Elemental Cats

Joan wanted to continue working. But she had to take a break since she was running out of mana and was quickly growing hungry. Joan looked up and stretched her back, which had been hunched over for several hours. She was slightly startled when she saw Joshua sleeping like a prince in Toz's lap, but she was happy to see it. Even if Joshua got along well with the cats, it wouldn't necessarily mean he would become friendly with Toz as well. Joan had noticed how Joshua had started looking up to Toz and was happy that Toz had accepted Joshua's dreams.

Joshua had already slept for a while, so when Joan shook him, he woke up immediately. And after eating together, Joan was right about to get back to work. And Joshua was about to ask Toz for some advice about his inclination.

It wasn't strange for kids not to have started training their mana even after their inclination has manifested itself since it usually takes a special condition to activate it. Toz only started training his mana after establishing a bond with the first cat type spirit beast he encountered, Nil. Many inclinations had similar conditions that required the mage to achieve or complete something.

Joan's inclination had activated the first time she studied runes and enchantments. Tasha's inclination had been triggered when he protected his sister against a couple of neighborhood bullies.

Until humans figured out what would trigger their inclination, they only had their instinct and the symbol to help them. Toz had the symbol of a cat's paw, with an ink-like texture spreading inwards from the outline. Joan had a symbol of her stylus on the inside of her elbow. Joshua's symbol was a circle. A single thin line, slightly darker than his skin color, on his chest. It took some time before anyone noticed it was the symbol of his inclination, so it was unknown how quickly Joshua had manifested it.

Ever since Joshua had been old enough to begin longing for his inclination and mana, he had been trying out countless things related to circles and rings in hopes of awakening his inclination. But as evidenced by his lack of mana, without success.

Since Toz seemed experienced, knowledgable, and trustworthy, Joshua was planning on asking him about what the symbol on his chest could mean. However, before he could open his mouth, Toz got up and looked into the distance with an intense gaze.

"Bring your mom inside and stay there."

Joshua was a little startled since it was the first time Toz looked so serious, but he listened to Toz. Joan, who had heard Toz, went into the house with Joshua after looking at Toz worriedly.

Although Joan and her son had only been on the island of trees for a short while, it was the first time they had seen such a grave look on Toz's face. While Toz might not be the most expressive person they had met, and his facial expressions weren't that vivid, he almost always had a relaxed face, even when dealing with the void beasts that targeted the island.

And it was the first time Toz had asked them to take cover or hide, so Joan sensed that something more serious than the regular beast attack was happening. But Joan had no way to predict what would happen since there was so much unknown about the Void. The only thing she could come up with was that a beast more powerful than usual had shown up. In order to see what was happening, Joan and her son crouched by the window, with only their eyes showing.

"Lucy, stay behind and keep an eye on those two. Scrael, hide but stay close. Nil and Mindle, you two are with me."

Since the cats had also sensed the same thing Toz had, they didn't hesitate to follow his orders. Lucy vanished into a nearby shadow, and Scrael went off to the side before disappearing up into the trees while Toz, Nil, and Mindle prepared to receive their visitors.

During their time on the island of trees, Toz and the cats had gotten used to the void beasts that attacked the island. They had also grown sensitive to when things approached their island, which was why all of them noticed when several beings carried by two objects arrived in the Void outside their island. And that none of those beings were void beasts. Based on what Toz could perceive, there were about a dozen people approaching them on a couple of boats. And the boats were obviously not the same kind as the one Joan and Joshua had shown up in.

Toz saw the sails first since the mast towered above the treetops. He didn't want to leave the cover of the woods and expose himself, but he still managed to peer through the trees and see the sailboats. Although Toz couldn't see much of the boat, it wasn't like there was much to see. Aside from the sail, mast, and the boat's wooden body, there was only a tiny cabin.

One of the boats sailed slightly ahead of the other. The presence that made Toz and cats react so gravely was on that one. Though, Toz's reaction was also because the entire group carried a violent aura around them. It wasn't like the malevolent aura that demons and demonic power had. The impression the atmosphere around the people on the boats gave Toz and the cats were that the people on the boats were used to violence and murder.

If a bunch of like-minded people like that gathered together on the boats, it was probably not because they were interested in the same tourist spots. Toz didn't even feel like he had to guess to say that they had encountered bandits. Or maybe pirates since they were using boats. Toz didn't really care about the terminology, but he had a feeling that Lucy would be nitpicky about it.

Toz stayed in the forest, masking his and the cat's presence while the boats approached the island. Since he didn't know if the pirates were aiming for the people on the island or the island itself, it would give them the advantage if they stayed hidden.

While Toz didn't mind fighting the pirates and taking the boats for his own group, fighting on the island could be unnecessarily risky.