Marlon watched as Luka left. He thought carefully for a few minutes.
"So that's how this all works. From what I see, here everyone is governed by the law of the strongest, and the fact that they give me a ration of food when I come means that they will not give me anything else for free, so I will have to fend for myself. from now on. This means that I will have to manage to earn enough income both to eat and to acquire knowledge and power. Taking all this into account, I need to plan well my next course of action in this place or I could have a very bad time."
As Marlon mulled his next course of action in a low voice, a figure rushed from behind him at great speed.
"UH?!" Marlon realized this and turned his head and saw a hooded person lunging at him.
With the power that Marlon gained from absorbing the yellow crystal, both Marlon's senses, strength and speed were increased, but it was still not enough to dodge the incoming blow.
"Bam!" The hooded figure hit Marlon with a wooden stick on the back, but to his dismay, the stick did not appear to have made any scratches.
"Hey? How come I didn't do anything to him? "He is a newcomer, it is impossible for him to be an apprentice".
When Marlon felt the blow on his back he was surprised, then without thinking he turned around and looked at the figure in front of him.
"I see, so this is typical of the stories of thugs who take advantage of the new and naive kid to steal his things."
The hooded figure was hesitating. Was he an apprentice? He quickly realized that he didn't want to check it. Since his plan to take the new guy by surprise to knock him out and steal his supplies didn't work, he quickly tried to run to the nearest tunnel to escape.
"Oh no, you won't." As soon as Marlon saw him trying to escape, he rushed at the figure quickly and punched him in the face.
The surrounding people only deigned to take a small look and then went about their business. Apparently this was very common and a tacitly accepted law in these parts.
Marlon grabbed the hooded figure by the neck as he beat him to the ground.
"Damn bastard!!! So you want to rob me huh?!! "I'm going to make you regret it for the rest of your life."
"Bam!"
"Bam!"
"Bam!"
Marlon kept punching him in the face, until the figure became unconscious.
"haah" gasping, he looked at the hooded figure now on the ground as he searched it.
"As punishment I will take away everything you have, bastard."
"Oh! What a surprise, you have some beef jerky here!"
"Hmm... apparently that's all you have. Poor shit, no wonder you resort to bothering the new guys for their rations. Surely this meat belongs to some new guy that you beat mercilessly. That bastard Luka never mentioned this, something here is obviously weird. When I meet him again I will take care of teaching him a fair lesson."
"Puff, well if that's all you have, maybe I can get something at the market for your clothes. Also, it would be good to know the face of the idiot who tried to assault me, so if I find him outside the tower I can finish him off so he can't seek revenge anymore."
Marlon proceeded to remove the hood. Underneath I had a ski mask on. "I don't know why so much secrecy, you're probably a bastard who doesn't care about anyone."
Marlon proceeded to remove the mask. When he took it off, he was surprised to see the face of his assailant. It was a girl, she had purple hair and white skin. His eyebrows were well pronounced, almost creating a unibrow. Marlon deduced that she trimmed them herself so they wouldn't stick together. The rest of his face was swollen from the bruises of the blows inflicted by Marlon; he had a slight cut on his lower lip.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to be a girl. If so, I'll leave you with the little clothes you have, I don't like to embarrass the ladies. Damn, if you were just a guy, I could have gotten some extra clothes, maybe someone would give me some coins for them. Oh… well, now that I think about it, only spirit stones are used here."
Suddenly a stranger approached. He was wearing an elegant suit, and on his face you could see a lot of tattoos and piercings. He appeared to be between 25 and 30 years old.
"Hey buddy, I saw you beat up this girl. Let me introduce myself, I am Pavarotti, a businessman trying to make an honest living in this place. You see, since you're new, you don't know the rules, so I'll tell you some of them." The guy named Pavarotti said while using his index finger to accentuate his narration dramatically.
"In this place, as long as you don't kill anyone you can do whatever you want, always respecting some small moral principles that can also be ignored if you are rich enough. Here the lives of us mortals are not worth much. If you waste your potential and fail to become an apprentice, you are nothing more than a worthless pig." He stopped and looked lasciviously at the unconscious girl on the ground.
"I'll make you an offer, take the girl to my brothel, I'll pretend you want to rent a room to be with her, and then you'll sell it to me. I will pay you with 100 gold coins, enough for you to pay for a full month's stay in a hotel, so you will save yourself from having to sleep in that common area where homeless people and newcomers go. What are you saying?"
"Why don't you grab her yourself and take her away?" Marlon looked at the subject with a neutral expression. This place was full of surprises and I wanted to find out all the information I could to know how to act from now on. Adapt, survive and win. That was the motto that his grandfather told him when he told him the story of his family, and how they survived this cruel world for generations in different places on the continent.
"She attacked you and you defeated her. Nobody would say anything if you now take her to your bed and do whatever you want with her, besides, why make enemies with you when we can trade? If something can be solved with money, why fight?"