Master Malim, Garlin, Taint, and his children, Malnik and Alminka, had spent some time searching the forest.
They went to Martin's house first, but found no one.
An angry Garlin wanted to pursue, but Master Malim stopped him.
"I saw the wounds of the people who were killed," Master Malim explained.
"Most of them had long claw wounds. Creatures with long claws are often fast. You can't catch him. He has likely moved away from this small village and is on the nearby Path of Felvem."
Malim's words had a profound effect, making them all realize the difference in their abilities.
Garlin then began discussing their next move with Master Malim.
Meanwhile, Martin had been moving non-stop for three hours.
He came across a large road, which made him feel a little more secure.
He shifted back into his human form, found a tree, and slept for a few hours.
Although he didn't need much sleep, he knew it was necessary to maintain his focus.
He had learned the hard way in his old life that a lack of sleep could be deadly.
At the Fire Mountain Shapeshifter Organization, four young members sat in a rustic house. Two women and two men, all wearing the same clothes, were the newest recruits.
They made a living by taking on run-and-gun missions.
They earned 10 coppers per person for each job, which, while a high price for a normal person, wasn't much for them.
A person generally needed one copper a day to survive, but four coppers were needed to have fun, and as young people, they wanted to enjoy themselves.
The group was in the organization's mission building, where tasks were posted on a board.
Whether a task was big or small, the pay was the same.
A tall man, Melm, took a paper from the board and showed it to the others.
"What do you think? Maybe we can use this. It's not hard, and it could be fun."
The other three slowly read the paper and nodded.
"The mission is to hunt a W1 creature in the forests next to Felvem Road, which is ten minutes from here. I think you'll want to take advantage of the hunting bonus, Melm," a woman named Celes said.
Melm smiled at Celes. He looked more cunning than the others.
"We usually do plant research and similar missions. We've only done one hunting mission so far, and the creature we hunted was a weakling called the Black Wolf. Am I wrong, Celes?"
Melm easily won the approval of the others.
They, as proud shapeshifters, didn't like doing simple errands.
They accepted the mission. Celes turned to the other woman, Elisa, and said
"Elisa, be careful. Hunting missions are dangerous for the kind of creatures you have."
Elisa, a cute, beautiful girl with black hair, smiled at Celes, who had always been a good friend to her. "Thank you, Celes. I'll be careful."
Melm nudged his friend Marc.
"We've been together for two months, and you've been in love with Elisa for two months. You should use this mission to impress her."
Marc, a shy, handsome man with lush blonde hair, blushed in embarrassment.
He was skilled with his shapeshifting creature, but his shyness was a problem.
After their general preparations, the group left the Fire Mountain organization's building and began their mission.
Meanwhile, Martin woke up from his sleep and looked around carefully.
He was still not fully used to his new location and had woken up much earlier than he normally would.
Just as he was about to go back to sleep, he saw a group of four people, all wearing red suits, moving down the road in the darkness.
They were all young.
A slight smile crossed Martin's face. He took a deep breath.
"The red suits, means they are probably students of the 'Fire Mountain' organization."
A plan formed in his mind. He smiled, transformed into his Claw Demon Minion, and disappeared into the night.