Glancing around at the surroundings, it was almost like he had never even left. Every detail of this forest and beach was ingrained into Damien’s mind. He had walked through the forest or along this beach over and over in a neverending cycle.

‘Why am I even here? This simulation is definitely not a mental block for me,’ Damien thought to himself. Damien was sure that this simulation posed no issues for his mentality and did not affect him.

With that thought, his surroundings suddenly changed, surprising Damien. This time, however, he had no idea where he was. Looking around, he could see he was in a massive room. The walls were probably about 40 feet tall. The room itself was decorated heavily, giving off an almost rich vibe—or at least that is what Damien thought.

Glancing over to a window he approached it and looked outside, massive walls surrounded the building he was in and guards could be seen patrolling the tops of them.

Walking over to the giant bed in the room he sat down, ‘Where the hell am I? And how the fuck does this relate to trauma or mental blocks for me?

Eventually, the door to the room opened snapping Damien out of his thoughts, and in walked a woman wearing what looked to be a maid outfit. Bowing to Damien she spoke, “The king wishes to see you, my prince.”

Damien’s started to feel something at the back of his head, it was like a itch that he could not quite reach or scratch. He felt like he was on the cusp of remembering something but the memories simply were not returning to him.

Standing up he followed the maid, walking through the long hallways of what Damien could only assume was a castle they eventually arrived in front of a gigantic door. Looking over at the maid she appeared to be extremely nervous and on edge making Damien wonder if the man was that scary or if it was because he was a king.

Soon after the door to the room slowly opened and the maid and Damien made their way inside, a red carpet could be seen on the floor leading from the center of the room up to a throne. On the throne sat the ‘king’ he had blonde hair and blue eyes and was staring at Damien with a piercing gaze.

Standing before the king he took his eyes off Damien and glanced at the maid, “You may leave.” he said his voice booming throughout the room making Damien raise an eyebrow.

Turning his attention back to Damien the king spoke once more, “Well are you not going to greet your father?” said the king a sneer on his face along with a look of disgust. It seemed the king was not too fond of his child.

Damien not taking kindly to how to ‘king’ was treating him responded with a tinge of mocking tone in his voice, “How would you like me to greet you then ‘father?’ seeing his son's response the man's eyebrows raised and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Ever since they entered the room Damien had felt like he knew this man, in fact, it was to the point where Damien felt like he had known the man for tens of years. Examining him closely Damien felt like he was on the cusp of remembering but before he could the king spoke once more.

“Who are you?”

Hearing his question Damien had to try his hardest to not show an expression of surprise, ‘Does he know? Or is he just guessing?’ Damien was not stupid this man would known how his own son would act and doubted his earlier words and response was something the man's true son would do.

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The king seeing Damien’s lack of response and thoughtful expression assumed a smile, “You know I always hated you, or hated my son. Why you may ask? Well it's because you ‘son’ are lazy, you have no ambition. All you do is go around spending my money at places someone of your stature shouldn't be… but that’s not the main reason, the main reason for my hate and disdain towards you is that you're doing all of this instead of making the woman who gave birth and sacrificed her life for you proud.”

As the king spoke the disgust was almost palpable and seeing him speak of what Damien was assuming to be the prince's mother if what the king is saying was true he could almost understand.

“Father, while I understand where you are coming from. Have you ever thought that it's partially your fault? Think about it how did I end up this way? I surely was not born like this, that means you allowed me to do those things, you spoiled me too much.”

Before Damien could continue the king's aura washed over him almost making him buckle under the pressure, “Boy don’t you dare try to blame me for your own mistakes, I raised you the way any other prince in a kingdom would be raised.”

The king continued to ramble but unfortunately for him none of his words were heard by his ‘son’ as when the aura from the king had hit him the things he had been trying to remember hit him like a truck.

Memories of a life where the king was truly his father and he was the disappointment of a son the king claimed he had been. Along with memories of a gentle loving woman lying on her deathbed for the first seven years of the life he had spent here.

Then it clicked, ‘ah this is another simulation’ Damien thought remembering that the organization had put him through more than one. Understanding appeared on his face as to what this test was trying to make him realize.

"I could have regained these memories before, but I chose not to. I have been hiding from them because they represent thousands of lives that I 'lived.' In each life, I took different paths, made different decisions, and achieved different goals.’

Damien's face tightened a bit at the thought of his past, after learning what he had experienced upon regaining his memories, he almost wished he could forget those moments. However, he understood that he could not outrun his past forever, and it would eventually catch up to him.

Taking a deep breath and resolving himself he thought, ‘No more hiding from the past Damien, embrace it as it is part of you whether you like it or not.’

With that thought the memories of over three thousand different lives came flooding into Damien’s mind, a peaceful expression on his face as if he had just let go of a massive burden from his shoulders.

Glancing back up at the king, Damien smiled. “Thank you, without that aura you just unleashed onto me I would have taken way longer to face my past.”

As the scene around him changed a look of surprise was on Damien’s face as after hearing his words the king was seen smiling happily.

This time Damien appeared in a white room before the voice of the spirit being was heard, “Not bad boy, not bad at all. With the amount of things you have been through I was sure you would take ten times longer than some of the other participants.”

Damien began to look around the room trying to find the spirit being but could not see him anywhere and the voice seemed to come from all around him. “I'm behind you.”

Wiping his head around he finally laid eyes on the spirit, an old-looking man with a long beard. Before they could not see him as he was just a blur in everyone's vision but now it appeared the man was showing Damien his form.

“How do you know about my past?” Damien asked, a look of curiosity on his face. “It’s an ability of mine and one of the reasons I was selected to watch over this trial, it allows me to see any trauma or mental issues someone has. Your past and the woman who was next to you were some of the worst I’ve ever seen.

Hearing the mention of Ela a look of worry appeared on his face especially when he heard the spirit say she had one of the biggest blocks. “Has she passed the trail yet?”

“Hoho, calm down she will be alright but no she has not passed it yet. Although again I would not worry… that woman seems to have a strong will.” the spirit was serious when he said this Ela was also surprising him but not as much as Damien.”

“Alright, enough chatting time to send you onto your next trail, for this one let me give you a tip. Follow your heart, don't let others cloud your judgment or instincts. Good luck” With that the spirit laughed out loud and waved his hand once more.