A stage was raised with quite a few seats around it, seated around the stage were men and women in luxurious attire.

Standing atop the stage where young men and women chained to avoid a fruitless escape attempt, and paraded as goods to be sold. The auctioneer was now handling the bid of the most handsome young man among them, he looked to be 17 years old with Black hair and deep blue eyes, even though he looked slightly malnourished, his worth was clear.

"...1000 gold coins" a pleasant voice called right off the bat

"Lady Melinda? Are you sure you want to spend that much on a slave with no cultivation" The middle-aged man seated beside her asked, he didn't look pleased that she was ignoring his advances and stooping to such means again

"Hehe, I just feel like he's special" she chucked "Besides, my business is flourishing, so I should treat myself"

"Are there any counteroffers?" The auctioneer/slaver asked "None?, Then sold for 1000 gold coins"

Some applauded while others sneered, as handsome as the slave as he was after all unable to cultivate, buying him for 1000 gold coins was wasteful at best.

Or so they thought.

....

'What the fuck?' Hal exclaimed inwardly, one week had passed since he woke up in this strange world in a strange body, and since then things had only gotten worst.

First, he had gotten the memory of the body's previous owner who was also named Hal and came from a wealthy family with more ambition than compassion, the instant they realized he could not cultivate he was ostracized and eventually sold into a slave house to be 'useful for once'. The life of a slave was too hard for poor Hal and he died soon after he arrived, after which Hal found himself possessing a dead and useless body.

He knew he was now on the Haron continent, where the strong ruled with an iron fist and yet the only thing of note about him was a black fog that floated in his mind space that he could view with a thought.

'Why do I have to be so unlucky?, first I had no parents, now I have parents who don't give a shit about me' he thought.

The woman who bid for him must have been insane though, buying someone as useless as him for 1000 gold coins, with that amount of gold, a commoner family need not work for at least five years. 'However, at least she's pretty, maybe things are finally looking up' Hal thought.

Although he wouldn't bet on it, he was after all in a city where slave trade was allowed, even though it wasn't a career paraded with pride, as long as there was a front, it would be allowed to thrive.

After the transaction was finalized, he entered a carriage with her, heading back towards God knows where.

Melinda did not know how to feel, this was the most she had ever spent on a slave. And she had only done it so as inflame the rumors about her and keep the creeps off her back. When she bought her first slave and set him, even helped him out of the city, his absence had raised questions, and eventually, it was concluded that he was dead and somehow she was capable of absorbing the essence of a man to grow stronger. At first, she snorted 'I'm not a succubus, you idiots'. That rumor, however, kept the creeps at bay but Lord kraut was persistent and she hoped this purchase would do what the others could not, She planned to release The slave soon after, just like she had done for the others.

Hal couldn't help but marvel at the woman's beauty, she was probably in her early thirties, but her skin was smooth and flawless, now that she was no longer smiling at him like a hungry wolf her brown eyes looked warm and sad, she would also occasionally sigh which would cause her large bust to rise and fall seductively. However this woman had acted at the slave house, he could see now it was an act, so she was probably planning to set him free as soon as they were away from prying eyes. He was instantly disappointed.

'Yaawwwwwwn!!!' A voice yawned in his head and caused Hal to jolt.

After one week of inactivity, the fog was finally doing something different, it was solidifying.