A FEW YEARS LATER
Our story begins in an underground city called Stone Rock City, also known as the City of Stone.
This city lies deep beneath the earth. It is a vast and beautiful place, filled with stone buildings. On the ceiling above, there are four enormous openings, from which sunlight pours in every morning. The rays of the sun give energy to the city, feeding giant generators that provide electricity — and not only that.
At the same time, rivers and streams flow through the city, giving life to thousands of animals and allowing them to farm, plant, and prosper.
Here live thousands of anthropomorphic herbivorous animals of every kind: hares, rabbits, deer, weasels, otters, skunks — even cats and dogs.
Somewhere in this city, Las, now almost ten years old, sits calmly on a rock, looking down at the city from above. He closes his eyes and repeats softly to himself:
"Inner peace… inner peace…"
Suddenly, he feels a chill at the back of his neck. He turns quickly — but sees nothing.
Out of nowhere, a dark figure appears behind him and shouts:
"Boo!"
Las jumps into the air, terrified, letting out a monkey scream. He turns sharply and sees a beautiful white anthropomorphic cat with blue eyes like the sky and pointed ears. She looks at him with a sly, mocking smile and says:
"Ha! You're so funny when you get scared like that. I'm going to keep doing it forever!"
Las, with an irritated cartoonish face, snaps back at her:
"Stop it! It's not funny at all… Eli!"
Eli shrugs with a fake innocent look that hides her sarcasm and says:
"I think it's funny… little monkey-boy."
"Stop calling me that!" Las shouts.
"Fine then… little monkey," Eli replies with an ironic smile.
"Leave me alone," Las says angrily. "I'm trying to meditate. I want to find peace inside myself — so I can become stronger."
Eli rolls her eyes and answers mockingly:
"Forget your peace and all that nonsense. Come on, Sifu is waiting for us for today's training."
Las yawns lazily, stretching his arms.
"Alright… I'll come in a bit."
Eli gives him a sharp look and teases him:
"That's what you said last time — and then Sifu hit you on the head with his staff. If it happens again… it's not my fault."
Las, bursting with cartoonish frustration, finally snaps:
"Fine, fine! I'm coming! You're so annoying!"
Las and Eli head toward the heart of the city.
At the center, Stone Rock City is full of life. The animals have built an entire community, a civilization of their own. Some work at fruit stalls, others carry stones and wood to build houses. Children play in the square. Some animals fill containers with water from the streams flowing through the streets. The city is alive and full of movement.
There, sitting on a bench, is Sifu. He watches Eli and Las running toward him and grabs his staff.
"You're late," Sifu says calmly.
Las scratches his head with a silly smile.
"Come on, it was only one minute…"
Suddenly, the staff comes down on his head.
Las grabs the new bump on his head and cries cartoonishly:
"Whyyyy?! What did I do this time?"
Sifu shakes his head and answers:
"Basic rule of training — never talk back to your master."
Eli bursts into laughter, holding her stomach.
"Haha! Monkey-bump! That's your new name!"
Las turns red with anger.
"Shut up!"
The staff comes down on his head again.
Another bump instantly pops up on his head.
Sifu frowns.
"And another rule: we do not curse, and we keep our calm when something bothers us."
Las cries dramatically, tears pouring down like a waterfall. Eli watches him and can barely breathe from laughing.
Inside his mind, Las mutters to himself while watching Eli laugh.
It's funny, huh? One day, I'll show you.
…
Las is a ten-year-old anthropomorphic monkey, about 1.30 meters tall. His fur is light brown, while his eyes have a warm brown color. Full of energy, curious, and impulsive, Las often rushes into situations without paying much attention to danger.
Eli is a ten-year-old anthropomorphic cat, about 1.40 meters tall. Her fur is white as snow, while her eyes are deep blue like the sea. Smart, sharp-tongued, and sarcastic, Eli loves teasing Las and rarely misses a chance to mock him.
Sifu is their master — a sixty-year-old anthropomorphic turtle, almost 1.80 meters tall. Wise and intelligent, Sifu has mastered many martial arts and handles his wooden staff with absolute precision. He has taken on the task of training Eli and Las, preparing them for the harsh world of the surface and for the brutal realities they will one day be forced to face.
