1 Prologue

In a white, black, and gold room with a modern design and feel, there lies a row of slaves wearing clean white t-shirts and white pants, along with a black collar around their neck. The collar was equipped with advanced technology and a gold circle with engraved runes and symbols.

The lined-up slaves were a mix of different races, sexes, ages, and conditions that made each one unique. Some slaves were humans, while others had beastial features, such as animal ears, tails, horns, and so forth. Most of the slaves were adults, while others were elders, young adults, and teenagers.

However, there was one slave in particular that separated him from the rest, and it wasn't because he was so unique or special. It was the fact that he looked and appeared to be plain, average, and boring that made him stand out. It was a human male who looked to be no older than 19, who had short brown hair and blue eyes.

The boy was neither very tall nor very short, and he was neither ugly nor beautiful. His body showed no fat or muscle, just somewhere in between, and if it wasn't obvious enough, everything—even that part of his body—was average.

Judging by the dim light in the boy's eyes, his hopes were long gone. Both his eyes and his face showed an expression that easily displayed his depression and bereftness. He looked nothing more than an empty puppet that wanted some sort of purpose or calling.

With his thoughts and emotions practically empty, he waited in line along with the other slaves, as they were currently waiting for a possible new master or mistress to view and purchase at least one of them.

Despite this, this boy knew that the possibility of him getting purchased was nonexistent, as why would someone want to purchase him? After all, 'I haven't even awakened a familiar...' he said in his thoughts.

Familiars were beings that gave all humanoid beings inside the universe power, and without it, they would have none. A familiar would take shape in all different corporeal or ethereal forms and would give their contracted user power at the cost of completing their tasks, as well as their personality, desires, and interests being altered, among other things.

For example, if a person were to awaken a fire salamander as their familiar, they would be short-tempered, they would like warmer areas better, and they would view fire above everything else.

Having something about a person altered is scary, and they would find the altered effects easily manageable until they got stronger and stronger, and the effects would become more prominent.

Nonetheless, familiars enabled people to be powerful, and with power, things like wealth, status, and reputation would soon follow, making all the altered effects miniscule compared to all the positives.

Glancing his blue eyes around the room, the boy knew that, aside from him, all the other slaves had familiars. Although he couldn't see all of them because some of them were invisible, he could see all kinds of different animals, beasts, or even monsters floating above, behind, or next to their contracted user.

They all looked so cool, and seeing this made the boy feel bitter and useless. He didn't care how horrible of a familiar he could've awakened; he just wanted to awaken one. 'I can't believe that I'm the only person to ever exist without a familiar...' he bitterly thought.

Feeling cursed, useless, and depressed, the boy closed his eyes and kept them closed even when the sounds of a wooden door opened and several footsteps followed.

"Well, as you can see, these are the available slaves that we have to show you, Lady Valerie." Said by a short, overweight man with short brown hair, brown eyes, and a mustache. He dressed in a black and white business suit with a top hat, a monocle, and a wooden cane in his hand.

The short man led a very beautiful and tall woman, Valerie, who appeared to be in her early 20s and had long snow-white hair and crimson-red eyes that were framed by long snow-white eyelashes and thin, arched snow-white eyebrows.

Valerie's skin was very pale and smooth, and her body was absolutely sinful. She had an hourglass figure, large and soft breasts, rather wide hips, thick thighs, and an ample rear. She wore a white futuristic dress that clung to her body, but because of that, there was a very large and thick bulge situated between her two legs that was clearly visible.

Knowing who or what this woman was, the overweight man didn't point this out and practically ignored it. He waved his hand over to the slaves, including the boy, to show her.

Starting on the far left, the overweight man began explaining each slave and their awakened familiar to Valerie in hopes of persuading her to purchase at least one of them.

"Here we have a male human warrior who has awakened an earth turtle as his familiar, and his abilities are..."

"The next one we have is a beautiful elven woman who has awakened a wind fairy as her familiar, and her abilities are..."

"Over here, we have..."

"This one..."

"Next..."

After going through numerous slaves, the overweight man and Valerie finally landed on the boy, who wore a blank expression on his face with his eyes still closed.

She found him extremely odd and couldn't understand why until the overweight man explained it to her. "This boy is Ash, a human boy who, for some reason, did not awaken a familiar. He was sold by his father for credits, and has been in slavery ever since. As of today, he is 19 years old and has been a slave here for 9 years."

Valerie gasped as she muttered, "He hasn't awakened a familiar...?"

