“If I can have everyone’s attention, please, the auction is about to begin.” An attractive human woman said as she took to the stage. The area in front of the stage was a large number of seats filled to the brim. Every filled seat represented someone who had paid a large deposit, proof that they had enough money to participate in the auction. Each had a unique numbered sign. This numbered sign served as their identity as many hid their faces. The second-floor balcony consisted mostly of private spaces that only those who had special invitations would have access to.

“Now then, as a reminder, if you name a price that you cannot afford, the product will be re-auctioned, and you will pay a penalty. If you cannot pay the penalty, you will be detained until such funds are obtained. Each item will have a brief introduction, a starting price, and a minimum price increment. No questions until after the third of five counts, and you must use the red side of your number plate. If you don’t ask pertinent questions or ask many questions without eventually purchasing something, you will be escorted out.

“Without further ado, let us begin.” The woman said as they brought out a wheeled table onto the stage. “Our first item is somewhat of a mystery. It belonged to a certain hero during the seventh wave. Even though it may be hard to believe due to its size and inherent mana, this is a seed. We know this thanks to someone who has a Talent related to analyzing items. Incredibly, this seed is still viable even after more than 200 years have gone by. It seems that they cannot ferment given normal conditions, so whoever discovers those conditions may earn an extraordinary treasure. Additionally, given that there is no record of a similar item, we believe this to be a seed to be a unique item from the other world. At the very least, it is a valuable collector’s item. The starting price is 100 gold with increments no less than 25.”

“100.”

150.”

“175.”

“200.”

“200 going once, twice, three times,”

“500.” A new voice suddenly said from the second floor. There was a brief moment of pause as everyone was surprised by a bid that more than doubled the previous offer. A few people began to wonder if the person who made the bid knew something they did not but decided against it. People on the second floor were VIPs who could easily outspend them, and it wasn’t worth the risk, given that they had no idea what the seed was, much less how to germinate it.

“… Five times, sold to the third compartment.”

Within a few minutes, a maid brought the seed to the compartment. There, she found two masked men in black cloaks. One of the masks was red, while the other was black. Both were draconic but fundamentally different, though the wearer was not as they both were Martel. He came under the guise of two different identities to confuse the public later when the slaves he would buy appeared with him. There would be no reason for a recently summoned person, even a hero, to obtain a VIP at an auction that was essentially a black market. However, it wouldn’t be as surprising if a high-ranked adventurer, like the low-key Kuro, had invited him. In other words, the persona of Kuro was an additional shield to hide his current strength.

After paying the maid, Martel sat back and lazily glanced through the highly detailed auction booklet as he had time to burn. The majority of the auction that would last through most of the day contained unique items, including raw materials and finished products. None of these had any interest to Martel. The Red Dragon Trading Company was booming and was quickly gaining many contacts and sources for similar items at a lower price. He could also already craft items that were as good if not better than those that were appearing. The only reason he bought the seed was because he found it interesting and knew it had come from the looted treasury of Hastings.

Eventually, he began to glance over the information for the products he would purchase, most of them being alive. He had already located and analyzed all of the slaves that would be auctioned with the SRIN. He could very easily have stolen them, but there were a couple of problems with this. Most of the slaves he wanted were part of the marketing campaign to bring more people to the auction. If the slaves disappeared and appeared with the shield hero, that could bring some unwanted attention to himself. Most of all, he didn’t want to draw the attention of the adult purple ampathere. As of right now, he’d only just finished setting up a sizable surveillance operation within the Port of Sin and had yet to touch upon the City of Sin itself. For now, he did not want anything to appear unordinary in the immediate future.

As Martel glanced through the booklet, a strange thought entered his mind. [Hey, Shield-goddess, do you have a minute to talk?]

[I told you don’t call me-oh, wait, nevermind. What’s up?]

[Were Demihumans around from the beginning? The books I have read seem to indicate this wasn’t the case, but most recorded history is fractured due to the invasions.]

