Elemental Cats

Rick and Mond followed the Demonic Spark Bear's tracks back to the clearing. On the way, they noticed that a few areas at an irregular interval showed more signs of destruction from the bear passing through. Though they couldn't judge anything from that alone, especially when they couldn't find any tracks of anything else causing the bear's deviating behavior.

Although Rick was at a higher level as an eighth level fighter compared to Mond who was at the seventh level, as an archer, Mond had no trouble keeping up with Rick and they arrived at the clearing shortly after they left the place where they had killed the Demonic Spark Bear.

When they approached the clearing, the first thing that the duo noticed were the traps and devices spread around the clearing. Although the traps were quite skillfully hidden, it was far from enough to hide from the perceptive senses of a couple of high level fighters.

Rick, although he was almost always composed, started fidgeting while he and Mond investigated the traps that the bear had blown through. He had recognized the familiar feeling of Toz's mana behind the traps. That further confirmed that Rick had, due to a moment of reluctance to leave the city, put Toz in a situation he likely couldn't handle by himself.

Mond, who had known Rick for years, noticed the latter's reaction, and although he didn't ask outright, with enough heavy gazes on Rick, he prompted Rick to tell him.

While Rick told Mond about what Toz had told him and the request he made in response, the duo entered the clearing. Within the clearing, the view didn't surprise them that much.

They knew there had been a ritual performed here so the sight of the dried-out husks that had previously been beasts, and the ashy remains of various plants, didn't come as a surprise.

What was slightly weird however was the fact that a third of the magic circle wasn't covered in corpses like the rest of it. Instead, there were a bunch of empty cages and several signs of battle.

Tracks in the ground from large claws scraping and charging, tearing open the ground. Scorch marks in a few places. A large scar in the ground stretched, from the magic circle to where a large tree had obvious traces of someone colliding with it at a high speed. As well as signs that someone had been trying to set it on fire.

The lightning rods Toz had used to protect himself had been destroyed by the Demonic Spark Bear's lightning and had since dissipated completely, leaving only two charred spots on the ground they had protruded from.

However, there were no signs of Toz himself. Moreover, while there were various traces and drag marks leading away from the clearing and magic circle, there was no way to tell if Toz had been dragged away or if he had been eaten by another beast, or straight up killed by the Demonic Spark Bear during their encounter. Both Rick and Mond could tell by the signs of destruction left in the clearing that after the Demonic Spark Bear had been summoned, it had attacked someone not strong enough to fight against it, but just barely enough to withstand several blows and survive.

With Rick's knowledge of Toz's strength and how his mana signature could be felt all around the clearing, it wasn't a stretch to guess that Toz had been right there in the clearing when the ritual had ended, possibly even before that.

Although the duo had no idea whether Toz had even survived or where his corpse might be in that case, if he was still alive he would be their best bet at telling them what happened and if there were any more demonic beasts summoned.

After finding out as much as possible, which wasn't much, from the magic circle and the clearing, Rick and Mond entered the forest in the direction of the broken tree and started searching for any traces of Toz.

They found a set of larger drag-marks, that, while they didn't look like they were from a human they didn't look like a single beast either.

Rick and Mond split up as they looked for Toz, with Rick following the drag-marks they found and Mond continuing in another direction.

Eventually, the traces Rick was following started growing fresher. The dirt on the surface wasn't as dry, and faintly swaying branches in the wind-less forest.

The traces led Rick to an old, uprooted tree lying down. Right to the roots, where the entrance to a burrow was neatly hidden away, behind some natural-looking roots caked in dirt.

The burrow looked like it was properly maintained, like it was the nest of some wild beast. It didn't really make sense that Toz would be hiding there if he was alive. It was beginning to look like Toz had been turned into food for the beast who was in charge of the burrow.

Maybe the beast needed some energy to recover after being kidnapped and drained for the magic ritual.

Although Rick didn't want to draw hasty conclusions, he found it difficult to retain his composure. He bent down to enter the burrow that was made for a beast that was barely to the chest of an adult human.

Rick had his mace out as he followed the drag marks leading through the cramped tunnels.

He couldn't tell if the wet stains on the ground were Toz's blood, the blood of a beast or if it was some other liquid. And the bitter smell permeating the burrow didn't help.

Eventually, Rick heard mumbling and chattering coming from a lit-up cavern at the end of the tunnel he was creeping through.

Rick made sure to hide his presence as much as possible so he could get a grasp of the situation and see if Toz was inside. If not, he would just leave. No need to further worsen the state of the forest's wild beasts. If he was there and alive, Rick could simply say hello and bring Toz back to the guild for treatment. And if Toz's body was there, Rick would do what he would do.