Time flew by quickly, and Leo had almost turned 25 years old. The last few years were spent rebuilding Ra and working on the space ship. Leo had entered the peak of Core Building long ago, but could never cross the boundary into Shattering.
Dark Razor and Void Slayer both broke into 3rd Shattering. Even Sepha and Keysol ascended to 2nd Shattering. Only Leo had remained in the Core Building realm of cultivation.
The royal guards progressed under Leo's and Dark Razor's guidance. They took over as their masters since Green Tooth passed. Papyrus and Djed both reached the middle stage of Mana Fighter. Haj wasn't as talented and was still in the early stage of Mana Fighter.
Leo had long ago expanded upon the mana chamber. He created a barrier using the drones from the battle at Osiris. This barrier allowed for the entire city to feel mana. The mana in the air was weak, but it would enable all in Ra to cultivate.
Shia was appointed as queen to rule over all seeking asylum in Ra. She was also the only person below the Mana Fighter level allowed to enter the pyramid or engineer bay. The scientist left the spaceship harbor and set up there own area nearby.
After Sepha assisted Dark and Keysol, the spaceship's technology and structure made many technological leaps. Even though none of the warriors were engineers, their memory was impeccable. This recall ability allowed them to apply the few things they knew about their race's technology to the ship.
Besides helping with the ship, Sepha mostly stayed in seclusion. Even now, the loss of Geph weighed heavy on her heart. She poured everything she had into leveling up. She made a promise to herself she would never allow her brothers to die in front of her.
With the changes to the city, Leo also increased the output of mana in the pyramid. His knowledge of mana and technology bypassed everyone. He absorbed everything they placed into the ship and then some.
"Today is the day," Leo said to himself as he opened his eyes. A dark blue hue crystal floated before him. If a cultivator saw it, they would recognize it as an artifact core crystal. Leo grabbed the crystal and placed it into the middle of his wristwatch. That device was the same one that changed his life so many years ago.
Leo retrieved this crystal from the tablet that Green Tooth shattered. The attack he used destroyed the tomb's spirit but left the crystal intact spiritless. After many sleepless nights, Leo had finally charged the crystal enough to envoke the watch's A.I.
Dark and Void felt all the mana in the room get sucked towards Leo. This phenomenon was one only ancient cultivators knew about. The creation of a powerful mana artifact was being born.
An implosion happened after the crystal became saturated, and the wave of mana spread back out. All of a sudden, a voice, Leo hadn't heard since he was a kid spoke.
"Good day, Sir. My name is Sprite. It stands for Specialized Portable Remote Intelligence Technology Entity."
"Hello, my old friend," Leo responded with a smile Dark or Void had never seen before.
Dark and Void, realizing this moment was special for Leo, turned around and went back to cultivating in their respective corners.
"New Master, please state your name?"
"Leonardo."
"Registering the New Master..."
Leo let out a deep sigh. If Sprite was doing the same thing, he did those many years ago. Then he didn't retain any of his memories.
"Registration Complete."
"Sprite, do you have any memories before awakening at this moment?" asked Leo in the hope he did.
"No, Sir."
When Leo heard those words, his last bits of hope fell with it.
"I do not have any complete memories. I do have two clumps of corrupted data, though. One from the residual memory lingering in my technology and another in my core."
"What? Can you rebuild the information?" Leo hurridly asked.
"Yes. I will need to shut down for 41.7 hours to decipher and rebuild the data. Does Master wish for me to begin now?"
"Go ahead, Sprite. I will see you when you awake."
"Goodnight, Sir..." Spriter said as he powered down.
Leo didn't know what he was hoping for, but if any bit of his old companion could return, he would be forever grateful.
Sepha and Keysol sensing the weird fluctuations of mana in the pyramid, thought Leo finally broke through. Upon entering the chamber, they were disappointed, still feeling he was in the Core Builder realm.
Seeing how disappointed they were, Leo consoled them. "Today, a good day, my friends. He lifted his wrist. I was able to fix my A.I."
Finally, the two of them smiled and congratulated Leo. Sepha rarely smiled these days, but she knew how vital Sprite was to Leo. If she could bring back Geph, she would work as tirelessly as Leo.
Since Keysol and Speha had come over, they decided to spar with Leo. Even though he was in the realm below them, Leo could evenly fight with either.
Leo's mace techniques had also progressed. Between his Meteor Stick Dance and Ore Tempering, Leo had started to create a new art solely for defense. After fighting the possessed Keysol, he had realized that was what he lacked the most.
Keysol passed on his defending sword arts, which Leo modified it to fit his mace fighting style. The mace wasn't suited for graceful parries like the sword. Its size and weight made it break the opponent's flow and balance with one powerful parry. Leo named this technique Rhythm Break.
"Rhythm Break!"
Keysol's sword was launched upward, leaving Keysol torso open. Leo released a powerful kick flinging Keysol into the wall.
In the Shattering realm, it was one firm resolve and belief that allowed one to break through one's limits. Keysol's faith in his sword technique made him a true sword cultivator. He decided to put aside studying light mana and focus solely on the sword. This single-minded focus allowed Keysol to shake loose the shackles on his heart after being possessed and break into the Shattering realm.
Keysol twisted his body, and with a kick towards the wall, he brandished his sword towards Leo once again. Leo hated training with Keysol because all he could do was defend. His attacks were too sharp and fast to try and trade blows. On the one hand, his Rhythm Break technique became flawless, but on the other, it never allowed Leo to defeat him.
"Holy Strike!"
"Rhythm Break!"
The blade slashed towards Leo with a blinding light, but instinctively he parried the blow with his mace, causing Keysol's sword to brush his shoulder.
Eventually, Keysol and Leo agreed to a tie. Sepha fought Dark Razor with Dark gaining the upper hand. The four of them trained for two days until Leo's A.I. reawoken.