At the same time in the forest.

Mini scuttled through the bushes. Desperation filled her eyes as nothing came into her mind.

Her tribe had betrayed her trust. She even threw out a tempting offer that they could contract a higher-ranked being. All they had to do was cut and expand the tunnel. Yet, they rejected her.

What could she do to save him?

Was she wrong to give him false hope?

Such questions swirled within her consciousness and she didn't notice a rabbit falling from the sky. By the time she did, the gray fur buried her underneath.

Mini squealed and poked the rabbit with her horn. It jolted away and gave her a wary look.

Mini conjured the power in her horn but the rabbit didn't even flinch. She gave it a closer look and froze.

Shadow Rabbit! Mini screamed mentally and retreated step by step. The gray furball, however, vanished and arrived in her face. It sniffed her briefly and grabbed her tiny shoulders with dead serious eyes.

"You were with his highness?" The rabbit's voice was soft, unlike its intense eyes.

Mini could only nod as she didn't possess the ability to speak like this rabbit. Mini also found that man's scent on the rabbit. 

"Where is he?!"

Mini squinted her eyes and thrust her hand in the cave's direction.

"There are so greeen animals there. Is his highness safe?"

Mini shook her head and told the rabbit with gestures.

The rabbit fumed and dragged her over to a place with hundreds of shadow rabbits.

Mini finally saw some hope to save that man. I refuse to be useless in this life, she thought and followed the Shadow Rabbit.

—x—x—x—

Several hours later.

Ethan woke up to warm fur covering his face. His eyes unfolded to witness a gray rabbit licking his cheeks.

It looks familiar.

"Kwiii!"

That's Mini!

He pushed the rabbit off his chest and forced himself up. The rabbits bunched around him. Roughly around fifteen.

Mini climbed onto his thighs and pointed her finger at the rabbits smaller than the one on his lap.

"Kiii!"

The bunnies came here to play?

"Scan."

This rabbit could hop all the way to a different world. It turned out Mini had brought in reinforcements to rescue him.

He picked up the little squirrel and tickled her stomach. "Okay, little bunnies. Take me home."

His whisper brought a still silence to the cave. The rabbits separated from him and faced the tunnel. Black tendrils oozed out of their bodies and waived together in the air. The threads soon formed what appeared to be a dark vortex.

"Shall I?" Ethan asked for confirmation.

The biggest rabbit pushed his legs. Taking the cue, Ethan stepped inside.

The darkness consumed the silver light and painted the world in its colors; it also touched Ethan, chilling his body down to the core. The silence screamed. He could understand its loneliness.

He felt his fists brimming with a surge of power as if he could collapse this world to his whims.

Let's get out of here.

One step forward brought him before a murky river and sky. Where was this place? Shadow Realm? The land of gray served reminiscent of the name.

Ethan looked down. From torso to legs he was of different shades of purple.

How do I go back?

He searched around. Two glowing crimson spheres plastered on a fuzzy red silhouette caught his attention. It must be a monster lurking in the Shadow Realm. Ethan had no time to dwell on this. Turning away from the peculiar eyes, he sprinted.

Ethan felt an abrupt vibration. He stopped and watched the colors return to the world. Trees. The goblin's threat disappeared from his back.

Ding!

Huh?

He opened his status to check its information.

Weird. Extremely weird and useless as he had no intention of fighting in this place.

He glanced down at the rest of his skill.

The Magic Eyes skill rose a bit. Scanning everything would be a great way to rank up as it cost literally nothing.

Ethan spun around. The rabbits and Mini rushed at him. Like children happy to see their mother. The thought made him chuckle.

"Thank you, everyone. For saving me."

The bunnies parted and the biggest one approached, skidding as she did. She dragged the black bag he brought to this world.

"Wonderful!"

He seized the bag and checked it. Everything was there. He patted the rabbit's head and scratched her cheeks.

"I am sorry for ignoring you last time… We should move from here."

The rabbit flipped on its back and sprawled to seek more affection.

Mini pointed in a direction and Ethan headed there. Everyone trailed his back like ducklings following their mother. His strides strangely made no sound. He glanced at the biggest rabbit emitting dark sparks. To think he would treat her cruelly at their first meeting.

I should give her a new—

He paused. The sound of trickling water could be heard in the distance. He swallowed his dry saliva and ran, recalling the taste of water given by Phoenix.

Please don't be another magma river.

His worries were unfounded as sparkling water entered his sight, reflecting the trees. He splashed a handful of icy water on his face. The clear water revealed the shallow river's bottom.

Should he drink it? It could be poisonous for an otherworlder like him.

He glanced at Mini, who nodded at him.

She is a saint reincarnation, isn't she?

Ethan quenched his thirst. His eyes darted past the river. A cave was there, with vines covering its mouth, as though no one disturbed it for decades.

But looks can be deceiving. The last cave he entered turned out to be the base of the stinky green creatures. He was lucky to escape with his chastity intact.

He hurled a stone inside the cave. A minute passed and no disturbance came from the cave.

It's safe, probably.

He folded his pants to his knees and crossed the river with Mini on his shoulder.

The shadow rabbits dispersed into black clouds and came together on his side.

Neat.

Mini jumped off his shoulder and slipped through the vines.

"Wait for me."

Ethan removed the branches and vines and pushed the boulder. The scent of a rose lingered in the air, although the cave only had silver moss growing everywhere. This one was rather narrow as he could see the end from the entrance, where Mini furiously scratched the ground.

A scan of these strange moss could come later. He approached Mini and helped her dig out the damp soil. The rabbits also joined and together they clawed the ground.

Ethan's nail scratched something hard and bled. He patted the dust away. A crimson light burst forth from the ground, filling the cave with its radiance. It came from tiny blood-red shards.

Ethan took one and used his scan ability.

Blood? Did someone die here? Ethan's eyes went to Mini, whose sparkling blue eyes gazed back at him. Was his joke about her reincarnation real? She was intelligent and knew gestures that a human could understand. Even the Shadow Rabbit couldn't compete with her in this aspect.

"You want me to keep them?"

Mini nodded and continued digging for more.

In the end, he collected nineteen crystals.