Suddenly, Malon had an idea. He kept his face neutral as he said, "I'm sorry, but I decline the offer."
"My friend, think carefully, you don't want to offend someone like me. If you want to use the girl first go ahead, but first I have to check if she is still a virgin. If she is still a virgin I can raise the price to 500 gold coins, what do you say?"
500 gold coins?!! Is that a lot?!!
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested, the girl is leaving with me."
As soon as he said that, Marlon stood up and grabbed the girl and put her on his shoulders. He looked at the large map on the main wall a few meters away from him and went through one of the tunnels.
"That boy will pay me! If he wasn't so strong I would have beaten him. What bad luck to find a beauty like that and not be able to take her because my bodyguards are not there. That boy, despite being new, is quite smart. He ran towards the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. If I call my lackeys, at most they will be able to follow him until he enters the reception, since if he goes in there I won't be able to touch him. Although sooner or later he will have to leave there, he cannot stay at the reception forever and being new he cannot afford a room. "I'll send a couple of lackeys to guard the entrance until that boy or girl comes out." Pavarotti already had a plan. It was strange to meet such pretty and young girls who were not newcomers, and the newly arrived women are protected on their first day by the punishers and would put on hoods and masks to hide their identities.
...
Marlon walked down the hallway, the walls were made of a strange lilac stone with runic engravings on it and the floor was black with small white dots. Although it was a hallway, it was quite wide and extensive. Marlon watched the different people in it come and go, although there weren't too many compared to the central room of hallways.
After walking about a hundred meters, Marlon arrived with the girl on his shoulders to a small room, but strangely there was no one in it, despite seeing how people came and went before.
Marlon approached a reception to the left of the entrance door, there he saw a strange creature two meters high, with crystallized blue skin and a width that would make any fat cow envy.
"Hello, how can I help you?" The strange creature said with a robotic voice.
"I want to rent a room." Marlon stared in wonder at this strange creature, but he didn't let curiosity delay his plans. He knew the guy would probably be waiting for him outside. I also didn't know that Pavarotti couldn't actually create a fuss at the reception, so I was in quite a hurry.
"You qualify for areas exclusively on the first two levels of the tower, with the possibility of renting areas on the third level if you have enough spirit stones. We have level 1, 2, 3 rooms available. What level do you want to rent?"
"What are the prices for each level?".
"Level 1 ones are worth one spirit stone per month, level 2 ones are worth ten spirit stones per month, and level 3 ones are worth 100 spirit stones per month. Level 1 and 2 rooms are located on the first and second floor, while level 3 rooms are located in the trainee area. Although it is exclusive for those who are apprentices, if you pay for the room you can access it through the dormitory reception, and if you become an apprentice, you can access it directly from the 3rd floor if you do not want to come to the reception".
Marlon thought about it and put on the ring he had in his pocket. He had already inspected it earlier while thinking about his plan to escape the situation. He only gave him the order to show him its contents with his mind while he held it and saw everything it had inside. When he did it he wanted to scream with joy but he didn't do it to maintain his neutral facade.
In the ring was the book that he had thought had been left in the cave, at least 3,000 spiritual stones, a few tools that he did not know the use of, and a good amount of what appeared to be herbs. Marlon was a little surprised that the grasses did not wither considering that the person who owned this ring must have been dead for some time. There was also the meat egg from their farm and the corpses of the great ape and the magical bear from the cave. Marlon assumed that the magician put them there without him realizing it.
"I want a level 3 room, here are the spiritual stones for the first month" Marlon took out 100 spiritual stones from the ring and gave them to the strange creature.
"Well sir, since it is a residence for apprentices you have to know the rules. You are allowed to design the functionality of the room whenever you like based on the pre-established models. If you want a customized model you will have to pay extra depending on the modifications to it. In these additional modifications, the enlargement of the interior space with spatial magic is allowed as long as it does not exceed the limit of 100 square meters plus the base meters of the apartment. From your room you are allowed to come and go whenever you want just by using the devices at the entrance door. This device will let you choose between going out the door towards the hallway where the bedroom area is located on the third floor, or directly returning to the reception on the first floor. If you damage the operation of the magical portals in any way, you will have to pay the repair cost or directly resolve it yourself before the deadline for your next rental payment expires."
"Here is the key to your room, you can insert it in the back door to my right and it will open a portal that will take you to your room. If you want to modify the room, you can come to the reception at any time"
Marlon took the key and walked quickly with the girl on his shoulders and headed towards the door. When he uncertain and turned the key, the door opened and a portal with a white background was seen. He crossed the portal and disappeared from the reception.