But he felt… good? A warm, green light surrounded him and his leg was healed. He tested it out and carefully stood up, his eyes still locked into a battle with the other man's glare. His body still lowered in a defensive position. He tested his legs, and it felt okay. The fox didn't want to be grateful for the help, but he softened his composure slightly and let his guard down.
"Who are you?" Junwoo barked confidently, a sweatdrop running down his face. There was a flash of concern on the other guy's face. Junwoo couldn't tell if he was friend or foe, but he didn't trust him. His fight or flight instincts were screaming at him to run, run as fast as he could.
"My name is Kaelsu, a summoner," his voice was low as his words crept out of a smirk. "I healed you, now you can repay me by joining my party in subservience."
Junwoo's eyes widened, alarm bells ringing in his head. "What the hell are you talking about?!" He tried to yell, but all that came out was a desperate whimper. "Subservience? Are you ill?!"
Kaelsu was confused. The monsters in this game don't normally respond to his chat messages. He brushed it off as a new game mechanic that wasn't announced in the patch notes. The devs occasionally do that, they'll release patches and 'forget' to add in notes about new fun/hidden mechanics for the players to find.
He raised his staff once more but faltered at the pleading coming from his prey. "Wait, I'm not a pet. I don't know what's happening but stop! You have to listen to me." Seeing the man falter, he felt hope rise in his chest. His guard dropped and took a trusting step forward but froze in his tracks when the summoner continued and raised his staff again.
This time, chains were summoned, metal clinking broke out of his staff and attempted to catch his prey who expertly dodged the chains just before it could cling onto him.
'No. Nonononono.' He broke off into a sprint, his sandals clicked against the grass as he turned into a white and golden blur.
Kaelsu looked pissed off. He's failed the taming spell a couple of times, but this is the time that mattered. There's always a chance it will fail. It usually helps to attack the monster first, but he looked so pitiful and almost died to the wolf, he was afraid he'd one shot the fox creature. There's also the option to lure it into a trap to stun, sleep or paralyse monsters but he needed to restock his supplies. The last option was to win the trust of monsters and they join willingly. He thought that would happen after saving him from the attack and healing him. Kaelsu could tell the fox-boy was frightened and in pain.
He wasn't expecting to find the new monster here in the wild, he thought it would be in the higher level areas. But what was it doing trying to enter a safe zone?
Kaelsu took off into a jog, deeper into the forest where his prey darted off to.
Panting and exhausted, the half-fox, half-human slowed to a halt and rested against a tree. Keeled over with a claws loosely gripping the weak bark next to him. Looks like his resource bar was low. He'd been running for ten minutes now and there was no sign of the summoner.
'How did I even get into this mess?' He tried to recall the events of what happened before he woke up in this world, but there was static in his head. Even trying to remember his past inflicted him with a migraine and winced in pain. His hand reached his forehead in an attempt to soothe it.
There was a burning sensation in his legs, but he couldn't stay still for too long. Kaelsu wasn't right behind him now, but it was only a matter of time. He was clearly determined to catch him and… did he say he wanted his subservience?
No, he cringed at that thought. No way. He must continue. Resource bar full again, he broke off into another sprint.
…
Another ten minutes passed.
Junwoo slowed down to a brisk walk and ignored the pounding ache in his legs, head and chest. His laboured breathing caused him to stop for a second and catch his breath. At least he was allowed to enter this town. Multitudes of clicking, clacking and tacking surrounded him. It was a bustling city with a lot of people. Summoners? Humans? He wasn't sure. He wasn't even sure what he was. All he could remember is that he was a Human… but seeing and feeling his ears, tails and general fluff, he wasn't sure any more.
Fluffy ears pricked after hearing a voice behind him. He turned to face the source of the voice, and a different figure appeared.
"Holy shit, is that the new Jiuweihu?" The voice sounded out. It came from a young-looking boy with chestnut brown hair, eyes and basic adventurer's clothes. The boy pointed at him, causing other members of the village to turn and create a commotion.
"Are… are you all summoners?" An audience formed a circle around Junwoo and the boy. Three monster spirits appeared in front of him, one of them looked similar to the same wolf he saw earlier. The other two were different. One was a strange type of large humanoid raven with black wings and a face that merged with its break; the last monster was a green drake positioned to attack with a jaw that looked like it could crush buildings.
Another ambush. Great. When will this nightmare end? He readied an attack pose, but before he could do anything he was hit with a dizzying blast of electricity that made him unsteady on his feet. Grimacing from the shock, he tried to recover but was hit with a follow up attack as the wolf threw him back a few meters onto his back.
