“Why are you acting as if you didn’t know this already?” The man asked. “Wasn’t your magic power measured when you were younger?”

  Uh-oh!

  “I-It was.” I quickly stood up and collected myself. “I just…hoped it wasn’t true and that I may have grown stronger.”

  “Magic power cannot grow.” He scowled at me. “Whatever you were blessed with at birth by the God’s is what you have, and from what I sense, your magic power is hardly anything.” He motioned with his fingers, leaving only the smallest gap. “It isn’t enough to do anything. Hence why I’m assuming you’re a thief.” He smiled. “Though, even most thieves have a magical aptitude to allow the most basic of spells.”

  It's one of these games, huh?

  Depending on your class, it limited your spell arsenal, preventing you from learning or acquiring certain spells, and seeing as how I had no class, even after reaching level fifteen, it was no surprise to me that this was the case.

  Still, how could I have been brought to this world to be so weak? What was the point? Why was I scorned by the God’s even in this world?

  “So I’ve been told,” I murmured. A lie, obviously, but one I needed to go along with. “Well, is there anything that I can purchase that can help me? I tend to struggle in fights. I’m still new to fighting and only recently decided to be an adventurer.”

  “Late on the uptake, huh?” He chuckled. “Well, since you can’t afford a familiar, perhaps a slave will be of use.”

  “I’m good.” I blurted. “I’m not that low.”

  “Are you sure? I have a rather intriguing girl I recently purchased from a slave trader. I was told she put up quite the fight.”

  “...”

  “She’s a skilled swordswoman,” he continued. “And rather charming, if I say so myself.” He twirled his mustache with a sinister grin.

  Maybe…Maybe I should buy her, if only to save her from whatever this man has planned. That’s what I told myself, but the reality was that he had caught my attention after mentioning she was a skilled fighter. If I had someone like that traveling with me, farming would be much easier.

  I disliked the idea of having to be carried and hated running into others in my games who were. Valorant was especially bad at this, and every time I played, someone on the enemy team was being carried by someone in a much higher rank. The difference between them and me, however, was that I needed to be carried right now. Otherwise, I could die if I ran into a powerful creature.

  “How can I guarantee she won’t just run if I do buy her?” I asked with crossed arms. “Then, I’ll really lose my money.”

  “That’s where a slave contract comes in. Once she is assigned to you, she cannot leave your side. If she does, she’ll die after a certain amount of time has passed.”

  “I see.” I placed a hand on my chin in thought. “I guess I could take a look.”

  “Good! This way.” I followed him further into the back until we arrived at our destination.

  A cloth covered the cage, and as he pulled it off, my heart stopped.

  Inside the cage was a cat girl. She had short, striking black hair and piercing emerald-green eyes that glared at me. Her tattered clothes barely covered her slender frame, and her chains clinked as she shifted. Her ears flattened against her head, and a low hiss left her lips.

  I took a deep breath, my heart pounding in my chest. “Hey there,” I spoke softly, trying to keep my voice steady.

  I couldn’t believe it. My deepest desire. My one true wish. It had been granted.

  “I’m not here to hurt you.”

  The cat girl hissed again, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. I could see the fear and anger in her gaze, and it broke my heart. How badly had she been treated to look at me like that?

  Her skin was bruised, and she had bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. She had been injured. It pissed me off thinking who could harm such a beautiful girl.

  I slowly approached the cage before kneeling down, making myself smaller to appear less threatening. “My name is Sion, and I want to help you.” She didn’t respond, but her hissing ceased. My eyes casted a soft, comforting light over her as I smiled.

  She’s so cute! I want her! I need her!

  She retreated further into the cage as she began to shiver, the fur on her ears and tail sticking up in fear.

  “Eh?”

  “Hehe.” The man rested a hand on my shoulder. “I see you find her alluring as well. That face you made says it all. I take it you want her, then?”

  “Shit, I was making a face?” I scowled at him before looking back at the girl. “S-Sorry. I didn’t mean to look at you like that. I just…You’re…” Her pupils shook in fear, and my heart sank. “It doesn’t matter. I really do want to help you. Or, really, I need you to help me.”

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  “No.” Her voice was shaky and barely audible. “I-I won’t. I won’t do it.”

