The district that doesn't sleep.

A few hours went by and a bright moon hung over Ren's head, fighting off the darkness brought along by nightfall. Ren was laying on the ground while Roxy leant over him with his palm's firmly planted on his chest, a beautiful white glow gathered around her hands, filling Ren's body with a gentle warmth that washed away his agony.

"That should do it brat."

Roxy said while standing up and dusting herself off, Ren got to his feet and did a few stretches, though he was exhausted, he was fully healed and all that suffering he had gone through felt like a bad dream.

"That technique is called enhancing, don't take the piss with it."

Roxy said and Ren couldn't agree more, thinking back to that traumatic experience was more then enough to remind him not to abuse this new technique.

Despite what his master had put him through, Ren had still gained a shiny new weapon for it, now all he needed to do was sharpen the blade. Since this weapon was double edged, Ren felt that enhancing would be best used in short bursts at critical junctures, this way, he would damage control while taking his enemies by surprise.

GRUMBLE.

Strange noises from his stomach reminded Ren that bugs weren't the most filling of meals. Ren decided to prioritise filling his belly over finetuning the Enhancing technique and glanced up at his master with big eyes.

"Tsk, I know."

Roxy grunted, grabbing him by the collar and making them disappear amidst a bright flash of purple light.

***

"Welcome back you two, how was the climb Ren?"

Olivia asked, not phased by the master and disciple duo materialising out of thin air, the same couldn't be said for Li Hongji, who immediately stumbled backwards with a shocked expression.

"Food."

Ren said weakly, causing Olivia to stare angrily at Roxy.

"We'll talk about this later."

Olivia said almost icily, she stormed off towards the campfire to reheat supper, Roxy shrugged her shoulders and walked towards Li Hongji, who just beginning to stand up.

"You sure clean up nice don't ya."

Roxy said, observing the shocking transformation that Li Hongji had underwent. He was now clean and well dressed, all the dirt and grime he was painted with disappeared, revealing his handsome and gentle features, his messy black hair, was now combed back, gracefully flowing just past his shoulders.

"It's all thanks to you, goddess. I Li Hongji, will never forget the debt I owe you three so long as I live."

He said reverently, while bowing his head till he was looking at the ground. Roxy snorted loudly.

"I saved you for a reason, you better be the best damn tour guide on the fucking planet."

Roxy said while walking away, Li Hongji began to tear up with joy, he quickly wiped his tears and looked up at Ren who was impatiently waiting for his meal.

"Lady Olivia wouldn't stop talking about you… I hope we can get along Ren."

Li Hongji spoke sincerely, Ren spared him a cursory glance before looking back at the campfire.

"Mind your own business and we'll get along fine."

Ren said, resuming his impatient waiting. Li Hongji smiled, one of the things Olivia had told him was that Ren liked his own space and he had no problem giving it to him, these people had rescued him, healed him and fed him, Li Hongji owed them far too much.

Olivia didn't keep Ren waiting for long and soon returned with a plate of steaming food, that Ren wasted no time in snatching from her hands and stuffing his face with.

"More."

Ren held out an empty plate seconds later, she raised an eyebrow and purposely ignored Ren, causing him to sigh.

"More… please."

Ren said reluctantly, causing a beautiful smile to appear on Olivia's face and she happily took his plate and hummed a catchy tune while she walked towards the campfire.

***

The next morning, Ren was the last to wake up, mostly due to his exhaustion from yesterday. The group was gathered around the still smouldering camp fire, eating breakfast courtesy of Olivia.

The campsite had been packed up and stored by Roxy, who was seated on a small boulder, puffing away at her pipe, when she noticed that Olivia was free, Roxy called her over.

"Oi girl, did you make them yet."

Olivia obviously knew what Roxy was referring to and nodded excitedly, pointing to her rucksack near the campfire.

"It was tricky but I managed. Pretty proud of them to be honest."

She said smugly, Roxy shook her head and glanced towards the campsite, noticing that Ren and Li Hongji had finished eating.

"You two, come over here and bring that rucksack."

