Elemental Cats

With how much time everyone had on their hands and how much of it they spent on training their mana, it wasn't strange that some of the island's inhabitants showed signs of progress. And the first one to show signs of reaching the next level was Lucy, despite being the one who played around and slacked off the most.

Breaking through to the fifth level from the fourth wasn't as drastic a breakthrough as one from the third to the fourth. And it doesn't require any changes in the mana. The only thing Lucy needs to do to complete his breakthrough is compress his mana and expand his mana pool, sort of like a continuation of his previous breakthrough.

Lucy finished his otherwise rather discreet breakthrough with flair as he enveloped all of his spectators in a cloud of darkness that dissipated shortly afterward.

Sometime later, after Lucy was done, it was Joan's turn. Although she hadn't been as successful recreating Toz's coat as she would have liked, Joan's deepened understanding of enchantments had helped train her mana. And it was time for her to break through to the fourth level.

Since she was crossing divisions and reaching the medium level, Joan had to compress her mana enough to liquify the misty, colorless mana in her mana pool. Because she had already started learning and comprehending enchantments at higher levels than her own, Joan's inclination helped her compress her mana and expand her mana pool as much as it could. Her mana didn't become quite as thick as what Toz's and the cats had become, but it was a great leap from the quality of her mana before her breakthrough.

With her new level, Joan was confident she was going to take great strides in her work on Toz's coat, and she didn't waste a second as she almost immediately went back to her workbench. Joan's breakthrough and transformed mana helped her learn and use enchantments that she couldn't before. And the ones she already knew got more efficient and better as she remade them with her upgraded mana.

That wasn't all. Since Joan had pushed her limits in what kind of enchantments she was learning and understanding, she had also grown her inclination slightly. Instead of sticking to what she knew and gradually going from there, Joan had jumped from simple third level enchantments to complex enchantments at various levels of the medium levels. It would have been fruitless unless she had actually learned and understood the enchantments.

But Joan hadn't taken a larger bite than she could swallow, she had pushed her limits, and due to that, her inclination had also grown with her. However, it wasn't that easy to grow an inclination, and the change was marginal. The most notable difference was that Joan's grey and dull stylus, which was a part of her inclination, had gotten a few hints of texture on its surface. Maybe the texture would grow into a complete decoration in the future if Joan managed to continue growing her inclination. The only way to find out would be to actually do that, however.

Joan didn't have an intense mana attribute or inclination, so even if she broke through and crossed divisions, her breakthrough didn't create much of a stir. And even after Joan finished, there wasn't much of a ruckus. She didn't want to be disturbed while working, and while the rest were also approaching the next level, they weren't quite there yet.

It was also difficult to tell who would be the next one to break through.

Toz lagged behind since he had four attributes that he had to train, so he wasn't anyone's bet to be the next one. It wasn't likely for Stitches to reach the next level anytime soon. Hods also wasn't anywhere near breaking through, either. So the prevailing competitors were the remaining cats.

A subtle competitive atmosphere began spreading on the island after it became clear that either Nil, Mindle, or Scrael would be the next to break through.

Nil was already displeased that he had fallen behind Lucy, and both Nil and Mindle were worried that they would be the only cat at the fourth level. Lucy and Scrael were now at the fifth level. If either Nil or Mindle broke through, that would leave the other behind as the only cat at the fourth level.

Although Toz was also still at the fourth level and would most likely be the last one to break through, it was becoming more obvious with each fight Toz fought that his combat abilities and strength weren't confined to his actual level.

While Nil and Mindle trained zealously so they wouldn't be the weakest cat, Scrael also got more eager to train. While she didn't have any experience of friendly competitions and playful rivalry, Scrael enjoyed being able to make something relatively boring more enjoyable. She also saw it as her responsibility as the most experienced cat to have an edge over the others and be in a position where she could oversee and take care of the other cats.

After Lucy and Joan's breakthroughs, the island got slightly calmer as Toz and the remaining cats focused more on training to try and catch or to maintain their lead. Though, the tranquil atmosphere didn't stop Lucy and Joshua from playing around to their hearts' content.

Lucy respected his companions' wish to train, so he didn't needlessly bother them even while bored. And Joshua didn't want to disturb his hardworking mother. Especially since she was working so hard to show her gratitude toward Toz for saving both of their lives.

That left the duo to either play with themselves only or with Hods and Stitches.

Although Hods and Stitches both had a lot of free time. Stitches since he couldn't quite train his mana without anyone to heal or someone's life force to manipulate. He could use his own but only so much. And Hods didn't have that much motivation to grow stronger since he didn't like violence and murder that much. However, there wasn't a lot that two kids and two grown pirates had in common while playing around.

So it was mostly Lucy and Joshua running wild on the island. And it was during a game of tag that Joshua had an accident.

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