10 The Time After (4) - 9

A/N: So, somehow, I was on a roll today and I wrote 4 chapters in school, the first 3 chapters of MSIS for the mass release on Sunday, and this chapter. Because of this, I'll also be releasing a TVADE chapter in a few hours cause I have a lot of time today and nothing to do. I think that today will actually be a record for me actually, as this is the first time that I've written 5 chapters in a day.

(E/N: I kept this in for the remake cause of nostalgia. Oh how far I've grown.)

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Who knew that I would find a dwarven artifact here?

I mean, the dwarfs had gone extinct 300 years ago, so dwarven artifacts were considered the rarest of rare artifacts.

After all, not only were a lot of them destroyed when the other races hunted them down to extinction, but also, their craftsmanship was second to none.

So, finding a dwarven mask in this shop was seriously something extremely lucky.

The mask looked like it was just a rusted piece of scrap metal that someone had haphazardly forged into a circle, and it honestly looked like it was supposed to be thrown into a landfill

But, if I were to reveal that this mask was a dwarven artifact and put it up for auction, the mask would sell for at the very least, 100,000,000 gold coins, with even the Imperial Family having to bid as there were only 4 known dwarven artifacts in the world right now.

Of course, there were probably more, but none of the wielders were dumb enough to reveal it to the world.

Well, anyways, I was going to buy this mask.

"How much for this one?" I asked the smiling store owner.

Looking at the mask in my hand, he immediately frowned.

"Sir, this mask is just a piece of trash, even worse than a common wooden mask, there are many other, finer options in my store." He said, greed apparent in his eyes as he used his hand to direct my eyes back to the wall of masks.

"How much?" I asked, my tone getting impatient.

"But sir, that trash is not fit to be put on your face!"

"Shling!"

Immediately, a sword was placed at the edge of his neck as he stood there, one of the knights that had accompanied us was now holding his life in my hands.

"You know that you can be executed for yelling at a noble, right? Store owner?"

"I-I'm sorry, Sir…"

Changing my tone back to that of a cute child, I asked, "So, I'll be taking this mask for free, due to your act of aggression. Do you have any qualms?"

"N-no sir."

"Good." I said, before turning around and walking out of the store.

Caroline walked by my side whilst the knight quickly followed behind.

Helping Caroline into the carriage, I then got in myself before closing both the door and the blinds.

"That's a dwarven artifact, right?"

"Yeah, I never expected to actually find one in that shop."

Hearing how nonchalantly I was when talking about finding a dwarven artifact, Caroline could only shake her head.

"What? With our knowledge, we can each grab at least 15 dwarven artifacts per person, so only one artifact becomes something that really isn't rare anymore."

"Your sense of rarity is really messed up, you know that?"

"Nope." I said, shamelessly.

"Well, so have you figured out what the mask does?"

"No, but I might as well bond with it right now."

"Did you bring anything sharp with you?"

"Hmm… Oh yeah! Isn't it about that time where you need a meal again? We'll be killing two birds with one stone by doing this." Immediately after telling her my thoughts, I exposed my shoulder out of my sleeve.

"R-right here, right now?" She asked, her face turning red as she shied away, not looking me in the eyes.

Rolling my eyes, I moved over to her and placed the side of my face next to the side of hers, putting my bare shoulder right under her nose.

"Drink."

"B-but!"

I pressed my soft shoulder against her nose, making her breath in my scent.

Obviously, I smelled really appetizing, and a moment later, she surrendered to her instincts, opened her mouth, revealed her canines, and then sunk her teeth into my trapezius.

Immediately, my knees weakened and my body went limp, causing me to fall on her.

Feeling the entirety of my weight on her body, Caroline didn't do anything and just repositioned her head so that she could suck even more blood leisurely.

Seeing that she was happy, I let my eyes close as I basked in the pleasure.

We stayed like that for a while.

…

By the time that we were about to reach our estate again, Caroline had just about drunk her fill, and so she removed her canines from my shoulder and then pressed the mask against the blood.

As soon as the mask touched the blood, it glowed a mellow orange before the rust started falling off.

And then, as all the rust fell off, it shined, before shooting towards my face and latching itself firmly on my countenance.

With my skin as a medium, it started transferring information to my brain on how to use the artifact.

It was simple really, whenever I thought about the artifact not being on my face, it would retract and surround the upper helix of my ear, coating the area in a silver material, and when I thought about the artifact being on my face, it would immediately move from its position on my ear and cover the entirety of my face, leaving only my eyes exposed.

As for the form, color, or shape it would take, that was up to my subconscious to decide.

And this wasn't all.

You see, there were also two buffs associated with the mask.

The first was activated when the mask was on my ears, and the buff allowed me to have a 500% better hearing than the normal human, which could adjust unconsciously for whatever reason that I needed, and could be adjusted consciously for when I really needed to hear something.

The second was a lot like the first and it was activated when the mask was on my face. The buff allowed me to have a 500% better vision than the normal human, and, like the buff when the mask was on my ears, the vision enhancement could be adjusted accordingly to the unconsciousness of the user with the consciousness fine tuning the vision.

These two buffs combined made the mask an absolute powerhouse even when compared to many of the other dwarven artifacts, and judging by the quality of the mask, it was definitely made by a master dwarven blacksmith, greatly eclipsing many of the other dwarven artifacts that had been found, as they were almost all made by apprentice dwarven blacksmiths.

Happy with my find, I finished sorting through all the information that the mask gave me, making sure to fully parse through the information about the certain blacksmith that had made the mask, before I opened my eyes and found myself back in the carriage, my sister shaking me like crazy, trying to wake me up.

"I'm awake!"

Hearing my voice, my sister stopped shaking me.

"How long was I out?"

"Just 5 minutes, but still, before you continue, tell me!" She yelled, a few tears that she had been holding back falling out of her eyes.

"What do you mean? You know I couldn't control that, and you were the one that pressed the mask to my blood."

"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue, knowing she had lost the argument almost immediately, before turning around and pouting.

Hugging her from behind, she tried to keep her pouting posture, but eventually, she fell to my charms and relaxed her body, melding it to my arms and chest.

"I'm still mad." She said, her voice and body unconvincing me of what she said.

"Sure you are." I replied, before burying my face into her hair, taking in a deep breath, relaxing myself as I breathed in her familiar scent.

We stayed like that for the remainder of our trip, basking in each other's warmth and comfort.