"She is alive." I heard a voice as my consciousness was slowly returning.

"That was close. Dammit! We are only wasting money with medicine on her. Try to sell her faster before she dies on us and we are left with a corpse." I could hear another voice, also a man.

Huh? Did I survive?

My body felt very weak and didn't respond to me as it should. As I opened my eyes, I saw two men in strange clothing looking at me. One was a middle-aged blonde while another a slightly fat and short old man with a long beard. What did they mean by 'sell her'? Were they talking about me?

"Hmm, perhaps a decent discount will do the trick?" spoke the middle-aged man, "After we get her into better shape could swindle her condition as a minor illness. Maybe some idiot adventurer will jump at the chance."

For some reason, I could understand their words, but I don't remember ever learning this language.

"Sounds good." replied the old man just as I started searching my memories for some answers, "But don't try it on nobles. In the worst case can just sell her to an alchemist, although I would like to avoid that if possible. Their experiments is a fate I don't wish even on my enemy."

"Eh?!" a surprised voice slipped from my mouth.

"He he, don't worry cat, we won't let it happen." the middle-aged man replied in response to my reaction, "It should be possible to find you a Master that doesn't want to dissect you. Although you better act healthy when the time comes."

Once he said that the man turned around and left the room with his colleague.

What caused my surprise earlier, were foreign memories in my head. According to them, I was a slave named Melissa, sold by my own parents. I wasn't even human, Cat Beastkin was the name of my race. It looked very similar to humans save for some features of a cat.

With memories reaching here I lifted my arm and looked at it. At my will, I could let out or draw in beast-like claws, other than that it was no different from humans. Next, I reached for my neck and touched a slave collar. It was made from metal and judging from Melissa's memories, it creates an unbearable pain if commands are not obeyed.

Next, I touched my ears. They were just like those of a cat, on top of my head. In the place humans have ears, there was nothing. Then I looked at my white tail and tried to move it. I accidentally lifted my tunic with it and saw that under it I was completely naked.

Starting from the 'first' knee, my legs were covered in short white fur which only increased in density the closer it was to the feet. Instead of human feet, I had a bigger and longer version of cat paw with claws. Unlike with hands, I couldn't draw those claws in. Right next to the paw, the leg had another knee bending the other side.

If I wanted shoes, I will need them custom made... or not. My race wasn't exactly rare, there should be footwear for sale with my race in mind.

Though no wonder my body didn't respond as it should. It wasn't mine. And neither was this world. It's called Earth just like mine, but magic, monsters and other races besides humans are a reality there. But that's basically all I could conclude, Melissa's knowledge as a slave was very limited.

If I have to guess, I somehow possessed her body when she died. The body was still very weak and ill. Though thanks to that, no one bothered to "test the merchandise" and Melissa to this day was still a virgin... even as a slave. I am probably the only female slave in this building that can claim that.

I must get full control of this body as quickly as possible... and it seems that I will have to do that from scratch. Judging from the fact that Melissa died, this... illness... was quite deadly. The body wasn't magically healed just because I have taken over so I shouldn't dally. But first, I will need to get something to eat, need a lot of nutrients to alter the body.

"... Melissa!" my thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a woman's voice and I looked to the side.

It was a young woman with red hair, human as far I could tell. From Melissa's memories, I recognized her as Amelia. She was a slave as well, but unlike me, who was for sale, she worked here. Mostly her duties were to take care of other slaves.

I haven't even noticed when she entered the room and that was not a very good sign, must get back my reflexes and instincts as soon as possible.

"Amelia?" I responded and it was the first time I heard my new voice. It was... kind of cute.

"Master has ordered to take care of you. Is there anything that you need?" she asked while picking empty bottles of medicine, which slave merchants left after 'healing' me.

"I am very hungry. Please. Can I get more than usual?" I asked with a pleading look.

Perhaps it was a bit shameful behavior, but for Amelia, I was just one of many slaves. She must have seen hundreds of us come and go while she worked there and nutrients were very important for me at the moment. I have no idea how much I will need to fix this illness and I would like to get this body battle-ready as soon as possible.

"This doesn't go against Master's orders. I will see what I can do," she answered and left after picking the rest of the waste that merchants left in my room.

