Leo wandered around until he asked one of the guards in a tower where the defense brigade's main building was located. He made his way there as Jack walked out the door.
"Looking a bit beat up," remarked Jack. He felt Leo would've been a perfect candidate for the defense team but understood the boy could cultivate and should hone those skills. "Have you changed your mind about joining us?"
"Not today. Could anyone help me repair my new bracers here?"
"Oh, yeah, Lycan requested we make those for you as humans down have built-in claws for weapons. It looks like they couldn't hold up very well."
Jack continued inspecting them and then said, "Take them off. I'll try and repair them."
"You made them?" asked the boy.
"Why are you surprised? I make most of the forged weapons here."
Jack truly surprised him. He seemed like something other than the blacksmiths he was told about from Sprite. Leo handed them over, and Jack returned inside, followed by the boy.
"Sir, I thought you were going on patrol," stated a man watching them enter the building.
"Jeff, head out for me. I need to work on something."
"Yes, Sir." responded the defense member.
Jack brought them over to a bench and could tell the iron plates cracked due to a powerful blunt attack. He looked around and saw no materials he could reinforce it with.
'Ask him if he could replace it with earth-type material.'
"Jack, could you replace the plates with stone or gemstones?" asked Leo.
"Why would I use such a weak material?" asked Jack. Even though much of science disappeared, it was standard knowledge steel was stronger than iron and iron was stronger than stone.
"I think I can amply their hardness using energy rather than just relying on iron plates alone."
"Then let us test this out." Jack handed Leo a rock and asked him to channel his qi into it. Leo complied, and Jack swung down his hammer. After about the sixth swing, the qi dispersed, and the rock cracked. "Very interesting." This is the exact reason cultivation is essential for humans to learn.
"So, can you do it?"
"I have a few ideas. Come by tomorrow morning before heading to the training area."
"Okay, thank you, Jack," replied the eager boy. When Sprite mentioned the materials, he knew he could reinforce the bracers like beastmen do their claws.
Leo headed back to the training area to find Shadow. She sat in the shade with a floating stone.
"Shadow, what is that stone?"
"I use it for my unique arts, but," She allowed the rock to fall to the ground. "I want to see what you've learned so far."
Leo complied and sat down. Sitting with legs crossed and both palms on the ground, he meditated. Soon, the surrounding qi moved towards him through the earth quickly.
"Very good. You can stop now."
Leo stood up after allowing the qi to move to areas needing healing and rejuvenation.
"Now you need to think about how you will use that qi in a fight. I cannot teach you this step. You do not have a weapon or claws, so you must figure this out yourself. Rest and think about it."
"Okay, Shadow. I will try my best."
"Sounds good. You may leave me now so I can return to my own training."
Leo returned home and ran into Samantha, running an errand for Anna. She smiled at Leo upon seeing him and pushed her hair behind her ear.
"Hey, Samantha. I wanted to thank you for dropping off some clothes and my training outfit."
"You are very welcome, Leo. I would like to bring some food by this evening. Would you or Joe mind?"
"Not at all. I think Joe would like that very much."
"Great. See you tonight."
They parted ways, and Leo made it home. He informed Joe of the dinner plans and asked if he wanted to join him in the pasture. Joe declined, as Anna wanted to discuss Joe's teaching arrangements.
Leo made his way to the west to the clearing. He arrived at the broken-down house and looked out at the herd. Without Joe here today, he decided to approach them. As he got closer, Leo started to hear them hum. He immediately sat down and tried to copy their hum.
The bisons looked at the sitting human like some idiot. They ignored him and began to continue grazing. Leo decided to sit there and meditate with earth qi. The bison got closer to Leo when they felt an influx of energy drifts toward the boy.
The boy opened his eyes to see many bison around him, eating grass and grunting. He closed his eyes again to continue cultivating. Slowly, through the ground, Leo could feel all the bison. It was almost like he was connected to some web of qi through the soil.
A snake beast tried to sneak up on the herd, but channeling earth qi, the bison launched many rock shards at the beast. Eventually, the creature fled for fear of its life. Through this ordeal, Leo observed how the bison manipulated earth, external to themselves, to launch rocks at their enemy.
This attack was what he needed to combat the beastmen, as the dust trick and Solar Flare wouldn't work every time. Striker proved that as he used his other senses to fight Leo.
Leo spent time with bison late into the evening, mostly observing their usage of earth qi. He came up with a few ideas he would need to test himself later. He stood up, dusted himself off, and walked home.
Joe sat outside and welcomed Leo back home.
"Did you forget Samantha was coming by?"
