Lucas was breathing hard. He stared at his hand, the axe still in his grip. "I'm alive. Of course, I'm alive! I am Kyrexiel...no...Lucas," he groaned. The memories were messing with him.
"Okay. So I'm in another person's body. But I'm still Lucas!" He held tight to that. It was the only thing that saved him from drowning in Kyrexiel's memories.
Kyrexiel was the previous owner of this body. That much he knew, but the other, and Lucas suspected, important memories were locked behind a sheer wall of headache and resistance.
He would have to carefully review them or find something to trigger them. He knew some stuff, like that his race was that of the Rashaka and that this world wasn't Earth. It is called Maledicta.
But all the more important memories were lost to him.
"I also know that I have been useless for some time...Kyrexiel has been useless for some time." Lucas shuddered. It was strange, it was as if he had lived as Lucas and Kyrexiel at the same time.
'I wonder what type of person Kyrexiel is,' Lucas thought. 'Because why is he locked in a room with a killer walking metal?'
Lucas panicked. "Don't tell me he's a criminal and this is my punishment?"
Lucas wasn't the type to uphold the law or the type to remind the teachers of assignments (that's the greatest of crimes), but he didn't want to be punished for a crime he didn't commit either.
He moved the axe in the air; it was heavy, but Lucas carried it with ease. It reminded him of his weapon. The hammer that he used. Lucas shook his head. The hammer that Kyrexiel used.
Lucas sighed. "I have to get out of here. Preferably without meeting anyone and with my body intact..." Lucas trailed off as he thought of his body for the first time, his body back on Earth.
'What is happening to my body now?' he thought. Surely....it's not dead? That was about the worst thing that could happen. But if the soul leaves the body, doesn't the body go into a coma?
"Ahhhhhhh! Why is this happening? Why did I have to pack there, and those two weirdos have to do their magic on me?" Lucas growled. Then he paused; it's not like he had anything better to do on Earth anyway.
He looked at his axe. He had done more exciting things in the few minutes he was here than in the rest of his life combined. Lucas looked around the room again. "Maybe I should explore a bit....it's not like I have a way to return immediately. Once I'm used to these memories, maybe I can find a way back."
With his mind made up, Lucas straightened as if a weight had been lifted from him. Just then, the whole room shuddered, and a door appeared from the smooth wall as if it had been waiting there the whole time.
"Look at that! I'm going to see who this Kyrexiel is!" Lucas started walking towards the door, trying to remember what he knew about such light novels he read.
Usually, the main character would stumble on some heaven-defying treasure or some thousand-year-old mentor dude who is immortal.
Lucas grimaced. "Why should my own be different? I have to fight a golem!" Then he remembered one he read where the character was replaced into the body of some animal and promptly killed for meat.
That sobered him up a bit and gave him some cheer. "I bet Kyrexiel is a warrior doing some trial to enter one of the greatest fighting schools." Lucas nodded, 'I mean, that's what I'd do,' he thought.
Kyrexiel...Lucas paused at the edge of the door and looked through, but all he saw of the outside was pitch darkness. The type of darkness that you feel on your skin.
But surprisingly, in the middle of the darkness was a beam of light that cut through, bright and sharp. But the light didn't light up the room; it looked like a spotlight.
'This has traps written all over it, and they're not even trying to be subtle about it!' Lucas thought. He was starting to doubt his 'greatest fighting school' theory.
Kyrexiel's body agreed, and he stiffened, but he also knew that he would have to enter that room to progress. He waited, straining his ears to pick up anything from the room, but he heard nothing. It was as if the darkness blanked all.
"Nothing to do about it except to go on!" Lucas said out loud, and he was a bit startled by his voice. It was the first time he had said something without whispering.
Kyrexiel's voice was smooth with a low growl, the type that begins with a lazy drawl and then drags over rough stones...or sharp blades.
Lucas nodded and said, "I bet I can get some real bi..." he coughed. "Focus, focus." He did not have to start thinking about what he could do with that voice.
And besides, he didn't even know how female Rashakas looked.
He entered the room and hurried towards the beam of light. He felt, not heard, the door close behind him. The beam of light was not far, and soon he was beneath it.
"Now what?" Lucas shivered. It felt strange to be under the beam of light. Almost as if you are in front of your class doing a presentation or debate you are forced to.
More strange still, because Lucas felt eyes on him. And not the type that was looking to embarrass you with a question you can't answer in front of the whole class.
No, those eyes were cruel, and they raised the hairs on his neck. His hand tightened on the weapon as he felt small feet clatter on the floor to his right. Kyrexiel jerked towards it, his eyes narrowed to slits.
He heard a small yelping growl. He spread his legs apart, and Kyrexiel brought up the weapon, frozen, trying to feel where the attack would be coming from.
It came in a blur of darkness that broke off at the edge of the beam and slashed him with long claws.