Elemental Cats

Hassandra's eyes shone as she realized that she hadn't made a mistake. Although it was by accident and not by her own ability, she had still managed to satisfy Toz's request. Since Toz had helped her so much with the development of her magic, she naturally wanted to give him at least an equal repayment. With Toz's satisfaction, Hassandra's anxiety faded away like snow during summer.

"So, what are you doing in this place?"

Without any worries weighing on her anymore, Hassandra noticed where Toz was and asked him in a low voice.

Toz tilted his head in confusion.

"I just chose the first place that looked like it was made to let people rest. Why?"

"Well, the tents around here are for people who are…."

Hassandra looked around conspicuously before she continued.

"...Useless and liable to die as soon as they step foot on the battlefield."

If anyone heard her, they didn't show it.

"The military can't exactly throw people out of the base since that's no different from killing them. But if these people don't at least contribute something once a week, that's what will happen to them either way. The Alliance of Kingdoms can't afford the dead weight."

"I see."

Toz nodded and stood up. Hassandra followed his motioning, and they left the tent together.

"So, where do I find a place where I can train for a bit?"

Considering how he had just gotten a new grimoire, it was understandable that Toz wanted to train immediately, so Hassandra didn't even think about asking why.

Hassandra led him to a gathering of tents that were clearly more luxurious than the one Toz had been in just minutes earlier.

Everyone on the battlefield risked their lives almost daily. But those who did so while also successfully defeating their enemies naturally deserved some luxury. A more pleasant place to sleep, good food, some privacy, and enchantments that helped concentrate the mana in the air were all things that people with enough contributions could get.

Not for free or for however long they wanted, of course. One couldn't just rack up a bunch of achievements in one go and then spend the rest of the war slacking off. One had to continually contribute to the war efforts to enjoy the benefits offered.

Toz didn't have any plans on taking advantage of all the luxuries he had access to due to the achievements stored in his bracelet. He just wanted a peaceful place so that he could concentrate fully on bringing his lightning element to the sixth level and studying the grimoire he got from Hassandra.

But Toz wasn't going to hole up and only train until he was satisfied. And he wouldn't force the cats to do that, either. Toz's main focus was naturally on training his mana and the grimoire. Scrael was also interested in the grimoire. So she would spend a lot of time with Toz, but the other cats would get bored and restless.

They could train as well, but their time would be better spent doing something productive instead of trying to reach the eighth level. There was one thing especially that Lucy could do. Investigate.

With Lucy's hide-and-seek skills and his natural instinct for scheming, he was the perfect candidate to look for clues regarding the conspiracy Toz stumbled upon. And while he was at it, Lucy could also try and find some information regarding the general's plan to defeat the Tribe of Death's proxies.

The other cats didn't have the same stealth skills, but they could do something else that would help them, even if Lucy couldn't find any information.

Mindle, Nil, Asilean, and sometimes Scrael could leave the base and go hunt demonic beasts and demons while Toz prioritized enhancing his strength. Toz would benefit more from training and learning the spell from the grimoire than he would from fighting. But the cats, on the other hand, had already shown progress in developing their abilities through battle.

And since the cats were bonded with Toz, they could gather achievements and contributions in his stead. But since they were splitting up, they had to take one of his bracelets with them to make sure that it really worked.

With a rudimentary plan of action in place, Toz and the cats did what they had decided to do.

Lucy disappeared into the shadows with a grin. The last thing Toz saw was Lucy's yellow eyes, but they disappeared with a blink, and Lucy's presence vanished.

Toz took a seat on the most comfortable bed he had touched in several years with the grimoire in his lap. He hadn't decided whether to begin with the spell or his mana training yet, but he was considering that, Scrael took the initiative. Scrael grabbed and flipped open the grimoire. Toz had the decision made for him, so he focused on training his lightning mana in order to bring it to the sixth level, like his void and fire attributes.

While he was eager to learn the spell, it might be easier to understand it if his lightning attribute was at a higher level, albeit marginally. Toz also understood Scrael wanting to take a look at the spell, so he didn't mind her going first.

Toz saw Nil, Mindle, and Asilean out of the tent as he handed them the bracelet he got back from Hassandra.

Since they had first formed their group, they hadn't really taken any time apart from each other, so Toz and the cats were a little nervous. After all, they would be heading into a danger-filled battlefield, unlike Lucy, who would be roaming about the camp.

If any one of them got in trouble, they would only have each other to rely on. And if all of them encountered danger at the same time, they could only rely on themselves.

Nil, Mindle, and Asilean all knew what they were doing. But none of them showed as much as a hint of fear on their faces. They hadn't forgotten about Taienra, and after Toz told them about the conspiracy and his worries regarding it, they felt a certain sense of responsibility hanging on them since they couldn't let Toz down.