Chapter 42: How To Tame Your Dungeon Boss
Kenji lay on the ground, his body broken and battered, his blood mingling with the dirt beneath him. The Shadow Beast loomed above, its massive claw frozen mid-air as Shreya’s voice cut through the tension.
[Host, your efforts have proven futile. Host seems incapable of defeating the monster. Would host prefer to tame the monster?]
Kenji’s eyes fluttered open, his vision blurry, but the weight of Shreya’s words pushed him to consciousness. Tame the monster? he thought, the idea ludicrous but strangely enticing.
The Shadow Beast snarled, its crimson eyes narrowing as it descended its claws upon Kenji! This was the end...again. Kenji was too weak to dodge; even standing up felt impossible, let alone avoiding a powerful attack from a ten-foot-tall creature. It was just hopeless.
But then, suddenly, the claws of the beast were attacked by something else. Something both primal and exquisite. A huge pink fox with a white crescent moon symbol on her forehead stood tall, protecting Kenji from the impending attack. "Kenji, get on!" Haruka urged, her voice hoarse from her bestial form. But Kenji didn’t care about the sound of her voice right now; he struggled to lift himself off the ground with great difficulty and jumped onto the fox’s back.
"So what’s the plan?" she asked, as if already knowing Kenji had an idea.
"What? How did you know about that?" Kenji replied, surprised at how Haruka seemed to sense his thoughts. Before she could respond, a massive sphere of dark energy came crashing down toward them!
Luckily, Haruka was fast and agile enough to dodge the attack. Immediately, she began running in zigzags, hoping to confuse the monster.
As she dashed, she spoke to Kenji, "The moment the contract between us was forged, I became able to feel some of your strong emotions, and sometimes I can hear your thoughts—if you agree, of course. So when your idea sprouted, I sensed a faint flicker of hope in my heart, and immediately, I knew you had a plan, something that could help us beat this thing!" As she spoke, a massive wave of mana surged into her mouth, condensing into a large beam of energy that blasted the Shadow Beast a few feet away.
Seeing this, Kenji’s eyes brightened. When Haruka had used her most powerful attack before, it hadn’t been able to inflict damage on the monster. However, her slightly lesser skill that turned mana into a light beam had visibly harmed the beast, enlightening Kenji to the fact that light could harm shadow creatures.
"Shreya..." he croaked weakly, "how do I tame it?" [Host must invoke a taming ritual by using host’s own blood to touch the beast’s core. This act will create a forceful contract method from the host. But be warned: If the host fails to complete the contract due to the difference in strength between both parties, the host might face irreversible side effects and backlash—possibly even death.] Shreya cautioned.