Laying under the tree Ark felt kind of good, this reform of his mind had made him realize what he had gone through in his world once more, so now he felt that he wouldn't be too excited to notice what was going on around him anymore. He was still a bit frustrated about how he had acted till now though, but, what was done was done. After thinking a little bit more about his new skills as well as his apparent bloodline Ark slowly drifted off to sleep, but not a deep one, he would still sense if people were approaching him.
Back outside the door, the people stood there a bit dumbfounded, too much had happened at once and no one knew how to react right now. It was obvious that the wolf had gone through some kind of change, but no one knew what had happened. Annette had noticed that his change the wolfs change in aura was quite big, she had also noticed that he now had a cyan eye colour compared to his earlier silver.
"Ahem"
Annette gained everyone's attention by making a fake cough as she told them all to go back to their rooms and wait and see tomorrow, since no one had a better idea, everyone quickly scattered. Most of them didn't think too much about what had happened as they didn't want to be bothered by stuff that had nothing to do with them. Annette did go searching for him for a bit, when she found him sleeping underneath a white pine tree she went back to her room that she had gotten and left him alone.
Waking up underneath the tree next day Ark was feeling refreshed, the cool summer breeze that brushed against his fur felt very pleasant early in the morning, it was a really good way to start the day off. After waking up he stood up, he felt that some presences were approaching from the mansion so he decided to greet them. When they had gotten close enough Ark noticed that they were only Annette and her entourage, he silently nodded his head at them and got into the carriage.
Seeing this made Annette frown a little bit, he had usually been pretty excited for almost anything, just like a child, but now it felt like he had suddenly become older and more mature. She also guessed that some of this coldness towards her was because of the seduction magic she had tried on him. Her intentions weren't all that bad, she just wanted to leave a better impression on his subconscious, this was because she wanted him to help this country.
Another reason was that she felt that it was only natural for everyone to like her and adore her, she had grown up to become pampered a lot by the king, even though she was the third princess she was born from the king's favorite wife. Her personality had turned out like this because everyone had always sucked up to her because of her status. But she hadn't lost all reasoning, and she still cared a lot for the country, but who in power didn't care for their country? If they didn't then they would probably one day have to move away leaving most of their power and influence behind.
This was also one of the reasons the princess cared a lot for the country, she wanted recognition from her father and be able to maintain her lavish and luxurious lifestyle. The princess had also been praised as a genius when it came to both magic and swords, but mostly for her skills with swords. But there was almost no one in the royal family who wasn't talented so that was to be expected. Hopping into the carriage and giving a signal to the coachman to start their journey ahead they rolled off.
In the carriage, there was an awkward silence for most of the trip since they couldn't communicate and even if they could they had nothing to talk about. Thinking about something Annette suddenly drew out something from out of thin air, at least that's what it would have looked like to a lot of people. But Ark had seen that there had been a portal who had opened for a second which she drew the stone from. He also saw that when she opened the portal, all the purple Mana in the air had started to gather.
This purple Mana was quite special as it usually warped all around the place, there was also not that much of it compared to the other elements, which indicated that it was quite rare. Ark then looked at the stone that Annette had gotten out, it was about the size of a marble and it faintly glowed a cyan colour. When he gave her a questioning look she started to explain to him.
"This is the Mana crystal from a low level [Blizzard Worm]. A Mana crystal is created when a monster dies and its energy is condensed into a crystal, this crystal is all the power it had when it was living, both life force and Mana. Therefore these can both be used to create all kinds of tools such as magic weapons, for example, they can also be absorbed by monsters to enhance their strength. If it has the same attribute as the monster who consumes it then it would gain more power."
This made Ark a little dumbfounded, he didn't know that there were ways like this to enhance his strength even if he didn't level up. After having said all this Annette also suddenly tossed the Mana crystal to Ark to let him try, at first he was a little apprehensive but then he remembered that he had his "Inspect" so it wouldn't be a problem.
"Inspect"
[Mana crystal]
Mana crystal from the low-level monster [Blizzard Worm]
Suited to ice or snow users
Seeing this Ark put his paw on top of the Mana crystal and started to draw out the Mana that was within it. After about a minute passed by the crystal had lost all of its lusters and had dimmed, when it had turned completely blank Ark felt very rejuvenated as he suddenly heard one of his favorite voices in the world aside from his own!
[Due to ingesting a Mana stone the host has obtained +1 intelligence as well as +1 vitality]
This made Ark quite happy, he didn't know that he could use Mana crystals to gain stats directly, he had guessed that it might widen his Mana capacity a little, but when he thought about the vitality part it made sense. Since he had obtained the [Blizzards Worms] life force then it would be quite weird if he instead didn't get any vitality. After this pleasant surprise, Ark gave Annette an affirmative nod to show that he had appreciated the Mana crystal.
Even if he didn't trust her he wouldn't mind getting some benefits from her if it meant that he would, in turn, become stronger. After seeing his nod Annette felt a little better, she also told him another thing.
"It isn't guaranteed for a Mana crystal to drop when a monster dies though, it's quite rare, but since they are so useful you should use every chance you get to use one! That one I gave you was pretty bad though."
At least she was being a little honest with him now. After this event though they didn't communicate anymore and just sat and looked out of the windows, Annette thought that the view was quite boring, Ark, however, saw a lot of new things every time he looked out of the window so he actually enjoyed the fact that he could see the view like this. Now that he had time as well he thought about what he would do in the capital a little, of course, he wouldn't just sit in the palace twiddling his thumbs all day.
He still wanted to get strong! And explore! He couldn't do that by just sitting in the palace, his plan right now was to see what it would be like in the palace and then decide according to that. If he didn't get the freedom he wanted and if it would be boring to be there then he would just leave, even if they didn't want him to.
After a whole day in the carriage, they decided to set up camp since they wouldn't be able to reach the next town without another couple of hours traveling. After having set up a series of tents for the different servants as well as having set up the princess private tent they decided that a few people would keep watch while the rest went to sleep. Ark decided to stay up with the guards for a little bit since he wasn't that tired just yet.
....
At the same time in a grand black palace, a servant was running fervently towards the throne room, there was however something wrong with this servant, it wasn't a human. It had long black horns that were slightly curved and the speed it ran on was astonishing. When it had arrived outside the throne room it suddenly stopped and knocked gently on the door. No matter how urgent something was the servant didn't want to die so it decided it would be wise to knock.
"Enter!"
Hearing this confirmation come from a majestic voice inside the servant quickly entered the throne room. When the servant was inside it could see a dark silhouette sitting on top of the jet black throne before hastily speaking.
"My lord, the preparations are complete!"
"We can now commence!"
Hearing this the presumed "lord" smirked before shouting.
"COMMENCE"
....