Brandon walks out of a building with a sign that has a shield with a star on it. He has a small brown bag that has the sound of small coins jingling inside with each step he takes. He shoves the brown bag into his pocket and walks up to Nozomi and Kaito,

“Alright, time for your first bit of training. I hope you're both ready.” Brandon said.

“Wait, right now? We're just going to train in the middle of the street?” Nozomi questioned, tilting her head.

“Yes, right now, you'll have until the sunsets to complete the challenge. All you have to do is find me, I'll be hiding somewhere inside the city. Find me before the sunsets, and I'll treat you both to dinner.” Brandon explained.

“What happens if we don't find you?” Kaito softly asked.

“Simple, fail this task and neither of you will eat. Only one of you needs to find me for it to count as a win. Once one of you finds me, I'll shoot a signal flare into the sky, so keep an eye out for it.” Brandon explained, walking to the other side of the street.

Kaito and Nozomi watch him from the other side of the street, he smiles at them as a wagon passes between them. Once the wagon passed, Brandon was gone.

“I'll take the Southside of the city, you take the North where the noble district is,” Nozomi ordered.

They nod in agreeance and ran in opposite directions into the city.

“Going to need some extra supplies now that I have two extra mouths to feed. I'll place some orders at the noble district stores and pick them up tomorrow. I should also go ahead and book two rooms at an inn.” Brandon thought to himself as he made his way North towards the noble district.

As Brandon enters the noble district sitting on the Northern side of the city, the entire city's scenery is changed. The streets are no longer covered in litter and local drunks. The buildings are clean, with their paint in good condition. Nearly every house and shop was well maintained and lacking in damage, like the rest of Rodon. The air was cleaner and free of the foul vomit aroma.

“Rodon's northern district, nicknamed noble district by its inhabitants. Home to the rich criminals, those who can buy their way out of any situation and use other people for their dirty work. God, I hate it here.” Brandon thought to himself.

He makes his way into a nearby general store. The shop was cleaned to perfection and the shelves were filled to the brim with food, traveling supplies, and random little items. Brandon makes his way toward the front counter and talks with the store clerk. After placing his order, he makes his way back onto the streets and begins making his way to the local inn.

On the Southern side of Rodon, Nozomi bolts up and down the many filthy streets of Rodon looking for Brandon. With each corner she takes, she is greeted with more of the common rift raft. Drunks laying around, rats scurrying over their legs, and the occasional kid trying to pick a drunk's pocket while they sleep. Every second she saw these things, it added fuel to her determination to find Brandon. She felt that this was it, her and Kaito's only chance to get out of the city. She knew if they left on their own, they wouldn't last long. Every passing traveling or caravan that came through Rodon was always talking about how dangerous things were getting with the numbers of monsters increasing lately. After thinking about this for a second she begins her search again. She enters a small store and quickly takes a look around. The store had random odds and ends for sale, most of them seemed like junk to her. The shopkeep watched her closely as she was running around. She lets out a sigh in defeat and runs back out onto the street.

“I hope Kaito is having better luck than I am.” She thought to herself.

Kaito stands before a fancy black steel gate with gold trim. Behind the gate was like another city in terms of appearance. From what he could see, the streets were practically spotless. Perfectly cut stone slabs to pave the roads, houses, and stores in pristine condition. Nearly every house and store was decorated in gold in some way. Some used it to trim their windows, some used it on their doors, and others used it on their stepping stones to their house. He grabs the gate with his left hand and pulls on it. It stays in place without making a noise from his pulling. A burly-looking woman appears on the other side of the gate. She had a moderately dark tan and was wearing a crop top with jeans. Her top clung to her body tightly, her breasts were small and firm. She had a prominent six-pack that she proudly showed off. Kaito gulps and takes a small step back from the gate. The woman looks down at him and looks at him with disgust.

"Beat it, kid, they're not giving any food or money out here, your filth isn't wanted here." The woman barked, gripping one of the bars on the gate tightly.

Kaito struggles to find his words, all he can do is stare at the woman.

"What are you deaf or something, I said there ain't no charity here, rat!" She yelled.

She unbuttons a mace from her belt and slams it against the gate to snap Kaito out of it. Taken aback by the sudden noise, he quickly finds his words.