Roxy called them over, Ren looked around and found a large green rucksack which he handed over, which Olivia took and opened.

"Behold my greatness."

Olivia said, while presenting the group with a pile of neatly folded garments, each one a different colour.

"One for you, one for me, don't think I forgot about you and of course you get one to."

Olivia chirped, while handing out the garments, Ren received a that had subtle red swirls stitched into a thick black fabric. When he unfolded it and held it up, he realised that it was a beautifully made gown, something slipped out when he held it up and he quickly grabbed it before it hit the floor.

What he had caught was a scarlet sash, the same colour as his eyes and a dark grey waist cloth. Olivia looked at him with anticipation.

"Well, am I awesome or what."

She said eagerly waiting for Ren's reply, he examined the clothing and gave Olivia small thumbs up. Let down by the lacklustre evaluation, Olivia looked hopefully at Li Hongji, who had received an elegant combination of light grey and white.

"These are Han robes, right? Their well-made, especially for someone who's never been to Ventus before."

Li Hongji had a complicated expression when looking at the traditional clothing from his homeland. Olivia took his expression the wrong way and her eyes began to moisten.

"Since I'm not appreciated here, I'll take my talents elsewhere."

She sobbed, while running away with tears in her eyes. Li Hongji realised what had happened and immediately chased after her.

"Wait your misunderstanding me, they're really great."

He yelled, Ren just shook his head.

"Were in the middle of nowhere, are you gonna take your talents to the bandits."

After Ren had reluctantly sacrificed the top of his head to placate Olivia, the group changed into their new outfits and were soon ready to leave.

Roxy's robes were pure white, with a red sash which complimented her stunning looks and figure and unlike her, the clothing was graceful and elegant. Olivia's was a combination of light blue and pink, making her look like a gentle and caring fairy.

"We wasted enough time already, lets get a fucking move on."

With Roxy's words proving that she was unfit to wear such elegant clothing, a wide black circle appeared in front of them and a low frequency buzzing could be heard in the surroundings.

Both Ren and Olivia had bad memories of the floating black circle of misery that was the warp spell and as expected, held reservations about entering it a second time. Roxy being Roxy, didn't waste time, picking them up and tossed them in before they had a chance to say ah shit, here we go again.

***

Ten minutes of stomach obliterating dizziness later, Ren managed to pull himself back together and shakily got back to his feet, doing his utmost to steady himself. Ren's body seemed to have adapted from the first warp, resulting in him not blacking out… but Ren wished he had.

Two other people also regretted being conscious and their names were Li Hongji and Olivia, both of them were on all fours spilling their guts onto the ground, replicating the mating calls of dinosaurs.

Since Ren couldn't help them, he didn't, instead scanning his surroundings. They had ended up in the middle of a vast dessert, filled with huge dunes of yellow sand that stretched out as far as the eye could see but what he couldn't see was a kingdom.

Roxy had mentioned that they would be able to see the Kingdom of Ventus as soon as they warped but after looking everywhere, he found nothing but sand… almost everywhere that is.

"Brat, you're looking in the wrong place."

Ren spun around and saw his master pointing in to the sky. Confused, Ren followed her finger up and his mind went blank.

"You're fucking kidding me."

Ren yelled, his surprise wasn't unwarranted because on the receiving end of Ren's gaze was a giant island… of the floating variety. The island was soaring comfortably alongside the clouds, there were other, smaller islands scattered across the sky but compared to the monstrosity in the centre of the floating archipelago, they were mere specks.

Olivia had recovered by now and walked towards them while pouting angrily, hearing Ren curse set off her motherly instincts and she rushed over to tell him off.

"Ren don't use words like that, I know Roxy uses them but that doesn't mean… Holy shit."

Olivia laid eyes on the floating island mid-nag and couldn't practice as she preached, a testament to the jaw dropping scenery above.

Li Hongi, the resident Ventian, was obviously in the know, so he didn't share in their shock, instead he looked up at the floating islands with a bitter expression that was only visible for a brief moment, before quickly fading.

"uhm… how do we get up there?"

