Ball of Nothing

Chapter 596: Dark Tree Ent Sapling

By the end of a very dramatic four-hour fight, Truen returned victorious, hardly breaking into a sweat. Pocky couldn't believe that the tiny sapling in his palm was the same dark tree ent that tormented him for decades.

Everyone had different reactions. Bob was busy making a campfire for the night while Truen updated the Great Gods about their activities. Zero was busy writing a letter to King Vivian to inform him about the unclaimed stray fae territory. It looked like the fae king had his work cut out for him as thousands of stray faes loitered in this collapsing swampland.

There was also a different problem. Zero needed to find a safe place to plant this dark tree ent sapling if they wanted to continue farming undead wood in the future. However, there didn't seem to be any good location in mind. This dark tree ent thrived on mana and life energy to grow. At the same time, it was a terrible idea to put it near any civilisation. Only a handful of people could approach it, and Zero didn't want to increase the responsibilities of those in Half Moon Village.

"What about Jynx?" Truen suggested when Zero zoned out with a deep frown at dinner.

The doctor thought about it. "U.N.U.?"

The archer nodded. If that creepy place had trees that ate dead bodies and a pond full of corpses, surely having one more freak of nature in it wouldn't affect their reputation too much. Besides, the most powerful magician school was there. The undead tree wouldn't be able to affect undead creatures as much as living ones.

"That's actually not a bad idea," Pocky said. "That land is full of undead anyway. It would be safer there than anywhere else on Earth."

Zero sighed. He just sent the letter to Zoe, who passed it to Latitia to deliver the news to Fae King Vivian. Who was he going to send to U.N.U. to discuss the business benefits of raising a dark tree ent for undead wood farming? Schaf was too busy managing Half Moon Trading and the booming business in Smargdas. Monoman is stuck in New Moon Village. Jermine could help to deliver it, but for weak werebeasts like them, the sapling would devour their life force before they could reach U.N.U.

"Ah!" Zero clapped his hands in excitement. There was one person perfect for this job!

"Truen, can you pass the sapling to me? I'll seal it and get the Chieftess to deliver it."

Pocky looked back and forth between Zero and the wood elf. He still could not wrap his head around this new person who introduced himself as the leader of Half Moon Village. Living in a hole for so long made Pocky uneducated about current affairs. However, when Zero talked about important people like Fae King Vivian, Sylvia the Silver Witch, Dorgon the dwarven hero and even King Gregory, he had a better idea about who this was.

In all the legends, the story passed down by Gods who left the world told the mortals about a Great One arriving. The people called him the Chosen One, and Pocky thought it was a myth until now. He finally understood why Zero needed a ship that could sink. Queen Leah was one of the key guardians. This story is also well known to children. The four elemental guardian spirits each guard a key in their heart and will give trials to the Chosen One. Only when the Chosen One passed all four trials would he be qualified to see the Fae King. Nobody knew why the Chosen One had to see the Fae King, but many people speculated that the Chosen One would descend to Earth to save it.

With most of the logistic arrangements settled, Zero could finally rest and eat in peace. Pocky watched the three other men eat their fill and stared at the crackling fire. He felt honoured to be alive in this era where he could meet the Chosen One in person. The sea otter werebeast decided that when he went back, he would tell this story of the Chosen One to his nieces and nephews so that they could tell their grandnieces and nephews.

Truen decided to turn in early. Bob said that he needed a stroll and promptly left. Pocky found it odd that Zero didn't question the boy where he was going for a stroll in such a dangerous place. Zero cheerfully told Bob to have fun as he did the dishes and roped Pocky to help with chores.

"Is undead wood the only material needed to build the legendary sinking ship?" he asked.

Pocky was amazed by the cleaning magic but snapped out of it to reply. "No. We need a few other things, but the hardest to get would be a monster core strong enough to act as the ship's engine and some very strong silk to withstand the water pressure for the sails."

Zero thought about it. They now had two out of three rare materials. There would be no stronger spider silk in this world if Night Terror Spider Queen Penelope could not weave it.

"How strong must the monster core be?" Zero asked. They were almost done with dishes.

Pocky thought about it. Compared to the dark tree ent, the monster's core for such a powerful ship had to be at least at a mythical grade monster's level. The only problem was that mythical grade monsters were difficult and almost impossible to find. They were almost extinct.

"Mythical grade?" Zero asked. If Pocky was talking about legendary grade monsters like Dragons, Zero would be troubled. Thankfully, mythical grade monsters were slightly easier to find. In fact, he wondered if he could use some of the things he already had.

"What do you think of this?" he asked and withdrew a red pearl from his inventory.

Pocky stared at it for a long time. The pearl was exceptional. It was better than a mythical grade core!

"It's better than I could imagine! What is it?"

Zero smirked. "A secret for now. Does using a monster core for the ship's engine weaken its power?"

Pocky nodded. "Yes. That's why only a strong monster core will work. The undead wood is power-hungry, after all. We're using the monster's core to trick it into movement."

After hearing the shipwright's explanation, Zero quickly put the Red Phoenix's Pearl away. It would be better for him to find something else. He didn't know what kind of monster would be considered mythical grade, but that was a worry for the future.