“What do I need corpses for? Monsters already smell bad enough, let alone walking corpses. I'm not interested," she shook her head once more.

[ That's fine then. ] the system answered before disappearing.

"So then, Kisho, these 17 years would be used to train me with the skills you mentioned!" Aurianna declared, her fist up in enthusiasm.

"Well, I'm fine with that," Kisho shrugged, busy patting the cute little slimes around him.

"Also, could you please not shout so much? It hurts my ears," Kisho grumbled.

"Why do you even like shouting?" he asked.

"Because I'm full of energy!" Aurianna declared fervently.

"You make me lose more energy," Kisho sighed.

"Well, learn to have more. You're a monster; you should have more energy than me," Aurianna stated, and Kisho couldn't help but agree with her, since what she was saying was true.

"I just wanted to train her because I'm interested in her genetics. But it seems I would have less sleeping time," Kisho sighed, but a smile soon traced on his lips.

"What do you even need sleep for?" Aurianna asked.

"Like how you need sleep," Kisho replied blankly.

"I'm different, and since when do slimes even feel sleepy?" Aurianna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Why are you looking at me like you're staring at some idiot?" Aurianna asked as she eyed Kisho and stared back at him.

"Well, you said it yourself," Kisho said with a wry smile, "Your words, not mine," he pointed at her before pointing at himself.

"Wanna die?!" Aurianna threatened, veins popping up on her face as she summoned her revolver into her hand.

Seventeen years soon passed, and the monsters in the swamp reduced significantly compared to its former abundant state of living monsters a few years ago. This was all due to Aurianna killing monsters and using them for her training. Some monsters even fled due to the fear of being killed by this new apex predator in their territory.

On a crystal table, Aurianna devoured a well grilled monster. It was steaming hot with some vegetables around it, and Aurianna ate wholeheartedly, as did Kisho but in a more grustish manner than Aurianna.

"Hah," Aurianna sighed.

"What's wrong?" Kisho asked.

"I still haven't reached the level I want with this mist skill. Even though I trained so hard to level it up to 289," Aurianna complained, and Kisho frowned at her, rolling his eyes.

"You keep complaining about this. Your progress is alright," Kisho said.

"Just take your time; there's no need to rush," he added as he casually formed a large mouth and devoured the rest of the meat in one bite before returning back to normal.

"There is a need for me to rush," Aurianna said with a cold look, which surprised Kisho. "I need this skill to be strong enough. I'll not let my life be destroyed just because I couldn't defend myself when I was getting sold. I can't rely on Eva to solve all my problems. So I must make this plan work," Aurianna added, gritting her teeth and sporting a dark expression.

"Well, I guess your time is up," Kisho pointed out, hoping to change the topic. He gestured to her hands, which were slowly disappearing.

"Yeah, well, I'll see you tomorrow," Aurianna got up and waved, immediately disappearing.

"I hope so. Goodbye," Kisho waved back, left alone in the swamp.

"Ahhh, I forgot to ask Leila about King!" Aurianna yelled in realization as she appeared back in the room.

"Well, I can ask her tomorrow," Aurianna reassured herself with a nod.

"Hmm, so there's food here?" Aurianna blurted out as she noticed a small plate of food beside her on a tray on a bedside table. The disappointment on her face was evident since it was extremely small compared to her usual family-sized portions.

She grabbed all the pieces of dried meat and slowly munched on them in silence.

"Tastes decent enough. But it lacks quality. But food is food," Aurianna said, and in a few minutes, she finished all the food on her plate, but she didn't feel satisfied, so she stared at the empty plate before her.

"Hmm, I'll take a bath then look around," she said to herself as she got off her bed and headed towards the bathroom.

"Ugh, in a ranking of stars, this bathroom counts as a three-star. As much as I would love to use my own bathroom, I can't have these people finding out that I have a space ring on me, so it's safe to keep it in my inventory," Aurianna pondered as she eyed the bathroom in disgust. In reality, it wasn't that bad and was actually neat, but Aurianna was so used to bathing in her expensive bathroom that this one disgusted her.

"I guess I have to make do with this," she reluctantly sighed before entering the bathroom.

"Ughh, I need to bathe well once I get a chance to use my tent," she stated as she walked back towards her bed. She wore a plain green dress provided for her by the people of the auction organization.

Aurianna frowned and pursed her lips. "This fabric is awful! How can one wear such a low-quality dress? Such an insult to provide me with such a dress!" Aurianna yelled angrily.

"It's not that bad," Eva said with a nervous look.

"It feels itchy and I feel so uncomfortable. Why is it short? The dress should be below my knees, not above. Not above! If this is what they call good treatment, they better reevaluate those damn words!" Aurianna yelled in frustration, her face red, making her seem like an angry red cat.

