The Grand Weave

As I searched for Arturous, I had to navigate through a crowded area filled with tents and tables. Since the festival was about to begin in less than an hour, and all the attendees had arrived on the island, the city's inns were already fully occupied. Alish'trala's prediction came true - by the time the remaining rooms were filling up, she was earning a good profit by charging extra, as people were willing to pay any amount to secure a room.

Now that the festival was a couple of hours away, the peaceful yet lively village was filled with an excited energy that blanketed the island. And the one thing I've learned firsthand these past few days was that people loved to party. Stomping, kicking, yelling, arguing, fighting, good food and drinks, and more were the constant drums of sound that rolled through the land.

And now that I had to shoulder my way past groups of boisterous people, mostly adventurers, I was starting to miss the calm of the empty beach.

Eventually, I found Arturous lying in his own section on the beach. While the beach was crowded, his area was given a wide berth. Though, as I walked around him to where his head lay, I found the remains of fish bones and other food scraps. Raising an eyebrow, I tapped the bear's snoot.

"Enjoying your sacrificial offerings there, big guy?" I received a short growl in reply, which I knew meant yes in bear speak. Chuckling, I scratched behind his ears. "Good for you. Now come on, the festival is starting soon, and Teddy sent me to retrieve you. Apparently, your giant frame is perfect for pushing past crowds."

Another growl rumbled the sand, and Arturous slowly stood up. The crowd of people who had been looking over with curiosity was now silent as the massive bear stood up and towered over most of them. Seeing the car-sized grizzly had always filled me with awe, even when he was covering my rear inside the dungeon delves.

I felt a weird sensation of being watched, followed by a trace of mana blipping my senses. I looked around but found nothing out of the ordinary other than the groups of people staring.

Frowning, I summoned the Ink Lord's Mask and slid it on, letting the comfort of having my entire face covered settle over me. I felt even more weird looks thrown my way, but having one's face covered wasn't too unusual amongst adventurers. As far as I could tell, plenty of people, primarily rogues, liked to keep facemasks and hoods on.

I was ready to start pushing my way through the crowd when I felt Arturous' wet snout push into my back. I turned around and saw him motion his head backwards.

"What? What do you want?"

He responded by standing up and grabbing me with his paws. I nearly screamed as I was suddenly lifted into the air by the mountain of a bear. If he was considered massive while on four legs, he was like a looming giant when he stood on two.

Luckily, the excitement ended when he placed me on his shoulders and plopped back to the ground. I had to grab onto his fur quickly to prevent myself from falling off, but I stabilized myself and held on. It wasn't my first time riding the bear, so I didn't look like an idiot when he started ambling his way through the throngs of people.

Those who weren't looking were forced to do so as people started scrambling out of the way. One person even screamed; the high-pitched shriek was at odds with the muscular form of the burly human. I couldn't keep my laughter contained and croaked an apology as Arturous kept moving by. For a second, the man looked like he was ready to start a fight, but one of his teammates came over and placed a hand on his shoulder while sporting a shit-eating grin. His face scrunched further, and his fists clenched, but then another teammate shoved a mug into his hands, and all the anger disappeared.

Apparently, alcohol can fix all wounds.

It took Arturous no time to make his way out of the beach and to the inn, where the others were already waiting. Teddy hugged his soulbond when neared while Celanae looked up at me inquisitively.

"Haven't seen you wear that in a long while. Did something happen?"

"Hmm?" Then I realized what she was talking about, and I willed a question mark to appear on the mask. "Nothing happened, but there was a lot of weird staring. After I felt some mana being used I decided to plop it on and enjoy the anonymity. What do you think?"

I made the mask create a series of emojis. When she started to look confused, I decided to go for broke and have the mask recreate complex emoji chains before finally settling on three dots for eyes and a jagged smile.

The others had come closer as I was messing with the mask, and Eodyne joined Celanae in her staring. "Impressive enchantments. Usually, similar items are much slower when you try to change their appearance. Where did you get this?"

"Originally, it was from the raffle the trade caravan was running when you guys arrived. I won this, and Sam won a bag of returning marbles. For some reason, after the rift, one of my rewards was an item upgrade, and this went from Ink Master's Mask of Expression to Ink Lord's Mask of Expression. Gained a couple of upgrades like selective permeability and the night-vision enhancer and air filtration."

