Elemental Cats

While he waited, Toz idly wondered how the second combatant, aside from himself, had arrived so quickly. Toz thought he had been fast since he stepped onto the magic circle, barely moments after he got the message.

However, he soon got his answer.

The third person to arrive outside of General Scoll's party tumbled through the tunnel.

It seemed like Braxton, the earth mage in control of the tunnel, had intentionally sloped the tunnel when the new visitor slid through it since her exit speed was significantly lower than Toz's. However, that only served to limit how far she ground her face against the ground.

The young woman hurriedly stood up after tumbling and rolling on the ground face first. She quickly brushed off her clothes and fixed the shoulder-length hair so that it looked at least somewhat sorted.

"My apologies. I hurried over as soon as I got the message."

Toz almost felt admiration at how she didn't show a hint of embarrassment or acknowledgment of her accident. She looked at the general with a stalwart expression that showed her seriousness as she spoke.

The general nodded at her words before waving her in Toz's direction. Right in time, it seemed.

Before the young woman could even begin to try and strike up a conversation with Toz, the only one who didn't seem to have a stick up his ass, another person exited the tunnel and entered the room.

Unlike Toz and the young woman who were unceremoniously dumped into the room, Braxton, General Scoll's earth mage, carefully lifted the elderly gentleman down to the floor on a platform of stone.

Toz felt like he could sense the feelings of injustice radiating from the young woman next to him. But when he looked, she had the same strict expression as before as she simply observed the earth mage in action.

After Brax put down the elderly gentleman on the ground, General Scoll put his hands together and leaned forward in his armchair. He cleared his throat and looked at each of the four people he had gathered before speaking.

"Now then. I hope you all are ready. If you are not, it would be better to speak up now and leave this room."

Toz didn't have any intentions of backing out. And it didn't seem like any of the others did, either. Though since General Scoll continued speaking almost instantly after, it seemed like he hadn't expected that anyone would be unprepared.

"I will give you a quick rundown of your mission. We don't have a lot of time, so Braxton and Seich here will give you any necessary details on the way. With Hal's help, there shouldn't be any worries about your voices leaking, so ask any questions that you need answered in order to fulfill your mission."

When General Scoll said he was giving them a quick rundown, he wasn't joking. It only took him a couple of minutes to say what he wanted before he had Braxton send him, his assistant, and his three remaining bodyguards to the surface. The pepper-haired general didn't seem worried, despite sending away two of his subordinates, even when the three that remained by his side didn't look very trustworthy.

The short Cooper, whose eyes flitted around and hands fiddled with a hunting knife. The tall and lanky Merr. And the last, Derada, whose name Toz hadn't heard, who hid most of their appearance behind a cloak.

There was also the assistant, and while she seemed more trustworthy than the three bodyguards, Toz didn't think she would be as good at combatant as the bodyguards, so she also wasn't very reliable. At least not in his eyes. But the general trusted them, and he moved to the surface with a calm gaze.

After the general left with his subordinates, Braxton immediately started casting his magic.

Braxton's large body made it look like he specialized in physical close-quarters combat, but he was exceptionally skilled at manipulating the earth around him. He created a hole in one of the walls that was just large enough for the six in the room to fit inside while still having comfortable space to move.

"I'll bring up the rear, so get a move on."

Seich, the blond bodyguard that stayed behind on General Scoll's orders, unfurled his crossed arms as he motioned for Toz and the others to follow Braxton into the newly made tunnel. He tapped the pommels of one of his two blades as he waited for all four of them to enter the tunnel before he began to move himself.

After a final look around the room, Seich tapped the wall right next to where Braxton opened up the tunnel. After Seich left the room, it collapsed behind him with a cloud of dust. The gust that came afterward swept through the tunnel and would have ruffled everyone's clothes before settling. But the cloaked mage, who muddled his presence at all times, subdued the wind before it got a meter into the tunnel.

That revealed what one of the people going on the mission could do. Toz was curious about what the young woman, the elderly gentleman, and Seich could do.

The young woman and the elderly gentleman would probably explain some of their capabilities if someone asked. The man seemed relatively easygoing, despite the situation why were in. And despite her stalwart expression, Toz was sure the young woman would also share what she could do.

However, Seich seemed a lit more stuck-up.

The general had said that they could ask whatever they wanted, but Braxton was busy creating a tunnel leading to who knows where. And Seich had a slight scowl that seemed to spell out that he didn't want to talk to anyone.

Thankfully, Braxton wasn't as busy as he seemed to be. Although he was doing a lot by pushing aside and compressing the earth around them in order to create a path through the ground, it was pretty basic magic. For a high level earth mage like him, it barely drained his mana.

After a few moments of silence where no one spoke up, Braxton began explaining the plan in more detail.