The area was incinerated by the flames and nothing, but charcoal remained. The peggians searched the area but couldn't find a trace of Leo or Goblin. They searched everywhere and eventually sent the golem-peggian to head back to Machu Pichu to see if they head back.
Deep underground Goblin and Leo sat against a wall of a cavern. Luckily for Leo, he sensed it with his Mana Sense and opened a tube down to the cave to hide from the enemy.
"Goblin, you ok?" Leo asked as he moved his hand over his mouth to see if he was still breathing. "Thank goodness." Leo breathed a sigh of relief. Goblin is still fighting to survive.
Leo looked over the beastman using his mana sense to inspect Goblin's body. He found that Goblin's core was destroyed, his appendages crushed, and scars all over his body. It is a miracle he was able to escape. Then it donned on him; this Goblin could be a trick.
Leo backed away forming a short sword made of stone. Goblin moved a little, and Leo stepped forward to attack.
"Mouse...Mouse...run..." Goblin mumbled as a tear fell down his cheek. Goblin fell forward and collapsed.
Leo dropped the stone sword and was disappointed in himself. This new enemy is causing him to be apprehensive to everyone. Leo patched himself and Goblin up. Using mana in his body, he sealed his shoulder wound.
After cultivating in the cave a bit, Leo walked around to explore the place they were staying in. Leo found an underground spring to gather water for him and Goblin. When night came, he went to the surface to pick a few things for him and Goblin.
The beastman was in no shape to travel, and Leo couldn't fight so many Core Builders himself. So, after gathering some plants and water, Leo re-enforced the cave.
A few bat creatures attacked but Leo trounced them. As Goblin rested, Leo, cultivated or trained his Mace Arts.
"What is this tunnel leading underground?"
"People are up above."
Leo dug tunnel nearby to get a look at the people who found his cave. When he reached the surface, he saw two warriors standing around the hole. The two purple skin warriors were clad in black leather and silver armor. One was armed with a blaster and the other a sword.
Wasting no time, Leo attacked and with two strikes both Mana Fighters were incapacitated. Picking up the two warriors, Leo head down into the cave closing the entrance behind him.
Leo manipulated the earth to secure them to the walls. The only thing protruding out was their heads. The two warriors eventually awoke surprised they couldn't move.
"What is going on?"
"Where are we?"
"I can't move."
"Shut up." Leo looked over at the two of them. "You two are going to give me answers or pay with your lives."
"Lyriv, don't tell him anything. These barbarians need to be purged instead of enslaved."
"Tombstone." The earth around the one who just spoke out was instantly crushed causing his head to pop like a balloon.
"Tye! You Monster!"
"I'll give you one chance to tell me everything you know." Leo had to get answers even if he had to play the part of a villain.
"Never." The purple humanoid was scared, but he was not going to tell this barbaric person anything.
Leo thought for a second and then placed his hand on the enemy's head. "Mana Link." He activated the technique he used to communicate to beasts. Leo lost his concentration for a second when he remembered his little brother was still waiting for him in the north.
With his focus wavered, the link failed. Leo then looked at the enemy and used King's Roar. The halls echoed with his mind attack. The peggian couldn't hold on and fell unconscious.
"Mind Link!"
The mind of the peggian became an open book for Leo to peruse. The first few things that came to Leo were the mission the warrior was on. His mission was to spread outward to find any traces of the beastman and human.
The next thing that popped into his head was the peggian's sword technique and cultivation technique. This was what Leo wanted.
The cultivation technique called Commensalism was the art to encase an organism to clone it. This art will form a link between the two beings with one's memories, techniques, and experiences being transmitted to the peggian. This allows peggians to transform and even act like their targets without anyone knowing the difference. The process takes a long time to complete the transfer, and only the short term memories and early techniques are retrieved first.
"That is why the Golbin and Mouse from before could only use Tempered Warrior techniques." Leo was referring to the two peggians he fought when he ran into Hiro.
The peggian awoke and activated Commensalism. "Your soul and mind will be mine!"
Purple mana traveled from Lyriv's body through Leo's hand. Then it traveled up his arm to attack his core. A dark red aura of mana surrounded Leo's brain and destroyed the incoming purple mana. The Demon Heart technique was one that could allow a user to fight off mind attacks of those levels above them much less this warrior below him.
The rebound of Commensalism caused the enemy to go brain dead. Only a few in the peggian race knew about the opposite effects if Commensalism failed. For this soldier, he would never be told that information. Now that the warrior's brain was wiped and dead, there was nothing more Leo could search since the hard drive was wiped.
Leo pulled his hand off the peggian's forehead and looked over at Goblin. The last bit of info he got about the technique Commensalism was that if the user the technique is used on dies then the peggian also dies. It was no wonder they kept Goblin alive.