The Divine Wolf... or?

After another day of hard work, Ark was feeling stronger than ever. He had gained 2 levels today, but he was starting to feel like he was approaching a limit. It had been a while since he evolved last time, and if he levelled up a few more times, he felt like he would evolve again. If anything, this was something Ark was very happy about.

Evolution meant that he would probably get a lot stronger again, something which he really wanted.

All those feelings of unease spurred him on, and he really wanted every bit of strength he could get. The others weren't as enthusiastic as he was, but they also tried hard to get stronger, no one was a slacker after all. Although the day was far from over, they decided to head back to the city after some deliberation.

Although getting stronger was an addicting feeling, they were all feeling a little burnt out. No one would want to constantly risk their life over and over again every day, even if they got stronger as a result, there were many other things to enjoy about life after all.

It was a very hot day, and on their way back to the city, Atar spotted a large stream. Seeing the crystal clear water in the blistering heat, they decided to stop and go for a swim. For the sake of convenience, Atar, Ark and Ephine just swam in their wolf forms, whilst Thufrat just watched. Although he had many spare changes of clothes, he decided to just watch.

He was a dwarf, and he quite liked the heat. Dwarves were notorious for not liking water, and enjoying the heat, and Thufrat was no exception.

After enjoying themselves and relaxing for a while in the water, they decided to make some food. After making a fireplace they took out some meat from one of their spatial bags, and started to cook. Needless to say, Thufrat was on cooking duty, since he was the only one that could do it in his current form.

After a while, a drool-inducing aroma spread through the air, and they could all feel their stomachs rumbling.

Without much further ado, they ate their food with fervour. Normally it wouldn't taste this good, but after a day of hard work, anything would taste great. When they were done, they cleaned up after themselves, before heading back to town again. Ark was in a much better mood now than earlier, but his guard was still not completely relaxed.

Since he knew there was someone out there, there was no way he could relax. Even if it tired him out a bit mentally to always be on guard, it was necessary.

Ark had made a lot of mistakes in his life, he had put his trust in the wrong people, he had been careless, and he had been naive. Naturally all of these different mistakes had their own costs, but there was nothing that would be as costly as losing his current family, something he had gotten after a lot of tribulations.

Needless to say, they didn't want to lose him either, and he would never leave them behind, which was why he also valued his own safety.

Since they had stopped in the middle of their journey back, they arrived in the city rather quickly after resuming their journey. Tired and satisfied, they just went straight back to their home. Once they were back in the city again, Ark could feel that weird presence again, and he stayed vigilant. Once they were inside, the presence disappeared just like last time, but Ark was still pissed.

Whoever this person was, they seemed to keep track of them when they were in the city, and there was nothing he could do about it.

This person was either higher level than himself, or their stealth skills were inhumanely good. Either way, he couldn't find out where they were watching them from. Ark was feeling inadequate, but there were still some safety measures he could create. After telling the others, Ark went out for a while to shop. When he came back, he had four pendants with him.

Although he had already made some robes if they wanted to leave the city unnoticed, these pendants function wasn't as complicated, and he created them pretty quickly.

These pendants were made for locating each other, as well as sensing when the others were in danger. This would be great in case they split up, since they could easily find each other with the help of the pendants. He had also added a few other functions that could come in handy in the future.

If any of them was in danger, their pendant would signal the rest, so they could aid each other when they needed it.

The others were naturally delighted upon receiving their pendants, but both Thufrat and Ephine were a little apprehensive. Since Ark had been working harder than normal, as well as given them these, they firmly understood that something really wasn't right. Ark told them about the fact that they were followed today again, and they both frowned deeply.

"I really don't know what's going on, but something really isn't right here. To be quite frank, I'm a little spooked."

Ark didn't try and hide his feelings or act tough, he was genuinely worried. He had tried to use magic to find whoever was spying on them, but all he got was a vague direction, nothing to really help him. Since someone was following them around, Ark felt uneasy leaving Atar and Ephine alone, so he tried staying close to them.

Even if he needed peace and quiet to train, he still went out of his way to accompany them.

He had also noticed that he had 20 extra stat points laying around from levelling up that he hadn't used yet, and he immediately dumped them into his intelligence. His magic was his strongest trait, and if there was something that could help him out of this predicament, it would be stronger magic.

Since his search magic almost worked, he felt like if he levelled up a few more times, he might be able to locate whoever was following them around.

When it was starting to get late, fatigue washed over them, they all needed some good rest. The three wolves huddled together closer than usual, and Ark could faintly hear both Ephine's and Atar's restless heartbeats. Ark started to reflect a little on himself. Maybe he had seemed a little too anxious today? Although he wanted to be on their toes, he didn't want them to be scared.

Hearing their hearts beating faster than usual made him feel really bad.

Something that shocked him however was that Atar talked to him telepathically for once, something he never did before.

"Papa, will everything be alright? Is there someone after us?"

Hearing the genuine concern in his voice, Ark's heart ached a little.

"I don't know Atar, someone's out there, but I promise you that no matter what, it will all be fine in the end alright?"

"Ok, I believe in you Papa."

After a few minutes, Atar promptly fell asleep, and Ark felt a little relieved, he wasn't very good at comforting others. Ephine also fell asleep after a while, and Ark was the only one who was still awake. What he didn't know was that he wasn't the only one who was still awake...

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