The Divine Wolf... or?

Chapter 150: A Random Encounter

While Thufrat was busy with his new journey to Calmond Forest, Ark was quietly sleeping with Ephine and Atar in their cave. This cave was like a home to them for now, and Ark felt at ease when he was sleeping here, at least compared to just sleeping randomly outside. Even though he had no comfortable quilt or blanket to sleep on, it was still fairly pleasant thanks to his large amount of fluffy fur.

Even though he felt at ease and could sleep comfortably, he was haunted by nightmares. These nightmares didn't want to leave him alone, and no matter what he did, they would always try their best to haunt him. If he was lucky enough, then they wouldn't haunt him for a night, but if he was unlucky then getting even a wink of sleep would be a blessing.

Tonight was a rather bad night, maybe it had something to do with his unstable mood during the day, but he couldn't sleep for longer than half an hour before abruptly waking up.

The night passed fairly quickly, although not for Ark, as he didn't get nearly enough sleep to feel particularly good. His mental state was a lot better than the day before, but that wasn't really saying a lot, since he felt like trash the day before. Even though he was a little tired, seeing Atar and Ephine sleeping peacefully was enough for him to feel a little more energetic.

As he watched them a little, Ark could feel an aura quickly approaching the secluded cave.

The aura was weak, and he was certain that it was a human that was approaching, but he couldn't really figure anything more than that out. He didn't need to figure anything else out though as the human quickly made his way through the vines that covered the entrance and into the cave. As soon as the man who seemed to be in his mid-twenties entered the cave, he stopped abruptly.

The cave was way too dark for the man to see anything distinct, but what he was able to see was a pair of glowing golden eyes. The eyes stared at him intensely, as if they were trying to unravel any secrets he could be hiding. The man's footsteps had been completely silent, which meant that Atar and Ephine were still sleeping peacefully.

Ark didn't want this random human to disturb their sleep, and he quickly used his telepathy skill to convey how displeased he was.

He originally thought it was going to work wonders, but when the man felt Ark's apparent hostility and slight bloodlust weighing down on him, he wasn't too sure anymore. Unfortunately for the man, there was nothing else he could do, if he left the cave right now, then he would die within a couple of minutes.

Ark originally thought that the man would run away instantly upon feeling his hostility, but to his surprise, the man just stood entirely still.

Ark was annoyed, if this man woke up Atar and Ephine, then he would actually get mad for real. He didn't want some insignificant dude wake them up for no reason when they were sleeping as peacefully as this. Even though it was basically impossible to see anything in the cave, the young man knew that there were at least two other magical beasts in the cave, from the sound of their breathing.

Seeing the pair of golden eyes of the magical beast looking at them, the man knew why it wanted him to leave.

It just didn't want him to disturb its family when they were sleeping. He was a little taken aback by such a revelation, but it also meant that the magical beast probably wouldn't attack him if he didn't do anything, as it would mean that it had to wake up its family.

He had never seen a magical beast that cared so much for its family, it seemed to love its family more than the young man could ever hope to receive from his own family. None of his family members had ever looked at him the same way the magical beast looked at its family members.

Since there was nothing else he could do, the young man just sat down patiently on the ground. He didn't let his eyes wander around, as this was the home of the magical beast in front of him, which could probably take his life in the blink of an eye if it really wanted to do so.

Ark was a little intrigued by the man, but since he wasn't doing anything harmful for now, he just let the man sit there on the ground.

After he had been sitting for a couple of minutes, the sound of other humans could be heard in the vicinity, it seemed like they were looking for something. Upon hearing this, Ark understood why the man had refused to leave, as leaving would've probably cost him his own life.

Even though he had been ignoring it up till now, Ark could see that the man was clearly injured, and the smell of blood was enough to distract him a little.

At first, Ark didn't want to heal the man since the mana could potentially wake up the others, but seeing as how the smell of blood could wake them up as well, he just decided to gamble. Instead of the overwhelming amount of mana that he would normally use, Ark just released a small and steady stream of light mana that continuously healed the man.

The small light that was being released was enough for the man to see both Ark and the others.

Even though the pure-white fur was outstanding, the man was a little surprised when he saw Ark's size. Sure, Ark was 2 meters tall, but he had expected him to be at least 3 meters when he considered the dreadful amount of power he had sensed earlier. What was more shocking than Ark's size was his compassion, why would a magical beast randomly heal a human?

Not only that, but it was a human that had set foot in his home as well.

Though the reason behind his actions were a little uncertain, the man was still thankful. He had just entered this cave to seek refuge for a little while, he had never expected to be healed as well.

Since he was sure that the people after him had probably left, he didn't want to stick around for too long and disturb this family any longer, but he still decided to wait for a couple of minutes before he left.

When he was sure that there was no one around, he stood up from his seated position, and bowed to Ark in gratitude, whether this wolf really wanted to or not, it had saved his life today, and he wouldn't forget such kindness easily. With a tap of his finger, the bag on his waist produced a small amount of light as something flashed into existence.

The man was suddenly standing in front of Ark with a beautiful white sword in his hand.

This sword was decorated with a plethora of different jewels, and it was quite beautiful. Ark didn't expect the man that he had saved to repay his saviour with enmity, but before he could get ready to do something, the man put the sword down on the ground in front of him. Ark was naturally a little befuddled, but the man only bowed once more and thanked him.

"Thanks for saving my life, although I don't know if it will be of use, please accept this gift from me!"

The man gave the precious sword one last look, before he shook his head a little, and quietly left the cave. Ark was still a little shocked, why did he give him a sword? It seemed like such a random gift of gratitude, but judging from the man's expression just then, it was obviously not some ordinary sword.

Ark didn't really get it, he hadn't really done anything to deserve such gratitude either way, but he was a little happy that the man had just left quietly without creating any trouble.

Since he was gone now, and Ark didn't get much sleep, he just decided to go back to sleep again. At first he just laid down in his original position, but since he knew that it wasn't going to work, he just decided to lay down next to Ephine instead. Not even a minute passed, and Ark was suddenly deep in slumber for the first time in quite a while.