Lohan did not rush to redeem this money.
With Thalendor available for a visit, he wanted to see if there was anything useful that this money could be used for, especially considering how easy it was to get this money, even if the materials Intervar ordered from them didn’t pay as much as Shadow Serpent Acid, at least it would yield enough money to pay the monthly interest on his debt.
Unfortunately, the $912 he had to pay each month was only to cover the monthly interest; to reduce the amount owed, he would have to spend even more money, but he was not discouraged.
"Okay, now that you’ve settled that issue, how about I show you the rest of the city? There are so many amazing places in Thalendor..." Aeliana said excitedly, hopping from one side to the other as she explained things about the city to them.
Lohan was amazed by the view of the place.
Thalendor was truly a paradise for those who loved nature, with fauna and flora being part of the city’s entire decor and structure.
"Look over there, that’s the Great Horizon Bazaar!" Aeliana pointed to a circular plaza where the roots of a colossal tree formed natural shelves for hundreds of merchants.
Lisa looked around with interest for a while, until she realized that even among the dozens of stores she saw, nothing really caught her interest.
Most of the equipment was made for humanoid creatures, and being a Legendary Spirit Fox, her growth would already be much faster than other classes and races, even without the help of this equipment.
For Lohan, however, it was different.
Being such a versatile Slime, he saw several opportunities he could use there!
"With my Digestive Filter, I can search for things to purify, as I did with the Digestive Acid of the Shadow Serpents. I can also search for Mana Stones from powerful creatures to gain new skills... even monster carcasses with intact brains can be useful to me!" He thought excitedly.
"Aeliana, where can we buy Mana Stones?" Lohan asked curiously.
Aeliana paused to think for a moment, looking around, until she led them towards a tent. "Here, see if there’s anything that interests you."
Lohan was too short to see the counter, so Aeliana picked him up and he was finally able to see the stones.
The problem was that the price was scary!
[Kobold Warrior Mana Stone (Level 03) - 3 Silver Coins]
[Piercing Wasp Mana Stone (Level 05) - 5 Silver Coins]
[Minor Forest Spirit Mana Stone (Level 3) - 15 Silver Coins]
These were just the Mana Stones for monsters below level 11!
Looking at the measly 5 silver coins he had, which he already thought were a lot, Lohan let out a sigh.
’It really is like they say... the joy of the poor is short-lived. He thought disappointedly.
"Aeliana, why are these Mana Stones so expensive? Monsters like Kobolds aren’t hard to kill, right?" He asked confusedly.
Aeliana nodded to him and explained. "Killing normal monsters isn’t difficult, but finding special monsters capable of generating Mana Stones is."
"Special Monsters?" Lisa asked, feeling a sense of foreboding.
Lohan also heard that and remembered something.
Aeliana didn’t notice anything wrong and explained. "Yes, usually in a group of monsters there is only one, maybe two or three special monsters that generate Mana Stones. These monsters are easy to recognize because they are bigger, stronger, and smarter than normal monsters. Because they have these advantages, they are also more difficult to kill, which, added to their rarity, makes the price of Mana Stones very high."
Hearing this description, Lohan and Lisa looked at each other, realizing that they had encountered a monster with these characteristics!
"And where is the Mana Stone usually located in the monster’s body?" Lohan asked.
Aeliana thought for a moment and replied. "If I’m not mistaken, the Mana Stone is usually generated inside the monster’s heart, increasing the density of Mana in its body and being the reason why the monster is bigger and more powerful."
’Damn, I really didn’t open that Serpent’s heart!
Upon hearing this, Lohan even considered running back to the cave to look for that serpent’s Mana Stone, thinking about how much profit they could make, but considering how much time had passed, that Mana Stone must have already been taken by another monster...
Lohan wanted to buy some Mana Stones to get a useful Skill, but considering the price of those Mana Stones, he gave up on that, at least for now, and would continue to develop himself by only absorbing skills from monsters he killed.
There was nothing he could do, his money was very short now.
For the next few hours, Aeliana showed them most of Thalendor. Even though people looked at him with confusion, wondering several times why anyone would make a Slime a hired familiar, no one was disrespectful to them, making the tour quite enjoyable.
"Aeliana, is it possible to buy or rent a property in Thalendor?" Lisa asked suddenly.
Aeliana looked at the surprised fox. "I think so, but the price is quite high. Many people want to live here, leaving various cities or villages, causing the price of housing here to be very high... and as you can see, the houses are all made naturally with the help of nature, so there aren’t many vacant spaces to build new houses."
"Why, did you want to live here?" she asked in surprise.
Lisa shook her head in disappointment. "No, it was just an idea for now..."
"Did you plan to build the guild’s base here?" Lohan asked curiously.
The fox nodded positively. "Yes, I thought that as monsters we could only develop in dungeons or vacant territories, but since Thalendor is open to any race and we can easily access it, it became an option... but considering that prices can be very high, I don’t know if it will be worth it, at least for now. Maybe in the future it will be possible."
Lohan nodded in agreement, although since he was a slime, it looked like he was just rolling around without moving.
It was as if they had managed to enter a luxury mall. Everything here was very good and of much higher quality than they had imagined, but correspondingly, the price was as expensive as the quality it delivered, leaving two poor monsters like them with few opportunities.
But considering how little time they had been here and how much money they had already earned, this did not discourage them.
Thalendor was still a great opportunity, they just needed to know how to make the most of it!