  Shit, that totally came out wrong.

  “I-It’s not like that.” I waved my hands in surrender with a weak and awkward smile. “You see, I’m pretty weak, and I heard you were strong.” She continued to stare but said nothing. “I need someone like you to help me with my quests while adventuring.”

  Her eyes widened, and for the first time, a glimmer of hope appeared in her emerald depths. “Adventuring?” She repeated.

  “Uh-huh.” I smiled brightly. “We’re going to become adventurers, and you’re going to help me.” She hesitantly crawled forward until she was directly in front of me. She grabbed the bars with both hands as her eyes met mine.

  “Adventurer? Me?” I watched as her tail began to sway.

  MY HEART!

  “You…want me to be an adventurer with you? You…want me in your party?”

  Don’t tilt your head like that! I’m gonna die!

  “I do.”

  “But…I’m a Beastkin...People will…judge you.”

  “Then let them judge.” I slowly raised my hands and grabbed the bars near hers. “All I care about is me and you. Who cares what others think? Let them hate. While they’re busy doing that, we’ll be having fun and getting stronger, surpassing them. Then,” I smiled arrogantly. “We can kick their ass for all the shit they talked.”

  Her eyes sparkled as a soft smile began to form on her lips.

  “Hmm.” I heard the man hum behind me. “You truly have no other intentions with this Beastkin?”

  I didn’t know what a Beastkin was, but based on experience from games and anime, it was most likely people like her—humanoid people with animalistic traits. The term Beastkin left me to wonder if there were others like her and what kind of traits they had.

  “I don’t.” My eyes never left hers as I answered. “I just want to help her and for her to help me in return.” Her hand slowly moved until it was on top of mine.

  “Okay.” She whispered.

  THUMP-THUMP!

  I quickly jerked back and cleared my throat. “H-How much?”

  The man stared at me as if looking at a diamond in the rough before responding. “How about you give me the rest of your coin? If you do that, I’ll even throw in her sword that I purchased.”

  “You have Nyroc!” The girl exclaimed. Her voice cracked as she spoke. It sounded to me like she needed some water.

  The name Nyroc quickly informed me she was referring to a legendary weapon. If she had one, then giving him the rest of my coin was worth it. Hell, I would have given him the rest just for her.

  “Throw in some clothes, and you have a deal,” I said.

  “No can do. I don’t sell clothes.”

  “It was worth a try.” I smiled weakly at the girl before looking back at him. “Fine then.” I reached into my coat pocket and handed him the bag.

  “Great!” He snatched it and vanished behind some shelves before returning with a sword and its sheathe and handing it to me.

  “Oh, fancy.” The hilt was red and gold with platinum-colored wings extending from the guard. The sheathe was fancy as well. Black with golden lines wrapping around it.

  “Ah, before I forget.” The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch.

  “What’s that for?”

  “It’s the sign of your contract.” He replied before walking towards the girl. “Give me your hand.” She hesitantly did as told, and he pricked her finger with a needle before letting a drop fall onto the watch. He did the same with me, and a dark purple light came from it before dying. “Put this on.” He handed it to me.

  I did as told, putting the watch on my right wrist.

  “Ho?” The man awed. “You’re left-handed?”

  “I am. Why?” He grinned violently.

  “No reason. Before I let you go, let me explain how the contract works. That watch tells you how much time she has left before dying if she gets too far away. The contract also forces her to obey commands as long as you say, ‘I order you to’ before making your demands.”

  “Makes sense.” I shrugged as he opened the cage. The girl immediately ran into my arms after he freed her from the chains, and her face buried deep into my chest. “H-Hey.”

  “Thank you.” I felt her purr vibrating my soul, and I stuck my ass out as I pat her head.

  “N-No biggie,” I replied before pushing her away softly. “But…” I looked her up and down. “We can’t have you walking around like that. Here.” I took my coat off and handed it to her. “Wear this until we get some money to get you a real outfit.”

  She smiled as she took it and put it on. It was much too large for her, and she rolled the sleeves up before taking a deep whiff. “It smells like you.”

  “D-Don’t say things like that.” I quickly averted my eyes from hers. “Weirdo.” She only giggled as we made our way out of the shop, the man thanking and waving us off as we did so.