"I'm sorry, but I'm l....looking for someone. C...could I please come inside to t...take a look around?" He hesitantly asks.

"Did you not hear what the Hell I just said? Your kind isn't welcome here, now leave. If I catch you messing with this gate again I'll bash your hands in good with this mace." She said, slowly dragging the mace across the bars, letting it clank against each one.

Without wasting time, Kaito quickly rushes away from the gate and the woman laughs at him as he does. He kneels down on the edge of an alleyway and watches the gate closely.

"There's gotta be a way in, no security is perfect." He thought to himself, staring the gate down.

Suddenly a horse-drawn wagon rides by him and stops at the gate. The back of the wagon was covered so no one could see what it was carrying. The woman from before opens the gate and lets the wagon inside.

"That's right! They get their imported supplies from outside, down near the city's old food reserve warehouse. Maybe, I can sneak into the back of one to get inside."

He hastily makes his way to the South-East side of the city. He stops right outside of the loading area. Hardly anyone was around at this time, only a single wagon remained to be loaded. He waits for the men to finish loading it and as they're signing the paperwork, he sneaks up to the side of the wagon and crawls in the back. Several minutes pass and the wagon begins its departure. Before long, he could hear the sound of a metal gate opening and a familiar female voice talking.

"Shouldn't there be more than this?" She asked as the driver handed her a clipboard and pen.

"There was but they never made it to town. Monsters probably got them." The man said, lighting a cigarette.

The woman quickly signs the paper and passes it back. The man nods at her and pulls on the gently pops the reigns to get the horses moving again. Once there was some distance between the wagon and the front gate, Kaito peers out from the back of the wagon and hops off. He quickly bolts out from the middle of the street and lets out a sigh of relief.

"I can't believe that went well." He thought to himself.

He takes a look around, trying to decide which area he should check first. He notices the massive clock tower standing amidst the different buildings.

"I bet he's waiting at the top." He thought to himself, as he was making his way across the street.

Brandon leans over the railing of the clocktower, watching people pass by on the streets below.

"Three hours down, another three before the sun begins setting. I thought sitting in the largest building in the entire city would make things easier on them." Brandon thought to himself.

Suddenly the massive metal, double door behind him swings open and Kaito walks through.

"I thought I'd find you up here. It was not easy getting into this district." Kaito said, walking next to Brandon.

Brandon leans over the railing of the clock tower, watching people pass by on the streets below.

“Three hours down, another three before the sun begins setting. I thought sitting in the largest building in the entire city would make things easier on them.” Brandon thought to himself.

Suddenly the massive metal, double door behind him swings open and Kaito walks through.

“I thought I'd find you up here. I was just about to give up if I'm being honest.” Kaito said, walking next to Brandon.

“I'm a little shock you were the one who found me, I assumed Nozomi would be the one to find me,” Brandon explained.

“She took the southern district, sent me here due to it being a little safer than the south,” Kaito said, looking over the railing.

Brandon holds his arm up, aiming his hand towards the sky. A quick flash of orange light appears as a small ball of fire shoots out of his hand. The fire acts like a little flare, slowly falling in the sky, emitting its warm light. Nozomi stands in the middle of a street, looking toward the clock tower.

“Thank you, Kaito, I was getting so tired of running around aimlessly.” She thought to herself, running as fast as she could to the noble district.

“Once your sister gets here, we'll head to the inn. I already booked us two rooms.” Brandon explained.

“Look, I don't want to be mean, but just because you're doing this for us doesn't mean I trust you. I'm grateful that you helped us in that alley, we owe you a debt that we can't repay. But taking us in, providing us a place to sleep, and wanting to train us seems like a bit much. You said that you needed a student to finish your training. Why take two street rats? There are plenty of other cities that are far better than Rodon with plenty of people looking to train in magic. Why take us? Most people won't even look at us, let alone do things for us.” Kaito exclaimed, watching Brandon closely.

“I would be shocked if a meal and a warm bed for a night earned your trust. You two have spent the majority of your life surviving. Doing things no one should have to do. Yes, I require a student to complete my training. However, even if Nozomi hadn't agreed to train with me. I would have still helped you two relocate to a new city and start a new life. For your question as to why it's because I pity you. There is too much suffering in this world and I plan on changing that.” Brandon said, looking up to the clouds.

