Elemental Cats

Hods and Stitches trailed behind Toz, Nil, and Mindle as the five of them headed to the tiny house at the center of the island where the rest of the island's inhabitants were waiting.

Toz could hear the two pirates whispering, but since it seemed like pointless and one-sided prattling, he ignored it. Toz was about to warn Stitches when he tried to encourage Hods into creating a diversion so they could try and flee. But it turned out Toz didn't have to intervene since Hods smacked Stitches, and it looked like he would have continued pummeling him if it weren't for them trying not to anger Toz.

But despite how conformable Hods seemed to be, Toz didn't drop his guard. It might just be an act to get him to do just that, after all.

Toz had already confirmed it several times in less than a day already, but with the size of the island, it didn't take long for Toz, the cats, and the two pirates to reach the house. Scrael and Lucy had already noticed the pirates, and the two cats made sure to look extra threatening when they caught the pirates looking at them. Though, since Joshua peeked out curiously from in between the two cats, their aggressive demeanor wasn't as frightening. At least not Lucy's. However, Scrael alone was enough to make the two pirates straighten their spines and display their best behavior.

Toz wondered if he should have made the pirates carry the table and chairs back to the house as he looked around at the relatively empty clearing. But those could be brought back when Toz inspected the boats.

For now, simple stools would be enough for the pirates, and he spent some more time and mana on creating actual chairs for himself, Joan, and Joshua. They borrowed some fabric from Joan to make the metal seating more comfortable, though the pirates didn't get anything. The cats spread out around the clearing. Lucy wanted to lay down on Toz's head like he used to, but since Scrael convinced him that doing so would make Toz less imposing, Lucy settled onto the window frame.

During their walk, Toz had managed to more accurately figure out what he wanted to know from the two pirates.

"Was Kart the only one with that kind of ability, or will someone similar come looking for you?"

Since the two pirates had talked about a captain, Toz had guessed that they were part of a larger pirate crew. And from what Toz could determine, Kart was important due to his inclination, not due to his strength. That meant that a seventh level mage or fighter wasn't too high up in the ranks of the pirate crew. Toz was worried that reinforcements would come and investigate what happened to their fellow pirates. And if those reinforcements were stronger than Kart, Toz wasn't confident in being able to defeat them and get off scot-free.

Toz had thought that it wouldn't take long before Stitches opened his mouth and answered his question. Unfortunately, the pirate with an eyepatch over his left eye asked a question of his own.

"Just out of curiosity. What happens if we don' wanna answer?"

Toz's mood dipped, and he answered in a cold voice,

"Do you wanna find out?"

The chilly voice and the threatening undertone were enough to put Stitches back on track.

"I'm good. Just curious, 's all. Then to answer your question. There are others with similar inclinations, but I dunno the details. And only important people or guys carrying valuable treasure get rescue parties. The Void's a dangerous place. People die, that's it mostly."

Although Toz didn't have a way of knowing whether or not Stitches was telling the truth, he watched Hods' expression carefully while Stitches talked. And based on that, it didn't look like Stitches was lying. Though, maybe Hods was so used to Stitches' nonsense that he didn't show a reaction even if Stitches lied.

Toz would find out eventually if Stitches lied anyways.

"Do you know how far Kart had gotten in his map-making?"

"That's…Kart had barely started. He thought he would be replaced, so he refused the cap'ns orders."

Toz wanted to ask the pirates some more questions, but he was interrupted by a swarm of jellyfish. The jellyfish usually attacked one and one or two and two, but this time a group of six of them came flying through the Void in the direction of the island.

"The boats!"

To Toz's surprise, Stitches was the first to react as he sprang to his feet and headed toward the boats, dragging Hods with him. Toz was worried his precious packets of information about the Void would try and flee while they dealt with the jellyfish, so he followed them while he asked the cats to defend the island.

However, it turned out that Toz didn't have to worry about the two pirates trying to flee since the jellyfish had already surrounded the island. The jellyfish had made it impossible to escape by creating a ney from their tentacles. Trying to use a boat to pass through it would be suicidal.

The reason Stitches reacted so strongly, was because he was afraid the boats would be destroyed. And since he was a healer, his means of attacking and defending were limited, so he had to have Hods' help.

Although Stitches couldn't attack the jellyfish effectively by himself, he could boost Hods' physical capabilities with his life attribute magic. With Stitches channeling magic into him, Hods pulled out a sledgehammer from his inclination and, after coating it in aura, sent the sledgehammer flying right into a jellyfish.

The sledgehammer struck the jellyfish with enough force to pierce through it. But the sledgehammer didn't continue flying through the Void. Instead, it returned to Hods' hands after finishing its job before being sent flying into the jellyfish again.

Toz saw Hod's arms and shoulders swell with the power Stitches gave him. But even with all that power, the jellyfish didn't seem to care about the holes that appeared in them. Hods and Stitches could at most hold off the jellyfish, but killing them would take a lot more effort. Effort they might not be capable of since they would eventually run out of mana and martial energy.