Chapter 53 Sanity is Overrated

I shortly returned back to my room and sat on the edge of my bed. There, doing who knows what, I found my blasted Slime companion sitting at the very middle. Suspiciously, I stared. "You...what were you doing?" Hamlet just stared...at least I think it stared. Slime's didn't have eyes, I've confirmed this. So maybe saying Hamlet stared at me should be more of an expression in the future. Yes. I'll take note of that. "Give me 'that'." I stretched my hand forward and said to Hamlet. The next second, he spat out a black obsidian object carved out of black wood. It was the Murmur's Mask. The terrifying looking mask fell into my hand and I held it up. As for where the mask suddenly came from, the answer was pretty obvious. Apparently Hamlet had a special skill capable of storing certain items in its stomach. Again, do Slimes have stomachs? No. This too was just an expression. In any case it was just a skill that turned out to be really convenient. Since bonding with Hamlet over the Familiar contract, I gained some new skills, but unfortunately that wasn't one of them. But at the same time, I was kind of relieved? I mean, how would I store items in my stomach? And how would I get them out? 'Let's not think about it.' tacitly, I agreed internally and turned my attention to the Mask. "I think it's about time I embrace my new artifact." I said with a slight crooked grin. The flaw of Murmur's Mask, quite honestly, was terrifying enough to make me have second thoughts in ever trying to use it. But it was an artifact. Wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't use this? It was already bad enough that I had to keep Goliath a secret and release it in only extreme emergencies. The only other stable Artifact I had was Solomon's Ring which would be perfect if it weren't for the damned flaw. 7777 years of unluck. Damn. I've thought seriously about it over the last few days and I finally decided to confront the mask. At the very least there had to be some manner of way I could use it. That was what I thought. And then I remembered what happened back at the dungeon. I had the Immersion Skill. My logic was simple, if I could use the skill, or Meta, to offset the whispers and murmurs that would try to corrode my mind, wouldn't I be able to use the mask? The last incident already confirmed that the skill at least had some manner of preventing me from succumbing to the 'truths' and 'secrets' hidden in the mask, so the idea seems feasible. "Your sure this will work?" I said pensively while staring at the mask. Meta's response came with a slight buzz. [This was your idea.] Oi! Now she's denying me! 'But you said there was a possibility right? I mean, you were able to do it the last time.' As the cold chill spread through his body like a numbing thrill, Victor felt his consciousness grow a little faint and drift like fog as indiscernible whispers and voices...murmurs filled his heart and mind. The painful ravings intensified and Victor felt a splitting headache as if his head was being axed into. His head pulsed and his mind thrubbed like a beating heart. A myriad of information filled his mind and burned at his existence. His messy brown hair that was slightly longer was swept back and slowly turned a pale white, reaching just the base of his neck. The process was slow as if his mind and body was slowly getting invaded by something else. Someone else. "Aaargghk!!" Victor grabbed his head and let out an earth splitting groan. His fingers dung into his whitening hair fruitlessly and his eyes underneath the mask was slowly turning bloodshot. And just when the ravings seemed like it would only get worse, the Immersion skill was activated forcefully. ... [{Immersion} Level ??? Has been activated.] [{Immersion is being used.] ... The ravings quickly receded slightly, and the sharp splitting pain that assaulted Victor ceased until it was just a mild throbbing that was at the level of a disturbing nuisance. Now that he had regained a gap of respite, Victor sucked in a deep and a sharp gasp from behind the mask. His hair was still white and his chest was heaving, but he was no longer on the throes of corruption. 'Three seconds! Barelly three seconds and I nearly died!' His thoughts were stark and dark. His bloodshot eyes that were short of bleeding under the mask shook with a smile. Yes in the end, he was still smiling. The edges of his lips hung crookedly and his face had turned pale despite the cold touch of the mask. He had intentionally not activated the skill to test out how Murmur's Mask took effect, but the results had been far beyond his expectations. At that moment, Immersion was measurdly activated, but he hadn't given up control of his body to Meta, or neither was he experiencing another vision. With this, Victor confirmed another suspicion of his. Immersion really isn't just an ordinary skill after all. It's like it has separate and different grades for different situations. Right now, I don't feel anything different or strange even though it's activated. I could move my body freely and there are no image's flashing across my mind. Understanding that the skill does work to an extent in offsetting the effects of the mask is good, but I also have to discover the conditions or degree of Immersion... Victor rapidly gathered his thoughts though he was still in pain. With all this questions, he had an inkling that Meta wouldn't give him a suitable response. Not now at least. So he shoved it to the back of his mind and unsteadily rose to his feet. Immediately he stumbled forward, about to fall to the ground when he managed to catch himself. Hamlet, the evolved silver slime was against the floorboard silently overlooking everything. Victor could sense and feel the intentions and feelings of his familiar. There was worry, but he easily ignored that. Instead, with a crooked smile, a pale face hidden behind a fiendish black mask, and unsteady steps, he made his way to his mirror against a wall and looked at his reflection. "Huh? My hair is different." He muttered from beneath the mask as his voice came out somehow darkly. He touched the now white strands of his formerly brown hair and mesmerised at himself on the mirror with a dark chuckle. "I resemble the fucking devil."