“You sound like one of the religious fanatics from the church. Changing the world doesn't seem like something one person can do, at least not alone.” Kaito said.

“Then I guess it's a good thing you and your sister are coming with me,” Brandon said, giving Kaito a soft smile.

“Who said we would be staying after the training?” Kaito said, raising an eyebrow.

“Maybe you'll stay after the training, maybe you won't. Either way, it won't matter in the end. In the end, I'll have helped you in some way and in turn ease the suffering in this world a little. So it'll be up to you two to decide the path you choose for your future.” Brandon said, turning to open the clock tower door.

They make their way down the spiraling staircase, reaching the bottom in a few minutes. Once outside, they spot Nozomi running up to them.

“You've been here the whole time? Man, we should've known to check the tallest building first.” Nozomi said, almost pouting.

“If it makes you feel better, the first hour I was buying supplies and renting us some rooms at the inn,” Brandon said, letting out a soft chuckle.

“I cannot wait to get to the inn, we haven't taken a shower in a week, let alone a hot one.” She said, nearly bouncing with excitement.

Brandon leads them down the street and into the local inn. The interior of the inn was well-kept. The wooden floor was swept to perfection, not a single part was splintering. Small lantern lights with flowers on them hang from the ceiling, illuminating the first floor. Twelve small tables sat across the room, nearly everyone used by a patron. A couple of women walk around carrying drinks and hot food to the tables. A man stands behind the counter, serving the harder drinks. A few paintings hang from the darkened wooden walls, mainly above the few tables near the walls. Brandon pulls a key out of his pocket and hands it to Nozomi.

“Rooms five and six belong to us for the night. Six is for you two, go take a shower and come back down here for a hot meal." Brandon explained, pointing to the stairwell in the corner.

She eagerly takes the key and rushes up the stairs, practically dragging Kaito behind her. Brandon sits down at a table sitting in the corner of the inn. He signals for one of the women, and she brings him a wooden tankard filled to the brim with mead. Nozomi quickly shoves the key into the doorknob, nearly bending it with her excitement. She flings open the door and rushes inside, Kaito follows slowly behind her. Inside sat two single beds with black bed frames. At the head of each frame, there was a carved brass ball sitting in the middle. The floor was a dark chocolate color and made of carpet. The walls were unpainted, wearing their natural dark wood theme proudly. Nearby was a small door leading to the bathroom. The bathroom was simplistic, a single toilet, shower, sink, and mirror waited inside. Nearly everything inside the bathroom was white, the floor, and walls were white tiles. Nozomi hastily runs into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. Within seconds, Kaito hears the shower water running. He shakes his head, letting out a chuckle. He sits down on the floor to prevent his bed from getting dirt and patiently waits for his turn. Nearly an hour passes and Brandon spots the two of them coming back downstairs, he gestures them over, and they sit down with him.

Brandon was taken aback by their now cleaned appearance. Nozomi's hair was held in a small ponytail and shined from the inn lighting. Her skin was pale, and her face was free of any marks like moles or freckles. Her eyelashes were lush and complimented her dark brown eyes. Kaito's hair was brushed back, keeping most of it away from his face. His body now free of filth showed that he had soft light brown skin. His eyelashes were short and shielded his breath taking vibrant green eyes. With both of them cleaned, the only problem that remained currently was their clothes. They both wore the same filthy clothes, made of random bits of rags and other clothes from the trash.

“I hope you two enjoyed the shower, you almost look like different people,” Brandon said, smiling at them.

“A hot shower can do wonders for anyone. I just wish we had something clean and riddled with fewer holes to wear.” Nozomi stated, sticking a finger through a hole in her sleeve.

“I'll see if we can't get something from the inn for you two to sleep in. Tomorrow, when we pick up our supplies, we'll stop by the clothes store and get new clothes for the both of you.” Brandon said, taking a sip from his tankard.

“You're going to let us go clothes shopping?!” She questioned with pure excitement.

“Yes but don't get too excited, it'll be plain basic clothes, nothing fancy,” Brandon explained.

The sound of rumbling bellies fills the air from Kaito and Nozomi.

“Can we eat while we talk?” Kaito asked, rubbing his stomach.

“Of course, order whatever you want,” Brandon said, raising his hand to signal a waitress.