[Those accounts are correct.]

[Then where did Demihumans come from?]

[From having non-humanoid ancestry.]

[Such a thing is possible? Cross-breeding? Does not directly defy the definition of a species?]

[I’ll give you a detailed explanation. In the beginning, there were seven humanoid species along with the 12 goddesses in the humanoid realm. The realm of beasts had many different species and numerous powerful species such as the Nine-Tailed Fox, Vermilion Bird, Heaven Devouring White Tiger, etc. The land of reptiles and many reptilian species along with the true dragons. All of these came into being spontaneously, and demihumans were not among them.

[There are four categories of creatures: animals, monsters, beasts, and humanoids. Animals are those creatures that you would expect, the basic dog, cat, etc. Monsters can be thought of as very powerful animals with supernatural abilities. Beasts can be thought of as monsters, except they have one significant difference, a soul, which I will explain later. Humanoids you already know.

[When it comes to souls, there are two types, fallen and mortal. I can’t say much about fallen because I am completely unaware of its existence other than my inherent knowledge. I can go into detail about mortal souls. Firstly, all mortal souls are humanoid. This is the reason why they can procreate with humanoid species. Once a beast reaches a certain level of strength, its souls will become complete. With the help of a little magic, they can change the bodies from beasts to humanoids, coming close to matching their soul’s appearance. However, even this can’t remove some of the inherent biological traits, which resulted in the Demihumans.]

[Interesting, so they basically can be thought of as humanoid, just with some physical differences?]

[Yes.]

[Then what about therianthropes?]

[While there are some exceptions, like centaurs, it implies that they have thinner humanoid blood. Eventually, they will become sterile. You can usually tell when this is the case when they have the appearance of what the first generation wand hero called a furry.]

Martel’s eyebrow slightly twitched. [Are there any other differences between Demihumans and normal humanoids?]

[The only notable one would be the state of their soul at birth, and that varies depending on their ancestry.]

[In what way?]

[Mortal souls have two states, normal and demon, and are often some ratio of the two. The normal state is your average humanoid, imperfect. Demon is when the individual becomes ensnared by things you would associate with negativity, sin, evil, vices, etc. The ratio between the two is the only notable difference.]

[Can you elaborate?]

[Yes.] Shield goddess said, clearly in a cheery mood. [All humanoids are born with 100% normal souls. However, this does not make them immune, as even young children will typically have 1% of a demon soul. The average humanoid, who typically does no excessive wrong during their lifetime, will have a 5% demon soul. This is different with Demihumans as that they are not born with a pure normal soul.]

[So it varies by race?]

[Indeed. Races that are more inherently prone towards the vices will be born with a higher percentage of their soul being demon. However, this number will never exceed 25%. This is because 25% is the point of balance between the demon and normal soul. At this point, the individual has not lost themselves enough to be compelled to do evil things compared to inclined to. Beyond 25% percent is when they start to have strong addictions, impulses, and inclinations towards evil acts. Once you get past 50%, problematic tendencies, including kleptomaniacs, serial killers, etc., will start to occur.]

[I understand. Can you tell the percentage of my soul then?]

[Because you use my shield, I can know yours. Your soul is completely normal.]

Martel can help be taken aback by this revelation. [Seriously? I killed a bunch of people and have a bunch of wives. What’d I be a prime candidate to be above average?]

The shield goddess couldn’t help but scoff. [Indeed, one would think so. On top of this, you also have dragon blood, a race that heavily leans that way. However, it seems you attained this from an external source, so it did not directly affect your soul. 

[As to why not, I would assume it’s because you are a fairly principled person. You have killed but not murdered, and you must earnestly love all of your wives distinctly from their bodies. Even when you were arrested, you took less remuneration than you could have and pursued a just ending and not revenge. Simply put, you are a principal person whose principles follow in line with a normal soul, imperfect striving for goodness.]

