Elemental Cats

The military base was big, but Toz's tent wasn't far from the Resource Center, and Toz and the cats arrived before long. The cats were looking forward to everything they might find. Though, there were two things that dampened the mood, Lucy's absence and the fact that they hadn't heard anyone talk about the sudden shift in overall attitude within the camp.

They were curious about what had happened to evoke the change in atmosphere, but not knowing that wasn't as upsetting as Lucy not being able to join them in their tour around the field of tents. Lucy's excitement over even the most trivial things would definitely have lit up their tiny adventure. And his uncanny sense for the weird and mysterious might even have helped them find the truly intriguing items. Unfortunately, he was so caught up in his own business that he didn't even reach out to contact them now and then.

Toz and the cats weren't interested in everything that the Resource Center had to offer, but they still leisurely strolled as they looked around the field of tents filled with various wares being sold by all the vendors.

Some tents were larger than others and were not that different when compared to ordinary shops in that one had to enter them to see the available products. Other tents were so small that the vendor could barely fit and the goods spilled out the front of them.

The smaller tents were mostly independent sellers and traders who were better at striking deals and getting people to buy stuff than fighting on the battlefield. The larger tents seemed to be sponsored by prominent factions from either one of the kingdoms or the Transcendent Realm.

It went without saying that the bigger tents and the factions backing them had better products and sold more items. But that also meant that they were more popular and had a larger amount of customers to buy all their goods.

So the large tents were more likely to have what Toz and the cats wanted. But they were also more likely to have already sold those items.

Unsure of where to begin, Toz and the cats decided to look in the grimoire section. But they looked at all the tents they passed by.

Toz stopped by the food section to pick up some proper food and seasoning. After he lost the supply he bought in Sleepless Brights, he hadn't gotten another opportunity to get a hold of everything he wanted. It wasn't surprising, but Pirate Haven and the pirates that lived there were only moderately interested in delicious food. Not to mention how spices and ingredients other than void fish meat were exceedingly rare.

Since they were in the middle of a war and on a battlefield, Toz hadn't expected much when he entered the food section. But he quickly changed his mind since the smells coming from all the tents competed to overwhelm his nose.

Deep aromas of cooked food and the subtle smell of the ingredients that were sold alongside made Toz's and the cats' mouths water, and they happily splurged a little. Since the food was made from medium or high level beasts, some even from the battlefield, it was a little pricier than Toz thought it would be. But delicious food was a luxury when fighting a war, so it also wasn't very weird.

After getting the things that Toz wanted to get, Toz and the cats enjoyed the mystery meat skewers while they continued to browse the tents along the way to the grimoire section.

There were a bunch of tents selling miscellaneous items that seemed interesting, but none that really piqued Toz and the cats' curiosity enough to make them purchase it.

And since the tents selling higher-valued goods were further into the Resource Center than the grimoire section Toz and the cats would pass by the grimoire section first. Their secondary reason for going to the Resource Center would have to wait.

Though probably not for long. Grimoires were one of the most sought-after items since they allowed a mage to display might beyond what their level implied. And on a battlefield where most combatants were of similar levels, grimoires and the spells they contained could save lives and kill enemies.

When it came to surviving, few people would hesitate to spend some paltry contribution points. Toz wouldn't be surprised if the grimoires were practically sold out.

His only hope was that people had mastered spells and made grimoires to sell so that there would constantly be new grimoires available for sale. Considering how much practice people could get on the battlefield, it wasn't an unlikely scenario. And the military of the Alliance of Kingdoms, backed by the four kingdoms' finances and the Obsidian Empire, was probably doing its best to gather grimoires and martial manuals from outside the war.

Overall, there were good chances of there being grimoires in some of the tents, but they probably didn't stay on the shelves for long. But Toz and the cats weren't desperately searching for the grimoires. The one most keen on finding a suitable grimoire was Nil since everyone else already had spells or grimoires that suited them.

Nil only had his Sharp Rain, and that spell didn't really align with how Nil used or wanted to use magic.

However, that didn't mean he was dissatisfied with the spell. The properties of the spell and how it shaped metal had helped Nil a great deal. It was just that it didn't have much future potential unless Nil could go beyond the realm of mastery and completely make the spell his own, which probably wouldn't happen. If Nil did anything with the spell, it would be to change it completely.

But it would be a lot easier for Nil if he simply found another spell that worked better with his magic, so he kept a keen eye out for any metal attribute grimoires lying around in the tents.