Leo froze. He forgot to tell Joe and stayed late out in the field.
'I'm such an idiot.' Leo smacked his forehead with his hand. 'Why didn't you tell me Sprite?'
'You were at a pivotal point in cultivation. Strength is more important than human courtship.'
'Courtship? Ughh, never mind Sprite.'
"Is she still here?" asked Leo.
"No, she left after dinner. It was delicious, but she took the leftovers, saying you can fend for yourself. Haha."
Leo felt disappointed as he looked forward to the meal but could do nothing now.
The two went inside, and Leo told Joe about his time with bison and some of his inspiration.
"Sounds like you were one with the herd," said Joe.
"Yeah, something like that. What did Anna talk with you about?"
"She asked if I was up teaching some kids about cultivation. I informed her you would be better at it, but she said the kids need an adult for structure."
"The kids will love you, Joe."
"I hope so."
The two continued talking a bit. They spoke about Leo's bracers and sparring before lying in bed. Leo fell fast asleep.
'Sir, wake up. It is time for you to head to the training ground.'
"Sprite, not so loud in my head," replied Leo, not knowing he said it out loud. He looked over and saw Joe already up.
"Better get ready. Jack is waiting on you."
"Oh shoot. I better get there quick."
Joe tossed him some old bread, and Leo ran out of place, putting on his clothes. On his way to the defense building, he saw Samnatha. He tried to wave at her, but she turned her back to him and walked the other way.
'Sir, I believe she is upset at you.'
'Shut up, Sprite.'
Leo continued his way to the defense building; a guardsman was waiting outside with his bracers.
"I was told to hand these to you."
"Thank you. Jeff, was it?"
"Yeah, nice to formally meet you, Leo."
Leo looked at the bracers, and they looked very different. The top had three stone rectangles replaced the single iron plate. It looked like the skinny stone bricks were replaceable.
"These look great. Give Jack my thanks. Later, Jeff."
Leo ran towards the training area after putting on the arm guards. Today, Lycan welcomed him.
"Morning, Boy. Are you ready to start?"
"Yes, I think so."
Lycan motioned for a feline variant to come over.
"This is Minx. She is Binx's little sister. She is only in the Beast Body realm stage three."
Minx gave Leo an evil grin. She wanted to take vengeance for embarrassing her sister. Her stare didn't provoke Leo. He was curious about fighting someone in the same realm as himself for a change. So, Leo was excited more than anything.
The fight went pretty quickly. Leo's use of his bracers and martial arts proved too much. The beastman eventually lost to an Ascending Sun uppercut also. This fight was the easiest so far for Leo.
Lycan paired him with the only other Beast Body warrior. He was a canine variant, and Leo made short work of him. A Descending Moon leg drop ended the fight.
"For my last spar, I want to challenge Fog. I have a surprise for him," stated Leo when he walked over to Lycan.
The beastman was curious about what the boy had planned and asked for Fog to swap with male feline variant Lycan had lined up for Leo.
Leo and Fog walked into the circle of fighting area 1. They squared off. Lycan yelled, "Fight!"
Fog jumped up and executed his signature Hundred Pound Paw. Leo decided to meet his strike with an Ascending Sun. The uppercut pushed the palm strike upwards. The two separated to create some space between them.
Fog released his smoke screen, covering the area.
'Sir, he is to your...'
'Sprite, let me handle this.'
Leo created a web ten meters around him through the earth using qi through his feet. In the same way, the bison detected enemies, Leo would do the same. Now, he could feel that Fog was to his left.
The bear beastman attacked using another Hundred Pound Paw. Leo used his bracers to cross-block the attack. Reinforcing the stone shards with earth qi allowed the attack to be defended without cracking. Leo did slide a few feet back, but otherwise, he was fine.
Fog decided to change things up. Holding out his paw, he gathered water qi into it.
'Sir, this is the Heavy Water Paw. It increases the weight and strength of the normal Hundred Pound Paw.'
Fog lunged at Leo, pulling back his fist. He threw his Heavy Water Paw at Leo.
Leo stomped the ground to try and create an earth shard to fire Fog. The earth didn't rise together. It shattered, causing many tiny rocks to fly upward, stopping Fog's assault. Leo executed Yang Step to put some space between him and Fog.
Striker ran up to Lycan amidst the spar between Leo and Fog.
"Lycan, we found beastmen scouts a few kilometers from here. They are looking for our settlement."
"Bring them to me," commanded Lycan. He knew the beastmen would find them soon, but not so quickly. Lycan hoped it was some small fry commander, not a ship commander.