"That energy must have brought me here. Yes! That must be it." He gnashed his teeth in a confident smile, almost as if he was elated to be in a body that was not his.
"Now this, this is an interesting turn of events." He spoke looking at his arms. His fingers were painted red, and he swung his head to see that he had his hair in a long black twist, he could feel it just above his buttocks. He felt his face, Rai had a sharp jaw, but this new body's face was rounder, and softer.
"Must be younger than I am." He muttered. Rai back at Enorh, was sixteen, he was already an adult, however now, he was made a child again.
The new memories had slotted themselves in every fold of his brain that they were almost irrefutably his. He knew and understood why he was wearing this robe—his mother had bought them for occasions, they were a beautiful silk robe from the city. His hair was kept long because men in his village kept their hair long and braided.
"I came to Pate to take the city's alchemy exam and become a registered Alchemist, I am Kel Hazeen." The boy had practiced the lines multiple times from the way it seamlessly rolled off his tongue.
"Hmmm hmmm!" Rai cleared his throat, and then took a seat. He looked at the books open atop it, and he understood their contents.
"So he was studying the night before. Just before I took a hold of his body." He turned to the rock, and picked it up.
"But why? Why him? Is that your ability?" He squinted at the rock, it had taken a brighter hue and seemed even more mysterious. He eventually let out a sigh and then placed back the rock.
'I miss my body. I wonder what happened to it. Now hold on, I am in Kel Hazeen's body, could it be that he is inside mine too back at Enorh?'
"Arrgghh!" He struck the table with his fist in frustration.
"Maybe I can reverse this, maybe if I charge it up once again, I could fix things."
However, with Kel's memories, Rai could deduce that electricity was not a thing in this city.
"I will find my way, but in the meantime, I suppose I could be an alchemist, and learn about this strange rock."
'Is that putrid smell coming from me?' he sniffed his pits.
"I am in a dire need of a bath." He told himself, and prepared to visit the public bathroom.
Two weeks ago, Kel Hazeen came to Pate as part of his preparations for the exam. A week and a few days later, Rai came along, and the city's alchemy exam was just four days away.
Now that he was clean, and gotten rid of the terrible smell, he put on a black garment with dragons embroidered on the sleeves. Where Kel stayed was somewhat similar to where Rai had back at Enorh, it was a residential building with multiple rooms, Rai had neighbors, and one of them was the lady who was by the well.
The well situated at the center of the building was the primary source of water for all those that dwelled in the building. Rai had come with his clay pot to get some water for himself when he spotted her filling hers.
'Tentina.'
Kel knew her, and from the thumping of his chest, Rai could tell, Kel was in love with this girl, his mind communicated so. He froze, this was Kel's body reacting in the way it was most familiar with, this was not him.
"Relax," he told himself and walked to the well.
Tentina was a tall lady, with fat in all the right places, she wore a dress short by Pate's standards, going slightly above her knees.
He stopped by her waiting for her to finish.
'Should I offer to help?'
He then realized that Kel had never spoken to her, he had seen her multiple times but he had never initiated small talk nor greeted.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"Good morning."
'Ahh, I know now. She is older, she is older so he thinks she would not spare him a glance. Oh boy, if you knew how wrong could you possibly be.'
"Kel Hazeen." He mentioned clearly at a high volume. Tentina paused with a look at him, seeming like she was gauging whether to tell her name or not, Kel already knew hers.
"Tentina." Only her first name.
'Let us hope this works on a Pate woman.'
"In a few days, I am going to take this difficult exam, and if I pass which I will, I will become a registered alchemist. I am hoping after that, I could have you show me around Pate sometime, maybe we could both have a meal."
"Ohh…" she leaned back, quite surprised. She stared up with her right index finger to her face thinking about the offer.
"You are cute. And if you become an alchemist, why not?" She responded with a smile.
Rai was rather lukewarm about it, he had hoped he would feel great, he was helping Kel after all but he felt nothing. Despite Kel's body remembering its feelings for Tentina, Rai's mind was unshaken.
He smiled back, and offered to help lift her pot. And then she was gone.
"Well, I hope you have learnt something there Kel Hazeen, you never truly know until you have tried. At this rate, I might achieve all of your dreams for you."
He then filled his clay pot, making his way back to his abode.
"Four days huh, four days. That's enough time to get a feel of this arrays." Papers inked with esoteric symbols laid on the table, Kel had written them the other day, and Rai understood what they were.
They were transmutation arrays, a key part of being an alchemist.