[Can someone change the ratio?]

[It’s extremely easy to gain the demon soul but is incredibly hard to remove. Just because you have a complete normal soul doesn’t make you immune either. To lessen the demon percentage, one needs self-reflection and repentance. Doing good deeds with the intent of becoming a better person instead of just doing good. The individual has to want it.]

Martel frowned. [Is there any way for you to identify other people?]

[For me, it’s impossible. You, however, are a different story. With your eyes, assuming their STL or SPR isn’t too high, you should be able to see it now that you are aware. I’m fairly certain that the information you receive from your eyes is a simplified version. You can probably obtain more exact information if you’re aware and looking for it.]

Curious, Martel used his eyes on some of the people below, and he confirmed that he could tell the majority of them. Thanks to the information from his smart map, he could find the information retroactively. However, perhaps because the soul was intangible or because he couldn’t look directly at it, he found this information hard to find. This wasn’t too surprising to him. The information his eyes could gather was a gradient depending on the difference between his and the target stats. If they were too far apart, the information he could see would often be false, if not labeled ‘Unknown. This fact also made him wary about trusting information his eyes provided him.

[So what you’re saying is that there is no way for outsiders to influence the ratio?]

[Not directly. Doing so invades upon free will. For example, let’s say you can turn someone into a puppet and make them act against their will. You can make them commit the most heinous crimes, but that would not change their soul nor even appear in their Rewards and Punishments. Instead, it would affect your soul and be in your Rewards and Punishments. Indirectly, you can most certainly influence it.]

[In what way?]

[Love can be a great motivator for people to change, for good or ill.]

[I suppose that makes sense, but love?] Martel said, remembering how his encounter with Nidhogg ended.

[Love is just an example, but it is a common one.] The shield goddess said, completely unaware of Martel’s complex thoughts at that moment. [Love is an incredibly powerful thing. It can drive some into madness, some to holiness, and even fight against something as powerful as Fate.]

[Fate? What do you know about Fate?]

Shield-goddess couldn’t help but be a little surprised. [You’re asking me about Fate? You have the title ‘Breaker of Fate,’ don’t you know?]

[That was an accident. Can you impart your knowledge to me?] Martel asked politely. He could tell that she was quite happy to talk to him. Even though they bickered, he could tell she liked their interactions and make sure to spend little time talking to her every day.

[Of course, but this is also kind of complicated. Let me think of a good way to explain it…. Think of it this way. Life is like a series of roads heading in one direction. These roads twist, turn, merge, and avoid each other depending upon several factors, Choice, Destiny, Luck, and Fate. 

[Choice is the most obvious as we all have free will. We can decide where we go and what we do with our lives. However, we are limited in what we can do, which makes some of the roads inaccessible. Destiny is a bit difficult to explain but think of it as more roads become accessible due to circumstance. Luck, good or bad, is when circumstances completely out of control occur when they do not need to. The System can influence Luck slightly using karma as a resource, which happens naturally but is enhanced. However, Luck still can not be directly controlled. Finally, there is Fate. The best way to think about Fate is when every single path that remains to you intersects at one point. Fate can either be the present or a future that cannot be avoided. Let me give you a fictitious example.

[Let’s say you are being chased towards a mountain crevasse. At that point, it is your Fate to be chased as nothing can change it. You then choose to jump into the crevasse instead of leaving yourself to the mercy of others. As Luck would have it, you fell out into a bush growing on the side of the crevasse, slowing your descent enough to survive the fall. Battered and wounded, you find a newly revealed treasure, one you would’ve missed five minutes earlier or later. The treasure heals all your wounds and lets you escape your pursuers, which is Destiny.]

[That’s quite the story. Can you put it in terms more prevalent to myself?]

[That’s a bit of a difficult request… The summoning magic used to bring you here is tied to Fate. You are Fated to be summoned to this world, and the only thing that could change that would be someone with a broken Fate. You then chose the shield, which set a course of events that justified you taking a lot of gold. When it comes to Destiny, you could easily associate it to your new party.]

