1 Chapter 1- Waking up

…

Kor City, June 5, 2003

The night is as peaceful as they come in this small and quiet city.

The bustling morning scene hours ago are now gone, and only the almost empty streets with a few vehicles traveling and night vendors on the street side selling their goods can be seen.

This quiet city is just a small city with a population of no more than 200, 000 people. This quiet city is called Kor City. It is neither an industrial nor a commercial city, but it became the city center of the province as it is located in the middle provincial area.

In this small city in Phil Country, a young man named Curt Nilfiem lives. He only lives a normal life with a parttime job in a convenience store which is enough to provide him with three meals a day. He is now turning 22 and today is his birthday.

He is currently showing a happy expression on his face as for the first time in his life, he is going to celebrate his birthday with his girlfriend Jenny Mae Lee. Today is also a very special day for him not only because of his birthday but also because his girlfriend has finally accepted his invitation to see him and visit his small apartment.

Curt Nilfiem was feeling lucky to have the young woman as his girlfriend. The reason for this is because Jenny Mae Lee is not just any normal person, she is an extraordinary person with extraordinary powers of an esper.

Espers are generally special people with unique powers. They can control one of the 5 elements of the world namely, fire, wind, water, earth, and wood.

As an esper, it was supposed to be impossible for Jenny Mae to have a relationship with Curt as the two have a different status. Espers are generally treated like a celebrity or a god in the whole world.

But then a twist of fate made the two accidentally met in the capital city of the country of Phil.

At that time, she seemed to be in trouble and Curt help her. And from then on, the two had a couple of dates and meetings. Plus they also discovered that they both lived in the same city. And with that after a month of courtship and dating, they became an official couple.

Curt was very happy at that time; however, Jenny asks him to hide their relationship because of her unique identity as an esper. As a person in love, he immediately agreed and their relationship continued until today.

The night was young and they have just finished eating dinner. Unlike most couples who are sweet and would cuddle, the relationship between Curt and Jenny is like... 'normal friends'.

Although he has the audacity to woo her, he didn't dare go over her so-called... 'boundaries'.

And so after a little chat about anything they can think of, Jenny went straight off to bed.

Curt, on the other hand, gentleman as he is, decided to give his room to his girlfriend. He has no choice but to sleep on the sofa in the small living room of his apartment. He didn't complain or anything, he just slept with a contented smile on his face.

That night, unknown to him, a small vortex-like thing slowly opened right a few feet at the top of his head. Then from the center of the vortex where it's like a void, a thin wisp of invisible smoke suddenly came out and slowly floated towards his head.

While sleeping peacefully on the sofa, Curt didn't know that something is about to invade his brain. The thin whiff of smoke stretches out from the small vortex in the air and has now connected itself to Curt's head.

The once smiling expression on his sleeping face suddenly faded and turned serious, and then a complex of emotions appear on his face. With knitted brow, small beads of sweat started coming out of his forehead and the changes in his expressions began to move rapidly as time went by.

Sometimes he would look like someone who is thinking hard with a knitted brow, sometimes he would look like someone who was surprised by something, and then his expression would turn sad that even tears would escape his closed eyes.

Deep within his mind in an unconscious state, a large amount of memory data is being downloaded from somewhere deep within the void. It was after an hour of constant changing of his expression that everything stopped. The two memories inside his head then slowly merge and formed into one single information.

While this is happening, the vortex along with the thin whiff of smoke slowly disappears.

And as soon as everything turned to normal, Curt suddenly opens his eyes as he was jolted into awakening. His expression this time is a mix of confusion and understanding as his brain slowly acclimated itself to the new data present. This also made him feel a bit dizzy and disoriented for a short time.

"What is this? What… what just happened?" he muttered.

He seems to have knowledge not his own, but this knowledge seems oddly familiar as if he already knows them by heart. Then suddenly, his eyes darted towards the white closed room door as his heart was immediately filled with a mix emotion of deep longing and pain.

Right at this time, he truly wanted to rush forwards and open the door to once again see the woman that made his life whole. She was his world, his everything, and even his life. A sad memory suddenly bombarded his mind of the time when the two of them are together, her sweet smiling face and her words of comfort and love for him and him alone.

And then his expression showed pain as he recalled how he lost her. It was like the end of the world for him. Nothing even matters after that as all he wanted was to end his life. Without her, his life has no meaning, no purpose.

But something, some deep feeling in his heart prevented him from doing anything outrageous. And so, following his feelings with hope in his heart, he lived his long life alone, without the woman she loves.

