A myriad of thoughts went through Nathan's head. The bunny was quite unpredictable, and he wouldn't put it past the hopping disaster to bite off Ciara's hand.

And we were just about to start sharing information.

His hand reached out to try and pull her back, but she was too far gone, and all he could do was look at the bunny in equal parts fear and hope.

It's over now. I doubt health potions can fix a bitten-off hand.

He resisted the urge to shut his eyes when her fingers touched down on the fur of the bunny, fully expecting the killer in disguise to snap at the hand with its sharpened rows of teeth.

You sly bastard.

It hadn't, Nathan couldn't believe his eyes. The bunny behaved just like any household pet, letting Ciara pick it up and run her fingers through its coat. Worse off was the fact that the sly rabbit was staring straight at him while Ciara petted it, cooing alongside the others who'd brushed past him to get to the bunny.

He had to admit that the bunny had mad survival instincts if it was only putting up a front because it had seen other humans with him, but he knew from the way it was currently staring at him that it just wanted to mess with him.

"Pirlo, isn't he cute?" Ciara asked.

Nathan turned and watched as the rogue who'd been the only one to stay back while the rest pandered to the rabbit rolled his eyes. For the first time since meeting the rogue, they'd agreed on something, not that he was going to tell him that.

"I'd drop him if I were you," Nathan said.

It'd taken him a minute to get back his voice after the shocking scene he'd just witnessed, but if he knew anything about the bunny, then the danger hadn't even remotely passed.

"Why?" Another member of the group asked.

Nathan had to resist uttering the words at the tip of his tongue. These guys hadn't seen what the actual forest was like; they didn't know that everything was a threat. Compared to him, all of them were noobs. Besides, with how harmless the bunny was acting, he was pretty sure that none of them would believe him if he told them it was a ticking time bomb.

Ah, fuck it.

"No reason, carry on," Nathan mumbled.

After all, the bunny had saved his life unwittingly, even if it was just to collect its complete tribute. Maybe they'd get to be best friends, or maybe it'd wake up one day and hop into the forest never to be seen again. Either way, Nathan knew which option he preferred.

Pushing his way through his crowded porch, Pirlo behind him, he brushed past the rough circle of bunny ogglers and made his way to the door.

"Come in," Nathan said, walking into the living room, the fireplace cackling with magical fire.

Pirlo was the first to follow, which wasn't that surprising, considering the fact that the rogue had stayed away from the bunny, not bothering to go through the all-fawning process that the rest of the squad. And Nathan couldn't really hate on it.

They'd just lost comrades or friends, and if a bunny that could kill them all based on an errant thought was all they needed to get their mind off things, then so be it.

Hopefully, it doesn't go all murderhobo in my cabin.

In his defense, it was a nice cabin. A bachelor's cabin with fewer things than a closed-down restaurant, but he still made it work. He took his eyes off the fireplace to see Pirlo staring right at him, an indecipherable expression on the rogue's face.

Creepy.

Luckily, Nathan didn't have to confront the rogue. He'd really hate having to fight in the cabin. His bloodlust settled as the other members of the squad began walking in through the door. Ciara had handed over the bunny to another member of the squad — a guy with a sword.

Probably a berserker.

Part of him hoped the guy was. He couldn't be stuck with Pirlo as the only other person of the opposite gender. They were more likely to murder each other than have a civil conversation.

"So, you got a couch hidden somewhere, bro?" The guy holding the bunny asked.

"Ruben!!!" Ciara and three others said exasperatedly.

"What, I was just asking a question," Ruben said defensively.

"Unfortunately, I don't," Nathan chuckled, showing that it was all good.

Without waiting for the next question, he sat cross-legged on the floor, satisfaction adorning his features as the rest of the squad joined him on the cabin floor. The bunny was left to sit in the middle of their somewhat rough circle, the furry killer making Nathan a little bit fidgety with his sword, but he clamped down on the feeling.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"To begin, I'm sorry for your loss," he said solemnly, looking each member of the squad in the face.

The loss had definitely been unexpected and probably was an eye-opener for the rest of them in the squad. His words seemed to resonate with the feeling as they all held solemn looks like him. The weight of the statement settled on their shoulders. From what Nathan could see, all of them here were probably in their late teens like him, or their early twenties at most.

"May their souls rest in peace," Nathan finished.

Murmurs of agreement echoed around the circle, with each member of the squad saying a little prayer for the departed souls in their own little way. A moment of silence stretched within the cabin until the squad's de facto leader broke it.

"On behalf of my squad, I want to thank you for saving us from those two. It would've been a bloodbath if you hadn't stepped in," Ciara breathed, maintaining eye contact with him.