[In what way?]

[Haven’t you noticed? Given that you will be buying some of the slaves in this auction, how many of them are male?]

Martel’s eyebrow twitched, but his silence said it all.

[Given how difficult it is for an indigenous to have a powerful Talent, how many of your companion members have them? Much less Hestia, who has two that work in conjunction? How easily did you find them? And, finally,] Shield-goddess continued with a slight tone in her voice. [How convenient is it that they are all women, something that you can take advantage of with your unique Talent?]

Martel couldn’t help but cough slightly in embarrassment, slightly amused that he felt as if she might be a little jealous. [And Luck?]

[Shameless!] Shield goddess shouted. [You should know exactly how Luck works!]

Martel smiled. Indeed he did, thanks to his recent lucky streak when spending time with a few of his wives. [All right. So I understand Choice and Fate as they seem to be specific, but what about Luck and Destiny?]

[Luck and Fate aren’t specific. Luck can be quantified by the System, as you have seen. Effectively, the higher the Luck, the more likely a lucky scenario will proc and the more impactful it will be. The type of Luck depends upon the type of karma you have. There can be some hidden modifiers depending on what you are doing… And who you are doing it with.] She said as he could feel her eyeing him in her voice. [Destiny can be qualified into measures, tall and wide, or height and foundation. To be tall means that your Destiny has the potential to be grand. However, if your Destiny isn’t wide enough to support the height, one can be killed by their Destiny's weight. Destiny is something that you can affect, but it isn’t inherently obvious. 

[Let’s say you are the Prince and heir to the kingdom. You have a tall Destiny as you can become King, but you don’t take it seriously. Instead of preparing yourself to become King, you spend all your time partying. This shrinks the width, or foundation, of your Destiny. Conversely, your younger brother spent his time making connections and increasing his strength, increasing his foundation. As a result, he manages to overthrow you. You are crushed under your Destiny, and your Destiny is then pillaged by your younger brother who becomes King.]

[I see. Is Destiny something you can sense?]

[… I can sense yours.]

[Do tell.]

[… Your Destiny is weird…. It’s incredibly tall, too tall. You should have been crushed by it already. It seems as though you have two different Destinies. One that has overlapped the other, which is fractured but being assimilated by your current foundation, making it stronger.]

Martel could help but secretly take a deep breath when he heard that. [What can you glean from it?]

[Your foundation is still insufficient for the height of your Destiny. However, it might be strong enough once these fragments have fully been assimilated, and you’re well on your way.]

[Is there any way to facilitate that process?]

[At the rate you’re going, I think you’ll do it naturally.]

[What’s causing it?]

[… The assimilation process speeds up every time you… Add a new party member.]

Martel coughed twice. [So tell me, what happens is someone whose Destiny crushes them?]

[You will die, or you will lose that which you value more than your own life, if not both.]

Martel took in a cold breath. [So serious?]

[Of course it is! Destiny is not to be trifled with! Besides… Something tells me you’ve already experienced something similar.]

Martel thought about it in silence for several seconds. [If I told you that, until recently, bad things would happen to the people I care about?]

[… I believe you.] She softly replied.

[What should I do?]

[Destiny can’t be forced. Even though I said that your Destiny was strengthening with your new party members, that doesn’t mean you should add them wildly. For example, let’s say you add someone into your party who betrays you and causes several of your party members’ deaths. Your Destiny will end up becoming worse. It’s not just about having a big foundation, but a sturdy one. Destiny isn’t something to be carried alone, so surround yourself with capable and trustworthy people.]

[I understand.] Martel replied, somewhat absentmindedly. His mind was drifting to thinking about Freyja. Some of the words that she had said resonated with the Shield-Goddess in a way that made him wonder if she was aware of it. However, there was no point in speculating something that he didn’t think she even understood. At this point, a large cage was rolled out on the stage, drawing his attention.

