Elemental Cats

Toz had expected the beasts to stay in the forest, but he didn't especially care when they didn't, and foolishly chose to follow him.

He didn't bother to keep up the high pace he had in the forest. Since he was going to spend at least a week crossing the wasteland, he would need to be frugal with his stamina. It was impossible to tell when the rats might attack them. Even if Toz and Mindle kept sending down streams of fire down their tunnels, the rats might set up an ambush further ahead or even swarm them above ground with incredible numbers.

If the rats did choose to swarm them, Toz would need as much of his stamina as possible to be able to run away.

Toz and his group walked, following the canyon, at a safe distance for a few days without incident. The beasts trailing behind them had gotten further away because of their fatigue and lacking preparation. Although had they paced themselves better, they wouldn't have gotten tired so quickly, but they had tried to keep up with Toz.

The beasts had also noticed what Toz and Mindle were doing, and even if they didn't completely understand the reason they tried to keep up while doing the same. But only the snake was capable of sending down fire into the tunnels by breathing fire. They did the same there. They overestimated themselves, and the snake was especially tired.

Eventually, they reached the spot where Toz and the cats had crossed the canyon during their first trip. The rat blood had long since dried, but only after flowing through the canyon quite a bit, turning a large part of the bottom a brownish red.

Though there were traces of the meat scraps and innards being eaten by other rats, and probably a lot of the blood had been consumed as well.

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The most obvious sign that showed them they were at the right spot was the large cliff still covered in dried blood.

Despite the sun boring down on the scene of brutal massacre, there were no signs or smells of rot and the beasts from the alliance saw it before they noticed anything else. They were shocked, to say the least. They had killed a lot of rats during small excursions and knew how little blood they contained, so to kill enough to create a view like this was incredible.

Although it wasn't impossible for anyone else to have crossed through the wasteland in recent days the only one they knew of was Toz. And despite the lacking signs of decay, the slaughter had obviously happened a little bit more than a few days ago, approximately a week. Around the time Toz would have passed through this place.

They had also heard the rumors of how Toz had showed up to the forest covered in dried blood, frantically looking for water where he could wash himself.

The gorilla almost grew ill at the sight, but the shock of realizing that Toz was responsible for the scenery in front of them stopped him from puking. The human they had ignorantly tried to challenge was apparently a lot stronger and more brutal than they assumed, even after he defeated the horse.

The group of beasts hurried to catch up to Toz and the cats after trying to process what they had just seen and realized.

When Toz had been following the canyon, there was no problem if they lagged behind a bit, but now that Toz started crossing straight through the bare wasteland, the beasts would be in serious trouble if they lost track of him.

The beasts considered asking him to slow down, but they had developed a deep fear of him after seeing the bloody disaster in the canyon. They also remembered the complete disregard he held for them when they said they wanted to escort him through the wasteland. It was obvious, even from a distance that Toz didn't care very much, if at all, about them.

Toz kept a steady pace and stayed ahead of the four beasts. While he didn't care about he couldn't help but notice them as he kept watch over his surroundings. Mindle was the only one who was slightly worried about them, but she remembered how they, especially the horse, looked at them and Toz. There was no need to show them pity.

Even when the snake ran out of mana and they were unable to keep small clumps of rats away from them, Toz and his group had no reaction. It wasn't until the rat began attacking on a larger scale that Toz got worried.

The rats were obviously preparing to wear them down and trying to halt their movement. If they could plan that against the four beasts, they could also plan that against Toz and his cats.

They were most likely already gathering their numbers in preparation of attacking them. And if they remembered what Toz and the other three had done in the canyon, and that they were the ones who did it, the number of rats wouldn't be something counted on a couple of hands. The rats would try and overwhelm them with incomparable numbers to make up for their individual weakness.

Since neither Mindle, Lucy, nor Nil had the same endurance as Toz, they entered the familiar space as he started running. Even if the rats had already surrounded them, it was better to break through the perimeter as fast as possible, before it could be reinforced further.

The four beasts noticed Toz sprinting away, but they were helpless. They were already almost covered in rats. They were running out of stamina and mana. There was nothing they could do except try their best against the swarming rats.

Soon after Toz started running, he encountered a small group of rats. He didn't know if they were part of the ones surrounding him or a stray group that he hadn't chased away since he couldn't blast fireballs into the tunnels while running. The most likely option, however, was it being a small group sent to alert the rest of his location. And no matter where he ran, he would encounter such small groups.

If he wanted to kill them, he would have to slow down, but if he didn't, the other rats would soon learn of his location and amass toward it. Toz would also have to face a larger number of rats if he left the tiny scouting group alive.

But even though it was just like plucking a leaf from a tree, Toz decided to trim their numbers as much as he could. He pulled out his sword and Mindle. With sword in hand and Mindle on his shoulders, he lashed out with a fast attack. He swung his sword wildly, while running past, letting Mindle spew flames and cover the rats. A few might have gotten away, but it only took a little exertion from the two of them and they didn't even slow down.

Toz continued encountering smaller groups as he kept fleeing. They grew noticeably in size as he went on and he and Mindle could no longer almost clear them away as they had done in the beginning. They stopped trying altogether and Toz focused all his efforts on running.

He felt the noose tighten around his neck as the encirclement grew tighter and the rats soon turned into an endless stream chasing behind him. They charged at him from all sides.

The rats coming at him from the front were sliced through by his sword after being torched by Mindle's laser beam. The laser beam wasn't as condensed or strong as when she sent one into the tunnels in the canyon, but it was enough to open up a gap in the rats.

The window of opportunity was small but it allowed Toz to charge forth, getting one step closer to escaping.