Toz and Hassandra finally made some progress in improving her magic string. But figuring out that Toz's mana vision saw the emptiness in the mana was merely putting them on the starting line. They still had to use that to render Hassandra's string undetectable for similar abilities in the future.
But at least now that they were done with that part, the others could help them. Since coming up with ideas only required a little creativity, the other Lightning Rascals and the cats could voice any thoughts or ideas they had that would help Hassandra change her string. That meant it was up to Toz and Hassandra to try out the ideas so that not even Toz's mana vision could pick up any abnormalities.
Though reaching the level where Toz's mana vision didn't notice anything amiss would probably take more time than they had, so their goal was to at least change the way Toz saw the string instead of aiming to make it completely undetectable in one go.
Hassandra didn't have much experience changing the foundation of her strings and ropes, so she was a little uncomfortable while modifying it. At first, her strings only got weaker and became so apparent that the others could vaguely sense them.
The failure was disheartening, but Hassandra didn't give up. She owed Toz at least one grimoire already, so she had to make use of the opportunity she had gotten for herself and get as much of his help as possible.
Thankfully, Toz was indeed as helpful as he promised. With his mana vision, he could clearly tell that when Hassandra tried modifying her strings, she didn't know what she was doing.
The strings' structure was delicate, and when Hassandra changed it thoughtlessly, she only destabilized and ruined it. It was like trying to rebuild a chair by taking it apart and throwing it all in a pile and then wondering why it wasn't as comfortable as before.
But with Toz's guidance, Hassandra began reassembling the metaphorical chair into something one could actually sit on. It still wasn't as good as when she let the string create itself, but her newfound understanding of the way her inclination shaped and put together her mana to create the string showed her the way to how she could reach greater heights.
After all their hard work, it wasn't surprising that Hassandra's manually created strings could rival the strings her inclination made on its own. But they had reached that level by replicating the original strings' structure. And considering how it took Hassandra more time and effort to create the strings on her own, it could hardly be called an improvement.
And taking that next step, improving the strings' structure so that the ones Hassandra made surpassed the original would be several times more difficult than what they had achieved so far.
But Hassandra wasn't dissatisfied since she knew that she was on the right path to becoming stronger.
In order to get more used to the new way she made her strings, Hassandra took a break from training with Toz and participated in the battles with the others. Actively creating and manipulating the strings in live combat gave Hassandra a better feel for how they worked.
Now that she could delicately sense the strings' structure and construction, Hassandra could also tell which parts of the string worked better than others. She didn't know how to improve it just yet, but identifying the weak spots of her magic showed her where she should put her focus.
After pointing out the parts of the strings that were structurally weaker than others to Toz, he also began focusing on them. But since he couldn't actually see the strings, only the vacuum they left behind in the mana, he couldn't contribute much in that department aside from pointing out whenever Hassandra made a mistake or when she made some kind of success.
Toz and Hassandra had made progress with her strings, as promised. They hadn't been able to bring the strings to a greater level of undetectability than before just yet. Though if things continued progressing as they had been, it wouldn't take long until Hassandra surpassed her previous self. And the potential danger presented by Toz's mana vision would be naught but a faint memory.
Even without reaching that point, Hassandra was still more than satisfied. She controlled her strings like never before. And although they weren't technically stronger or better in any tangible way, Hassandra still felt like she had gotten stronger. She had also received a stairway for her continued future development, so how couldn't she be happy? Her decision to ask Toz for help was one of the greatest she had made in a long time.
Hassandra wasn't the only one satisfied with the results of their deal. Although Toz hadn't gotten his grimoire yet, he had gotten extensive practice with his mana vision. Just like Hassandra's strings, there wasn't a tangible improvement. But that was more because he didn't know whether he had actually improved the mana vision or if he had just learned how to use it better. In any case, he could see more details with mana vision, and he could also use it for longer periods of time than before.
However, Hassandra's happiness wasn't long-lived. Before they knew it, they were already back at the base, which meant that their deal was about to end. As soon as Hassandra got and handed over a suitable grimoire, her business with Toz would be finished.
The progress she had made with her string was unlike anything she could do on her own, so she naturally wanted to extend her interactions with Toz. But she couldn't just delay or completely give up on completing her end of the bargain just so that she could keep Toz around. That would sour their relationship and ruin any future dealings.
Hassandra considered inviting him to her faction, Spider's Web. But she knew that they wouldn't allow his entry. Not to mention how Toz probably wasn't interested in joining.
Hassandra wracked her brain frantically before she eventually got an idea. She subtly asked Hullie to silence their surroundings, just as a precaution.
"I'll recommend you to the general, so you won't have to do anything. Keep that in mind for the future."
Toz saw through Hassandra's intentions at once, but he didn't mind and just accepted it. Making allies was better than making enemies, after all.
Shortly after Hassandra said that she would recommend Toz to the general, they arrived at the base.
This time, there weren't any Earthworms lurking around. Not that it mattered since they wouldn't have stood a chance against anyone in their party.
When they arrived at the wide-spread mass of tents and simple buildings, Hassandra took off toward the Resource Center as soon as they crossed the defensive barrier.
Toz was a little worried about how she would find him later on after she got the grimoire, but he didn't let it bother him as he shook hands and bid farewell to the rest of the Lightning Rascals.
They weren't quite friends, but after their cooperation on the way back to the base, Toz could confidently claim that they weren't enemies. And if fate allowed, he would see them again, whether it be on the battlefield or the Transcendent Realm.
