Fast forward a week after Zero returned to his base, a young man was exploring the rocky area coastal of what was Peru. He was searching for a cave known as Sima Pumacocha. Zero felt that a mysterious lifeform was deep within the cave and he needed someone familiar with earth elements to explore it.
That is how Leo was asked to find the source of energy Zero felt and report back to him. Leo was reluctant to go. He wanted to know what happened with the Deicide. Zero told him nothing. Frustrated with being ignored, Leo accepted this task so that he could cut ties with the wacky android and Jira.
Before Leo left, the baby sloth sensed he was leaving and wouldn't let go when Leo went to say goodbye. It took Jira's help to get him off. Jira gave Leo a few tips to maintain his arms after that Leo left for Peru to find the cave.
Entrance to the cave was collapsed. Leo had to move soil and rock out of the way to squeeze into the deep cavern. Most of the cave, Leo had to climb down. Luckily his new arms made it easy to traverse the limestone cave.
After climbing for a bit, Leo heard a voice say, "let go." Having trained the Demon Heart technique. Leo knew that it was a mind attack. He shrugged it off and kept climbing down.
Leo almost plummeted a few times, but he caught himself. He would have moved earth around, but the cave seemed to be unstable, and he didn't want to destroy the foundation.
Making his way down, Leo sensed a tunnel off to his right. Maneuvering over to it, a large rock was blocking it.
"Leave this place!"
Leo ignored the whisper in his mind again and focused on the boulder barring his path. Slowly using earth control, Leo moved the rock to the side just enough for him to slide through. The roof of this tube was cracked. So, he didn't want it to collapse if he moved it entirely out of the way.
Good thing Leo was used to being blind. The cave was so dark and dusty it was hard for him to see in front of himself.
"Leave! Now!"
Whoever kept sending him mental attacks, they were getting stronger the further he went down. They weren't strong enough to affect him, but Leo knew that Zero was right and something was down here.
"Why won't you leave?"
Using mana sense, Leo saw a large chamber on the other side of a fallen wall. Leo started moving the soil and rocks manually. He instead used his mana to make sure there were no changes to the rock cave around him.
"Stop. Leave here."
The mental attacks continued to bombard Leo. He finally opened a hole to crawl through. Coming into the large opened area, it seemed thick with mana. The ceiling and walls were smooth. No random debris was around it was just a large oval rock in the center of the room.
"Stay back. Don't come close to me."
Leo looked forward and saw a light hue surrounding the rock.
"Is that rock an artifact?"
"Leave me alone."
Wave after wave of attacks bombarded Leo. Luckily Leo trained in the best defense against a constant mental attack. Otherwise, he would have been incapacitated.
Leo walked forward and touched the stone. A blast of mana came forth from the rock and flung Leo into the wall.
"Arggh...that hurt."
"I told you to leave."
Leo stared at the stone and approached it again. The rock released another mana blast. Using earth, Leo blocked the blast and stepped forward. Leo grasped the stone, and a link was established.
A dark-skinned boy with a golden Incan headdress on his head stood before Leo. Leo calmed down and understood this was all in his head.
The boy said, "you need to leave. Quit touching me. Please leave."
"Why? You are just an artifact. Why did you attack me?"
"I didn't attack you. I was sending you away."
"Why do you want me to leave?"
"To keep you from using me."
Leo pulled his hand away. He snapped out of the vision of the artifact and stared at the glowing rock in front of him. What could a rock do? Leo touched the stone again.
"What are you capable of?"
"I'm the guardian to the Inca Kingdom. Now leave."
Leo looked curious at this boy. "So, if I activate you, I will be sent to this kingdom."
"Only your mind..."
Leo wondered what he meant by only his mind. His curiosity was getting the better of him. Maybe this was like Brahma's palace.
"Do you have a name?"
The boy looked down feeling a little sad. "I named myself after the cave. My name is Apu Sima."
"Why don't you want people to use you?"
"It is dangerous, and you will die. Your body will rot away before you return."
Leo looked at the boy. It seems like this happened before. Leo wanted to see this other place.
"Could you bring me back?"
"No. You have to find an Apu on the other side to send you back."
"Hmm." Leo scratched his chin with his metal hand. "I think I will check this kingdom out." Once he returned, he could give a better report to Zero. Finding a new sacred land might make trading arms and eyesight a fairer trade.
"Apu Sima, send me to the Inca Kingdom."
"I warned you." A big flash of light enveloped the entire chamber, and Leo's mind was teleported far away to another universe.
Leo opened his eyes in a land consisting of a giant mountain with a city built all around it. Looking at the water next to him, Leo realized he was made entirely of stone. He was a golem.