— Aster —

I was standing alone now. Staring at the plain wood door. “Nothing left but to walk through.” I grabbed the scarf around my neck, took a deep breath, and opened the door. Behind the door was a large room with thirty-foot ceilings. At least I think it was large, but it was impossible to tell thanks to the mirrors everywhere. I wasn’t alone in the room, but multiple versions of everyone reflected in the mirrors made it appear to have hundreds of people. My best guess was that the number was around forty people. Where did they all come from?

Everyone was sizing each other up. It was obvious that everyone made their own clothing. Some pieces of clothing were half done, and some were held by safety pins. Some people’s clothing was just as shabby as mine. Other people looked as though they bought their clothes from a tailor. They must have done some sewing before.

Looking over everyone I noticed that some people went with a less-is-more approach. Some of the girls were wearing tight skirts. One of them was in a belly dancer outfit, and one was in a bikini-type outfit. I like, many of the other men carefully observed them.

Many of the men were wearing basic shirts and pants hastily thrown together. Instead of something nicer, only I and one of the other boys went in suits. It looked like a cheap suit one could pull off a rack, not like my beautiful patchwork suit. Then I saw the one boy who went with the less-is-more approach, I almost laughed when I saw it, he was in what looked like a speedo and a vest. What are you a male stripper?

I continued to size everyone up until Instructor appeared on the balcony. This time the Shimmer around him was almost immediate, but still, it passed very quickly, with no way to check I just ignored it. All I knew was there was some type of illusion over him.

Instructor smiled. “Welcome all! You have all reached the halfway point of your training. Now you have made it to the Rogues ball.” He pulled out a sheet of paper, presenting it to us. “Now there is some information we decided to withhold till you all arrived.”

Of course, you did. Nothing is easy here.

“There are more ways to earn points other than obtaining the objects. They are important, but points can be earned in other ways. When the event begins we will inform you every twenty minutes of a new event and each lasts ten minutes and there are five events. Now the ball begins... “The Guild Master pulled out an hourglass and flipped it over. “Now!”

Music began to play and food appeared out in the form of a buffet to the side of the room.

I was hungry so I ran to the food taking a plate before anyone else. When was the last time I ate? I nearly froze when I realized it had to have been weeks since my last meal. The only thing that kept me from freezing was the looks of hunger on the people around me. I know it wasn’t directed at me but those gazes were disconcerting. I gathered a plate and noticed the line of people formed behind me.

Just like I thought. Many of them were going through the other's pockets and a few finding their target. Sheesh, we have three hours, pace yourselves. I carefully watched and took note of the ones who took what items, and those who had more than one item. I caught glimpses of many, and a few I wasn’t sure of.

Looking around I noticed I wasn’t the only one with this idea. The only interactions between anyone so far had been the food line. Since then the fact that some people already lost their items caused everyone to avoid each other. The only exception was some of the boys who tried to approach the scantily clad women, but after a few of them left with smiles only to realize they had been swindled even that stopped.

The only sound was music and everyone avoided each other until a gong sounded. “Time for the first event!” Instructor pulled out a box. Then pulling out a slip of paper from the box. “Everyone partner up this is a dance competition.”

No one moved until the instructor added. “You have two minutes, or you forfeit the event.”

Everyone began to pair off randomly grabbing other people. There wasn’t any time to be paranoid or nervous. Fear was a powerful motivator. It was the first time that many of the people spoke since entering the hall. The number of people dwindled down quickly. I need to grab someone. I spotted someone else alone looking frantically for a partner. Who said it had to be a member of the opposite sex?

I approached the other man in the suit. I didn't feel like speaking so I tapped his shoulder. He jumped but his startled look quickly turned to relief then confusion. “Huh?”

He had a surprisingly high-pitched voice, but that was the only words he spoke. I just held out my hand. After a moment's pause realizing there wasn't much time left he nodded and took my hand.

The two of us actually matched in an odd way. Both of us were in full suits, one patchwork and the other badly tailored, and oversized. We looked like two close friends who had decided to crash and didn’t know the dress code. It was a funny sight but seemed so natural. Everyone turned to the balcony and waited.