Hundreds of years have passed, and one day, it was his time to disappear. He gladly looks at the sky and slowly closes his eyes and thinks of the woman that meant the world to him. He could not wait to see her again, to hug her, to kiss her, and to tell her that he truly loves her.

But this desire was slowly quelled upon realizing that the woman he has yearned for, for hundreds of years is not the same person anymore. They might look the same, but she is not that person.

However, even if he knew he can't help himself but to want to take a peak. This idea seems to have jolted Curt back to his senses.

"What the heck was that? Those are not my memories? I mean, when did I ever wear those kinds of clothes? And when did I ever go to that kind of mythical place?" Curt muttered as he could not believe what he saw in his mind.

But then he felt the tears at the corner of his eyes and with a bit of hesitation, he wipes them. In fact, he was truly surprised by everything that is happening.

"Am I being possessed by a ghost? No… no… this cannot be…" he muttered in confusion as his face showed panic in them.

But suddenly his mind became clear as if some spell was cast towards him where he immediately recovers his senses.

The reason for this might be because of the person that has combined with his memory. Although that person is very passionate when it comes to his feelings, he would not succumb to his nature and is very calm and collected. This calmness is the reason why that person didn't commit suicide even after he lost the love of his life.

"Sigh… I guess I can just accept this now… wait a minute... this memory! This memory is truly amazing… I mean… the amount of knowledge I have right now is truly mindboggling." Curt suddenly stopped with an amazed look on his face, then suddenly he looks at his body.

With a sudden realization, he discovers that his current body is a bit frail and weak. This made him smile sheepishly. If his memory serves him right, the current Jenny in this world is a powerful woman. How could he, as a man, be a weakling?

And so with that in his mind, Curt suddenly had an idea, so he closed his eyes.

Since the two memories are melded together, two characters are currently controlling Curt's emotions. The first is the original Curt who is weak and feeble but is very lucky and persistent. The second is an old immortal who is calm and composed, yet passionate and has already lived for almost 500 years in another world.

As these two memories have combined together, Curt now has two different frames of mind that would come out every now and then. He already knew this but he could not do anything about it. Because now, this is going to be who he is.

Right at this moment, Curt has accepted the fact that his life would change from now on. And the first thing he needs to change is his current physique.

"This body is terrible… I need to do a lot of work here." He muttered as he began to look around and try to feel the air around him.

"This planet's atmosphere is good… the amount of energy in the air is really rich. I guess this would do…" he said as he began to absorb the energy in the air while following a specific path inside his body.

The raw energy slowly enters his meridians and veins nourishing them little by little. He didn't know how he was able to control the flow of energy in the air but as he wills it, they obey. This is one of the most fascinating things he discovers about the memory of the 500-year-old Curt Nilfiem.

He didn't know how long it took him to absorb the energy in the air, but he felt excited as he feels the small and subtle changes that are happening inside his body. The warm energy he felt entering him truly made him satisfied as it widens his veins and meridians and cleans them thoroughly.

…

The sun rises to the sky as it spread its glorious rays all over the small city. Inside the small and simple room, a young woman lay sleeping in bed with her mouth wide open. The bed cover and the pillows were in disarray as the woman's figure is sprawled all over the bed.

It seems that she likes to move around while sleeping, like a clock.

If Curt could see her now, the image he had of her that she was a cold and an unfeeling woman would surely change. Because right now she is showing her vulnerable self.

The white of her skin is exposed as her shirt seems to be ruffled and in disarray.

Even the two white lumps of flesh can be seen peeking from the wide stretched collar of her white t-shirt.

Jenny Mae slowly opens her eyes and wipes the drool off her lips. She stretched her arms and yawned. When her eyes are fully open, she suddenly stops.

Discovering that she is not in her own room, she suddenly felt panic-stricken.

"Damn it… Stupid… stupid… stupid…" she muttered as she scolded herself for being too lax as her eyes darted all over the place as if trying to find something.

"Did he dare to enter the room?" she thought as her eyes darted at the locked doorknob.

Upon seeing that everything was fine, she patted her bulging chest that's moving up and down and heaves a deep sigh. Jenny immediately jumps out of the bed and quickly fixes everything in order. Then she looks at herself in the mirror and a deep frown appears on her face.

She can see that her face has no outstanding features and just looks normal. Her phoenix eyes and short lashes make her look just like any other normal young woman out there. Then the same thought appear in her mind.

"He would always say that he likes me because of my eyes… does he really like me or its just because I'm an esper? Is that the reason why he worked really hard to get my attention?" she muttered as she once again looks at her face in the mirror.

She might be a powerful esper, but she could not deny the fact that her boyfriend, though frail-looking, is a very handsome and attractive guy.