Chapter 253 - [Bonus] Zero's Secret Healing Magic Training

[Bonus Scene taken from Chapter 100 - Training (8)]

*Chapter excerpt*

He didn't know how Zero thought about fusing two dying or dead animals to improve his success rates. The creatures lived but seeing that they were two very different species, they couldn't come to agree on which prey to hunt and that resulted in their deaths by starvation - something Zero learnt the hard way.

Hua Tuo didn't understand how Zero thought it would be a great idea to pour healing magic constantly into a dead creature for more than three minutes. The unexpected happened when the creature morphed into a zombie who came alive in the form of a spirit taking over possession of its rotting body. Even after its resurrection, Zero faithfully continued to supply it healing magic and Hua Tuo almost fainted when the creature became a zombie mutant capable of absorbing mana for its survival. Without knowing what he did, Zero left happily. Hua Tuo only knew about a massacre of a small village the day after and had to secretly end that monster's 'life'. Endow Hill's magic was strong enough to drive the weak-willed minds insane. With an indestructible body and a weak mind, it was only a matter of time before what Zero 'saved' morphed into everyone's nightmare. If not put to a stop, it could very well turn into a calamity class demon, given enough time. When Zero learnt about the monster he created from Gaia who heard it from Hua Tuo, he mourned for the deaths of those innocent villagers and promised to never do that again.

*End of Excerpt*

How long had it been since Hua Tuo entrusted him with the secrets to revival magic? Zero was beginning to feel a sense of urgency and frustration. Of all the obstacles he faced, this was taking the most time to master. He'd never had any learning disabilities or difficulties before, so why now?

Hua Tuo's silent disappointment was affecting Zero in not a good way. Every night before he went to bed, he would take a look at his teacher's face and feel bad. True, the old man might be stricter than usual and more grumpy. Zero has also become less chatty lately due to the tension between them. However, on the inside, the boy thought that he must be a severe failure of a student. Hua Tuo was a great teacher and Zero found himself understanding the clear instructions. It's just that when a life was extinguished before his very eyes, Zero couldn't help but feel their desperation. It was impossible for him to be level-headed in times like that when something was screaming at him to stop the inevitable.

The fault lies entirely with him and Zero sighed. If only there was a way for him to get it under control. His body simply didn't listen to him when the time called for it. Zero knew everything in his head and at the back of his hands what he needed to do. However, for some reason, the vessel he was in simply couldn't react the same way his head knew he should be reacting. He was unable to master Hua Tuo's cold and impersonal demeanour and set his mind to focus on the job without caring about the results. Zero cared too much about the dying patients and panicked more when they were actually dead. He feared for them as much as he feared his failure.

On hindsight, perhaps that was the reason for his continuous streak of failure. Zero found it very hard to be optimistic about his progress with the results of his incapacity staring back at him. The number of lives he failed to save kept on increasing by the day, adding an invisible weight to his very existence. If he could collect the number of tears he shed over every life he failed to save, Zero was sure that his tears could fill up a small pond by now.

The heart was a peculiar organ. Although there wasn't anything wrong with his vessel, Zero felt as if someone was continuously squeezing it. Was that the ghost of all those fishes he failed to save? It was gradual but undeniable that Zero's confidence was diminishing. Each time the fish failed to respond and the soul left the body, something fragile in Zero broke. Hua Tuo's sigh echoed loudly in Zero's world and the silence that followed was even worse than that admonishing look at the very beginning.

Zero knew that he was inadequate. Hua Tuo hasn't said anything about giving up but Zero was almost ready to throw the towel in himself. If the number of lives he had to sacrifice to master this revival magic outweighed the number of lives he could save in future with it, Zero was heavily considering to drop it. However, Zero also knew that if he didn't master this magic that was Hua Tuo's signature healing magic, he would be a failure of a disciple.

Hua Tuo's light snores were the last thing Zero wanted to hear tonight. With so many thoughts tumbling around in his head, the boy decided to take a walk. The night was always something Zero liked whenever he was feeling down. Under the cover of darkness beneath the starry sky, Zero didn't have to worry about anyone spotting him. He could allow himself to stop smiling and cry.

Zero knew that he could call any of the people on his communicator's contact list to talk about it but he thought that it wasn't fair to be doing so. This training was a test to see if he could overcome the difficulties that he will face in the future as a travelling physician. Hua Tuo never stopped Zero from doing what he did as long as it was reasonably safe. That made Zero wonder if there was something he missed out previously. He only understood what he should be doing and not why he should do them.

Thinking about it, Zero wondered why Hua Tuo broke it down so specifically. It might work on fishes but if he wanted to save humans or birds, did the same revival magic techniques that worked on fishes apply to them?

"Maybe there's something else Hua Tuo wants me to find out but I've been too focused on making the revival magic work to understand the hidden lesson. That's right, Hua Tuo isn't the kind of teacher who would spoon-feed answers. I have to find out what he wants me to learn on my own. Perhaps this isn't the best way revival magic is done, perhaps there are hidden tricks to this!"

Feeling rejuvenated with the new target in mind, Zero started thinking about ways he could do some special training to help him understand the mysterious art of revival magic.

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