Sifu led them down into an underground chamber.
The walls glowed faintly with yellow light, while water dripped from the ceiling — tick… tick… — and the sound echoed throughout the room. Heavy punching bags hung from chains, ropes dangled from above, and at the center stood a stone ring. White lamps along the wall flickered weakly.
Calmly, Sifu spoke:
"Since you were late… one hundred push-ups for warm-up."
Las froze, his face blank with shock.
"What?! H-how am I supposed to do one hundred? I can't—"
The staff came down on his head. A huge bump immediately popped up. Eli was already choking with laughter.
"You will count every repetition out loud," Sifu continued. "Chest to the stone. And every complaint means ten more."
"Perfect!" Eli burst out, smiling widely. "We'll reach three hundred in no time!"
Las dropped face-first to the floor.
"One… two… nineteen… ninety-nine… one hundred!"
Sifu leaned over him, his gaze sharp.
"Those were five."
Another hit. Another bump. Las collapsed like a rag doll, now wearing an entire collection of cartoonish bumps.
....
Next exercise: the punching bag.
Las charged at it, swinging his fists clumsily. The bag swung forward, then came back with terrible force — and flattened him instantly.
"You hit like an empty log with a tail," Eli teased, shaking her head.
She stepped forward and showed him.
"Left foot back, right foot forward. One hand guards, the other strikes."
She unleashed a storm of movements — punches, kicks, quick footwork — like a kickboxer in perfect rhythm.
Las growled, his cheeks puffed with frustration.
"I can do that too!"
He charged at the bag again, gathered speed, and threw a wild, steel-like punch.
The bag launched him across the room again.
Sifu looked at him strangely, his eyebrows trembling with anger as if he had been struck by electricity.
....
Water battle
As water dripped from the broken pipes, Eli and Las balanced on a thin pole directly beneath them, counting the drops as they fell until they reached twenty.
As they struggled to keep their balance, Sifu walked beside them, rhythmically tapping his staff.
"Balance. If you fall — start again. Learn to hear the water before it strikes you."
Las trembled, his eyes fixed on the drop above him.
As it fell onto his nose, he suddenly sneezed and fell down onto the ground on his butt.
"Start again," Sifu said. "Feel the rhythm before it falls."
Las looked at Sifu and was ready to burst into tears.
Stone-carrying exercise.
Eli walked tired and exhausted, carrying her load, but smiling, showing that such things did not affect her.
Las, on the other hand, stumbled, sweat pouring down like a river as he complained and shouted.
"Inner peace… inner peace…" he muttered through clenched teeth.
Suddenly, the sack fell, spilling all the sand across the floor.
Sifu:
"Gather the sand and put it back inside the sack."
Las looked angrily at Sifu.
"How am I supposed to gather it? We don't have a little shovel. HA HA HA… so I won't do it. That means training is over."
Sifu looked at him angrily.
"You will gather it with your hands."
Las began whining and shouting.
.....
Sparring match.
Las and Eli sit inside a ring, facing each other.
Suddenly, Sifu stepped into the ring.
Sifu...
"Reflex battle...
...
At first, he moved slowly like a turtle… and then, in a single moment, he vanished.
Eli froze completely and, by instinct, suddenly ducked, avoiding Sifu's staff as it passed just above her head.
Las laughed ironically, mocking Eli.
And suddenly, a heavy strike hit the back of his head, spinning him around and dropping him to the ground, adding yet another bump to his collection.
...
The battle of silence.
Las closed his eyes.
"Inner peace… inner peace… nothing can disturb my thoughts…"
Then a random stupid thought jumped into his mind, and he burst into laughter.
The staff came down hard again, and Las screamed, grabbing his head.
Eli, watching him, was folded in half, tears running down her white cheeks.
Las:
"Shut up, short cat…"
"Silence and focus, fool," Sifu said sharply.
Suddenly, the lamps flickered.
And the water from the pipes became faster now, like sudden rain.
Sifu's eyes narrowed. He glanced at the ceiling, striking it with his staff.
"Good… let us begin."
Arena…
Las clenched his fists. Eli's tail shot straight up. They stood facing each other, while Sifu stood at the edge and shouted:
"Let us begin and see what you have learned…"