The trek would take Welnar two uneventful days until the town would come into view… Truth be told, it isn’t what he was expecting. It looks like the town was built beside a river which makes sense, but it looks less like a town and more like… A fortress?

  Large walls of sandstone surround the village, with wooden spikes at the top dissuading people from trying to climb it… The wood doesn’t seem to be from this area either. Was this village always like this, or did those thugs the salesman talked about make it? And if they did, just how many people were in their gang for them to have managed that…

  {“Monarch, once we get closer, look for anywhere I could get in… There’s no way the wall is fully built by now, there has to be some sort of vulnerability.”} Welnar says mentally.

  {“Got it.”} Monarch responds as Welnar continues making his way to the fortified village… As he gets closer, he also happens to notice the people standing atop the walls, walking back and forth as they scout the area… Probably looking for people like him. Thankfully, with the river there is some greenery for him to hide with as he closes in.

  {“Got something, right side of the wall is still being built. Could probably get in through there once night comes and the workers go to sleep.”} Monarch explains. {“Alright. Let’s wait here then…”} Welnar responds, getting comfortable as he waits for the hours to pass by. Slowly but surely, the sun sets and night comes…

  {“Time to go. Coast is clear… Besides the guards.”} Monarch informs. Welnar simply nods, making his way to the right side of the wall… With the cover of darkness, it’s a bit easier to move undetected as he follows along the wall. Eventually, just as promised, he comes across a part of the wall that’s still being built, left wide open. Two people are standing guard here though… {“Are they Sorcerers?”} Welnar asks. {“Doesn’t seem like it.”} Monarch responds. How annoying…

  With a sigh, Welnar begins to accelerate the flow of his mana, activating stage one of his Mana Charge. Then with a sudden burst of speed, he rushes down the first guard, hitting a clean punch that knocks him out immediately. The second reacts swiftly, starting to unsheathe the sword at his hip… But Welnar closes in on him in the blink of an eye, pushing the sword back before it’s fully pulled out with one hand, and landing a devastating gut punch with the other, winding the man and keeping him from yelling. He falls to the floor, hands wrapped around his gut as he writhes in pain.

  Welnar pins him down, pressing the scarlet knife against his throat. “Catch your breath and start talking. What’s going on here?” He asks coldly. It takes the man a few seconds to catch his breath, and once he does… “T-the Mistress… She… Won’t be pleased…”

  “Answer my damn questions.”

  “Not… A chance.”

  Welnar scoffs. In one swift motion, he pulls the man’s sword from his sheathe and stabs it into his thigh, covering his mouth to muffle his scream.

  “You can start talking, or I can start twisting. Your choice.” He says, slowly lowering his hand from the man’s mouth. The man grits his teeth, seeming to consider his options before finally relenting…

  “The Mistress… She’s our leader here… She took this place over.”

  “How? Is she a Sorcerer?” Welnar continues pressing.

  “Her magic is… Unlike anything you could imagine…” The man chuckles dryly. “She will break you down… And remake you in her image… Just like all the rest…” He says, before suddenly going limp. Welnar is confused… What happened? He checks his pulse, seeing that he’s still alive. Why did he suddenly-

  The man jolts to life, a pink ring forming around his head as he recklessly tries to grasp at Welnar. He leaps back just in time, even more confused. {“I thought you said he wasn’t a sorcerer!”} He complains.

  {“He isn’t, I’m certain! This is something else…”} Monarch says.

  {“You think it has to do with that Mistress he was talking about-”} Welnar snaps to attention in the real world as he narrowly dodges a reckless punch from the man, sword still impaled in his thigh. How the hell is he moving?! Immediately after dodging the punch, Welnar throws a knee to the gut to try and bring the man down once more, and the knee does land… But he powers through, grabbing Welnar’s leg and throwing him to the side! He only barely manages to regain his balance, backing away. He really didn’t want to have to kill this guy… But at this rate, he’ll just die of blood loss anyways from that wound. And he doesn’t seem to care at all…

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  {“I don’t think he’s in control of himself right now…”} Monarch states. Welnar is in agreement… Is the Mistress able to control people somehow? Mind control? It’d make sense… Regardless, he can’t continue wasting time on this guy. Welnar dashes in, slipping past another reckless punch and landing an uppercut that makes the man’s head reel back… Only to suddenly snap back to face Welnar as the man comes in for a headbutt.

  But halfway through, the scarlet knife sneaks behind the man, cutting his heel. He drops immediately, yet still tries to grasp at Welnar’s legs… It’s like his sole goal is to stop him, no matter the cost. It’s unnerving… He shakes off his grasp steps past him, finally making his way inside the village turned fortress. Now to find that salesman’s sister… Her name is Alyssa, so that’s something to go off of. On top of that, it’s probably worth trying to find this Mistress too… Welnar closes his eyes, feeling the heartbeat. It’s close. Really close.

  Chances are, that Mistress is the Lustful Heart. It’d follow the trend, with asshole Sorcerers embodying a heart’s aspect. The question is, what does she lust for? Compassion? Power? Control? All of them make sense if her power has to do with mind control of some sort… And how far does her mind control extend? What are its limits? Is… He susceptible to it?

