A Weird Coincidence?

After waking up the next day, both Ark and Thufrat were filled with energy, Ark turned into his human form again, and noticed that his "Shapeshift" had leveled up to level 6 the night before. He had been too sleepy to notice the night before. They went downstair after stretching their tired bodies a little and ate some breakfast at the inn's diner. The fresh air of outside hit them as soon as they stepped out of the inn, painting a bright contrast to the inn's stale air.

After walking around for a bit, Ark entered a dark alley before preparing to switch forms. As soon as he stepped foot into the alley, a foul smell assaulted his senses, and Ark almost fell on his butt. A little confused, Ark looked around a little before he noticed the source of the devastating smell. In a dark, remote corner of the alley, a body laid propped up against the wall. What was once a young man in his early teens, was now a foul, decayed corpse, permeating the air with a terrible sense of dread.

Seeing this, Ark almost had an urge to throw up, but he calmed down a second later. This was one of the devastating realities of the world. Some people simply couldn't live comfortably, and this was their fate. After taking their time to alert the authorities, Ark and Thufrat went into another alley, which was empty this time around. After transforming successfully, Ark and Thufrat left for the city gates, to start their first day of work.

There was no one outside of the city gates when they arrived, therefore they just sat down and waited patiently in the open field outside of the city walls. They had to wait for almost an entire hour before someone finally arrived outside of the city gates. The entourage that was meeting them consisted of a fairly normal carriage, with 4 guards and a coachman. As they waited for a little outside the gates, some of the guards spotted Ark and Thufrat. They dismissed after a second or two though, they were waiting for two guards, not one guard and a beast. To their surprise, Ark and Thufrat swiftly picked themselves off the ground and started walking in their direction.

After arriving about 5 meters away from the carriage, they stopped.

"Oi, are you guys the ones looking for two bodyguards?" Thufrat asked the coachman. The coachman was a little surprised before he nodded his head gently. The coachman said something to one of the other guards, which promptly knocked on one of the doors of the carriage.

"Yes?" After hearing the voice of a female, the guard swiftly answered.

"The two bodyguards have arrived!"

"Ok, I'll speak to them."

After saying this, the door to the carriage opened, and a young girl stepped out. The young girl wore the attire of a maid, indicating that she was not the noble lady that they were supposed to protect. The young maid's crystal-like green eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, before they landed atop Ark and Thufrat.

"Eh?"

Hearing her surprised voice, Thufrat took half a step forward.

"Is something the matter?" He asked with some concern.

"Sorry, I just thought that there would be two bodyguards, is your partner on the way?" The young maid asked with an apologetic tone.

"My partner is standing right in front of you!" Thufrat answered with a little disdain hidden in his look. He made sure that the young maid didn't notice it though since it would spell trouble.

The young maid was surprised when she heard this before she turned a little angry.

"Are you trying to make fun of me? You're saying this wolf is supposed to be the other bodyguard?"

Thufrat could see the clear anger on her face, but he was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, he'll do a better job than any of the guards currently here, I can attest to that!" He said with his voice full of confidence.

The girl's look was full of obvious disbelief. She didn't take what Thufrat said seriously at all. Did he seriously think that this small little wolf would be able to do anything to these bodyguards? Even though they looked a little ordinary, they were all fairly powerful. At the very least level 50.

"You have to be kidding right? Do you seriously believe that this little wolf can do anything to us? Is there something wrong with that little head of yours?" One of the guards laughed with his voice full of ridicule. Who the hell was this random dwarf to say that his contracted beast would be able to take them on?

As Ark heard this, the normally gentle glimmer in his eyes died down, replaced with anger. Who was this nobody to talk shit to his friend? Ark didn't sit still for long. Before anyone could react, Ark snorted. An intense light erupted out of nowhere, and everyone one the scene was blinded completely.

"Thud..."

All that could be heard was the sound of something hitting the ground. As the blinding light faded, a strange scene was revealed for all to see. The haughty guard who insulted Thufrat laid face-first on the ground, his face burrowed an inch or two into the soft dirt. Ark looked at the guard with disdain and some residual anger, before he shot a challenging look towards the other guards.

After the moment it took everyone to process what had just happened, the guards sprung into their usual formation, weapons drawn, with the exception of the guard that was already down of course. Thufrat made eye contact with the young maid, before opening his mouth to speak.

"So, do you believe that he is qualified now?" A smirk plastered across his face, Thufrat asked with confidence. The young maid was about to answer, but the door to the carriage suddenly swung open!

"What happened here? Are you ok Maddy?" A distressed but elegant voice of a young lady emerged from within the carriage. As soon as they heard this voice, both Thufrat and Ark reacted and looked at each other. It couldn't be her right?