The Divine Wolf... or?

"You guys are finally here, I thought you weren't going to show up!"

Hearing this, Ark felt like laughing. Despite just idling around and having nothing to do, they had still managed to show up late.

"Yeah sorry about that, at least we're here now right?" He didn't really think too much about it, but he still apologised out of common courtesy.

Kanan just laughed, they were only late by a few minutes, of course he wasn't mad at them. Since Lily and Lillia were still waiting for them inside, they didn't idle too long outside. Lily and Lillia sat at a rather large table in a corner of the establishment, looking a little dejected, but as they saw Ark's group arrive accompanied by Kanan, their expressions immediately lit up in delight.

To be quite honest, just like Kanan, they had doubted whether or not Ark and his group was going to come or not, but seeing them arrive instantly brought smiles to their faces.

The table had 3 sides, with the last side being up against the wall. Since each side could fit three people, Ark, Ephine and Atar sat on one side. Opposite of them sat Lillia, Lily and Kanan, and awkwardly enough, on the last side, Thufrat sat by himself. Although it looked a little peculiar, Thufrat didn't mind, he had more space to himself after all, which he could only see as a good thing.

The dinner itself was fairly jovial, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves to varying degrees. Ephine was trying her hardest to make conversation with Lillia, but she wasn't very good at it. Even though she talked with Ark all the time, it was a bit different trying to talk to someone you didn't really know.

She didn't give up though, this was her chance to make a female friend, something she didn't really have, and something she really wanted. Ark was amused as he watched her trying her hardest, and he would help her a little whenever he could.

Kanan talked mostly with Thufrat, since he was a bit more open to conversation, whilst Ark mostly entertained Atar. Lily was a little shy and barely spoke during the entire dinner, but she enjoyed the atmosphere either way. After they had all eaten their food and talked for quite a while, it was time to part ways.

Ephine and Lillia seemed quite reluctant, as they had gotten along pretty well, but it was getting late. Since there was no such thing as phones, Ephine told them where their house was, so they could send each other letters, or they could visit if they wanted to.

As they walked home, Atar wobbled around as he walked. His cute antics earned a smile from Ark, before he lifted him up and gave him a piggyback ride. Since he didn't need to walk anymore, he fell asleep nearly immediately on Ark's back. Compared to Atar who seemed satisfied with his day, Ephine seemed a little disheartened.

"It was harder than I thought trying to make new friends."

Ark didn't reply at first, he just took her hand into his gently, and smiled.

"Don't worry too much about it, if you try too hard you'll only weird her out, let nature take its course, and you'll become friends in no time."

Hearing Ark's words of encouragement, Ephine felt a little better about herself. She had felt a little useless during their conversations earlier, as Lillia was the one who kept asking questions and keeping the conversation alive.

"Just remember to be yourself, don't try to be someone you're not. As long as she gets to know you, I'm sure she'll want to be your friend, anyone would."

As she listened to Ark talking, Ephine felt a little sweet, and her heart fluttered. Her anxiousness quickly went away like receding tidewater. Thufrat didn't say anything, but he was silently cheering them on from the sidelines. To him, they seemed like a perfect fit, and he just wanted them both to be happy. As he was thinking about them, his thoughts couldn't help but drift to Alenia.

Was she doing ok? He didn't know what she was up to right now, but he sincerely hoped that she was doing alright.

As he let his thoughts drift, he had a bitter smile on his face. This went unnoticed to the others, as they just walked back to their house in peace. Back at the house, they didn't feel like doing much other than talk for a while, and just went to sleep.

The next day arrived rather quickly, but they didn't really have anything special going on at the moment. For now, all they needed to do was prepare for going into the next level of the dungeon, and to be perfectly honest, there wasn't much to do in the form of preparation. They just needed to get all the supplies they might need, as well as research a bit about the next floor.

The day was spent fairly leisurely, just browsing the market for things they might need, not only in the dungeon, but just overall.

The things they needed in the dungeon were not too many, it wasn't like they were planning on living in there or anything after all. The things they needed were mostly food supplies, spices, and some changes of clothes, in case they were destroyed. Normally that wouldn't be something they planned for, since it didn't usually happen.

However they had done some research on the next level of the dungeon, and considering the environment and opponents they were going to face, they decided to prepare seriously this time.

That didn't only include their clothes, but they also needed to get some new gear. They were a little underleveled to take on the next level, so good equipment would go a long way. From what they had gathered, the opponents on the next level of the dungeon were exclusively of the fire element. Which meant that gear with fire resistance properties would be a big help.

To Ark it wouldn't have as much significance since he already had plenty of fire resistance, but to the others it was crucial.

Besides, they had plenty of money to spare right now, and to Ark, the significance of money was nothing compared to his family's safety. As they walked down the crowded streets he asked a random passerby for directions to the closest store where they could buy the gear they needed.

Without thinking too much about it, he pointed in a direction and then told them a few simple directions, which would lead them to "The Devil's Forge".

Ark was a bit intrigued by the name, since most people would try to stray away from using the devil or demons in the names of their store. Humans had a very negative view of demons in general, so to name your store after them could be considered a very bold move.

But since a random passerby recommended them to him without regard for the name, Ark could infer that their skill was probably way better than anyone else in these parts. To Ark, that sounded promising, he also had a feeling that they would get along well with whoever named the store.

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