The Kingdom of Elysia.
Caridon, the Verdant City.
The sun hung blazing overhead. The streets ran with filthy water, hot and stifling, and the reek of dead rats hung over everything.
A bearded slave trader in a white headwrap and a long brown robe trailed close behind a strapping, black-haired young man, sizing up his customer with narrowed eyes. "You look like someone out of the ordinary. I'd like to know your name."
The young man stood before the rows of iron cages, absorbed in picking through the slaves. "Ryan," he answered offhandedly. "Remember it or don't. It doesn't matter."
The slaver gave the whip in his hand a flick. "I'll remember it. So? Any of these beasts catch your eye? Mine are top of the line — you won't find their like anywhere else in the city."
The crack of the whip against the bars made the frightened demi-human slaves curl into balls. Not one of them dared lift their head at the customer come to browse; every one kept their face pressed low.
Seeing this, the slaver bellowed, "Heads up, all of you!"
A few thugs used wooden clubs to herd the slaves cowering in the corners into the center of the cages, the better for Ryan to inspect them.
These slaves were dressed in rags, yet their faces had been scrubbed clean — clean, and rigid with terror.
Ryan shook his head. "These are too small."
The slaver smoothed the menace off his face and raised a hand toward the scattered few in the cage, presenting them to Ryan one by one. "I've got bigger ones too. This one — eighteen, a virgin, forty silver tree coins.
That one over there's twenty, has borne a child, took an injury to the leg so she's a bit lame — twenty silver tree coins..."
Tree coins were the official currency of the Kingdom of Elysia, each stamped with the image of the World Tree. They came in three metals — gold, silver, and copper — each worth a different amount, gold the most precious, silver next, copper the lowest.
One gold tree coin was worth thirty-two silver, and one silver was worth forty-five copper.
For a farmer to save up twenty silver, he would have to go without food or drink for half a year at the very least.
Ryan listened for a while, then couldn't help cutting in. "I'm not talking about their age. I'm talking about their chests."
The slaver looked him up and down, stroked the whiskers on his chin, and after a moment's thought broke into a leer. "Ohh-ho-ho. So you want one with a good figure..."
"She also needs to be able to fight. I've no use for a pretty vase."
"One that can fight? A woman? And with a good figure on top of that?"
The slaver frowned slightly, paused, then went on. "Any other day I'd have thrown you out. But today's your lucky day — White Mist Island just sent over a few fearsome beasts that ought to meet your requirements."
Ryan had heard a little about White Mist Island. It was a place that specialized in training special slaves, deep in the Northern Sea.
The story went that these slaves were carried off as children, made to drink all manner of potions, and then put through decades of inhuman training — an agonizing process with a brutal death rate. Out of a hundred slaves, usually only three or four lived long enough to be shipped off the island.
Such special slaves were every one of them cold-blooded killing machines, who never stayed their hand when they killed.
At that, the slaver shot a glance at Ryan's shabby cloak and shook his head. "Of course, beasts like that are usually only something a noble lord or a rich merchant can afford."
Ryan hefted the heavy coin purse in his hand and said, without turning his head, "Take me to see them."
He had awakened a System the moment he crossed into this world, and this purse was the startup capital it had handed him that very morning — a full fifty gold coins inside.
The money could only be spent on buying slaves, nothing else, and could be used only once. To get the most out of it, he could only buy the most expensive.
The slaver eyed the purse in Ryan's hand, thought for a moment, then headed for the depths of the market, muttering all the while. "Come with me. This is the last one.
Those old Elysian nobles, the moment they hear it's a woman, they turn and leave without a second glance. But you — you go out of your way to buy the women..."
Ryan shrugged. "I'd rather share a roof with a woman."
The slaver led him to a dilapidated, crack-riddled building. Inside, many more demi-human slaves were held, heavy shackles on their feet, watched over by several thugs in thick plate armor.
The instant Ryan stepped through the door, his gaze was caught and held by one of the slaves.
She was unlike the others. She stood bolt upright where she was, so utterly motionless she might have been an exquisite statue.
She was tall, her skin snow-white, dressed in a thin linen shirt and shorts. A pair of beautiful cat ears stood up on her head, and behind her a big, fluffy cat tail swayed gently.
