I raised my hands, slowly. "What did you do to the people who lived here?"

  "Wouldn't you like to know," she hissed, her hot breath wafting against my ear as she shoved me toward the campsite.

  I likely had the level advantage, but as I had proven time and time again, levels weren't everything. A sharp blade was enough to balance out all the power discrepancies I'd run into so far. It would be the same for her.

  She pricked me in the back. "Keep moving."

  "You really don't wanna do this."

  "Don't tell me what I want to do, Redeemer scum."

  "Redeemer..." I mumbled, brows creased into a confused scowl.

  Glancing down at my appearance, my heart sank.

  Well, this is going to be hard to explain.

  "Okay, let's both calm down, there's been a misunderstanding..."

  "I said shut up!" she barked and kicked me through a bush.

  I tripped over the branches and fell into the campsite. The hood on the cape fell over my head as I moaned. "Ow."

  "Look what I found creeping around the bushes," she declared, standing over me.

  Voices stirred, "A redeemer!"

  "They've found our camp..."

  "Look at the state of him," they whispered.

  Planting my hands on the ground, I tried to push myself up, but she pressed me back down with a boot.

  "I said there's been a misunderstanding, dammit!" I growled.

  "And I said save it," she hissed back.

  Fuck it.

  I whistled, and a moment later air split into a high-pitched howl as Iron dive-bombed my captor.

  "Wha-" she screamed, and I felt the weight on my back lessen.

  Utilizing the full strength granted to me by fifteen levels, I burst to my feet and pulled my knife. My sudden movements made her stumble backward, flapping her arms wildly to get Iron out of her hair. I whirled around and caught her by her collar, pulling her into a rear naked choke as Iron flapped into the sky.

  The others moved to stop me but froze when they saw my knife pressing against her neck. "Do you feel like listening now?!" I growled into her ear.

  She wore a deep scowl, hesitating, but ultimately nodded and dropped her dagger to the ground. "Back off," she ordered the others.

  There were more of them than I'd expected, probably about ten or so, and judging by the shuffling sounds in the forest behind me, there were more.

  "If you try anything," I said and glanced back into the trees, "I swear I won't hesitate."

  The shuffling went quiet. They could hear that I wasn't kidding.

  Turning to the woman, I spoke slowly, "Now, where's Aubrey? Where are Tom and Aya?"

  Her eyes widened. "How do yo-"

  "Jax?" a familiar voice called out.

  I turned, the knot in my stomach untangling. "Trish, where are the others?"

  She wore the same clothes as the day I first met her, minus the high-vis vest and hard hat. Her red hair was tied up in a neat ponytail, not even a single strand left free. She wore the bow I'd taken as security diagonally over her shoulder and had a quiver on her hip.

  Gaping, she doubled over, grabbing her stomach in a fit of laughter.

  I creased my brow. "What?"

  Straightening while wiping a tear from her eye, she chuckled. "You're literally the worst at first impressions." She put emphasis on worst.

  I scoffed and repeated myself. "Where are the others?"

  She waved my concern away. "Oh, they're fine, you big drama queen. Aubrey and Tom are just doing whatever it is that they do, and Aya is out patrolling the area. Now let poor Tessia go before she pisses herself. The rest of you, too, sheathe your weapons; Jax is one of us. He's just a bit odd."

  Uncalled for.

  Seeing the others listen to Trish and back off, I loosened my grip on Tessia's neck and moved the knife no more than an inch before she squirmed loose, pushing herself free.

  Glaring, she massaged her throat. "What kind of fucking Summoner knows grappling?"

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "This one." I grinned and pointed at my chest with a thumb.

  "Ugh," she moaned and picked up her dagger.

  As I sheathed my knife, the surrounding crowd eased up, and I felt comfortable enough to appraise Tessia.

  [Thief LV7]

  Impressive.

  She was the highest-level human I'd seen after myself. I thought that my senses had grown pretty sharp these last few days with my massive boost in agility. Turns out I still wasn't good enough to hear a Thief sneak up on me.

  "Sorry about that," I said with a sheepish smile, scratching my cheek. "Heat of the moment."

  Her face wore irritated gashes left by Iron's talons, but apart from that, she was quite the looker: dark braided hair, contrasting blue eyes, and soft features that didn't belong with her slender figure wrapped in dark athleisure clothes. She had a sheath on her hip into which she slid her weapon.

  “Why the hell were you sneaking around our camp wearing a redeemer cape?"

  "I figured it was better than turning up naked..." I muttered. Her cheeks flushed.

  Trish's giggle cut through the tension. "See, told you he was odd." She waved at me to follow her, and I did—with Tessia hot on my heel—while admiring what Tom had done to the place. The shelter I'd first built with Aubrey was still at the base of it all, with some major improvements, but the true wonder of the place lay up high.

  Using planks, Tom had built footholds straight onto a sturdy and particularly thick birch tree. Gazing up at the ladder I almost couldn't keep myself from gasping. In just a few days time the man had not only built a treehouse, but a goddamned palace. It must have been more than 150 square meters large.

  Trish grinned and waved for me to climb. "Impressive, right? I wouldn't hire anyone but the best. After you."

  I climbed up the tree and pushed open the hatch in the treehouse's floor.

