Trying to Team Up

"What's wrong?" Alex asked, half-curious, half-annoyed, because honestly, did people just stand around staring these days?

(Such a beauty—)

Alex tuned out the voice.

"Huh?"

Nearl jumped slightly, her face flushed red. 'R-Right, I called out to him. Urgh, I shouldn't do that!'

She was curious about his dress. Just that. She recognized the design. It wasn't common at all. 

Instead of answering like a normal person, though, Nearl simply used her sweet time to inspect his clothes curiously. 

"Um… that's the House of Nevil's attire… right?"

"Yes," Alex didn't deny that.

Nearl's brow furrowed, confusion clouding her features. 'Weren't they supposed to be extinct?'

In Nearl's memory, the House of Nevil had been one of the Fourteen Great Houses of the Valdaris Kingdom during the Maelstrom Genesis Era, so around 512 to 771 Helian. 

The concept of "Houses" wasn't new. They could be traced back to the Desolace Horizon Era—roughly 100 to 315 Helian. 

Back then, cosmic horrors had a real "peek-a-boo" attitude, except instead of playful scares, they delivered existential nightmares wrapped in incomprehensible geometry. Before that was the Epoch of Tenebral Memory, which was best remembered as an age collectively labeled "We Don't Talk About That."

By the Age of Unification—starting from 315 - 512 Helian—the Houses became a formal thing. Basically, some bloodlines got together and said, "We'll be the ones to yeet abyssal horrors back into the void." 

Each House aligned itself with a force or Dominion, symbolizing certain magical powers, unspeakable trauma, and a tendency to have very complicated family trees.

The Maelstrom Genesis Era followed, lasting about two and a half centuries, featuring the emergence of the Realms from the Underworld, rampant demonic invasions, persistent cosmic nightmares, and humanity itself, squabbling like cats in a barrel. Somewhere amidst all that disorder, the first signs of the Ascension Cycle had begun to emerge, helping humanity to hold their grounds.

Now, the current Fiendwrought Subjugation Era has persisted since 862 Helian, spanning two centuries to the present day of 1061 Helian. In true form, chaos had never gone out of style. Demonic forces in particular were growing faster after the Cataclysm of Aether's Era, which happened from 771 to 862 Helian.

Her gaze flicked to the black cloak Alex wore. It bore a resemblance to the House's heraldry. At first glance, the design seemed understated, with jet-black threads faintly tinged with dark purple and crimson. Yet up close, faint patterns emerged along the seams—symbols of decay, ruin, and divine calamities; an ouroboros fracturing mid-cycle, a star collapsing inward, an hourglass spilling shadow instead of sand, and roots spiraling into emptiness. 

'It was unmistakable. These markings represented the emblem of the House of Nevil and their Dominion of Withered Heart!'

The Dominion of Withered Heart revolves around decay, corruption, and the manipulation of transformation. It grants its wielder the power to weaken, rot, and eventually destroy all things—living or inanimate. By harnessing the forces of entropy, its practitioners twist life and soul, reshaping existence to reflect the inevitable decay that claims all things in time. 

The powers of the Dominion can accelerate aging, inflict suffering through transformation, and turn the essence of life into something distorted and twisted. 

Withered Heart embodies the inescapable truth that all things wither and perish. Those who wield it create cataclysmic works and magics that, in the end, destroy them from within. Their eventual end was tied to one key lesson—That which is overly consumed ultimately consumes itself.

"—is that all you wanted to talk about?"

Nearl blinked, brought back to reality by the particularly sharp tone. Reed's expression showed only mild impatience, but it was enough for her to tell that he was pissed.

"I don't have much time," he continued flatly. "So, if there's something worth discussing, keep it brief, please."

(That's not very gentleman-like. You should—)

Alex ignored the voice.

As with virtually all of his Recreate Items, Alex had an innate sense of how much time was left before the mask would disappear. It had only been two or three minutes out of the thirty-minute mark since he summoned it. 

The journey to the guild, handling matters there, and heading to the dungeon would roughly take five minutes. That left him with about twenty minutes to spend in the dungeon—barely enough, in his estimation, to clear the first trial and barely the second in Dunbrooke Dungeon.

'I don't have time for this!'

Nearl went into panic mode, "Ah, sorry! I mean… are you new here? Are you a raider? Alone? I-I was wondering if you'd—maybe—like to work together with me?"

"...Huh?"

Alex was taken aback—pleasantly, that is. 'Of course I'll accept that! But—'

"Why?" he asked in confusion. 'She can't possibly just ask me to join her based on some fleeting curiosity, right?'

"That's—"

Nearl wasn't blundering this time. She didn't ask him without thinking it through!

