The Divine Wolf... or?

Ark curiously scanned over the scroll in his hand. As he did, he almost wanted to laugh, was this some kind of joke? On top of the scroll was his next assigned mission. The mission was to save the hero Arduin from the hands of the Estridsen Kingdom and win some prestige for Torment of the Fallen. The plan was already set for him, all he had to do was follow it and use his abilities to their utmost.

To save the hero, Torment of the Fallen had gotten him a spot in an annual tournament that was held every year in the capital of Estridsen. The tournament's purpose was to scout recruits for the royal guards and the court magicians. It was only open to people who had yet to pass the age of 25, as they were still considered young enough.

If Ark won the tournament, then he would be rewarded personally by the king, that was Ark's mission. Getting a reward from the king meant he would be granted access to the castle, which was his opportunity to secure his target.

Even though it sounded fairly straightforward, Ark knew this mission was going to be hard, really hard. But the reward was just enticing enough for Ark to consider it seriously, before accepting the mission. This was a reward of 3 platinum coins after all! This was an astronomical sum of money. And considering that Ark wanted to live this life to the fullest, why not?

He would be able to have some fun, save a life, and earn money in one fell swoop.

After the missions he had done so far, Ark had begun to trust the organisation that was Torment of the Fallen. He didn't think that they would want him to save someone who actually deserved to die. Besides, when he heard what the young hero had actually done, Ark almost wanted to laugh.

He was kidnapped from his home and expected to fight in a war for some strangers he didn't care about, and when he tried to run away, he was sentenced to death, how laughable.

Ark didn't stick around any more and returned to the inn. Since he had nothing better to do, he turned into his wolf form and started to absorb the mana in the surroundings. Since they were in Frostfell, the mana in the air was certainly thick, even if he was just inside of an inn. Absorbing the mana in the air greedily, Ark was beginning to feel hot all over, and he slowly tempered his body.

He wasn't sure yet, but he could make an educated guess that he would slowly upgrade his affinities when he used this skill as well.

He did absorb the mana and incorporated it in his body, after all, that was how he had upgraded his affinities in the first place. When he did it without the skill though, the pain was inevitable, which was why he had put it off for so long. Ark wasn't a sucker for pain, and he didn't want to feel pain just to grow a little stronger, it probably would've been bad for his body as well.

After a couple of hours, Thufrat returned with Alenia, but upon seeing Ark so caught up in his training, they just left him to his own devices.

Ark had no idea how much time passed, and before he knew it, 3 days quickly passed. A pleasant sound appeared within his mind abruptly, breaking Ark out of his stupor.

[Due to continuous use, Body Refining Lv.3 became Lv.4]

The voice was like music to Ark as he happily stood up and stretched his legs. As he did, the rumbling of his stomach interrupted his train of thoughts and laughed a little to himself. It had taken him 3 days to just level this once, which was a little more than Ark had expected, but the skill was still a cheat in his mind, the effect was just way too good.

Ravenous as he was, Ark left his room after transforming and went down to the dining hall to get something to eat. The proprietress of this inn was like a heavenly cook in Ark's eyes as he wolfed down the food he had been given. After eating his fill, he didn't waste any time, and just returned to his room after paying for his meal.

Lying down on the floor again, Ark started absorbing the mana in the air again. But this time, he didn't stop when he heard the next level up, instead, he kept going for almost an entire month, before he decided that it was probably time to leave this place.

His Body Refining skill had now become level 7 and Ark's body was brimming with both vitality and immense strength. Most of his physical stats nearly doubled now that his Body Refining skill became level 7, as it now gave him a +35 to all his physical attributes. Since he kind of needed to leave now, Ark needed to find Thufrat, and tell him about the mission he had accepted.

During this month, Ark had gone out to eat now and then, but he was still pretty hungry now.

Coincidentally, when Ark browsed around the city to find a good place to eat since he wanted to try something new, he saw Thufrat and Alenia down the street not too far away. He was a little surprised that Alenia was still around, but seeing them together, Ark could guess why.

Even though there was still some form of barrier between them, they both seemed to have grown fond of each other, as they laughed merrily when they walked around together.

Ark approached them casually, he decided to wear the black martial attire he had bought last time, but this time, he had cleaned himself properly, and as he walked, people unconsciously steered away from him. Alenia and Thufrat sensed the people clearing the way, and as they looked behind them, they could see Ark walking toward them slowly.

Ark arrived in front of them quickly and smiled gently. "It seems like you didn't leave after all."

"I have nothing else to do really," Alenia responded curtly.

Ark thought about the answer a little before he looked at Thufrat. "Yo, I accepted a mission, do you have any plans for the near future?"

Thufrat shook his head a little. "No, to be honest, we kind of waited for you to come out before deciding to do anything. Anyway, this mission, what's it about?"

Ark looked around a little. "Talking about the details here would be a little... I can say it's a rescue mission though, that much won't give it away."

"Can you tell us where?"

Ark pondered, and then he felt stupid. He conjured up a wall made out of wind around them, preventing any outsiders from hearing what he was about to say, he could've just done this from the very beginning...

"You heard about the summoned heroes of Estridsen right? Well one of them is getting executed for treason, I'm supposed to save him."

Thufrat grew concerned. "Oi, won't that be dangerous? You sure about this?"

Ark smirked. "If it wasn't dangerous, what would be the meaning of taking the mission in the first place? Don't worry, I can handle it!"

And so, Ark's mission drew closer...