I demonstrated the permeability function by summoning a fried pastry. I took a moment to enjoy the delicious steam wafting off the food before eating it through the mask. The others gave a polite ooh and aaah.

Isaac was glaring at the pastry in my hand, and I let out a sigh. Summoning six more from my inventory, I tossed them one each. In Isaac's case, I tried to pelt him, but a shadowy tentacle snatched it mid-flight. I made my mask mime, sticking out my tongue, but otherwise, I chuckled inwardly as I fed Arturous his pastry.

"So we heading out? I'm not sure what kind of festival it is outside of the main event. Are there games and stalls filled with food?"

Teddy nodded as he summoned a wrapped parcel into his hand and tossed it to me. I caught it, and he pointed to the inn. "We are, and yes, there is. Go inside and change?"

I raised an eyebrow but silently unwrapped the parcel. It felt soft in my hands, and I found two pieces of clothing when unveiled its contents. When I held up the blue and orange robe, I finally noticed they were all wearing matching clothing.

I had to do a double take, but I was right the first time. They each sported a long-sleeved robe that was a mixture of blue and orange. Eodyne and Celanae had orange as the base with blue accents, while the boys had blue robes with orange accents. The next piece of clothing was a pair of white shorts that reached their knees.

For a moment, with all the others, even Isaac, smiling at me, I almost shed a tear. It was a simple thing, to get me a matching set of clothes, but it felt really good to be included in the group.

Thankfully, my mask covered my face so they didn't see my eyes waver as I hopped off Arturous' back and went inside the inn. With a wave to Alish'trala, who was dealing with an angry elven couple, I entered the bathroom and changed into the new outfit.

It fit me perfectly, the clothes loose but not too loose. I summoned a hand mirror and admired how the bright orange popped with the paler blue. Before leaving the bathroom, I used the mirror to quickly change the mask's shark-toothed smile into a toothless line curved upwards.

Fuck it. I'm happy, so I'll show happy.

The others cheered when I exited the inn, and we all hopped on Arturous' back. There was some complaining about the fit, but Arturous easily carried us all and began padding his way down the street. My only complaint was that I was placed behind second in the seating order. With Celanae being the only person shorter than me by two inches, I was reminded, yet again, that I hung around weirdos who liked to tower over everyone with their superior height. I may have been a little salty, even if I kept my grumblings internally.

The sight of us on top of Arturous drew stares everywhere we went. Lots of small children would tug at their parents' hands and point our way while their parents would look on in shock or worry. I didn't blame the poor adults; more than a few kids would bolt as if they had a movement skill and come crashing into Arturous bulky form.

Luckily, the others were pretty good at preventing injuries when that happened. It was subtle. None of them moved in obvious, showy ways but with a quick flex of mana and a well-aimed application of their skills.

Igas would brace a falling child with a quick pillar of ice, much to the kids' surprise. Eodyne would send a gust of wind that would cushion any fall, and Calanae would create barriers under their feet to quickly spin them around. Isaac was doing something. I couldn't see what he did, but I could feel the subtle ping of his mana from time to time.

Teddy was the only one who didn't have anything to directly stop people from bumping into the bear, but whenever an accident was prevented, a shimmer of lights would glimmer in the air. I vaguely recalled Teddy being able to make illusions. However, when I thought about it further, I couldn't recall seeing any illusion-based skill on his status page. It was something I would have to ask him about later.

Between the bouts of random almost-accidents and the general excitement and scares that six people riding on a car-sized bear can make, the slow ride through the village streets was fun, if not funny. Eventually, we found the main street hosting the games section of the festival, and we all hopped off to take part in the challenges.

In particular, I found a stall that was decorated with colourful masks. The game was run by a man wearing what looked like a snake mask. As I stepped up, he approached and waved a hand towards the stacks of cups behind him.

"Welcome! That is a fine mask, traveler. Perhaps you would like the chance to acquire another? It's a simple game, I promise. What do you say?" the gamemaster asked.

I looked at the sign that explained the pricing. It was alright; a silver for three tries was on the more expensive side of things, but the masks looked like they were of decent quality. Plus, these games run at these events were always a money sink.

I pulled a silver out of my robe pocket and tossed it to him. He caught it with a flourish and made an exaggerated effort of almost dropping it before closing his fist around the coin. After pocketing it so fast I couldn't even see where the coin disappeared to, he walked to the shelf holding five wooden cups placed upside down.

