"Would you care to accompany me to dinner in my lodgings?" General Song asked. Junghyun sat next to the cage on the cold hard ground. He stared forward, refusing to give the General of the satisfaction of seeing his face. He kept his eyes on the demon chained and locked up. He counted the number of bruises littering the demon's face. He analyzed the depth and width of every cut visible to his eye. Already making a mental note of which type of supplies he would need to treat the wounds later. He was trying to remember if he had any soothing cream left or if he would somehow need to find a way of ordering another bottle without raising suspicion.
"Well?" General Song asked again. Junghyun was never able to fully ignore the man. The general didn't like being ignored. Especially by Junghyun.
"I'm sorry, sir," Junghyun murmured, "but I am afraid I need to catch up on some studying. I feel like I have fallen behind a bit since joining this team."
General Song hummed lightly, "it would be improper of me to take you away from your studies even more. I suppose we will have to rain check it. You may leave."
Junghyun hesitated a bit, playing it off as he was taking his time gathering his papers and notes. He knew the general thought he was stalling time to be in his presence longer. Junghyun just waited until the demon glanced up at him and caught his eye. He smiled softly. A simple reminder that he would return. A simple reminder that Junghyun did not forget about him. A simple reminder that he has not forgone him.
He collected his supplies and stood. He bowed deeply to the general and left without a word. Dining time for dinner was approaching and he was expected to meet his team in the mess hall. But just like the previous nights before, he opted out of eating. Instead he was true to his word and he studied and reviewed the material from today's lessons. He was reciting highlighted vocabulary terms the professor had emphasized on while packing a bag. There were already medical supplies from last time still in there, but Junghyun made sure to refill the balms and medicine. He was about to head out when last minute he remembered the newest letter from his brother in his drawer. He took it out and placed it in one of the side pockets in his bag. Perhaps this letter will fill the demon with some spirits.
It was nearing midnight when Junghyun left his dormitory. His teammates far into a deep slumber and resting before training in the early morning. One more than one occasion have they remarked about the dark circles under Junghyun's eyes. One more than one occasion Junghyun has excused it as a restless sleep worrying about the upcoming midterms. He saw the worry in his teammates eyes but was grateful they trusted his word and left the topic alone for now.
He had come to familiarize himself with the guards' schedules. He knew what area of the base would be unpatrolled and for what amount of time. He was quick and slick in sneaking away into the night. He took a pause a mile or so away from the main section of base. He hid behind a lone tree and closed his eyes. He pulled at the sensation in his stomach and connected to his demon in its cell. A moment later he began to see his demon's form slowly outline in the wind.
Every time Junghyun called upon the demon the quicker and easier the demon was getting ahold of its new found power. For weeks after joining General Song's team and seeing the abuse and mistreatment of the demon, Junghyun knew he needed to due something. He could not sit around and allow any creature human or not to be treated in such a way. He came up with plan after plan to no avail. It was not until after doing research in the restricted section of the library did, he stumbled upon a book filled with rare powers and qualities of air demons. Then he stumbled upon a book filled with rare powers and qualities of magician demons. He studied every technique in the book and he began to work. He found a technique that allowed an air demon to appear visibly in the air but not physically. Then he found a technique that allowed a magician demon to transport their masters to the location the master most wanted to visit. And Junghyun blessed the gods he was far enough in his career at the academy that he was allowed to personally train alone with his demon to better build their strength as a pair.
