Toz was happy that he had established a bond with another cat type spirit beast, but he was also conflicted about having another elemental attribute that he needed to train. And considering his lightning attribute was at the first level, it would take some time to get it to the fourth level, even if he already had the experience with the three other attributes.
With the time he needed to spend reading the grimoire and learning the spell in it, and with how much time he would spend walking, there wouldn't be much time left for him to train his mana, which once again prompted him to try and find a way to train it while walking.
Compared to the time in Sleepless Brights, before he reached the fourth level, he had an easier time controlling mana, especially the lightning mana still at the first level. Although it was a completely new element with its own unique behavior, it was still much more easily controlled compared to fourth level mana.
And as soon as he got slightly more used to the quirks of the lightning mana, he began trying to use it to absorb the ambient lightning mana. Toz figured it would be easier if he didn't need to convert the mana as well before absorbing it during his training-when-walking practice.
Toz, while not successful, managed to achieve something at least. He had just started figuring out a new way to train, so he wasn't surprised that he didn't succeed on the first try, but when Toz expelled his own mana instead of absorbing the surrounding mana, he felt like it might be impossible after all.
Toz couldn't figure out a reason as to why the lightning mana in his body completely left him as soon as he released his iron grip on it so he could walk at the same time as he trained. While he didn't fall when it happened, he did stumble, not to the cats' surprise since everyone except Scrael had gotten used to it during his earlier attempts.
Since he had just emptied out his lightning mana completely, even if he could convert some of his other mana into lightning, Toz took it as a sign that he should focus on walking for the time being. And instead of recklessly guessing and trying something that doesn't have any basis for working, Toz would try to figure out why things don't work.
When Toz had moments that he wasn't spending chatting with the cats or doing something that required his active thinking, he would spend them trying to figure out a way to convert and absorb mana while walking. He tried out the few ways and methods he came up with, to no success.
Trying to move the mana in a specific pattern matching his walk was disrupted as soon as there was the slightest deviation in his movements. If he stepped on a slightly larger rock that made his foot tilt, his mana flow would disturb his body's movements causing him to fall.
Most other attempts ended in similar failure, and the only thing that Toz could determine was that he couldn't move his mana in a way that would train it while walking at the same time. He could move mana in other ways, such as using magic while fighting, but since he needed to move it in a way that would train his mana, there wasn't any purpose in doing anything else.
While the group of five traveled together, getting to know Scrael better and letting Scrael get to know them better, they soon arrived at the first city on their way to Treblor Forest.
The City of Tiny Rumbling suited its name since it was more like a tiny town than a proper city. Though it didn't need to be that big to cater to Toz and the cats' needs since they only wanted to spend a night in the city, so they could get off the ground and clean themselves up a bit before continuing on their way.
The group had managed to defeat a lot of beasts and harvest materials from them and the wilderness on the road between Sleepless Brights and Tiny Rumbling. After selling all of that, the group managed to make a decent amount, but not enough to purchase another grimoire. Although there probably weren't any grimoires in Tiny Rumbling, to begin with.
Since grimoires and eventual emergency supplies were the only things that the group wanted to spend their money on, they didn't want to waste time needlessly on some interesting shopping in town. Toz, Nil, and Mindle, who had grimoires already, spent their free time while resting, reading them, and letting Lucy and Scrael hang out on their own.
None of them minded, but Scrael found it a little difficult to interact with the black kitten, who she was sure looked up to her for some weird reason. Lucy didn't have any inhibitions in expressing how cool he thought Scrael's scars and muscles were, but Scrael wasn't used to interacting with others in ways that weren't related to fighting, so she merely grunted in response and tried to get Lucy focused on other things.
So while Toz, Nil, and Mindle stayed in the room they rented, reading their grimoires, Lucy dragged Scrael around town. They found a nice spot on a roof where they could look at and judge people from.
After spending enough time in Tiny Rumbling to recover from their time on the road, the group continued on to their next stop on the way toward Treblor Forest.
Although they had reached the first checkpoint in their journey through Roaring Skies, there was still a fair bit left.
While the idea was to walk most of the distance and take it slow, when there the opportunity arose, the group didn't hesitate to hitch a ride or two. It didn't happen often since they were mostly traveling straight through the wilderness, but when there were roads and a carriage passed by offering to give them a ride they would accept.
It gave them, mostly Toz, a break from the monotonous walking and provided him with a chance to train his mana so he wouldn't fall behind everyone else.
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