When she had followed the others to handle the Rift from the Sky earlier, she had crossed paths with two familiar faces. They were her childhood friends who had attended a different academy. After dealing with the Rift, she'd promised them she would work together with them as part of a party in the future. She was coming here with the intention of working as a Raider, after all.

Alex seemed to have ties to the past, which piqued Nearl's personal interest.

"You are from the House of Nevil, right? If so, you must possess the power of the Withered Heart—ah, I'm Nearl Karschten. You?"

"...Reed Nevil."

'I never heard of it…' she thought silently before smiling. "Before I state my reason, don't you know that your dress could potentially attract unwanted attention?"

Not only because his Family was supposed to be gone from this world, but also due to the fact that the House of Nevil are considered harmful and would likely be banished should the government know about it.

(Huh, why?)

The voice sounded lost. But Alex didn't respond.

"I do," Alex nodded slightly, chuckling internally. 

'With the Virtue of Recreation, I can even try to Recreate the primary condition to use each of the Identities' Dominions to my advantage! —well, the downside is I am more likely to lose my identity, that is.'

For example, directly "Recreating" Reed Nevil's identity to the present would essentially "erase" Lucien Harberdt's. Alex might still come back as long as he set a time limit, but if Reed Nevil harmed his own body—which is naturally Lucien's as well—it could all go badly.

Furthermore, Reed Nevil was already at the third rank— Apostle of Reformation— as a Profane Shaper or Reformer of Souls and Flesh. The previous stages had been as a Caster of Fallen Origins and a First Mournful Sprout. Recreating him at his peak was akin to inviting his own death!

Well, Alex could Recreate Reed Lucien's conditions when he was a First Mournful Sprout or even a Caster of Fallen Origins. At the very least, his Virtues didn't reject the idea.

Nearl hesitantly continued. "...Um, right now, I have two teammates. One's a frontline attacker, another's a ranged striker, and I serve as the healer. I heard the House of Nevil is known for having strong support powers..."

Alex glanced at Nearl. "I'm more of a sneaky fighter," he said, lifting his cloak slightly to reveal the Dagger of Distortion, a short sword, a longsword, throwing knives, etc. "...I do have the Dominion of Withered Heart, but it's very limited because of my unique circumstances, which I can't share with you—I'm just a Seedbearer. I'll also have to remove this mask in less than half an hour, and I don't want my full face revealed, so that's another thing to consider. These are few but major restrictions when working with me, and they're not all that favorable when you weigh them against the limitations. Do you still want to team up with me despite all that?"

He had to explain all this to set clear expectations.

(...I see.)

It seemed like "Reed Nevil" understood something. Alex didn't care much. It would be known sooner or later.

Nearl froze, unsure of what to say. 'That's… really a lot of limitations.'

She hesitated. Like Alex said, it could cause more trouble than it was worth.

"I'm in a hurry, so it would help if you answered quickly," Alex said.

"A-Ah," Nearl smiled awkwardly. "I was thinking you can still work as a backline fighter for us but... I'm not sure if my two teammates would agree, so... um..."

Alex chuckled lightly. "That would take time to think over. I don't mind waiting until tomorrow or this afternoon."

'Right now, I'll head to the Dungeon alone!'

"I will talk about it with my teammates," she bowed slightly. "Sorry for wasting your time."

"Don't worry about it."

Alex wasn't concerned about the fact that Nearl might connect the current identity to Lucien Harberdt—not right now. 

The Mask of the Forgotten Faces had a peculiar method of erasing Lucien's identity from the world—it simply "blocked" any connection to the separate identities whenever he returned to being Lucien. But this only happened as long as the mask was actively manifesting and not worn.

If Alex were to ask Nearl right now, "Do you know Lucien?" there would be a fog of uncertainty, a block on any memories related to him. She wouldn't be able to recall him at all. That was what the Emperor of Salines had described in his notebook from his own experiences.

Still, even if he reverted to being "Lucien," Reed Nevil wouldn't vanish. His name would still exist, alongside his current records. This effect remained even when the mask wasn't manifested.

So long as the relic still exists and is unused, no one could relate Lucien Harberdt with Reed Nevil. Anyone hearing the name would respond just as Nearl had. Some Memory-based Dominions could possibly bypass that block, but for now, Alex was safe.

'It seems that forcing "logic" onto anyone, trying to tell them I'm Reed Nevil, won't work. From what the Emperor said, the result was always the same: they couldn't remember. He assumed the only way for them to know was to destroy the artifact—something he did, and it seemed to work.'

That meant Alex could be exposed if he wasn't cautious.

But as long as he avoided anything that tied too closely to anyone's memories of Lucien Harberdt, he would remain undetected!

***

AN: 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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