Elemental Cats

The bubbling liquid at the bottom of the cocoon was what came after the heat rose until his body melted. So, it was undoubtedly hot. If Toz's guess was wrong, and he wasn't supposed to dive into the liquid with his consciousness and reform his body, it was very likely that he would perish. His clone would disintegrate fully, and his consciousness would disperse. There wouldn't be any hope of ever coming back to life and playing with the cats again.

However, when Toz made a decision inspired by his relative insanity, he knew better than to think too deeply about it. It would be better for his mental well-being if he stopped questioning each and every one of his decisions.

Besides, diving into the bubbling liquid with his clone would only change when he died. Toz didn't think he would last long enough in the outside world to find a vessel he could haunt. And if he was going to die anyways, it would be better to go through with the option most likely to succeed in saving his life.

Toz mentally held his breath by instinct and reflex. And he controlled his clone to dive headfirst into the bubbling liquid. He didn't even create a splash as his clone broke through the surface and entered the bubbling liquid.

As soon as he entered the liquid, Toz lost control of the clone as it was dragged by some invisible force to the center of the liquid. Toz haphazardly wondered what had happened with his mana pool when he started drifting toward the middle of the liquid. But he quickly got his answer when he sensed his mana pool resting at the absolute bottom of the cocoon.

Toz wondered what his mana pool was doing there before he hurriedly started to concentrate on his clone and the liquid around it. If anything killed Toz, it would be his own careless and exhausted mind.

Shortly after his clone stopped moving, the bubbling liquid started swirling and bubbling with even more intensity. The liquid also started moving toward the clone and layering itself on top of it.

That confirmed Toz's guess. His clone was going to act as a mold or a design for the liquid to copy as it reformed Toz's body. That made Toz realize that he wouldn't have survived or even gotten this opportunity if he hadn't managed to create the clone during his time in prison.

More things than Toz thought had aligned and created this opportunity for him. Now, it only remained to be seen if he would survive this Baptism of Fire as well as what would come afterward.

As more and more liquid gathered around the clone, Toz gradually began losing consciousness again. But he couldn't tell if he had to resist the allure of sleep in order to succeed.

But eventually, the pull on his consciousness became so strong that he couldn't resist it anymore and fainted. And when he did, Toz's miniature clone curled up in a fetal position and closed its eyes, which was a sign that Toz's consciousness had left the clone.

As more and more liquid began layering itself around the clone, Toz's consciousness seeped into the liquid, and it gradually began to lose its liquid state while also beginning to take shape.

Eventually, when barely anything of Toz's molten body was left, and only liquid fire mana remained, Toz's mana pool began moving. It spun and sucked in the liquid fire mana before floating through the air to where Toz's curled-up body hovered.

Toz's mana pool didn't stop moving even after it made contact with Toz's body. It slipped through Toz's body as if it were an illusion and entered it.

Aside from Toz's fully reformed body, the fire cocoon was empty. And since Toz's mana pool and fire mana had both calmed down and looked like they had joined Toz in sleeping, nothing was keeping the cocoon going anymore. The mana storm was still sending mana into the cocoon, but there was nothing maintaining the cocoon's structure. And due to the influx of uncontrollable mana from the mana storm, the sphere of seemingly crystalized fire exploded outwards in a shower of sparks and flickers of flame.

After the cocoon exploded, Toz's body was exposed to the outside world and its coldness. The Fortress of Death was still hot as a furnace due to the storm of fire mana and the remaining heat of Toz's inferno. But it was like an autumn breeze compared to the comfortable campfire that Toz had bathed in inside the cocoon.

Toz's eyes flashed open, and he instinctively used fire magic to warm himself as he fell to the ground, naked as the day he was born.

Toz didn't know if it was because his body had undergone the metamorphosis or because he had gotten some shut-eye, but his mind felt clearer than before, and he stood up from the crouch he subconsciously landed in.

Due to the breeze sweeping unhindered through his entire body, Toz hurried over to where he put his spatial rings. Thankfully, due to the Fountain of Death absorbing the demonic energy from the death storm, his spatial rings were mostly intact.

When he picked them up, Toz couldn't help but check the grimoires and confirm their safety even before he found another set of clothes to put on. He quickly grabbed the lightning grimoire he got from Hassandra and flipped through it to ensure its contents were untouched.

He also checked through his other rings and grimoires to see if they were okay, which they were. Otherwise, Nil would have gotten severely depressed.

The breeze stirred up by the two storms rustled Toz's hair, and he hurried to find a pair of clothes. Thankfully, the death storm was locked on the Fountain, and the fire storm was having trouble concentrating due to the remnants of the cocoon's explosion.

None of them seemed like they would start creating trouble for Toz at the moment.

"Are you about done yet? Or do you want to borrow a pair of pants?"

But just because the storms looked like they were leaving him alone didn't mean that Toz was in the safe just yet.