15 Ripples

Michael woke up feeling like he had been chewed up by a dog. He was momentarily blinded by the brilliance of the morning sun.

He was still chained to the dirty bed and the injuries of last night were still ringing with pain. The damp atmosphere of, what he could recognize was an abandoned basement now that light came through the small window of the wall in front of him, didn't make things better.

Even though the basement was old and dirty, it was also very hot. Sweat surrounded his body and, mixing with the blood that flowed yesterday from his injuries, made for a very uncomfortable sleeping experience.

Looking at the scars on his torso by lifting his head, he noticed that most had already scarred. He knew a lot about injuries, considering the number of times he had been opened up by the surgeons in his past life. The state of his wounds did not match what he knew about how long it would take to heal.

There was no doubt in his mind that this came from his system. He had numerous things to verify within the system, so he called it up. But the moment he thought about his status, it started to load in front of his eyes, making him realize that he didn't need to use vocal commands to use the system.

Michael couldn't help but feel a bit dumb and also slighted that he didn't notice that before.

[Name: Gilgamesh]

[Race: Human]

[Level: IV (85%)]

[Class: Warrior]

[Strength: I 628->721]

[Constitution: I 598->743]

[Endurance: I 545->574]

[Dexterity: I 267->278]

[Willpower: I 153->247]

His stats moved significantly due to the fight with Mitch, but that was something he had already anticipated. As the revigorating feeling of his body becoming better enveloped him and made him feel not so horrible about the state of his frame, he was shocked to learn what happened to his willpower stat. It dawned on him that the reason this stat made its biggest jump so far is that he was tortured and he tried to stubbornly push through it.

Also, due to what the receptionist did to him, his constitution became his primary stat, rising above his strength.

But updating his status was not why he activated his system. First, the realization that a mental command was enough to bring it up was a heaven-sent gift for Michael. Even though he had the same restriction as before, meaning he still wouldn't be able to access his status if he moved or if he was touched for the duration of the loading of the blue box, it also meant that he would be able to access it without alarming anyone.

Second, before he passed out at the hands of Mack, Michael heard something about a Waifu Catalog being unlocked.

[Waifu Catalog]

[Welcome to the greatest accomplishment of the Company™]

[The Catalog.]

[Here, everybody can find the women of their dreams!]

[Click here for Rules]

[Click here for Controls]

[Click here for Perks]

[Click here for List]

[Your budget: 955]

Every time his system implemented something, he felt like he just couldn't understand it.

'Waifu? Don't they mean Wife?' Michael was confused, but he just mentally clicked on the various links.

'Did I see this before?' Michael wondered for a while.

Minutes sitting in the damp bed, with his hands and feet hurting from the pressure the cuffs applied, Michael was gradually getting a basic understanding of what was in his hands.

The catalog made him cringe deeply, and he ended up sighing a lot when reading through the specifics of it.

From his understanding, the catalog was about bringing women from other worlds and controlling them. Not every control was total mind slavery, but all had a certain element that made it so Michael could have some leverage over whoever he would choose.

Considering what he just experienced under the care of Lui, he wasn't too keen on repeating that experiment on someone else that was completely innocent.

Feeling uncomfortable, Michael completely turned away from them. However, he also understood that he wasn't necessarily in a position to be picky. Although he was unwilling to mind control, someone, he wasn't above forcibly bringing someone here to help him either, naively thinking that trying to make up for it later would be enough.

However, he also faced another limitation, he only knew a very small amount of the extended catalog of girls available to him. Even among that small percentage, fewer could even directly help with his predicament.

He didn't know if they would even want to help him to begin with.

One thing that lessened his guilt was the fact that the Company claimed that the people sent here would be clones of the original, modified according to the buyer's choices.

He didn't know exactly what the word clone entailed, but from what his brother used to tell him, they are supposedly not as real as the original version, therefore Michael was a lot more comfortable 'buying' them.

Making his decision, Michael started to buy some elements of the catalog. But when he tried to select anything from the catalog, he found himself unable to select anything. He then received a notification from the system that a build had already been pre-selected before he entered into this world.

'Oh no.'

He quickly decided to view the build that was locked-in, and his fears became the truth.

[Drop-In]

[Shroud Of Power]

[Elemental Shroud]

[Complementary Colors]

[Elemental Loom]

[Deep Weave]

[Apportation]

[Faerie Feast]

[Everlasting Talent]

[Body Talent]

[Soul Talent]

[Paper Trail]

[Basic Talent Sharing (Soul)]

[Would you like to confirm this purchase?]

Then it hit him. No wonder this catalog was feeling vaguely familiar to him, he remembered making these choices.

Back then he didn't think much of it. He just thought it would be cool to travel with girls from anime. He just thought that he would be able to make friends when he was younger.

Now it was real.

Michael resisted the surge of indignant emotions that would make him curse. His brother always forbade him to use bad words after all.

His breathing became heavy before it spiked down, realizing that there was no point in lashing out. That didn't mean that he wasn't annoyed, especially considering the itchy feeling that came from his back due to the position he was stuck in.

Once he calmed down, Michael quickly noticed that besides the control method itself, the build was close to what he would need.

The problem was that there were multiple ways he could try to escape Lui's clutches with the catalog immediately that he couldn't take because of this pre-selected build.

Moreover, the catalog would forbid him to make purchases in the control, perk, and heritage sections once he confirmed the purchase of his pre-selected build. Because his points were loaned by another member of the Company, and not earned.

Which meant he had to start enslaving people if he wanted to access the catalog again.

The only thing he could choose was the girls he could buy with the rest of the points. He only needed one to help him escape, even if it could take time. However, he needed to choose the right one. He could try to earn her forgiveness at the fact that he enslaved her after he's liberated from this hell.

