The first thing that the young man had done when he entered the Red District was to had deactivated his own Energy Shield.
The reason? He didn't have that much currency in the end and he didn't want to pay an inflated amount of money just because he was a Summoner.
Iron Gates's Red District was a very quiet place.
Contrary to the other zones of the Fort that Sif had visited, there were fewer people roaming on the wide paved streets.
At first, the youth didn't understand why was that the case, but then he arrived in front of the first red light establishment, "The Hall of Pleasures".
Two young men were sitting in front of the large doors of a tall oval building.
'Great Fighters, at least rank 5'
Those guards didn't allow people to go around making a mess. Contrary to the Fort's guards, they stopped any fighting started in the district.
'They should be rich as fuck'
Having so much money that you could hire such powerful people just to stand there as private law enforcement meant that business was working out.
In a couple of minutes, the young man passed in front of other two establishments: Black Diamond Pyramid and Emperors Chambers.
The first was a tall triangular-shaped building. A single man strapped in black leather stood at the entrance, holding a torch that illuminated the dark corridor behind him in one hand and a whip on the other. Laments that were between moans and screams of pain emerged from the dark insides of the strange building.
The second one looked like a royal residence. There weren't guards at the doors, but a row of incredibly beautiful men and women. Each one of them held a golden tablet in their hand, with the symbol of a crown and a price.
Although he saw a couple of beauties that were definitely his type, Sif didn't stop. He had more pressing things to do.
He walked ahead for another couple of minutes, until he arrived at a very peculiar place: contrary to what he had seen until now, there were no luxurious palaces or exotic building.
Sif found himself looking to a pond, a couple of hundred of meters of diameter. On its surface there were a lot of closed pagodas, connected between them by wooden bridges. Even from distance, the youth could feel cold air coming out from the calm waters of the pond.
A happy expression appeared on his face for a moment. He wasn't even arrived and he already was sensing great quantities of Yin energy in the air.
'Ah, I guess the Crow is safe…' Sif picked up his pace, moving towards the sole single point of entry to the pond, that was surrounded by a short wooden fence.
There, sitting on a red prayer mat, there was a middle aged woman with long black hair. A giant eagle was just behind her, looking haughtily at the person walking towards them.
'Silver Ranked!'
The black clothed youth could feel energy fluctuation coming out from both the woman and the giant eagle. The first was a Fighter, Rank 4 at most.
The beast, however, was definitely a silver ranked magic beast. Probably it had been put there by a Silver Ranked Summoner, to remind people to behave.
"Welcome to Eagle Paradise Pond, I'm Meilin. How I can help you?"
Sif took out a small medallion and showed it to the woman. " I was told that you have some very good cold healing ponds here"
The woman laughed. "Of course, our Eagle Paradise Pond's freezing cold ponds will hemp you recuperate any kind of injury.." She then looked better at the youth in front of her, trying to determine his strength.
'Nothing'
Meilin couldn't feel any sort of relevant form of Life Energy coming from the black robed youth. He most probably was a trainee fighter or a very low rank 1.
As for him being a Summoner? She didn't even though about it. Meilin couldn't sense any form of Energy Shield coming from him and he didn't seem to have any familiar.
Plus it was common knowledge that Summoners preferred the Emperor's Chambers, the Black Diamond Pyramid and the Hall of Pleasures to her Eagle Paradise Pond.
There were very few of them that came to her clan's establishment. The gelid waters were good for people that trained their bodies, not for those who trained their souls.
"The Eagle Paradise Pond is divided into three regions: green, yellow and red. Each one has stronger cold current flowing inside the private pagodas. I suggest that you stay in the green region… entering deeper could injure even an experienced rank 3 Fighter" Explained the woman at the youth in front of her. "Even if you will need to search for a while to find an empty pagoda in the green zone"
The latter's eyes shined with a curious light. "How will I know that I'm the right region?"