"The rules are simple." He exclaimed as he picked up one of the cups. "You can't use skills, and you may not physically interact with the game in any way. I will place a special ball under one of these cups. After I shuffle them around, you only need to pick the cup you think holds the ball. See? Fair and simple. If you manage to pick the correct cup three times, I'll give you a mask. If you manage to guess twice, I'll give you this little charm instead."

I watched as he pulled out what looked like a wooden ball with a bright red dot painted in the middle. He made a show of lifting one of the cups and placing the ball underneath. With the ball covered, he took a step back and snapped his fingers. The cups started moving and picking up speed. Within ten seconds, the cups were sliding across the shelf fast enough to take someone's eye out.

After the shuffling was done, he held out both hands. "Which cup will it be, traveler? Did you keep your focus on the correct cup? Let us find out."

As I suspected, the game was rigged as hell. No normal person could have kept track of the cups when they were moving in a blur. Unfortunately for the gamemaster, I noticed something I was sure most couldn't.

The man obviously had some form of wood-aspected skill. The cups, the shelf, and the ball were all wood. And the way his mana settled over them while the cups were shuffling was easy for me to detect.

What I sensed that most others probably wouldn't was that the cup containing the ball had used more mana to move it. It was very subtle, but I spent the last two weeks practicing to spot mana usage. I had suffered too many bruises from an enthusiastic Isaac not to notice.

So, while the cups were impossible to keep track of visually, my mana sense let me hone in on the cup with the ball underneath. And so, with complete confidence, I pointed to the second to the left. "That one."

With a wave of his fingers, the gamemaster dramatically lifted the cup, revealing the wooden ball painted in bright red - just as I had suspected.

A few people in the crowd watching the spectacle made impressed noises, and I snorted. I caught Teddy looking at me with a disappointed face. I returned his look with a shrug and turned to the gamemaster reshuffling the cups.

"Was it luck or skill? Let us find out. Make your choice."

I noticed he had shuffled the cups even faster, but that only helped me, not hindered me. The faster shuffling speed meant he used more mana and more mana let me keep track of the ball's movements easier.

Again, I held out a single hand and pointed to the one in the middle. "I make my own luck. I choose that one."

As he revealed the ball yet again, more noises came from the crowd around the stall. I had to admit it was fun participating in the show of it all.

The gamemaster reached to place the cup back down but stopped and turned to face me. I couldn't see his eyes behind the mask but felt his stare. "Luck is such a fickle thing. One who can create their own is to be commended. So tell me, traveler. Would you like to make a wager?"

Murmurs from the crowd startled to spread, and I had a feeling this offer wasn't typical. I was intrigued as to what the wager would be, so I nodded and made my mask show a question mark on my face. "Sure."

He paused as he watched my mask revert to displaying the three eyes and a simple smile. He nodded in return and reached into his robes. He crouched slightly, then threw his arms into the air as five more wooden cups were sent flying.

"With increased challenges come increased rewards. The more chances for something to go wrong can spell an all but certain disaster for the person." He then returned to the counter and pulled out an orange strip of cloth. "With this around your eyes, it will dampen sound and sight, further adding to the challenge. If you somehow manage to pick the correct cup, I will reward you with two masks instead of one. What do you say, traveler?"

The sudden shift in tone set me on edge, but when I tried to probe the feeling further, the sense of danger was gone. I stared at the gamemaster, his mask, a silent image that stared at me with two glowing eyes. Hesitantly, I took the cloth from his hand and rubbed the fabric with my fingers. It was soft but thick. And along the edges, I saw enchanting runes stitched into it. I couldn't make out what they said, but I tried to memorize them for later.

With a final glance at Teddy, staring at the gamemaster with a strange face, I tied the cloth around my eyes. The moment the knot was made behind the head, I felt the cloth's enchantments take effect. The bustle of the crowd, mixed in with cheer and laughter, was silenced. All I heard was my own breathing and faint mumbling.

The next sense to go was my sight. The cloth may have looked thick, but the absolute darkness that covered my eyes was something else. I couldn't see anything with my eyes, and losing the two senses made me hyperaware of my heartbeat.

