Elemental Cats

Enchanting (2)

Toz saw Joan fiddling around with his coat on the ground outside the house. He could tell she didn't want to burden him with creating a worktable or any tools. But since she needed those to make a good coat, Toz persuaded Joan into telling him what she needed.

And after setting up a table wide enough to fit the coat and all the materials, he made a scissor, a knife, a needle, and wire so thin it could act as thread. Though, the wire was partly an experiment to see what would happen if the tree grew to replace something so small. If it only became a long and slender stick, Joan would add some mana absorption enchantments to keep the coat together. It wouldn't be the greatest solution, but it was the best they could do considering their circumstances.

After Toz finished making the table and the tools, he sat down and watched Joan as she got to work. Toz didn't know much more about enchanting than anyone else, but he was sensitive to the movements of mana, and he could sense what Joan was doing. Even if it looked like she was only touching and fiddling with the coat and pointing at it with her stylus, Toz could tell that she was testing and inspecting the various enchantments on the coat and then copying them to a blank piece of fabric. Joan used the empty fabric and the enchantments there as a way to try and figure out how to fix the broken ones and see if the others were complete.

Although Joan was familiar with a lot of low level runes and enchantments, and even several medium level ones, most of the enchantments on Toz's coat were new to her. If she wanted to repair or replicate Toz's coat, she would first have to at least learn how to mimic the enchantments. And if she wanted to create a coat of similar quality as Toz's original, she would have to understand the enchantments in great detail since only then could she use her inclination to its full potential and draw out the entire utility of the enchantments.

Since Joan's inclination and enchanting abilities were limited to fabrics and clothes, she could make the enchantments better if she fulfilled the proper conditions. And some of those conditions relied on Joan's understanding of the enchantment she inscribed in the fabric.

If Joan wanted to create as good a coat as possible, she would first have to memorize the enchantments on Toz's coat and understand as much of them as possible. While she could probably fix the enchantments and make them functional again and then repair the coat's fabric using the materials from the boat, the results would be far from satisfactory.

It would take more time and effort for Joan to make the coat in the way she intended, but based on what she knew about Toz's situation, there wasn't exactly a shortage of time. And the more she worked on the coat, the more her confidence about reaching the next level grew.

Although she wasn't quite at the edge of the third level, each stroke of her stylus trained her mana. Working with medium level materials and enchantments more complex than anything she had touched before was working wonders for her mana. She almost wondered if she should focus on training for a while until she reached the fourth level so she could make Toz's coat even better.

But Joan decided to focus on her work instead of thinking unnecessary thoughts. It didn't matter if she was at the third or the fourth level. She would still make a coat she could be proud of.

Joan lost herself in the fabrics and enchantments and forgot about her surroundings. She had noticed Toz take a seat close by after finishing the tools she needed. But Joan completely missed it when her son and the cats also gathered around and watched her work. It had been a long time since she could work without worrying about anything else. After the war broke out, she could only occasionally enchant while keeping a watch over her surroundings and staying alert. Both bandits and wild beasts ravaged the lands, and if Joan got stuck in a trance when they attacked, she would put herself and her family in danger.

But on the island protected by Toz and the cats, Joan didn't have to worry about being attacked since any threat would be dealt with before it could deal damage to the island.

While Joan worked on Toz's coat, Joshua sat down a short distance away from Toz. And then, with utmost care, started scooting closer. If Toz looked in his direction, Joshua would look away and pretend like nothing was going on before sneaking a glance to make sure Toz wasn't looking and then continue getting closer to him.

The cats had intentionally sat so they wouldn't block Joshua's approach.

Eventually, Joshua was only a meter away from Toz.

"Y'know, my dad also used a sword."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. He protected the town against beasts. And after we left the town to visit Uncle Jerry, he fought against bandits as well." Joshua kept looking at his mother when he talked, but that didn't stop him from sidling up next to Toz.

"I miss my dad. Do you think I'll get to see him again?"

Toz didn't know what to answer, so he said nothing. But he did put an arm around Joshua, who was now sitting right next to him. Toz didn't look at Joshua, but the next time Joshua spoke, his voice trembled slightly.

"My dad could watch mom for hours when she worked. He would always tell me stories when I caught him. And then I would fall asleep in his lap. And I would always wake up in my bed. But I can still remember those stories. It was the stories mom would tell me when I was small."

Joshua's voice grew weaker, and his last few words were barely more than a whisper. Toz couldn't sit still after listening to Joshua, so he lifted him onto his lap, where he fell asleep only a few moments later.