At the end of the two minutes Instructor returned. “Okay time to get this in full swing.” two other people came out behind the instructor in tight form-fitting spandex suits. They looked like faceless mannequins. “Now the rules are simple. Follow the Leader.” Gesturing to the two behind him “Just do what they do. The pair who can follow them the closest receives the most points, while the second, and third place will also receive points. Points will also be given based on performance and ability to copy their movements perfectly.”

“How are we supposed to follow their movements when they're all the way up there?” Someone shouted from the crowd.

“Look at the mirrors.” The guild master pointed toward the mirrors then they changed to the two people on each wall. Is this a crazy wizard’s tower in disguise? A timer appeared counting down on the mirror. ‘Begin in 5...4...’

Everyone was scrambling to get into the first position the 2 were in. A few fell over. My partner and I luckily didn’t stumble when getting into position.

‘2…1…’ “Start!”

Music began as everyone started to move. At first, it was simple, after a few poses everyone had recovered and were copying the movements. After a few moves I noticed some people trying to pick their partner's pocket, many were not subtle. A few succeeded but after a few failed attempts to find anything they became frustrated, and stopped paying attention to the dance falling behind. This seemed to happen one by one to each dance pair.

Except me, my partner and two others, of course, we were all trying to steal from each other but we were slyer about it, at least that’s what I like to think. We would only take something from other people. Not sure how we came to that conclusion but it worked for us. We would both alternate casting small bursts of mana out looking for items on the other individuals.

At the end of the dance, we had done well. We knew we had to be in the top three, even though we had yet to speak a word to each other we were smiling. We were smiling not just because we had stolen quite a few items from the others, but it was fun. We had slowly moved around the dance floor coming close to the others. Taking items from the other dancers during passes.

The dance ended. Everyone separated but now a party atmosphere was all around. The general thought around the room was ‘it’s a party and might as well have fun.’ Especially the people who had already lost their pieces having nothing to lose.

The ball went smoothly from there. The rest of the events weren't very interesting, they were basic games you might see at any gathering. Each required a partner and most people stuck with the same people. The events after the dance were a three-legged race, an egg toss where you had to peg your partner in the chest with the egg. Fun but painful. In the end, we were both covered in welts and eggs. The rest of the events were similar, one was a sack race with two people inside. It was around the fourth event I realized that the events were to get everyone talking and having fun.

My partner and I still never said a word but continued to hunt for items during the events. While we didn’t speak we still had fun hunting for the items. Each skillful retrieval, each move tested us and the feeling of exceeding your own abilities was exhilarating.

“Okay, everyone time for the last event.” This time the instructor didn't take out the box. “This time is a little different.” He pulled out a large black trash bag pulling out a bunch of hats. “Everyone gets a hat. You must take the hats. Once a hat is taken you must wear the hat. You must wear all the hats on your head. The game ends in ten minutes the more hats you have the more points.” Throwing the hats down for everyone to wear. “The game begins. Once everyone has a hat. Remember no violence or harm of any kind.” The instructor did something as fog filled the room. “Begin!”

The room became thick with fog. I couldn't see two feet in front of my face, and multiple times almost slammed into someone. I tried increasing the flow to my eyes, this allowed me to see slightly farther but not enough to make a difference. I dialed back the flow to my eyes and instead focused on spreading my energy in a thin layer in front of me. I felt the first person, not four feet away, and started to hunt.

Time was up as the fog began to clear. At some point, I had lost my original hat but acquired a total of three hats. I was smiling thinking I did really well. Then I saw my partner had a total of six. Most of the others still only had one, a couple only had two and the rest had none.

The instructor rang the gong again. “Thus concludes the ball.” The doors opened and a bunch of people who all looked exactly like Jane entered. You know what at this point I’m not surprised. One of the Janes spotted me in the crowd and headed over.

“Follow me.” I left with Jane leading me back to my room.

“What’s going on Jane. Why are there so many others… Janes?”

Jane ignored the question until we reached my room. “Tomorrow you will learn the result of the ball. Now empty your pockets and present your stolen goods.”

I pulled out my items and placed them on the ground. A cat statue, a small ball of yarn, a cat’s eye marble, a small book, and I saw the pin. I was surprised I had grabbed my target.

“Not bad at least you had more than the last guy.” She grabbed the items and put them in a pouch. “Now get some sleep, one more special lesson. Then the hard part begins.” She smiled

They never explain anything, and why is she dodging my questions? “Hard part?”

“Oh, you'll see.” With that Jane left the room.

“So dramatic.”