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Eric found himself in the same position he has been in since the start of this horrible adventure. Outside in the woods, alone, looking at his stats trying to figure out which ones he should raise. There were five stats that he could grow, and they were fairly self-explanatory. STR for strength, VIT for vitality, INT for intelligence, WIS for wisdom, LUK for luck. His base luck stat was zero, so it was his first choice, but he didn't want to waste any points needlessly. He was level fourteen, and with ten points per level, Eric had more than a hundred and thirty points to use.

He had read through the help section, which explained a lot, including the difference between intelligence and wisdom. He also learned that doing certain actions like exercise and reading could raise the stats naturally. He had been increasing his strength periodically, his wisdom had gone up some, but other than that his other stats were still at their base. He was deep in thought when he came up with an answer that satisfied his point allocation.

Since he was in control of an unconventional weapon, he needed to think quickly in a fight. That meant more wisdom, but he also needed strength to wield the chains as they became larger weapons. More so, he needed the stamina to draw out a fight, so more points into vitality. Wisdom would be raised to a fixed point, then he would focus on strength and vitality while putting a few points into luck. Eric did that, raising his wisdom forty points, then putting ten points into luck. The other eighty points was split between strength and vitality, then Eric was out of points to spend.

Eric wanted to test out his new strength, so he punched a tree. The force of the blow was enough to crack the trunk, then the entire tree slowly started to buckle. Eric watched it fall, then he got another idea. Slowly, he reached underneath the fallen trunk and picked the tree up, feeling how heavy it was as he swung the trunk around. He leaned it against another tree, smiling like an idiot. Eric was definitely satisfied with his decision, he was going to have a much easier time now that he was fully leveled up. Still, the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he needed a companion. Forget the experience bonus, he just felt lonely.

As Eric lay down to bed that night, he wondered if there was anyone crazy enough to actually go with him.

"Excuse me, dear sir," said a very pleasant voice, "it seems as though you're rather lonely." Eric stopped in the street, looking down a suspicious alleyway to see a short, round man with fancy clothes and a monocle. "Yes, you," said the man, pointing at Eric, "you could use a travelling companion, couldn't you?"

"Are you offering," Eric asked, crossing his thick arms. This man had a certain look in his eye that reminded Eric of Judy.

"I was just hoping that you might take a look at my selection of travelling companions," said the man, obviously trying to dodge the direct answer of what he was selling. "I happen to be in the business of buying and selling trustworthy companions." It took Eric a second, but then he smiled broadly as he realized what this rotund man was talking about.

"Show me your selection," said Eric with a malicious smile. The rotund man shared Eric's evil smile, and he motioned for Eric to follow him into the back alley. Eric complied, entering a tent that was set up in the center of the surrounding buildings. The small guy held open the flap of the tent, which Eric had to duck to make it in, and once he was in he saw the cages. There were hundreds of them, stacked on each other in rows of two. There were large cases and small cases, some with animals and some with very human characteristics.

"This," said the man, grandly revealing a large beast that sat angrily in a huge cage, "is the best that we have. A ligro, a strong beast with unstoppable strength and horrifying fighting power." Eric looked at it closely, seeing it's snarling complexion and jagged teeth.

"You should know I can't afford this," said Eric flatly. "You wanted to show me this so I get an idea of what's in my price range?"

"You're quite the intuitive shopper," said the stout man. "Yes, the ones worth less than a silver coin are this way." He walked past a row of cages that rattled as the animals inside hissed and swore at the two men. They moved into the area where the cages were mostly smaller, but the people inside were no less rowdy. Eric surveyed some of the strange animals, then he noticed something behind the cages.

"What's back there," Eric asked, standing up and looking through the bars of the cages.

"That's where our 'problem products' go," said the round man in disgust. Eric saw a head of hair on the other side, hair that looked distinctly orange with black spots in it. Eric walked around the side of the cages to the back where the poles that held the tents were. He saw through the darkness that there were cuffs chained to the pikes, and there was a figure stretched between the farthest two poles. It was a small figure whose hair stretched just past the shoulders, showing the tiny naked body that was so skinny, it could fit through a cheese grater.

Eric bent down to look at the small person face to face, and when he did they pulled on the chains that bound them. Eric smiled, "I'll take him."

"She isn't properly taught," said the round man, "there's still some fight in her. She's almost done, but we can't unravel that attitude she has."

