The Divine Wolf... or?

Chapter 174: Calmond City

Just casually strolling through the forest was an occasion that didn't happen too often, so Ark made sure to enjoy it thoroughly. As they walked, Ephine and Ark made some conversation, as they could communicate pretty well in their wolf forms, but Thufrat and Atar just walked quietly.

Or, well, Thufrat walked quietly, whilst Atar just ran around, looking for something interesting in their surroundings.

Like this, time passed quickly, and it was soon starting to get a little late. Since they didn't want to take too many rests, they had been walking for quite some time, and they were all famished. Since everyone seemed to be too tired to do anything, Ark took it upon himself to hunt some food, and before they knew it, he was already back.

The little camp they had set up was quite cosy, and the gentle fire in the middle of their camp constantly drove away the darkness around it. Meat was soon roasted, and this time, Ark used his human form to taste it properly cooked. As he did, he couldn't help but be surprised. Had this food always tasted like this?

He quickly realised that wolves and humans naturally have different taste buds, and the food that he liked in his wolf form seemed to differ from that of his human form.

In his wolf form, raw meat felt natural to eat, but in his human form, it was the complete opposite. There was nothing weird with it, Ark was just a little surprised. After everyone had eaten their fill, they decided to all go to sleep.

Normally when people adventured into dangerous forests like these, someone would sit on watch whilst the others slept, but since Ark was here, they didn't need to do that.

He usually didn't fall into deep sleep, and nothing would be able to sneak up on them whilst he was here, he would unconsciously feel them coming, even if they used some sort of stealth skill to approach. Since they were right in the open, numerous magical beasts approached them and tried to attack them during the night, but Ark disposed them all, without waking anyone up.

Just like that, the night passed peacefully, and the next day arrived quickly. In the early morning, the four of them had already started moving again, and as hours kept passing, they drew nearer to their destination. They didn't stop until it was already in the middle of the day, and they ate some lunch.

Ark had kept the magical beasts that tried to mess with them whilst they were sleeping in his spatial bag, he didn't want to waste food after all.

After they ate their fill, the four of them continued on their journey, and eventually, they arrived next to a rather large road. Even though it was just a dirt road, it was fairly wide, and up to three carriages would be able to travel side by side if they really wanted to, which was quite unusual. Thufrat had been here before, and he knew that they were fairly close to the city now.

Even though it was still around a 20 minutes' walk, they had to change into their human forms.

The reason was quite simple, this city they were going to was by no means small, and they would surely bump into people on the way there, which was why they couldn't just walk around as wolves anymore. Since they had limited time in their human forms, they picked up their pace a little, and after around ten minutes, they arrived close to the city.

Unlike most cities with walls made out of stone or sometimes even steel, Calmond City had walls made completely out of wood. Though that doesn't sound too weird for a village or a small town, for a big city like this, it was naturally a little surprising. Unlike what you'd think, the walls of Calmond City looked tall, sturdy and imposing, and that was exactly what they were.

The wood was naturally not regular wood. The walls were made out of a special type of wood made out of Evertrees. Though the name was a little weird, this type of tree was truly special, as they were sturdier than stone, and they could live for almost a millennia if left alone.

They also had a special resistance against magic, which made it a great material to build walls with, albeit very expensive as well. But for a city located so close to the dangerous Calmond Forest, the expensive price tag was definitely worth it. It was actually because the city was so close to the imposing forest that it had adapted its name.

The city was naturally prosperous, as it was surrounded by materials and magical beasts that could be harvested and sold for a profit. The danger of living in this city was naturally higher than the likes of the capital, but it was also a lot more beautiful here. The people here knew how to enjoy life more than the people in the capital, and the quality of life was better here.

Even though slums still existed, and bad people were abundant everywhere in the world, compared to the capital, this city was quite peaceful.

Entering the city was quite an easy procedure, as they only needed to pay a small fee, as well as state their purpose. Since it was quite a bustling city, they couldn't do a thorough background check on everyone who entered it, but at the same time, they at least needed to do the very minimum of identification.

Naturally everyone didn't have identification, but the guards would generally only keep suspicious people out.

Ark had already instructed Atar beforehand to stay calm, as he believed that the sights of the city might be a little too much for the young cub to stay calm.                     Nevertheless, Atar's pupils widened considerably as they darted around the city, inspecting absolutely everything possible.

Ark just wanted to let him run around as he wanted, but that naturally wasn't possible, as he would just freak people out and attract unnecessary attention.

They already attracted more than enough attention as they walked down the streets, as their group was a little peculiar. Not only did the group have a dwarf, which was quite unusual in cities like these, but both Ark and Ephine were very attractive, and they all had extraordinary yet casual auras.

No one really paid any attention to Atar, as he was just a kid, which made Ark a little happy, it paid off to tell him to stay calm.

As they wandered around, they eventually decided to take a rest at a local café. They weren't in a hurry, and Ark wanted Ephine and Atar to enjoy themselves a little before they did anything. The café was in a fairly calm and nice part of the city, and the atmosphere was very pleasant. Ephine loved the lovely little café, while Atar still felt a little restless, or, well, until he got his dessert.

Ark wasn't a big fan of coffee, he'd much rather drink a warm cup of tea, but this particular café didn't have any tea that suited his tastes. While they were in the middle of enjoying themselves, a rather annoying voice couldn't help but dig into their ears.