Michael clicked his tongue, annoyed at the fact that he managed to force his hand, and selected the girl he hoped could help him. He swore that he would do anything in his power to compensate for it.

#####

Trash Valley

B-Layer

The pristine garden was something that was out of place in Trash Valley. The gigantic area of lush grass that complemented the beautiful mansion seemed to not belong to this island. The fountain was decorated by a statue of an angelic woman made out of marble. The luxury of the owner of this mansion could be seen in every corner of the building.

Comparing the scraps the people of the D-layer had to fight for to the quality of life the nobles enjoyed, this was almost like a cruel joke being played on them.

However, the carefully constructed stone path was being trampled by dozens of feet. All of them were dirty and sometimes even wounded.

The slaves belonging to the nobles living in this mansion were painfully carrying a gigantic statue depicting a tall man, standing upright looking towards the horizon.

The groans and painful expressions of the slaves did not deter their supervisor to yell at them in frustration at their slow pace.

"Come on! I bought you all to be efficient! Not stand around like useless rocks!"

It wasn't the voice of the man in charge of them that made the slaves move forward faster. The malicious and even a bit sadistic gaze of the individual dressed in what could only be called a military uniform was not necessarily threatening to them.

They had suffered so much already that the thought that he could make them feel fear in any way was almost cute.

He was the new slave buyer that the noble family employed since the last one was becoming too old for their taste. To the slaves, he was like a new boss that lashed out randomly because he didn't know how to make himself respected.

However, the weapon he carried was terrifying to the slaves. The whip that struck the ground near their feet was one of the most painful torture instruments the evil nobles had created.

It was a long and stretchy whip that was also spiked. Not only it was dirty and thus could inflict sickness upon whoever was at the receiving end, but it was also constructed in a way that for slaves that couldn't get healing unless they were on their deathbed, it would offer long-lasting gashes from which the burning pain would never stop.

Their skin was torn off when they were hit by this whip and never appeared back, leaving an emaciated appearance for the slaves that were subject to its tender care.

Considering the bloodied body of the new slaves, their wound already infected and their skin marred with whip slashes, and the scarred bodies of the older slaves, this was something of a rite of passage for the people deprived of their freedom on this island.

It was the sign that you lost something you could never get back.

"Move! Faster! You worthless creatures!" The slaver driver kept on screaming in their ears, administrating a whipping to anyone that started to slow down. The slaves were forced to carry the humongous statue of the ancestor of the nobles in this land. The first one of the nobles who practiced slavery.

The statue was made to be grand, both beautiful and inspiring. Which was a stark contrast to the man and woman carrying it.

Slowly but surely, the slaves managed to reach their destination and put the statue on its pedestal.

"Ah~The splendor of the Señor! Finally, represented correctly!" the slave driver creepily moaned out when he saw the towering statue of his idol. However, that happiness turned to cold rage when he saw one slave touching the actual body of the statue.

Since they were deemed dirty and unworthy, the statue was covered by silky-smooth drapes before being transported. Even if the drapes were very expensive, it was better than the alternative, which would be having the slaves touch the actual statue.

For the slave driver, what this young slave did was worth the death penalty, and he didn't hesitate to act upon it.

This time, the whip didn't just hit the skin of the chained man, it completely went through him, making his body explode spectacularly. The other slaves knew better than to panic and scream, so they kept their calm, even though they were terrorized by the fate of their comrade.

The young slave that just got decimated was someone that everyone got along with. All of that friendship disappeared instantly in the face of death.

One surprising thing was that the slave master was so masterful with his whip that no blood, no intestines, or parts of the now slaughtered slave even came close to the statue, even though the man himself was very close to it.

"Slaves," the slave master started in a very cold tone, "Clean up the remnants of your foolish friend. I don't want to see a single stain near the statue, is that clear?"

Immediately, the slaves went to work. At this moment, they realized that they were wrong. It wasn't the whip that was terrifying.

It was the man wielding it.

That same horrifying man came running like a dog to the young girl that just appeared in the vast garden of the mansion.

"I greet you señorita... I apologize for the fact that you graced me with your presence when I am putting such an unprofessional display." He said in a calm and collected tone, kneeling in front of the teenage girl.

She had long luscious red hair, so red that it seemed to glow in the light. Her hair was impeccably styled in a way that made her locks sway beautifully in the breeze. She was tall for her age, standing at 5'8'' for only 15 years of existence on this earth.

Her face was the representation of devilish beauty. It was something that you could never get enough of, something that would draw you closer each time you try to escape it. Her eyes were a deep blue and seemed to be as deep as the ocean, and the perfect symmetry of her facial structure was instead addicting instead of deeply disturbing.

But her face wasn't the only thing that was addicting in her appearance.

Her body made a good portion of the males wiggle in place. As slaves, they couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to lay with their beautiful mistress. Sometimes they wondered what this family fed their children with.

"Have the preparations been made, Oscar?" asked the girl in a soft tone.

The man paused, as if uncomfortable with what his mistress referred to.

"...Yes they have señorita. Still, may I ask a question?"

"You may," she answered curtly as if she already knew what he was about to say.

"Pardon my insolence señorita, but is it really necessary for you to go to this wretched and dirty place?" he asked, keeping his head as low as possible and his eyes closed, knowing that questioning his señorita's decision could easily result in a punishment.

Seeing her not answer for a while, he tentatively opened his eyes and looked at her. He followed her gaze only for him to land on the slaves kneeling on the ground a bit further away from them, waiting for their discussion to be over and to be given orders.

"Yes, it is." She ultimately answered before departing.

The man was confused at her reaction to the slaves but decided to ignore it. All that mattered was what his mistress wanted.

"As you will, Rias Gremory," he said, more to himself, once she left.