It's something you're not used to--this confusion and fog about a person. Where you come from, people are straightforward and honest. They make their livings by using their talents instead of letting them waste away and are serious about the important things. People on your world value their present by honoring the past and doing what they can to protect their own future and those belonging to their loved ones. Where you come from, the easy-to-read people are everything the mage isn't.
He's such a change from normal you've developed a fascination for him (and what are you, you ask yourself, a masochist? You can't stand that idiot) before you've even caught on to it. This is the first time you've ever met a person who uses masks as a defense--at least in this way. You've seen plenty of other ninjas cover their faces before--assassins hide their identity to protect themselves if they escape, after all--but you've never seen any one person with a mask so elaborate that it can be changed at the will of the wearer.
The mage seems more like a performer than a fighter though, twirling about on the stage as though if he performs his act dazzlingly enough, he can make the audience forget it was even a show. You aren't fooled, of course. You've caught the cracks in the mask he clings to so desperately, and you know that if you hang in there, maybe, just maybe, you won't need any special powers to see through to the core.
Masks slip, after all, and the more a dancer moves about, the more likely his steps are to falter. You bide your time, waiting for the mask to fall...
And shatter.