The boy, Ash, knew that the woman standing in front of him would call him cursed, trash, pathetic, useless, or something along those lines. That's what the other potential buyers said about him when they heard about his background and situation; why would Ash expect something different?

Yet, disproving those thoughts, Valerie smiled brightly and took Ash by the hands as she said enthusiastically, "He's perfect! I'll take him!" She then handed the overweight man a card that housed her credits.

Credits were the currency of the universe, and people paid with cards that had credits on them. Even after being handed a credit card, the overweight man couldn't understand something.

"U-Uh, Lady Valerie. Why would you want to purchase this boy? He has not awakened any familiars, and he's neither capable nor pretty to look at..." He asked, hoping to gain clarity on her decision.

However, Valerie's smile ceased, and her expression was now filled with annoyance. "Am I obligated to tell you my reasons, Slave Master?" which frightened the overweight man greatly.

He felt immense pressure placed on him by her, and he knew exactly what it was. 'K-Killing intent... she will kill me if I ask any further...' he thought before shaking his head with an awkward smile. "O-Of course, not! How foolish of me! I shall promptly get everything situated for you..."

As the overweight man left the room for a few moments, another person came in and led the other slaves back to their cells. Meanwhile, Ash looked at Valerie with an incredulous expression, asking himself, 'Why... why would she buy me? Aren't I useless? Aren't I no good?'

While waiting for the man to come back, Valerie did not speak to Ash at all. She calmly waited patiently, and a few minutes had gone by, and she was finally being handed back her credit card with good news. "Here are the documents proving your ownership over Ash. Ash is now officially your property, Lady Valerie." He then handed her a file inside a yellow envelope.

Not wanting to linger any longer, the overweight man politely excused himself, leaving Valerie and Ash alone in their thoughts.

"Now then, I believe that with you at my side, my life at the Magical Academy would be a smooth one~!" Valerie said with a satisfied and bubbly tone.

Being beckoned to follow her, Ash had no choice but to comply with all her commands moving forward. As a slave, he had no rights, and she could practically do whatever she wanted with him.

If Ash were to not comply with her orders, the advanced technology would make his disobedience painful, and if he were to ever betray her... 'I don't want to even think about that...' Ash thought, knowing full well that he would lose his head.

Following behind Valerie, Ash left the shop that had been his home for 9 years, and it was the first time in forever that he had seen the outside.

The building that they had just left was a tall skyscraper, reaching an impressive, towering height. Floating in the sky all around were countless flying cars heading to and from in every direction.

Looking ahead, Ash could see the futuristic, modern designs of the commercial district he found himself in. It was clean and eco-friendly, and all the signs and advertisements were holograms of different colors.

The advanced and modern cars ran on pure electricity, and in between each road were short trees that gave life to the city. Countless people were seen walking into and out of stores, and they were of different races, such as humans, elves, dwarves, beastkin, demons, monsters, and more.

And, just like the slaves, all of them had familiars that floated nearby and followed their contracted user, giving them power at any moment. Though, because of this, some of the people had a hard time getting along since their altered personalities often clashed against one another, leading to loud arguments in the middle of the street.

"I don't like that look on your face. What? Do you want to fight or something?" Said by a tall human man with fiery red hair and red eyes, wearing an expensive red and white suit. Hovering in the air next to him was a fire dragon that was rather small, but Ash thought that it could no doubt enlarge at anytime.

In front of this fiery, short-tempered man was a beastkin reptilian with blue scales and blue eyes, and hovering right next to him was a water serpent that hissed at the fire dragon. "You shut your mouth, you! I won't even diminish your fire with my water magic; your own tears would be enough when you cry in defeat!"

'Fire and water never get a long...' Ash thought, thinking that it was best to avoid them altogether, and thankfully, Valerie thought the same. Moving around them, Ash then noticed that the city police had managed to step in and stop the two from fighting.

Huffing in annoyance, the both of them went their separate ways, not before cursing at each other.

Turning around and facing toward Ash, Valerie then said, "Alright, now that you're mine, we shall get you something more fitting to wear~!"

She started to walk and view the commercial district with Ash following behind her, and soon enough, they landed on a store where they sold servant uniforms, or more specifically, uniforms tailored for maids.

"Mhm, here we are. Now, let's find you something to wear~!" Valerie said without thinking or bothering to hear Ash's opinion, which he had only one thing to say in his thoughts,

'Oh no...'