"We are recruiting Tower-Walkers to take out monsters that endanger the country. Your job would be to go out on missions to kill monsters that could threaten the city or the country. We will also buy anything related to the Tower as well as pay you very well. We can write up a contract right now for you."
Droven watched Ellis closely as he spoke to him.
"We could put in any stipulations you see fit. Within reason, of course."
"Could I have a few days to decide?"
Ellis said to Droven as he thought to himself. He knew his sister would not like the idea of him risking his life fighting monsters even if paid a lot to do it, so he at least wanted to talk to her first.
"Of course! I don't want to force you into anything! In the meantime, feel free to go down to the 15th floor. They will buy anything you have related to the tower. Here's my personal number for when you decide."
Droven handed Ellis another black business card but this time the shiny gold lettering had his name and number on it.
"Thank you."
Ellis replied as he got up from the chair and looked at the card from Droven. He was then motioned out the door. Ellis was still in shock and his brain hadn't fully processed what had just happened. He could make money killing monsters? If he was good at anything right now it was killing monsters, that's what he just spent the last four months doing.
Ellis took the elevator down to the 15th floor. A young man met him and he was able to sell both the Imp King's gem as well as the gem he got from the warehouse. After a while of signing some paperwork, they had deposited the money directly into his account.
"$50,000."
Ellis couldn't help but say out loud.
What am I going to do with all of this? Wait, first I need to check to make sure I even got it. I need to get a new bank card too since my old one was lost when I went into the Tower along with my phone.
Ellis headed to the elevator to leave as he thought about what he had to do today.
He made his way down to the first floor and as he was walking out the door to leave, the receptionist waved to him and thanked him for coming in. Ellis waved back awkwardly and left.
He still had the jewelry left so Ellis made his way to a pawn shop further uptown where he sold the jewelry for a measly $1,700. Ellis would have freaked out at that amount about an hour ago, but now he had just received $50,000. He left the pawnshop and headed toward his next destination, the bank.
The bank was just around the corner, so Ellis made his way there quickly and went inside.
"How can I help you?"
A tired-looking, fat middle-aged woman said without even looking up at Ellis.
"I need to get a new bank card."
Ellis looked around the bank as he fidgeted with his hands.
"Name."
The lady sluggishly asked.
"Ellis Ryne."
He said a little bit annoyed with her rudeness.
This lady needs a nap. She's one eye bag away from being a monster herself.
"It'll be a $10 fee to replace your lost card. Did you want me to charge your account?"
The lady said as she continued clacking away on her keyboard.
"Yes, please."
Ellis got nervous as the lady huffed and continued typing. If that money hadn't been deposited yet, then he had absolutely no money in his account. He didn't want to experience the embarrassment of her refusing to give him a bank card because he didn't have $10.
The lady got up from her chair and walked away into the back. Ellis stood there awkwardly for a few minutes until she returned holding a card.
"Thank you."
Ellis breath out in relief as the lady dropped the card into his hands. She huffed as a reply and nodded her head. Ellis turned to leave and saw the atm by the door. He didn't want to interact with that lady anymore, so he decided to go to the atm to check his balance and deposit the $1,700 in cash that he had gotten from the jewelry and the warehouse. He inserted his card into the machine and typed in his pin. Nervousness overcame Ellis as he hit the balance button. Over $60,000. Ellis breathed in sharply. He had never seen so many zeros in his bank account before. Ellis pulled out his card, holding it tightly to his chest like it a brick of gold before stuffing it deep into his pocket.
Ellis left the bank and started walking around aimlessly.
This is so much money! I could get Solara and me a new place to live in the upscale part of the city and get a car, so we don't have to walk everywhere! No, I shouldn't do that. If I got a new place to live, it would cost too much to pay for everything and a car isn't necessary right now with half the city destroyed. I need to be smart about this. There's no guarantee that I'll be able to make more unless I find more monsters.
Ellis wanted to make sure the money would last and that it was put to good use.
First, I'll go to the landlord and pay for everything that's overdue and the next six months of rent, just in case something happens to me, Solara won't have the burden of paying for everything herself for a while. Even though we don't owe the $10,000 so they don't pull the plug on her anymore, she still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in medicals bills from spending the past seven months in there. I'll have to put away a few thousand to make sure we never get so far overdue that they threaten to pull the plug again. With everything left, I'll give all but $4,000 to Solara for her tuition because even though she's slipped a bit in school, I know she can still make it into university.
The more he thought about everything, the more he realized that the money he had wasn't going to be enough to fix Solara and his life. He was leaning more and more toward Droven's offer.
As he was walking around, Ellis saw a cell phone store across the street and walked over to it as he still didn't have a phone. When he opened the door, he saw ads for the new Guava phone 11 all over the place. He went inside and saw smartphones of all different kinds. The phone Ellis had before wasn't even a touchscreen phone. The only things he could do on it were call and text, but it did him well for as long as he had it. He heard that these new phones were always breaking, so he had no intention of getting one. Ellis looked around the shop for a few minutes before a clerk walked up to greet him.
"What kind of phone are you looking for today, sir?"
The man asked in a business-like tone.
"I just need a flip phone."
The man chuckled to himself when he heard Ellis's response, then regained his composure.
"We don't carry any flip phones, sir. Can I interest you in the new latest and greatest, Guava phone 11? It's $1,000, but we can do payment plans. It has the best camera out of all the other phones we have. It has…"
The salesman started rambling on and on about the various features of the phone.
"Fine. I'll get it."
Ellis cut him off not wanting to hear any more of his spiel. He would rather just buy the phone then listen to this guy drown on and on about how amazing the phone was.
"Great! I'll go get the payment plan options for you to look at and then we-"
The man began to say before Ellis interrupted.
"No need, I'll just buy it upfront."
The salesman's eyes widened in surprise before he regained his senses and responded back to Ellis.
"Oh, alrighty then let's get to it!"
The man rushed over to the counter, feeling a bit embarrassed for judging Ellis off his appearance.
Ellis swiped his card and the man half expected it to be declined. It wasn't. The man handed Ellis his new phone along with the box and other various items that came along with it such as a charger and headphones. Ellis smiled and left the store as he put his new phone into his backpack.
He then started jogging to his next destination, the landlord's office. He talked to the landlord and thanked her for not kicking Solara out while he was gone. He then paid the overdue rent as well as the next six months of rent, totaling to $4,000. After doing all his errands it was about time for Solara to get out of school. Ellis left the office and headed to her school.
He got to her school just when class was getting out. Ellis waited off to the side has hundreds of students poured out. Finally, he saw Solara exit the building. Solara walked up to a parked car with a young guy standing outside it. Solara put her head down as she got close to the guy and the guy grabbed her arm before he threw her into the backseat of the car.
What the hell?!
Ellis's fists clenched as he watched what had just happened. He started running to the car as sped off.