Elemental Cats

After using three blades to attack the deer with the intent to sow discord between the different beasts Toz was struck to the ground by the wolf's attack. With the momentum from his dash, the attack had pushed him toward the pedestal with the glowing orb. Gritting his teeth through the pulsating pain from the gashes on his back Toz pushed himself off the ground before unsteadily walking the last bit toward the orb.

As he approached the orb Toz unexpectedly felt the hot air gradually lose its heat, and the intense orange light blanketing the entire hole didn't get any stronger as he got closer to the source. The orange light shone with the same brightness wherever it shone. With the decreasing heat, disappearing mana, and even brightness, Toz had some idea about the function of the shining light but as he had finally reached within touching distance of the orb he was too busy to think any further about it.

With the orb reflected in his eyes, Toz hesitatingly reached forward with his hands. As a fire attribute treasure it was likely very hot but with a raging fight just a stone's throw away he didn't have time to rummage through his pockets for gloves. Replacing his hesitation with determination Toz decided to quickly grab the orb, put it in an empty pocket, run away and climb up a wall.

With the intention of removing the orb, he placed his hands on it and tried to shove it down one of his many pockets. Forget moving the orb, after touching it, Toz couldn't even move his own hands.

Thankfully the heat he had been worried about wasn't a problem, weirdly enough Toz didn't feel anything touching his hands, as if he was holding a ball of emptiness.

While he might not have felt anything touching his hands, he did feel his mana draining at an increasingly rapid pace, he also saw the magma flowing to the pedestal flow faster.

The orb continued draining Toz's mana and the mana from magma for several seconds before abruptly stopping when Toz only had a sliver left. As the drainage stopped the orange light covering the hole shook before condensing and creating an outer layer on the orb. At the same time, the tattoo on Toz's hand grew searingly hot and lit up with an orange light that afterward traveled across his hand to enter the orb.

After the orb stopped sucking his mana Toz could finally move it into his pocket.

With the light from the orb gone the hole was sunk into pitch darkness. Or it would have been if not for every other wild beast being able to emit light with their flaming bodies and body parts. Since the sun was above ground and on the other side of a huge mountain there was no way for daylight to enter the depths of the hole.

A few beasts were especially bright, among those was the deer that had been attacked by Toz.

While Toz had been busy losing his mana and both the wolf and deer had deliberated on what to do, the time spent being stuck was long enough for the deer to approach Toz and light up the immediate area around them. Toz realized he was in a sticky situation when he felt the gazes of several dozen beasts focusing on him.

All the beasts had known where the orb was located so when the light disappeared they instinctively looked there, only to find a young, dark-haired, green-eyed man with an expression on his face that told a tale of how he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

The lead deer, mammoth, and hound slowly separated from each other without moving their gaze away from Toz. The combat wolf slapped the deer in its grasp one more time on its head before letting go and moving over to the other wolf.

The deer responsible for shining a spotlight on the thief also felt the pressure gathering in the center of the hole and stopped moving.

Toz could almost physically feel the tension mounting as everyone was waiting to take action.

It was the same situation as previously, before the mammoth entered the scene with its charge. Everyone waiting for something to happen, since making the first move would gather the attention of everyone else.

Since everyone was watching Toz, to begin with, he decided he might as well make the first move and gain the initiative. Although he was far from having full mana, the stalemate had bought enough time for him to recover a little bit, hopefully enough to make it out of the hole.

Toz looked around before focusing his gaze on something up in the air, some distance away, diagonally behind the deer in front of him. His eyes visibly widened and his jaw dropped before he shouted,

"What is that?!" as he pointed at the area he was looking.

Everyone watching him was too focused on making a move as soon as something happened so before they had time to think they all looked. The beasts behind Toz didn't need to do much to look but the deer shining its light on him had to turn its entire head, the same head with the headlights lighting Toz.

As the light shining on Toz moved away from him he was enveloped in darkness, both the natural shadows in the hole and his mana.

The beasts that had returned their gazes after realizing they were looking at nothing but empty air were stunned to find not a human but a deer with a stunned look on its face. The other beasts realized the deer had been tricked to look away and then let the bounty slip into the shadows. The deer faced the same pressure that Toz had just been put under, but only for a moment as everyone began looking for the orb-thief.

In reality, this was the perfect opportunity to get the orb safely. If they could find and take down the thief without anyone else discovering it, no one would know and they could sneak out with one treasure more than when they entered.

Unfortunately for the beasts, but fortunately for Toz, with the help of Lucy no one would discover him in a place filled with as much darkness as the hole they were currently in.

Originally both cats had hidden in the familiar space due to the heat, but the orb had stolen all the fire mana that was responsible for the hot air, and eventually, the atmosphere had returned to almost bearable temperatures. So even if it was uncomfortable Lucy sprang forth and onto Toz's head before helping him cover himself in darkness and sneak to the edge of the pit.

Now it was time to add Nil to the mix. With Toz's almost depleted mana reserves he needed Nil to create spikes for his hands and feet, as improvised rock climbing gear. Three short spikes attached to his boots and four to his knuckles.

Nil was in charge of maintaining the gear, and Lucy for hiding Toz and dampening the sounds he was making as he punched and kicked himself stuck to the wall so he could climb upwards, step by step.

Toz continued climbing at a steady pace. Although he was tired mentally he hadn't used his body much during his endeavor and could almost relax as he with a one-track mind climbed his way up the straight and smooth wall.

There were a few times stones had fallen down to the ground and almost struck a beast, causing them to look up but all they saw was darkness and a tiny bright spot far up, the entrance to the hole. Those that looked up and saw how far away the hole was realized they were in trouble, entering was easy but how in the flaming breezes are they supposed to get out? Sure a few beasts might be able to fly or climb out but forget being able to, would they be willing? This worry started spreading at the bottom of the huge pit, almost taking over the chase for a certain thief.

Not that it mattered to the thief in question as he heaved himself over the edge to the hole, panting. But since a lot of the beasts down there might have underlings waiting for them close by he stood up and escaped the scene. Toz would have preferred leaving the mountain range completely but had no energy left after the arduous climb so he settled for hiding in an empty cave, reinforced with traps from Nil.

Toz pulled out a bright orange orb and looked at it before stuffing it back in his back and falling asleep with a satisfied smile on his face.