Although the Mask was a ring worn on his left ring finger, Kallen still raised his hand, pretended he held a mask, and "put" it on his face in front of the mirror.
Then he pretended he was "wearing" a mask, reached up, and took it off.
Throughout it all, his face in the mirror had not changed, not even his gaze, yet Kallen felt something unusual within.
It was as if he had just opened a nonexistent door, then closed it again;
nothing had changed, but he seemed to hear the drawn-out "creeeak..." of a door hinge scraping beside his ear.
Silently stepping back a few paces, Kallen sat on the bed with pink sheets behind the full-length mirror. Leaning forward slightly, he continued staring at the mirror before him and sank into thought.
Just then,
a black chain slowly spread out from beneath Kallen's feet, covering the bedroom walls and wrapping around everything, as if shutting out everything outside;
yet it also seemed to be sitting quietly and listening, waiting for the result of Kallen's contemplation.
The bedroom
fell silent in an instant.
"Brother, come quickly."
Selena tugged her brother upstairs by the arm, but as she was about to enter her bedroom, Lemar pulled her back.
"What is it, Brother?"
"Shh!"
Lemar gestured for his sister to be quiet.
"He's gaining insight. Don't disturb him."
"Gaining insight?"
Selena craned her head to look at Kallen, who sat motionless on her bed facing the full-length mirror, and remarked,
"A man deep in thought really is more appealing."
Lemar looked around instead. In fact, he had sensed an aura of Order rippling through the bedroom, which meant the person inside was gaining insight. What he had not expected was that Kallen could enter this state immediately after receiving