Zane glanced through the peephole of his door and immediately thought, "The landlord? What is he doing here? It's not the end of the month yet." Despite his confusion, he still opened his door — of course, not before swiftly running back to the room to hide all the items related to the Dimension Tower. A fat man wearing jeans, a tucked-in shirt that accentuated his belly, black dress shoes, and three gold rings on his right hand, and a 500$ watch on his left wrist.
Mr. Whitaker walked into the room. As usual, he glanced around and noticed the spotless house, except for the messy bedroom with all the books inside. He nodded in satisfaction before looking at Zane and sighing: "I'm glad nothing has happened to you."
"Yes, the world suddenly became strange," Zane nodded.
"That's an understatement," Mr. Whitaker uttered. Two of his leaseholders were found dead in their apartments, and he had to clean up the mess. Now, he was not sure he could rent them at the previous prices.
"Lost anyone?"
"Thankfully, no," Zane shook his head.
"You're lucky. My cousin up north lost three of his children," Mr. Whitaker sighed. "When he found them, two had spears through their bodies, and the other had half its face bitten off."
"So cruel?"
"The only upside — if you can call it that — is that he received a compensation of 3 million dollars into his account."
"Compensation?"
"Don't you know?"
"I-I've been in a daze for the past few days, so I took a break from the internet after the announcement," Zane swiftly said.
"That was probably a wise move," Mr. Whitaker nodded. " A global company called DT Corporation suddenly appeared with an appraisal worth 3 trillion dollars. They announced to the world that they represent the Dimension Tower and would pay compensation for all the dead trainees. Furthermore, they also claimed they will protect the interests of the families of these dead trainees."
Zane frowned. The impact of such a company on the global economy should not be underestimated, not just economically, but also on the political stage. However, after briefly considering it, he concluded it was a good thing. The world's class system is slowly approaching a precipice, with 99% of the world's health being controlled by the 0.1%. So, for an ambitious individual like Zane, anything that could destroy the current order or status quo was encouraged.
"This may not be a bad thing," Zane commented.
"Indeed," Mr. Whitaker nodded while caressing the index ring on his thumb. While he was wealthy, he wasn't millionaire-rich. The existence of the DT Corporation and everything that has happened in the world might be an opportunity for him.
"So, what brought you here today?" Zane asked.
Mr. Whitaker looked at him, "First, I wanted to check on you, but more importantly, I'm here for the rent."
Zane frowned. "There is still more than a week before the end of the month."
"I know. I'm here to warn you that starting next month, I'll be adding another 500$ to the rent."
"What? Are you joking?" If that's true, he will have to pay 2000$ for rent. When he adds utility and other expenses, he'll need to make at least 2500$. Luckily, he didn't have to pay for a cellphone, and he was on his mother's health plan, but it didn't cover dental care.
"Do I look like I'm joking?" Mr. Whitaker replied calmly. " I think I have been fair and even compassionate with you. This is Manhattan. I can easily loan a one-bedroom with a bathroom for $2200 and even 2500."
Zane was silent. The man was telling the truth. The fact that he was paying so little in rent was a sign of his goodwill, showing pity to a man trying to rebuild his life. He sighed, "Can you give me a bit more time? Delay the increase for August, and I'll start paying in September?"
"I don't want to do this, but I have no choice," Mr. Whitaker sighed. He felt pity for Zane and, as a man with a dark past himself, allowed the young man to rent one of his studios in this terrible neighborhood because he saw himself in him. But times have changed.
"What do you mean?"
"My son was chosen as a Rune Warrior," Mr. Whitaker said, not hiding the pride in his face.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"You don't know this, but every time he has to engrave a module into his body, it costs an exuberant amount of money," Mr. Whitaker explained. "If that was all, I could still manage since each engraving is weeks, maybe months apart, but as part of his training, he needs to drink at least one Mana Digesting Potion a week. Do you know the price of one of those potions?"
Zane shook his head.
"5 grand."
