Elemental Cats

After successfully developing his blanket method for passive training, Toz couldn't help but gloat in front of the cats. However, he didn't get to boast and brag for long. As soon as the cats realized that Toz had accomplished what he wanted and that they didn't need to keep watch anymore, they decided that they didn't want to listen to him for a second more and quickly headed into the space within Toz's inclination.

When the cats were in there, Toz couldn't force them to listen to him even if he wanted to since they could shut down the connection between him and them and focus on their resting.

Toz did want to brag a little more and get some recognition, but he knew that the cats had held out and endured their built-up fatigue for his sake, so he happily let them go to sleep while he trailed behind the Adaption Trees.

However, he quickly stumbled upon a slight problem. The differently elementally adapted trees were beginning to split up, and Toz didn't know which group to follow or if he should even continue following the trees.

As he watched the trees split up and go off in their own separate directions, Toz wondered from where the trees came. Since they had been absorbing abundant death attribute mana and demonic energy, Toz had first assumed they were from the Tribe of Death. But why would they unleash such wild things that indiscriminately attacked everything they encountered when they were already taking the lead in the war?

Toz's curiosity regarding the trees only grew when they began displaying their full might as soon as they split up.

When the different elemental trees were all grouped up, their different elements and magic interfered with each other. But after separating, the different trees and their magic practically took over their surroundings.

The Fire Trees left a trail of scorched earth behind, and their canopies blossomed into majestic crowns of leaves and flowers of fire.

The Darkness Trees hid themselves and their surroundings in a cloud of darkness that crossed the battlefield with ominous silence.

The Lightning Trees began building up a thunderstorm as they slowly generated dark clouds that flashed with lightning and thunder far above them.

The Space Trees bent and twisted the space around them, and their branches left spatial tears in their wake.

The Metal Trees turned into waking armories as their branches and leaves grew sharp and deadly. The metallic rustling that came from their movements scratched the brains of anyone who heard it.

The magic of the different trees hadn't been very noticeable at first, but it continued growing mightier the more they separated and no longer interfered with each other.

The cats were still sleeping, and it looked like following any of the trees would end up with something troublesome to deal with, so Toz decided they could just head back to the military base.

The cats didn't have anything against the idea. If anything, they supported it since Toz wouldn't have much of an opportunity to show off his recently developed passive training if they were all cooped up in the tent training or resting.

The cats were also curious about what Lucy had been up to and what he had discovered. If they were lucky, they might even get to listen to another story or two, hopefully without any interruptions.

Toz went through a lot of enemies to join up with the cats when they were fighting against the trees. And the cats had been on the battlefield for quite some time at that point. But they hadn't ventured too deep into the battlefield, and with Toz prioritizing their return to the base, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the camp.

However, Toz wasn't sure they had arrived at the same camp that they were used to.

When they left, only the soldiers serving the kingdoms loyally and faithfully worked diligently like ants. Aside from them, everyone else had mostly been lazing around with depressed or vacant expressions on their faces. There was no one that intentionally caused trouble due to the threats of slavery, but there were many who didn't do anything more than the bare minimum required of them.

But the camp Toz and the cats returned to was entirely different. The paths were cleaned, and there was not a single bum loafing around. Everyone was walking around hurriedly and with clear goals. The camp was as active as a beehive, and military discipline and strictness served as guidelines as everyone obeyed their superiors' orders with enthusiasm.

Aside from the new atmosphere and the improved attitudes of everyone in the camp, it was still technically the same camp as the one Toz left, so even if he was stunned by the sudden change, he still found his way back to his tent.

The cats hadn't paid as much attention to the base's circumstances as Toz, but they still noticed the change and were just as curious as Toz about what had caused it. They wondered if they should ask someone, but seeing everyone act so properly and diligently, Toz and the cats were very keen on walking up to someone and stopping them just to ask them why.

And their few acquaintances, the Lightning Rascals, didn't seem to be in the camp at the moment. So they couldn't ask them either.

Thankfully, they had an inside man that they could ask for answers. They might even get some interesting information while doing so. As soon as Lucy came back and regrouped with them, Toz and the cats would be able to find out what had happened with the camp.

While they waited, the Nil, Mindle, and Asilean rested and thought about their trip into the battlefield and how it had gone. And Toz and Scrael shared the lightning grimoire and studied it together.

Toz tried reaching out to Lucy a few times, but he didn't get an answer, so he assumed that Lucy was just busy and fully focused on his task. But Toz couldn't help but get worried. Lucy had been gone without contacting them for quite a while now.