“Everyone, we have come to the finale of our unique and exotic animals.” The auctioneer said with a smile, her voice subtly drowning out the growls coming from the cage. “Unlike the few pets earlier, with some training, this unique black wolf can become a valuable battle companion. This wolf is already quite powerful. She wreaked havoc among the local wolf population just across the water before her very recent acquisition. As you might be able to tell, her size is also significantly larger than the average wolf. Although it may be awkward for a full adult male, she is just large enough and strong enough to use as a mount. However, she does require training as she was acquired a little over a week ago. The starting price is 100 with increments of 100.”

[It seems as though the identification abilities of the auction house are only general.] Martel thought to Shield-Goddess.

[That isn’t too surprising. Remember, a supermajority of Talents aren’t that useful, and they aren’t as all-inclusive as your own. Why? What’s unique about this wolf?]

[You can’t tell?]

Martel could feel her roll her eyes. [No. Aside from your immediate person and any System information you send my way, I only have very basic surveillance of your surroundings.]

[I see. To answer your question, that is not a wolf, but a hellhound.]

[A beast? No wonder.]

[Interesting, so that’s a beast.]

[What’s the ratio of its soul?]

[16% demon, 55% normal. That doesn’t add up.]

[That’s not surprising at all. Even though beasts have souls, the weak ones are incomplete. This is different for humanoids who have complete souls initially, but functionally it’s the same thing. While being complete, a humanoid soul is still under development, so only a percentage is used. In the hellhound situation, this will mean it will have the wisdom and consciousness of a humanoid child around five years old.]

[Isn’t that fairly smart?]

[It is quite intelligent, but I don’t think you can easily communicate with it. Maybe you can with that weird ring of yours on. You might actually be able to train it fairly quickly because of that, and the demon part of its soul is fairly low, so it shouldn’t be bloodthirsty. It would be quite an effective mount for the smaller members of your party. ]

“2100 going four times,”

“4000.” Martel bid, causing various glances towards his box. His extravagant bidding was on purpose to deter others from bidding in the future. He currently had favorable advantages, excessive gold, and many were unwilling to spend much due to the Waves in case of emergencies.

The auctioneer briefly glanced at the other VIP box that had made the previous bid. “4-4000 gold going once… Sold.”

“Bring her up to my box,” Martel said as larger or volatile auctioned items were typically picked up after the auction is over unless otherwise specified.

“Of course.” The auctioneer said with a smile on her face. She was quite happy as, although Martel had only purchased two items, he had exceeded their expected price both times. Then, she turned back to address the rest of the audience. “Now, we will move on to the humanoid slaves.”

[Say, how did this beast, especially one this weak, end up over here? Don’t the magical mountain ranges block them off?]

[That’s a weird question coming from you, considering you already have three beasts in your party.]

[One is Asuka, though I don’t understand why she seems to be extremely intelligent for her strength. Who are the other two?]

[Naturally, I’m talking about Kogane and Terra. I’ll explain in more detail because they are unique, but I will start with the magical mountain ranges. It affects all creatures but affects both the weakest and the strongest the least. There are two exceptions to this. People from other worlds are completely immune to the inherent magic. They can also be followed by others, as you should already know. Additionally, those with bloodlines from individuals from other worlds also have corresponding resistance. Given the strength of this hellhound, while that is a possibility, it isn’t very likely.

[Towards the end of the first waves, there was a war known as the Beast Wars. This was when the Heavenly Devouring White Tiger managed to lead many beasts across the mountains. Given our weakness from the Waves, we ended up ceding some of the territories after heavily wounding said Tiger. The original beasts, including the Tiger, have died since then, but that resulted in demihumans and the Demihuman Empire. This hellhound was most likely born amongst a litter of wolves with traces of the hellhound’s bloodline. Under some circumstances, including random chance, she inherited enough of the hellhound’s bloodline to become a hellhound herself. We talked about this a little before, but there are no half races. Instead, they will mostly have subtle characteristics of their other bloodline that doesn’t affect the overall race. In this hellhound instance, it will most likely be something similar to a runt, for lack of a better term.

