The interrogation turned out to be significantly less threatening than Jax expected.
Llandra still stood with perfect posture and crossed arms, but her bow was no longer pointed at his chest, which felt like progress.
Nyxian leaned casually against a nearby tree with obvious amusement.
Bunny looked fascinated.
Zee looked concerned for everyone involved.
Mostly Jax.
“So,” Llandra said carefully, “perhaps you should explain what happened here.” Jax nodded slowly.
“Fair.” He considered how much information sounded reasonable.
Then immediately realized almost none of it sounded reasonable.
“I arrived in the forest not long ago,” he began.
“Shortly after that, a dragon attacked me.” “That part checks out,” Nyxian said.
“They’re territorial this deep in the Wildlands,” Llandra added.
Jax gestured toward the corpse.
“So naturally, I made several excellent life decisions.” Nyxian smirked.
“I’m sensing sarcasm.” “You should.” Llandra pinched the bridge of her nose already.
“I didn’t have a weapon,” Jax continued.
“So I lured it toward the lake, waited for an opening, then hit it.” The group stared at him.
Bunny blinked.
“…Hit it?” “I punched it.” Silence.
Zee tilted her head slightly.
“…The dragon?” “The very same dragon.” Llandra slowly gestured toward the enormous corpse lying beside the lake.
“You punched an S-class fire dragon hard enough to remove its head.” Jax rubbed the back of his neck.
“When you say it out loud, it DOES sound a little unreasonable.” Nyxian snorted.
“Maybe he didn’t use his fist.” The entire group turned toward her.
Nyxian smiled innocently.
“Maybe it was that third leg of his.” Bunny nearly inhaled her own tongue.
Zee turned bright red instantly.
Llandra made a sound that could only be described as spiritual distress.
Jax stared at Nyxian for several long seconds.
“…I’m choosing to believe you’re naturally like this and not intentionally trying to kill people through embarrassment.” Nyxian laughed openly.
“Oh, relax.
You walked naked out of a lake in front of four women.
You survived.” “You say survived,” Llandra muttered, still visibly recovering.
“I’m still evaluating the damage,” Jax admitted.
Bunny burst out laughing.
The tension finally eased.
Llandra straightened again, visibly dragging the conversation back under control through sheer force of will.
“What are your intentions regarding the dragon?” she asked professionally.
Jax blinked.
“My intentions?” “The corpse,” she clarified.
“Scales, bones, core, organs.
A dragon of this size is worth a fortune.” Jax paused.
“…Seriously?” All four women stared at him.
“You killed an S-class dragon,” Nyxian said slowly.
“Without equipment.” “And you somehow don’t know dragons are valuable?” “In my defense,” Jax said, “this has been a VERY confusing day.” Bunny looked genuinely baffled.
“A dragon like this could support Solmere for years.” Jax’s expression shifted immediately.
That changed things.
Strength mattered.
But resources mattered too.
Infrastructure.
Trade.
Food.
Opportunity.
Even before understanding why, his mind naturally drifted toward systems instead of treasure.
Interesting.
“Alright,” Jax said after a moment.
“Then let’s make a deal.” The women exchanged glances.
“You help me get this thing to town.
Help me navigate the local economy.
Help me avoid accidentally insulting a king or buying cursed cheese or whatever else fantasy worlds do.” Nyxian nodded thoughtfully.
“Reasonable concern.” “And in exchange,” Jax continued, “you get twenty percent.” Silence.
Then— “WHAT?!” Bunny yelped.
Nyxian straightened immediately.
“Twenty percent?” Zee looked startled.
“That’s… that’s incredibly generous.” Llandra narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
“You would offer that much to strangers?” Jax shrugged.
“You know the area.
I don’t.” He pointed toward the dragon.
“You know what that thing is worth.
I don’t.” Then he folded his arms.
“And I’m guessing transporting fifty feet of angry lizard isn’t easy.” Bunny tilted her head slowly.
“…You’re paying for information.” “And time,” Jax added.
“Both are valuable.” The four women stared at him differently after that.
Less suspicion.
More curiosity.
Zee stepped forward gently.
“…Why don’t you just store it?” Jax blinked.
“Store it where?” The group collectively froze.
“…In your system inventory?” Bunny asked carefully.
Jax stared back blankly.
“My what?” Nyxian slowly looked toward Llandra.
“I think we found the problem.” Llandra nodded once.
“You truly are new here.” Jax crossed his arms.
“That has been aggressively established, yes.” Zee stepped closer.
“Open your system.” Jax hesitated slightly before doing so.
The translucent screen appeared instantly.
Bunny smiled brightly.
“Yep.
Normal system interface.” “Select Beast Storage,” Zee instructed.
Jax followed the prompt experimentally.
The dragon’s corpse immediately distorted.
Its massive body dissolved into shadow-like particles before being pulled into the screen itself.
Wings.
Scales.
Bones.
Everything vanished.
The lakeshore became completely empty.
Jax stared.
“…That would’ve been EXTREMELY useful information earlier.” Bunny giggled.
Nyxian smirked.
Llandra looked mildly offended on behalf of common sense itself.
Then Bunny suddenly stepped forward and extended her hand enthusiastically.
“My name’s Aurabelle,” she said brightly.
“But everyone calls me Bunny.” Jax shook her hand.
“Jax.” She gestured toward the others.
“That’s Zephrial, but we call her Zee.” Zee gave a small shy wave.
Nyxian pushed herself away from the tree next.
“Nyxian,” she said dramatically.
“Demon girl.
Professional instigator.
Occasional bad influence.” “Consistent bad influence,” Llandra corrected.
Nyxian grinned proudly.
“And this,” Bunny continued warmly, “is our leader.” Llandra stepped forward calmly.
“Llandra.” Jax repeated it once.
“La-Landra.” Llandra gave a small nod.
“Correct.” Jax shook her hand as well.
Her grip was firm.
Controlled.
Military almost.
“We can escort you back to Solmere,” she said.
“Especially since you apparently arrived in our forest, killed one of the most dangerous creatures in the region, and nearly gave half the party heart failure.” “Unintentional,” Jax said.
“Debatable,” Nyxian replied.
Llandra ignored both of them.
“It’s roughly a two-hour walk from here.” Jax nodded slowly.
Then glanced at the group again.
Elf.
Demon.
Bunny girl.
Healer.
An absurd dragon in his inventory.
And somehow this already felt less strange than being alone.
Interesting.
“Alright,” he said.
A small grin crossed his face.
“Lead the way.” Together, they turned toward the forest path leading back to Solmere.
Toward civilization.
Toward answers.
Toward a future none of them yet realized they were walking into.