The Journey is Long

A few days in the dream dimension turned out to be only a few hours in real time. However, Truen felt as if he made a year's worth of progress with Freya's patient guidance and Merlin's absence. He was able to focus on gathering his Parallel Minds in the dream dimension to speed up the analysing process. This was a little trick taught by Freya and Truen took full advantage of Isis' time warp abilities to cultivate more Parallel Minds.

With ten Minds working on increasing his number of Parallel Minds, Truen knew he would be able to bridge that gap between Merlin and him sooner rather than later. He didn't know what Merlin thought about him cheating but his reputation was the least of his concern. Being able to keep up with Merlin's lessons was worth the blow to his pride.

"What are you thinking about? You're distracted."

Startled, Truen jumped a little in his seat. He didn't realise that they were still in the middle of lessons and apologised to Freya. The goddess smiled and checked the time on her communicator.

"Alright, take a break. While it is still possible to continue, the mind would need rest to stay sharp. You have four hours before that maniac comes back so I highly suggest you make full use of it."

Truen glanced at the time and noted that it was already two in the morning in dream time.

"Four hours in real time. Your body needs it too," Freya frowned and the wood elf winced. Sedna and Gaia in mother mode were considered normal. However, when Freya did it, the wood elf felt a pang of guilt. The fiery goddess only went into that mode when Truen overdid something or when Zero was put in serious harm's way. After all, it was easy to rile Freya but not worry her.

"I understand. Thank you."

Satisfied with his answer, Freya left promptly to get some well-deserved rest herself.

Truen looked at the communicator in the dream realm and set it to four dream hours before resting his Parallel Minds. The wood elf stretched in the library and looked around for a comfortable looking spot and set the alarm to wake him up after four real hours physically. Now that preparations are done, it was time for a good break.

***

"Are we there yet?"

Hua Tuo groaned. That was the most dreaded question and the doctor found it difficult to constantly give his apprentice a reply. The boy definitely needed more patience training and the Medicine God yearned for silence more than anything else at the moment.

"Zero, it takes two weeks to get there on foot. No, we are not there yet. In fact, if you turn around, we can still see the fields from here."

The master and apprentice set off on their journey about two hours ago and the sky had been dark then. The sun had only begun to peek past the mountain range but Zero had already asked that same question twenty times. Hua Tuo was considered tricking Zero into staying silent for the next hour but decided against it. Even if Zero looked like a child and often behaved like one, he wasn't young. Once Zero knew what he was trying to do, Hua Tuo will lose his apprentice's trust. That was something Hua Tuo wanted to avoid.

Then, an idea hit the old doctor and he praised himself silently.

"Zero, would you like to learn something new while we walk?"

The brunet blinked. Was it possible? Then again, he trusted Hua Tuo and anything new to Zero was something worth trying at least once.

"Of course!" he beamed and Hua Tuo gave himself a pat on the back.

"We are going to learn how to enter a meditative state. It's called the Zen mode."

Zero didn't suspect a thing and listened to Hua Tuo's lecture. It was a very short lecture about ten minutes long and Zero blinked. Was counting his breath and emptying his mind all he had to do?

It didn't take Zero very long to realise how wrong he was. Counting his breaths was easy. The hard part came when he had to empty his thoughts and maintain that state of mind for an extended period of time. The curious child often found himself wandering off to look at the more interesting plants or hop by some rocks in their path. Hua Tuo remained silent the whole time, observing Zero struggle to maintain that meditative state.

The physician thought that Zero would give up after a few hours but even when dinner time rolled by, the brunet was still trying. Hua Tuo felt bad for tricking his student into being quiet but he couldn't apologise and come clean with it. After all, Zero was trying very hard. He figured that he would remain on the watch and guide Zero if he reaches a breakthrough. It might be slightly hasty of him but a part of Hua Tuo knew that meditation was something he would have to teach Zero during their time together. Without being able to enter a state of nothingness, one cannot feel the life energy flowing through the body.

Qigong was more than just morning exercise. If practised correctly, it is one of the most powerful forms of combat skill a man can achieve in life. Ancient Chinese martial arts were unrivalled. Many masters of martial arts founded sects back then, taking in thousands of disciples and passing on their art. Not even the Emperor could interfere with the pugilist masters. However, with power comes corruption. When these masters passed, their successors began to go astray. Many unorthodox arts were developed that harmed the body in return for faster cultivation speed. Hua Tuo watched the rise and fall of these practitioners and didn't want the same to happen to Zero.