  {“Unlikely. Anything that tries to affect your mind has to go through me first.”} Monarch explains. {“Is that so? Huh… Sounds useful.”} Welnar responds.

  {“Yep! I’m like a buffer for your noggin.”} She says proudly. {“Regardless, there are still many unknowns here… Please be careful.”}

  {“Alright.”} Welnar begins to wander the dark streets of the village, not a soul to be seen within. It’s not that surprising, considering it’s night but the sheer emptiness still feels wrong somehow…

  A sudden, deep sound rings throughout the area, like a warhorn. A warning?! The rest of the guards probably caught on that there’s someone from the outside. Sets of footsteps begin to approach rapidly, and Welnar darts into an alleyway to hide. “Find the invader, spread out! I’ll inform the Mistress!” Someone says, one set of footsteps moving further away while all the others begin to search the area… They’re definitely onto him.

  {“Nobody is looking down this street. Move, now.”} Monarch says. He doesn’t waste time, moving out of the alleyway and sprinting down the street.

  {“Coming up on the right, go left and duck into the alleyway.”} Monarch continues to relay info as Welnar hits an intersection, turning left and ducking into the alley as she said. A few seconds later the guard begins to pass by the alleyway… But suddenly he stops in front of it. Welnar holds his breath as a pink ring forms around the guard’s head…

  Deafening silence follows as Welnar is near certain he’s been found. He’s ready to attack at a moment’s notice. But… Nothing happens. The pink ring disappears after a few seconds pass, and the man continues on. What was that?

  {“It happened to all the guards in the area, I think. Perhaps their Mistress was communicating something to them.”} Monarch says. Makes sense… With all these guards around, trying to find Alyssa will be a pain… And it’ll probably be even more difficult to find that Mistress.

  {“Someone’s coming from behind.”} Monarch says, interrupting Welnar’s thoughts as he whips around. Moments later, an unassuming looking young man enters the alleyway, seeming confused, almost lost. “D-do you know what’s going on? I don’t… I don’t remember anything…”

  Welnar cautiously approaches the man… He doesn’t see any weapons on him. And he doesn’t have that pink ring, so he isn’t mind controlled… “Listen, I’m looking for a girl named Alyssa. I need to find her.”

  “A-Alyssa? Uh… I’m sorry, I don’t think…” The man trails off for a moment, before a pink ring suddenly forms around his head and Welnar feels pain shoot through his entire body. He backs off, seeing blood seep into his shirt at his stomach as the man holds a tiny knife. Damn it, he let his guard down!

  “IN HERE, INTRUDER!” The man yells as he charges Welnar, who responds with a swift haymaker that bounces his head off the alley wall, stunning him. Welnar clutches his stomach with his other hand as he turns and starts to run out the alley, but skids to a halt as a guard comes into view. He turns again, aiming to flee from where the man had come from, but now a group of civilians block that path, armed with farm tools or kitchen utensils… Every single one with a pink ring around their head. Just how many people does she have under her control?! {“I couldn’t even detect the spell being activated on him… I think it was always active. Then what does that pink ring mean…”} Monarch questions as she tries to deduce this mysterious Sorcerer’s capabilities, while Welnar struggles to look for a way out. Both exits are blocked, but… He can go up. He takes a deep breath…

  “Here we go.” And pushes his Mana Charge to stage two, dashing toward the lone guard who readies his sword. But halfway through, Welnar leaps up towards the wall, pushing off of it with a blast of mana to send himself flying upwards! He just barely manages to make it to the ledge of the roofs, grabbing onto it and pulling himself up. His nerves scream at him the whole way, that stab wound having hit some sort of vital… Probably his liver.

  He grabs hold of the scarlet knife, imbuing himself with the Psychotic Heart and using it to manipulate his blood, hardening it and sealing the wound quickly. He’ll have to leave the internal healing to his mana though… He doesn’t trust himself to manipulate his blood that carefully. Looking down into the alleyway below, the civilians seem to have all mindlessly gathered at the bottom, just silently staring up at him, while the guard runs off yelling… “Prepare the bows, he’s on the buildings! Don’t lose him!”

  {“Get somewhere safe and recuperate for now.”} Monarch advises. {“We need to learn more about this Sorcerer’s abilities.”}

  {“Don’t have to tell me twice.”} Welnar says as he starts sprinting across the rooftops, gritting his teeth through the pain. The guards are fortunately, unable to keep up in the slightest and eventually, Welnar notices a house with an open window on the second floor and leaps for it, clearing the window and rolling on the floor, slamming into the opposite wall with a thud.

  “O-ow…” He mutters. {“You almost looked cool with that.”} Monarch teases with a chuckle. {“Anyway, you definitely lost them. Take a breather.”} She adds in a more serious tone. Welnar nods, looking around at where he’s landed… Seems to be an empty bedroom. He takes a seat on the bed with a sigh, checking his wound… Seems mostly healed. Still hurts a fair bit but he’ll manage. Footsteps thunder outside as a crowd runs by in a mind controlled frenzy, none the wiser to his location… Welnar quietly closes the window and the blinds, just to be safe.

  {“Alright… Brainstorm time. What do we know, and what do we do now?”} Welnar says, wasting no time planning his next move.