[As for the other two beasts that are already members of your party, they both are unique cases. From what I can gather about Asuka, she was already born once and entered a state of suspended animation. Her parents should both be extremely powerful beasts, so she should have been born with a nearly complete soul and a memory inheritance. Extremely powerful beasts can, unintentionally, pass information through their bloodlines. The memory is not in their blood per se, but an inherent part of their soul that exists because of their bloodline.

[Kogane as a special case, but it’s not unique. One of her Talents made her born in the appearance of demihuman instead of as a Nine-Tailed Fox. This Talent is not unique as it has appeared before in several other similar cases. In this instance, from the union of a powerful humanoid and a beast mother who remained in humanoid form for her pregnancy’s duration. Her Talent also allows her to become a full-fledged beast eventually, even though her ancestry isn’t pure, so she won’t be considered a runt.]

[I see, that is quite interesting. What would Terra be considered?] 

[Her lineage is animal and beast, so she is technically classified as a monster. However, because her beast lineage is from a dragon, she can barely be qualified as a beast. As you might’ve already figured out from her intelligence, she does have a soul even though it is incomplete.]

[I see.] Martel replied as the door opened, revealing several struggling guards. They forcefully pulled the heavily chained hellhound through the doorway as the cage was too large to fit.

Martel, or rather, Kuro stood up and grabbed the chain immediately dumbfounded guards as he appeared to drag the hellhound through the doorway casually. Martel walked up and handed a storage bag with pre-prepared gold and handed it to the extremely nervous maid who tenderly followed behind. The maid took a moment to do a preliminary check before she handed him a storage bag with a contract paper in it. Swapping storage bags was a common practice when dealing with large amounts of currency.

Once the maid and guards left, Martel’s attention was brought to the hellhound. The hellhound’s piercing red eyes were fixed directly at Kuro. At the same time, her posture was agitated, not hostile but aggressive. Martel took a second to read her body language and knew she was taking a power pose, one that was asserting her dominance. Interestingly, she only took this pose once the guards had left, as if she understood the situation she was in. 

Martel walked to the front of the hellhound. “Can you understand me?”

The hellhound’s eyes, originally completely locked onto Kuro, began to alternate between the two figures at his words.

Martel narrowed his eyes. “From now on, you listen to me.”

The hellhound’s eyes immediately locked onto his, and she took an even more aggressive posture.

Martel couldn’t help but smile when he saw this. He confirmed he could have basic communication with the hellhound, and she understood her basic circumstance. Though she must’ve been confused from constantly changing hands, she currently believed that she was now part of a new pack and was trying to express dominance to establish the hierarchy within it. 

Remembering what the auctioneer previously said, it seemed as though the wolves that he and his party had encountered had suffered from this hellhound’s hands. Most likely, they were too weak for her taste.

With a wave of his hands, Kuro dispersed what appeared to be fine black dust around the compartment to cancel out the impending noise. “I’m going to take off your restraints now.” He said as he approached the hellhound. Impressively, the hellhound didn’t move as Kuro removed the restraints. It seemed as though she seemed happy. Finally, she wasn’t going to be bullied by these weird contraptions and multiple bad guys that took advantage of their superior numbers.

Kuro backed away as the hellhound growls became louder, and she tensed up, her fur erecting up along her spine. Again, Martel sensed only aggressiveness and no viciousness. The moment Martel moved his arm, with a growl and a snap, she lunged at him with surprising speed but missed entirely. 

The moment the hellhound committed to her pounce, Martel Gale Stepped to the side and, in one swift motion, put a hand to the hellhound’s throat and belly and slammed her into the ground.