"Don't bother," said Eric with a degrading look, "I'll put that attitude to good use."

"As you wish," conceded the round man, "then that'll be fifty copper coins." Eric paused, then he opened his inventory and pulled out a bag that clinked with the sound of coin. He handed it to the small man, then Eric pulled his jacket off and handed it to the round man.

"I'm three coppers short, but that jacket is worth five," said Eric. The round man squinted his eyes, then he emptied the bag of coins onto a nearby table. He counted out the coins, looked at the jacket, then gave Eric a sly look.

"It works, I suppose," he said, "then let's get this over with." The slave trader went over to a table with an ink well and brush, dipped the brush in the ink, then he approached the girl as if he was going to write on her. "What's your name?" the slaver asked.

"Eric Bane."

"Child of human and beast," said the slaver softly, painting an insignia, "you are now under the sacred oath of the holy church. You shall serve your lord, Eric Bane, where his orders are your laws. Should you defy his words, you will feel the pain of your impotence." When he was done, the slaver had painted a spiral with a tail on the girl's flat chest, directly under her collar bone. Eric watched without a word, and when the slaver was done, he put a dot in the center of the spiral. The insignia glowed briefly, then the slaver put the brush down and took a key from his pocket. The guy unlocked the girl's chains, then without the support, the girl fell down to the ground. "Give her a command," suggested the slaver, stepping to the side.

Eric stood in front of the girl on her knees, and he said in a cold, emotionless voice, "You are mine now. You will not leave my party, you will stay with me, and you will not betray me. Now answer me, can you stand?"

"No," croaked the girl weakly, "I can't stand." Eric bent down, his huge mass covering the girl's body, then he stood up with the girl cradled in his arms.

"Sir, you may not want to treat the slave like that," suggested the slaver. "She might get ideas of independence."

"Don't tell me how to treat my slaves," said Eric coldly, walking around the cages with the girl cradled in his arms. He left the tent to feel the breezy air on his skin and the light of the sun shining down on his face. Now that he was in the light, he looked closely at the little girl in his arms to see the small whiskers she had under her nose, and the bumps on her head perked up into cat ears. Her orange and black hair was certainly an oddity, but her eyes looked exactly like a cat's would.

"C'mon, let's get something to eat," said Eric, feeling the bones of the girl underneath her skin. "I need you strong if you're going to stay with me."

A few days had passed, and Eric was glad to say that the little girl was at least eating healthily. Eric remembered some spots from around this area where he could get a good amount of meat. His 'Hero of the Chain' title wasn't just for show, the boost per party member was already showing as he hunted the wildlife. His priority was food over experience, but it was still a high experience. With this armament, he would be able to quickly surpass the jackass in the kingdom, though another few slaves might be needed.

The girl he had bought was some sort of cat, and with the orange and black hair, he wanted to say she was part tiger. But her hands were human and her feet were human, only her teeth, eyes, and ears were animalistic. She had been recuperating, eating what Eric brought and cooked while lying down and letting the nourishment fill her body. On the second day, the girl and Eric were sitting around the fire at night, eating some fish he had caught with his 'Bind' skill. The silence was still going, but Eric was about to break it.

"Tell me," he commanded, "what is your name?"

"Lucia," she said, but pronounced it as Lue-sh-ah.

"Okay Lucia," said Eric, "can you fight?"

"I will do whatever you want," she said submissively.

"That's great," said Eric, "but I need to know if you know how to fight. We're going to be doing it a lot, so I need to know your preferred style."

Lucia was silent for a while, but she finally squeaked, "I've never fought before."

"Then I'll ask someone who knows what works better for you," said Eric soundly. He breathed in deeply, then said, "The reason I bought you is so you could boost my experience gain, but I don't want to protect you all the time. You'll fight and level up as well, until you can protect yourself. I'm not going to hold back, but I won't let you die." Eric reached his hand towards Lucia, "I promise to protect you, if you promise to fight with me, Lucia."

Lucia looked at Eric's large hand, she seemed afraid to take it. With fine trepidation, Lucia let her hand go out to Eric's, and he grabbed her hand. It was an oddly warm feeling, but also extremely rough. Lucia felt the calluses on the inside of Eric's hands, feeling the hard life he's had. When Eric let go, Lucia had the strangest thought.

'He's just like me.'

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