Wondering how I was going to know when to choose the correct cup, I felt a hand tap my shoulder, and I felt the gamemaster's mana pulse in my vision. Whatever amount of mana he was using before was a stream compared to the flood I was now sensing. It still was a small amount. The mana used to shuffle around some cups, and a ball was not that mana intensive.

I felt the moment he stopped, and I waited. I wasn't certain, but his mana outlined the wood in my senses so I could make out the individual cups. And if my senses were to be trusted, I was sure the ball was under the fourth cup from the right. I raised a hand and pointed at where I thought the cup was. "Fourth cup from the right. That's my choice."

I couldn't see the results with the blindfold blanketing my hearing, but there was a low buzz of sound from all around me.

Another hand tapped my shoulder, and I undid the knot tying the cloth to my head. With my sense of sight and hearing back, the loud noises almost overwhelmed me. When I finally focused my vision, I found the gamemaster in front of me, lightly tossing the wooden ball in the air and catching it.

He tossed it up one last time before he made the ball disappear somewhere, and he held out both arms. "It seems luck has made its favour known, traveler. Come, select two masks of your choice."

I looked around and contemplated what masks to choose. They were all well-made. While some had bright colours, others were darker and sleek. The choices were surprisingly varied, but in the end, I settled on two masks that caught my eye. One was a mask in the shape of a wolf's head. It sported bright green, pink, and purple. It looked pretty, and it reminded me of what the guard back in Edolus had told me. Three wolves for three moons. Feldrur, the green moon, Fanalis the pink, and Felnarua, their child, was purple.

With the mask I wanted out of the way, my second choice was a mask I thought would look funny on Arturous. It was a brown mask with orange and gold squiggles. The main reason for selecting it was because it was carved in the shape of a bear.

After pointing out my choices, the gamemaster handed them over. When I tried to give back the enchanted cloth, he waved a hand and stepped back. "Keep it. Claim it as a prize won for the unexpected challenge."

I tried to protest, but he wasn't having it, so I left the stall with two masks and an enchanted cloth. Teddy approached and gave me a strange look. "Are you okay? That was surprisingly intense for a game."

I shrugged and held the wolf mask over my face. "A little, yeah. I'm not sure how anyone was supposed to win that. Rigged, I tell yah."

I adjusted the mask over my face and felt something click. When I tried to move the mask, I felt something tug it away. There was a strange sensation of bloating on my face, but the feeling stopped. When I tried to feel my face, I felt the curve of the wolf snout, and I traced the smooth texture with my finger. As I tried to find a seem to unstick my mask, my fingers pushed through the surface and touched my lips.

I paused and removed my hand. With a thought, I pulled off my mask and stared at the object in my hand. Before, the wolf mask had bright colours painting the wood; the colours were just as bright but now had an oily look.

Putting the mask back on, I felt its enchantments settle in, and I could see through the material and breathe just fine. "Huh, I think my mask just ate the other mask."

"When you put it on, the wolf mask was sucked into your face. It was weird to see, and a swirl of what looked like ink consumed the wolf mask. After the ink covered everything, it spilled out and shifted into the wolf's shape. Can you change it back?" Teddy asked.

I stopped and willed the mask to revert to its old shape and felt mana flow through the item. After ten seconds, I reached a hand up and felt around. Instead of a wolf snout and fur, I felt a smooth surface without any blemish or portrusion.

"I can. Weeeeird. I didn't know it could do that. I guess it's my fault for never getting this identified. I should have asked Khrem when I had the chance."

I suddenly felt a blip of mana around me, and it felt like it was focused on me. When I turned around, I found nobody directly looking at us, and I frowned. The mana was gone, and I couldn't trace where I felt it had come from. The crowded street was filled with too many people to narrow my senses.

"Something wrong? What happened?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I thought I felt mana being used on me, but I'm probably wrong. Let's head back to the others." I held up the bear mask in my other hand. "I got a present for Arturous. Do you think he'll like it?"

"Without a doubt."

We returned to the bear, where everyone but Isaac was sitting. When I asked what happened to the rogue, Celanae shrugged and said he wanted to go out and explore. Apparently, he would meet up with us after he was done.

Not really caring what the man did, I presented the mask, and Celanae even helped by producing a thin gold ribbon to help secure the mask on the bear's head. The sight was adorable, and we all shared a laugh as we hopped back onto the bear and continued exploring the festival.

I wonder what else I can win tonight.