The hellhound, completely shocked from the sudden turn of events too fast for her to comprehend, began to struggle in panic, especially under the foreign sensation of being powerless. 

“I’m stronger than you.”

The hellhound finally flinched, completely tensed, before she began to relax, maneuvering herself onto her back, exposing her vulnerable belly, a sign of submission.

Carefully, as Martel felt she was intelligent enough to fake surrender, Martel gently patted her belly before removing his hand from her throat. The hellhound stayed in that position for a couple of seconds before she slowly righted herself, stood up, and slowly came to and rubbed his leg affectionately. Then, she suddenly sat down and started panting, looking at him in a way he felt was both happy and expectant.

Martel could help but feel slightly surprised when he suddenly found this tough beast acting like a household dog. “... Lay down.”

The hellhound obediently laid down.

“Rollover.”

She rolled over.

“… Shake.”

The hellhound held out a paw and glanced at his hand. Seeing Martel unmoving, the hellhound made a slight motion with her outstretched paw.

Underneath the mask, black lines covered his face. What kind of wild beast was this? While the first two commands could be explained away with his ring’s help, the last one was not the concept that a wild canine should understand. In other words, this hellhound most likely already had sufficient training or interaction with another human. Her extremely aggressive and belligerent behavior was most likely because she didn’t recognize anyone else as worthy of ordering her. However, seeing as she had accepted Martel as the ‘pack leader,’ she was now quite obedient.

Feeling both helpless and relieved that it seemed as if this hellhound would require minimal training to get along with the rest of the party, Martel reached down and shook her paw. It was then that Martel was blindsided by her attack as a large, slobbery tongue licked the side of his face. Luckily, the mask blocked most of the slobber… most of it. “Go wait in the corner. We will go and meet the rest of your new pack in a little bit.”

The hellhound’s tail started to wag even more at the mention of the word ‘pack,’ and she quickly and obediently went to the corner of the room before laying down and staring at him intently. Martel couldn’t help but make a wry smile as he withdrew a meaty bone from his inventory and tossed it at her. “Since you are being so good, here’s a reward to keep you busy.”

The hellhound quickly caught the bone and returned to the corner with terrifying speed, happily gnawing away. Martel brought out the paper, completed the contract, and brought his attention back to the stage.

“For those of you who wish to have a powerful personal guard, who is also easy on the eyes, then do we have a treat for you.” The auctioneer said as a chained woman was brought out onto the stage. 

The chained woman’s skin color was dark grey. Her height was several inches above 6 feet, making her taller than Martel yet smaller than Pasiphae. Like Pasiphae, she also had a muscular build, but her muscles were fairly toned compared to the more amazonian minotaur. Her mouth, sealed with a wooden gag, had two large lower canines that extended slightly past her lower lip. Though not a pure one, this woman was an Orich, as revealed by her smaller tasks and purple eyes.

“As you can see, this is a young Orich.” The auctioneer began. “Don’t let the stereotypes of them being fat and lazy fool you. While some do have a proclivity for such a lifestyle, many focus on strength and fitness. Just for some clarification, given her personality, don’t expect any benefits beyond fighting. The initial bid is 3000 gold with increments of 250.”

“3000.”

“3500.”

“3750.”

“4500.”

“10000.”

Martel’s bid quickly ended the rest of the bidding. At this point, his private box was getting many angry stares as they were starting to get fed up with his excessive bidding. However, no one offered a higher bid as many didn’t feel that more than 8000 gold was worth it. She had such a price because her contract, like every other slave contract in the auction, was indefinite. The probability of this occurring naturally was slim to none. This meant that someone with a Talent could manipulate or create the normal contracts, but no one would bring that up as it was a black-market auction. Given that an Orich lifespan could span up to a thousand years, of which she appeared not to have used more than 20 of, it meant she could be a slave that would span multiple generations. If not for the difficulty leveling up, her price could have been much more.

