*Hulalalalala*

*Dum*

*Dum*

*Dum*

The low, base sound of thick drums being beaten echoed. Dusk had recently risen and most of the young ones from the community slowly made their way out of their residence. Trilok and Kol were among them. Carnival, in essence, was something that usually the young and the middle-aged members of the community participated in but there are always exceptions to it.

"Boss... their ship looks amazing," Kol gasped in amazement. Her eyes were mesmerized by the glowing totem marks on the ship as they lit up the surrounding water. Even Trilok gazed at the beautiful marks blankly. The most prominent color on the surface of the carnival ship was a very subtle and engaging brown color. It depicted a wide expanse of something similar to the ocean. Figures of men and women interlaced with battles, daily struggles, and even various forms of pleasure from hunting to many figures just 'scribbled' in could be seen.

"It is said that all carnival ships may be completely different in cultures, but all of them hold a significant tradition of our ancestors before the Heaven caged us," A deep voice explained to the stunned crowd as most of the youth had stopped walking and settled for seeing the glowing totems. Various colors reflecting on their eyes and bodies.

Trilok looked back to find an extraordinarily dressed Roa with a brown-haired woman. The woman had her hair tied up into a braid while she kept a distance from Roa. But whoever looked towards the two could feel that both of them were together.

"She's the one, right?" Kol inquired with a whisper.

"I haven't had a chance to meet her but yes, she should be Nelly," Trilok nodded. Her information screen gave off her true name and her abilities. 

"Um, uncle Roa, what do you mean by our ancestors' tradition?" One of the many youths inquired as Roa smiled.

Roa's reputation didn't simply emerge from his strength and his fleet. He could have the greatest reputation in the community, far surpassing his father— Chief Jolly— because he mingled with the younger generation in an appropriate manner. Despite his aged appearance, Roa would always stroll about in the community after his fleet returns safely.

The main reason for it was clear. Roa wanted to have a grasp of the thinking of the younger generation. He wouldn't easily shun any youth in desperate need but he wouldn't also go all overly protective for everyone. His modus operandi was giving opportunities. Many opportunities came with risk, but those who survived grew thankful and indebted to the man.

"It's a myth. But do you all know what a seabed is?" Roa inquired and everyone nodded.

"Well, that brown and vast totem, is in fact, Land. Gigantic pieces of the seabed on ocean's surface!" Roa's words caused the group to gasp and they took another look at the vast totem.

"But—"

"Now, now, I don't know everything. It's just a legend. Anyway, we should be going to the carnival, right?" Roa pointed out.

"Yeah! Let's have fun!" 

"Hell yeah! Tits!"

"Shut up, have some decency!"

"Why? I'm topless, too!" The group grew rowdy and they all began walking towards the ramp connecting the two ships. However, two men, one light-skinned and one dark-skinned stood at the entrance of the carnival ship with an eager grin on their faces. The dark grease-like liquid was marked on their cheeks and the patterns of the same liquid ran through their neck to abdomen.

"Is anyone in the group under the age of 17?" the dark-skinned man inquired.

"What you gonna do about it?" One of the boys in the front snickered.

"Pray for you," the light-skinned youth swiped his hair back and smiled. "It is customary for every participant of the carnival to snort crimson heaven. To those below the physical age of 17, it is a poison."

"Physical age?" One of the girls inquired. She glanced at the man's body a few times while he smiled calmly. In fact, the two of them were simply too calm, their eyes were slightly narrowed and the smile on their lips never left.

"It is clear that there are some males clearly threatened by our appearance, or skills,"  the light-skinned guard pointed at the burly youth who tried to provoke the two guards, "So, this implies that the person in front of me has a man's body, but a child's mentality. Anyone who enters the Carnival, please understand our motives to follow our ancestors' traditions. We may use the substance of mental influence and expose our bodies to nature, but in no way we entertain acts of sexual nature with one eager humper, and the other being a reluctant humpee."

Everybody grew silent.

"You're boring them!" The dark-skinned one nudged his partner's shoulder, "Just enjoy in the right way, guys. Live a little. Smile and dance. Court our sisters and allow us to happily court yours. Maybe bury a hatchet. Carnival is a festival of miracles!" 

"Mothers, too..." the light-skinned one grumbled.

Seeing that the two guards were just like them. Happy teenagers. Almost all of the community grew more cheerful and their moods grew to a greater height.

Soon, everyone took out their fisher id cards as two young men inspected each of them carefully.

As Kol and Trilok stepped up, the light-skinned one grew appreciative of Kol's appearance as he did with other girls, and the dark-skinned one observed Trilok from top to bottom.

"Hey, you two are the alchemists, right? The ones dragging the cart and selling recipe?" The dark-skinned one suddenly gaped. "I saw your recipes. Especially the Poor Man's Health! That one is ingenious!" he spoke up while Trilok took out his fisher id.

In Trilok's hand was a grey-colored card with a beautiful silver carp printed on one of the surfaces while the other side held Trilok's personal information. The id cards can be both, extremely convenient and a bitch to handle. If you lose your card even once, then latter, because the card needs to updated whenever a person migrates to another ship. The silver carp etched on the back of Trilok's card was Silent Community's symbol.

"Really? I hope that my work can reduce the agonies and frustrations that small injuries can build up to in your community, too," Trilok smiled while the man checked his id.

"I'm Boris. Let's hope that I can find you at the festival after I'm done with checking all the id cards."

