The air was thick, and a thin fog was floating around the city of Machu Pichu. It was early morning, and only a few were awake practicing their cultivation.
A boy almost 20 years old was floating on a rock as he absorbed the rising Sun's yang mana. He wore brown trousers and a blue t-shirt. His eyes were closed as he breathed in out. This boy aura showed he was a Core builder.
Right next to this boy was a much smaller one. He was 12 and a half if anyone asked him. Every morning he would wake up early to practice with his idol. The boy even had matching pants and shirt to boot. The boy sat cross-legged on the ground as he absorbed mana into his body.
Seeing the boy open his eyes to peek at the one floating on a rock made a girl watching nearby chuckle.
"Leo. Pedro. Breakfast is ready," Lucy yelled out to the two of them through the window. Lucy recently broke into the late stages of Core Builder. With all the knowledge she has on cultivation, it is a breeze for her.
Leo stood up on the rock and looked down to Pedro. "Let's go before she gets angry." Leo floated the stone to the ground and got off. He started walking to their home.
Pedro just looked at his back, and a warm feeling came over him. Lucy and Leo reminded him of Johnny and Maria. They even treated him like their little brother too. Pedro clenched his fist and promised himself to get stronger. He would not let anyone take away his family again.
Pedro stood up and ran to catch up to Leo.
"How is training coming along?" Leo asked walking.
"Not too bad. Tempering one's muscles is harder than the flesh for sure."
"Keep up the good work. If you have any questions, please ask Lucy or me."
Seeing the two sweaty boys walk in, Lucy just shook her head. They sat down and started to eat breakfast.
"Did Shadow tell you she broke through her second shattering two days ago?" Lucy asked.
"Yeah, Goblin and Mouse wouldn't stop bragging about it to me. It was almost like they made the breakthrough themselves." Leo answered as he laughed.
A draconian escaped from the Renegades ship to Lankani City. There she found Shadow to pass on Aarav's warning. As soon as Shadow found out an enemy was after Leo, she decided to come back. Goblin and Mouse agreed to follow her.
The council sent a mermanian and a draconian to help build the friendship between the two cities.
The mermanian was a healer who wanted to meet Mallqui and study underneath the leader. The mermanian's name was Raindrop. She renamed herself after escaping to Lankani city.
The draconian was asked by Itmon to come to thank Leo on her behalf and to pass him a message. The council also asked him to be their liaison.
"With this message, we owe each other nothing. I hope we never see each other again."
Leo smiled when he received Itmon's message and thanked the draconian.
Hearing that the Team Zodiac was to collect Lucy and eliminate Leo, Lucy was furious. She decided to stay in Machu Pichu to spite her father and protect Leo at all costs.
Looking out the window, Leo looked at Pedro and asked, "What are you doing today, Pedro?"
"I'm going to pick some herbs for Mallqui. Also looking for some beast bones for Goblin too." Pedro said happily.
"Alright, but take Isabella and Leaf with you," Lucy said sounding like a worried mother.
"Fine..." Pedro replied reluctantly. He didn't mind his partner Leaf coming, but he hated Isabell. She is always stealing his spotlight.
Pedro gathered his knapsack and headed outside. Leo saw this decided to get ready to battle train with Lucy. Leo clipped on some draconian armor he picked off a dead body. "Lucy let us meet up with Shadow and them to commence battle training."
Ever since Leo broke through, he has trained everyday fighting. With so many strong fighters in the world, Leo had to get stronger as fast as possible.
"Leo, I'm ready," Lucy said smiling at Leo. She was wearing blueish draconian armor she had Leo custom fit for her. After training in crafting he was good at adjusting already made armor and weapons.
The two of them left the house for Leo's underground training room. Shadow, Goblin, and Mouse were already waiting for them.
"Hey, Leo. Hey, Lucy," Mouse said in a cheerful tone.
Goblin towards them. Shadow sent them both a mana message.
"You ready to train. I think Mouse and I versus you three today."
Everyone nodded in agreement and took up battle stances. Leo pulled out the culmination of a lot of hard work. A steel mace appeared in his hands. He learned that he needed an artifact weapon if he was going to be battle again.
Off the jungle down the mountain, Pedro was waiting in the rest area for hunters. A little girl came running up and gave Pedro an ugly look.
"I don't know why they pair us up all the time," she said in an irritating tone.
"Whatever..." Pedro turned around and yelled, "Leaf. Come here, boy."
The tops of the trees fluttered, and a giant rhinoceros beetle flew down. The humongous insect was larger than Pedro and Isabella combined. It was a shadow beast from the Ukhu Pacha that the golems raised to the Core Builder level. Since the war, the golems had it follow Pedro and Isabella for protection.
Leaf rubbed it horn against Pedro's leg. "I missed you too, boy." Pedro threw his leg over and yelled to Isabella, "You going to stand there or come on."
Isabella stomped on the ground. She hated the way Pedro tried to boss her around. "I'm the older one," she mumbled under her breath. Isabella dragged her feet as she walked over to the beetle. She hated riding this thing because she had to put her arms around Pedro.
Seeing that she finally got on and settled. Pedro said to Leaf, "Lets fly, boy."
Leaf took off ground headed to deep parts of the jungle to get some herbs.