Ball of Nothing

Truen ate when he starved and slept when his eyes could no longer focus. Other than that, he was focussed on the task at hand: To record the title of every book.

Three days passed and the wood elf was finally beginning to see the fruit of his labour. Information was power. Without knowing what kind of books there were, Truen would be wasting a lot of time slogging over something that could be done using a shorter route. He was done with forty-odd thousand books and the wood elf came to realise something. If he prioritised the kind of magic to learn, he could exponentially increase his speed of information processing.

For instance, there was a book that taught multiple casting which is related to parallel thinking. It's a passive skill learnt by magicians for high-tier casting. Often, high-tiered magic had to be prepared beforehand in the form of sacrifice, magic circles or chanted by a group of magicians. However, few demigod magicians were able to pull off multiple casting without chants. That was due to their ability to think parallelly.

Many thought that parallel thinking was an innate ability only available to demigods. However, after scanning through the titles, Truen deduced that it wasn't true, Parallel Thinking was a skill that could be trained and cultivated to a certain extent. He took a few hours from recording titles to read the basic theories about parallel thinking for there were only a handful of books about that topic. The wood elf had an inkling that this was his key to resolving the information overload bottleneck.

Parallel Thinking can be trained to a certain extent. As explained in one of the books, the ability to think will depend on the number of limbs or body parts a creature could control at any one time. Hence, insects were usually better at it if they evolved into demons who could learn magic. The chances of that happening were rare but there were cases of Demon Lords recorded in books. They single-handedly wiped out nations and many heroes had to be sacrificed to save many species from genocide.

Having said that, humans can generally master from two to fourteen levels of Parallel Thinking. Every level requires a certain minimum level of intellect and that was the second physical limitation. In the past, mana regeneration was decided on birth. There was no way for anyone who isn't sensitive to mana to progress. However, after the Age of Magicians, many races found ways to overcome that barrier by fusing magic with technology or dark arts. The secret in acquiring more Parallel Minds lies in the progression of technology.

Alchemy was the key to that solution and it wasn't found until much later. There were cases of human minds reaching up to ten Parallel Minds with the aid of machines and equipment. Some humans were able to exceed that limit but they were rare. Arithmetic was something invented by humans to compete with the other species in terms of physical limitations. Humans had lesser limbs to control as compared to beast folks or elves. They did not have well-honed instincts to guide them into achieving a higher level of multi-levelled thinking. However, with arithmetic, alchemists were born. These magicians specialised in increasing intellect through brain exercises. After a certain level of high-speed arithmetic was attained, these alchemists found that they could access a higher level of Parallel Thinking without much effort. With gnome and dwarves coming to help them create new mana infused equipment, alchemists discovered that false limbs counted as limbs and were able to surpass the physical limits of fourteen Parallel Minds.

Truen was in a body of a wood elf but he was in actual fact a living wood spirit. Limbs didn't apply to him and he was glad that human alchemists discovered a way to overcome the natural disadvantage. His first aim was to master Parallel Thinking. If he had more Parallel Minds, he was able to free up more time to read instead of analysing. With that goal in mind, the wood elf got to work.

***

Before he knew it, Zero was waking up before Hua Tuo could get to him. He didn't need Mii's reminder either and it was a huge sign of improvement. The brunet got up and was becoming more familiar with the strange exercises. Hua Tuo was pleased to see his apprentice learning so quickly. He was initially worried about not being able to prepare Zero sufficiently before their travels but his worries were for nought. Hence, the teacher began correcting Zero's stances while they went through the routine.

It was tiring but Zero felt as if his body was becoming stronger each time he did that strange exercise. He no longer felt so fatigued and was brimming with energy throughout the day. Hua Tuo had him fetch water from the river five times in heavy buckets to tend to the fields. Zero's arm ached badly yesterday but after a good night's rest, he was back to normal.

Hua Tuo was impressed when he tested his apprentice about what he'd read and understood. The physician estimated that Zero would have completed his theory study by the next week. He was eager to start on the practical lessons but reminded himself to take things one step at a time. Zero was very new to things and the physician didn't want to overwhelm the poor kid.

On the other hand, Zero was enjoying himself. He heard from Hua Tuo that Truen was very busy and that Merlin was a very strict teacher. So instead of calling his friend, Zero learnt how to take pictures and write short messages. Often, it was about what he ate or the strange plants he read about. Occasionally, it was about what they found in the forest. Zero thought he'd seen it all when foraging in the same forest but he was amazed when they found a new kind of bird the other day. It was the first time Zero hunted anything apart from fish and he was thrilled. Hua Tuo taught him how to make a basic trap using grass, leaves, ropes and branches. It turned out to be a royal pheasant and Zero enjoyed it.

Today, they discovered that the waterwheel was broken and had to fix it. Hua Tuo wasn't good at fixing things so Zero had to call for some help. Luckily, Buddha was able to offer some advice. It took them half a day to fix it so Zero did not have much time to read.

"What's the waterwheel for?"

