Mask of the Forgotten Faces

It was a relic from the Empire of Salines on the Sunholm Continent. His older brother had once written about it in a letter while stationed there.

The letter told a tale about how the Salines Emperor had tried on the mask. It was apparently possessing the power to mimic the identity of anyone who had their identities "stolen" by it. Whoever put it on would take on their appearances and personas along with their memories. But there was a catch—well, of course, there was—those stolen identities would "fight back," attempting to steal the wearer's identity in return. Worse, while the mask was worn, the user's own identity would vanish completely, as if erased from existence.

The mask seemed to have its own consciousness as it would feed the wearer false information, manipulating them while seeking to consume their identity.

The safest way to wear it was nothing but to use it with extreme caution. Never let the mask establish a complete connection with the wearer's mind. 

The wearer had to consciously maintain their self-awareness, resisting the pull of the stolen identities, or risk losing themselves entirely to the mask's will. The wearer could tell the limit of time they should wear it instinctively, but even then, if the wearer wasn't cautious enough, he or she could be trapped forever in the mask.

Alex, of course, knew he could do something about that particular weakness.

Repeatedly tapping the desk with his fingers, Alex had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. 'I can use the help of "Recall" and "Recreate" of my own emotions relating to heightened cautions to "maintain" my self-awareness, though the mask consumed too much SV and ST to be used effectively without some external support.'

His SV sitting at 83%. He figured it would take about an hour to recover fully. Recreating the Mask of the Forgotten Faces would drain nearly half of that, leaving him with just 44%. Worse, his ST would be drained too.

He scoffed. 'Recall might allow me to probe deeper into the mask's history, uncovering ways to use it more safely. But it seemed that my 'instincts'—sharpened by the Epoch's Dreamer Virtues—warned against it. There were things about this artifact better left unknown. And I trusted my instincts more than any external logic!'

He still couldn't help but curled his lips downward in disappointment. 'If there was something like a Virtue Respawn, I could just die after every failed Recall attempt. Or at the very least, a way to make someone else take the risks instead.'

With a click of his tongue, Alex's eyes landed on his drawer. He opened it in one swift motion.

Inside lay a small collection of potions. Deep crimson and pale blue swirled within the glass vials—they're Recovery Soul Vitality and Sanity Threshold potions.

Even regular people used them. After all, everyone had SV and ST, even if theirs weren't linked to the Ascension Cycle. Overdose would bring its own problems, of course.

Keeping that thought in mind, he muttered under his breath while facing his outsretched palm upward, "Recreate: Mask of the Forgotten Faces."

"Ugh," he groaned, frowning.

A sharp pang pierced his mind as the words left his lips. His Sanity Threshold was reacting strongly to the sheer amount of Soul Vitality he consumed in one go. Suppressing the discomfort, he fixed his gaze on the object forming in his hands. 

It was dark and worn, with faint lines resembling claw marks etched across its surface. Shadows seemed to flicker along the edges as it refused to remain still.

Alex's brow twitched. The Mask quickly trembled unnaturally in his grip. He didn't expect to "feel" anything from the Mask, let alone detect… fear?

He immediately grew cautious. 'Is this one of its scheme to deceive me? But how? There's no way it was actually scared, right? Unlike Keldsadrine, it didn't really have any connection with my Dominion!'

He couldn't find the answer, so set the Mask down on the desk and reached for one of the potions instead. They came in three categories—Small, Medium, and Large. He chose Medium.

He twisted the cap off and downed it in one gulp. A soothing sensation rushed through his chest, spreading warmth through his veins. It felt oddly comforting yet left behind a faint hunger for more. The sweetness lingered on his tongue, accompanied by a slight bitterness that tingled as it reached his stomach.

He glanced at the Interface. His SV bar had jumped sharply, rising from 44.21% to 63.43%. A solid increase, but of course there were limits. He could only take three more of these potions before his ST started deteriorating. Overusing ST potions wasn't an option either—nausea, hallucinations, and, in extreme cases, irreversible cognitive damage could happen due to overusing it. Those who had crossed the line found themselves reduced to mindless husks.

"As for 'Recreate' emotion…" Alex murmured, placing a hand over his chest. He focused. "Recreate: Heightened sense of caution."

Heat radiated from his palm, spreading through his chest. His thoughts sharpened as if a lens had been refocused. Each sound, movement, and sensation felt magnified as his nerves tingling with an almost electric energy.

It took 2.34% of his SV for a 10 minutes effect.

'That… works perfectly,' Alex thought, momentarily surprised at the effectiveness.

He quickly focused on his objectives. One objective was cleared already, which is completing the Quest.

To his disappointment, no follow-up Quest appeared. 'But, well, it'll show up eventually. Besides, these Quests only help smooth things out and not necessary blocking my progress...!'

His other goal was still uncleared, which is warning his family about the looming Demonic Forces—without looking like a lunatic.

Alex glanced at the Mask. Directly telling them about the Demonic Forces' attack might be surprisingly enough.

He recalled that the attack would originate from the Dunbrooke's Dungeon—the village's main attraction. If he used the Mask of the Forgotten Faces to deliver the warning, his parents would probably send people to investigate to confirm it.

He even considered investigating the Dungeon himself. It was risky, yes—highly dangerous, even—given the sheer number of Demonic Forces described in the novels, but he couldn't just leave the problem alone. Running away felt wrong. Even if his personality had so much wrongness about it, he still has conscience.

'I can use it as an opportunity to push Recreate further and test my limits as well,' he thought, a faint smirk crossing his lips.

He thought about the small Demonic Forces near Dunbrooke. Challenging himself there seemed safer, but because he seek death, the dungeon ultimately became his target. He just needed to be careful and retreat if the situation grew incredibly dangerous.

'I could recruit people once I build a nice reputation.'

His plan involved joining the Crimson Vanguard, the local guild of Raiders in Dunbrooke. Working with a group offered clear advantages, but he would need to ensure he was the one exploiting them, not the other way around, though an equal relationship wasn't entirely off the table if it proved viable.

Instead of joining the assault against the Cosmic Entities, the dungeon was a better fit. He had more experience there. He'd delved into dungeons both before and after entering White Mountain and had grown familiar with the strategies needed to navigate them.

With many already heading for the Rift in the sky, he suspected his role in such a large-scale operation would be minimal, little more than an observer. The restrictions of those battles were suffocating. A dungeon, particularly known to even be able tackled alone, offered more freedom he couldn't just ignore.

Lucien had moderate training with various weapons as well. In his room, blades, staves, and other tools lay neatly arranged, ready for use.

He had also thought of a few specific Recreate Items to use in different scenarios. The Chalice of Oblivion for healing. The Shifting Dagger for flexible assaults. The Lunar Stride Greaves for enhanced mobility. And in desperate situations, even the Phoenix Sigil Amulet—though that would require substantial SV and ST, reserved for when he was close to death.

Recreate Emotions, however, never exceeded 10% of his SV—most wouldn't pass around 5%. He could use this to his advantage, spiking his adrenaline to indirectly boost his physical performance or amplify his Virtues.

On the other hand, creating the known extinct living beings required a minimum of around 80% SV and quite a lot of ST as well. This made it impractical unless absolutely necessary.

As for armor, the only thing he had was leather. It wasn't ideal, but it was better than going unprotected.

After sorting through his plans, Alex felt confident in his preparations. Rising from his chair, he glanced out the window with a sharp grin.

"Time for a raid...!"

***

A/N: I apologize if there's too much yapping.

Rate it from 1 to 10 with the reasoning as well, if possible. That'll help me covering what's lacking from the story.

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