The rabbit did not anticipate what was about to happen.
In a single, fluid motion, Neo leapt forward and seized it. The rabbit barely had time to emit a frightened squeal before Neo grabbed it by the ears.
As soon as the soft, elongated flesh of the ears was in his grasp, Neo tightened his grip so firmly he nearly ground them to dust.
But he knew why he did it.
A white glow enveloped the rabbit's body the next instant, accompanied by a whooshing sound. Apart from stirring up dust and swinging forward like a child on a swing, the rabbit remained firmly in his hold.
It had attempted to flash away as before, but Neo was ready.
It could not escape his grasp!
Now that he had cut off its escape, he could properly punish it!
Neo avoided the rabbit's adorable face, just in case it launched any soul attacks, and turned its face away.
He smeared his hands with sand to increase the friction and hardness of his palms and raised it high.
The rabbit continued to squeal. Neo imagined it was calling him an ungrateful swine, but it needed to be disciplined for its previous misdeeds!
It was unacceptable!
A stain on his reputation!
If his future disciples or harem heard about this, he wouldn't be able to remove the stain even with bleach!
Pow!
He didn't hold back. He delivered a resounding slap to the rabbit's large, round backside with all the force his common grade physique could muster.
But he wasn't finished!
Pow!
Pow!
Pow!
Neo ignored the rabbit's desperate squeals. Revenge must be served!
Hot and hard!
The rabbit should consider itself fortunate he wasn't prepared to lower himself to its level and shower it with gold as well!
This was already an act of mercy!
Pow!
Finally, when the rabbit had shrivelled up into a tight ball, he stopped.
He slowly turned the rabbit's face back to his, observing its red eyes, puffy nose, and drooping ears.
Neo's heart twitched.
He sighed.
He might have overreacted a bit...
No matter what, this rabbit was still his saviour.
To cheer up the now-dejected rabbit, he brought it over to where the corpse of the uncommon grade lizard was buried and gently placed it down.
"If you dig here, you'll find the lizard's dead body—"
Before Neo could finish, the rabbit, previously sad and depressed, squealed with excitement and began to dig with manic fervour.
Neo was momentarily stunned before he began to chuckle.
This rabbit was insane...
He watched as the rabbit eagerly devoured the dead lizard, a gleeful expression on its face, and found it oddly endearing.
The rabbit, realising it couldn't consume the entire lizard at once, pulled out its crusty little bag and began packing pieces of the beast into it.
It was so efficient, it was as if he was watching a human at work.
And it also knew magic! Neo could have sworn it hadn't been carrying that bag!
Or had his eyes simply overlooked it?
After filling its small bag with enough meat and eating to its heart's content, the rabbit burped and patted its round, bloated belly with a smile.
Neo smiled as well. He had searched around and found his spear and spirit vacuum.
He was overjoyed to discover that the device hadn't been destroyed in the collapse, and his grin stretched from ear to ear.
The intense, tumultuous battle hadn't been in vain.
He had not lost his bloodline essence.
As dusk approached, Neo decided it was time to leave.
He bade the rabbit farewell and began heading back in the direction he had come from when he noticed the white rabbit was still following him.
When he stopped, the rabbit also stopped. When he moved, it moved as well.
Neo turned around.
He stared at the rabbit with a puzzled expression.
What was wrong with this rabbit? Why did it suddenly want to follow him?
Enemies to friends trope?
The rabbit stared back with its cutest expression. It even rubbed its hands together!
Neo was taken aback. This rabbit really wanted to follow him? Had its home been destroyed in the chaos last night?
He couldn't help but ask,
"You really want to come with me?"
The rabbit nodded.
"Like my companion?"
It nodded again.
Neo felt the rabbit didn't fully grasp what it was getting into. Did it know how tragic his luck could be?
"I face danger often. Can you handle that?"
Its little chest puffed up, and it nodded confidently. Neo wanted to laugh. He was talking about real danger!
"Even if it's uncommon grade danger?"
Its ears twitched, and its fur stood on end. It tried to nod, but its head ended up vibrating aimlessly.
After a moment, it regained its bearings and nodded with renewed confidence.
"You don't mind?"
It nodded and moved closer to Neo.
"Will you be loyal?"
It gave a firm nod and patted its chest again. Its round eyes were serious, and its posture was regal.
It seemed to be pledging endless loyalty to Neo.
He was touched.
Maybe... it could work?
_____
Five minutes later.
Neo and the rabbit were running for their lives.
They had stumbled upon a family of wild red turkeys and were now fleeing in terror.
These angry birds were dangerous!
The leader of the turkey clan, an uncommon grade beast, was furious and hungry. It wanted those two little fools for its meal!
But they were too fast!
Neo had the enhancements from the concept of weightlessness and his mind. He also possessed a common grade physique and long legs.
His top speed was astonishing!
The rabbit was... just the rabbit. It was unexplainably fast as usual. In fact, it was even faster than Neo!
Suddenly, Neo tripped on a root and tumbled forward.
He fell on his face and bruised his forehead.
Time was running out! The turkeys were closing in!
The rabbit, which had originally dashed past Neo, came to an abrupt halt.
Then it turned around and raced back towards him!
Neo felt his heart warm. This rabbit had actually come back for him?
It was so loyal.
Even though there wasn't much the rabbit could do for Neo, the fact that it was willing to face danger on his behalf made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
The rabbit reached him, picked up something quickly, then gave him a brief pat on the head before turning around and continuing to run.
It didn't spare Neo a second glance!
It had only turned around to retrieve a piece of lizard meat that had fallen out of its bag!
Neo's face turned purple as he scrambled to his feet.
This was its version of loyalty?!
"You demonic bunny!"