Olivia, while still looking up, asked the crucial question, there destination was in the clouds after all. Roxy simply raised her hand in response.

SNAP.

Roxy snapped her fingers and the sound echoed across the surroundings. Ren felt a ripple of aether rush passed his body, distorting the space a few meters away from him.

"Ventians aren't hostile to outsiders, they just have high standards for visitors."

Roxy said, walking towards the distortion. A rectangular frame made out of red and gold crystals, began to reveal itself. The frame was as big as a castle gate and just as majestic, with two crystal dragons perched on either edge. Just like the warp spell, the space within the frame began to dim into a pitch-black abyss.

Li Hongji walked over now that he had stopped spilling his guts, his face was pale but showed some signs of astonishment.

"As expected of Goddess Roxy, I've never seen someone find the kingdom's gate that easily."

"Of course not."

Roxy said while walking through the gate, disappearing into the darkness. Ren and Olivia looked at each other before hesitantly following after her.

Li Hongji, who was now alone, looked up to the massive island floating in the sky and sighed deeply.

"If she's that strong then just maybe… Who am I kidding, even a goddess can't return what that bastard took."

Li Hongji's eyes narrowed and he walked towards the gate.

***

The second Ren crossed the gate, he sighed in relief, no stomach pulverising dizziness this time. The gate had led to a spacious hall with red walls and lavish gold decorations, the ceiling was engraved with a huge Yin-Yang symbol and the whole room seemed to radiate wealth and power.

It didn't take long before they were approached by a short and stout man, who entered the room through a set of double doors in front of them. The man was dressed in green robes and carried himself elegantly. When he reached the group, the man bowed respectfully.

"Welcome to the Tian Kingdom, may I know your reason for visiting our great nation"

He said humbly but Ren was confused, were they not visiting the kingdom of Ventus. Why did the man call this place Tian?

"Vacation."

Roxy replied before Ren had a chance to ask, the man raised an eyebrow before taking out a small crystal ball.

"If that is the case, I must ask that you prove yourselves worthy."

Roxy chuckled, snatching the crystal ball out of the man's hands before he had the chance to react. Ren said a silent prayer for the man, this wasn't going to end well for him.

"A fucking ant wants to test me, a goddess. Count your blessings ant because I'll humour you just this once."

Roxy said arrogantly. The crystal ball began to glow brightly, its luminosity increasing without showing signs of stopping. Ren stopped praying for the man and started praying for himself.

"Cover your eyes."

Ren yelled at Olivia, burying his face into his hands. His warning came at just the right time because the crystal ball was reaching levels of brightness that would vaporise retinas.

CRACK.

The crystal ball shattered abruptly, sending out a lethal storm of shattered glass in all directions. The glass didn't make it past Roxy but the man wasn't so lucky. He was blinded and a shard of glass had slid across his cheek, drawing blood.

The sudden chain of events was too much for the man to handle and he fainted out of shock, falling to the floor with his eyes rolled back. Ren opened his eyes and shook his head, his master was far too petty.

The explosion had obviously alerted those outside the room and three heavily armed guards burst into the room, they wore full suits of iron armour and carried large spears that they pointed towards the group after noticing the unconscious man on the floor.

"This another test then, if it is… you might need more examiners"

Roxy said while licking her lips. Ren facepalmed while Olivia and Li Hongji tried to stop the maniac from causing a national incident but before they got the chance a loud voice brought the guards to a halt.

"STOP YOU DAMN FOOLS"

An elderly bearded man parted the guards and made his presence known, he was dressed in similar clothing to Roxy's victim with the exception of the gold embroidery. He glanced down at the man on the floor and sighed.

"I apologise for my junior's insolence, I'm the official in charge here, Wu Wentian. If you would be so kind as to follow me, I'm sure we can accommodate any requests you may have."

Official Wu bowed and the guards quickly caught on, joining him in lowering their heads. Roxy smirked and the savage glint in her eyes faded.

"Lead the way, Mr Official."

Roxy said while following after him. Ren was wondering what Roxy couldn't get away with but when he saw her disappearing back, he grabbed Olivia's arm and dragged her along, with Li Hongji bringing up the rear.

