Elemental Cats

Toz looked on as Vatel dragged the necromancer behind him while walking toward his comrades, where he dumped his prisoner next to the death mage. Vatel exchanged a few words and glances with his companions after he let go of the necromancer.

Toz was curious about what they talked about, but they realized that Toz was close enough to hear, and one of them isolated their surroundings with magic, which prevented Toz from hearing anything. With his mana vision, Toz saw that it was the boy whose hair had white highlights that used wind magic to prevent any sound from leaking.

Thankfully, it didn't seem like Vatel and his friends were planning on dragging things out, and they soon got rid of the magic, after which they walked over toward Toz. Vatel carried a lighthearted smile on his face, which seemed to be his default expression, while the others looked a little more serious or neutral.

Toz held up a hand and stopped them from getting any closer when they were three meters away. Although he knew what two of them could do and what kind of magic a third used, he still didn't know what the fourth person, Kaler, could do. Not to mention how all of his understanding of them was based on a few minutes of combat, which meant that his knowledge of Vatel and the others were barely more than scratching the surface of what they were really capable of.

Neither of them emitted any kind of malicious intent or showed any ill will with their expression. But there is more than one way to mask that kind of thing, so Toz didn't let down his guard as he waited for them to talk, though it almost looked like Vatel at least had a favorable impression of Toz as his smile showed off his good intentions.

Vatel and the others were understanding of Toz's wariness as they stopped where he asked them. None of them started speaking at once since they were busy looking at Mindle, Scrael, and Asilean. The three cats had already shown themselves during the fight against the two people from the tribe of death, so they might as well stay visible.

It was possible that Vatel and the others had noticed Lucy when they brought down the cover of deathly darkness. But it wasn't likely since Lucy had reacted almost instantly and hidden himself. And his assistance hadn't been required during the fight against the necromancer, so he hadn't shown himself then.

Vatel and the others were a little curious about the cats, but they quickly realized that it was rude to stare and turned their gaze to Toz, who glared at them coldly after they looked at the cats like that.

"How about introductions?"

"..."

Toz responded to Vatel's question with silence, but since he didn't refuse or say anything, Vatel continued.

"My name is Vatel. And this is–"

"Hassandra."

"I'm Kaler."

"And I am Hullie."

Following the blue-haired, blue-eyed Vatel, a conventionally attractive woman with shoulder-length, wavy chestnut hair spoke her name, after she was the woman with short, yellow-tinted but mostly dark brown hair. Kaler was as tall as Vatel, but her sinewy body made her look taller. Last and least was the boy with mostly green hair that used wind magic.

After everyone had said their names, Vatel spoke again.

"And together, we form the squad known throughout the Obsidian Empire's side of the war as the Lightning Rascals!"

"Temporarily."

Hassandra's comment at the end of Vatel's declaration deflated him, but he quickly picked himself back up as he waited for Toz to introduce himself.

"Toz."

"Toss?"

"Toz."

"Toz?"

"Toz."

Toz's frown deepened with each of Vatel's questions since it felt like he was being mocked. He heard Kaler whisper to Hullie about it being fake since they had never heard of anyone named Toz before, but he didn't care as he waited for Vatel to explain what they wanted.

"Great! It's nice to meet you, Toz."

"..."

Toz's cold attitude stumped Vatel a little, especially since he couldn't figure out why Toz was acting the way he did. However, he wouldn't be a rascal if something like a chilly reception would be enough to dampen his spirit, so Vatel continued as if nothing had happened.

"So, you come here often?"

"..."

"Vatel. Dumbass."

Vatel looked aggrieved when Toz once again responded with silence and due to Hassandra's name-calling. But only for a moment. Vatel returned to a more jovial expression as he turned to Toz, ready to try and strike up a conversation again.

However, Hassandra grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back before he could embarrass himself again.

"Sorry about that buffoon pretending to be a person. Despite being the official leader of this little squad, he's useless for things outside of fighting."

Unlike Vatel, Hassandra seemed a lot more used to dealing with other people as she put on a polite smile while apologizing on Vatel's behalf. She also differed in that her smile didn't reach her eyes the same way Vatel's did. Not that Toz cared. He only wanted to get this over and done with so that he and the cats could move on.

First, the Lightning Rascals interrupted his plan and prevented them from infiltrating the enemy base, and now they were taking up their time with needless idiocy. Toz was losing his patience. It wouldn't have mattered much if they hadn't needed an incredible amount of achievements in order to go to the Transcendent Realm. But they did. And the Lightning Rascals' actions put a stop to a plan that would have netted them a significant portion of contributions.

However, the Lightning Rascals naturally didn't know what they had done other than interfere in a battle where it looked like Toz and the cats were on the verge of defeat and possibly even death.

Hassandra found Toz's attitude unreasonable, and Toz didn't like the Lightning Rascals. It wasn't a very good start to their relationship.