Plus, if I ever was forced to use magic, no one would know who I was. Sure, my black hair might clue others in to my identity if I were caught in a bad spot, but I could always shave it, wear a wig, or dye my hair. It was much less obvious than having my face revealed.
Thirdly, masks were cool.
That was it. I just thought they looked cool.
I could just picture it: Jumping down at a gang, my mask covering my face and my cape billowing in the wind, saying ‘I’m Batman!’.
That would be so cool! I would be so cool.
And a bit embarrassed too. But hey, I was pretty much cosplaying as a Witch right now, wasn’t I? Nothing was wrong with taking it one step further and becoming a superhero— even though I had no plans to be one.
Maybe someone like Felix— the Plague Doctor— could have been considered this world’s version of a superhero; he had a secret identity, a secret power, and went around altruistically saving people. On the other hand, I was trying to survive, and maybe help people along the way if I could. I was not going to find trouble, but if I stumbled upon it, maybe I would help. Maybe.
But for now, I was going to focus on getting the funds required to bring me to the Taw Kingdom without any issue, to maybe see if I could find some sort of sanctuary in that Dwarven country. And the current best option to do that was to become a Hunter, which required me to get a mask.
It was not a surefire method to achieve my goal; I would adjust my plans according to how things played out. But right now, I felt like I had to at least try to become a Hunter proper, before giving up on this possible avenue towards relieving my financial worries. Which was why I was asking the wagon driver so many questions even though he was visibly annoyed by it.
"I told you, I don’t know. Why would I know where to get a mask in this city? I just come here to sell my wares, that’s all," he snapped back at me.
"Sorry, I was just curious. But do you know if blacksmiths make masks? Or potters?" I inquired with a neutral voice, trying not to further irritate the man.
"I. Don’t. Know." I smiled politely as he shot me a glare. "There’s probably shops for that in the market. Go ask your questions there. Now stop talking to me or I’ll kick you out."
"I see, thank you."
I laid back down on the back of the man’s cart. The wagon driver folded his arms in clear displeasure, as he muttered under his breath.
"Sacred piss, if I wasn’t so damned nice, I wouldn’t have to deal with this shit. I just wanted to enjoy my day, but no— because of all those Monsters attacks recently, I just had to give her a ride…"
Mhm, I’m not giving this guy ten bronze for this, I resolved myself. I was still going to pay him, but his overall attitude made me decide against generously spending my limited funds— even if it was recently replenished somewhat— for him.
And speaking of what the wagon driver said, that was supposedly a thing going on right now: Monsters were coming down the Incen Mountain Range in large swathes and attacking travelers more recently as of late. It was the talk of anyone who had any business going anywhere beyond their city’s perimeters, since this was directly related to them and their safety.
Personally, I had not run into many Monsters while on the road; a group of Horned Rabbits was the only thing that has attacked me. And although they were quite fast, I took care of them without the need to use magic. I also ran into the occasional Giant Wasps (not to be confused with the Japanese giant hornet since these were literally the size of my head), which thankfully, were not aggressive without due cause.
However, all these Monsters were native to the area. Even the Kobolds— which were these large dog-like creatures that I encountered once— had a home in most climates, so that was not an unusual meeting for me to have had. So while I did believe that there was an increased threat from these migrating Monsters, it was not something that I was worried about at all.
Rather, I was more concerned about the thing that was forcing these Monsters out of their homes. People I have spoken to seem to think that there was an Abomination infestation up in the part of the Incen Mountain Range that was in Laxis, which spurred these deadly creatures to come down. And if I had to garner a guess, I would agree with them.
I remembered clearly the time I was attacked by a Chimera back in Villamcreek. Adrian and I were walking to the village, and that massive Monster suddenly leapt at us; I had attributed that event to the increased Monster activity in our area at the time, but never once stopped to consider what could have caused the cause to the event that caused me and my mom’s plan to escape to fail.
There were a lot of causes, but it all led back to one thing— that stupid jerk god!
I felt annoyed whenever I heard about the Abominations, specifically because it made me remember him. It was because of him, my mom was dead. And because of him, hundreds and thousands of people lay dead— even if a