Following Ryan's gaze, the slaver chimed in. "That beast cost me a fortune. Don't let the fact that she's just a woman fool you — she's a master of killing magic, the fiercest of this whole batch. Not one of the other slaves is a match for her."
Ryan narrowed his eyes and looked her over carefully.
No deformities. Her face and figure were both flawless, and though her "weapons" were kept thoroughly under wraps by her clothes, even the outline made plain that they were no small affair.
The only thing was the killing intent rolling off her, thick enough to frighten, and eyes like a pool of dead water that made a man's skin crawl.
Ryan had seen eyes like that only on executioners who had killed beyond counting.
At that moment, the System's voice surfaced in his ear.
[Congratulations, Host, on encountering a Legendary-grade unit. System appraisal in progress.]
An instant later, the beast-eared girl's status panel sprang up before his eyes.
[Name: Ellie
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Race: Demi-human (Cat-Kin)
Current Status: Healthy
Talent Details——
Strength: D
Endurance: C
Agility: S
Intelligence: S
Perception: S
Luck: C
Overall Quality: Legendary (Common, Fine, Rare, Epic, Legendary)
Current Affection: Level 1
Current Loyalty: None]
The slaver pressed on with his pitch. "She was trained on White Mist Island. Her obedience is first-rate — she'll do whatever you tell her. Break her in well and she'll make a fine, useful hound in the end.
If she won't behave, bring her back and I'll swap her for another. And if you're satisfied, we can do plenty of business down the road."
Ryan had assumed this was a one-time deal; he hadn't expected it to come with after-sales service.
Not bothering to hide the satisfaction in his eyes, he asked casually, "Sounds good. Give me a demonstration of what she can do."
The slaver shot a look at a thug beside him, and before long a demi-human corpse covered in bruises was dragged over and tossed into the corner like a rag doll.
"Cut him to pieces."
Ellie did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant she raised her hand, several wind blades shot out and shredded the corpse to pulp, blood spraying everywhere.
Nearby, a few other demi-human slaves watched with numb eyes, as though they had long since grown used to such things.
The slaver called the demi-humans over to clear away the severed limbs, then turned to Ryan. "Well? Not bad, eh? She's mastered multiple schools of magic, she's young and beautiful, and a virgin besides. Fifty gold tree coins, and the beast is yours."
In an age where the average person could not eat their fill, a farmer would have to save a lifetime — without eating or drinking — to gather fifty gold coins.
Ryan simply handed over the purse the System had given him.
The slaver opened it and glanced inside. Seeing it full of glittering gold tree coins, he couldn't keep the grin off his face. "If you're happy with her, come again."
He at once signaled to a veiled maidservant beside him, who hurried forward, crouched, and unlocked the heavy shackles.
Lowering her head, the maid backed away and said softly, "You can use the brand now. The magic will guide you."
Ryan raised his hand. He could feel mana gathering toward his palm, resonating with the magic brand on Ellie's arm...
The slaver nodded along. "The beast is yours now. With the brand, if she kills you she dies too. Use her as you please."
At the same time, the System's voice sounded in Ryan's ear again.
[Congratulations, Host, on completing the quest.]
[The Beast-Eared Girl Codex has been unlocked.]
[Name: Ellie
Current Affection: Level 1
Level 1 Affection condition: Become acquainted with Ellie (Achieved)
Level 2 Affection condition: Become friends with Ellie (Not yet achieved)
Level 3 Affection condition: Become close friends with Ellie (Not yet achieved)
Level 4 Affection condition: Develop a healthy romantic relationship with Ellie (Not yet achieved)
Current Codex reward: Strength, Endurance, and Agility each increased by 5%]
Ryan gave his arm a light swing but felt no change in his body.
Just then the System spoke up again, and this time it brought bad news.
[Warning: this slave's current Loyalty is detected to be too low.]
"What happens if her Loyalty's too low?" Ryan glanced back at Ellie. The catgirl's head hung low; what she was thinking, there was no telling.
[She is highly likely to develop hostility toward the Host. Please purchase with caution.]
"Oh, come on! Now you tell me!"