Martel stood up and swapped space bags with the maid, who promptly left the room. He was planning to remove her wooden gag, but before he could, she moved forward. There was a loud *crack* as she sent him a head butt. Martel, who had noticed what was happening, managed to repel her with the help of his Ki. The Orich was stunned momentarily before her eyes suddenly became bloodshot, and her body seemed to swell as she rushed toward him for another headbutt. This time, Martel was proactive and met her head-on. With an even louder *crack*, the woman took several steps back and was momentarily dizzy. 

During this brief intermission, Martel took out the contract paper and finished the formalities. While it had yet to come up, due to his other party members’ willing participation, slaves could not attack their masters with the intent to harm. The specification was because an act, such as grabbing, could be considered an attack. However, doing so was not inherently harmful and potentially helpful. This is why the magic took into account the intent of the slave. If the slave tried to attack their masters or others, they would become paralyzed. The only reason she could give him a headbutt was because they had not finalized the contract. In this instance, Martel didn’t particularly care about her actions. She was not trying to get away but appeared to be venting her frustrations about her situation. Now, no longer worrying about a sudden outbreak, Martel removed the wooden gag.

“I’m not going to sleep with you.”

The first words out of her mouth were very direct, and Martel had to stifle back a chuckle. Although Orichs were not particularly known for their attractiveness, she was an unusual muscular beauty, so Martel knew what she meant. 

The inherent part of the slavery magic meant that the owner didn’t own the slaves but their contract. This meant that there were no racial slaves, nor slaves that were born into slavery. It also meant that no crimes could be committed by, or to, the slaves. Given the first words out of her mouth were to express her explicit refusal of things of a sensual nature, she was blatantly conveying that that was off the table. 

This didn’t mean that the master couldn’t force the slaves, but it would be considered sexual assault up to rape at that point and would appear in the Rewards and Punishments of the master. It was a universal law that any slave who made a claim of assault or worse without a history of ‘crying wolf’ had to be taken seriously by law officials. Regardless of status, their master and/or the accused party would have the Rewards and Punishments checked. 

The easily made accusations meant that sexual assaults against slaves were very rare. If proven true, it would give officials the authority to fully explore the Rewards and Punishments, revealing any other crimes they committed. The gains were most definitely not worth the loss. Unfortunately, this was not a perfect system as some slaves could be locked away without having a chance to accuse their assaulters. Worse was when the slaves were naïve enough to give their consent, which was the case for some of Laelynn’s brutal treatment.

“That’s fine by me. I only plan to have you fight for me.” Martel said as he removed her constraints.

At his words, the woman’s serious expression slightly loosened, and her little lips slightly curled. “I hope so. I also hope I can fight enough to keep me interested. Otherwise, you won’t be able to keep me for very long.”

Martel slightly narrowed his eyes at her confidence, implying that she could escape slavery if she wanted. Most people would scoff at her assertion, but Martel did not. Before she became his slave, she had the Hero’s Assistant’s growth rate. This meant she most likely had a bloodline connection to someone heavily involved with the Seventh Wave. Given that she was of elvish descent, there was a good chance that person was still alive. “What’s your name?”

“... Eferhild.”

“Martel.” He replied as he extended his hand.

A brief flash of surprise flashed across Eferhild’s as the handshake implied equality, which she found interesting given their relative positions. She extended her hand, and she firmly shook it. Her smile thickened as her hand tightened but never gained an advantage over Martel’s grip. “I look forward to working with you, boss. And he is?”

“Kuro, my temporary bodyguard.”

“I see. Am I to take his place in the future?”

“Sort of. More specifically, you’re going to become a part of my adventuring party.”

Eferhild chuckled but did not further inquire. Instead, she walked to the side of the room, leaned against the wall, and closed her eyes. She ignored the hellhound that had been growling in the corner since she gave Martel a headbutt.

Martel pacified the hellhound and turned his attention back to the stage.