— Aster —

I think I died.

Here’s the thing about death: it is a lot like falling asleep. First, you feel extremely tired, then your whole body begins to relax. Then the vivid dreams.

Some say their life flashes before their eyes. I think our minds just show us parts of their life right before death. I felt the warmth rush out of me, all my energy gone, and feeling so very tired. It reminded me of my first death. The first time I died was in a room, with a table filled with pastries and sweets.

— Graduation —

Standing in the temple I crossed the threshold of the big ominous door to the room filled with treats and a banner saying “Congratulations.”

I looked at the table filled with food and back to the banner "Well, this is a lot less ominous than I thought it would be." Without any better ideas, I sat down in a chair by the table of sweets. As I did Noame appeared across the table.

"Welcome, Aster! Congratulations on making it through school!" Noame pulled out a yellow file flipping through the contents "I see in your file that you are looking to become a warrior."

"Yes...What is all this?" This was strange. I had not yet seen any of my classmates, despite going in right after them.

"This? This is your graduation and exit interview. Here is where we will help guide you to where you want to be!" Noame said gleefully

"Then where is everyone? I was right behind Bayberry."

"Ah... Well, that’s a little bit trickier to explain. Suffice it to say this is a magic room that changes to a different area every time the door is opened."

“How is this possible?”

Noame was amused at my confusion "Yes you will learn there is a lot that we did not teach you."

"Like what?" then added "Other than this room?"

Noame laughed replying "Well for one. We taught you the basics, math, science, history, reading. Not to mention how to channel energy to heal. In theory anyway, since we just unlocked it for you. How to fight...kind of. We taught you how not to hurt yourself holding a weapon. We taught you what you needed to know for the rest of the world." He then looked at me seriously "It will be up to you to see what you can make possible."

"So what’s this about an exit interview?"

Noame looked a little confused then seeing that moment of recognition in his eyes was priceless as his face turned red "Ah yes the interview....." he looked back at the file "So warrior huh?"

I nodded.

"Why?" Noame asked. I was caught off guard by the question. No one had ever asked me why. They just took it as a given. Only one person recommended anything different and that was Thorn.

"Well, I want to be strong, fast, and challenge myself." Honestly never really thought why these were the first things that popped into my head. I had thought hard on magic but didn’t feel right.

"Well you can do that with magic as well, also you could be a great blacksmith." he said while looking at my file "Looking here it says that you have great skills in crafting, making plenty of workable prototypes, and only three exploding."

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Looking towards my feet "I need to be able to gather materials."

"Ahh... I understand." looking back to the file he asked, "So you want to be strong, a crafter, and be able to gather your own materials, be honorable, hunt down those Shadow Cats."

I looked at him confused "Isn't the rogue’s guild Shadow Cat a myth?" he looked at me like I was dumb “I mean that’s what everyone always told me."

"Well, what have you heard?" Noame looked genuinely curious.

"Well....." I took a moment to collect my thoughts. "I heard that they are not real."

"What do you mean?" He was urging me on.

"Well, I heard that the 'Guild' is not really a guild but thieves who were caught and then branded." I paused for a moment "That’s why they all have a brand. They've already been caught and the brand is a warning to all to be wary."

"Go on." Noame didn’t relent

"Well, once enough people started to receive the brand people started to claim that this was because they were part of a rogue’s guild and that the mark was proof."

"Oh! Why is that?" Noame was smiling as though he was listening to a child’s made-up story

"Simply put it is said that Shadow Cats are just someone who steals from other people then sells it.”

"Soooo....."

"So eventually they will be caught and won’t even be strong enough to protect themselves"

"That’s an oddly skewed view of it but not uncommon." Noame took a moment before "You are slightly correct but mostly wrong."

“?”

"Well, firstly that guild is real."

"..."

"Secondly yes they are branded magically, but that’s more of... protocol."

"Protocol?" Why would someone be branded as protocol?

"Yes, protocol. All guilds including the thieves’ guild exist under the approval of the adventurer’s guild. The brand is kind of part of the reason how they exist."

"They’re approved of?"

"Well yes they bring in a lot of money to the cities, but I digress. They are also messengers of the city, assassins, collectors, spies, trap makers, and detectors, similar to the other rogue guild they are...just trickier. Which are very useful on dungeon hunts and many other things. They are the creatures of darkness, misconception, and misdirection."

"But the brand will mark them out. Also their guild." This still didn’t make any sense.

"That is true but there are ways around it. Besides everyone gets marked"

It occurred to me that shadows probably get the best stuff, I bet they get access to really rare stuff. A new window of opportunity had just opened up to be a rogue one who hides in plain sight.

I don’t know if the teacher saw the desire in me as he immediately added, "They are also hated!"

This brought me out of my little fantasy "Why!?" The question came out a little more indignant than I meant but I think Naome thought it was more out of surprise.

"Simply put they are thieves, and no one likes a thief. Just having the brand is enough to get you thrown in jail for a while."

"Tough life" I bet he is exaggerating this to steer me away.

"Just a little. Now back to your exit interview." He pulled out the file again. Then pulled out a single sheet from it. “You also might not do too bad as a rogue.”

“Why do you think that?” Was he putting me off or recommending becoming a shadow?

Noame held up a single sheet. “This is Thorn’s report. He says you showed remarkable agility and movement. Combine that with your knack for creating things, and silent way of moving, you’d be a natural.”

I stared uncomprehendingly at the paper in Noame’s hand and began to tear up. It wasn’t a dream. It was real. Why would no one believe me about that day? Noame took pity on me and spoke with authority keeping my tears from falling.

"When you leave this room you will be in the middle of the square."

I opened my mouth to ask a question.

"No questions at this point. When you leave this room you will be in the middle of the square in the pond. Your SEED will be fully integrated into you. You will then be able to go off to your new guild." I began to grin wildly "Now since you want to become a warrior I recommend you follow the north road for about a day or two to reach the city. There you will be able to find a warrior guild for you. Just remember once you choose a guild you are stuck with it. I would like to recommend the hawk’s guild; it's a small guild but a good warrior’s guild that encourages side jobs. Also if you decide you want to join another guild it has at least one of each guild in that city, dogs are a reliable rouges guild." He closed the file "Any questions?"

"When can I leave?"

"Very soon." A frown crossed his face "Why don't you have some food while we wait?"

I was hungry as I had skipped breakfast so I grabbed one of the cupcakes with green frosting. It was delicious but tasted slightly sour. I finished the cupcake and grabbed a couple cookies as we waited. After a few minutes, I noticed Noame wasn’t having any. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

Instead of answering the question "Now this part is probably the worst part."

"What part?"

With a sad look "This part."

Confused I began to look around to see if there was anything around me. Then my limbs slowly began to tingle. At first, I didn't think much of it. Then the plate dropped from my hand. My arm I couldn't move it "WHAT'S GOING ON?!?" I wanted to scream but the words came out "ScHWas GlWEing UNN?"

Naome spoke sadly "The reason you will appear in the square is that you need to die first."

I just stared horrified at Naome. I could feel my body dying, my limbs no longer working, my vision began to grow dark.