Elemental Cats

The potential threat was still quite a distance away, so no one on the island got prepared for battle immediately. The opposite, actually. To make sure they were able to bring out their complete strength, everyone who was going to fight made sure to rest and get in the proper mindset in preparation for the battle. If it really was like they feared, and they were being chased down by the same beast they suspected was behind the disappearance of every other void beast in the area, every last bit of preparation and readiness would help, even if all they could do was rest.

It was challenging relaxing and resting while anxiously awaiting the potential predator's arrival. Thankfully, they didn't have to force themselves to recover since they hadn't wasted any energy or gotten injured recently. And they didn't have to wait too long before the beast or beasts in the distance became visible.

Toz, the cats, and the two pirates were in the middle of eating a light meal to recover some energy when Joshua came and interrupted them. He was too flustered to tell them what he had seen, and it would be easier to show them, so Toz and the others left their unfinished plates of void meat on the table as they followed Joshua back to the edge of the island where he and Joan had been keeping watch.

Toz and the others didn't know what to expect and were prepared for anything, or so they thought, but the scene still shocked them.

Although it was still far away and the details were quite fuzzy, it looked like a huge swarm of void beasts, far greater than anything they had ever encountered, were following behind a singular, outstandingly large beast. Though, it was still unclear what the beast in the lead was and whether it was leading the beasts behind it or being chased by them.

The feelings of distress that Toz could sense in the direction of the horde of void beasts didn't help. Since the impression was similar to what Toz had felt before they saved Scrael, Toz guessed that they had encountered a similar situation. There was a cat in trouble, and it was headed toward them. Either because they had sensed Toz or because of the island.

But that didn't tell Toz anything about the relationship between the different beasts. Maybe the cat was being chased by the massive beast, and the beast had a slew of lesser void beasts following behind in order to feast on the scraps.

While everyone waited for the horde of beasts to get closer so they could get a better grasp of what they were dealing with, Stitches' brows furrowed. However, Stitches didn't move or say anything and just sank deeper into thought as he tilted his head slightly.

Toz was concentrating on the feeling from his inclination, so he didn't pay attention to what Stitches was doing. Maybe if Toz could strengthen the feeling by concentrating on it, he could find out what situation the cat was in. And Toz did manage to more clearly discern the feelings.

It wasn't a sense of dread and imminent doom or fear like what he had felt with Scrael. It was a certain sense of budding despair and resignation, but there were no feelings of accepting or bracing for death. The feelings confused Toz since why would there be despair but no fear of death if the cat was being chased by the horde of beasts led by the colossal beast?

Toz's ponderings were interrupted by Stitches, who nudged his arm. Toz looked at Stitches with a raised eyebrow. Seeing that he had gotten Toz's attention, Stitches began talking.

"I think I know what that big one is. But I'm not certain, so don't hold it against me if I'm wrong."

"Then, what do you think it is?"

"A Starry Sky Whale."

"What's that?"

Stitches had said the name while lowering his voice as if it was something extraordinary, and he needed to emphasize how special. However, his words meant nothing to Toz.

Toz's nonplussed expression and question made Stitches remember that Toz had been stuck on the island for the entire time he had spent in the Void. Although Stitches didn't know what Toz had done before entering the Void, it wasn't weird that he didn't know about something that Stitches had only heard about once during his time as a pirate.

According to what Stitches knew, Starry Sky Whales was a nearly extinct race of star beasts. Considering how many different star beasts had gone missing in the annals of history, it wasn't weird that the Starry Sky Whales were about to join them. However, the reason for the whales' doom was no mystery.

Every star beast used the star attribute, which was exceedingly rare among humans, but the Starry Sky Whales were even more special. As the whales grew and trained their mana, starlight crystals began appearing on their dark blue backs, turning their backs into what looked like a miniature starry sky.

The starlight crystals appeared to be like ordinary mana crystals, like a rock of solidified mana. But they were almost priceless due to three reasons alone. The starlight attribute was as rare as the moonlight or sunlight attribute, which only a few people on each plane had. Starry Sky Whales were innately powerful, with a body that could survive the Void from birth. The scarcity and difficulty of finding and harvesting the star crystals from a Starry Sky Whale were close to unimaginable. And the starlight crystals were of much higher quality than any other mana crystal at the same level.

A single starlight crystal harvested from a Starry Sky Whale was as effective as at least ten ordinary mana crystals of the same level.

Stitches had also heard some rumors of how the Starry Sky Whales could swallow entire stars and how they became stars when they died.

But Toz was more focused on the description of the whales according to Stitches, and the appearance of the beast headed toward them.

"Shouldn't the back be covered in starlight crystals then?"

"I also thought that. But what if its crystals have been harvested?"