“Another?” M questioned JJ just as the last of the salamander carcass disappeared into the 4th-dimension.

“Of course, now that I know I don’t really need to sleep or anything I think I’ll grind the dungeons until I mentally can’t anymore,” said JJ as she headed for the exit. As soon as she stepped out, M was there to continue their conversation.

“Would you like to go on another mage dungeon or were you thinking of something else? Ranged? Summoning?”

“You know what, I think I’ll go give the summoning dungeon a try. What is the point of being able to stay up all day if I can’t have a companion with me.”

“I’m right here, well not right there per se but I can still hear that. That… kinda hurts.”

“Oh, well, I meant it.”

“I liked you better when you were sassy, now you’re just being mean. I mean, not that I care. Anyway, go get the key and find a statue with a wolf with a pendant around its neck and I’ll meet you there.”

“Yeah sure,” JJ said as she went to go dig up the one more time. To her, this had become a bit of a routine at this point, but no matter how many she dug it up, it always seemed to respawn at the same place after she got out of the dungeon that she was in.

Could it be that this was the type of thing she would see in this fantasy world? So far, the only things that she had seen were dictated by M’s decisions.

Nevertheless, she got the key and spent a good few minutes trying to find the wolf with the pendant. The moment she put the key next to the statue, she was transported to the summoning dungeon. As soon as she got her bearings, she could make out M trying to talk to her.

“You alright? That took you a bit longer than it should have.”

“Stop, you showing your concern for me is somehow more annoying than you being a giant pain in the behind.”

“...You are a very strange lady, the one time I show concern for you and you chew me out like a dog chews out a treat… I don’t know if that made sense and I don’t care. Let me tell you about how to summon a beast. Just imagine it like you would with your spells. That’s it.”

“That doesn’t sound right, in all the games I have played that has never been the case. Don’t I need some summoning stone or summoning stone tablet or anything?”

“You must be a damn child if you think that everything you play is how it is in the land of actual magic. But I mean, you’re not wrong. If you were anyone else, then sure, you’d need to do all that, but who do you think is your guardian? Me. I can make a lot of things reality. Just deal with it, accept it, and move on with your life. Do you think you can handle that, little girl?”

“Hey! No more patronizing ok?” JJ said as she imagined the salamander that she had just killed and wouldn’t you know it, one really did appear.

“Now do you believe me?”

“I guess so, but you did also make me chant whirlwind which didn’t activate any magic just yesterday. You made me look like an absolute fool, I’m just glad there was no one around to see such an embarrassing act.”

“Hah, don’t worry, you’re a fool either way,” said M in a playful way.

This did not go down well with JJ and she just stopped in her tracks and tried to look offended. However, it wasn’t very effective as she had no idea where to point herself in M’s direction.

“Oh, that’s adorable. Also, summon a wolf, let me show you one of my abilities.”

Though JJ was not particularly happy with M at the moment, she did as M instructed. Just a split second later, an adult wolf with ash grey fur appeared right next to JJ. Both of the summoned pets looked at each other and then to JJ, completely harmless to her. They were bound to her through some contract.

“First of all, ouch. And second, why do you need a wolf?”

“Here, just give me...a second,” M said as his voice sounded a little strained for a split second there. Without any warning, the wolf ran right up to JJ and lightly headbutted her knees.

“What’s happening?” She asked in confusion.

“I am now in control of the wolf and since this body of mine doesn’t have vocal cords that can speak English, I will have to speak into your mind when I take over a body. Hang on, I don’t know why I’m headbutting your knees, the controls are a bit wonky and I need to figure it out… Ok, I think I got it.”

As soon as M finished his sentence, the wolf under M’s control ran right past JJ and into the first room. JJ had no choice but to follow and willed the salamander to tag along as well.

“Hold on a minute, M. Don’t run so fast, I can barely keep up with you. Why do you do this-” She said as she stopped dead in her tracks guffawing at the sight in front of her, what she saw was hundreds of bunnies. The really cute, really fluffy, really cuddly ones.

