Elemental Cats

Toz and the others were getting close to their destination, the Fortress of Death. And the increasing density of death attribute demonic energy was proof of that. Usually, they would have wanted to get through it as quickly as possible. But Hals´'s humming calmed them down, and they realized that they had to take it slow to reduce the risk of discovery.

If they were found before they could even enter the fortress, the plan would be bust, and they would have failed their mission. Even if they wanted to get it done quickly, rushing would lead to nothing but their deaths and the mission's subsequent failure.

But at the same time, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't be discovered if they moved forward slowly, even if they had the cloaks active. If anything, advancing too slowly would lead to more moments for the enemies to discover them. Toz and the others would also have to endure the death attribute demonic energy and its corrosion of their mana longer, which naturally was far from ideal.

Thankfully, they were already so close that Toz and the others didn't have to advance through the demonic energy for too long.

Eventually, despite Braxton's snail-like pace, they arrived right below the coordinates they had gotten. Supposedly, the only thing left to do was to go straight up, and they would find themselves inside the Fortress.

However, no one of them had anything against being cautious, so Braxton gently lifted Hal up so that he could touch the roof before he proceeded to expand the tunnel upwards while elevating them all.

Hal stayed in contact with the ever-rising wall at all times while the platform of earth slowly rose through the tunnel like an elevator.

Since the sound of moving dirt and rocks interfered with Hal's detection ability, he couldn't sense as clearly as he wanted. But he still tried to reach all the way to the surface.

However, there was one flaw in Hal's detection ability that might prove fatal, especially if Braxton was as bad at sensing as he was regarding the tunnel incident.

Hal couldn't detect magic or enchantments with his ability. He could only pick up sounds. So, he would know if there were enemies there since they would make noise as soon as they walked or moved around. But Hal wouldn't be able to detect if there were any enchantments or defenses in the way of their ascent.

Since Hal couldn't detect mana or magic, it fell on the others to sharpen their mana sense.

Braxton was an earth mage, and he shouldn't be hindered by the thick layer of dirt and rock all around them the same way the others were. But since he hadn't sensed the tunnel, he wasn't very reliable.

Thankfully, there was a way to make up for the lack of detection ability.

Wyrie's magic amplified the effects of other magic and so on. With her help, the others received a boost in their sensitivity and could stretch their perception longer.

Toz didn't want to reveal his mana vision, but he asked Wyrie to concentrate her magic in his eyes anyway. He didn't know what to expect, but he was shocked when he felt the effects of her magic.

He immediately understood why she was part of the mission. She hadn't used any magic yet since there hadn't been a need for it. While her magic was impressively useful, it also drained a lot of mana, depending on what she amplified. And her mana pool was in the regular range for a person with a single or no attribute. So she couldn't be like someone else and waste mana all willy-nilly.

But despite all that, her magic was astounding. If she used it on their cloaks, which were already doing a good job concealing them and their presences, Toz suspected that they might vanish in front of each other's eyes.

And that was while it merely increased the power and effects of the magic Wyrie amplified.

Wyrie didn't improve or change the way Toz's mana vision worked. She just made it stronger. But that let Toz see farther and in more detail, even when looking through solid earth.

The way Toz looked at the earth above them seemed a little weird to the others.

It wasn't weird for people with sight-related inclinations to be able to see through even solid earth. But Toz had claimed to be an all-rounder who was good at most things related to combat. Unless it was a special inclination, there was something that didn't add up.

But it didn't look like Toz was simply posturing as he stared into the ground, and no one spoke up about it.

Since Hal used his ears and hearing to listen after sounds of activity, the others didn't talk. They even held their breath and tried to make as little noise as possible. If Hal couldn't hear anything because of them, and they ended up in the middle of a bunch of demons, it would already be too late to be quiet.

However, despite all their preparations and careful sensing, Toz and the others didn't encounter anything or discover anyone lying in wait, even when they were at the surface.

There was no way to tell if they had tripped any secret alarms or if there were anyone capable of hiding from Hal's hearing on the other side of the layer of rock above them. But it didn't matter. They had come too far to back down, especially without reason. And since there was no real reason to back down, the only thing they could do was advance.

Toz and Mifter extended their stealth magic to everyone in the group. Hal's isolated the sounds coming from everyone. Breathing, heartbeats, clothes rustling, footsteps, gulping. All of it disappeared. And finally, Wyrie amplified the effects of the stealth magic and the cloaks. Although they were nigh-undetectable with the cloaks and the two layers of magic already, there was no such thing as too much caution when entering the depths of the enemy's base.