"Girl, you're an alchemist?" The light-skinned one hummed in surprise, "Name's Henri. Say, is your mother single?" He flashed a smile.

"Yeah," Kol chuckled, "Let me stab you real quick. She appreciates sexy little number like you sent her way 'up' there every now and then."

Trilok almost choked while Boris chuckled openly.

On the other hand, Henri's smile vanished as he nodded solemnly, "My condolences... but if your mother looks anything like you, then the moment I die, I'll look for her."

"Keep it moving, mama's boy!" A girl behind Kol sighed, "We're all hungry!"

"Yeah!"

Trilok and a slightly disgruntled Kol passed through the entrance and they didn't actually need a guide to the location of the festivities. The deep thrumming of drums continued to grow louder as they made past the labyrinth of the tents by following others in front of them.

A source of light in the ship only grew brighter and finally, Trilok and Kol came to face the center of Carnival!

A scene of nature's marvel is what Trilok categorized the scenario of the Carnival as. Another line was being formed ahead of him but he didn't care. He gazed at a number of logs prepared as benches. He saw men laughing, some even sparring with other spectators cheering for them. Not to mention the fact that around a clump of logs shaped like a cone, countless golden fireflies flew and nestled in. Around this source of light, many men and women from the carnival ship danced without care.

Their enthralling forms only excited men and women of the Silent Community.

Besides the dancers was a band of five drummers. They wore white powder over their tanned faces and had similar black markings on their faces as Boris and Henri. All the drummers held a thick wooden club and smashed the tool against the surface of the drums in a powerful rhythm. 

*Dum*

*Dum*

In front of them, on a raised platform, a topless old woman had her face covered with a large, wooden mask. The mask was carved with an eagle's face with a golden mane spreading out from the corners of the mask. She held a small staff in her hands and pranced around with her arms open.

"Boss, look," Kol broke Trilok out of his trance as he gazed towards the pointed direction. Two women with wavy hair, one of them simple and another on with a stud through her nostril provided a small pouch filled with red powder. 

"That's Crimson Heaven, huh...  the way a few of them were snorting so much amount of it, this shouldn't be too effective."

Kol and Trilok were aware of the existence of substances that could... 'enlighten' them but this would be their first time trying it out.

"Well, well, you look sharp, sweety," the plain woman with circular marks over her breasts looked at Kol, "Here. Do you know how to use this?"

"I saw a few inhaling the powder through their nose during the day."

"Sigh, fucking crackheads. But yeah, arrange the powder in your hand and snort it quickly. It's a bit windy, so don't you waste this pouch."

She waited for Kol to commit the task while the one with piercing placed a pouch in Trilok's hand, "Just as she explained. Hope you enjoy the experience."

Knowing that only those who inhaled the powder could enter the Carnival with a clear perimeter marked with ropes already in place, Trilok slipped open the mouth of the translucent pouch and looked at the red powder.

[Crimson Heaven: An uncommon mixture under Heaven that induce heavy illusions and hallucination to anyone under the cultivators holding the strength of Rare Physique or Spirit Fusion]

Instead of taking pouring the contents out, Trilok passed his nose into the pouch.

"Whooo weee!" The woman in front of Trilok purred as her eyes narrowed down.

"He's a heavy hitter, huh,"  the woman in front of Kol shook her head.

Meanwhile, Trilok inhaled deeply and snorted almost all the red powder except for the content covering the entrance of his nostrils.

"Huff, here you go," Trilok returned the pouch while the woman in front of him chuckled, "Clean your nose... and get ready for the hit."

*Snuuu*

Kol snorted the contents and then rubbed her nose while Trilok cleaned his nose with the back of his hand, too.

"What hit?" Trilok inquired.

"Oh... why are you crouching down?" Trilok inquired as he saw the woman's stature turning shorter. A purple light exploded around him as he frowned and looked sideways, finding Kol looking at him equally weirdly.

"Woah..."

They both mumbled.

---

"Boss?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothing... is it warm around here? I feel too hot."

"I told you to go topless. It isn't late..."

"But I hate when others see my private place..."

"Same thing, sister."

"Do you think that I'll ever amount to anything, Boss?"

"Kol, you are a valued person in my life... if anyone has the potential to make it... it's you."

"Thank you, that means a lot."

"No problem. It is just... I wanted to be honest. I haven't been an extremely caring brother or a good employer, but deep down, I really care about Vayu and you."

"Boss, me too."

"You care about yourself? You ingrate."

"No... I meant you and Vayu. We didn't have a good start, but that's life. I cannot see a life without you."

"Tch, they got truth bombs, hehe," A couple lay Trilok and Kol down on the cold deck alongside many other members of the community still dazed by their first 'hit' of heaven. All of them mumbled. Some spoke to people around them, much like Kol and Trilok while many just continued to chat with a 'light' in front of them.

"Well... I hope they never forget this embarrassing moment." The man smiled gently but craftiness flickered in his eyes.

"Let's go. None of these newbies can actually survive such a great quantity of crimson heaven in the first place. They would walk a little before falling into a daze. We need to find others and let them rest here."

"Can't we enjoy our dance?" the man whined.

"It won't be late," the woman smirked, "and didn't you hear it? The fruit of patience is always sweeter."

"Sweet? You don't mean..." The man smiled gleefully.

"It is a festival," the topless woman shrugged.