Hua Tuo grinned. "It serves many purposes. Firstly, it fills up this well here which we can use to fill this tank to store water for when the river dries. Secondly, it helps to make medicine powder or flour for noodles. Lastly, we can use it to grind beans and make bean curd. Of course, if Steve was here, he would set it up as a power generator but there isn't a need for it since your communicator is mana consuming."

Zero raised his brow. "So this is used for food? We spent half a day fixing this for food?"

Hua Tuo coughed and looked away. He didn't want to admit it but he was craving some noodles very badly.

"Well, I'm sure you will come to understand the importance of a waterwheel one day. How does homemade noodle sound?"

Zero drooled. Hua Tuo's food was usually simple but tasty. Homemade noodles sounded more complicated to make and he was dying to find out how they tasted.

"What do we need to do?"

Hua Tuo grinned. "Do you want to try foraging and hunting for ingredients on your own today?"

The brunet grinned. "Can I catch pheasant again?"

Hua Tuo chuckled and patted the boy fondly. "You're not tired of eating birds? There are other creatures in the forest that you can hunt. For starters, there are forest rabbits..."

Zero beamed and asked if they were delicious. Hua Tuo thought about it. Rabbit stew was always good. However, with noodles, boar sounded better. "How about hunting pygmy boars? Rabbits don't make good noodle broth."

Zero saluted. "Yes, sir!"

Before Hua Tuo could stop him, the young boy was gone. The doctor sighed. Zero was a brilliant student. He soaked up everything Hua Tuo taught like a sponge and there was nothing that Hua Tuo needed to repeat for Zero to remember. Normally, those who were good at remembering often do not understand the words they've memorised. Hua Tuo had seen his fair share of empty-headed academics while he was human. He thought Zero would turn out to be like one of them but after testing his apprentice, he found out that it wasn't the case. Zero may be inexperienced but his ability to understand how things worked quickly was astounding. It was so easy to forget that Zero was an existence even older than the Great Gods with his childishness.

With Zero gone, Hua Tuo was now free to make his report back to Sedna about his apprentice's progress. He also wanted to know how Truen was doing on Merlin's side to prepare for his next student.

"Hua Tuo?"

"Yes, Sedna. I just sent Zero out on an errand. He's a surprisingly fast learner."

The goddess laughed. "Oh, just wait till he gets comfortable enough with you. That boy is inquisitive and will stop at nothing until he got his answers. I heard that you taught him how to read and write? He never texted us without Truen around."

Hua Tuo grinned. "I'm not very good at common language but I can at least teach him the basics. I'll be counting on Freya or someone else to guide him about the etiquettes of speaking. Don't want him to end up offending royalties or something."

Sedna nodded. Indeed, Hua Tuo was not the right person to teach Zero about such things. The Sage God was a renowned hermit who hardly interacted with anyone. Zero's education could suffer without proper interaction.

"I do intend to take him with me on my trip to the village though. He should have some hands-on experience when it comes to preparing medicine and diagnosing ailments. I have not taught him first aid yet, he's still studying the theory for now."

Sedna smiled. "Don't forget to scold him when he needs it... I heard from Truen that Zero still doesn't willingly brush his teeth?"

Hua Tuo sighed. Although Zero didn't like it, he didn't cause more trouble than he could. There was always that sulky face but Zero would always brush them without fail when Hua Tuo reminded him.

"It's not that bad," the physician defended. "Then again, isn't it normal for children to dislike these things? He doesn't hate vegetables and that's a good thing. However, I find it strange that he never needs the lavatory."

"Oh, that! Yes, we figured that Zero's body doesn't function the way as normal humans although we fashioned it after one. His body absorbs what it needs and everything else is converted into mana energy. He doesn't have a mana limit so it just keeps going. It's also the reason why Zero can effortlessly use high-tier spells without limit. He just burns through the accumulated mana and it is something Merlin and Steve are working to address."

"Is it alright to teach him healing magic in this case?" Hua Tuo asked worriedly. He didn't know about Zero's special constitution and was concerned about the side effects. Zero could not naturally recover mana and healing magic was one of the most mana consuming art.

Sedna thought for a while. "Is it possible to put that on hold for now? I'll have to check if the device for mana regeneration is ready. How long do we have before you teach him healing magic?"

Hua Tuo mentally estimated the time required. He thought that he would start teaching Zero healing magic early because it required very fine control but after hearing from Merlin and Sedna, he could probably push the date back by a few months.

"I estimate about half a year. Can the device be ready by then? Also, is there any other way for Zero to accumulate huge reserves of mana for practice?"

Sedna sighed. "Unless we count destroying a planet as an option, I doubt it. We can take Zero to La Boutique to eat once every month so I hope that helps."

Hua Tuo nodded. "That works too. I have to get dinner ready so I'll call you again next week after he finishes his theory studies."

Sedna smiled and ended the call. Hua Tuo folded the ends of his long baggy sleeves and looked at the sack of grains. It was time to put his skills to the test. Thankfully, the waterwheel was fixed. He had a growing boy to feed and disappointing his apprentice's appetite was out of the question.