342 Travel Preparation and Ground Rules (1/2)

Zero waited patiently at the side. It appeared as if neither Ruth nor Truen had noticed his presence. The last time he was here, Ruth was tossing him to the ground trying to teach him how to fight. He sat on this very rock and took turns with Mitchnew pounding the basics into Zero's head. Today, the situation was reversed. Zero was the one sitting on the rock while Truen and Ruth were going at each other like mad dogs. Life can be truly unpredictable.

At first glance, Ruth looked like he was getting the upper hand with his agility and stealth. However, after watching them go at it for five minutes, Zero had to admit. His friend might just be more powerful than his combat teacher even if the vampire was physically stronger with his bloodline gifts. The wood elf had extraordinary senses that could detect anything easily, giving him time to react accordingly. In addition, Zero knew that like him, Truen's body was created by the Great Gods. The regenerative abilities of Truen's body didn't pale in comparison to Ruth's high-speed regeneration ability. If anything, Truen had the advantage of being able to use the resources around Hua Tuo's backyard to mend his damaged vessel.

The match ended up as a draw and Ruth begrudgingly admitted that he underestimated the archer. Truen also felt slightly better knowing that Zero didn't learn combat from someone weaker. He heard stories about Ruth from Mitchnew but didn't quite believe that Ruth was strong until he tested the vampire personally.

”Thank you for teaching Zero how to fight. I was actually a little concerned about his progress because we were trained separately,” Truen explained and Zero made a face on top of the rock.

The doctor jumped down and surprised them. ”Truen!” Zero whined and the wood elf apologised.

Zero sighed. There was no helping it. Truen was overly concerned like a mother-hen and he could see similarities between the wood elf and the hibernating demon lord. For a moment, Zero wondered what would happen if Baal and Truen were allowed to team up. Luckily for him, Zero didn't have to think about it now. He didn't want to be suffocated with two mother-hen personalities when he was adventuring.

”What are you doing here?” Truen asked.

Seeing that Truen and Zero had important matters to discuss privately, the vampire excused himself and headed back to the village, jumping through the portal. Zero watched Ruth leave and turned to the wood elf. The doctor explained everything that Camie said and then turned on his best puppy-eyed look.

”Can we escort Camie as the first stop for our adventure? I know we said we wanted to check out humans but I can't let a girl like her go alone. Besides, there's a plague that has been going on for years that nobody has been able to cure. This is a great opportunity for me!”

The wood elf pretended to be affected by Zero's puppy-eyed attack and agreed. Zero whooped for joy and gave his best friend a hug before getting down to the more serious business.

”I have to make preparations before we can leave,” Zero told the wood elf.

”What a coincidence,” Truen smirked. ”I have some serious talking to do with you before you can start your travels. Let's sit down and have a talk about the ground rules, shall we? Don't look at me like that. I heard about the things you did and I cannot say that the Great Gods were pleased to know what you did. I'm just doing my job as your guardian.”

Zero sighed and nodded before heading to Hua Tuo's hut. He made himself home and Truen helped to clean up a little. It had been a while since anyone had been home so the two students of Hua Tuo helped themselves. Zero's cleaning magic was something Truen still couldn't get used to. It was scarily efficient and the wood elf wondered if he should add that to the list of banned magic for their travels.

For the next hour before lunch, Truen and Zero sat down to negotiate the terms and conditions they had for each other. Zero found that some of Truen's terms were unreasonable and Truen felt that Zero could request more out of him. They tackled Zero's terms for Truen first and it was easily accepted.

1. No acting like a mother or servants because Zero is a grown-up.

2. No acting like a bodyguard or meat shield during battles because Zero can take care of himself.

3. Take turns doing chores and night watch etc