The past half an hour was a blur. I’m dressed in whatever Alfred brought me and standing in a furnished room with a two sofas and a small table in between. Any attempts to approach said sofa were answered with an intense glare from Alfred. Leaning my back against the wall, I continued the train of thought I had before noticing the difference in my surroundings. I was reviewing everything that has happened so far, and I came to two distinct observations. The interaction with the elf was fine; he was a dick, and I was annoyed with him. Now, the cat bitch, that was different.

Looking back, my anger was slightly exaggerated, but it had been so long since I felt that angry, so much so that I wholly embraced it. In fact, it’s been so long since I’ve felt anything really.

Wow, that sounded way too morbid. Let me rephrase that. I haven’t felt anything that wasn’t too mild that I had to question whether or not it was real.

Yeah, that wasn’t any better.

I really don’t know what to say. At some point in time, I stopped caring. I couldn’t muster any energy for the few relationships I had, and they eventually crumbled. Honestly, I was content. Distracting myself with whatever I could find and simply fading away.

But right now, things were different; I have a whole world that I know almost nothing about. I have a problem that I’m actively seeking to fix. It was a breath of fresh air. The apathy was still there, but it was slightly overshadowed by the endless possibilities ahead of me, and all it took was inter-dimensional travel and the promise of life-long slavery.

Now that brings me to my second. Why The Fuck haven’t I thought about escaping so far, and I don’t mean coming up with some ingenious escape plan; I mean the actual possibility of escape hasn’t even crossed my mind.

And just like that, something clicked in my mind. I could see them now, small slimy tendrils jammed into my brain, poking and prodding around my thoughts. I tried plucking one of them out, but it didn’t work. They were intangible. I tried thinking about escaping again and was greeted with a very disgusting reaction. They wiggled and withered around my head and oozed something out. A shudder ran down my spine as I hurriedly emptied my mind. This was the slave seal, and it was fucking, quite literally, fucking my mind. I thought about testing my mana on it and shelved the thought until I had my collar off.

Hearing footsteps and muffled voices, Alfred straightened his back, looking every bit proper as always, opened the door while slightly bowing his head.

The foxy-mistress gracefully walked in with her head turned, talking to someone. She was wearing a one-piece tight black dress, revealing every curve on her hourglass-shaped body. Entirely transfixed, I didn’t even notice every pair of eyes turning towards me.

An angry cough broke me out; tracing it back, I found Alfred shooting me an impatient look to follow him. We stood behind one of the sofas. The fox sat infront of us, and her guest on the opposite side of her.

Looking down, I was gladly hypnotized by the occasional twitch of a fluffy orange tail and two bouncy objects.

I should probably be listening to whatever is being said, but god damn it, I’m still human and combining a stunning mature woman with the allure of a fox; how am I supposed to stay focused. After ogling to my heart’s content and ignoring Alfred’s angry stare, I dejectedly looked up at the new guest. My supposed new ‘master’.

A cute girl with shoulder-length dark blonde hair, her ears and tails were both golden yellow covered in black spots. Her arms were toned but not overly so; lean, but strong muscles. She furrowed her eyebrows and said. “What do you mean?”

Another female voice replied. “I don’t know if he can cast spells.”

Slightly annoyed, the blonde-haired girl says. “What do you mean he can’t cast? He’s a mage, that’s what they do.”

Brushing the tone in the voice, the fox replied. “He awakened about a month ago, and his manapool is somehow damaged. I don’t know if he’ll be able to cast or not, that’s why he'll only cost you fifty gold pieces.”

The girl shoots me an annoyed look and says. “Fine.”

“Thank you, lady Valeriana. Please wait for a few minutes while we apply the slave seal you provided.”

She motioned for Alfred, and he obeyed. Any thoughts of protesting or dragging my feet died down when he grabbed my arm, pulled, and…dislocated my shoulder. I don’t think he was even trying to hurt me. Before I even registered the pain, we were in a different room. Seeing as I was still in shock, staring at my limp arm, he grabs my arm again and pops it back in. His touch sends the first wave of pain through my arm; the forceful location of my shoulder pushes me over the edge, and I faint.

Waking up, I open up my eyes and take in my surroundings. I’m in a carriage, with my ‘mistress’, and my heart almost skips a beat when I don’t find the collar attached to my neck.

I shut my eyes off again and reach into my mind. The same octopus-like appendages have multiplied, and some are bigger now. Taking hold of my mana, I pluck as much as I can until there are only two remaining. Aiming every negative thought I can think of towards the girl sitting with her back to me, I narrow down the range of their influence. Any thoughts about causing harm, whether directly, or not caused a reaction in one, and lying or being dishonest in any way caused a similar reaction in the other. I can consciously ignore their influence, but I’m sure they are subconsciously manipulating me somehow.

Seeing as nothing more can be done, I open up my eyes and start getting up only to be met with a snicker and a “Stay down. Your shoulder should still be hurt.”

Trying to fight the mocking order, I sense an intense pain in my right hand. Holding it up, I notice a tattoo of a symbol I don’t recognize. Noting my puzzlement, she says in pride. “That’s a blood seal. I only have two of them, and you’re lucky enough that I used it on you.”

You know what, I don’t care. I’m out and that’s all that really matters.

Lying back down, I say. “so…Valeriana, whe-“

Hissing she turns around, and says. “That’s mistress to you.”

“mistress Valeriana, where are we heading?”

“I’m getting you registered.” She briefly replied

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Getting no answer in return, I sigh and wait for the carriage to stop.