With how Lucy usually acted, it wasn't strange for him to disappear for short periods of time. He could be hidden by shadows that occasionally wrapped him up when he was training. And lately, Lucy had begun talking walks with his head held high and an expression that was supposed to be strict but was barely anything else other than cute when Lucy did it.
Lucy, not always being in sight, wasn't the surprising part, and Toz wasn't worried since there was nowhere Lucy could go and get lost on their island. Eventually, he would return to where everyone else was.
However, when Lucy came back with his fur all standing up like he had been electrified and with a dazed expression, Toz got surprised and worried. As far as they knew, there was nothing on the wooden island besides themselves and all the trees. And they hadn't noticed any void beasts approaching them either.
Although Toz was more concerned about Lucy's wellbeing, he also had to wonder how Lucy had ended up in his current state.
Feeling the static and buzzing lightning from Lucy as he picked him up, Toz looked toward Scrael with a raised eyebrow.
Scrael had been confused ever since she first sensed the remnant lightning mana coming from Lucy after he came back. And when Toz looked at her, Scrael got too flustered to answer properly. But unlike the questioning she expected, Toz didn't even seem to have the slightest suspicions against her.
"Let's go check it out. Lucy, can you lead the way?"
"Mhm..."
Toz had managed to get rid of Lucy's puffed-up fur and smoothened it down, but he was still slightly dazed. Toz couldn't tell if it was from some injury or just because he was caught up in strange thoughts.
But despite being slightly distraught, he led Toz and the others to the place where the tiny purple fruit grew. Toz and Scrael sensed the fruit before they saw it due to the rich lightning mana coming from it.
When Lucy saw the fruit again, his previous dazed state was gone like the wind. Instead, he looked at the fruit, vengeance blazing in his eyes. But Lucy didn't pounce on or attack the fruit. Probably, because despite whatever grudge he held against the fruit, Lucy knew it was special. After all, it was the only change to the island of trees not directly related to Toz and the other cats.
While Scrael had created the tiny branch, it wasn't with the intention of eventually growing fruit from it.
And since fruits had a tendency to be edible, it was also a possible replacement for the void beast diet they had been following for quite some time.
Though, based on how Lucy had looked when he first got back to the others, the fruit might not be that easily approached or touched.
After placing Lucy on the ground beside him, Toz shared a look with Scrael before he walked closer to the fruit. Scrael got in between Toz and the other cats in case something were to happen.
Since the fruit was of the lightning attribute, Toz and Scrael were most suited to deal with what would happen when touching it. Although Lucy seemed reluctant to talk about what had happened, if it had been anything that would pose a threat to Toz or could harm him in any way, he would have never stayed quiet.
Trusting Lucy, Toz gently reached out with a finger to touch the fruit. Grabbing it with the entire hand would have been more effective if he wanted to pluck it, but because he was simply testing the waters, it would be easier to pull back with only a single fingertip touching the fruit.
Toz saw the flitting sparks on the fruit's surface and how they slowly began gathering on the area of the fruit closest to Toz's finger, but he didn't falter. The only way to know more about the fruit would be to properly inspect it, and the easiest way to do that would be to hold it.
When Toz's finger finally got close enough, the sparks gathered together and sent a jolt of lightning into Toz before he could touch the fruit. Toz jerked back his arm instinctually, but he didn't feel any pain, only small amounts of lightning mana traveling through his arm and body.
After inspecting his finger, he reached for the fruit again, this time not backing away at the shock he got.
The fruit had a soft, springy surface, and since it looked like what a ripe lightning fruit would look like, Toz tried plucking it. With a gentle tug, the fruit came loose, and a tiny shower of sparks from where it had been connected to the branch rained down.
The sparks had Toz drawing back his arm in a start again, but the few sparks that did fall on his hand didn't cause any pain.
Toz could feel the fruit tickling his hand slightly with faint electricity as he held it.
Since the purple fruit didn't seem dangerous or like it would explode in a few seconds, Toz brought it back to the others so they could also look at it closely.
Both Toz and Scrael looked at the fruit closely. Both to make sure it would start sending lightning bolts everywhere and because they found it looking very delicious.
Aside from Lucy, who was glaring at the fruit, Nil and Mindle weren't that interested in the fruit after satisfying their curiosity.
After everyone finished inspecting the fruit and they had reached the conclusion that it was most likely not poisonous, there was only one thing left to do. Taste it.
But with its obvious lightning attribute, the only two who were interested in it were Toz and Scrael. Though, since Lucy had been the first to find it, he also wanted a share of the bounty.
Toz used his sword to get the fruit into three pieces, two that were almost half the fruit and a tiny slice for Lucy.
The thin purple peel hid a pure white mass of fruit pulp. There weren't any seeds or cores they had to watch out for as they each gently took a bite.
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