New Skill?

[Due to the host refining his body with the help of the elements, the host has obtained the skill "Body Refining Lv.1"]

As Ark heard this, he was a little ecstatic. This skill sounded like it could help him a lot, considering the fact that he didn't invest a lot of status points into his physical attributes. A passive skill that could help him with his body's attributes while not spending status points could be phenomenal. Ark didn't know if it would be that helpful yet, but he would naturally find that out in the future.

He opened up his status to check if anything had happened, and even though the stats themselves didn't change, next to them, in brackets, you could find the number (+5). Ark couldn't be entirely sure, but he was pretty confident that it was how much this skill gave him currently. Even though 5 points was pretty negligible for him at this point, if it kept accumulating, this skill could provide a lot of support!

Since Thufrat was still currently asleep, Ark decided that he would spend this time to work on this skill a little. Still laying comfortably on the ground, he started to devour the surrounding mana once again, guiding it throughout his body to slowly temper it, giving him a wondrous feeling. The wondrous feeling of growing stronger and the itchy feeling that permeated his bones created a weird equilibrium of satisfaction and annoyance as Ark continued to temper his body.

A couple of hours quickly passed like this until Thufrat finally woke up. When Thufrat woke up, the afternoon had already turned into night, and the darkness of the night permeated throughout the forest, creating a slightly eerie atmosphere as a slight fog enveloped the tree. This "fog" was actually just Ark's sweat that had evaporated in large amounts.

Ark was a little engrossed in his "Body Refining" skill, but he still noticed when Thufrat woke up and promptly stopped his tempering. His skill had reached level 3 in this time that Thufrat was asleep. Even though the progress wasn't that fast, it was to be expected, the stats the skill gave were pretty steep after all. He had already gained an additional 15 points in all of his physical attributes after all.

Since Thufrat had woken up, Ark decided to make the meal now, both of them were starving after all. Ark also needed the nutrition if he wanted to recover from the weakness caused by his [Envoy Of Holiness] skill. Not to say that he would recover without nutrients, but it would take longer. The bull-like creature he had killed earlier was actually a rare species of bull called the "Horned Darkness Bull". On its head, a jagged jet-black horn protruded, this horn would kill the average human in a flash, and if you were lucky enough to survive being impaled by this horn, then you would have to suffer the onslaught of darkness mana that ensued.

When disassembling this bull, Ark stored away this particular horn, since it would sell for a good price, it was perfect for making weapons after all. The smell of roasted bull permeated the surroundings after a little while, and both Ark and Thufrat couldn't help but drool. The bull was swiftly devoured, and both Thufrat and Ark sat down in appreciation for a while after having their fills, not a single piece of meat left on the bull's bones.

As Ark cleared his head after filling up his stomach, he could notice something different about Thufrat. He couldn't put his finger on what it was, but he was sure that something had changed after the dwarf had been asleep. This guess of Ark's was actually completely spot-on. A drastic change had occurred to thufrat as he slumbered, and he only just realized himself!

After eating, Thufrat had taken a quick look on his status, and what he found had astounded him to an absurd degree! His physical attributes had been boosted by an entire 40%, this abrupt change had instantly made him gulp. This wasn't the only change though, not by a longshot! His original earth affinity was small-grade, but after awakening, it had apparently changed to Major! This was a really big change, and Thufrat almost wanted to cry tears of joy when he saw them. At first, he had no idea what had happened to him, but after taking a look at some new skills that he had seemingly gotten as well, it all made sense to him!

His bloodline had awakened further! He had gotten a couple of skills that related to his bloodline, which confirmed his assumptions, all of the other changes also made complete sense if that were to be the case as well! He had been under immense pressure from Ark's evolution after all, and this was a heaven-sent opportunity for both of them! The skills that Thufrat had gotten were by no means bad or average, some of the skills he had gotten were almost on the level of cheats, and most of them came from his draconic bloodline.

Dragons had always been natural paragons when it came to the food-chain, and considering the fact that Thufrat's bloodline was that of an Ancient Supreme Earth Dragon, it was only natural that he would grow into an existence befitting of that kind of title. The 40% physical attribute increase was only on the surface, with the help of his skills, his bodily strength would grow to a terrifying degree, he needed to have a really strong body to contain all of his draconic might in the future after all!

After sorting through all of his new skills and power, Thufrat was very excited, he was already thirsting for revenge against the lich that had almost taken his life not long ago. But he would need to bide his time for a little longer, he needed levels to back his skills up, but when he did that, he would naturally show that lich who he had messed with!

Ark could sense the change in Thufrat's mood, he was emanating some serious fighting spirit after all, as well as some faint killing intent. Ark wasn't really sure what was going on, but he didn't bother with it too much, he would ask after midnight when he got some new time in his human form.

Ark still reflected a little on the previous events that had transpired. Saving the slaves from their horrible fates had an impact on Ark's mental state. Seeing how cruel this world was first-hand, he really wished that he could change it for the better. But he didn't have that kind of power, and even if he was seriously powerful, would that erase all evil? Of course not, no matter what you did, evil would always live on in people's hearts. It was a part of human nature after all. Greed, lust, jealousy, all of these were a part of human nature, and there was nothing you could do to completely erase them.

What you could do, however, is to try and restrain these desires, and contain the truly evil individuals. Expecting everything to always go your way is just naive, but not believing in the kindness of humans is also foolish. Good and evil exist in our hearts, it's up to each individual to decide which direction they want to choose...