Ren looked at the newly formed tattoo on his right arm, following with his gaze the black lines as they curled into shapes, trying to make sense of the pattern hidden in them.
"What does it mean?" he asked the girl standing in front of him.
She then looked at him with her usual unfazed yet somehow playful way about her.
"It means you've bound Akariwake to yourself. The ring has become a part of you, and through this bond, it will guide you when you feel lost."
"So what now?" Ren continued asking. "Do I use it to find... what's coming?"
The girl smiled, gentler this time.
"Akariwake won't be of much help to you in your next challenge, since there's no path left for you to find. You have already found it. The difficult part now consists of you walking through it."
She then seemed unsure whether it was right to speak the truth forward or instead let him discover what came next on his own.
