I groaned, feeling like my head was about to split apart, but slowly the pain was becoming more and more bearable.
Ahhh.
My ears were ringing like crazy, my vision was blurring due to the tears I couldn't stop from flowing from my eyes, but slowly it was fading and I was becoming more aware of a certain thing, "I'm not me."
And this is not Earth.
How did I know that?
Because right now, memories of a different person were entering my mind — or is it my memories entering his?
I don't know. Even so, I was sure we were different people. The only thing common between us is that we both got killed by a classmate of ours, but that was it.
I was someone who was cautious and got along with everyone. This guy named Asher was mischievous and always looking for trouble kind of guy.
I was just a son of two ordinary people, barely living a middle-class life. This guy was the heir of a big-shot family. And furthermore, I was just an ordinary person with no specialties. This guy had…
Suddenly I heard some sounds.
Shaking my head, I felt the pain barely affecting me.
I got up, my arms were trembling — not just my arms, my whole body was trembling.
As I looked at the corpses of monsters on the ground, I was momentarily dazed.
The corpses were dissolving slowly into green, sticky, disgusting fluid that was being absorbed by the dungeon ground.
Clatter clatter thup thump.
The sound was becoming more obvious as I could hear footsteps and clattering of things.
Are people coming? I thought, feeling anxious. What do I do?
No, what should I do?
Should I act normal like Asher? No, I should do that, right?
Just as I was mulling over something not under my control, the people that were coming came close enough for me to check them out.
And then I felt lost for words.
Good news was that they were not people but monsters.
Bad news was they were not people but monsters.
FCK.
I cursed inwardly.
I think I should run, but I could find no strength in my body.
Probably because of the blood loss.
Suddenly those monsters stopped. I could see them squinting their eyes as if not being able to see long distances because of the dim light, but then they started sniffing the air and suddenly gave a cry.
Damn, are they dogs or something?
I need to move, I thought. But as I saw them charging at me, something seemed to awaken in me. Or more precisely, I knew what to do.
These disgusting and terrifying creatures were actually small fries that could be easily taken down by a Grade One Ascendant. As for Asher, he was a Grade Two Ascendant.
I felt the relative information surface in my mind.
This was our difference. I was just an ordinary person, but this Asher was a transcendent who was extraordinary.
With my right hand, I made a grabbing motion. A strange power originating from my chest flowed through my body into my right hand. With a crimson flash, a sword — a katana — appeared in my grasp.
For a moment, I was shocked not just because a weapon appeared in my hand from nowhere, but also because it was a slightly curved sword when in fact it was supposed to be a spear.
From Asher's memory I could tell this was not his Realmforged weapon.
The blade was very comfortable in my hand, as if it was forged especially for me.
The sharp part was crimson red while the dull side was pitch black, both sides meeting in the middle like curved waves.
Grabbing it, I felt some unknown emotions, as if I was becoming more powerful every moment. Looking at the charging creatures, I felt like they were nothing.
I shook my head… damn, what was that?
No one answered, and I didn't have time to ponder either as I braced myself.
This was going to be tough, as Asher was used to using a spear, so naturally I only got the memories of how to use a spear.
As they were only two or three steps ahead of me, I could see them clearly. Their faces were green, filled with marks. Their noses were a little long, as well as their ears.
Drool was dripping out as they snarled.
Just before they came into striking distance, a memory flashed through my eyes.
A young man moving a sword as if performing a dance was practicing a secret sword art.
Unknowingly, I started mimicking those movements.
Grabbing my katana with both hands in an overhead position,
the first creature swung his sword straight at me.
Our blades touched and my blade was deflected — or so it seemed. But through this, the creature's blade also moved aside, missing me just by an inch.
Using the momentum from my deflected blade, I spun a half circle, my katana slicing through the air in an arc straight for the neck of the creature.
The next second, a slash — and a head flew from a body.
For a moment everything stopped, even the charging creatures paused as if not expecting such an outcome.
The next second, a green orb of light came out from the headless creature's body and entered my body.
I was worried for a moment, but then felt a strange comfortable feeling envelop me.
Yes, I knew what this was. It was supposed to heal the students of any wounds they suffered while fighting. Although normal dungeons wouldn't have such a thing, this was an artificial dungeon. Whatever that meant, I don't know.
But I knew this was not something bad — at least, I also felt my body stop trembling. I could even feel some strength in me.
In the previous clash I didn't use much of my strength.
Using the momentum from the creature's attack and with as little movement as possible, I had finished off this guy.
I never thought I could move like that, I still couldn't believe I moved like that. More like some will had awakened in my body — as long as I followed it, I could fight effortlessly.
As this thought appeared in my mind, though, the stunned creatures charged at me again. I too didn't panic. Instead, I let the aforementioned will control my actions.
And thus I moved like water, defending one slash only to use the momentum to attack the other. Using them in such a way, I was able to move between these creatures while dealing more and more damage.
They seemed to be mindless creatures, not having any formation or attack plan — they were just swinging their weapons randomly with their instincts.
Furthermore, I let the will guide me more and more, feeling my moves becoming smoother and smoother. One by one the creatures started falling, alleviating the pressure bit by bit — from seven to only three. As I swung my katana at an angle, something caught in my peripheral vision.
I looked only to find another of these creatures in the distance. But this one didn't have another melee weapon — instead it held a bow, cocking an arrow ready to shoot.
Before I could think, however, my left hand moved from the katana handle, making a grabbing motion.
I could feel a warm power come out from my chest, moving towards my hand.
This time another sword didn't appear. Instead, a dazzling yellow flaming spear appeared, its tip crimson.
Without thinking, I threw it at the creature before it could release the arrow, hitting it accurately and igniting it instantly, burning it to smolders.