Thinking thoughts like these would just mess with his head, and Ark decided to keep that stuff at the back of his head for later. Deciding to not waste any more time, Ark started to head out. This time, he didn't have to rush to fairmond though, and he could just stroll there pretty leisurely. Even if he wasn't completely sure when noon would be, it was fairly easy to tell, since you could just look at the position of the sun.
Walking through the dense foliage, feeling the light breeze against his fur, Ark felt at peace. There was something special about nature, that just comforted his soul. Even though this forest was one of darkness, the glistening rays of the sun could still pierce their way through the treetops, painting a beautiful contrast in this otherwise dark and dull place. Not that darkness didn't have its own charm, but this mood suited Ark more.
Even though he had felt a little stressed out, after just walking around in these woods for a while, Ark felt his head clear up a little. No matter how much stuff happened right now, Ark was still a little happy inside. He did have a friend, a genuine friend. He also felt like he had a goal in life. In his previous life, he had no idea what he wanted to do, or if anything was even worth doing. But in this world he had magic! Of course, there were bad parts to this world as well, but at the very least Ark was a little happy, and that was really all he could ask for right now.
Even though the thought was a little morbid, Ark was still happy that he died. It wasn't like anyone would miss him anyway.
As Ark was casually walking in the woods, he could hear the faint sounds of beasts in the distance, as well as the sound of bugs flying around. He had grown a little fond of these sounds at this point. The forest felt like his home, and he actually really enjoyed the atmosphere.
The somewhat tranquil atmosphere of a forest was a good change of pace for Ark. Living in a big town had its own merits, but it was just a fact that there would always be noise.
After an hour and a half, the sun was beginning to establish its presence in Ark's eyes, but luckily for him, he had already arrived outside of Fairmond. The rebels had not arrived yet, so Ark just sat down in the shade of one of the trees, and made sure to stay out of sight. This went on for about an hour or so before Ark could make out 6 figures walking on the road. One of the figures was visibly shorter than the other five, and Ark could easily make out that it was Thufrat!
His complexion was normal, and he didn't even seem to be in any sort of discomfort walking along with these people, which made Ark a little happy. They held up their part of the bargain. As he saw them stop a fair distance away from one of the gates, Ark turned into his human form once more. He made sure no one was around as well, and then took out some clothes from the spatial bag that he had with him. When he was in his wolf form, it was a bit inconvenient to carry it around, but he usually just used some Mana to carry it for him, since it was easy.
As he was done changing, Ark headed out to meet up with the rebels. They were only a minutes walk away, but Thufrat spotted Ark while he was on the way. Seeing this youth walk in front of him Thufrat couldn't hold himself back. He sprinted out at full speed and threw himself at Ark. He gave him a rough hug as his eyes turned a little watery.
"Thank you so much! You didn't have to do this just to help me!" Thufrat said as he looked at Ark with a glimmer in his eyes.
Ark only looked at him gently with a smile before replying. "We're friends, aren't we? Isn't that what friends are for?"
Thufrat was really happy to hear this, he never really had any friends, and who would've guessed that he would one day be friends with a wolf, one that had saved his life as well? It was a pretty bizarre thought.
"Are you sure you can do this though? I mean, considering your... circumstances." Thufrat followed up with, he was a little concerned, didn't his transformation only last for half an hour?
Ark didn't want to give away too much information since the rebels could hear them from here, but he still gave a short answer. "It should be fine, I have more time than before!"
Thufrat was still a little worried, but he trusted Ark, and he didn't believe him to be someone reckless.
The rebels were truly dumbfounded by this conversation. It was a bit weird to imagine what they were really talking about if you had no idea. They were a little touched though, by their friendship, you wouldn't find this stuff just anywhere after all.
The leader of the rebels was also touched by this scene, but they were in a bit of a hurry, and he spoke up rather quickly. "It's not like I want to interrupt your moment or anything, but we don't have a lot of time on our hands."
"Kid, if you intend to live up to your promise, then now is your chance. We got a mission yesterday, and we don't have that much time to complete it!"
Ark was taken off guard. Furrowing his eyebrows, he questioned lightly. "My first mission?"
The lady with the fiery hair curtly responded. "That's right, but you're probably a little confused right?"
"Well, yeah, I still don't know what organization I have joined, or what you do!" He answered quickly. He was curious after all, and this was some important information.
"Our organization is called Torment of the Fallen. It might sound weird, but there's a meaning behind it. As you might have guessed already, we're seen as rebels because we oppose the holy church." The leader stepped in to explain this time.
"As for the mission, it's to stop human trafficking!"
As Ark heard this, he was very surprised. It seemed like human trafficking was a thing in this world as well. But since the mission was to stop something horrible like this from happening, Ark currently had a positive mindset towards these people from Torment of the Fallen. Even though the name of this organization was a little odd, everything had its meaning, he just didn't know what it was yet.