Toz stood up with a smile radiating pride at finally having caught up to the cats. Now that he was also at the sixth level, the cats wouldn't be able to boast about their level in front of him.
Toz walked over to Lucy and Mindle, ready to begin asking them how it felt to be caught up to by someone with six elements. However, his smile and stride faltered when he sensed the teasing and playfulness from the two cats and their grins.
He entirely stopped walking as he got a bad feeling, and as Lucy and Mindle's grins widened, Toz began backing away and turning around, but he was too late.
Toz couldn't stop his senses from perceiving it when Lucy and Mindle intentionally loosened their control over their mana.
More time had passed than Toz first thought, and while he had holed up on Taienra, Lucy and Mindle had already broken through to the seventh level, becoming high level spirit beasts. And if those two had broken through, it was very likely that the other three also had.
Ever since arriving at Pirate Haven, the cats enjoyed a lot of free time, and while a lot of it went to exploring the city and fooling around after the extended boredom in the Void, there was still room for the cats to train their mana.
After the first incident with the Blue Lounge League of Pirates, the cats hadn't taken part in most of the action, but powerful individuals filled their surroundings, which sparked the cats' motivation and urged them to grow stronger.
The cats, who had already come some way in their training, went into hardcore training when Toz secluded himself to focus on Dissolution, and before they knew it, they began breaking through, one after the other.
Asilean was first since he had been in the sixth level for the longest, but he also had two elements, so it wasn't surprising he had spent so long at the sixth level. But even if he only broke through with his space element, he was still the first of the cats to become a seventh level beast.
After Asilean, Scrael broke through, continuing her lead over the other four, much to the dismay of Lucy, who hoped to surpass everyone.
But at least Lucy got the consolation prize since he came in at third place.
After Lucy broke through, Nil and Mindle were left to fight over coming second last and dead last. However, by now, neither of them cared about whether or not the others had broken through since they were only interested in competing with each other. It was their third fight of the same kind, but they still hadn't gotten tired of it.
With each of them having one win from breaking through to the fifth and sixth levels, neither was willing to let up and let the other win. It probably wouldn't be their last competition to break through, but losing once meant it was possible to lose again. And losing twice would be a disgrace. At least, that seemed to be what they thought, as they ignored everything else and used their rooms in the palace at the top of the city that the pirates were building on the cats' orders.
Nil helped design and construct it to make sure it would be a palace worthy of Toz, but only before the competition took off and after it ended since he was too focused on beating Mindle to spare time for something that the Bunglehoppers could oversee.
Although the palace wasn't complete, the cats prioritized the construction of the most important facilities, like the suites for the cats and for Toz. Toz's room wasn't finished yet since the King had to have the most luxurious one, but the cats' rooms were enough for them to use as training rooms as long as they were willing to delay the palace's construction.
And compared to training and beating the other cats, the palace was of much less importance.
Nil and Mindle, the only two cats left, couldn't care less about some palace they only wanted to construct because a king should have one.
The pirates building the palace didn't dare come close to the wing where Nil's and Mindle's rooms were due to the blazing fighting spirit and the pressure weighing in the air. Since the cats might sense and get disturbed by the slightest distraction, the other cats and the Bunglehoppers made sure no one got close for everyone's safety.
If either of the cats got upset, only destruction awaited.
And with how intense the competition was, it wouldn't be surprising if one of the cats got enraged by their defeat and decided to blame whatever poor soul was too close.
While Nil might not be specialized in strength or had several powerful spells, the majority of Pirate Haven was made of metal scraps. And metal scraps without enchantments or under the control of another mage were nothing more than toys in the eyes of a metal mage.
If Nil decided to go on a rampage for whatever reason, Pirate Haven might not be completely safe, even if the three pirate leaders stepped in. And it was the same with Mindle.
With her Tongues of Flame and mastery over the fire element, she could easily lay waste to her surroundings.
Despite both cats being at the sixth level, both of them enjoyed the effects of the talent-sharing properties of Toz's inclination. It was difficult to compare the talents for different elements and of different beings. But Nil and Mindle's skills with their respective attributes were significant enough for even the pirate leaders to be somewhat careful if the two cats went all out.
Thankfully, nothing like that happened.
Although the temperature spiked in the palace's surroundings, it was typical for a fire mage breaking through to the next level to affect their surroundings, so no one was alarmed except Nil, who realized he had lost again.
Nil shoved any distracting thoughts aside as he focused on his own breakthrough. Nil finished without incident as he plastered his surroundings with metal and metal spikes. Nil was frustrated at losing against Mindle twice in a row, but he tried not to let it bother him as he distracted himself by building the palace alongside the pirates.
Mindle had initially been waiting for Nil to finish so that she could gloat, but when she saw how disheartened NIl was, she held off and joined Lucy in waiting for Toz.
Toz listened to Lucy and Mindle telling him about what he missed, but he was so taken by the fact that everyone had broken through and left him behind once again that he barely noticed them mentioning a palace.
Toz looked up after a few seconds when he realized something.
"Wait, I'm still not last. Taienra is still at the sixth level!"
Toz said it with unexpected joy. Unfortunately, Taienra's response crushed his happiness like it was a bug.
"About that…. I was actually waiting for you to finish so that I could break through without disturbing you."
"...
"Fine! I won't stop you."
Toz sulked a little as he stood up again and began walking off.
