Welnar would silently make his way down the mountain a few minutes later, not a word spoken mentally or otherwise.

  {“Welnar? Are… Are you okay?”} Monarch tries to ask, but he doesn’t respond. His surface thoughts are also empty, save for those three words… Make them pay… She would try to call out a few more times but to no avail. Welnar would just walk, as if he’s barely even there mentally.

  He would arrive in the southern port city close to the mountain, sitting down on a bench. Closing his eyes, he focuses… Three heartbeats. Before, he thought that there were two hearts on the Eastern Continent… Now though, he isn’t so sure. It sounds more like the closest is coming from the Southern Continent… And the other two sound faint, far away but in the same direction. Perhaps in the North?

  {“Welnar! Talk to me, please.”} Monarch interrupts his thoughts. He sighs deeply.

  {“Sorry, Monarch… But… I can’t be wasting time anymore. The longer I mess about, the more time I give those bastards to do as they please.”} Welnar explains. Monarch is silent for a few seconds before responding. {“...Alright. It’s your call, just… Please be careful.”}

  {“I’ll try.”} Welnar stands up once more, looking down at his torn pant leg… Maybe it’s about time he got something new… He cuts open a rift into his pocket dimension using the scarlet shortsword, looking at his coin reserve. He doesn’t have much left from his bounty hunting streak, and he does need to save for the boat ride… But it should be enough. Once he’s on the Southern Continent he can do some more bounty hunting to get some funds back…

  So, Welnar wanders around the port city for a bit until he finds a clothing shop, stepping inside. He isn’t too impressed at a glance though… Everything looks too damn fancy, with not enough function. He makes his way over to the shopkeep, an equally fancy looking man who gives off a… Disgustingly smug aura.

  “Hey, I need pants fit for a bounty hunter.”

  {“What about boots? Those would probably be helpful too.”} Monarch adds.

  “And boots, good boots.”

  The shopkeeper looks Welnar up and down, squinting for a moment before his eyes widen in surprise… No doubt recognizing the up and coming S grade bounty hunter. In an instant, his smug aura disappears without a trace.

  “Oh, oh yes of course good sir! Right this way, right this way.” He quickly says, leading Welnar to a mirror as he takes out measuring tape. “Just going to take your measurements first, if that’s alright sir.”

  “Go ahead…” Welnar says, internally groaning at the sudden formalities. He was really hoping he wouldn’t have to deal with it again… Once his measurements are taken, the man heads into a back room to grab something that, according to him, will fit perfectly for someone of his caliber, as he said it…

  Welnar briefly considers going looking for a bargain bin instead, but decides he’s in too deep now to back out. A few minutes later, the man returns with, thank the gods, relatively looking normal black pants and some durable looking boots. “These should be just the thing you’re looking for sir! These sleek pants are specially designed to be lightweight yet hard to tear, using the finest-”

  “I’ll take it!” Welnar says, already tired of hearing the man ramble on. He seems to give a nervous glance before heading back to the counter. “Y-yes, of course sir! Your total comes out to 40 gold coins and 20 silver…” Welnar puts down 41 gold coins on the counter. “Keep the change.”

  “There is a dressing room just over there if you wish to put these on immediately.” The man points, Welnar following his finger to see a door aptly labeled “Dressing Room.” He takes the newly bought pants and boots, heading into the dressing room and slipping them on… They do feel quite nice. Definitely a good investment, he thinks.

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  Next stop… He needs to catch a boat to the Southern Continent. Welnar makes his way to the docks, where numerous boats are already docked with people coming in and out… With a bit of asking around, he learns the location of the boat to the Southern Continent, and that he’s in luck with it having just arrived! He makes his way to it… And in a situation much similar to last time, has to really convince the captain to let him aboard despite his now numerous weapons he can’t really stow away. Again much like last time though, by using his status as an S-grade bounty hunter, he is able to get away with it…

  A few minutes after he’s aboard, Welnar feels the boat begin to move as it sets off for the Southern Continent. With not much to do, and no company other than Monarch, Welnar’s time on the boat would be uneventful. He’d keep to himself, thinking and thinking and rethinking about various things. Amongst those thoughts, just underneath the surface, those three words continue to echo in his mind… Becoming ingrained in him.

