307 Saving Heaven 1 (1/2)
Tambolt and Raj didn't think that the day would arrive where they would be in Hell. Both inventors were very cautious and did their best to lead a good life just to avoid the horrid place in the rumours. Yet, they found themselves being roped in to help their village head in the exact place both men wanted to avoid at all costs. Fate worked in a funny way.
\”A little more to the left,\” the blacksmith hollered and Robo Mike carried the pump to shift it two steps to the left.
\”That's right, you can place it down now,\” the djinn thanked the golem and started setting up the water pump.
Back in Heaven, Hyelin and Zero were laying the piping from the water pump to the dried-up pond. The pixie worked nimbly while Zero decided to make himself useful and did the thing he did best, second to his healing magic.
Ouroboros watched them lazily from the highest tree branch and raised a brow when Zero started adding magic into a simple water ball magic. The young doctor looked pleased with himself and started swooshing that around the garden. The serpent guardian was pleasantly impressed with the absurd use of magic to clean but the effects were desirable. Of all the unconventional ideas he heard Zero talking about with the pixie technician, he liked this the best.
Hyelin worked well with her hands and had some of Zero's help to remodel some parts of the garden so that the piping didn't stick out like a sore thumb. Cleo and Latitia offered to help with the landscaping designs and they worked harmoniously, ignoring Ouroboros completely.
The deity felt neglected and sulked, flicking its tongue anxiously as they left him out of the action. However, as he flicked his tongue, the serpent was pleasantly surprised to taste a change in the air. The familiar taste of something from very long ago created a sense of nostalgia. A gentle breeze blew some of the dead leaves away in the garden and Zero looked up at the Tree of Knowledge who seemed to shimmer with something different.
\”Is the pump ready?\” Hyelin asked in the party call. Latitia and Cleo were already on standby.
The remodelled pond looked prettier and Zero cleaned it very well. While the base of the pond was still cracked and dry, It was now not covered with strange things. The teen busied himself with cleaning the rest of the garden and mending the crumbling brick walls. Hyelin left monitoring of the piping to the dryad while she helped to remove the rust on the white iron gates. Both lab members worked hard to try and restore the garden's structure to its former glory while Latitia flew around, pulling out dead plants and weeds, leaving them in a heap for Zero to take care of them later.
Zero was startled when the walls he was repairing suddenly repelled him. Small yellow orbs started to rise from the dead ground and there was a scent of something grassy in the air. The young doctor turned around and saw that with the help of the Spring of Vitality, Garden Eden was slowly repairing itself.
\”Cleo, Latitia, Hyelin, I shall leave it to you! Ouroboros, play nice. These are my precious friends and villagers. If I hear a bad word from them about you, I will not hesitate to feed you sulphur!\”
The poor serpent couldn't find words for a reply at the accusation before Zero jumped through the portal. It was time for him to plant the new Tree of Life.
\”Teacher, the water piping is ready. I am going to start planting the new Tree of Life. Is Lovina with you?\”
Merlin replied to Zero using the party call function. He still didn't understand why Zero wouldn't use the communicator. Having someone else talking in his head felt highly disturbing. It made the wizard's ear twitch whenever it happened and sent shivers down his spine.
\”I am ready. Lovina is sipping on honeysuckle tea as we speak.\”
Zero bit his bottom lip in envy when he heard that. He had to wake up early today to start work and his teacher had the nerve to enjoy a leisure chat with honeysuckle tea without him! Pain and pleasures should be shared equally. Where was the justice in this? Didn't Merlin say he was going to help him with his grimoire? Why did it seem like Zero was doing all the work?
Sighing in defeat and accepting the facts, Zero hurried to where Raj and Tambolt were waiting for him.
The water pump worked great. The fact that they managed to modify it from using coal to using mana was amazing. The inventors only had a day to work but the results didn't disappoint. Robo Mike was waiting for further instructions and Zero smiled in satisfaction when he saw the prepared isle in the middle of the huge lake. The golem was certainly useful and Zero was happy that Merlin didn't demand to take Robo Mike back.
\”Thank you, Raj and Tambolt. You should both return to the village for now. From this part onwards, it could go either very well or very poorly. I don't want to implicate both of you in my crazier schemes.\”
The djinn and dwarf bowed before taking their leave borrowing the portal back to Ten-Path Crossway and back to Half Moon Village from there. Once he was sure that there wouldn't be any distractions, Zero transformed into a hybrid bat form to fly over to the isolated isle. Merlin had set up the formation and all Zero had to do was plant the seed then nurture it with his magic and qi.
After digging up old archives, Merlin and Zero discovered that the Tree of Life needed a lot of energy before it could grow. Endow Hill's mana was dense enough to encourage germination but not enough to let the tree grow without restraint. Zero was hoping that with the Spring of Vitality, this tree would grow strong enough to become a new plane guardian. Of course, the spells woven into the seed itself will force it to accept its new intended role but Zero had to tame it. After all, the Tree of Life had a will of its own.
The soil was dug up and the seed was sown quickly. Zero immediately conjured the magic in one hand and condensed qi in the other, channelling them through the array Merlin drew on the isle and waited for the greedy seed to sprout.
The calm waters of the spring suddenly rippled and became choppy. Robo Mike who was standing in the middle of it, tending to mana lotuses got swept away by the strong sudden current and had to be rescued by Zero who verbally cast an Earth spell to fish the golem out of the waters. The golem stayed at the side of the lake and watched nervously as Zero started drawing in the water from the spring to nourish the seed.
All around the abyss, tremors could be felt. The Demon Lords felt a strange pain in their chest when the tremors happened. News reached them that Zero was going to try and establish Hell as an independent plane from Heaven and sever that lingering connection to save the Tree of Knowledge in Garden Eden. The new Tree of Life had to spread its roots all over Hell in order to become its new plane guardian but nobody was expecting the action to hurt them. The pain was enough to knock out Lilith and Beelzebub but the rest of the Demon Lords hung onto their consciousness with sheer will power.
Unaware of the chain reaction, Zero pumped in more energy into the formation. Why wasn't the Tree of Life sprouting yet? Did he plant it too deeply? It couldn't be. According to Cleo, he should plant it about six inches into the dirt and water it like an ordinary plant. Something must be wrong.
The young doctor could feel the life energy emitting from the seed and it was growing stronger by the minute. The seed should have germinated by now. It continued to siphon energy mercilessly and Zero had to soak his lower half in the Spring of Vitality to keep up with the voracious appetite of the seed. If the Tree of Life needed this much energy to grow into a seedling, Zero didn't know if he could keep up with its appetite until it became a tree.
\”Mana reserves are down to sixty percent!\” Lily informed him. \”Permission to convert sins into mana?\”
Zero nodded. \”Do it. How is the qi reserve looking?\”
Mii checked the status and informed Zero that it was doing well thanks to the aid of the Spring of Vitality.
The mindscape assistants worked with high tension in the air. Nobody knew how long this would have to last but Mii was the least worried. All the eating that Zero did actually came in handy. Not to mention, the pile of dead plants Zero absorbed from the ruined Garden Eden contained a lot of merits.
Zero felt a strain on both arms as the chakra and meridian channels were stretched to the limits of their potential. He might not have a problem with his energy reserves but facing such a situation, Zero felt that his channels and networks were like small pipes that could burst anytime under heavy usage and high pressure transporting an ocean volume's worth of water.