Aurianna walked towards the door as she tried to calm herself down. She breathed in and out, and once she was calm, she opened her door and peeked outside to meet the gaze of an extremely tall and large man who was in a suit with a strange symbol on it.

"Hey, mister bodyguard."

"Yes, what is it?" The man asked with an annoyed tone.

"How did she even get the door open? That door is as heavy as three large steel doors," the guard wondered nervously as he stared at Aurianna. However, compared to the weight of an Astral rock, the steel doors couldn't compare.

"I want to look around. I'm feeling so bored being cooped up in here," Aurianna said in a sweet tone which lightened the cold heart of the guard, causing him to smile at her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't allow that," the guard nervously apologized while he scratched his head.

Stolen story; please report.

"I'll say it again. I want to look around," Aurianna demanded as her eyes glowed, causing him to be in a trance-like state as he stared at her.

[ You've charmed him. ]

‘Charm is as useful as always,’ Aurianna thought proudly.

"Sure, I'll give you a tour, but it might be scary," the guard immediately agreed but was a bit worried if what they would witness would frighten the young girl before him.

"I don't care," Aurianna said. "I won't be scared, so don't worry.”

“Also, did your arm regenerate?" the guard asked as he soon realized.

'I remember it was made of crystals when you came here,' the guard thought as he stared at her.

"Yes, it was, but it regenerated," Aurianna answered with a nod.

"I heard about you being able to regenerate, but I didn't think it was true," the guard said as he nervously scratched his head.

"Well, can I look around?" Aurianna asked with a cold smile. And for some strange reason, the guard couldn't refuse but comply. It was as if something inside him wanted him to do whatever this girl asked.

"Of course! And I'll be your personal guide," the guard said enthusiastically, and Aurianna smiled.

"Follow me!" He walked forward, and Aurianna followed behind him. She wore a cloth over her head to hide some of her features so that she doesn't attract too much attention as she follows him.

'This place is bigger than I thought,' Aurianna looked around, watching the large halls filled with many doors, and people could be seen coming in and out of them.

Even though Aurianna was trailing behind the guard, no one could sense her due to her activating her skills, invisibility, and bending the light around her. One would only be able to see her if she wanted them to or if they were extremely high leveled.

"Where are you going with her?" The Announcer asked as he stood before the guard, his cold gaze on Aurianna.

‘We just had to bump into him,’ Aurianna clicked her tongue as she watched him.

"Boss, please, she said she wanted to look around. So I decided to show her. She looked so down. And if someone as cute as her is always sad, she can look ugly and lose her value," the guard blurted out nervously, trying to fabricate some excuse to escape the wrath of his boss. ‘I hope the boss buys my excuse. I was tasked to guard her and not let her out. Yet I broke orders,’ he thought nervously as he looked at the Announcer.

"I'm not running away. I'm just bored," Aurianna blurted out with crossed arms.

"A slave shouldn't get to decide this," the Announcer stated coldly as he looked down at her.

"It's not like I'm resisting or anything, so can't I at least look around?" Aurianna asked.

"Why do you want to look around?" The Announcer asked with a suspicious gaze.

"Because I'm bored? Why else would I want to look around? I need some sort of entertainment to keep me from dying of boredom," Aurianna snickered.

"You're not at home," the Announcer said coldly.

"Can't I just look around so that I don't get bored?" Aurianna asked with teary eyes which softened the heart of the announcer a bit.

The Announcer turned to look at the guard and instructed. “Fine, but make sure to return her to the room.”

"Yes, sir, and thank you," the guard said with a bow before the Announcer walked off.

‘How gullible,’ Aurianna sneered inwardly before walking off with the guard.

‘Even though that brat has been captured, she doesn't possess the eyes of what normal people in her situation would have,’ the Announcer thought as he bit his lips.

"She makes me strangely uncomfortable," the Announcer mumbled as he walked, confused. "Well, as long as she's sold to the highest bidder, I see no reason to worry myself too much about her."

________

"So this is the slave warehouse where we keep all the slaves," Aurianna mumbled as she appeared in a large hall larger than what she found in the underground city. And inside were large cages with many chained-up slaves. Guards could be seen monitoring the slaves while others patrolled. Some even took out some slaves from their cages and dragged them away despite their pleas and screams, which went unheard.

“There are a lot of them. More than a thousand, or even five thousand,” Aurianna speculated as she followed the guard.

‘The stench of death and fear,’ she thought calmly.

"This is where we keep the merchandise until they are sold," the guard explained, his tone calm.

Aurianna calmly gazed at the people before her. At this moment her and these slaves were nothing more than commodities, kidnapped and sold like objects.

‘In the end there's a difference between them and me, they are all weaklings with a weak mindset. Slaves would always be slaves,’ she thought as she looked coldly at the slaves.

“It upsets you?” Eva asked as she appeared beside Aurianna.

“It doesn't, Eva. Maybe a little bit,” Aurianna shrugged as she spoke to Eva telepathically.

