I paid the full amount that was needed for the spatial ring and wore the ring before I put all the crystals and the skill book from the dungeon into the ring.
I was about to leave the smithy when I decided to let Rano know my plans for the future, "I'm going to a higher floor soon," I said and I watched Mary's face darken like I just told her I was going to die.
"W-What?" Mary stammered before she suddenly leaned forward, "You're leaving for a higher floor!?" she shouted
"Yeah," I said," I just thought that you both should know. In case I don't meet you both again, It was nice meeting you."
"Good luck up there," Rano said and I nodded at him before I turned and left the smithy.
Mary's head fell back to the desk once I left.
"Don't be so downcast," Rano said as he made his way back to the back room, "He's not going to die. He's just going to a higher floor,"
"Haven't you heard about eh type of women up there!?" Mary suddenly rose her head and shouted in anger and Rano missed a step and almost fell down in shock, "There are monsters up there!" she continued, "Vixens with no sense of shame! They'll eat him up and destroy his innocence!" she cried like it was the end of the world before slamming her hand on the table, "We didn't even get to know each other!"
Mary pulled on her hair and screamed and Rano just ignored her as he went back to his workshop.
----------+----------
I made my way back to the guild house and I immediately heard someone shout my name from the side.
"Jason!!" Clara shouted as she and her sister walked up to me from their table, "Hey, it's been a while,"
"It's only been two days, Clara. How are you?" I asked and Clara blushed a little and rolled her hair around with a finger.
"I-I'm fine, thanks for asking," she said shyly, "I actually missed you."
I sighed and smiled, "It was nice meeting up, I've got to go meet the guild master," I said as I started walking away, "Let's talk some more later."
"Uh.. wait!" Clara quickly stopped me and she fidgeted with her shirt for a moment before she finally managed to stammer out what she wanted to say, "W-Woul you be interested in maybe getting a drink sometime? Just the two of us. I can pay and everything."
It was at that moment that I realized that it was time for me to finally kill this crush of hers before it develops into something more. I would never be interested in Clara right now and she had to let go of me. I looked her directly in the eye and I saw her blush increasing from the intensity of my stare, "No," I said, and Clara's blush died just as quickly as it came, "I'm leaving this floor soon, and I won't have time for that. Sorry, but the answer is no."
"Wait… you're l-leaving?" Clara's voice broke at the word 'leaving'. Like the word was some sort of abomination that she didn't want to utter.
"Yes, that's what I said." I was getting tired of repeating myself all day, "So, I won't be able to get that drink with you."
I turned away when I saw the first tear forming at the corner of Clara's eye and I could hear her sniffling as I walked past the receptionist and made my way into the guild master's office. Clara would be fine since her sister is there to look after her.
As I entered Yuvan's office, I saw her sitting on the couch and pouring a drink for herself. She had a cigarette in her other hand and she looked surprised to see me.
"You don't even make an appointment to see your guild master anymore," she said seriously, "That's not very respectful."
"Does it matter?" I asked with a raised brow and she laughed as she pointed her cigarette to the alcohol cabinet.
"Grab a glass over there," she said while shaking the bottle of alcohol at me, "I'm in the mood for a drink, and it's boring to drink alone."
I went and took the glass and she poured me a drink. I took it down all at once and she saw that as a challenge as she also took her glass all at once.
"What do you have for me this time?" she asked
I brought out the skill book and the crystals from the ring and she sighed in resignation as her table was completely filled with crystals.
"That's a lot," she said.
"It's nothing much." I shrugged.
Yuvan laughed at my response as she called her receptionist in to grab the crystals and sort them. When the receptionist came in, she thanked me for saving her from Trent this morning and I just waved it away. It wasn't a big deal. People down here respect power, so I was sure that Trent won't be a problem for some time.
"Are you sure you want to go to a higher floor?" Yuvan asked as the receptionist left the office, "You're really good for business and I don't mind giving you more benefits if you want. This guild hasn't had this much money from commissions ever before."
"You already know the answer to that," I said, "Don't make this hard for either of us."
"Tch…" Yuvan threw back another glass of alcohol as she decided to just drop the topic, "I heard what you did out there," she said as she poured another glass, "Weren't you a bit cruel to that girl? She seemed like she really liked you"
"I don't think I was cruel. At least now she'll move on," I said, "it's just a childish crush. She'll forget all about me in a few weeks at most."
Yuvan rose a brow, "So what are you saying?" she asked, "She's not your type?"
I finished another glass, "Let's just say my tastes are more mature than that." I said as I looked right at Yuvan and she grinned coquettishly at me.
"Aren't you a bit too young to want something more mature?" she asked
"I told you to leave age out of this, didn't I?" My answer was immediate and I saw Yuvan's smile widen as she took another drink.
"Ma'am, I'm done with the appraisal," The receptionist called out from the other side of the door and Yuvan told her to come inside. The receptionist came in and dropped a bag of coins on the table, "Everything was worth four thousand and three bronze coins after taking out the commissions. I changed two thousand bronze coins to silver, but that was all we had, so I left the remaining bronze coins as they were. I hope you don't mind."
I shook my head and I put the coins into my ring. I would need bronze coins if I ever wanted to buy something small like food or clothes so I didn't want all my coins to be silver. "This way is fine." I said as I finished the alcohol left in my glass and stood up, "I better get going then. I'll take my usual room tonight, so you can just bring my meal up there."
I left the office and went to my room to rest for tomorrow. When I finished cleaning up, I sat on my bed and thought about what I would do next. I was going to bypass the second and third floors because there is nothing important there and I will leave early for the fourth floor tomorrow. The fourth floor was mainly filled with D ranked rankers and dungeons and there were only one or two E ranked dungeons there, now that I was a D rank, I can enter E ranked dungeons on my own, but i would still need a team if i wanted to enter D ranked dungeons. And if I remember correctly, then there was something else happening on the fourth floor that I just couldn't miss. It would be an important part of the future, so I need to put a lot of effort into it.
A knock on my door made me get up from the bed and I collected my meal from the receptionist. She smiled and left and I closed the door behind me. I finished the meal quickly and I went to sleep early.
Later that night, I heard another knock on the door and I groaned as I got out of bed to answer it. I was surprised to see Yuvan standing there with a pair of joggers and a sports bra.
"So," she said as she rose the bottle of alcohol and the two glasses in her hand, "We never got to finish that drink."
I smiled softly before I moved to the side to let her in.