  Make them pay. He alone, has to make every last Sorcerer pay… Everybody else that’s ended up a part of Welnar’s journey has only been hurt, or worse. Wait…

  It feels like there’s someone else that comes to mind when he thinks that, besides the Monks… Someone else… A sudden, overwhelming headache strikes Welnar.

  {“Welnar?”} Monarch calls out in concern, sensing his distress. Despite the pain it causes… Welnar remembers a bit more now. That mysterious woman he’d been hearing from everyone… It was someone he loved. Someone he cherished.

  Someone taken away by Sorcerers, because of his foolishness… Someone who gave him a mission.

  “Damn it all…” Welnar mutters in his room. He still can’t remember her name.

  {“I’m… Sorry, you’re going through this, Welnar. I’m here every step of the way.”} Monarch says, trying to comfort him. {“I know… Thanks Monarch. I think I’ll remember more with time, I just have to keep pushing forward for now… Avenge her, and make them pay.”}

  …

  Welnar shoots awake as the boat rocks to a halt. It took a week for it to arrive… He makes his way out of his room, following along the line as everybody makes their way off the boat, the port here looking somewhat like an oasis… It’s quite a sight to behold, yet he doesn’t have time for this.

  Welnar closes his eyes, focusing on a single heartbeat… further south. He opens them once more, and starts making his way through the town. As he walks, a well dressed man would walk up to his side, following…

  “Well well if it isn’t the new S grade bounty hunter! Listen, I have an amazing offer on this armor-”

  “Not interested.” Welnar plainly responds, cutting him off.

  “B-but you haven’t even heard the price yet-”

  “Not. Interested.” He says in a firmer tone, causing the salesman to sulk away… Seems the people are a bit more aggressive in their sales tactics here.

  “What about a job?!” The man suddenly yells out, getting Welnar’s attention this time. He pauses, and slowly turns around with a sigh. “Elaborate…”

  “It’ll pay great, trust me-”

  “On what the job is damn it!” Welnar yells, growing frustrated with this persistent salesman. The man visibly jumps, before swiftly composing himself.

  “Yes, of course of course… You see, further south, there’s a village. It’s been totally taken over by a gang of thugs…” Sounds pretty standard to Welnar so far.

  “They’ve been making use of the Normals there… Putting them to work. My sister is there, and… I’m worried about her.”

  {“Enslavement… We should do this Welnar. The village is down south, so we’ll be making progress to the next heart regardless.”} Monarch says with noticeable disdain. He’s certainly in agreement…

  “Now, tell me about the pay.” Welnar says. “I’ll pay fifty, no… Sixty gold coins. Please just bring my sister back here… Or… Or the head of the one behind those thugs, if the worst has happened.” He responds. Welnar nods. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

  “Thank you, hunter.” The man says with genuine relief, having clear faith in Welnar’s abilities to do this. Now with a clear goal to go for, Welnar makes his way out of the port and down south… Soon enough, the oasis turns to a harsh desert, the sun beaming down and making him sweat buckets. Yet over time, his body adapts… Growing used to the heat. A couple hours in, and the heat stops bothering him.

  It shouldn’t take too long for him to get there hopefully… And with every step, he grows closer to his next heart…

  …

  a woman in a luxurious cloak sits on a throne supported on the backs of four men. A swirling pink ring surrounds their heads at eye level, their jaws hanging open almost lifelessly. Yet they are not dead…

  The large double doors in front of her swing open, two more men with that same pink ring around their head dragging in a third, naked man whose body is littered with bloodied marks, as if he’d been whipped. Notably, he is lacking that pink ring…

  “Has he yielded?” The woman asks with sadistic glee. The two men holding the tortured man nod, dropping him before her. The man kneels wordlessly.

  The woman’s eyes glow bright pink as she waves her hand, a pink ring forming around the man’s head… And a new thrall is created.

  “Now go, keep watch on the walls for any trouble. And put on some clothes.” She says with another wave of her hand. “Yes…” The man responds, his speech slurring as he stands up, walking out of the room. She feels lucky, having found a town so ripe with pathetic, snivelling Normals… All it took was one. Once she was able to break one of them, the rest cascaded like a house of cards… And now, she has near full control over this town. Some foolishly try to resist, but… Everyone breaks eventually. She just needs to find the cracks…

  Within this cruel mistress, a Lustful Heart beats.