Without training the mind to be resilient, how can the body become strong? Hua Tuo understood the effects of emotion on the body. He'd written medical journals about his research and the same theory applied to martial arts.

The world co-existed on a fragile balance. There can be no light without darkness, no sound without silence, no joy without sadness. At this moment, Hua Tuo found Zero to be very off balance. While wise as an existence, Zero didn't know very normal things. He had a curious mind and Hua Tuo didn't fault that. However, Zero's tendency to do first and ask later was something Hua Tuo did not take kindly to. In some cases, the doctor would agree that asking for forgiveness was better than asking for permission. However, Zero was trying to fly without even learning how to walk so Hua Tuo had to pull the brakes on that.

Meditation will help calm the boy down and train him to focus on one task at a time. The current Zero tended to be slightly absent-minded and easily sidetracked. Hua Tuo worried for Zero when he went on his travels. Being a doctor's assistant, any distraction could prove disastrous. As a surgeon, any loss of focus could cost a patient's life. Zero wanted to be a travelling doctor so Hua Tuo had many reservations about allowing it if Zero didn't show signs of improvement.

Another thing that he worried about was Zero's instant reaction to panic when things go south. Truen was extremely cool-headed and knew how to react appropriately. Zero simply flew off the handle and wore his heart on his sleeves. When dealing with beings of higher intelligence like humans, such behaviour will only attract trouble. Unlike Zero, there are many people who have ill intentions and will not hesitate to take advantage of the weak.

No, Zero wasn't weak. Hua Tuo had to admit that. However, it didn't help that the brunet looked too defenceless. Without Truen around, Hua Tuo would bet his entire journal collection that Zero would walk into trouble on their first day in any town. The young boy just had an appearance that screamed easy target. If Zero didn't work on his demeanour in public, he would be in for a hard time.

Nevertheless, as Zero worked on building a fire efficiently, Hua Tuo continued to observe his charge secretly. While Zero's mental state of mind hasn't improved, he could now sense both chakra and meridian branches beginning to manifest as a proof that the special training works. The morning exercise served two purposes. Firstly, it was to strengthen Zero's artificial body and get the soul inside accustomed to it. The second was to allow it to develop natural mana and qi branches in hopes that one day, Zero could absorb them naturally without the special device. It wasn't a real body but with a little bit of innovation, magic and time, Zero could live as normally as anyone else on Earth. Hua Tuo and the Great Gods would pull no punches when it came to aiding Zero. However, they still worried about the precious child. If Zero could hold his ground, it would give them a peace of mind when he left them.

They cooked in perfect harmony without many words. Already, Hua Tuo could sense that Zero's actions were less fidgety. That was a huge improvement. Usually, Zero would hum, move around or play with the utensils while waiting for something to cook. Today, Zero didn't hum. He didn't walk around or danced randomly. There wasn't even any twirling of chopsticks or spinning them on his nose. Hua Tuo noticed how Zero eyes were trained on the flickering fire during the whole time while waiting for the soup to cook. It was slightly unnerving when Zero didn't even blink after the two-minute mark passed. Hua Tuo briefly wondered if he was looking at a doppelganger but dismissed it soon after he announced that the food was ready.

Table manners. Hua Tuo noticed how messily Zero ate even in silence. The boy had food all over his mouth. Soup dribbled from his chin and there were bits of vegetables at the side of his cheek. Hua Tuo wondered how Zero managed to get a piece of carrot on his nose. Zero's table manners included licking his fingers clean and wiping his dirtied face on the sleeve of his shirt. The doctor sighed. He'd spent too much time taking care of Zero to realise the harm he'd done.

Whatever. That was Merlin's problem now. Hua Tuo told Zero to wash up quickly and sleep. He would take the first half of the night watch and Zero will take the second. The boy didn't argue and went to sleep after texting Truen. Hua Tuo was impressed when he heard some light snoring ten minutes into his watch.

Pulling out a secret flask, he took a swig from it and sighed. He didn't think he'd need the alcohol so soon. It was only the first day of their journey but already, he was exhausted. The road ahead of them seemed very long. Very long indeed.