Even though they set off, they didn't really move very fast. Atar was barely able to walk, and Ephine got tired pretty fast, which was why they took breaks very often. As time passed, they both grew more and more accustomed to their new forms, and walking became less of a hassle overall. They still needed to rest every now and then, but walking was almost natural now, which was a large improvement. Even if they had already seen a lot of different magical beasts that they could try to fight, Ark wanted them to grow a little more accustomed to walking before he let them do anything else, just as a safety measure.
It didn't take more than an hour until they could both use their bodies proficiently, which meant that they had around 2 hours or so left, which was plenty of time to get some combat training. "Are you guys feeling comfortable enough to try and fight now?"