Nathan nodded his head in agreement. Thanks or no thanks, he was always going to step in to defend them. They were humans just like him, and he wouldn't be worse off than a mindless beast if he just hid and watched them get decimated. Heck, it could've been worse with him turning away when he saw the pair of Miners corralling the group, but he hadn't because, from the moment he stepped out of Blood Rock in the morning, he already had it at the back of his mind that he was going to defend mankind that day.

"You'd do the same for me," Nathan said with a shrug.

He hoped they would have. Pirlo seemed like the type that would have left him to die if the roles were reversed, but Nathan wasn't going to condemn a group of people for a single person's actions.

"Sorry to cut into your conversation, but we pretty much just got on this resort a couple of hours ago, and we kind of were hoping to find a fast-food joint. Have you seen any?" Ruben asked.

Nathan watched with amusement as Ciara's right eye twitched before the squad leader smoothed out her facial features. Loudly clearing her throat to get her squad mate back into order.

Well, if they think they're finding fast-food joints and Wi-Fi, they're in for a rude awakening.

"No fast-food joints as far as I can tell, man," Nathan gently said. "And this is anything other than a resort. At the base level, it's just an island."

More like a massive death trap or the ultimate playground.

A couple of disappointed sighs echoed across the room at his statement, but Ciara and Pirlo perked up at his last words.

"Island??" The pair asked simultaneously.

"Yep," Nathan replied with a wince.

He could see the gears starting to turn in the pair's heads while the others were still considering the effects that the lack of fast-food restaurants would have on their ability to survive in the wild.

"We can't be stuck on the island. How are we supposed to contact the rest of the world? Swim?" Ciara lamented.

"I wouldn't even advise you to get into the water if you were in a swim team. That place has to be riddled with more monsters than the island itself," Nathan said.

It probably was. The body of water surrounding the island stretched further than the land itself and was way deeper too.

"That's not the only option, though. We could find a stronghold and buy a beamer," Pirlo said quietly.

Nathan's face scrunched up in confusion. A beamer? He hadn't seen anything like that and couldn't even figure out how he was supposed to find it. By

Probably in the stronghold shop.

"If that's the case, then I have good news for you guys," Nathan said with a grin. "You're in a stronghold."

He watched as the squad exchanged looks at each other, their eyes taking in his bare living room, each gaze making Nathan wince, but he persevered. The system had called it a Stronghold after all.

"This... this is a stronghold?" Ciara asked in disbelief.

"Yep, welcome to Blood Rock. I know it doesn't look like much, but I'm still getting a hang of this system thing," Nathan admitted. "Speaking of which, you guys have information on the beamer thing from the tutorial, right?"

"So you're a lord?" Pirlo asked in a monotonous voice.

Nathan had to resist the urge to look smugly at the rogue who'd been trying to shit on him since their first interaction, mostly because he still needed the information that they probably had.

"Yep, so the beamer thing?" Nathan asked again.

Ciara looked at Pirlo, and they seemed to have one of those wordless conversations. He didn't get how people could communicate without words or signs, but the pair managed to do so to a reasonable degree.

"We do," Ciara said, finally breaking eye contact with Pirlo to stare at Nathan.

Okay, so this exercise in hero mode wouldn't be a total waste of time, not that Nathan thought that saving lives was a waste of time. He just thought it was nice to be actually rewarded for good deeds once in a while.

"Soooo..." Nathan drawled, waiting for them to provide the information.

"We are grateful that you saved us, we really are," Ciara started. "But here's how this is going to work: a question for a question. Do we have an agreement?"

A question for a question.

Nathan had half a mind to usher them out of his stronghold and let them have a Q&A session with the monsters in the forest. But just as he was about to make his thoughts known to the squad that was stepping on his goodwill, the bunny hopped towards him, staring at him with what looked like innocence to the others but leashed violence to him.

Taking their side, are you?

He stared at the bunny for a moment before letting out a sigh of acceptance. He owed his life to the bunny, and the squad owed their lives to him. So if the bunny wanted him to parlay with them, then he'd parlay with them.

"You have an agreement. So the beamer?" Nathan asked for the third time.

The bunny hopped back to the center of the circle after his statement, basking in the attention it received for its looks. He gave it a half glare before facing the pair of Pirlo and Ciara, who were yet to respond.

"The beamer is kind of a communication tower that sends messages between strongholds. Advanced beamers can even teleport people at the later stages of their evolution. I believe you can purchase it in your stronghold shop... that is if you really are a lord," Pirlo said calmly.

The nerve of this guy. What exactly was the problem that Pirlo had with him? Yes, they'd gotten off on the wrong foot, but the type of vibe he was bringing into their conversation right about now was making Nathan consider reneging on their agreement. But he didn't.

"Play nice, Pirlo," Ciara said. Turning to Nathan, she asked, "Our turn. What are the things we should look out for on the island?"