Elemental Cats

Both Toz and Mindle looked forward to getting the fire attribute grimoire they had set their sights on so they could gain a better understanding of mana and magic and figure out more diverse and creative ways to deal with enemies using magic.

But in order to afford the grimoire, the group still needed a lot more money, which was why they were headed into the forest once again. And this time, with Toz's fifth level badge, they could bring back materials from deeper inside the forest that, due to the current market, were worth a lot more gold than most other things Toz and the cats could bring from other danger zones.

The previous times the group had been in the forest, they had only barely gone past the tree line where the most basic herbs, plants, mushrooms, low level beasts, and other materials could be harvested. Since Lucy was the only one who could protect them against the dangers inside the forest, they didn't want to risk it.

But this time, the group had both Toz and Lucy at the fourth level, so they didn't stop just a few trees past the edge of the forest.

Although the overwhelming brightness from the Lightning Clouds was already dampened before the forest began, it was still bright as long as the sun was up. That didn't extend to within the forest.

The tall, wide, dark, bushy trees with their crowns that looked like thunderclouds blocked off almost all light. And as the group continued deeper inside, it got progressively darker.

Though that only made them more confident in their endeavor. All four of them had great sight even in darkness, and two of them possessed the darkness attribute. Lucy, with his fourth level of power, was practically brimming with confidence since the group was entering a single large shadow he could easily use to their advantage.

After having been suppressed, when beneath the Lightning Clouds, Lucy finally got the chance to really let loose and experience the limits of what he could do now that he had reached the next division.

Toz was also looking forward to a wilder type of battle than the calculated spars he had fought against Rick back at the guild.

Not only that, he dearly wished to find the source of the feeling that was drawing him to the forest. Especially when the feeling got stronger the deeper into the forest they went. But even as they entered the fifth level danger zone that was marked by a ring of trees larger than normal, there were no signs of the source of that feeling.

Instead of cluelessly searching for a feeling when it might put them in danger, the group focused on gathering the materials they were there for.

A set of glowing leaves growing on top of blue stones here and there that could be used for various types of potions.

A kind of low level snail whose shell was most often used as an ingredient in whetstones for weapons with the lightning attribute.

Several similar things, that after the chaos spread in the forest, were hard to get in Sleepless Brights.

Many of those things were now in Toz's pockets, ready to be sold to the guild in exchange for a grand sum of money. Although most likely not enough to afford a grimoire at once, a few more trips would be all it would take for the group to buy one.

And with how easily Toz and Lucy had avoided and hidden the group from any medium level beasts they encountered, it wouldn't be much of a challenge for them to return a few times and gather even more materials.

Toz and the cats returned to the city where they could empty their full pockets and spatial rings and receive their monetary compensation. Like the group had expected, the prices of the materials they had brought back had soared during recent times, and it would only take at most ten more trips to the forest before they had eight thousand gold, and that was if they were unlucky and encountered a fight or something that forced them to retreat.

The past weeks had allowed most plants and animals to thrive and procreate, so there wasn't really a risk of the group not finding anything of value. Although if the group found out what was creating the disturbance and whipping the beasts into a frenzy in the forest, they would only need one more trip.

When the group pulled out their haul and handed it over to Rick at the front desk, everyone except Rick was understandably surprised. Although the other employees and explorers could somehow get used to the group repeatedly returning with materials from the edge of the forest, the things that Toz had brought back this time were from a lot deeper into the forest.

Other explorers with great stealth and combat abilities had also gone to the outer reaches of the forest and returned with valuable materials. But as soon as they got greedy at the repeated windfalls and delved deeper into the forest, they tended to not return.

Although there were a few explorers who were confident they could pull off what Toz had just done, they didn't feel a need to put themselves in unnecessary danger. But now that Toz had done something they didn't dare to do, a spark of inferiority was lit in some, and some felt competitive.

The ones who felt inferior were the ones overconfident in their strength but felt like they still lost against someone at a lower level of power than them.

The competitive ones were people who sought thrills in their life as explorers.

Then there were those who had their own lives and didn't particularly care about Toz.

But aside from all those, there were two rough-looking people hidden away in a corner of the tavern that, upon seeing Toz and his haul, exchanged a glance before leaving the building. In the same direction that Toz needed to go to reach the inn where his room was.