constantly fending against monsters and bandits."

Truen was surprised and Cleo shook her head. Clearly, this was the first time she was learning about it despite coming over from time to time to help with the farm and deliver food.

"Monster, I can understand. But bandits? Where do they come from? Tell me everything," Truen demanded.

Monoman frowned, his mood serious. "When we first arrived, it wasn't the case. I made a clean sweep of the area before deciding to settle here. There were no bandit camps and the place was relatively unused. There wasn't even a monster nest nearby and I chose the location despite the inconvenient soil structure and water problems because I thought we could build a fort here to protect the new villagers coming from Lycantopia as well. I thought it would be best to build a village away from the eyes of hostile Smargdas guards and adventures."

Truen agreed that this was an ideal location for a fort. It was on an elevated part of the Hill at the base with enough thick foliage and trees to hide them from plain view. Unless you were a local or had a guide, it would be hard to find this secluded settlement. Bandits shouldn't be able to find this place or terrorise it so easily.

"A few weeks ago, one of the children got kidnapped by bandits. I don't know where they came from but I definitely remember destroying their camp a good distance from here to bring them back. However, the strange thing happened. These bandits kept coming back for the children and women. They don't take anything else, just people. I suspect slavery business but there's something weirder. These bandits aren't humans. They're undead. No matter how many times I kill them and shatter them, they keep coming back. I suspect a necromancer coordinating these attacks. It's the reason why progress has been so slow and why everyone looked so tired. I've put as many people as possible to be on guard in case any of the villagers here gets taken again."

Truen sucked in air from between his teeth. This was quite the predicament. Originally, he thought that things would be easily settled in New Moon Village with Monoman's power. However, the appearance of a possible necromancer and undead bandits trying to kidnap their ally's villagers meant that Truen had his work cut out for him. Of all times for something bad to happen, it had to be when he was at his weakest. Truen didn't know if he should laugh or cry. Misery loves company and from the looks of it, their troubles were far from over ever since the nova cannon incident.

"Why didn't you let Cleo or anyone else know?"

Monoman laughed dryly. "Half Moon Village was severely shorthanded with their own set of problems to deal with. I couldn't possibly impose when we haven't signed any sort of agreement. The food, clothes and temporary shelter provided by your village is already a kindness that we wouldn't be able to repay. You had Zero to worry about when you returned so I waited for some news about both your conditions to talk about it."

Truen sighed. Initially, he wanted to ask Monoman to be Jermine's escort to Lycantopia because he was the strongest who would be able to protect a huge group of migrants. However, with the current issue, that would have to wait for a while.

"I understand. I came here today to ask for your official signature as the leader of New Moon Village to form an alliance. In the official document, it's an alliance. Unofficially, we're family. Your problems would be our problems too. This bandit situation, give me some time to resolve it. IN return, I have a job for you."

Monoman was all ears as Truen told him about how Zero and he had to part ways temporarily to complete their various tasks. Jermine was still in Half Moon Village at the moment but Truen was already thinking of bringing the girl over to New Moon Village so that she could help with building things underground.

Monoman listened to Truen's escort task and the archer's plan to visit Smargdas for discussion over the slavery certification deal. Truen suspected that the targeted attack was no coincidence and would keep Monoman posted about the news and investigation from Mitchnew's side. Desert Lily was arriving in a few days with Dwayne's errand so it would be the best time.

"For now, I'll return to Half Moon Village to recuperate. If the bandits attack again, set off a signal flare. Clowis will arrange for someone to come by and take care of it. We might be shorthanded but we can still afford concern and assistance."

Monoman nodded dumbly. He didn't doubt that they would be so kind because Zero was just that sort of person even from the first impression. However, something Truen said bothered him.

"Are your wounds not recovered?"

Truen grimaced. "It's slightly more complicated to recover from. It's not like healing a broken bone. Mana exhaustion is something that damages the user inside and out. Both Zero and I narrowly escaped annihilation and I can assure you that gnome technology is nothing to sneeze at. Even magic was useless against them."

Monoman shivered. Half Moon Village had six gnomes in their village. Quality over quantity, even if they were short-handed, taking out a bunch of undead bandits wouldn't need more than one representative from Half Moon Village. Perhaps he should have asked for help earlier.