Ball of Nothing Chapter 271 - Dragon Art

Back in Half Moon Village while Zero worked on the final phase of his medical training, the villagers were finally on the move. Without their village head around, they could finally go all out on their training.

The aura around Endow Hill became ten times scarier with every individual going into seclusion with their individual training. Lovina and Soon immersed themselves into alchemy and dark arts. The fairies and Cleo fortified the forest of Endow Hill, making it look menacing. The warriors worked hard to learn cultivation from Qin Yun while the informants left the village to gather information.

Mitchnew and Roovan travelled ahead of the dragon warriors to Smargdas information to set up base. Olaf finally took the dragon warriors out of the village. He was finally going to teach the young ones dragon art. Bob was also undergoing some kind of transformation. The last time he heard from his pal, the dragon was struggling with the huge improvements Zero was making with his personal growth.

"I'm going into hibernation for a while," Bob told Olaf. "The next time I see you, it will not be just a mental projection."

With that promise and best wishes, Olaf decided to do his best and impart his knowledge to the watered-down dragons.

"Today, we begin our training in the dragon arts. Vrald, you have some knowledge about using dragon blood to awaken the magical bloodline. Gerald, the dragon blood in you is stronger and those dragon claws are evidence. Before we start, Vrald, you are a Fire Dragon descendant. Gerald, you are a Light Dragon Descendant."

The warriors were surprised by the sudden revelation. However, Olaf continued.

"That means I cannot teach you your ancestor's secret dragon art. However, I can teach you how to use general dragon art unique to dragons. I'm a Frost Dragon who specialises in collecting knowledge and hiding from the world. I don't involve myself in worldly affairs if I can help it but the time has come for me to finally come out of hiding."

The book lover transformed into his hybrid form and Gerlad's eyes widened.

"This is the form of half-dragons. In this form, we are at least ten times stronger than normal humans. The form is easy to travel in but it brings about a lot of suspicions. It is also our energy-conserving form so you'd find that many dragons enjoy being in this state the most."

Olaf then turned to Vrald. "Your blood is more watered down than his so you won't be able to learn transformation art."

He then turned to the stunned Light Dragon warrior. "Your blood is too watered-down for a full transformation. However, once you master this, you don't have to hide those hands behind gloves."

Hearing that, Gerald teared up. Vrald smiled and clapped his friend on the shoulder. Olaf smirked. Transformation art was only the basics. Even hatchlings figured it out within ten years. The more important part was finding out where the limits of the dragon blood ended for each warrior.

Fire Dragons were Olaf's most hated type of dragons. They were crass, arrogant and noisy. Often overestimating their abilities, many young fire dragons died. They are also secretly hopeless romantics with many love affairs. The matters of the Fire Dragon Clan infuriated Olaf but he managed to put aside personal distaste for them to teach Vrald one of their specialities.

"Other than breathing fire and smashing everything in their way, Fire Dragons are known for having one of the strongest magical defences. Ironic isn't it? Hence, you will start learning the art of tenacity." he asked. 

Vrald raised a brow. His dragon blood magic allowed him to conjure fire and had high destructive abilities. Why was Olaf telling him to learn defensive art? He couldn't even voice his questions before Olaf was striking out to him with his tail.

Vrald was sent flying into a huge rock face, creating a man-shaped dent.

Gerald panicked for a moment but Olaf turned to him so quickly that the Light Dragon warrior froze. "You will be focusing on transformation. Instead of pushing power out, keep the power in. Seal yourself and only direct magic to the chakra channels you have. If you go past the limits of your chakra channels, the dragon parts will start coming out."

With that, Olaf left to retrieve the groaning Fire Dragon warrior.

While Olaf worked the boys hard, Bob was unusually silent in the mindscape. Mii became worried when the dragon didn't respond. In the lamp, the egg glowed and pulsed like a beating heart. The strawcherry fairy reported it to Zero who merely told them not to worry. He trusted Bob.

"Bob says that he's doing some personal training and that we shouldn't disturb him for a few months. Don't worry too much. If something happens, I will be the first to know," he assured his loyal assistant.

Mii didn't look too sure but there was nothing much she could do either. the strawcherry assistant could only keep an eye out for the unhatched dragon. Bob continued to absorb the excess mana converted from the miasma by Zero. Having qi in the area meant that Zero was able to subconsciously convert the miasma poisoning from his patients into his body during treatment. Mii wanted to convert the excess mana in Zero's body into energy but Bob claimed that he could handle it and ended up hibernating while absorbing mana rapidly.

Olaf didn't say anything so Mii tried her best to not worry about Bob. After all, dragons didn't die that easily.

Close to a month in the abyss, there were finally some changes in the egg. Mii freaked out at first when a tiny crack appeared on the exterior. She thought that Bob's egg might have fallen over during the hibernation and endangered the unhatched dragon. However, the pulsing continued strongly so Mii reported the changes to Olaf, not wanting to distract Zero from his job.

Olaf grinned. his training with the dragon warriors was almost complete. Both Gerald and Vrald were now capable of withstanding ten moves from him. Considering that Olaf no longer held back in his full-fledged dragon form, the warriors have come a long way.

"I see. I think Bob is going to hatch very soon. Give him about another week. I guess I'll wait until he appears before me. Bob cannot live in that cramped lamp, tell Zero to free him once he hatches."

Mii nodded and decided to keep the news to herself for now. Zero would soon graduate and he needed to focus even more than before.

