Chapter 219 - Baals Gift (2/2)
Zero didn't like the biting tone Ruth was using but decided to let it slide. Naturally, having your village ruins completely transformed into a sacred zone in the abyss was a little too irresponsible on Zero's end. He should have consulted Ruth for permission before deciding that it would be alright. The young doctor felt the guilt stinging him as he passed the small container underneath the fur blanket. Ruth's cold fingers accepted the salve and they waited for him to finish applying it.
”I'm done. Can I come out now? It's getting stuffy and warm underneath this...”
Baal merely watched as Zero and Hua Tuo helped the cranky vampire. For once, the Demon Lord felt like he could sympathise with the combat mage warrior. Zero's idea of a gift was too much. While he was grateful as a Demon Lord, he didn't know how he would react having his best friend trample over his old graveyard and making it a prime spot for tourists and business. Even that necromancer would be writhing in his ash at Zero's forceful destruction of the peace.
When Ruth threw the fur blanket off, he was hit by the strong rays of the mid-noon sun. Prepared for the angry blisters to appear, Ruth was pleasantly surprised at being able to exist without suffering the wrath from the heavens for being born an undead.
”But... how? I thought the sun was created to eliminate filth from the Earth and keep the filth in the abyss... Undead who live on Earth can never step foot underneath the sun without retribution... it's the price to pay for our sins...”
Zero grinned, elated that his hypothesis was right on the money. ”I knew it! It's a genetic mutation and an allergic reaction! This would explain why half-blooded vampires have reduced regenerative abilities and the ability to withstand silver and sun.”
Ruth didn't understand the technical terms pouring out from Zero's mouth but the brunet seemed satisfied with the positive results.
”I'll still caution you about staying under the sun for too long... the salve and cream formula isn't very stable. There will be reactions under the sun causing it to weaken. Once the salve completely breaks down, you'd be back to blistering. Lovina had a hand in this, I'm happy to say that alchemy would be the bridge between magic and science. What should we call this salve cream?”
Lovina hummed and thought hard. Baal yawned. Seriously, was naming it so important? He just wanted to give Zero his gift and throw the teen to the villagers. Whatever they wanted from Zero would be none of his business. As a demon, meddling with the affairs of Earthlings without a contract was forbidden. Besides, Baal had more important matters to attend to now that Zero was finally away from Hell. He had a meeting with the other Demon Lords to discuss the development of the abyss plane.
”How about something simple? It blocks the sun, right? We'll call it sunblock cream.” Ruth suggested.
Lovina thought that it was a great idea and Zero didn't seem to think of it as too tacky so the verdict was passed. ”Good, now that we have a name I can let Coux know about it. We'll sell it to the undead who wants to do business on Earth. I heard that you've established the Central Terminal?”
Zero nodded. ”Of course! It's called the Ten-Path Crossway. Baal came up with the name.”
After some chit chat and catching up, the young doctor turned to his friend. ”Thank you Baal, for everything. I will see you again, right?”
Baal smiled. ”Of course. You've given Hell one of the best gifts even if you gave us a fair share of headaches and trouble along with it. The terraforming project will change the lives of many and with a better economy, someday demon-kind might be able to live on Earth and reunite with their families. For now, there's one last thing to do before I return to my duties...”
Zero turned solemn at once. Parting with Baal would be the hardest thing to deal with for him. They've gone through so much together and Zero didn't want their time together to come to an end.
”Channel mana to your eyes and use your Observation skill carefully, I'm only doing it once.”
Zero did as he was told and marvelled at how different the world looked with mana in his eyes. They acted as some sort of filtered lens and gave him a very clear view of the mana in the area. Combined with the Observation skill, Zero was able to make out the chakra channels in Baal's body.
Knowing that Zero was watching him, Baal did it as slowly as he could so that Zero could process it. Shape-shifting wasn't a particularly difficult skill. It only required one to be able to manipulate their chakra channels in the body and assume a different physical form either by possessing a summoned creature by contract or storing their real body in a space-time dimension while creating a puppet vessel to use in the meantime. Of course, there were some exceptions like being able to rapidly regenerate cells or stop the reproduction of cells to change the actual body. However, that ability was only available to those who have beast blood in them. For folks like Zero and Baal, shape-shifting was better done using magic.
Zero watched in silence as Baal swapped places with a different body and injected his mana into that new body to control it as his own. His real body disappeared into the shadow and Zero recognised that as dark magic. The bat version of Baal fluttered around and collided clumsily into Zero's face before falling. Zero caught Baal in his hands before the poor creature hit the ground. Apparently, shape-shifting using the swapping method retained the weaknesses of the original host's body. The poor bat couldn't see in the blinding noon sun. Baal quickly shape-shifted into a spider and Zero giggled when the Demon Lord crawled all over his arm before jumping off and transforming back to his normal appearance.
”That's how you do it. Shape-shifting is a useful skill but it has two limiting factors. You must possess dark magic or have awakened beast blood in your veins before you can attempt it. It's the reason why humans cannot shape-shift and why some of us are limited to only a few forms when shape-shifting.”
Zero nodded and Baal waved his hand before suppressing a yawn. ”That's all from me, I've taught you what you needed to know. The rest is up to you to experiment. Just be sure to have a safe landing pad to fall on if you ever try to learn how to fly. I'm not responsible for accidental suicides.”
Zero pouted at the mean but weak jab at his reckless nature but quickly pulled Baal into a teary hug. The Demon Lord allowed Zero to wrap his arms around him until he felt the coil around his neck get tighter.
”Cut it out!” he growled before Zero finally let him go.
”I'll miss you,” the young doctor told Baal.
Baal merely looked into Zero's eyes before snorting and turning away with a casual wave. Zero watched Baal disappear back into the portal and continued to look at the swirling gateway even after Baal's departure.
Hua Tuo decided that after three minutes of zoning out, Zero needed a distraction. Truth be told, Half Moon Village had a proposition that he couldn't refuse.
”Ahem!” the Sage God of Medicine cleared his throat and cast a side glance to Grandma Moppo who took the hint.
”Zero darling, welcome back to the village. Goodbyes are never easy are they?”
Zero shook his head, eyes not leaving the gateway. ”No, they aren't.”
”It's all good then. We would also hate to have to say goodbye to you in such a manner. I know it's a little too soon but could we have a little chat? It's about the village's sentiment after you sent Douglas away.”
Slowly, Zero tore his eyes away from the portal. ”I understand. I would hold no grudges no matter the outcome. However, I do want to apologise to everyone one last time formally before I have to leave.”
Grandma Moppo was slightly surprised by Zero's sudden maturity. Her heart ached a little thinking about the things Zero had to go through in the abyss, causing him to grow up so quickly.
”No, it's nothing of that sort. Come, follow me.”
having not many options, Ruth trudged along to follow Zero who followed Grandma Moppo. Hua Tuo walked behind his student, unable to think of what was going through Zero's mind.