Meilin laughed "You will be able to tell immediately when you step into the yellow region from the green. The temperature will drop a lot. Even more, on the doors of the pagodas there are colors that show you the level of the threat inside."
She smiled at the young man in front of her. "Don't worry, you won't lose your way and find yourself in the yellow regions"
Sif scratched his head, not bothering to explain himself. "Of course…"
The woman smiled again, continuing to explain how things worked in the establishment. "The prices for entering the private pagodas are the same: one bronze shard. You can stay there as much as you please. You can also use the medallion to call for food, or company but if you do so you will need to pay additional fees."
The black robed youth looked at the medallion on his hand, sending a wisp of energy inside it and obtaining a list of various foods, drinks, girls and even cultivation resources. What an intelligent method.
"I understand, thank you for the introduction… "
The woman's mouth arched upwards. She made a large welcoming gesture and bowed. "Then I welcome you again to your Eagle Paradise Pond, I hope you will enjoy your stay!"
She moved to the side, letting Sif walk inside the perimeter of the fence and then starting to move on top of the wooden bridges, in search of an unoccupied pagoda.
The youth didn't follow her advice and didn't waste time searching for a place in the green zone. He started choosing paths that brought him deeper and deeper inside the pond.
[Temperature Critical: Danger, Turn Back]
The metallic voice of his spatial treasure started to advise him to turn back and the cold temperature coming from the pond began to become unbearable towards the second third of the green zone.
In the end, that woman at the entrance was absolutely right: he couldn't bear the cold temperature for long with his physique. He had not even arrived in the middle of the green zone and he couldn't deal with more gelid currents.
Yet, instead of listening to the Menagerie or Meilin, Sif simply reactivated his Energy Shield. A powerful ripple surrounded his figure, protecting him from the cold.
Thanks to the invisible shield of energy, Sif was able to calmly walk to the border between Green and Yellow Zone.
He had already seen some pagoda that was free, but he had decided to keep going. He could sense a lot more Yin energy toward the center of the pond. If he went there, probably he would be able to cut the recovery time of his bird to just a couple of days.
"Uh?"
Sif saw a familiar figure standing between Yellow and Green zone. It was a tall blond warrior with a scarred face.
"Oh look who is it… " called the youth in an amused voice.
The woman jumped in place, scared by the sudden voice.
"Who?… you are the guy from this morning…"
Sif smirked, smoothing the thick black bear that he had grown during his secluded cultivation. "You really don't remember me, my old friend Angry Sun?"
The eyes of the woman narrowed. That voice. She had heard it somewhere, but where? She looked at the man in front of her more carefully for a couple of breaths.
Suddenly, her face tinged in red as her hand ran towards a broad white blade that she kept behind her back. "Are you looking to die?"
Sif laughed at the gesture. "You didn't dare to attack me when you were together with your companions, do you want me to believe that you can beat me alone?"
The woman grimaced, her hand faltering around the hilt of the sword. Yet that lasted for a single moment, before a deep fire started to burn in her eyes.
"Mph, so what? Even If I lose, at least I could say that I tried! I am not a coward like you!" A wave of red energy began to flow out of her body.
"Coward? How am I a coward? Did your parent dropped you a lot when you were little?" Sif waved his hand, and a shard of metal emerged from his sleeve, starting to hover around him.
[Hostile Detected. Initiating Analysis.]
In contrast with the trembling raging fighter in front of him, Sif was calm and collected. He kept his arms crossed behind his back, talking to the Fighter as if he was speaking with a child.
"Don't play fool with me! You play strong with the weak, but you roll on your belly for the strong!" the woman spat on the bridge at Sif's feet.
Sif was lost. Playing strong with the weak? Yea sure, he did that. But rolling on his belly before the strong? That didn't sound like him at all.
"Don't play dumb! I saw you with those Ivory Tower bitches this morning!" the Fighter extracted her weapon. "If Ivory Tower had kidnapped my woman I wouldn't sit and talk with their guards! I would have joined the war on the side of Mysterious Light!
The Summoner's eyes widened. What?