The week passed relatively quickly with so many things happening and so many people being busy. Bob finally gathered enough mana to mature and with a small explosion of energy, broke free from his confines.

Zero felt a head-splitting headache the moment Bob hatched. The lamp was connected to his mindscape and currently, something was attacking it.

"Doctor?" one of the volunteers asked when Zero groaned and collapsed onto the floor and suddenly vanished into thin air. Hua Tuo was still in Hope Hospital and there was nobody around to help the teen.

Zero hurried to his mindscape only to be blocked by the door. "What's going on?"

A monstrous roar could be heard and Zero shivered. What kind of monster was residing in his lamp? Mii appeared by Zero's side in panic.

"Master!"

"Mii! What's this?"

The strawcherry fairy wrung her hands and pulled her hair. "That's Bob. he's finally hatched. We need to boot him out of the lamp before he gets crushed in it!"

Zero panicked. "How do I do that?"

Mii groaned. "The lamp's owner is you. If you ban Bob's existence from the lamp he will end up somewhere in the world. If you open the portal gate and shove him through, he will end up where you last were. Just please do something!"

Zero weighed his options and teleported to Hua Tuo's hut where the portal was. If a dragon suddenly materialised here, nobody would panic. Then, he went back to the mindscape and forcefully pulled Bob through the portal.

"Can't you shrink?!" Zero yelped as Bob's bottom got stuck in the door frame. Thankfully, everything in the lamp was robust and customisable according to Zero's imagination. The door was already as tall as the ceiling and Zero didn't know how else to help the dragon. Bob's bottom half, hindlegs and tail were still stuck.

Bob apologised through their party call. His head and upper half were already out. He could see the familiar view of Hua Tuo's hut but no matter how he struggled, he was still stuck.

"Sorry master, I don't have enough energy to transform!"

Zero thought about it and transferred some mana to Bob who sucked it all up greedily. With his first feeding, Bob was finally able to transform into a hybrid form.

Zero groaned and started fixing the damage in the lamp before meeting Bob at Endow Hill. After checking that the dragon hatchling was in good health, he escorted the newborn dragon to where Olaf was training.

It wasn't very difficult to find Olaf from the strong magical barrier surrounding an area of forest. Zero slipped past the barrier with teleportation and tossed Bob into Olaf's arms.

"Hold onto him for me, I still have patients to attend to!"

With that, Zero was gone in a flash.

"Hello, old friend," Olaf grinned and Bob sulked.

"Not quite the reunion I had in mind but this will do. I'm hungry..."

The Frost Dragon was unamused. He didn't agree to play babysitter so he threw Bob to Gerald. "He's your charge for now until Zero returns. Dragons feed on mana."

Gerald froze with the Eternal Dragon in his arms. Bob grinned. "Don't look so nervous, Zero already fed me the first time. I just want a snack. Anything from Sleepy Cave will do."

The dragon warriors paused. "Sleepy Cave is a forbidden area. Besides, there is a three-headed dog guarding it now."

Olaf thought about it. "Actually, Kerberos can let us through. There should be no issues if I'm around. Moreover, Sleepy Cave was Bob's former home. He can lead the way."

Given no other options, the dragon warriors reluctantly agreed to the hunt. Olaf gave them a condition that they were not allowed to draw their swords for the hunt. "You must practise your dragon art in Sleepy Cave. Hand over the swords. I'll safe-keep them."

Without swords, the party of four made their way to Sleepy Cave on Olaf's back. the Frost Dragon flew high above the clouds in a relaxed manner but the three people he was carrying shivered. It was terribly cold so high up in the air but coldness didn't have any effect on the Frost Dragon. It wasn't until Vrald started using magic to create a small bonfire that Olaf realised how cold it must have been for the passengers.

They arrived quickly at Sleepy Cave and woke Kerberos up. "Hey pup, we're going hunting. If we don't return in four hours, come find us."

The three-headed hound waved a paw at them sleepily before returning to his nap. Olaf rolled his eyes. If Hades knew that his pet had been slacking off, Kerberos was going to have his sentence extended.

The dragon warriors took the lead with Olaf following behind. Gerald used light magic to brighten their path and Vrald enhanced his hearing for enemies. It didn't take long for them to identify an enemy and Bob cheered when it turned out to be a juicy-looking Messopotamus.

Vrald didn't waste any time and launched the initial attack before the ugly monster could spot them. The creature yowled in pain when Vrald slammed down onto it. With body enhancement magic from the dragon arts, Vrald weighed as much as a full-grown dragon and the Messopotamus found itself getting crushed for the first time. of five heads, Vrald had already taken down one, its skull crushed beyond salvation.

Gerald wasted no time and used dragon art to transform his human hands into dragon claws. These dragon claws were also extended to the size of a real dragon. The powerful claws rippled through the necks of two more heads and pierced into the soft underbelly of the grotesque creature. the Messopotamus tried to run but Vrald was faster. Using dragon art, he inhaled deeply and let out an inaudible shout that caused the cave to shake. The roar of a dragon caused rocks to fall, cutting away the monster's escape path.

The Light Dragon warrior finished it off with a spinning slash from the top. As the monster fell to the ground, Olaf threw Bob at the carcass.

The Eternal Dragon didn't stand on ceremony and flapped his transformed wings, inhaling everything in one big move. No bones remained and only the telltale signs of a fight remained as evidence of the earlier battle.

The dragon let up a small belch and grinned. "What's next?" he asked.

Vrald and Gerlad shared a meaningful look. It might be a long day.

Chapter end