Elemental Cats

From the time that the signs of a lightning bolt first appeared in clouds above the group, only a second had passed. Toz had just enough time to throw his improvised lightning-catching trinket before the lightning would strike.

And while Toz could perceive that the chain snapped and the lightning would continue straight down and strike at, or close to, the dome of darkness shielding Mindle, he couldn't stop it in time.

Lucy and Nil also saw the lightning reaching down toward where Mindle was as the world slowed down.

The lightning crawled through the air, and Toz felt like he was moving through mud as he tried to redirect the bolt using his sword, despite knowing in his heart he wouldn't make it in time.

They could only hope that Mindle pushes through and won't get too seriously injured when her breakthrough ends up failing.

However, the moment before the lightning bolt hit the dome, it was redirected and flew off into the distance before striking the ground.

Toz sensed that someone had manually steered the lightning strike away, but he couldn't afford to spend any thought on who or why as he still needed to keep the dome steady from the rest of the thunderstorm.

But after the incident where a powerful lightning bolt almost landed right on the dome of darkness, no more lightning bolts struck the ground close to them.

Toz couldn't be sure if it was just a coincidence or if it was related to what had happened with the lightning bolt that could have doomed Mindle.

Although the thunderstorm continued raging without any signs of calming down any time soon, a tiny area surrounding the group was calmer than its surroundings. It gave the three working hard to support Mindle a chance to rest and recover slightly.

Finally, after what felt like days of lightning and thunder, things calmed down, and the sun peeked through the scattering clouds.

Toz had gotten so used to the endless rumbling and roiling thunder that he felt like he had gone deaf when the world returned to silence again. Although his ears only stayed numb for a short while, letting him focus on more important things, such as Mindle finishing her breakthrough.

Lucy had been too tired to retain the dome, and as soon as things quietened down enough for it to not be needed, he let the dome fade away. The dome's disappearance revealed the glowing and burning mass of fire and mana that hovered slightly above the ground.

After things calmed down enough, Mindle sensed that if she took her time, she could push her breakthrough even further, letting her mana and power grow stronger. If Toz and the others had still been pushing their limits trying to keep her protected, she might not have been able to focus so wholeheartedly on her breakthrough.

But when the lightning stayed away from her breakthrough, it gave her the opportunity to notice how malleable her mana pool was. Unlike the other three, whose mana pools couldn't withstand being forcibly expanded too much without the risk of cracking, Mindle's just kept expanding the more mana she squeezed into it.

And since the mana pool needed slightly more force to expand than her mana needed to be compressed, Mindle managed to condense her mana as well.

However, despite being more malleable than others, Mindle's mana pool also had a limit and couldn't stand being pushed too far, so when Mindle felt like it would shatter if she tried squeezing in more mana, she started finishing off her breakthrough.

It had taken a long time, but it was definitely worth it based on the power of the inferno that formed around her as she retook her feline shape. The heat of the flames that flowed like waves, with her in the center, was enough to melt the ground into a puddle.

But with Mindle's excellent control, despite the leap in power, the flames and heat didn't touch Toz and the other two cats, and the sea of flames parted ways for those three.

The amount of fire that spread out was testament to how greatly Mindle's capacity for mana had increased. In that way, the thunderstorm had helped her since it had caused the amount of mana in its surroundings to increase. Although the mana was more volatile, it was also more abundant. Mindle had to work harder when converting and absorbing it, but it was also easier to absorb more mana at once and in larger quantities, forcing her mana pool to accept more mana and compress it into a denser mass.

Mindle drew in the flames to herself like a bottomless pit, finally revealing herself to the others.

Although there wasn't a difference in her appearance, the flames her fur was made of flickered with slightly more vitality and seemed more corporeal than before.

Mindle accepted the heartfelt congratulations of the other three with pride. She had finally caught up to the others after all her hard work, and she would finally be able to contribute on an equal level. She would no longer have to be coddled and supported as soon as something happened.

And she was more grateful for all the help she received during her breakthrough than apologetic. The next time something happened, she would be the one to help the others, not the other way around.

The group had been too busy to celebrate and huddle around the ecstatic Mindle to pay much attention to their surroundings. Aside from the awareness of malicious or killing intent toward them, they didn't care much. They were tired from protecting Mindle during the thunderstorm and let down their guard slightly.

Mindle was busy reveling in the fact that she was no longer clearly the weakest of the group and was also slow to catch the presence that had appeared next to the group in a flash.

When the group first noticed it, they didn't have the leeway to carefully analyze the presence and quickly became wary as they grouped together, preparing to attack or defend.