It didn't take much time for Nil to break through to the third level. No one could see him since he was in his part of the familiar space, but he had shone beautifully as the breakthrough had his mana swirling and fur surging with a radiant shine.
Lucy has the darkness attribute, so his breakthrough wasn't as flashy as Nil's was, and while Toz had the metal attribute like Nil, he also had fire and darkness, making it slightly more chaotic than Nil's breakthrough.
Nil's shiny fur calmed down and returned to its original polished silver hue. Although it was still reflective and shone in the dazzling light of the lightning, it was a lot more matte than it had been during his breakthrough.
After Nil's breakthrough, everyone except Mindle was at the third level. Although Mindle was fully aware she had a late start since she had been born several years after the others, she still didn't like the feeling of being left behind. She completely ignored that she had reached the second level after only a few weeks and that she was already strong and skilled at using magic.
Although Mindle had trouble controlling her power in the beginning, regular training had improved her skill at maneuvering mana and casting magic. With her entire body being a mana pool, she also had ridiculous reserves of mana that she could use efficiently to power her magic, and while she couldn't exactly surpass the low level of magic currently, she was already on par with Toz in using fire magic. At least in how powerful the magic she could cast was.
Toz also had an impressive mana pool, but he had to dedicate some of his mana to the other attributes he had, so while he could surpass Mindle, that was only in the case that Toz gave up on using the other darkness and metal, which would mean he wouldn't be able to continue his refinement. Although he was at the third refinement now, if he broke through to the fourth level with fire mana, he would not even be at the second refinement. Toz would simply be a fire mage at the fourth level.
Since refining the mana get more efficient, and the benefits grow stronger the higher the level one does it in, and the more a mage has refined, it would be pretty foolish for Toz to stop using the other attributes he had access to, just to be stronger than Mindle.
But Mindle didn't really analyze that far as she was more interested in catching up to the other three officially by reaching the third level herself. Thankfully since Toz had the company of Nil and Lucy, it wouldn't be a problem if she spent more time in the familiar space where she could focus on training her mana.
Mindle didn't enter the familiar space immediately but soon after Nil rejoined the group after his breakthrough, she said something about being tired from not having slept for so long and entered the familiar space where she could supposedly rest without forcing the group to get a room in an inn or take a break.
Even without the bond of the inclination, it was obvious to the others that Mindle was going to dedicate herself to catching up to them. She just didn't want to be honest with her feelings. Nil had practically done the same, so none of them were surprised. Although, Nil was a little embarrassed when Toz and Lucy looked at him with gazes, practically telling Nil that he inspired Mindle to give a ridiculous excuse instead of simply training, even with how obvious it was.
Well, now that the day in Sleepless Brights had officially begun, even if Mindle stayed in the familiar space, the group still had things to do.
During their walk before dawn, they had found a few stores that might sell what they could need. Things like maps over the areas they would encounter on their journey to Dormant Thunder and bestiaries over the different types of beasts commonly sighted in those areas.
Another thing Toz felt like they needed to buy was spices and seasonings. After they had killed that third level mammoth and spent a lot of time eating its meat, Toz had noticed how he needed to use more spices to influence and enhance the natural taste of the meat. It had both started depleting the storage of spice he had in his coat. But if the group would be traveling through a fifth level plane where they would encounter a lot of beasts of an even higher level than that mammoth, to prepare the most delicious food for himself and the cats, Toz would need better spices. Not necessarily spicier or having a stronger taste themselves, just made from better raw materials that wouldn't get overpowered by the food it was used for.
While just meat alone can be pretty delicious, especially if it's from a higher level beast, it can get boring eating the same thing all the time. That's where seasings come in. Aside from enhancing the flavor of the dish, it also provides the option of making two similar dishes taste differently, alleviating the boredom of repeatedly eating the same food constantly.
Toz had also prepared a surprise for the cats that he was pretty sure the basic seasonings wouldn't be enough to handle. Although, since it was a surprise, he used the other reasons about making varied, delicious food to convince the cats to let him go buy some spices, herbs, condiments, and other things he could use to make delicious food. However, it wasn't like the cats needed convincing, to begin with. As soon as Toz said he needed things to make the food even more delicious, Nil and Lucy were already pushing him toward the store that looked like it would sell things like that.
Once inside, Toz didn't want to leave. It was a pretty small shop that seemed dedicated to spices since every wall and shelf was stocked with different spices and herbs. Toz recognized a few things from his own storage, but that was only a fraction compared to what existed in the store. In the end, he couldn't hold himself back and bought a bunch of different things to try out and experiment with.
Since they had found a map, information regarding the types of beasts they would encounter, and spices, the shopping spree would end after they looked for one more thing.
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