Chapter 289 - Magic Aptitude Test (1/2)

A week. Zero and Merlin toiled away in the fields and kitchen for a week. Merlin was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly learned from demonstrating how magic worked only once. Zero proved to be a magic prodigy of some kind because he understood the principles of balance in magic instinctively without needing Merlin's in-depth explanation from the alchemist's point of view.

The farms were growing well with Merlin's improvement to Zero's original magic greenhouse design. All sorts of seeds that Zero bought were put to good use. Other than vegetables and medical herbs, Zero was able to grow plants that could give them animals, securing their meat.

Merlin proved to be a disastrous cook in the kitchen. Zero got annoyed when his magic teacher got impatient and ruined a perfectly nice piece of steak with a huge fireball. The meat became charred and inedible within a split second and Zero wanted to cry. He spent a long time working on the seasoning for it only to have it ruined in an instant. Now, Zero finally understood how Hua Tuo felt about his hut when the teen tried to use cleaning magic the very first time. His shifu was truly a saint for not disowning him after all the troubles Zero caused. The young doctor grew to have more respect from the old-fashioned man. Hua Tuo was truly someone Zero's respect knew no bounds for.

On the other hand, he was considering kicking the troublemaking magician out of the kitchen. Merlin admitted that he never did any chores in his entire life and Zero couldn't blame him. Being a talented magician from a very young age, Merlin was brought to the palace for work. The palace where he grew up had servants to take care of all his needs. In other words, the wizard never had to lift a single finger in his life to do chores. Merlin was a very spoiled overgrown child but unfortunately for him, Zero didn't want to play the role of a servant that Truen once played.

”We will start learning how to do chores together or find a way to create a house servant to handle that. The golem guard outside can be used to do chores, can't it?”

Merlin paled. Zero's smile was very bright but his intentions were rather sinister. The wizard felt his existence being threatened and could not help but agree to Zero's demands. An angry Zero was a scary one. For such a great magician, he couldn't understand why he was now at his student's mercy.

”I have some spare golems that you can add runes and commands to. We don't have to use the guard outside,” Merlin admitted.

Later that day, Merlin gave Zero complete access to his personal lab and warehouse. Zero went through every item and scrutinised them intently. He found several useful items that would help with his projects and asked Merlin for permission to use them for his work. The wizard god was grumpy but agreed to it. None of those was going to be put to any good use even if Zero didn't ask so he might as well allow his student to utilise the white elephants occupying space.

The first thing Zero took out of the lab was the spare golem. Zero didn't know much about runes so he spent a long time researching them in Merlin's library with the help of Mii. The wizard god wanted to deliberately hinder Zero's learning speed by not lending him the speed reading glasses. However, while the wizard was spying on his student, Zero surprised his teacher by scanning the entire content of the books he needed into his communicator. There was a brief communication with the strawcherry assistant but Zero didn't waste too much time in the library. He multitasked studying runes and designing them for the household golem.

Merlin decided to remain in his lab and watch over Zero's progress while he stayed away from the kitchen. the teenager surpassed all his expectations and somehow made the wizard feel inferior with the astonishing progress. At this pace, Zero might really be able to accomplish creating five Parallel Minds without even trying.

Mii, Zero's mindscape assistant, had levelled up tremendously from the things Zero was learning and doing. Merlin was interested to know if Mii was actually a product of Zero's Parallel Mind development but brushed that thought aside. Mii was created by Mind's Eye, a system left behind for Zero by the Great One.

Zero showed no signs of working on the list of things Merlin wanted him to do. Instead, he made steady progress with the household golem. The runes were written in a language that Merlin only saw a few times. There was no doubt that these runes were for divine tier spells. Merlin didn't think such powerful magic was necessary for a golem in charge of chores but he decided to place his faith in Zero so he wouldn't interfere. There was nothing wrong with Zero's rune arrangements and even if it was overkill, it served its purpose. Merlin couldn't protest.

On the third day, Zero brought the spare golem to life and even gave it the name of Bib. Merlin couldn't help but be impressed with the patience Zero showed teaching the dumb thing from the basics of cleaning up, cooking, tending to the garden and mending clothes. Bib made a huge mess and many mistakes on the first day. In the end, it was Zero who had to salvage the situation. For some reason, Zero started teaching Bib to talk as well and taught it how to read.

Merlin thought that it was ridiculous to treat a golem-like an actual intellectual being but after a week, he had to eat his words. Bib turned out to be a very reliable servant. He was able to hold intellectual conversations and developed a dry sense of humour. On top of that, Bib never missed out on anything related to domestic chores. He performed everything spectacularly and Merlin almost thought that Bib had developed a soul. The golem behaved exactly the way a capable living assistant would.

When Zero introduced his newest creation to Merlin, the wizard god couldn't hold his curiosity back any longer.

”Zero, follow me.”

The teenager thought that he might be in trouble and obediently followed the solemn wizard to the highest floor of the tower. They reached what appeared as a planetarium. In the centre of the huge space was a stone table with a dial and a glass orb floating in the centre.

”Where are we?” he asked.

Merlin turned around and looked at Zero. ”We're at the Observatory. From this place, I can view everything that happens in Arabesque and beyond. It is where I attend to prayers dedicated to me. It is also the place where I measured Truen's magic aptitude and capacity.”

It didn't take long for Zero to understand what Merlin wanted to do. ”You want to test my magic aptitude?”

Merlin nodded. The child must have a very high magic aptitude to be able to grasp the concepts so quickly and use it so freely. Zero was a genius when it came to mana control and manipulation. Even Merlin found it difficult to keep up at times. While the teenager has not explored with multicasting and layering spells, he exhibited signs of being able to weave very complicated magic together. The creation of Bib was evidence.

”Yes. Are you against it?”

Zero paused. He didn't really want to know the results. Merlin would be severely disappointed if he knew that Zero's natural potential for magic and cultivation were non-existent. Hua Tuo and Buddha explained it before that Zero was like a cup. He didn't produce anything of his own but could store and utilise things that he became filled with.

”No, sir. However, I don't have any aptitude for magic or cultivation. The testing is not going to be very effective. I have an affinity with all elements but that's because I'm simply a blank canvas.”

Merlin shook his head. ”That's fine, I just want to confirm it for myself.”

Stubbornly, Merlin ran all sorts of tests on Zero with the teen's cooperation. At the end of it all, the wizard god was still unable to believe the results. Zero was right. All the aptitude tests didn't reflect any numbers. On the other hand, Zero had 100% affinity with all elements. How could this be? After seeing Zero's genius moments, he was very certain that he'd found a magician greater than him.

”How? I don't understand...”

Zero wanted to sigh. He knew that this would happen. Buddha had already informed Zero about his special condition after he received the new vessel.