We entered the showroom where he gathered all the slaves into formation. Only a handful of the one hundred were male. Was it his intention to create a massive harem?

Marcus handed me a full list of their powers, names, and other specializations ordered according to the formation they were in. I skimmed through the list looking for skillsets and powers I already had in mind that we needed. The first that caught my attention was a slave by the name Selka. A power I never knew existed, the applications could be devastating if used correctly.

“Why has no one purchased her yet?” I asked Marcus for the reason.

“Ah, Selka… Well, they have but she always ends up back here as a return. I always make sure to warn anyone who decides they want her. They happily send her back then disappear shortly afterward.” Marcus explained some of the story and I was somewhat frightened from the assumptions.

Selka has aphrodisiac properties within her and any form of sweat or fluids will begin to control the affected target. The longer the duration of contact the higher dosage exactly like a drug. Was Marcus using her to target specific slave owners?

She would be the perfect infiltrator and spy, that is if she had no issues doing that kind of work. Selka had black hair in a short ruffled bob cut. I wanted to run my hands through and mess up her hair. Then I questioned why I even thought that and took a few steps back.

Her magic was stronger than listed, she had the ability to project the feeling into others within close proximity. I noticed her eyes squint with displeasure. “Any normal person would have jumped on me. Marcus was right about you, you are special.”

Thankfully, Alexa was further back but seeing me retreat and then hearing what Selka said made her angry. She raised her hand, creating a light beam bright enough to blind Selka. I turned my head and caught some of the flash forcing my eyes shut. Selka got the worst of it though and fell to the floor covering her eyes in pain.

“Stop!” I wanted Alexa not to go any further as I rubbed my eyes open. My vision returned to normal and I saw Alexa standing a safe distance back with her hand raised at the ready. 

Alexa called out my name when I tried approaching Selka. I threw up my hand to signal everything was fine. The ape core’s attribute of magic resistance looked to be granting protection. I crouched down to help Selka stand back up.

“Call it even?” Her eyes were watery and squinted trying to recover.

“Yeah.., Sorry for testing you.” Selka apologized by bowing her head, then did the same to Alexa.

“Looks like everyone is getting along. Since we’re both being upfront, I’d like to introduce you to one of my best spies. Selka has helped keep us safe from many possible incidents by doing what she’s best at, seduction.” Marcus dropped his previous act and even his mannerisms were different.

“Listen up everyone! At most sixty-two of you will be joining me. If you are not interested or don’t have the willpower for an excruciating bootcamp so to speak then please dismiss yourselves now. Just to be clear I will be demanding exceptional physical shape with magic aptitude as a bonus.” There were too many people and if none of them backed out I’d have to sift through them with some sort of test. Though that didn’t seem to be necessary. I wasn’t sure of their reasons and didn’t let it bother me too much.

I glanced over at Selka one last time as she got back into formation. The thoughts of her sweating during training and affecting everyone around her with her magic was worrisome. I pushed it to the back of my mind for another time as Alexa handed me the list again.

“Marcus, I will need someone that can take care of finances and eventually another to handle public relations. As well as others to handle cooking and household chores.” I asked instead of sifting through the list for our priorities.

“Lily, Claire, and Jade. Upfront now. Lily has the proper education and knowledge to handle your finances. Claire here has experience working as a chef. As for Jade she has a way with words and doesn’t shy away from crowds.” Marcus introduced them one by one as I searched for them on the list.

“For the chores, I’m sure you can figure out a rotation of duties for everyone.”

Lily had ice magic though which was a bonus to what she was going to be in charge of. I couldn’t wait to not have to deal with budgeting and figuring out what needed to be paid and when. Then there was Claire who had fire magic, a perfect complement to her position as chef. 

Jade on the other hand had no such notes, except for flight magic. That would be handy for getting to places. Out of the three she definitely won in the looks department and was only slightly lower than Alexa and Rhea at least for my preferences.

As for Jade filling the role as our spokesperson I simply trusted Marcus on that matter. I asked them individually if the role given to them was something they would be interested in and the three of them willingly obliged.

Alexa worked with Marcus to process the slaves that were chosen as I continued looking for more. One final power called out, the ability to absorb and mimic their opponent's magic. His name was Nathan and eleven years of age. Three years younger and only a year from Eris. He was the youngest of the six other men that were purchased. We needed both genders to carry out my plans and hopefully with this, Eris would ease up on the judgemental stares.

Volatis

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