His golden eyes turned a deep scarlet with rage. He couldn't sit here and just take beating after beating. Surely there must be something he could do?
Without thinking, he focused his rage onto the wolf, and it immediately burst into flames. He was taken aback - was that him? His eyes glanced to his palms, how did he do that? All he felt was white hot rage and pure frustration emanating through his body, and suddenly the enemy pets just spontaneously combusted. Lips curled into a smirk. He had a chance.
After briefly scoping out the area, he couldn't see anyone else stepping in to help. They just cheered them on with some members of the audience in awe of his appearance, some in awe of the enemy summoner and the speed of his monsters.
The summoner was expressionless, but quickly opened up a menu. Junwoo didn't quite know what this meant, so he took the momentary distraction to flee into the crowd of people. His run was accompanied with a limp after being badly beaten. He was no match for those monsters, especially three of them.
After what felt like an eternity, he took refuge in an abandoned building. Walking into the building, a circular glow on the floor went unnoticed behind him.
He was exhausted. Full of scratches and injuries, he needed a moment. Where was that healer when he needed him?
His blinks were getting slower, with stretches of darkness clouding his vision. The intervals of his blinks were getting longer. Breathing slowed.
He didn't feel safe, but maybe he could sleep. Maybe just for a moment…
Blink…
…
His eyes struggled to open with a blur. There was a figure coming closer to him. 'Ah shit…'
A familiar low voice called out to him. "Looks like the trap worked. I thought I'd been fleeced with how expensive the items are in this town."
Kaelsu…?
Kaelsu took a good look at the half-human, half-fox. He really was the new Jiuweihu that was released today. He finally had the opportunity to tame one. A purple aura surrounded the fox, he was definitely an ultra-rare monster. He's not letting him get away this time, but he needs to be careful. If he killed the fox, he'd lose his opportunity and there was a rumour that this fox spirit was required to beat the new extra-hard content.
Junwoo stirred restlessly. He tried to shuffle, but Kaelsu knelt down and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Wh…" Junwoo's voice cracked. He couldn't see what was in front of him, but there was definitely a foreboding presence there. Strangely enough, the hand on his shoulder was oddly comforting.
"Well, well. It's the fox spirit again. Don't bother resisting," the voice was soft. "Do you want to die?"
Junwoo let out a sharp exhale but all he could do was shake his head aggressively. 'No, please.' He couldn't muster the words to speak.
The hand moved from shoulder to his head, between his ears and ruffled his hair gently. "Okay, good. You'll die within seconds. The trap I placed down was poison and a sleeping trap. Be tamed," he pulled out his staff once more. "Or disappear forever."
Kaelsu chanted again, and there was a glow around his staff. Magical chains spawned from thin air and were aimed at the now struggling form on the ground.
He tried to move but tight, shadowy claws turned into steel chains that slithered around his wrists and ankles. They wrapped around him, ensnaring him as if he were a fly caught in a spider's web. Junwoo couldn't move an inch but started begging once he saw a silver collar appear in his captor's hands.
"No, stop. Stop it you bastard." His words fell on deaf ears as the collar grew closer. "I'd rather DIE. Just kill me, I choose death."
Click.
"Too late." That was the sound of the collar snapping into place and hummed with a golden aura. Taming success. "You're mine now." There it was again, that smirk. It really pissed off Junwoo and he couldn't do anything. He tried to kick but exhaustion and pain took over. He did not feel okay.
He did not feel safe. An anxious weight held strong in his chest.
"Fuck," were the last words to escape Junwoo's lips. The darkness that previously threatened him, had finally now taken him.
Kaelsu practically beamed with satisfaction and the chains slowly started to disappear. He knelt back down and moved soft golden locks out of the way so he could study his prize.
The collar was secure and victory music played. His name appeared above the fox spirit's head to show ownership of his new catch.
So why wasn't he vanishing? Normally when summoners tame pets, they vanish and get sent back to the player's inventory to wait for their master.
Poke, poke. He prodded his soft cheek with a finger, and in response the unconscious form stirred slightly. He's not dead? Was his trap too much? His HP bar was low but not zero.
At the very least, a small health potion was used. The poison had already worn off, but just in case they were attacked he didn't want him to be killed after being breathed on.
Kaelsu picked up his new pet and cradled him like a princess. A map menu popped up on the screen and he scrolled around for a moment, chose a location, then vanished into an ominous vortex.