It would be a long while after Welnar had finished his bowl of utterly delicious stew… When he was just lounging around the tavern… The doors swing open, catching his attention like every other time, expectantly waiting.

  And this time… It’s him. The stalker. {“We’re in business.”} Welnar remarks mentally, keeping his head down. He can feel the stalker’s gaze rest upon him for a moment before it leaves him. He glances over, seeing him sit down in a small corner like last time he’d been scouting Welnar out… Ordering just a mug of water. Then, Welnar looks around at the surrounding civilians… There aren’t many in the tavern at this point, but still more than he’d like. {“Guess we’ll have to make some noise.”} Monarch says. Welnar agrees… He subtly forms a ball of mana in his hand, charging it with just a bit of power… Just make some noise. Get them to run.

  {“Here we go.”} He tosses the ball of mana behind him, up at the ceiling. On impact it explodes with a resounding BOOM, the tavern shaking! People immediately start to scramble, fleeing and yelling in surprise, unsure what exactly happened. As they do, Welnar forms another ball of mana… This one much more powerful. He notices the stalker much calmer than everyone else, but still getting ready to leave… Welnar stands from his chair. The stalker glances his way.

  And Welnar chucks the ball of mana! The stalker flourishes his cloak, lifting it up in front of him as the ball of mana detonates, sending dust and debris flying! He coughs, seeming unscathed, trying to get his bearings but Welnar swiftly throws a chair through the smoke that the stalker only narrowly dodges. In another second Welnar leaps forward with a powerful knee strike, the blow blocked by the man’s hands but still causing him to skid backwards from the power behind it. Welnar lands on the ground, breathing deeply as blue veins of mana form along his body… Then they pulse once, then twice, growing larger as he activates Mana Charge at stage 3. “Why the hell are you following me? What do you want?” Welnar asks. The stalker doesn’t respond… His eyes glint orange. Three orange targets form on Welnar’s body, on the right side of his chest, his left forearm and right shoulder. Then the stalker throws three throwing knives one after another! {“Looks like he ain’t a talker!”} Monarch notes.

  Welnar swiftly uses the scarlet axe and scarlet shortsword in tandem to deflect the knives away, pushing forward and simultaneously thrusting the scarlet spear remotely! The man ducks to the side of the thrust, unsheathing a shortsword and deflecting a second thrust in one swift motion. Then, he snaps his fingers. The three targets suddenly pulse…

  {“The knives!”} Monarch tries to call out, but it’s a moment too late. The knives that had fallen to the ground glow orange at the tips and shoot up, then toward Welnar once more! One impales his left forearm from behind, another into his right shoulder, the final one aimed for his chest blocked yet again by the scarlet axe. Welnar grits his teeth, fighting through the pain as he sends his full Scarlet Armory forward, unleashing an overwhelming flurry of attacks that forces the stalker away! He bolts to the side, flipping over the bar and taking cover there while Welnar rips the daggers out of himself… After the knives finished their second flight, the targets on his body disappeared.

  He recalls the Scarlet Armory, watching the bar. The stalker isn’t showing himself… So be it. He’ll just have to force him out, Welnar thinks as he grabs hold of the scarlet spear, imbuing himself with the power of the Burning Heart. He twirls the spear in his hands for a few seconds, the blade leaving a trail of flames… And then he makes a wide horizontal swing, unleashing a wave of flame! The wooden bar ignites, Welnar letting go of the scarlet spear… “Come on out coward- Shit!” As he’s speaking, the stalker suddenly flings a bottle at Welnar from behind the bar! He shifts his head, avoiding it and as he does, the stalker jumps up on the bar then towards Welnar, coming down with a stab from his shortsword.

  Welnar raises his hand, hardening it with his mana… And catches the tip of the blade with his palm, sparks flying as the two collide. Then he pushes it to the side, the stalker left to fall into Welnar’s… “loving” embrace. With his other hand, he grabs the man by his face and with a yell, slams him to the ground with a resounding crash! Welnar lifts the stalker up… It sounds like he’s trying to say something.

  “Can’t take any chances…” Welnar mutters to himself. He charges his hand with mana… The stalker struggles and squirms, but his iron grip does not falter. He unleashes the charged mana in a point blank blast, sending the man flying. He goes straight through the wall, bouncing on the pavement outside once before slamming into the wall of another building. He slides to the ground… Face utterly caved in. Dead.

  Welnar steps through the smoke and debris left by the broken wall, toward the man as the blue veins of mana fade. Some bystanders watch, frozen in fear, awe or a mix of both. Others flee. He pays them no mind… Instead he simply crouches in front of the dead stalker… He spies some broken crystal chunks near his pocket, picking them up and examining them. It takes a few seconds, but Welnar eventually recognizes it as that crystal he was messing with on the boat… Did it break in the fight? Probably. The thing that interests Welnar more though… Is the cloak, which he unceremoniously plucks off the man’s body. It’s engraved with intricate runes… Definitely magical. He covered himself with it when Welnar threw that mana ball, which seemed to protect him.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Out of curiosity, Welnar gives it a punch. Just before contact, the runes glow and instead of hitting cloth, it feels more like Welnar hit straight steel… It’s reactive, in a sense.

