The bot was silver. It looked vaguely humanoid with two arms. But its torso ended in a round ball that it used to move itself around. Its face was a digital screen that displayed emojis for facial expressions. To complete the ensemble, its voice came out of a speaker by its throat.
It said, "Honored guest, I am Astro 143. You can call me Astro. What can I do for you today?"
Wrath was examining the bot all over with interest while he communicated with it.
He asked, "What do you have?"
The bot offered him a tablet as it said, "We have a wide range of products that might interest you. Take a look at this to see if any of them catch your fancy."
He took the tablet and went through the catalog of slaves they had. They had human and non-human slaves, which interested him immediately. He decided to see what kind of races they would have on offer.
The catalog was split into races, ability types, and sex. He could search by the name of races or abilities. It was easy for him to find what he came looking for. But he wasn't even searching for a human with mental defense at all. He was too preoccupied with the different races they had to offer.
There were elves of various types. They ranged from moon elves to sun elves and dark elves to wood elves. They all looked different, but they had some similarities, which were their long pointed ears and their beautiful forms.
The elves were a race of mostly psychic class supers. Their abilities were also related to the control or communication of plants. But some of them were summoner classes that could form bonds with animals or shape-shifter class supers that could change into other creatures.
There were fairies that were amplify class supers and dwarves that were weapon class supers. But dwarves were better than humans in that they could forge and use any weapon. The requirement for use is for them to forge it. If they can forge it, they can use it.
They had different types of races that made him forget where he was. He didn't even notice when Wrath came up to him, looked at what he was reading, and then returned to examining the bot.
People passed him by silently without making eye contact or acknowledging his presence. The silence and peace made him engrossed in the large variety of options displayed to him.
There was the minator race. They were physique-class supers with super strength and indomitability. With indomitability, they had unending stamina. He wanted it as soon as he saw it. But then he saw something else that he wanted.
He saw dragons. They were psychic class supers with telepathy. They had mental defense, mind communication, psychic attack, and mental domination. With mental domination, they could actually enslave other creatures.
He wanted their ability too, but there was another one that took his attention. It was a race of twins called the Gemini race. They were amplify class supers with the ability to only enhance each other. That limits how helpful they are to others, but they take this amplification to the limit in that they can resurrect each other.
He had to read their description again to be certain he hadn't made a mistake. But what he read confirmed that they had to be killed at the same time or in a short period of each other's deaths or they would resurrect each other.
It was an ability called Yin-yang that gave them this advantage, and he wanted it. The main requirement for it to work was a close connection with the target. He could already see how useful it would be for him since he already had a use for it.
This made him call out to Wrath, "Come over here. I have a question for you."
Astro asked, "I am always at your disposal, honored guest. What question do you have for me?"
He replied, "I'm not talking to you."
Astro didn't understand him. It asked, "I beg your pardon?"
Kelvin instructed it, "Stay here. I'm sure you can understand that."
Astro beamed and said, "Certainly, honored guest."
He moved away from the bot and went to a corner where he wouldn't be easily overheard. Then he bent his head low and whispered to Wrath.
"Are you sure that I can take other races's abilities?"
She nodded. "Yes, you can. You should be able to steal any destiny that can be stolen."
He asked, "So there are destinies that I can't steal?"
"Yes, there are. The destinies of demigods, for instance, can't be stolen. Your attempt to steal an ability can also be resisted by abilities that negate it."
He considered what she said before saying. "That's a pity. All of these races have good abilities but they cost energy stones. I don't have any. Do you know what they are?"
She replied, "They are special resources present in high-energy worlds. This planet is on its way to becoming a high-energy world, but it currently isn't, so you can't find energy stones here yet."
The reply frustrated him. He asked, "Then where am I supposed to get energy stones?"
"The foreign battlefield. Almost every world that the Yggdrassil invades has energy stones."
"Hmmm," he said as he wondered. "What are energy stones good for anyway? What's so special about them?"
"Energy stones can be used to replenish stamina and focus. It is especially important to soldiers on the battlefield who are constantly fighting for their lives. Rarely do they have time to eat or sleep. They can fight for days on end, so energy stones are very important. They live on it and need it to survive."
"Energy stones are also potable storages of universal energy. It means they can be used to power anything, even electronics, as long as you have the right means to make the conversion into the energy you want. So it is usually used as universal currency."
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A/N: Bonus chapter for 50 Golden Tickets contribution.