“They know they will die, but they won't struggle for their freedom. I always think of this when I see them, and it repulses me with their mindset,” Aurianna scoffed.

“John, why's this slave with you?” another guard came over and grabbed Aurianna's hand, but before she could smack it away, John, who was escorting her, grabbed the man's hand and gripped it hard.

“Hey, you'll crush my hand!” The man yelled, and John retracted his hand, but he continued to glare at him.

The man rubbed his aching hand and looked at his friend nervously. ‘Why is he acting strangely?’ he wondered.

“The boss said I should show her around,” John clarified.

“Wow, not that I take a closer look at her, she's quite a cutie,” The man got closer to Aurianna, but meeting her glaring gaze, he felt uncomfortable and gritted his teeth.

“Don't you dare touch me,” Aurianna stated coldly as she noticed his hand getting close, and seeing John's glare on him, the man retracted his hand.

“You should learn to show some respect; you're just a mere slave!” The man yelled angrily as he felt his pride being hurt for being scolded by a mere slave.

“Stop being rude to her,” John said coldly, causing the man to shiver.

“She's... a slave...,” he nervously blurted out to defend himself, but the more he looked at John, the more he felt afraid and guilty.

“But you were so rude,” Aurianna stated.

[You charmed him.]

“I guess I was. I'm sorry. Just that such a place isn't suitable for you to witness,” the man cooed as he rubbed his hands together.

“I'll be fine,” Aurianna raised her hand.

‘Ahh, an angel descended!’ the man thought as Aurianna seemed like an angel in his eyes.

‘Ugh, filth daring to look at me with such lecherous eyes; in three days, I'll make sure you're dead,’ Aurianna thought before walking away.

“There's more of them, all of different races, even humans,” Aurianna mumbled indifferently as she continued to notice more and more cages.

“Of course, we have customers from many countries, and some buy in bulk, so we need to have as many as we can in stock,” John nonchalantly explained.

‘Hmm, I wonder if I should save them. But that's giving up free souls. The good thing to do is free them, but souls sound more enticing. So then I'll just free them from their misery and offer them salvation by killing them. I'm such a kind person!’ Aurianna clasped her hands with a pure smile.

‘Instead of letting them die useless deaths, I can make their lives useful for the greater benefit. Their deaths shall not be in vain! And their souls shall be used wisely. Thank you all for your sacrifice!’ Aurianna thought with an evil smile.

“I'm surprised that you're not fazed by all of this. Since you would be in the same situation as them. But don't worry, I'm sure you'll get an awesome buyer!” John said enthusiastically, and Aurianna glared at him.

“Yes, I hope so,” she nonchalantly replied.

After a while of walking and seeing different places like the auction room, storage house, and the transportation room, Aurianna and John finally arrived at a large chamber that reeked with the strong pungent scent of fresh and rotten blood mingled with the scent of flesh.

“So what is this place?” Aurianna asked calmly as they entered, observing pieces of meat hanginv from the ceilings and walls and even limbs of all sorts of races were hung alongside the meat. They were being carefully handled by various workers in the room who didn't pay attention to them as they stood before the door, watching.

The meats were slaves efficiently sliced into edible chops and carefully packaged into luxurious, neat containers.

‘This isn't monster meat but humanoid meat,’ Aurianna realized as she recognized the smell.

“We call this place the butcher house; over here we sell the meat of well-fed slaves to whoever is willing to pay the price for them,” John explained, expecting a scared or shocked reaction from Aurianna. However, his smile immediately subsided upon seeing that she had no reaction witnessing the brutality happening before her.

“There are cannibals?” Aurianna asked. ‘The other people are as depraved as me to eat people. How interesting. Though the thought of eating them like this doesn't sound so appetizing. I'd rather have them turned into a ball Eva made for me.’ she thought.

“We don't refer to our customers like that, but yes, there are, and they pay huge sums for this,” John affirmed, and Aurianna nodded.

“How do you mostly get your supply of slaves?” Aurianna asked as she walked away.

“Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone since this is confidential, but we have people who kidnap individuals from slums or anyone else. Some people sold their relatives or friends as slaves to us for large amounts of money, while others too were criminals, but most people were forced into slavery,” John bent down and whispered into Aurianna's ear.

“I see.”

‘I'll send all this to Batholem. The connection here isn't working, but if it works well, I hope Batholem manages to see these images despite the bad connection,’ Aurianna thought. She snapped her fingers, and a portion of herself reflected following John while her main body secretly activated the camera function capturing images of the butcher house and the workers within. She made sure to take multiple shots, ensuring that she had ample evidence to give to Batholem to find this organization.

Once she was done she quickly reappeared behind John.

Throughout the time she had been following John, she had been gathering evidence of the organization, taking pictures when no one was looking and immediately storing her phone inside her inventory.