Official Wu brought the group to a small but lavishly decorated room, filled with ornate jade sculptures and various paintings, there was a huge crystal chandelier in the centre of the room which hung over a large mahogany table and Official Wu politely gestured for them to be seated.

"Allow me to officially welcome you to the Tian kingdom, I hope the uhm… misunderstanding didn't cause you any trouble"

He said once they were seated, the others decided to let Roxy do the talking, especially, Ren who was well out of his element in this setting.

"Thanks to you, it turned out just fine"

Roxy sighed, almost as if she was disappointed with the lack of mayhem. Official Wu cleared his throat, serving them a fragrant tea out of exquisite porcelain cups.

"We had a similar experience a couple months ago, luckily it ended well but let's just say my horizons were broadened."

He said, looking visibly shaken up. Roxy shook her head, she felt like she knew exactly who Official Wu was talking about.

"let's put the past behind us shall we, I introduced myself earlier but I don't think I had the pleasure of learning the names of our esteemed guests."

Official Wu conducted himself in a manner befitting his Official title, Roxy went around the room and introduced everyone.

"This is the brat, just ignore him. This is the girl, you can ignore her as well. This is our tour guide and my great and beautiful self is Roxy, if you ignore me, I'll kill you."

Roxy said while lazily pointing in the directions of Ren and the others. Official Wu clasped his hands together and bowed once more.

"Then Madam Roxy, how may I be of assistance?"

He asked, reluctant to address the others by the names he was given. Roxy took out a small cloth bag, stuffed to the brim with coins and dropped it onto the table.

"I'll keep it simple, we're going to be staying here for a while so just exchange this to whatever currency you use here."

Official Wu took the bag of coins and examined one with a perplexed expression.

"I'm afraid that since our kingdom doesn't partake in trade with other nations, we have no foreign exchange policy."

He said but one glance at the menacing grin on Roxy's face made him consider his next words extremely carefully.

"Which of course, is no problem at all… uhm, please feel free to ask for me if you ever run out of funds at any point during your stay."

He continued, wiping some sweat of his brow and taking out a bag of coins, presumably his own and reluctantly handing it over to Roxy.

"Once again, please let me apologise for my juniors conduct, the kingdoms been a little tense these past few weeks."

Official Wu said, wanting to rid himself of the group before he went bankrupt but Roxy had other plans, his words seemed to catch her interest.

"Care to elaborate."

Roxy said while leaning closer. Official Wu seemed to realise that he revealed something he probably should have but after much contemplation he decided that explaining the situation would be the quickest way to wrap up business.

"It isn't exactly a secret so there should be no harm in telling you. Recently the kingdom has been suffering attacks from demonic beasts. They appear at random, seemingly out of thin air."

"Normally we can respond accordingly but there have been a few occasions where we were caught off guard… a great amount of blood was spilled as a result. I would advise you not to be out past curfew."

Official Wu said with a complicated expression. Roxy, who was the one who had asked, had lost interest at this point and stood up from her seat.

"Well, if that's everything, I'll show you out personally."

***

After Official Wu had happily escorted them out of the building, the group was greeted with the loud and lively disorder that went hand in hand with a major city. Hundreds of people filled the sidewalk, pushing and shoving each other as they tried to navigate the crowds.

The chaos was not just limited to the pavement, the wide cobble roads were heavily congested with horse drawn carriages and rickshaws constantly trying to get out of the way of the armed soldiers patrolling the streets.

The complete disarray only added to the charm of the city, the buildings were colourful, the lights were dazzling and the people were lively. For Ren, who hadn't seen much of the outside world, it was a complete sensory overload.

To stop his brain from hurting, Ren turned around, looking at the building they had just left. From the inside it was hard to tell but now he could truly appreciate its splendour, the golden building was a five-storey tower with black roofing around the outside of each floor, despite the ensuing chaos, the tower stuck out like a sore thumb and even the locals in the crowd would stop for a little while to appreciate its beauty.

"This building is known as the Moonlight pagoda."

