The Divine Wolf... or?
Chapter 158: Family

No time was wasted as Ark and Thufrat hastily made their way back to Ephine and Atar, who had just been waiting patiently on the ground while they were away. As Ark saw Ephine and Atar lying down on the ground in front of him, he pondered a little. After some quick thinking, he decided that it was for the better if he just asked them whether they wanted to come or not.

"Tomorrow were going to clear a dungeon with some humans, would you guys like to come with us? You don't have to, but it's an easy way to get stronger."

Thufrat had no idea what Ark was saying, since he couldn't understand wolves, but he figured it was about the dungeon, and he just laid down on the ground to rest again. Atar was excited at the prospect of exploring a dungeon, as he had never done it before, but unlike him, Ephine was contemplating it a little more.

The risk of this dungeon was presumably fairly high, as there was no way Ark was going to clear it with other humans otherwise, but the question was whether the risk was worth it or not?

Ark noticed that she was struggling with the decision, and couldn't help but add to his earlier question. "Of course, I will be there to protect you guys if something goes wrong, we're family right?" He smiled brilliantly at the end of his sentence, and Ephine could feel her heartrate increasing. Seeing his genuine smile when he called them his family, she was truly a little happy.

"Of course we are!"

Returning the gesture, Ephine smiled brilliantly too. The walls surrounding Ark's scarred heart came tumbling down, and he couldn't help but feel warm inside. Atar didn't want to feel left out, and he quickly chimed in. "Papa and Mama are both family!" With this, it was quickly decided that Atar and Ephine would follow them into the dungeon.

Whilst this was happening, Thufrat was busy fighting with an annoying fly that had entered his personal space without his permission! It was a fierce fight, yet it ended abruptly with a clap of his hands. Ark, Atar and Ephine who had been absorbed in their own little world all suddenly stared at Thufrat. His clap had stunned them a little.

When he saw that he had interrupted their wholesome moment, he scratched his face a little, "Sorry?"

…

Night quickly arrived, and unlike the rest of them, Thufrat decided to sleep just at the opening of the cave. Even though he was really close with Ark, he didn't want to sleep with them, as they all seemed so close to each other. In the depths of the cave, Ark was having trouble sleeping as usual. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could feel was endless suffering.

Since there was no other way, Ark just got up, and then laid down next to Ephine and Atar again. Feeling their warmth, Ark was quickly able to calm down, and he thought back to what had happened earlier that day. As he thought of this new family of his and felt their warmth, he quickly fell into deep sleep.

Morning quickly arrived, yet the cave was just as dark as always. Ark just saw this as a blessing, as he continued to sleep late into the morning, there was nothing else for him to do either way. Eventually he had to get up, and when he walked out of the cave, the first thing to greet him were the piercing rays of sunlight that shone straight into his eyes.

He winced a little, and quickly adjusted to the light. Like the day before, the weather was truly beautiful, and everyone was just lazing around in the grass.

Thufrat was just taking a nap in the grass, and as he breathed, the earth around him moved to the rhythm of his deep breaths, it was quite the peculiar spectacle. Unlike Thufrat, Atar was happily playing around, chasing bugs around and just having fun. Under the shade of a nearby tree, Ephine was lying down and practicing her mana manipulation by interacting with the mana in the air.

As he laid down and wondered about what he was going to do, he recalled a skill that he had neglected for quite some time now, "Body Refining"

This skill was quite powerful, yet he had just left it at the back of his mind, and practically forgotten about it. Since he had a couple of hours before noon, Ark just started to absorb the mana in the surroundings. Maybe it was because he hadn't used the skill in such a long time, but when he activated it, the mana in his surroundings seemed to grow frantic, as it surged frantically into his body.

His body was just like a man that hadn't seen water in three days as it greedily absorbed all the mana it could grasp. Ark was a little astonished at the speed he was absorbing mana into his body, as he had never absorbed this much mana the last time he had used the skill. The astonishment quickly faded though as he concentrated on Ephine while he let his body do all the hard work.

Usually he would have to guide the mana into his body and actually focus a little in the process, but this time his body did all the hard work whilst he just concentrated on other things.

In the blink of an eye, it was already time to depart, as it was already noon. The meeting place was really close, and it would take them just a minute or two to get there depending on how fast the wanted to arrive. While he had been using the "Body Refining" skill for a couple of hours, it managed to level up!

It was now level 9 and gave him an extra 45 status points in every physical stat, which was quite the amount.

Since they couldn't show up in their wolf forms, they all turned into their human forms. While Ark was sleeping, Thufrat had entered a nearby town and bought some decent clothes for them, which he promptly gave to them before they changed into them inside the cave.

Even though he didn't really care about himself, Ark didn't want Thufrat to see Ephine naked, and he made them both change their clothes inside the cave. They would've done it either way even if Ark didn't say anything, but he couldn't be too sure.

Seeing them both in proper clothes, Ark couldn't help but feel impressed. As he laid his eyes on Ephine, his heart started to beat a little quicker, but he quickly calmed himself down. Even though she was truly beautiful in her white dress that was decorated with green embroidery, he wanted to stay calm for now.

They were soon going to enter a dangerous dungeon where their lives could be on the line, he didn't want to be distracted. He could appreciate her beauty later.

Since they were all ready to go, they swiftly departed. This time, Ark didn't carry any sort of weapon. Before he had carried a sword to confuse opponents, but this time he was up against monsters, and he needed to be serious from the very beginning. The meeting point was soon in sight, and they leisurely walked over.

Even though it was expected, the trio wasn't alone this time, instead of just three people, there was closer to 20…