  {“How very interesting. The runes give off lots of mana, so it’s definitely strong. Probably costed a small fortune.”} Monarch notes.

  {“Hmm… Finders keepers, I say.”} Welnar smirks as he puts the cloak on himself… Not half bad. {“Oughta get moving you know. I doubt the guards of this place will take kindly to blowing up buildings and murder.”} Monarch advises. Welnar is in agreement, closing his eyes momentarily and getting a position on the Hearts… Still almost overlapping. He makes a swift getaway from the scene, long before any guards could arrive… Perhaps the bystanders will identify him, but none of it will matter soon enough. He just needs time to find the last two Hearts… Soon enough, Welnar is out of the city entirely.

  {“You were mighty quick in dispatching that guy.”} Monarch eventually says a few minutes later.

  {“He had one trick, but… Well that was it. I don’t have time to waste on Sorcerers like him.”} Welnar replies coldly.

  {“Right… Now that I think about it, our journey is almost at an end.”}

  {“And once it’s done, our work can finally begin… I’ll become a hero. I’ll make them pay…”} Welnar says.

  …

  “Sire, Welnar attacked me. He figured out I was tracking him somehow.” The 2nd Archon hears from a glowing white Crystallium on a desk, the voice a whisper. They scoop it up, holding it near their mouth. “Probably because the halo can sense mana, fool. You’re a terrible spy and should feel ashamed.”

  The voice on the other end seems to fumble with his words for a moment before responding. “I- You- You should’ve told me, sire! So I could-”

  “You dare talk back to me, worm!? Just try to escape for now. Disable the boy however you can and flee, back to me.”

  “Understood-” The voice is cut off by the sound of something akin to rushing wind. Then, the sound of a bottle being picked up and thrown… A clang of metal on metal, followed by a crash. Then…

  An explosion. The Crystallium’s glow dulls, turning a light grey. The 2nd Archon scoffs, tossing the Crystallium. “Useless fool. I don’t have to tell him a thing! I suppose I shall step in personally yet again.” They say, grinning as they once more step out of their lab, and take flight… This experiment has made the Archon more lively than ever.

  …

  And somewhere else on the Northern Continent… A woman stands amongst seven marble statues in a line that sit in a clearing within an oddly colourful forest. The leftmost statue depicts a robed woman with an ornate fox mask, nine tails spread out behind her.

  The next, a suited figure standing proudly, their head sculpted into the shape of roaring flames with long antlers sticking out of it.

  Then a shirtless, muscular man with one foot propped up on a large skull, dozens of weapons planted around him.

  An amalgamation of some sorts, with two lion heads and a body with large feathery wings, three long tails with two ending in sharp spikes, and their frontal legs bird talons.

  Two halves of a human body split apart, one looking like a calm, regal woman while the other is a monstrosity in a vaguely human shape.

  A simple cloaked figure that seems to occasionally turn translucent, or shift around erratically.

  And finally, a woman with her legs crossed, levitating off of their podium with nothing to prop them up. On their head is a large pointed hat with constellations engraved within.

  These seven statues, built in an unknown time within the Enchanted Forest are said to grant anyone the ability to commune with the gods, should you provide a suitable offering. The young woman that stands before them today wears a simple black and white robe, split down the middle. She kneels down in front of the statue of Aceus, the split human one, praying silently with her hands clasped together. After a couple of minutes… A voice calls from the edge of the clearing, another woman in full plated armor, helmet held at her hip and a large warhammer on the ground beside her. “Hey, Elysia! You done yet?! I’m tired of standing around and wanna go back home.”

  “You are free to go back without me.” Elysia responds, unmoving in prayer.

  “No, I’m literally not! My orders from Aceus were clear; Defend you with my life. That asshole could be here anytime, and I can’t defend you if I’m not around.” The knightly woman replies. Elysia does not respond, nor does she move causing the woman to huff in frustration.

  “Varia, you need to learn some patience.” Elysia says after another minute, standing up and walking towards her. Varia just shakes her head, grabbing the warhammer and kicking it up, letting it fall onto her shoulder as the two begin to walk through the forest, down a well trekked path.

  “You need to take this situation more seriously. If he kills you…” Varia begins.

  “If he kills me, then so be it. You will still be around.” Elysia cuts her off. Varia glares at her. “It’s not just a ‘so be it!’ Humanity’s fate rests upon us right now! Us, and us alone.” She argues.

  “We don’t have the full story. Perhaps there is more than meets the eye with the boy.” Elysia shoots back.

  “Aceus already told us everything we need to know! He’s a threat to this world, and he’s after you.”

  “Aceus also told us she cannot be certain when he will be here, because he is stepping outside of Fate. If she cannot fully see the boy’s fate, perhaps there is something she does not know.” Those words finally shut Varia down, who just grumbles to herself under her breath, throwing her helmet back on.

  Within the two, beats a Merciful… And Holy Heart.