Elemental Cats

After the tornado started taking shape and a large vortex was formed in the thunderclouds, immense waves of mana started gathering within the magic circle.

Not only were the waves more powerful than anything Toz had felt before, but it was also unimaginably more complex than anything he had seen. And a way to use mana Toz had never encountered before.

The waves of mana seemed to have blown away a damn holding back the three figures' own mana, if it could even be called that. Although the energy flowing from the figures covered by the robes radiated with a level of power at about the sixth level from what Toz could tell, it didn't feel like anything, or any attribute of mana Toz had ever felt before. It didn't seem like any kind of martial energy either. It also didn't seem likely that martial energy would be used for this very magical magic ritual.

Aside from the power of the energy Toz could feel from the figures. He could also feel a deep innate malevolence that was completely unlike the natural and calm flow of mana he was used to.

However, Toz couldn't keep his attention on that since after the robed figures started pouring their energy into the magic circle, the beasts in the cage started rampaging. It almost looked like they would tear the gates of the heavily reinforced cages, of their hinges.

But shortly after the energy from the robed figures entered the magic circle and the beasts turned violent, another change happened as the circle started glowing. And after the circle's light spread to the beasts and materials surrounding them, the roaring beasts started squealing in agony.

The feeling Toz got from his inclination changed, and Toz himself was also feeling pain. Although not nearly as much as the beasts in the circle. He could stay still and quiet, so the figures didn't notice him. But he still wanted to desperately stop the ritual since it was obvious that the source of the feeling was one of the beasts being sacrificed to the ritual.

And if it was a beast capable of connecting to his inclination even from a great distance, it could be nothing else except a cat type spirit beast.

But Toz knew that if he acted recklessly and did something without thinking first he would only put himself, Nil, Lucy, and Mindle at risk. If he tried attacking one of the figures to try and interrupt the ritual, all that would happen was that he would give them a break and expose himself.

Based on the fluctuations emitted by the robed figures, Toz wasn't even sure he could handle one of them in a completely fair fight, let alone three, even if he had the tactical advantage with a surprise attack and in the dark forest.

While the group circled the clearing, trying to find a way to stop the ritual and save the cat type spirit beast that Toz could sense in the magic circle, the ritual continued.

After the light of the magic circle took over the materials surrounding the beasts, those plants and various things and materials placed on the magic circle, all with the lightning attribute, disintegrated into fine dust.

The dust mimicked the tornado as it started swirling around the beasts triggering the beast's lightning attribute mana and pulling it out of them.

The power of lightning from the mana and from the plants fused on their way up into the air, where the concentrated power of lightning entered the tornado. The lightning flowed through the tornado, climbing higher up into the vortex in the sky.

Toz got a bad feeling as the lightning disappeared into the rippling mass of dark thunderclouds.

The feeling wasn't unfounded since only a few seconds later, the center of the vortex opened like an eye, showing off the brilliance of the Lightning Clouds.

The spectacle didn't end with the radiant lightning lighting up the forest as one of the lightning bolts that were usually swimming through the sky above Sleepless Bright and its surroundings drilled through the center of the tornado. A flash of light covered the forest, chasing away all shadows.

Striking the middle of the magic circle with an incredible blast and shockwave, the lightning bolt almost uprooted the trees around the clearing.

But despite the blast, the beasts in the circle and the three robed figures around it were untouched as all the energy in the lightning bolt was swallowed up by the ritual's magic and disappeared into the circle.

In the air, above the spot where the lightning bolt struck, the air distorted and twisted in on itself.

Toz still hadn't found any traces of the cat. And more lightning was sucked out of the beasts and plants, dragging down yet another lightning bolt from the heavens. Once again, lighting up the forest and blasting the magic circle with even more energy.

As the lightning bolts continued being pulled down into the magic circle, the air grew more and more twisted.

The ritual didn't seem like it would be going on for much longer as the distorted spot in the air where the lightning bolts had repeatedly struck finally twisted enough to tear apart the air, opening up a spatial vortex.

The feeling Toz got from his inclination, after peaking, started growing weaker. Just looking at all the beasts in the cages, it was obvious they were squeezed dry of all their energy. With the beasts no longer rampaging and the light show calming down, it was easier for the group to identify the individual beasts, but they still couldn't find the cat they were looking for.

Since the group couldn't find the cat before the ritual ended, their only chance at saving the cat before it was too late, would be to interrupt the ritual.

Thankfully, they had started making preparations, in case they would be dragged into battle, and the area around the circle was covered in Toz's, Nil's, and Lucy's magic. Although Lucy had trouble blanketing the area they passed through in shadows with the lightning bolts raining down, they had still managed to set up traps and prepare devices that could hopefully help them deal with the robed figures.