Bound Forever

Caerus stood jaw agape. The light had cleared, his vision unblurred and he could see the fruits of his labor. A beast of bright red fur, three tails tipped with gold, iris' that shone bright like the sun. It sat still staring at Caerus and Hima.

"It's not what I was expecting," Hina said.

"I thought it would be. Bigger," Caerus replied.

"Worf."

"Did it just say worf? Instead of actually barking?"

"It's so cute!" Hina exclaimed.

The beast made its way over to Caerus and stared up, tongue out, its three tails wagging.

"It doesn't even go up to my shin! What the hell?" Caerus screamed out.

The beast was the size of a pomeranian, its ears perked up as it stood on its hind legs its head barely reaching Caerus' knee. Caerus wrapped his hands around the soft fur, the beast's warmth rushed through his palms as he lifted it up.

"I was expecting something large and ferocious. Something with a bit more, I don't know, fear factor. This looks like something models would put in their purses," Caerus sighed.

Its wet tongue lapped against his skin, trails of saliva with a foul smell stuck themselves across his cheek. Its yellow eyes looked deep within Caerus.

"I guess..it is kind of cute."

Familiar white strands broke off from the rays of light through the skylight. They wrapped around each other and Zilkum stepped out from the bright embrace.

"I see you have been successful in your first spell." Zilkum examined the summoning circle before his large eyes fixated back onto the pup in Caerus' hands.

"Do you know what this is Master Zilkum? We both were expecting something a little more ferocious."

Zilkum kept looking back and forth between the circle and the pup with one of his long fingers curled against his pointed chin.

"It was nearly a success at least. You made two mistakes." Zilkum pointed towards the circle.

Two marks within the circle lit up with a deep red.

"The mark in the beast circle here should have been a temporary mark, but you have placed an eternal mark. This indicates that the summon will be forever bound to you. The mark in the heavenly circle should have been a divine five, but you have a divine one. This is why you summoned a newborn, instead of a more mature beast," Zilkum explained.

"Wait what does this mean? I am stuck with this puppy?"

"Yes, Master Caerus. You have plucked a newborn from a litter and it is now forever in your service. Due to its age, it did not understand the terms being presented and is now forever bound to you, till your last breath. This also means it will be very difficult for you to summon anything else," Zilkum sighed.

"Sorry Master Zilkum. What do you mean by that?" Hina interjected.

"In short, the amount of summons a summoner can conjure is tied to their mana reserve. For example, a true master summoner can summon five king-level beasts at once. This is if they do not have any eternal bonds. If they already had one king-level beast bound to them, it would mean they could only summon three more due to tax to their mana."

"Wait so how many more things can I summon being a complete beginner?" Caerus' eyes widened.

"Zero. This is a Ragni hound. While it is still a pup, they will grow into king level very quickly, and some even reach the rank of divine. Thus the mana needed to eternally bind is great."

Caerus' jaw dropped, his wide-eyed gaze turned towards Hina.

"Let's try out a summon you said, it'll be fun you said. Damnit Hina what have you made me do!" Caerus pushed the beast into her face as he shouted.

"Do not despair just yet Master Caerus. There may be a silver lining to this. Binding a beast eternally has its perks. The summon will grow as you grow and vice versa. With how young the pup is, you may be able to grow in a short amount of time when the pup matures. It will be...difficult till then though."

A lone stream of tears flowed down from Caerus' eye. All his plans, an army at his fingertips, a force to be reckoned with. All gone with two errant chalk strokes.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be the adorable partner of Caerus. I call foul play. This is some poppycock!" Ember popped out of Caerus' cloak hood.

She flew close to the pup and stared him down. The two locked in a battle of domination nobody could see.

"You will need to name the pup. Names give strength especially in the case of summons." Zilkum faded away his form broke apart into the white wispy strands and left.

"Name him emergency food Caerus. That's all he will be useful for." Ember's hair began to set ablaze as the staring match heated up between the two.

"What about Culain? Like the Hound of Culain from Irish mythology?" Hina suggested.

"Red. He will be called Red."

Hina nearly fell over with the sudden declaration.

The pressure on his chest woke Caerus up from his nap gasping for air. Red had curled up and made himself comfortable on Caerus' chest. Despite his size, he had a weight to him that surprised Caerus. Ember sat above on the headboard, lips still curled into a pout.

"Really Ember, how long are you going to sulk about this? I'm the one who got screwed here!"

"I am your partner. I am the one that is eternally bound to you. Not this mangy mutt," Ember mumbled.

"Calm down, we are supposed to be in this together right? So figure out a way for me to still earn money. I have no idea what to do now."

Caerus moved Red off to the side, his back legged twitched and a low growl escaped its dream-filled head.

"Well, there is still a path for you. Conjuration wizards have a unique role in adventurer circles," Ember replied.

Caerus shot up crossed leg, finally a thread of hope he thought to himself.

"Adventurers usually spend their time exploring dungeons. Magically generated places of power. These dungeons will form within caves, abandoned castles, and all sorts of places. We barely know much about them, but everyone agrees that conjuration magic is involved. This also involves the monsters that inhabit them. So an effective way of closing a dungeon and gaining its full reward is to bring a Wizard who can find and nullify the magic that generates the place," Ember explained.

"Why would you close a dungeon though? Wouldn't it be more profitable to keep it open?" Caerus pointed out.

"Not always. Dungeons constantly spawn monsters, if left unchecked they can devastate the surrounding area. Bigger dungeons are too difficult to close, so usually, lords will station a force there until a strong enough adventurer can close it. In the case of small dungeons, it doesn't make sense for lords to guard them when they can hire adventurers to close them," Ember carried on.

With this realization, Caerus would need to just learn more and become able to close dungeons, this would help with his gold issue. If as Ember was explaining, dungeons open up somewhere else when one is closed. It could be his only option for now until he can find a safer way to earn.

Caerus pulled the absolute weapon that was his grimoire from his inventory, a useful thing he learned from Hina.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this. Let's study!" Caerus shouted with renewed vigor.