The pain continued without stop, but somehow he remained alive there. He stayed in the scene, looking at what was happening. This memory was gruesome, yet he had no recollection of it.

"Aren, Aren."

Kara's voice suddenly got through to Aren and snapped him back to reality. Looking at her sitting beside him, a small amount of sweat formed on his face.

He took a few seconds to get himself back and then spoke, "Kira, there is a me before this, Aren before the Shadow, and there is a past I am running from that I can't share.

The only path I see to escaping that past is for me to keep getting stronger, for me to keep fighting, keep growing. I know you don't like the fact that I am always in harm's way, but that's who I am now, facing my own struggles one punch at a time." He said and then went silent. Then he turned to look at her, staring right into her eyes.

He stretched out his hand and placed it on her cheek. "But no matter how far I go, and how deep I fall into this pit I'm digging for myself, I want you to know that you are one of the reasons I push to come back now." He smiled at the end, thinking that he had diffused the issue.

"I love you." Kira suddenly said. She stared him right in the eyes as she spoke, and her words instantly took Aren aback.

His eyes widened, his hands slowly dropped from her cheek.

She looked at him, eyes expecting a response, while he sat there frozen, not sure of what to say.

He thought of replying to her, telling her he loved her, but those words got stuck in his throat.

She saw the hesitation in his eyes and then got up. "I'm sorry for saying that, I shouldn't have." She said, and immediately tried to walk away, tears forming in her eyes, but then Aren grabbed her hand and stopped her.

She looked back, seeing Aren looking down at the ground. "I want to say it back." He said.

"Then say it." She replied.

"If I do, you'd be the first person I ever told that. You'd be the first person I actually ever loved. I'm scared of what that may become. I don't know where to step from there if I say it back. I'm sorry." He said.

She felt his hand tremble. She could tell he was struggling. She took a deep breath and then placed her hand over his own hand. "I love you, Aren, and I'm certain of that. Deep inside me, I know you do, and I'll be waiting for the day you say it back." She said, smiling at him.

He looked up at her. "So are you okay with it?" He asked, expectant.

"Oh hell no. I just professed my love for you and you simply didn't say it back. I'm mad as hell, and also mad at the fact I can't actually get truly mad at you, so leave me alone." She said and stormed off.

Aren watched her leave, vanishing into the darkness of night.

"Women are crazy things, live long enough and you still won't understand shit about them."

Aren heard a voice behind him. He looked and saw it was one of the members of the Silver Tiger, a dude that looked to be in his middle age. He had a jug of beer in his hands. He took a heavy gulp from it.

"But this one seems to like you at least, kid. Keep her close." He said and then walked off, leaving a confused Aren sitting there.

He stared at the fire for a while longer after that, the crackles filling his ears and the flames dancing before him. The memory that he saw weighed on his mind.

"Did I really go through that? Is that really my memory?" He asked himself.

Who was he? He didn't even know if he was himself anymore. What exactly was his life? Was everything that was about him some sort of lie?

"Arghhhhhhh"

Exhausted with the thoughts, he got on his feet and headed for the house they provided for them. He got in and went straight for the room.

The room was illuminated with a small oil lamp. He walked to the old bed and lay there, looking at the ceiling.

"System, pull up the rest of my rewards," he said, and instantly the system came up, continuing from where he stopped after he got the dagger.

[Blessing of Loki: Loki, one of the greatest gods of trickery, manipulation, deceit. His blessing gives the user the unique skill, Schemer.]

[Schemer (Lv1): This skill allows users to see potential probabilities of any given scenario or situation up until 48 hours. Cooldown, one week.]

[Drawback: Constant use weathers the mind and leads to madness. Recommended use, once a month.]

As he read what Schemer was, he paused. The skill allowed him to see probable happenings up until 48 hours. This meant he could see multiple rough sketches of the future and make plans for all of them. It wasn't some heavy hitter kind of skill, but it was extremely special and extremely useful.

The only issue now was the drawback. He had come to learn that he couldn't dare the system. If it said something was like that, then it was like that. So if the system said it would weather his mind, he knew damn well it would.

It showed the risk that the skill carried, but regardless, the ability to touch the future was something he couldn't have asked for anything better.

After the Blessing of Loki, the next reward he had gotten was a guardian spirit.

Aren was eager to see what he got. He didn't even bother reading the description and simply asked the system to summon the spirit, and that was a terrible idea.

The room began trembling like it would fall apart, and so did the entire house. It shook like crazy.

And then a magical circle formed inside the room. A purple glow filled the entire room, so much that the entire house shined like a small sun in the night, and then finally it died down.

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