Li Hongji, who noticed Ren's gaze, decided to fulfil his role as a tour guide.

"It's a famous landmark in Tian's capital, Weifeng City, since it's the only official entrance to the kingdom."

Li Hongji explained. Ren wasn't too interested but the same couldn't be said for Olivia, who had been listening eagerly.

"How did it get that name?"

Olivia's eyes were burning with curiosity, this was her first trip outside the village and she wanted to take in as much as possible.

"It's a silly story really, the man who built it was hired by a foolish king to make the most beautiful tower he could. When he finished it a few years later it was the most beautiful building the kingdom had ever seen… Yet the king wasn't satisfied."

"The foolish king wanted a tower that transcended beauty itself, one that would cement his status as the greatest king who ever lived. Outraged by the man's work, he sentenced him to death."

"This is when the man said… My king, within this tower I have captured the light of the moon, only a great and wise king would be able to appreciate its true form when night has fallen."

"So, the foolish king waited till night and when the full moon hung over the tower, he turned to the man and spoke… I truly am wise and great, for I have now seen the true beauty of the tower… Although I indeed know how it appears since I'm wise and great, how would you describe the towers true form."

"The man simply said… My wise King, I wouldn't know. You may be the only person who will ever witness its true beauty… With that, the man lived to see another day."

Olivia was fully engrossed in the story and was laughing by the end. During this time, Roxy had pulled over a rickshaw driver and was now making her way back to the group.

"Oi, tour guide. Make yourself useful and find me an inn near this address."

Roxy said while handing Li Hongi a crumpled-up piece of paper, Li Hongji read the note and his face flushed with red.

"Uhm… Goddess, are you sure you want to stay here?"

"Is that a problem?"

Roxy asked, confused with the way that their tour guide was behaving. Li Hongji looked hesitant but under Roxy's piercing gaze, he folded.

"It's not really a problem, it's just that…"

At this point Li Hongji leant closer and whispered something into Roxy's ear, she looked surprised but that was quickly replaced with anger.

"That shitty harlot"

She yelled, looking extremely pissed, she glanced at Ren and then at Olivia.

"Brat, cover your ears."

Ren did as he was asked, although he was vaguely interested in the conversation, his previous experiences told him that it was best to do what his master told him.

Now that his ears were covered, Roxy started speaking to Olivia. Despite not being able to hear he could still see her reaction. Olivia's face turned bright red as she started stuttering.

"A R-RED L-LIGHT DISTRICT."

She yelled out in disbelief, maybe a bit too loudly because Ren managed to hear her despite covering his ears but even though he heard it, he had no idea what the term meant.

After a baffled Ren had witnessed a muffled argument between Roxy and Olivia, who now wore a defeated expression, his master gave him the go ahead to uncover his ears.

"Shut up brat, just get in the fucking rickshaw."

A moody Roxy shut down Ren before he had the chance to ask any questions. Ren shrugged his shoulders and did as he was told, believing he would eventually get to the bottom of this mystery in due time.

After Li Hongji had given the Rickshaw driver their destination, they set off. He had told them it would be a short journey so Ren relaxed and enjoyed the scenery, ignoring the occasional worried glances that he received from Olivia.

***

Around half an hour later it had gotten quite dark and the wind had a biting chill to it. The view from the Rickshaw had also changed quite drastically, the streets were no longer crowded with people but colourful lights instead, the buildings were mostly storefronts with large glass windows, where scantily clothed women displayed themselves amidst a background of red light.

Without the others noticing, Ren leant out of the window and saw even more exposed women outside the stores, blowing kisses and talking to the passer-by's.

"Aren't they cold?"

Ren asked curiously, he was wearing warm clothing and still felt the cold, when Olivia turned her head and saw what ren had been referring to, she glared at Roxy who simply shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't worry kid, their jobs keep em plenty warm."

The driver chuckled but his laughter was cut short when he felt a gaze far more chilling than the weather. Olivia was frustrated to say the least, she quickly swapped seats with Ren and leant forward, blocking his view outside.

"uhm… we've arrived now"

The driver said nervously while wiping a cold sweat from his brow.