The Town hall had been prepared for a lavish occassion. Silver fabric stream from the roof to the ground. Colorful glass orbs with fires lit within them decorated the balconies and many windows.

The Stewards led Faust and the others through the main doors. Large oaks gates that swung open with a yawning creak. Behind it a grand recwption spread. Red carpet was the first thing Faust saw. The simple elegeance of the wood crafted hall was enhanced by the beauty of the silks decorated the stairs and walkways above.

Every steward they passed was rushing to get something done. Everyone offered them a tacit nod as they passed. Someone handed Faust a glass of sparkling cidar. Special treatment was nice. He could get used to this.

The others marvelled at the hall. Even the Jason’s brutish cohort couldn’t help but be enamored. Juliette moved like something born to all this beauty. Her pale skin glowed in the orange lights of torches hanging above them.

Zen moved like an idiot. He first tripped and almost tackled a server carrying a tray of champagne. Then he started flirting with one of the stewards loudly. Before Spider starting hitting him. Their snarling arguments made everyone turn.

Meanwhile, Thalia and Greg were downing drinks at an alarming rate and sung a funny song. Faust was surprised Thalia could be so carefree. He expected the analytical girl to stay cold and calculating.

Rather it was Greg that stayed alert, making sure she didn’t fall over and stopping her from drinking too much. He was also guzzling down drinks, but he had a good understanding of both their tolerances.

Nirvana on the other hand shrank behind Faust and muttered something about them being embarrassing. But Faust caught the small smiles she gave Thalia as she sang. And he heard the small jabs she sent at Zen as Spider berated him.

Who does she think she’s pretending to be?

It was actually a bit saddening to see.

The Stewards led them to an open hall. The roof above them was decorated with beautiful arches and chandeliers.

How did they get up to light those?

He remembered there was a girl that could fly. She had been carrying Diego. Now that he was outside battle, Faust chuckled at how Diego had looked carried by the arms. Nirvana asked why he laughed and then joined him in laughing when he told her.

The theme for this party was red and brown. A quiet kind of luxury. At the other end of the Party hall, a massive fireplace loomed, crackling with orange flames. It was the only ligt in the room as all the windows were covered with thick velvet curtains.

Faust tried to take a seat in one of the many huge, round tables covered with crimson cloth, but the Stewards directed him towards a special table.

"Are we like the main attraction?" Jason said derisively.

Their table was at the middle of the hall. Four tables joined in a rectangule meant to sit around fifty people. A bronze tablecloth was used there instead of crimson. Something close to gold in Faust’s eyes.

The winners table.

Tiffany, the Aide in charge of this event, frowned. She looked like she was trying to keep the annoyance off her pretty, round face. "These arrangement were pre-designed. I made them during the second wave."

"Ah, so it was meant to be Diego’s most loyal hounds at the table," Jason snapped back. "I don’t think I’ll settle for being his showpiece."

Jason place a hand on a table and marked it with his Schema’s sigil—A hundred swords driven in the ground. With a wave of his hand, one of the four tables rose and was moved closer to the left of the hall.

"Hey! Hey!" Tiffany said fruitlessly. "You’re blocking the thoroughfare. People are meant to dance and walk through there. Take it back."

"No," Jason said simply. He plopped into one of the chair and put his leg on the table. His goons chuckled and walked past Tiffany to join him.

Tiffany stared at them, brooding for a moment, but Jason turned to her with a raised eyebrow. He was challenging her to do something. Tiffany bit her lip and turned away, muttering curses under her breath.

"You should stop them," Juliette said casually. She sat at the main table without much fuss. "Their position in the hall is an open challenge to Diego. They are separating themselves, showing that we are not united."

Tiffany clicked her tongue. "It’s a free world. We don’t have to trust each other. They just have to keep doing what’s right and we can live with two tables."

"Humans are tribal. And tribes have different definitions of right and wrong. United we are strong. But divided, we will tear ourselves apart sooner or later."

Juliette let her ominous words hang in the air. A wave of magic flowed from her words as her Schema persuaded Tiffany towards her words. Faust grimaced. It wasn’t like she was wrong, he just didn’t like Juliette’s power at all.

"She’s using her Schema on you," Faust informed Tiffany casually. He added nothing else, and ignored Juliette’s annoyed gaze, taking his seat.

This was a point of hypocrisy for him. Bending others to your power with just words was a great challenge to overcome. But twisting their minds with magic.... Maybe he just wasn’t ready to accept that this was Juliette’s power.

I need to just put it out of mind. Juliette is expressing her strength to mold things to her favor.

Tiffany glared at Juliette for a bit. "The event is starting in maybe three minutes. We’ve been ready, just waiting for you guys."

Servers passed by delivering drinks to their tables and sliders. He shared a toast with Nirvana before reclining into his chair. It had been a long day. Outside night was falling over this artificial world.

With how high his Constitution was getting, even fighting the third wave for an hour wasn’t too bad. Even sitting down like this was enough of a rest. He hadn’t noticed it before, but he only needed to sleep for around three hours to feel fully rested. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

Praise the system. He certainly enjoyed the power. He could see that the others did too. Juliette spent her time twisting people around her finger, using logic and her Schema to gain lackeys.

But logic doesn’t always mean you are right. Any argument is a good argument until it meets an outlier. Maybe that was how her power could be broken.

Faust noted that while pretending not to watch Juliette. Like she was doing to him.

People flocked in as the celebration began. They all looked haggard and unfit for this luxurious place. But happy smiles lined their faces. Faust had a premonition that this night would be fun.

Nirvana leaned against his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Do I seem unwell?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No you look good. It just seemed like there was some tension between you and that Juliette girl earlier."

There was a darkness to her eyes that she hid well. She was getting better at pretending, and she had a growing understanding of his moods. Yeah. He was a bit annoyed at Juliette and himself for the hypocrisy. But he thought he hid all that well.

"I’m fine. But what about you?" Faust said calmly. It was time to start his game.