Beyond enhancing Alaric's spirituality, the Mask Maker potion's core abilities were "Thousand Masks" And "Persona Masks."
Thousand Masks, akin to the Seer pathway's Faceless, allowed complete transformation of the wearer's appearance, though body shape adjustments were limited. Unlike Faceless, these masks could be worn by others, not just the creator, with a current limit of three active Thousand Masks. Creating more would require further potion digestion.
Persona Masks enabled attaching any emotion to a mask... common ones like joy, anger, or sorrow, or abstract ones like despair, hope, or courage. Within a ten-meter range, Alaric could silently apply a Persona Mask to someone, amplifying the chosen emotion. If the emotion intensified enough, he could manipulate the wearer through the mask, though a strong-willed individual might resist. Like Thousand Masks, only three Persona Masks could exist at once.
Additionally, the "Emotion Manipulation" Ability expanded, capable of instantly triggering emotions in up to a hundred people.
As expected, Alaric's speed, strength, and coordination improved, and his mental prowess grew, allowing direct mental attacks akin to a psychic pierce.
"The Chained God Tolzna's blood grants me the [Animal Curse] ability, turning targets into small animals. It's less effective against higher Sequences but gains a boost under moonlight." Alaric mused, rubbing his chin. "Definitely the Mother Tree of Desire's influence, but a positive one. Looks like Outer Deities aren't entirely useless…"
Still, wary of the Mother Tree of Desire and Mother Goddess of Depravity's notorious traits, Alaric decided to avoid their influenced materials in the future. Even if he was immune to corruption, developing something like a gender-swap ability would be a disaster.
"Thousand Masks is like a supercharged Faceless ability. With this, I don't have to worry about blowing my cover. But the name… doesn't it feel backward, a bit chaotic? Maybe that's just the pathway's nature." Alaric quipped, chuckling.
He turned to the other abilities. "Persona Masks are powerful. Boosting allies with positive emotions or breaking enemies with negative ones... driving them to collapse or loss of control... is incredibly useful."
"The real kicker is pairing Persona Masks with Emotion Manipulation. I can turn someone into a puppet instantly, and their consciousness stays intact. If I release control, they recover fully, so it's safe for allies too."
"Wait a second." Alaric paused, realization dawning. "Isn't this basically Faceless plus a quirky Marionettist?"
He shrugged it off. It wasn't surprising for Nyarlathotep's powers to resemble the Seer pathway's.
"All in all, Mask Maker abilities are seriously strong. Even against a Sequence 5, if I get the drop on them, I could probably turn them into a puppet. But if I run into a hotheaded AOE spammer who gets the first move, I'm in trouble... still a glass cannon."
Despite the light complaint, Alaric was clearly pleased with the Mask Maker abilities. His only concern was how to act as a Mask Maker.
"The Mask Maker potion's digestion difficulty is probably equivalent to four or five Sequence 7 potions. No big deal, I'm used to it." Alaric said, sensing the potion's digestion progress. Compared to the Actor potion, the Mask Maker potion had only a slight head start.
This suggested his prior actions counted as partial Mask Maker acting, but not quite on target, resulting in minimal progress.
"Let's see… Mask Maker can be split into two roles: the mask-wearer and the mask-maker. My earlier actions leaned toward wearing masks, but the low progress suggests I didn't fully commit... or the focus is actually on mask-making."
Unlike the straightforward "Joker" or "Actor" potions, Mask Maker was more complex.
"Acting should align with the pathway's nature and the potion's abilities." Alaric mused. "For Mask Maker, it's about…"
He murmured to himself, "Crafting masks for others to wear, turning them into… puppets on a stage?"
"No, that's not quite right. Wearing a mask isn't always negative. It's more about helping the wearer transform, guiding events to the Mask Maker's desired outcome. Unlike the Actor, who performs, the Mask Maker is a behind-the-scenes manipulator."
With this, Alaric had a clearer idea of how to digest the Mask Maker potion.
"The upcoming Tingen incident might be a perfect opportunity…" Alaric thought of an existing plan, a smirk forming. He glanced at the date.
It was September 5. If the timeline held, Ince Zangwill's attack on the Tingen Nighthawks was three days away.
Even if the plot shifted, Alaric wasn't worried. The descent of an evil god's spawn couldn't be delayed much... too early or too late would disrupt Ince's scheme. Unless the old schemer abandoned his plan, he'd act within the next few days.
…
September 9, morning...
Klein woke early, glancing at the sky. It was clear and cloudless, yet an inexplicable sense of impending storm weighed on him.
Three days had passed since the Qilangos incident. In that time, Klein had been drawn into a case involving a Demoness of Pleasure named Madam Sharon. She was formidable, wielding a Demoness statue Alaric had warned about, nearly overwhelming the Nighthawks sent to apprehend her.
Thanks to Alaric's heads-up, Klein had alerted Captain Dunn beforehand. They managed to kill her without casualties, though Klein's teammate, Kenley, was seriously injured and sent home to recover.
***
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