The giant snake looked at the two humanoids and then looked back where the noise came from. It faced forward and slithered away.
Jira and Leo looked at each other with relief. That was a peak Core Builder running in fear. They knew they needed to leave quickly too.
The two of them ran non-stop back to Zero's home. Catching his breath, Jira looked over at the human. This human was barely tired. It seemed to him that he could run his top speed for hours and not be fazed. What was this human made of? He wondered.
"Here." Leo threw the crystal to Jira. "I'm going to cultivate outside your camp. Let me know if Zero needs anything."
Jira caught the crystal and just looked at Leo puzzled. So many things that just don't make sense about him.
After returning with the crystal, Jira explained everything to his Master. Zero took the crystal and told Jira to take care of the garden. "I want to go observe this beast myself. Tell the human, Leo, to take care of the sloths and mind the plants. I will return in three days."
Without any more information, Zero left in his ship. Jira sighed. His Master was an eccentric robot for sure.
Jira walked out to find Leo cultivating. Leo was sitting cross-legged on the ground with rocks orbiting around him.
"Leo, Master told me to tell you to take care of the sloths while he is away."
Leo opened his eyes and said, "okay." He closed his eyes and began to cultivate again. Being only at mid Mana Fighter level, Leo wanted to get stronger as fast as possible.
Jira left him to cultivate in the garden and tend to it.
Around midnight Leo opened his eyes to stare at the moon through the trees. The wind was gently blowing the branches and yin mana abundant. The moonlight danced around the crossed legged human on the ground.
Leo was happy he was able to see the moon again. He felt lucky to obtain his sight back. He undoubtedly wouldn't squander this cherished ability.
Looking down though, he clenched his metal fist. It was a strange feeling to move the arms, but not feel anything from them. The cold wind was blowing on them — the pressure of squeezing your hand. This circumstance was the price he paid for trying to be a hero.
In the end, things worked out, but he felt lost. He wanted to stay with Joe and Shadow. This feeling told him to run. That he didn't deserve his friends, his scars would be with him forever to remind him of how weak he is.
Now that his sight was healed, and he was given new arms, he felt it was all cheap. He cheated fate, and now his wounds were no longer a curse. How else would he punish himself to motivate himself? How else will he remember he was weak?
Leo stood up and grabbed a branch. He then began to beat his back with it. The branch eventually broke, but stains of blood seeped through the shirt Leo had. The pain finally calmed Leo down.
Jira awoke when he heard Leo hitting himself and watched as this human beat himself in the light of the moon. Why would someone do this? Jira turned around reminding himself it wasn't his business.
Leo sat down to heal his wounds. After fighting for months, Leo's fury was gone. After almost becoming a villain himself, he just embarrassed misery.
The next few days just seemed like a tape on repeat. Leo would bring food to the sloths in the morning. The youngest sloth took a liking to him and wanted a hug. Leo would hug the sloth and then leave.
He would cultivate earth and metal element. Since he had new metal arms, Leo focused more on this element to catch it up to his understanding of the laws of earth. His attainment in earth laws was almost at the Creation level. His knowledge of metal was only at the Control level.
After training all day, Leo would awake at night to punish himself. Jira couldn't bear to watch anymore and would ignore it when he heard the screams of pain.
Leo would continue till he bled and then would heal. This ritual almost became a way for him to calm himself. He didn't understand why it felt right just afterward it felt good. It was a reminder that he was weak and unless he got stronger those around him would die.
This went on for a week. In this time Zero never returned. Leo asked Jira if this was normal. Jira sighed and nodded his head. Zero sometimes even disappeared and wouldn't also tell him. This was the only thing that Jira wasn't proud of his Master about.
Leo took care of the sloths. The young one would attach himself to Leo and wouldn't let go. Leo would have to use all his strength to peel the little guy off him.
Leo started to focus on his fighting techniques with the metal arms. It was difficult at first using Ascending Sun or other channeling mana moves, but he eventually got the hang of it.
Night after night, Leo was becoming a masochist. At first, he was fine with a few welts, but now he was using metal blades and stones to hurt himself.
The wounds he was inflicting onto himself were taking longer to heal.
The lion DNA was starting to become thicker in his blood. This factor increased his healing speed. Leo didn't realize due to injuring himself worse.
Jira didn't like to hear Leo's screams every night, but he was happy to have some company through the day. It also lit a fire of competition inside himself. He started to cultivate every day in the garden. The life energy was abundant, and he was almost at the destruction level.
Draconians were natural fire manipulators, but after pledging himself to his Master. Jira started to learn life element.
Leo trained his Mana Sense to see for him when he was blind. Because of that, he could sense many elemental energies easier now. Now and then he would walk over to Jira to help him out.
Mana Sense was something Mahisha taught him. It was a way to look at your surrounding without seeing. For earth warriors, it allowed them to see through rocks and soil.
Another week went by, and Zero finally returned. He landed his ship to find both men cultivating. Jira was on the brink of breaking into mid Mana Fighter himself. For some reason, a feeling came over Zero. He asked himself, "is this is what it means to be proud of someone." He drifted off into thought for a bit.
Eventually, he turned to walk over towards Leo. This human was particular. He was manipulating two manas at once. "Oh..." No, he was managing four energies at once. Around this human, Zero felt the mana of earth, metal, yin, and yang.
"No wonder this human is so powerful at such a low level." Zero shook his head though. Anyone who divided their attention on too many laws was bound never to ascend. Therefore, most great warriors only focused on one or two at most.
"Leo, I need you to do something for me."
Leo instantly stood up. He was ready to repay this debt and leave. "Whatever it is, after this, I'm leaving."
"Deal," Zero responded.