Ball of Nothing

With the free transportation accompanying them to the borders of Altear, Zero decided to part ways before they reached the city. They had to travel further south and couldn't accompany the werebeasts into the city. Zero gave them his written letter of recommendation using his identity as the envoy of Smargdas. Besides, even if the guards didn't believe in the letter, they wouldn't turn away tributes of salt at the gates. Truen's King Sharo clone should be able to buy them a few days while Zero escorted the real elven king to see his old teacher.

Without a proper mount, Zero had to travel on foot. He could borrow Truen's wyvern still residing in Altear city, but he decided against it. Taking the scenic route was better for King Sharo. The elves that weren't part of the high elf race were also his people if they lived in Altear. Zero wanted to stop near the wood elf territory to show the king how his people were faring under his rule. They didn't find Torran's tribe even if Zero knew where it was but watched from afar.

"What do you think?" Zero asked. They took two days to settle down in the dense forest of Altear to catch some wood elves in action. The wood elves were smaller and skinnier than the high elves in the city. They were dressed in rags, reminding King Sharo of the werebeasts of Lycantopia. Their bow skills were not the best, but they certainly had more teamwork than the city's high elves.

"They cover each other's flaws very well in a group," he told Zero in a calm voice.

After the speech and witnessing Lycantopia's recovery, King Sharo had plenty of time to think as a staff in Zero's hand. Compared to these 'inferior' races that he once believed, the high elves might be a little more skilled, a bit better looking, and on the overall, a race considered 'superior'. However, one critical flaw in the high elves that King Sharo didn't realise before made them less than perfect. The high elves were too self-centred, and they didn't work well in groups.

Zero prodded at the lone ant crawling on a branch on the tree they were sitting on with the staff. The ant was very weak and couldn't fight back. It was flung into the wind, and the doctor referred to his action as a sense of superiority.

"This is what it feels like to be a high elf," he told King Sharo who agreed.

Then, Zero jumped down to the ground and searched for an ant nest near the foot of the same tree. He proceeded to do the same to the ant nest using King Sharo as a stick. It didn't take long for the ants to become angry. When one ant was flung, ten more would emerge from the nest to latch onto the staff that continued to attack them. Zero continued to flick them away without stopping. Eventually, it got to a point where the ants covered more than half of the staff.

"What about now? Am I still superior?" he asked.

King Sharo didn't answer. Zero smiled. Then, he used some gentle wind magic to brush the remaining ants from the staff and made his escape.

They walked through the forest, and Zero explained his analogy from earlier.

"It was obvious when you were fighting against one weak opponent that you were superior. Even in facing ten weak ants, you would have no issues. However, if you were up against a hundred or a thousand weak ants who worked together seamlessly, even the strongest warrior would fall. Nobody is invincible, not even Gods. The fall of a superior being isn't because of weakness in their skills, intellect or capabilities. Often, it was the lack of cooperation and unity among their kind that allowed their weaker enemies to take advantage of their carelessness. Every individual born to this world has a role to play, a purpose and a reason to exist. There is no true superiority."

King Sharo listened without interrupting Zero as the doctor walked and explained why he chose to become a doctor. Life was beautiful from Zero's description, and King Sharo wondered why nobody has ever told him about it before. All his life, he was focussed on only pursuing perfection. However, the perfection that he sought didn't exist. Even if it did, only a never-ending cycle of gloom and boredom would await him.

"Life is a beautiful creation. Every single soul is unique and cannot be replicated. Once it is lost, it can never return. This is why I chose to become a doctor. It's not my intention to lecture you about what you should do as a king. Someone told me to bring you out to see what you couldn't see within the prisons of your castle walls so that you could let your heart heal. It must be tough as the king with nobody to talk to, trust and relate to. Now that you're just a staff in my hand and not the king, I hope you can disregard everything that you were taught as the king when you meet Arvin."

For some reason, listening to Zero babble about various topics with his unconventional opinions made King Sharo feel a little lighter. Compared to travelling with his disagreeable friend, Zero was fun to be around. Sometimes, King Sharo would roll his eyes if he had them. Other times, the elf found himself laughing along and agreeing.

"Then, can you say that as a doctor, you'd never kill a person even if they were beyond saving?"

Zero didn't answer right away. King Sharo only meant to ask the question as something light-hearted, but the answer he got in return made him realise that Zero had quite a dark past as well.

"I won't say that I've not committed murder before. Of course, it doesn't change the fact that my hands aren't clean even if the deed wasn't intentional. However, I don't think anyone in this world is free of blood on their hands. For example, those who hunt have killed animals. Those who eat meat have a share in that deed. Even if a person is vegetarian for life, a plant's life is still a life. It's only natural to kill and be killed. As a doctor, I know that better than most people. After all, I have the blood of many on my hands. Ironic as it sounds, to save some lives, you sometimes need to take others."

The mood became a little too heavy to continue any form of conversation. King Sharo thought about Zero's words as the doctor went down the memory lane of his time with Hua Tuo. Indeed, this has been a question bugging him for the longest time, clashing with his ideals and consciousness. When the time came, the only one capable of stopping Solo was him. If Solo wanted to destroy this world and its entirety, Zero was the only one who could prevent it from happening. He might have to end his other self, but would he be able to do it when the moment called for it?

From the time he started learning how to use magic, Zero already took lives. No, if he were to be more accurate, it started when he didn't have a body yet. The bird he was trapped inside with Namekuji was probably his first victim. However, having killed before, it didn't mean Zero enjoyed taking lives. It didn't matter how many times he killed or how much blood was on his hands. It didn't make the deed any easier.

As they exited the dense foliage roof, King Sharo couldn't help but be amazed at the villages' peaceful sight in the distance. He thought they might take longer to arrive at Windy Wood Town on foot, but they should reach by dusk at this pace. King Sharo started thinking about what he wanted to say when he saw his teacher again in equal parts of excitement and nervousness.