As Ark spotted this Mana crystal, he was very delighted. It seemed like the hard work was going to pay off. He also noticed that he managed to level up 4 times during the fight just now, which was pretty reasonable considering the level of the werewolf, and the fact that it seemed to be a boss monster, or something similar at the very least. Now wasn't the time to reap the rewards though, Ark needed to heal himself before he decided to do anything else.
"You okay mate?" Thufrat asked with a frown on his face.
Ark just nodded and smiled weakly, it probably looked a little weird when he smiled, since he was a wolf, but he did it nonetheless. Of course, these were only his personal thoughts, if you were to ask anyone else, they would probably say that his smile looked a little ethereal. He was a [Radiant Ice Wolf] after all.
Seeing Ark's response, Thufrat let out a sigh, and then he started to laugh.
"That was one hell of a fight huh?" He said as he started to bounce around happily. Ark almost started to laugh at this sight, since this dwarf looked quite absurd when he acted all giddy.
After Thufrat calmed himself down a little, he started roaming around the castle looking for treasure. he noticed the wolf's happy look when it saw the Mana crystal, therefore he just left it there. Even though it was worth a lot of money, it wasn't worth more than their current friendship. Whilst Thufrat was busy doing this, Ark reflected a little on the fight he just had.
He realized one of his biggest mistakes fairly quickly, he underestimated the opponent too much. He didn't really get to experience a lot of hard fights, which gave him the belief that he was better than others, it wasn't like he was arrogant, it was just a subconscious thing. Not something which he could really control that much, but in the future, he would be a bit more cautious. It's a good thing to have self-confidence, but if you have too much, it turns into arrogance, and that is one of the personality traits that Ark hates the most, alongside some other traits such as ignorance and people who were way too lecherous.
Ark didn't want to turn into something he hated, and he was happy he figured this out quickly before it was too late. As he was feeling content with himself, he continued to slowly heal his injuries with the help of the light element. Even though it seemed slow, it was only because of the severity of the wounds, in reality, Ark still had his [Envoy Of Holiness] skill activated, since it hadn't run out yet.
After about 20 minutes of healing, Ark had enough strength to walk around a little. Thufrat had also returned from his treasure hunting, and from the looks of things, he had hit the jackpot this time around. What he carried with him when he returned to Ark was a pitch-black greatsword, an exquisite bottle containing some sort of red liquid, as well as some crystals. Ark didn't really care for any of this though, all he wanted was the werewolf's Mana crystal.
Of course, Thufrat gave him the crystal, and he even asked him if he wanted something else as well since Ark did most of the work after all, but Ark just shook his head and took the Mana crystal. He thought about saving it until they got back to the tree, but he soon gave up the thought, since there was no need to. It wasn't like he needed to be in good condition when he ingested it, at least not to his knowledge. He also decided to add all of his status points now instead of saving them, since he felt clearheaded enough, and he might need those status points on the way back, since he was injured, and affected by the backlash of his skill.
Since he leveled up 4 times, he had 20 points in total, because his other stats were catching up, Ark put 5 points into agility, and 15 more into intelligence. As Ark felt the familiar white light envelop him, he was about to check out his status, before he decided against it. He wanted to ingest the Mana crystal first, for no real reason other than the fact that the change to his status would be more drastic, and satisfying.
As he put his paw on top of the Mana crystal, he started to suck out the contents through his paw, and into his body. At first, everything felt normal, but as he finished the whole Mana crystal, he could feel a tremendous change going on inside his body. In reality, not much happened, but Ark had a weird feeling. It was as if his entire being was shaking intensely. As Ark felt this, the monotone voice which he had grown accustomed to suddenly interrupted this feeling.
"Host has absorbed the Mana crystal of a [Werewolf] and has inherited the skill [Shapeshift Lv.1]"
As Ark heard this, he was utterly dumbfounded, and he suddenly had a weird feeling as he hurriedly opened up his status to check it out.
Name: Ark
Condition: Injured/weak
Species: Radiant Ice Wolf
Level: 27 (42)
Mp: 124/255
Strength: 30
Agility: 45
Dexterity: 30
Endurance: 30
Vitality: 30
Intelligence: 85
Wisdom: 35
Night Vision [Lv.2]
Water magic [Beginner Lv.4]
Growth [Lv.Max]
Inspect [Lv.5]
Mana manipulation [Lv.6]
Mana perception
Mana recovery [Lv.2]
Herculean strength [Lv.1]
Swift [Lv.2]
Nimble [Lv.2]
Stealth [Lv.4]
Regenerate
Enhanced Stamina
Small Fire Affinity
Small Water Affinity
Big Ice Affinity
Big Light Affinity
Mental Fortitude
Yin Yang body constitution
Envoy of Holiness
Holy Spear: Dawn
Shapeshift [Lv.1]
Status points [0]
As Ark saw this, he was very excited, he wasn't sure yet, but he had an idea of what this skill did. And if it was what he expected, he would feel like screaming in joy. As his expectation started to grow, he mentally crossed his fingers and used "Inspect".
[Shapeshift]
Allows the user to change forms into a human. The skill that werewolves are most known for.
Lasts for half an hour per level.
Surely enough, this was the skill that all of the werewolves were known for! He could finally become a human again, or at least have the body of one! The effect only lasted for half an hour at the moment, but just that could allow him to hold a conversation with Thufrat for example. It would also allow him to explore the human territory in the future, if he ever had to, or felt like it.
The one thing that hit him the hardest though, was the fact that this was possible! Even though he had grown accustomed to being a wolf, deep down, he always wanted his old form back. Just knowing that he could go back to being a "human" in the future made his eyes glisten a little. He saw himself as a human, and his soul was that of a human, there was just no way he could feel completely content with being a wolf for the rest of his life.
Of course, he would still be a wolf, just have the form of a human. But let's be real, if you have the soul of a human, and the form of a human, then you could pretty much be considered a human. And Ark's concerns weren't about whether he would be accepted by other humans or something like that since he had never been accepted in his former life anyway. If you didn't count Anthony of course.
He also really missed the convenience of a human body, since, at the moment, he could only carry things in his mouth.
Thinking about all of this, Ark decided to try the skill out, since he still wasn't sure if it actually worked yet. As he silently chanted "Shapeshift" in his head, his body was suddenly enveloped in a brilliant white light. The light felt the same as the light of leveling your stats up. But with the accompanying weird feeling of changing form.
Thufrat, not expecting the light to come a second time, cast a glance towards Ark. What he saw when the light faded astonished him. With his jaw dropped, he slowly gulped as he took half a step backward. From the light, a youth emerged. This youth seemed to be in his late teens, and he was about 185 centimeters tall. The youth had deep silver eyes, looking as if they were as deep as the ocean. The youth had a very good looking face, and he had a mix of cyan and white hair. The youth was currently completely naked, and his muscles were very well defined. Not something you would normally see on a teenager, at least not from Ark's old world.
The youth suddenly started to move his arms around, before they stopped in front of his face. The youth gazed at his hands, as his eyes started to tear up...