M in wolf form was chowing down on them like a fricken $400 lawn mower cutting through grass, something that terrified JJ to no end. It did not help that the salamander that she summoned ran in to join in on the slaughter.

“I can tell from your expressions that you are experiencing something that you humans call emotional trauma. Haha, this is relatively tame compared to what the real world you will soon enter be about. So you better get used to it, cupcake.”

“Ok, don’t call me cupcake, that is really condescending, and also, it’s not emotional trauma. It’s common sense for any one of my species to react like that when they see such a horrific sight. I mean seriously, do you not feel anything from all the death and destruc- CAN YOU STOP MASSACRING THEM WHILE I’M TALKING TO YOU?”

The salamander stopped immediately once JJ screamed at M. However, M did not die down his actions quite as fast.

“Ok, ok, I’ll stop,” M said as he eyed the nearest rabbit, killed it, and looked at JJ with the puppy dog eyes, “Ok, now I’ll stop.”

“Jeez, it took you what? A few minutes to kill off dozens of these guys.”

“What? Do you not realize that you have to kill them in order to advance to the next room?”

“I’m not a fool, I know that is definitely not the case.”

“Oh well, worth a try,” M said in a nonchalant voice.

“...You can tick me off so much sometimes that...that I don’t even know what to say. Why do you do that?”

“ Cause it’s fun, that’s all. Besides, I haven’t been on your plane of existence in quite a while and I felt like exercising for a bit. Anyway, the next few rooms from here on out will be a bit trickier to do so you best train your salamander right now instead of getting in an avoidable situation. You get me?”

“Yea I get you, but I won’t like doing it.”

“You don’t have to, as long as you can control it, then it’s fine. You seem to have no problem getting it to follow you.”

“Do I just imagine it taking down monsters or something?”

“Of course not! This is a living breathing being that you are controlling, not some mindless fire spell. You two must come to an understanding of your own accord. Since you likely don’t speak whatever the heck that monster speaks and vice versa, I’ll make a psychic link between you two so that you can command it.”

“You can do that?”

“Yep, but most of the other Summoners won’t be able to and will have to spend at least a few days training it. Although this will grant you almost instant communication which would normally require lots of bonding, you must remember to never lose the respect of your pets. If that is the case, then they will likely not obey your orders anymore.”

“That seems a bit too simple, but I’ll try it out.”

“Hold on, let me set it up first. Alright, that should be good, try it now.”

“Hmm,” JJ said not knowing exactly what to do. Suddenly, a voice reached out to her inside her head that somehow felt like it belonged to the lizard that she had summoned. Perhaps it was the way that it looked into her soul with its cold-hearted eyes.

“I am the lizard that you summoned, just give me a name and you may begin giving me commands. You should know that through your summoning, I have been born so you are technically my mother.”

“Woah, I had no idea that you could speak so eloquently, and also I’m not going to be your mother so don’t ever call me that, please. I’ll name you...firetank.”

“Ok, even though I couldn’t understand what you were saying before with that wolf, I get the feeling that you weren’t very happy about his actions,” firetank spoke directly into JJ’s mind.

“Yea, it’s a bit complicated.”

“Just so you know, I love killing. Will you have a problem with that?”

“Oh great, another one. Hmm, it shouldn’t be a problem.” JJ said as she seemed to try and get away from the subject.

“Yeah! Just don’t climax on this channel alright, firetank?” M said poking fun of the lizard.

“I, you, are the wolf?”

“I sure am, and I’m the boss of JJ over here so you better listen to me too.”

“You funny, you’re just a wolf, I could eat you in a moment.”

“Oh, yea? Come at me bro, I’ll backhand you to the second dimension. What are you waiting for? I’m right here, come and get some of this fur.”

“Stop it, boys! I can barely keep it together when it's just you, M, but I don’t know how long I’d stay sane if both of you are yelling inside my brain and hurling terrible insults at each other. Let’s go to the next room before I have to yell,” JJ said mentally as she made her way to the next room. Leaving behind the two children puffing up their chests.

M and firetank gave each other a look of determination to prove their superiority and ran off to assist JJ and show off their skills.