'Who?...'.
But the answer was already there...
'How?...'.
Looking at the red haired figure staring back at him from the mirror, Luca already knew the name, the real question was how?
Just then realization set in.
'Back then....'. Luca's breath caught. Back then when he fell asleep before waking up in this body, he had a dream.
'No, not a dream, memories'. Luca's eyes widened at the realization. Back then, he wasn't having a lucid dream, he was reliving the memories of this body.
"...How?". Luca was silent for a while before he manged to choke out a word. His mind wandered all over the place.
How had he gotten here? How was he in someone else's body? Did he transmigrate? Was transmigration real? How did he transmigrate?
"...T-This must be a fever dream! Y-Yes maybe i got cold, the weather was pretty cold". Luca clenched and pulled at his hair with variations of emotions on his face.
Anxiety, fear, confusion.
"Wait!". Luca stopped his pacing, as his mind raced backward through his memories. "Lynm". His mind raced back to what Lynn said.
Raced back to how the conversation ended. He had thrown the paper away, so any occultist thing Lynn had going on would had failed.
But here he was, in someone else's body. How?
Just then a cyan interface with black words flashed across his retina.
『 Your soul integrity had been judged. You have earned the right to access your status. You can now view it anytime you want. This first time will open as a test 』
"Huh?". Luca stared at the message flashing on his retina, at loss for words.
---------- 『 Status 』 ----------
Name: Astrea Bathel
Rank: Dormant
Degree: —
Degree Ability: —
Spirit Seed: [0/99]
Traits:[ Materialistic (A)], [Epiphany (S)], [Serenity (-F)]
Strength: 8(10) / Agility: 9(10) / Stamina: 7(10) / Vitality: 13(10) / Essence: 5(0)
---------- 『 』 ----------
『 You are in possession of [????] do you wish to claim it as your Degree 』
Luca's world came crashing down, the truth was in front of him, a system. It was the ultimate proof of all transmigration.
'I-I really did t-trasmigrate'.
The thoughts clashed inside of Luca's head, his panic attack returning with full force. Luca found it hard to breathe.
His breath came in shallow waves, the pressure mounting, the edges of his vision blackened. His awareness flaying at the edges.
Luca soon buckled under the pressure, and he ended up passing out, his body falling lifelessly. His jaw slamming against the golden painted wooden edges of the bed with a thud.
---
Bang! Bang!! Bang!!!
The relentless banging from the door finally managed to stir Luca's unconscious form up.
Luca rose from his passed out state on the floor, for a moment his eyes had a light, a light of hope.
Hope that it was all a dream, a lucid one caused by the cold. That the banging was from one of his colleagues, about to tell him that if he didn't get his ass up and head to work soon, the boss would lay him off.
But that light dimmed out as the scene wasn't his run-down apartment, but a room lit up with gold.
The golden sun rays of the afternoon sun shimmered against the golden painted wall, causing the room to have an intense golden haze.
And as if that wasn't enough, a sharp pain radiated from his jaw.
Luca sat on the floor, his back against the bed, his knees on his chest.
He had read stories, manga, watched the anime, where the character would adapt on the spot.
But Luca found the entire situation jarring, he was suddenly in another world. And a dangerous world at that.
This was a world where you had to question if your choices were really yours, where every breath could be your last, where you had to double check your shadow. To make sure you weren't back-stabbed by it.
And worst— the body he was in.
'Astrea Bathel'.
A character made to serve as a scapegoat.
A character made to justify why his twin sister was a villain.
A character made to state that sometimes, trying isn't enough.
A character that defined the words, being weak was the greatest sin.
The banging continued, but Luca ignored it like a weird mole, his entire attention on his new reality.
He had come in terms with it now.
'I mean what else can I do?'. He couldn't continue to wallow in self pity, and denial. He had to tackle this new world, taking it by it's reins.
'Damn it, this jaw is killing me'. Luca's hand advanced towards his jaw, following instincts he jammed it to the right.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
'Huh'. Luca let out a groan of satisfaction, the symphony of cracking sounds. Coming from his jaw totally relaxed his otherwise tense nerves.
Suddenly the door opened fiercely, a dark skinned woman striding in.
She had a tanned skin, her white hair framing her face contracted sharply against her skin, his skin smooth and clean.
She had high cheek bone, a perfect eyebrow, full gloosed lips. Her body— a perfect S shape.
She wore the outfit of a maid, except she had on pants instead of skirts like the two other fair skinned ladies behind her.
Her face was stoic, her grey eyes roamed Luca's body— who was still riding from the satisfaction of his corrected jaw.
"Young Astrea". She begun. "It's well into the afternoon, you ought to be up by now".
Luca turned to face her, her name instantly filling his mind. Jazzlyn. Or Jazz as he called her.
He had never met her before, yet he knew a fair amount of information about her. He knew she wasn't working for the clan and was actually here under the last wishes of his now dead father.
She was more of a guardian then a servent. And considering her realm of power, few could make her submit to be a maid.
Luca, now Astrea took his time observing her. Her slim waist, her robust chest, and from his position he could catch a glimpse of her hips.
And from the curve he could tell that they were peachy.
"Are you done?".
Her words snapped him back to reality. Astrea coughed into his fist to hide his embrassment.
"Disgusting". One of the maids behind Jazzlyn muttered under her breathe, but her voice was loud enough to drift into Astrea's ears.
Astrea didn't think too much off it, his predecessor had a nasty reputation, a very nasty one.