Elemental Cats

The road to the battlefield led through the camp like a highway. And people ran along and across it in a flurry. Toz was the only one from the same ship as him that went straight to the battlefield, but he wasn't the only one in the camp heading out. He saw several grizzly veterans with grim faces walking to the edge of the base before stepping into the scarred wasteland.

Even the ground right outside the camp was covered with signs of fighting and damage. Although it was relatively tranquil around the camp, the sounds of battle reached Toz's ears before he even entered the battlefield.

Along with giving them some rudimentary information about the battlefield, Dyra had also given Toz his things back. Toz was happy to get everything back, especially the rainbow swirl manual and his sword. However, the coat that Joan had made him was damaged by Yill's ice. But even if it weren't, it wouldn't be able to face off against the opponents Toz would fight against during the war.

Dyra called it compensation for Yill ruining his coat as she handed him a glossy black outfit that clearly came from the Obsidian Empire. Toz didn't know the details of what it was capable of, but Dyra said it would be able to keep him safe as long as he didn't willingly jump straight into the midst of a battle between several ninth level mages and fighters.

Toz took her words with a grain of salt, but since it was made in a place that probably had transcendent enchanters, he didn't doubt the combat outfit's capabilities too much. Unfortunately, the cats didn't get anything, so they could only stare at Toz's combat suit with envy.

Toz grabbed his sword, and he and the cats left the camp and headed for the battlefield.

Although it was calm outside the camp, Dyra had warned Toz that there were all kinds of demons and beings in the demon realm of the Mortal Realm, so it was best to always stay on guard.

Toz and the cats decided to listen to her advice and act with prudence, at least in the beginning. They might be eager to make a lot of contributions so they could go to Taienra as soon as possible. But if they acted rashly and got themselves injured or killed, they would delay or lose their opportunity to help Taienra.

The other soldiers and combatants that were more used to the battle didn't dally as Toz did. Instead, they dashed away in different directions almost as soon as they left the camp.

Toz and the cats looked on as the various fighters and mages went to fight at different parts of the battlefield. It didn't seem like they were interested in working together, which Toz found slightly interesting.

Toz had planned to keep walking until they encountered an enemy. However, they didn't get very far until they heard a scream from one of the fighters who left the camp when they did.

They didn't even bother trying to hide their curiosity as they dashed toward the fighter to see what the fuss was about.

At first, it only looked like the guy had stepped in a pit and snapped his leg, but the shifting ground and the gurgling sounds told them it was something else.

The archer seemed to snap out of their pain. They summoned a bow in their hands and pulled the string without even loading an arrow. As the archer moved their arm back, an arrow of colorless aura slowly materialized. Due to the archer's awkward stance, they couldn't pull the string back all the way, but the arrow still flew out with significant force as it pierced into the ground.

A screech rang out from the ground after the arrow sank into it, right next to the archer's bloody, mangled mess of a foot.

Toz stopped watching at the same time as the ground trembled.

Whatever held onto the archer's foot let go, and they hobbled away as fast as they could while preparing another shot.

The archer seemed to have barely made it when the ground trembled even more, and the dirt began slipping deeper into the ground like a spiraling sinkhole. The spiral was small at first, and it began from where the archer had been attacked, but it rapidly expanded, forcing Toz to halt his advance.

The archer also felt the ground under his foot begin to soften and slip away, so he used all his might to throw himself forward while turning around and launching his arrow into the center of the vortex.

However, unlike last time, the arrow simply disappeared into the swirling ground. But at least the sinkhole stopped expanding after reaching a certain point.

The archer lay on his back as he began crawling away. His focus was only on the vortex, and he didn't notice Toz and the cats off to the side.

After the archer was clear of the immediate danger, Toz stopped to look at the vortex. He didn't sense anything more than barely threatening from it, so he decided to use it as a learning opportunity in order to prepare for the battlefield and whatever it could offer.

After a while, the dirt stopped moving.

A spout of sand shot into the sky. It drew a parabola in the air while taking the shape of a raindrop as it rushed toward the archer, still crawling on the ground.

The archer took up his bow again and fired a volley of arrows at the projectile of condensed sand. It seemed like the archer knew what he was up against, as he didn't aim to destroy the drop. He only aimed to steer the sand off course, which he managed, albeit barely.

The sand struck down next to the archer with an impressive collision that created a crater and sent a wave of dirt washing over the archer.

After the sand drop's impact, the ground, where the vortex had been, began moving again. But this time, instead of the ground sinking, it started rising.

Since so much dirt covered the cause, it was difficult for Toz to see what it was, but it kept rising into the air, with the dirt running off it like water all the while.