The Divine Wolf... or?

After a day of rest and training, they once again set off for the dungeon. Although they didn't get to do much the day before, they were all excited to dive back into the dungeon. Seeing your strength grow is certainly something addicting, and to Ark who desperately needed it, it was even more satisfying.

With that said, he didn't want to get too excited and just recklessly level up as much as he could, he still needed to live his life after all.

He had been given another chance at life, it would be such a waste if he didn't make the most of it, especially considering how his first life had gone.

Although he had plenty of good prospects in his first life, his attitude and personality hindered him severely from enjoying himself, and although he knew a calamity was coming, he really didn't want to end up the same as before, distancing himself from others and screwing up the life he currently had.

As they arrived at the dungeon, both Ark and Ephine were shocked to see Atar with a serious expression on his face. He had always been carefree, or even careless, to the point that both Ark and Ephine had grown completely used to it. This was practically one of the first times they had seen him like this, and they wondered what had triggered the change?

Ark assumed that it might be connected to the day before. Had he seen something inside the dungeon? Something that could shake even Atar?

Maybe it was simply because he had seen Thufrat hurt? Ark wasn't sure, but he was happy that Atar seemed to be taking things a little more seriously. He had no problem with Atar being carefree normally, but inside a dungeon, especially one that was as dangerous as this one, it could prove fatal if Atar didn't take it seriously. Something that Ark obviously didn't want to happen.

He had been contemplating how to deal with this for a while now, but it seemed like he didn't have to worry for now.

Since Atar seemed to be taking things more seriously, both Atar and Ephine could fight with one less worry in the back of their minds. Ark also noticed that Thufrat seemed more determined than usual, something he was also glad to see. Luckily the setback he had suffered the day before didn't seem to affect him much, other than make him more determined that is.

After they had entered the dungeon, Ark barely had the time to say a word before Thufrat had already left, going in the same direction as the day before.

"Are you guys ok with splitting up like before?"

"Yeah, you can go ahead, we'll start out in the outer zone before heading a little further in."

"I'll meet up with you guys later then, make sure to stay safe."

"You t-"

Before Ephine could even finish her sentence, Ark had already disappeared into the distance.

"They're both so eager…"

She could only sigh to herself as she and Atar started looking for an enemy to use as a warmup for the day.

Ark had already run off to the border of the second zone where he started looking for some suitable enemies. As he ran around, he came across a raging flame, slowly floating around in the air. At the same time that he spotted the flame, it pulsated with heat, as if it was announcing to the world that it had noticed him.

This was the same kind of lesser hellfire spirit he had met before, but compared to the flame he had encountered last time, this one was considerably bigger. Its powers and abilities were basically the same, it was just stronger. Compared to last time, Ark knew his enemy better this time, and this was a great test of his training.

As the spirit was getting ready to attack, Ark suddenly started sprinting, closing the distance greatly. The spirit seemed a little flustered at his approach, and instantly fired off three fire spears in his direction.

Since the distance between them was short enough, Ark instantly used his blink skill to teleport behind it. The spirit had no time to react before Ark shoved his claws straight into the spirits body. With a gush of ice mana, he made it implode from within, instantly killing it. Compared to last time, Ark used way less mana, as he had eroded the spirits defence whilst he was approaching.

Since its defence was compromised, Ark had no trouble taking out the lesser hellfire spirit without trouble.

Compared to when he had fought one earlier, he didn't even need to use half the amount of mana he had used then. He could still train his mana manipulation more though, which was what he was going to do for the rest of the day. Like this, he sought out opponents, used as little mana as possible to defeat them, before finding his next victim.

After a few hours of this, he had gained another 2 levels, as well as levelled up his mana manipulation once. He had also learned that if he used his cellular mana infusion, he didn't need to coat his body in mana even if he wanted to punch a spirit or elemental.

As usual, they all met up to eat lunch together, and compared to the day before, it was a lot more jovial. Thufrat had returned with a triumphant smile on his face, prompting everyone to laugh. With his pride and confidence at an all-time high, Thufrat was way more chatty than usual, and everyone had a lot of fun just listening to his bragging and antics.

The sombre and serious atmosphere from earlier had completely vanished, replaced with a cheerful and playful one. Since they were all in great moods, they decided to leave the dungeon a little early, and find something fun to do for once.

Ark had no real issues with this either. Even though he was a little anxious and wanted to get stronger, he also wanted to see his family happy. That was the reason he wanted to get stronger in the first place, to protect what he cherished. If his desperate pursuit for power was the thing that tore this family of his apart, he would never forgive himself.

Although they had decided to find something fun to do, they had no idea what that would be. Since just walking around probably wouldn't yield great results, Ark just pulled aside a random stranger on the street and gave him some money. Since he got a few silver coins, the man happily obliged, and told them about the things they could do to have fun around the city.

Although there were plenty of interesting things to see, the man placed heavy emphasis on a play that was going to be played later on in the theatre.

Ark wouldn't normally be that interested in a romantic play, but as he glanced at Ephine, he instantly made up his mind, they were going to watch the play! Since the play was performed by a travelling troupe, they would only be around for a few days at most. None of them had ever watched a play before, and since it wasn't that long, they had plenty of time to watch it in their human forms.

Even Atar was excited, although that was mostly because he wasn't sure what they were going to do.