Elemental Cats

Seich's words made sense. And although Toz wanted to explore the tunnel since he could tell that it was related to the instability in the mana, he knew that the mission should take priority. So Toz didn't say anything.

"I agree."

Braxton found Seich's words just as reasonable as the others. He quickly covered the hole and turned away.

"Seich, do you know how much time we have?"

"No."

"Neither do I. So I don't think we should indulge in time-wasting activities. Let's just head toward the Fortress and complete the mission."

Braxton's behavior seemed to be a little off. But it could be chalked up to stress and the fact that he, the earth mage in charge of leading them, hadn't sensed the tunnel. He had probably been a little affected by having his pride or self-confidence blown to bits.

Braxton claiming not to sense the tunnel naturally made the others worried about his abilities. But since he seemingly effortlessly dug out the ground and created a space for them to move, they only doubted his sensory skills.

And since he had probably had his ego bruised by some nameless stranger, no one spoke up or questioned him about it. The awkward silence wasn't much better, but it was still not as bad as asking Braxton about his failure. Something like that might break the fragile trust they had in each other, which would, in turn, make the mission that much more difficult to complete successfully.

Eventually, the awkwardness of Braxton's failure died down, and everyone just kept thinking and walking in silence.

Toz kept an eye out, but it didn't seem like there were any other tunnels or hallways. Or maybe, they just weren't close enough for his mana vision to reach that far. Toz cast a suspicious glance in Braxton's direction before he continued wondering what might be on the other side of the tunnel.

As they walked in silence and mostly darkness, it felt like they had walked for an eternity already. But it wasn't for nothing.

The mana in the air had started turning sticky and clammy enough that even the others, who didn't have mana vision, could tell that they weren't far from the Fortress of Death. The death attribute demonic power surging from the Tribe of Death's base was overwhelming and domineering enough that it had begun corroding the plane's mana.

Of course, the mana corruption was a slow process, and the war hadn't been going on for long enough that it had spread far. So, if Toz and the others could sense it so clearly, they were certainly getting closer to their destination.

A few pearls of nervous sweat popped up on Wyrie's forehead, even though her stoic expression didn't allude to any nervousness. She wasn't the only one who was anxious. They all were.

They had agreed to the mission, somewhat knowing what the objective was. But it was a different thing being told that they were risking their lives compared to directly facing Death. It wasn't something mental preparation could prepare them for, no matter how much they did.

No matter how many times they told themself it would be alright and that they would make it out alive, it wasn't enough to keep their backs from soaking in cold sweat. Their attempts at relaxing their tense nerves went as well as trying to calm a child by asking them to calm down.

After entering what seemed like a domain of Death, everyone froze up. The second wave of death attribute demonic energy came like a burst of rain on a sunny day.

However, there were two exceptions.

Toz's mind was strong enough to withstand the overpowering feelings of fear that so much contact with death attribute demonic energy inspired.

As long as literal ghosts didn't pop up, Toz would be fine. The emotions and sensations passively conveyed by demonic energy, even if it was of the death attribute, wouldn't be enough to trigger Toz into feeling fear.

But openly showing that off might make the others form weird thoughts about him, so Toz stayed still. He played along with the others until the second person who could handle the shock showed themselves.

But Hal didn't just show that he wasn't affected by the powerful and fear-inducing death attribute demonic energy.

Hal began humming.

A soft melody that the others could barely hear over the thumping of their own hearts.

It slowly grew in volume.

Hal's humming caught up to the sound of their heartbeats and echoed around the tiny space below ground.

The humming itself wasn't as regular or repetitive as the sound of their heartbeats. It rose and fell. But it stayed soft and soothing.

Eventually, as the echoes of his humming built up, the sound overtook the heartbeats.

Hal's humming resonated within the cave and inside everyone's minds and bodies.

Eventually, Hal's humming was the only thing on everyone's minds. They didn't think or feel anything else. And under the soft melody, their heartbeats gradually slowed down.

Wyrie and the others could feel themselves calming down, all their fear and anxiety slipping away.

And when everyone relaxed, Hal's humming slowly began dying down, getting softer and softer with each breath everyone took until it got completely quiet.

Everyone opened their eyes, completely unaware of when they even closed them. They looked around in surprise before they turned their gazes toward Hal in awe.

It took a few moments before they properly put together what happened, but when they did, it almost looked like they wanted to compete in who could say thank you first.

But before anyone could express their gratitude, Hal spoke up.

"Instead of thanking me, let's just make sure we succeed, alright?"

it still looked like they wanted to say something, especially Wyrie. But Hal turned to Braxton and pointedly looked straight forward. He made it clear that they should continue instead of standing around with needless posturing. Braxton did say that they shouldn't indulge in time-consuming activities, after all.

Braxton accepted the cue and continued moving forward. But since they had gotten so close to the Fortress of Death, he slowed his pace.