"Uncle!!!"
A cheerful voice echoed as a little girl no older than four rushed towards him with a bright smile.
She had short black hair cut into a bob cut and same blue eyes like him.
Mikhail smiled back at the child and quickly scooped her up in his arms.
"Did Livvy have fun today?"
The little girl giggled and adjusted herself in his arms.
"I saw uncle on the TV!" She said with a bright smile. "Mama and grandma saw you as well."
"I see….."
Mikhail's smile dimmed a little as he took off his shoes and walked inside.
Olivia was the daughter of Mikhail's older brother who was helping his father in the family business.
When Mikhail reached the main hall, he saw his mother who was in her late forties sitting on the sofa.
She had light brown hair and distinctive blue eyes that were later passed down in the family.
"Mom…" Mikhail said with a sad smile on his face.
Jasmine stood up from her seat and walked closer. She immediately pulled him into her embrace, squeezing Olivia in between.
"It's fine." She said in his ear. "So what if you didn't awaken, my child is still the smartest in our entire bloodline."
Mikhail chuckled softly, keeping Olivia from falling who kept on trying to slip away.
"Don't worry, mom." Mikhail said, taking a step back. "Blank screen does not mean I can't awaken."
"Please don't give her false hope, brother-in-law." A voice echoed as a woman walked out of a room. "It's not a good thing."
The woman had long blonde hair that was tied in locks while she wore a nightgown, seemingly only waking up.
She was Emiliya, his brother's wife.
"I am not trying to fool anyone." Mikhail replied, placing Olivia down gently. "I am just saying what I think."
"Sure, sure." She said in a dismissive tone. "Even the brightest mind can be delusional when faced with reality."
"Emiliya!" Jasmine snapped at her daughter-in-law. "How can you say that?"
The blonde woman began gathering her hair and tying it up.
"Come on, mother. It's not like you were not hoping for him to Awaken." She replied, grabbing Olivia. "Even father and Harry wanted it for their business."
A family's status was tied to their background.
Had Mikhail Awakened, the family was sure it would have boosted the business as people would try to form connections.
But now, it was very possible for them to incur losses.
Emiliya gave Mikhail a last glance as she said. "Please find something else to do. Let Harry inherit father's business for Olivia's future."
She dragged the little girl inside the room before closing the door behind her.
Mikhail stood there for a long second, unable to say anything.
Jasmine gently rubbed his back with a gentle smile. "Don't listen to her." She whispered. "That stupid woman says anything."
Mikhail smiled back, nodding his head.
"Of course." He replied. "After all, she is Kevin's cousin."
Jasmine gently patted his back. "Go, take some rest."
"No." Mikhail replied. "I have something to do."
He quickly walked towards his room on the second floor and opened the door.
His room was nothing out of ordinary with posters of cars and game characters on his walls.
There was a small bed on the side along with an almirah and a study table.
Mikhail walked towards the wardrobe and opened it, he took out a key from his purse and opened the hidden inner lock.
He took all the money and put it on his bed before counting it.
'A total of thirteen thousand Telen.'
He thought, putting the money in his purse.
Telen was the currency used by the people of this world.
Mikhail didn't have much idea of how much one Telen was in dollars, but he was sure it would be in the hundreds.
Mikhail planned to buy a mutated animal and use it for his skill [Summon].
If he could use it to fight with him then he could rank up faster.
'Alright, before that I need to make some ground rules.'
He thought as he walked past his mother, saying goodbye. He walked out of his house and moved towards the pet store.
There were a total of three things that Mikhail had in mind.
Affordability, combat strength and cuteness.
Affordability because he was no richer than a brokie on the streets.
Combat strength because he didn't want to get himself killed by investing in a weak summon.
And cuteness because Mikhail had a feeling that it might come in handy.
After all, he was going to fight humans sooner or later and an animal's cuteness could play a vital role.
A single second of hesitation was more than enough to decide life or death.
As he walked down the streets, he couldn't help but marvel at the raw authentic buildings.
Most of the buildings were made to take heavy hits because sometimes a mutated monster could enter the city.
There were also cases of viruses, as even after so many years humans had yet to find a cure for the zombie virus.
It was also said that the virus had mutated so many times that it had gained consciousness, though nothing had proven such a thing.
---
Mikhail finally reached the pet store after a few minutes of walking.
He walked inside as the bell chimed on his entrance.
A lady who was feeding an animal quickly walked towards him. "How can I help you, sir?"
"I would like to buy a pet." Mikhail replied with a smile. "Preferably someone with some combat strength."
The lady's smile twitched a little. "You do know that it's forbidden by law to keep such animals, right."
"…Well, you see." He said, awkwardly scratching his cheek. "I have a rat problem in my home and it would really help if I could get some animal that can eat it."
The lady nodded her head in realisation, perhaps his face value worked but she didn't question his words.
"Come with me." She said, taking him towards the closest glass cage. "How about him."
Mikhail looked inside the cage that had a three headed snake that hissed at him.
The thing was long, almost a metre long with flexible jaws that could join all three of its mouths.
"How about it?" The lady asked with a smile.
"Can you show me anything else?" Mikhail said, smiling back.
She nodded and took him towards another cage that had a black dog with fiery eyes.
"He is Lane." She said, patting the dog through the cage. "He is a good boy."
As if responding to her, the dog showed his tongue with a smile.
'….This could do.'
Mikhail thought, staring at the dog before he looked at the price.
And he immediately turned away.
'18 thousand for a dog, no way.'
"Can you show me something affordable." With a shameless smile, he asked. "I don't have too much money."
The lady nodded her head and took him to another glass cage that had a big bird inside.
"This is Ruru." She said, showing it to him. "A bird that can fly for days without landing."
'….Why would you tell this to someone who wants a pet. His owner won't let it fly freely, madam.'
Mikhail kept his thoughts to himself as he looked at the price. It was thirteen thousand Telen.
He rubbed his chin as he stared at the bird.
'I can definitely use him in combat.'
The bird could be used in multiple ways but Mikhail was sure he could train it to navigate paths and detect enemies.
'Hm?'
Just as he was about to look around, he found something odd.
There was a glass cage that was put at the far end.
He walked towards it and the lady soon noticed where he was looking.
"I would suggest not buying him." She said politely. "He is not very good with humans."
Mikhail wasn't listening, he was solely focused on the five thousand Telen tag on it.
When he got closer he finally looked at the animal.
It was a cat….a yellow cat.
But the more he looked, the more weird he felt.
The cat almost looked like….
'Pik*chu?'