"$5000?" Zane asked with a slightly open mouth.
"5K," Mr. Whitaker nodded. "One potion a week is the minimum training standard. For more efficient training, two portions a week is recommended, and for wealthy individuals, the instructor recommends drinking 1 portion every two days."
Zane's breathing became labored. He opened his mouth, but closed it for a few seconds before only releasing a soft sigh. Five thousand dollars for one potion? That's his rent for three months and enough left over to pay utilities.
"That money is just for the potion, not including equipment and other stuff," Whitaker sighed. "I'm not rich, but I want to try my best for my son. After all, his life is at stake. Two potions a week is 10 grand, for a total of 40 grand a month. Even with my savings, I cannot sustain such spending for long, but he's my flesh and blood — I can't let him die because of money, can I?" The distress on his face was palpable as his shoulder suddenly slumped.
"Even by raising rent across all my properties, I can only sustain him for four months, so I'm already prepared to take a massive bank loan. I understand this increase will be difficult for you, but we are all just trying to survive."
Zane exhaled to regain his bearings. He despised landowners since most of them are bloodsuckers, but Mr. Whitaker had been kind to him. So, after reeling himself from the shock, he nodded, "I understand. I'll get you the money next month."
Mr. Whitaker patted his shoulder. They had another brief conversation before he departed, leaving Zane alone with his thoughts. He smiled wryly and muttered, "One moment I'm celebrating becoming a Mage Apprentice, and the next second, I'm suddenly brought down from Heaven to Earth by the reality of how poor I am."
After lamenting his life, Zane opened his computer to check a few things. Since the path of Rune Warrior requires so much money, what about Mages? There is no way he can rely only on books to become powerful; there must be resources needed for progress. Based on how the warriors were treated, he doesn't think the tower would be so kind as to give him free resources. Sadly, the only information he could find was that people were still learning Gremorian. Maybe there are people like him who have already started meditating, but they haven't announced it online.
Next, Zane searched for the DT Corporation's website and sifted through all the information. Many anomalies were immediately discovered. The company has branches in every country, and the interesting thing is that they suddenly appeared a day after the worldwide announcement. The speed at which the Dimension Tower mobilized people was astonishing, but more importantly, how did all these nations accept a company with such terrifying global power suddenly appearing in their territory?
"Countries like China have great control over any business, so for them to achieve this, they must have used force," Zane analyzed. No way would every country in the world accept such an intrusion, yet no one stopped the DT Corporation.
"Regardless of what happened behind the scenes, their existence is a good thing for me," Zane murmured. At least, if he dies, his mother will be compensated. Money might not mean much soon in this world, but in this brief period before the Demon Lord's invasion, she can live a life without material worries.
Thinking of money, Zane checked his bank account: $867. He was still short more than $700 on this month's rent. So, without any choice, he sent a message to the car shop announcing his return to work tomorrow. Hopefully, enough people come for him to make rent in the next 10 days; otherwise, he'll either have to control his pride and ask his sister for a loan or bury his morality and use his skills for the wrong kind of people.
For Apprentice Mages, meditation can be done only twice a day, with a few hours in between recommended to recuperate depleted mental energy. It was already 8 PM, and Zane chose to read for the next four hours before he tried his second session. Now that he was an apprentice, he needed to accumulate mana until his body reached saturation. Then, he'll need what's called a [Heart Rune Diagram], which is a unique magic circle designed to help him condense and purify mana.
At that point, Zane will have a condensed, semi-tangible mana circle around his heart, signaling he was a 1-circle or 1-ring Mage. Once he loses his apprentice status and becomes an official mage, he needs to repeat the process 3 more times to become a 4-circle Grand Mage, and six more times to become a 7-circle Archmage.
The Magic Path has 9 circles, and Zane's ambition is to reach the pinnacle and maybe even go beyond it. His mother always taught him to try to be the best at everything he does, and even if he fails, he will still have great accomplishments. However, for now, he needs to keep his ambition and mind grounded to focus on condensing the first ring.