  "Hurry up," Tessia complained from below.

  I rolled my eyes. You didn't even have to come.

  Heaving myself inside the cabin, I looked around in wonder. Furniture in pale timber and clad with mismatching fabrics filled what I assumed to be the living room and kitchen. It was really just a large box with everything crammed into the same room, save for one wall of the building which had a loft with some sleeping pads and furs. One of the furs struck me as familiar. I squinted and looked closer at the bristled grey fur.

  The wolf!

  My first real difficult fight. A wave of nostalgia washed over me at the sight. It had happened just a few days ago, but it felt like it had been weeks. Not allowing me to revel in the feeling, a body slammed into mine from the side.

  "Jax!" Aubrey exclaimed, pulling me into a bear hug. She nearly knocked the air out of my lungs and retreated at my groan. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?"

  I waved it off. "It's fine, just a bit bruised is all."

  "And wet," Trish commented as she climbed inside and stared at the puddle forming by my feet.

  "Right," I muttered. "Sorry about that."

  "Oh, it's alright," Aubrey exclaimed and tugged at the cape. "Let me take that for you. Tom! Get him a blanket or something."

  I hadn't even noticed the man, as he sat hidden behind Aubrey's figure. "Yeah, yeah," he muttered and climbed up to the loft, rummaging through the furs and pads before he triumphantly presented a bright red blanket to Aubrey. She nodded, and he climbed down.

  I raised my eyebrows at the sight. They seemed like an old married couple more than people who met just a few days ago. Pretty cute.

  Letting Aubrey cover me with the blanket as I undressed, I listened as Tom explained to Tessia who I was. I cringed when the story reached the point of our first meeting. I definitely could have handled that better. "Sorry again," I chortled, and encased myself in the crisp and dry blanket as Aubrey gathered my things with a smile.

  Unclasping the window and hanging my clothes out to dry seemed so natural to her. "Did you have kids?" I asked without giving it a second thought, then felt the tension in the room shift. "My bad."

  Her movements slowed as she straightened my clothes so they wouldn't wrinkle. "It's alright. And no. I just grew up taking care of my younger siblings. Knowing them, they're out there stirring up some real problems right now." She chuckled. "What about you? Do you have any siblings?"

  I shook my head. "My parents always said I gave them enough trouble."

  She smiled again and pointed me toward the table where the others had already settled. "I take it you've always been this way, then."

  I wanted to retort, but her assumption was more than likely correct. "Probably. Only now it's beneficial," I conceded with a sigh and sat down with the others.

  Tom slid a bowl of fruits my way, which I gratefully accepted. Slipping my dominant arm out of the blanket, I dug in without restraint. Bursts of sweet juice sprayed as I bit into an apple. This was the first taste of sweetness I'd had since the fall.

  It's almost been a week already...

  The silence in the room left me feeling like something was off. I looked up at the others and saw their worried gazes. Well, Aubrey and Tom's worried glances. The two young women couldn't care less. Tessia kept her hand on her dagger, not fully trusting me yet, while Trish balanced on the chair's hind legs and filed her nails.

  "It's nothing," I said between chews, rolling my arm for effect with a grin. "Almost healed already, see."

  "You've been fighting high-level monsters, then?" Tom asked, and I thought for a moment that I heard a hint of admiration leak through his nonchalant tone.

  I nodded and took another bite.

  "That explains the high level."

  "I'm just glad you're alright," Aubrey said and laid a hand on mine.

  I suppose saving her from the end of the world had built up quite a bit of goodwill—even after threatening her would-be boyfriend. It was nice to have someone depend on me, and it was especially nice to know that she had my back. Aubrey might not have been the most reliable in a fight, but she was a force to be reckoned with when it came to making friends, an area I was sorely lacking in.

  "And I'm glad we get a level sixteen summoner to help us last this blood moon," Trish yawned.

  I tilted my head. "I never said that I'm staying, though."

  Tessia flinched. "What? Then why the hell did you come and cause all this commotion?"

  "Tess! He's welcome to visit friends whenever he wants to," Aubrey hissed, then turned to me. "You'll always have a place here."

  Tossing the apple core out of the window, I sucked my teeth. "Well... about that..."

  When I told the group of the redeemer camp nearby, their faces paled. Even Trish looked taken aback.

  Tessia questioned me about the size of the camp, their exact location, food storage, patrol routes, and a bunch more stuff that I had no idea about. At some point, Aya joined the group and exchanged a quick greeting with me.

  "Is that where you got the cape?" Tessia asked after interrogating me for a good ten more minutes.

  "Yes and no. I ran into a group from their camp while running away from a Drake. We had a disagreement, and I ended up having to fight them."

  Chewing on her nails, Tessia muttered under her breath, "Just one patrol... that's bad, but it's not the end of the world."

  I cleared my throat. "Then, I figured that if there's a camp, I might as well go check it out—maybe even sneak inside since I had the cape and all."

  Her face paled.

  "That's where I met Colt and Holt, a pair of twins who stood guard at one of the gates. They taught me a lot about this whole situation."

  "Stop," Tessia ordered, raising one hand in front of my face and massaging the bridge of her nose with the other. "What happened to them?"

  "Erm... Well, you see, we had a disagreement."

  Aya groaned. "Fuck, Jax."

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