Elemental Cats

A few days after Joan woke up for the first time, her son Joshua also started looking healthy enough to wake up. After his body got used to the taste of the void meat and started accepting more of it, Joshua started recovering extremely quickly. Although he was still skin and bones, he wasn't deathly pale anymore, and his gaunt face wasn't as hollow as it had been when the two of them were first saved from the boat.

Joan didn't want to leave Joshua's side after he started showing signs of waking up, so Toz brought food and water to them and talked with Joan when he felt like it. The cats also regularly checked in on Joan in case she felt lonely.

Eventually, Joshua recovered enough to open his eyes and squint as he looked around. Though, it was only temporary as he closed them and fell back asleep after feeling his mother caressing his head and hugging him.

A short while later, Joshua regained enough consciousness to do more than open his eyes. And thanks to his previous glimpse into the waking world, he didn't have as much trouble with the light as his mother had when she first woke up.

Toz let the two be alone as Joshua woke up and only checked in on them later. He could see traces of tears on both of them, and Joshua hid behind his mother when Toz entered the house, but he looked more shy than scared. Toz only dropped off some food and greeted Joshua before leaving again.

It had been several days since their last encounter with any void beasts, so Toz and the cats had been keeping their eyes open in case they saw something off in the distance that they could lure to the island and hunt. Although, if the beasts were close enough for them to see, they were probably already on their way toward them. But since the amount of food stored away had been dwindling quickly the last few days, Toz didn't want to miss a chance to refill their supplies.

Since it had been a few days since the last time any type of beast had appeared, Toz wasn't surprised when a jellyfish finally showed up. Though, based on its size, it was slightly stronger than what they had faced before, and Toz estimated it to be at the sixth level.

But as long as it wasn't a high level beast, it wouldn't be a problem for Toz and the cats. Lucy protected the trees and the island against the void mana's erosion and the tentacles' attacks. Mindle burned the tentacles that had gotten wrapped around and entangled in the island. And Toz, Nil, and Scrael got busy slicing and dicing the main body of the jellyfish.

For Toz and the cats, the process wasn't any different from what they were used to doing, and they hunted the jellyfish with ease. But it was the first time Joan and Joshua saw a void beast. The large jellyfish looked like something out of a nightmare as the body several meters tall towered in front of the island, and its tentacles, dozens of meters long, wrapped around the island. But that nightmarish beast didn't stand a chance against Toz and the cats. The jellyfish had turned into dinner only a few minutes after arriving at the island.

Joan knew that Toz and the cats were strong purely in terms of mana, but the degree of combat prowess and cooperation they had shown was still surprising. Joshua, on the other hand, didn't know as much about strength and levels of power, but he had read stories about heroes and mighty warriors vanquishing threats and subduing beasts. To him, Toz was no different from one of those warriors, and Joshua received the bowl of freshly served jellyfish meat with awe in his eyes.

While Joshua was still too shy to talk with Toz properly, he made an effort to greet him and be as polite as he could. Both Toz and the cats found it adorable. Though, Lucy was slightly jealous that he wasn't adored as much as Toz was. But he comforted himself by saying things about how a great person doesn't seek another's validation, and true heroes go unnoticed. It was unclear if his self-comfort helped since he was trying to convince Joshua that Toz was only their figurehead and that Lucy was the true hero and leader of their group.

Joshua didn't buy it. At least not until Lucy began telling him stories about their adventures so far. But Joshua's doubts were only temporary. As soon as another beast came to attack their island, he saw Toz facing it directly while Lucy disappeared somewhere else. Lucy lost his credibility each time that happened, but there wasn't much he could do since that was the way he fought. Lucy tried convincing Joshua that real heroes are the ones who can defeat enemies without being noticed. But compared to Toz's flashy display, Lucy's words didn't hold much weight.

Eventually, Nil intervened. Nil had overheard Lucy's ridiculous retellings and started telling Joshua about what really happened and that Lucy hadn't done everything by himself all the time, no matter the situation. And that the others weren't there only because they adored and idolized Lucy and were willing to follow him to the ends of the universe.

After the other cats verified Nil's side of the story, Joshua began treating Lucy's stories more like fairytales. They were fun to listen to and would sometimes have a message about friendship being great, but it would be naive to believe in them as the absolute truth. Lucy didn't care about what the other cats had told Joshua since he was convinced he had successfully converted Joshua into one of his followers. Caught up in his daydream, Lucy didn't notice the other cats' giggling or how the adoration in Joshua's eyes was from replacing Lucy in Lucy's stories with Toz instead.

Joan looked at Joshua getting along with the cats with a gentle smile on her face. She wasn't sure Joshua understood their current situation, but she knew he at least understood his father was gone. Despite how sad Joshua had been after waking up, he found joy in the time spent with the cats.