Instead of going toward the wolf's presence, Arin shifted his route and turned tail, going towards another path. After several minutes passed, a small crack in the cave walls entered their view.

Even his small frame barely fit through the opening and he had struggle to enter.

"How is Nocterin gonna ente-" just as this thought crossed his mind, a destructive boom sounded. Rocks flew everywhere and the hole cracked open.

"..."

Thankfully they were far enough from the wolves, so the commotion wouldn't attract their attention.

"From this point onward, try to be as still as possible. I know you are fully capable of killing the wolves but that is not our plan." Arin warned in a slightly complaining voice like a grandma chasting her grandkid.

After he finished whining, he brought out a piece of paper from his spatial pouch. It was an odor-concealing talisman which he had brought about an hour ago for 2 gold coins.

Rip.

Arin tore the talisman into two, a nebulous black mist consuming their body. Gradually the mist disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed. "Let's go," Arin commanded going ahead.

Their path was extremely narrow and the atmosphere, fetid. Occasional spiders that were bioluminescent would craw just inches away from their bodies.

Arin's repulsion could be seen on his face apparently because a beam of red electrical pulses shout out from Nocterin's fingers exterminating the spiders without a single sound.

This action startled Arin, gratitude settling in his heart.

"This guard is really adorable," Kaius thought pleased at the late king's decision.

"Nocterin, pay attention to what I say. Three seconds after my hand goes up in the air, you have to shoot a fire incantation at the empty space you see," as Nicolas completed the sentence the pair had reached a dead end.

It wasn't completely blocked though, there was a hole the size of a watermelon etched onto the walls' surface. Behind it they could see a spacious cave where throngs of wolves could be seen going about.

Bones and carcasses were littered throughout the space and a fowl odor was everpresent. There was a small waterbody present at the centre, near it a wolf was sleeping. It looked significantly larger than the others, like a terrifying smilodon. Its frame was extremely robust, the air around it exuding a palpable supression on the others around.

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"I must say, my creations really look majestic seen from this close," Kaius couldn't help but remark, his narcissistic instincts kicking in.

Once he was done admiring, his hands went inside his spatial pouch as he fiddled around for something. His face lit up suddenly and he pulled his hands out which were now occupied with a transparent packet filled to the brim with a powder which had the hue like that of amethyst.

Opening the seal, he filled his hands with the powder and in one swift motion threw it inside the crack in the wall, as his other hand rose into the air. The particles of the powder started to difuse into the air as if they had turned magically to gas.

No sooner had the wolves realised the entry of this non-living intruder than a blazing streak of orange passed perfectly the hole. The seering flames on the arrow mixed in with the nebulous powder and in a instant, booms after booms sounded in the cave's semi-closed environment. The cave's surface tore apart like sand, debris falling all around.

The wolves natural survival instincts kicked in, as they ran out of the explosion's vicinity as if they had been possesed. After a while, the only things present in the wolves' den were debris, carcasses of hunted prays, and the thing Arin had done all this for.

Confirming no wolf was left, Arin immediately jumped in through the wall which had expanded due to the explosions it suffered.

Once inside, he immediately sprinted toward the very place the pack's alpha had been sleeping. The lake like structure was filled with dark blue water.

At first glance, it appeared completely normal but a deeper analysis would reveal the fact that there was no sky to impart the color blue to the lake's fluid and it made no sense for there to be such clear water inside such a filthy cave system.

Arin knew that the wolves would come to check their shelter very soon and therefore he didn't waste time, jumping straight into the cold water body. With a splash, Arin's figure was submereged in the water surrounded by chilling yet pleasant ripples.

He dived in the depths searching its surface for something particular. The lake was quite large actually about the size of a cricket ground. The waves had started to have a numbing effect on his weak body but there was an unknown force which was reinvigorating him after every few minutes as if the water here was blessed. Its effect so great that he didn't even have to go to the surface for rebreathing.

As Arin's body drifted around in the lake's interior, his foot hit a hard object causing gusts of pain to rise from within. He looked down and the instant he did, his face scrunched in relief. A metallic chest with bronze-like color was what injured him.

Picking up the chest and cleching onto it with his arms, Arin floated upwards with a swift pace.

Nocterin had been standing for quite a while now and was in a delimma: whether to go into the lake to see if the prince was fine or trust him and save himself for the whining he might get for not listening to his order of leaving him alone.

So when Nocterin noticed Arin's head popping out of the water, his stoic face changed slightly; the tensed eyebrows lowering ipso jure.

Out of nowhere, a series of footsteps shaked the ground and distant howls began to be heard.

"Run!" Shouted Arin, and without uttering a single other word began to sprint out of the cave as if satan himself was attached to his shadows.

Just as the prince's frame crossed Nocterin's, he was held by his firm grip. Immediately after, the pair started to whizz through the wind like the breeze that blew before storm. In less than a minute, the pair's figures stood outside the very cave they had been in a minute before.

Apparently the powerful Nocterin also had great memory capabilities as the cave system route that Arin could only traverse through beacuse of him being its very creator was learnt in a moment's time by him.

"Ridiculous! Just ridiculous." Arin could only complain at the unfairness in his heart.

Done ranting, Arin finally got to opening the chest. His hands pulled at its lid but the insanely heavy cover wouldn't even budge. Arin struggled with the chest like a child causing a subtle smile to form on Nocterin's face.

Flicking his finger at the chest, Nocterin applied slight pressure. The chest's hefty lid shot up into the sky and its entire frame trembled in the arms of Arin. A glow extended outward, slowly diminishing and revealing an orange key. It was the key of purification, granting access to numerous abodes of evil, including the vampiric ruins.

Arin retrieved the key and closed its lid, he could that at least. As his sight moved from the chest in his arms to the air at his eye-level, he was given a jumpscare. A rustic tune like that of an old machine sounded and a large green holographich display consumed his eyesight.

[Hidden Conditions Met.]

[The Sytem Of Universal Civilisations has fused with the host successfully.]

[Welcome host! To the world of civilisation creation.]