My room was just four walls with a small window and a mattress on the floor that acted as a bed, which by the way I was currently lying on. There was also a wooden bucket in the corner, and that was all there was to my room. Usually, more than one slave was placed in a single room, but for some reason, the slave merchants separated me from the rest.

Now that I was once again alone in the room, I touched my slave collar for the second time. I wanted to personally experience how it works. I started thinking about escaping or killing masters as a test and the collar reacted immediately. Pain assaulted my body and I was even paralyzed when my thoughts have reached the killing part. It wasn't done physically though, the collar did it using my own mind.

A smile slowly found its way on my face.

If this is all, then I have nothing to worry about. Once I take full control of the body, this collar will be nothing more than an accessory. Let's just hope that's all there is to it.

After some time Amelia returned with food and water on the tray. She placed it near me and then asked if I can eat on my own.

"Yes," I replied and to prove, placed a wooden spoon with the porridge into my mouth.

The taste was... terrible! Through the scent and taste receptors, I did detect some traces of the meat, but... it was a complete mystery what's the rest is made from for it to taste so bad.

After Amelia left I finished the icky porridge and drank the water. Even if the taste was terrible, merchants need their slaves to be healthy, the collection of bones with the skin on top wouldn't sell well so the food must have all the necessary nutrients.

With the meal finished it was finally time to conquer my new body.

The food, of course, wouldn't be digested for a while, but the same could be said about taking full control of the body from scratch. As I lay down, I closed my eyes and entered into a deep meditation.

Even for me, it took hours to stir my mind into a necessary state and in the old world, I had full control over the body and mind for years. Then again, it took me nearly eight years to reach that point as the control was developed during the research stage. Even if it took me more than I wanted the unimaginable power was once again in my hands. The power of absolute control over the body.

I started to study my new DNA to learn how my new body works. With a glance over hereditary memories, I adapted to all unfamiliar features of the body. It was as if I had those unusual legs, tail, and senses of a cat for decades. Despite all of that, I realized that I now had a slight problem - all my martial arts were designed with the human body in mind and while the body of a Cat Beastkin was not that far behind, it was slightly different. If only I had the supercomputer from our company to assist in making perfect changes. Air friction, the position of joints, timing. With the right program, just a few days was enough to improve martial arts, and do that even better than experts managed through the history. After all, only the masters that reached the apex had the qualifications to improve the art.

I quickly put the issue with martial arts to the back of my mind, fixing the body was the top priority now.

To say that the body condition was terrible would be an understatement. It was a case where doctors from my old world would say - you should have died ages ago. Half organs were damaged beyond repair and I had to tear cells apart and recreate them anew. I was impressed Melissa managed to survive to this day.

It took hours but eventually I succeeded in the task. With remaining nutrients, I started to convert white and red muscle fibers into pink ones. This way I could have a strong body without looking like a Hulk and retain high mobility and a decent amount of stamina. Although all I did now was to prepare the foundations, to actually increase strength will have to wait for the next meal.

With the resources exhausted I was forced to stop. There were still many things I could do if I had more, but I guess that will have to wait. Should stay as a slave for a few more days and get into better shape before escaping. Resources I had now were basically enough only to heal the body. A power-up will start only with the next meal.

I was confident in beating those slave merchants and any guards they might have even now, but... In this world slavery was legal. If I escape now, there is a very high chance that a hunting party will be set on my tail. Even with my martial arts, stamina I have was limited. For all I know, they might be able to track me with some magic. I should take action only when I am fully ready.

If push comes to shove I will act even now, of course, but my current situation wasn't so dire.

With all I could do for now done, I left the deep trance and opened my eyes.

"... I don't understand, it says that she is healthy." I heard a man's voice. "Maybe the medicine was better than we thought... Oh, it looks like she is finally awake."

"Healthy? Does she look to you as healthy?" the old merchant argued with his colleague. "No, this doesn't look good at all. Hmm but maybe with the status as healthy... No. It's too risky, just mention she is ill and sell with a discount as planned. Without us even warning they will have a legitimate claim to demand refunds once she dies..."

But I quickly lost interest in what they were talking about... because the moment I opened my eyes I was dumbfounded by what I saw. Right in front of me, stacking one on top of another, floated multiple blue screen projections in the form of windows and I just couldn't help but read the one in front.

Unique skill "Body Manipulation" learned.