Following that row of clear bear footprints, Chris led the Morgan and Sura siblings forward, probing deep into the heart of the forest.
Unexpectedly, the further they went, the more overgrown the weeds became and the harder the path was to traverse.
The tree canopies were layered so thickly that they blocked most of the sunlight, covering almost the entire sky. This made the light within the forest dim and uncertain; they had to walk a significant distance just to see a single sliver of light peeking through the gaps.
The air was thick with the smell of soil, humus, and the stench of droppings left by some kind of animal. The entire environment felt dark and eerie.
Restricted by these surroundings, Morgan and Sura couldn't fly into the sky to scout. Once they went up, their vision would be obstructed by the trees, preventing them from seeing the specific conditions on the ground.
The siblings had no choice but to stay close to Chris, handling reconnaissance for the front, flanks, and rear. Chris walked in the center of the team as the primary combatant, fully focused on tracking the footprints.
Before long, Morgan, flying in front, suddenly spoke.
"I say, don't you think something is a bit weird?"
"Weird? What specifically do you mean?" Sura asked.
"For instance... under normal circumstances, would a wild bear live in such a dark place?"
Hearing this, Chris and Sura also realized the anomaly and instinctively stopped in their tracks.
"True, it is a bit strange."
"I remember Papa saying before that most wild bears like to live in caves?"
Chris hesitated for a few seconds, then said with a hint of wishful thinking: "Could it be that the bear doesn't actually live here, but just passes through frequently?"
"And honestly, while these footprints look a lot like bear tracks, whether they actually are is another story. After all, they are much larger than a normal bear's footprint."
"What if this is a beast whose tracks resemble a bear's, but it prefers living in dark places?"
In a magical world, any kind of beast could exist.
Even though Morgan had been to this mountain range many times, his understanding of it was still less than one percent. Therefore, hearing Chris say this, he couldn't guarantee such a creature didn't exist.
"You have a point, but this place is too uncanny. I think it's better if we're cautious!"
Chris nodded: "In that case, let's walk for ten more minutes. If we haven't found anything by then, we'll retreat first or head into the air to survey the situation!"
"Agreed!"
With the plan set, the human and two cats prepared to continue following the row of bear footprints deeper into the thicket.
However, at that moment, Chris suddenly discovered that the bear footprints, which had been clearly visible all along, had abruptly stopped.
"Ehhh—"
"The bear footprints are gone!!"
"What?! How is that possible? Did we miss them??"
"They're really gone! They only go up to here, and then there's nothing further ahead..."
Morgan and Sura followed Chris's finger to look at the ground and found the situation was exactly as she described.
"Footprints vanishing... how can there be such a bizarre occurrence?"
"Unless that bear can fly?"
"It's also possible it climbed a tree. I'll go check the nearby trees!"
Just as Morgan was about to move, a black shadow suddenly struck from the darkness ahead, aiming straight for Chris!
Swish—!
The sound of breaking wind was small, but it didn't escape Morgan's alertness.
The moment the shadow erupted, the two cat ears on Morgan's head moved simultaneously, and his body reacted instantly.
"Chris, watch out!"
In the blink of an eye, the cat body that was originally only twenty centimeters tall transformed into a 1.8-meter-tall muscular young man with short white hair and a white suit!
"What?!"
Before Chris could even react to the situation before her eyes, Morgan had already made his move.
His body turned into a white blur. As he leaped, his right leg swept powerfully toward the incoming shadow.
Bang!
Before the shadow could get close to Chris, it was kicked five meters away by this leg whip, slamming heavily into a distant tree and falling unconscious.
"What's going on?!"
"Eh?? Ehhh??"
"No, wait, wait! Who are you?!"
Chris didn't feel any aftershock from nearly being attacked; instead, she was completely dazed. Her eyes stared straight at the human-form Morgan, her mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an entire cat's head.
"Ara?"
"Haven't you seen this before?"
"This is Brother's combat form!"
Sura's voice reached Chris's ears. "To make fighting easier, he specifically learned magic that allows him to transform into a human. In this form, his strength and speed are enhanced to a certain degree, though his magic consumption is a bit faster..."
"You... you're saying this is Morgan?"
"That kick just now looked really powerful!!"
"Alright, alright, lift your chin up first. Now is not the time for this!"
Oh, right!
Wait, what just happened?
It felt like something was flying toward me?
Chris finally turned around to look at the shadow that had just attacked her.
With the help of the faint sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, the appearance of the shadow was fully revealed to the two cats and one human.
The shadow's size was roughly the same as the 7-year-old Chris. Its skin was brown, it had fur and quills on its body, sharp teeth in its mouth, and sharp claws on its hands. It was impossible to tell exactly what kind of beast it was.
Chris tilted her head: "A squirrel?"
Sura narrowed her eyes: "No, it should be a raccoon, right?"
Morgan clicked his tongue: "I think it looks more like a pangolin..."
"How could a pangolin have that kind of speed?"
"Then do raccoons or squirrels have it?"
Morgan grumbled as he shielded Sura and Chris behind him.
Although he knew Chris had been strong since she was little and had recently awakened magic—making her stronger than many of the uncles in the guild—in his eyes, Chris was still a child and someone who needed protection. As an "adult..." it was only natural to stand at the very front when encountering danger.
"Careful, it's very fast!"
Exceeds possess some feline characteristics, so the reaction speed of this race is similar to that of a cat—nearly seven times that of a human.
Given that premise, for Morgan to evaluate it as "very fast..." it was definitely truly fast.
"Is this guy a beast that lives here?"
"Why did it suddenly attack us?"
"Could it be because we trespassed onto its territory?"
Wild beasts have a sense of territory. When they discover an outsider intruding, they launch an attack to declare their sovereignty; this is a common phenomenon in the wild.
"If that's the reason, why are there bear footprints appearing here?"
"Don't tell me those bear footprints were left by this thing!"
As Morgan spoke, he pointed to the bear footprints on the path they came from, then pointed to the small beast he had kicked unconscious.
"They aren't even as big as a single footprint!"