Enemies were sent flying, their bodies skidding across the cracked stone floor, some slamming into the cavern walls before dissolving into motes of grey dust. The air smelled of ozone and iron, a sharp tang that clung to Junwoo's tongue.
"Great job, now stop attacking," Kaelsu commanded.
The collar around Junwoo's throat flared a cold blue and locked him in place. His limbs seized mid-stride, every muscle screaming. He let out a guttural grunt, half anger, half pain, trying to force his body forward anyway. The harder he fought the magic, the deeper the burn crawled along his nerves.
He was unable to move, there was one enemy left. It was a dazed creature sprawled on the ground, health bar flickering with few points remaining. One scratch, a single kick, and the thing would be finished. The more he tried to resist, the more painful it became.
He hated how familiar the sensation had become.
"This… fucking sucks," he rasped. "STOP!" He thought he was shouting, but the collar muffled everything to a pitiful whimper. Being at the mercy of his so-called master was beyond humiliating.
He was starting to finally get used to this body and fighting monsters, and he was doing really well today. Why did he stop him?
Junwoo strained to move, jaw clenched until his teeth ached. The adrenaline from the fight hadn't left his body yet and he still felt like he was in danger. It wasn't over until the last one was dead.
"Sorry, I'm going to keep this one." Kaelsu's voice was surprisingly calm. There was a soothing warmth in his voice, one which held sympathy for the pet that was obviously in pain.
Kaelsu started that familiar chant which haunted Junwoo. It pained him to watch the ritual go down once more, and this creature couldn't even fight back.
Chains appeared, enveloping the enemy. It tried to move, it writhed in agony on the floor, attempting to escape the chains. They were tightening with each futile movement, obvious bruises and marks stained the skin and burned through the monster's fur.
The monster was a relatively medium sized wolf, the same one that originally attacked Junwoo some time ago. With four eyes, two mouths and claws sharper than daggers. The only difference this time was the size, Junwoo didn't feel nearly as intimidated this time and its fur was various shades of black and purple.
Above its head was a flashing label of 'Lv25'. He recalled the first time he met the same type of monster, it felt like so long ago. It was level 10 and was about to rip him open until… he came along. He stopped reminiscing, the moment had been ruined now.
It was done, the monster was now under Kaelsu's control and Junwoo had to sit there and watch.
Kaelsu checked the menu for the stats of the new menu of the party and nodded with a hand on his chin. "Ah finally, we've got someone with dark attribute damage. What do you want to name him?"
Oh. He was actually asking him? The collar's glow faded, and Junwoo collapsed to his knees, trembling from five minutes of resistance.
"Ugh…" Rising from the floor he thought for a moment. "Dick," he muttered.
"No, we can't name him that." Kaelsu missed the insult, it went right over his head.
His hands were firmly placed on his knees to help him catch his breath. He couldn't stand up yet, and every time this happens it completely knocks the wind out of him.
Kaelsu started walking to the entrance for the next area, while Junwoo took a moment to recover.
"How about Kaelsu." another lame attempt at insulting him.
"You're bad at this." Kaelsu thought for a moment and a mischievous grin plastered his face. His steps faltered and turned around to face the general direction of the fox struggling to catch up. He glanced over at the shorter figure. "How about… Azadeus2?"
Expression turned to hatred. Junwoo bared his fangs in a mock snarl. "Do that and I'll kill you." He tried to be threatening, but actually Kaelsu thought it was cute. He wanted a reaction out of him.
"Too late, it's done."
Kaelsu stopped for a moment. He pressed some buttons, entered some characters and tap, tap, tap. Then he summoned the wolf.
Out came the purple and black coloured wolf, with 2 sets of blood thirsty eyes. Above him wasn't just the 'Lv25' mark, but also now it was named 'Azadeus2'.
"I hate you."
Kaelsu smiled, he couldn't help but torment him. It was cute – the way his pet would get so flustered when teased. He loved to watch his cheeks flush red and the way he would avoid Kaelsu's gaze by averting his eyes to… well… anywhere else.
The larger of the team took a moment, for Junwoo, it looked like he was staring intensely at a menu. But what he was actually doing was looking for a guide on how to build the monster he'd captured. Every couple of minutes, he'd move and make some changes to something that Junwoo couldn't see.
"Are you good?" Junwoo asked and tried to shake his master, who stood there unmoving.
The menu closed. "Yes, I was just editing his stats and equipment. Let's continue on."
…
Hours blurred as they descended further into the depths of the dungeon.
The team had cleared a couple of floors now in the Abyssal Crown. Junwoo was starting to get a bit exhausted, but Kaelsu looked like his normal focused self.
Kaelsu noticed the permanent buff that popped up on top of Azadeus' head.
Tired: -15% speed, -15% damage, +15% damage taken
Expires after sleeping.
"I'm tired," he whined and threw himself to the floor. It was strangely warm. "I'm not moving."
He took a moment to look around at his surroundings, forcing himself to breathe slowly while his eyes adjusted to the extended darkness. The atmosphere in each successive chamber had grown steadily more sinister, and now, on floor ten, it felt unmistakably hellish.
The floors and walls breathed, like the dungeon itself was alive and watching. A permanent chill ran down his spine, it felt like it seeped into his bones. The stone walls seemed to pulse and hum an eerie tune. His hair stood on its ends like a startled cat.
He noticed the tight grip Kaelsu had on his staff, ready to summon and debuff enemies where he could.
"We need to keep going," the summoner urged, tightening the grip on his staff.
Junwoo's heart started beating a little bit faster at his own disobedience.
"Nope."
Kaelsu sighed and shook his head. While he could force him to move, he knew it wasn't going to do anything except make their relationship more strained.
"Okay," he uttered to himself. "No problem." He tried to pull on his signature grin and walked towards the unruly pet and kneeled down just beside him until they were eye-to-eye. He stared right at Junwoo..
Junwoon noticed this and shifted slightly, while he was comfortable before, he was no longer at ease. "What are you doing?" He asked, a nervous chuckle was caught in his throat. Fear started to creep into his eyes.
"Wait, no aahh–" Kaelsu placed his arms underneath Junwoo then quickly, and with some resistance, lifted him into the air. Junwoo kicked and resisted, but Kaelsu's arms were wide, strong and admittedly comfortable.
He was carrying him as if he weighed nothing. "Since your legs don't seem to work, I guess I'll have to bring you with me."
"Put me down!" Junwoo barked, cheeks flushing as he thrashed. Or at least attempted to. Seems like that debuff wasn't just a combat debuff. He could feel the sluggish effect weighing down on him.
"Not until you stop being so stubborn," he said lightly. Kaelsu was already stepping into the next area. Thankfully, there was a safe room not too far from here.