Nil looked at the lizard's shredded corpse and the forest of silver trees around it with satisfaction.
During his breakthrough, he had understood a lot more of what the spell Sharp Rain was, and Nil had even managed to incorporate it with his own magic. Although the silver forest wasn't yet as powerful as the completed spell would be, the ease with which he created it wasn't easily accomplished without using the foundations of the spell.
Since the forest drained a lot of mana, Nil dispelled it after having tried it out. He happily received the congratulations and adoration of the others. And his already shiny fur that had gotten even glossier after the breakthrough shone with pride.
With another one in their group at the fourth level, their travels grew slightly easier as they didn't have to rely on only Toz and Lucy to deal with the dangers that popped out.
After a few days of walking through a relatively stale plain, Mindle also felt like it was enough and decided she wanted to reach the fourth level. Ever since Nil had broken through, she hadn't been able to do anything to help the group when fighting. By the time she charged a fireball or conjured an attack powerful enough to damage the beast, it was already defeated.
Even with the increased understanding of fire and how that helped her increase the power of her magic, Mindle still wasn't satisfied and felt like the only way to begin helping the group was to break through to the fourth level. And it wasn't like she was rushed needlessly either. She was confident that she could reach the fourth level and compress her mana enough so she won't have to worry about improving in the future.
After conveying her wishes to the group, they found a place where they could let Mindle break through without having to worry about distractions.
While breaking through in Toz's familiar space wouldn't necessarily create any complications, if they were unlucky, the mana could run out, forcing the breakthrough to end prematurely.
Eventually, the group found a group of rocks where they could set up camp and protect and cover Mindle to make sure she gets as much time as she wants to gather and compress as much mana as possible.
Based on Mindle's previous breakthroughs, which tended to be flashier than when the others broke through within the same division, it wouldn't be surprising if her breaking through to the medium level was ever more extreme. In case Mindle unleashed some eye-catching phenomenon while she broke through, attracting the attention of any nearby beasts or possible rogues, the other three had to be prepared to defend with all their might and make sure Mindle isn't disturbed.
If she is lucky, the breakthrough will just end early, reducing the effects her breakthrough would have gotten her and lowering her future potential. But if Mindle is unlucky, her mana pool might shatter. For an ordinary human or beast, that would merely mean they become crippled without being able to use mana.
But for Mindle, whose existence and body rely on her mana, that might mean death.
She started her breakthrough just like the other three had done, carefully gathering her mana in the center of her mana pool and condensing it, creating a flowing firey substance to replace the previous orange mist.
It proceeded smoothly up until the point where she absorbed and converted the surrounding mana to further compress the mana in her mana pool while at the same time forcing the mana pool to expand.
It had nothing to do with Mindle lacking in any way. It was simply an unlucky time to break through.
The plane they were on wasn't called Roaring Skies because it was the last name of the person who first discovered the plane. The name Roaring Skies came from the thunderstorms that sometimes appeared.
Right when Mindle was nearing the end of her breakthrough, one such thunderstorm showed itself on the horizon, and within a few moments, it was hanging in the sky above Toz and the others.
One of the reasons the group had looked forward to their travels through Roaring Skies was because they were hoping to experience the rumored magical sight of such a thunderstorm.
But when it finally appeared above them, none of them were happy.
Mindle was in the middle of her breakthrough. Although the thunderstorm hadn't unleashed its merciless violence upon the plane yet, the group could feel the air trembling, and the mana wasn't excluded.
Mana that Mindle needed to convert and absorb to further progress in her breakthrough. Something that had gotten a lot more difficult following the lightning attribute mana's response to the thunderstorm's arrival.
And that was only the beginning. When the thunderstorm actually began making itself known, the flashing lightning and rumbling thunder would be enough to severely affect Mindle's concentration, even with the other three working to keep as much outside interference away from her.
Lucy could use darkness to keep the brightness of the lightning and the noise of the thunder away from Mindle, but against the might of the thunderstorm, it wouldn't be that effective.
Toz and Nil could use lightning rods to make sure none of the lightning bolts will strike their group, but there is no way to guarantee how much lightning will fall and how much of a ruckus it will cause.
And that is only for the parts of the thunderstorm itself that will affect Mindle in her breakthrough.
With the spectacle that each and every such thunderstorm creates and how much lightning attribute mana there is in one, most beasts with the lightning attribute are drawn to them.
If they are unlucky, and several beasts stumble upon their group taking cover from the thunderstorm, it wouldn't be strange if the Toz, Nil, and Lucy are unable to handle everything. Keeping Mindle safe from both beasts and the distractions of the thunderstorm would prove to be one extreme challenge. A challenge that they couldn't avoid even if they wanted to.
Mindle had noticed the ruckus and the agitated mana, but she felt the other three working hard to keep her surroundings calm. She trusted them and focused even harder on completing her breakthrough. Although she wanted to rush, doing that might harm her and make the group's efforts meaningless.
