…
The morning light envelops the whole world and gives energy to all those under it. The golden rays of the sun give people the feeling of invigoration and contentment as they feel pleased upon the recognition that once again they are able to breathe and spend another day of their lives.
As the city of Kor became busy with people and vehicles going to and fro, a young man, wearing a gray jacket and blue backpack, leisurely walked down a pathway towards a small convenience store on one of the main streets of the city near a normal college.
Although the convenience store is small, since it is located near a normal college in the city, there are many students who will visit it occasionally. Hence, the source of income for the store is mostly from the students and also from some of the workers in the establishments nearby.
It has already been 5 days since Curt Nilfiem gave Boss Lan a special herbal tea. His boss from then on would always keep the remaining tea which Curt brews and shows it off to his friends.
In fact, he tried to watch Curt's way of brewing so that he could find out how to brew it himself. However, upon seeing how hard it was to do, he gave up.
From the process of peeling the green plant alone, it was already almost impossible for him. How could he even think of completing the brewing process?
But of course, for Curt, it was as easy as pie. By using a magic circle which he would prepare on hand, he could control the LEP energy in the air and use it to enhance his "knife" to peel the blades of grass.
And so, he made his boss drink and enjoy the tea for 5 days.
Boss Lan had already felt his body becoming stronger and his weak and painful knee already recovering. Even his prostate has been feeling better and better.
Before this, he was thinking about whether he would sell his store to get the money for his operation or not. But it's hard for him to do that because, once he sold his store, then he would be penniless after his operation. Hence, it was a really hard decision.
But ever since the day that he tasted the tea and felt its effect, all of his plans have changed. He knew that his body was getting better and better in these past few days. And this has made him really happy and thankful to the young man who has helped him a lot.
"Good morning, Boss Lan! How are you today?" Curt greeted the middle-aged man upon seeing him reading the morning newspaper while sitting behind the counter shelf.
"Oh, Curt! You're early today… This is good, this is good." Boss Lan said good twice with an excited look on his face.
He can't wait for Curt to brew another batch of tea for him. The two had made a deal that after Curt was able to help him get better, he would pay the young man 10,000 credits for the treatment.
What is a ten thousand credit if he can get better? Hence, he didn't hesitate to agree on the condition only after 1 day of tasting the effect of the tea.
"Boss, today is the last day of your treatment… I… I'm excited to say that I think your body has already recovered its vigor." Curt said with a smile on his face.
"Well, you're right about that. Actually, yesterday I followed your advice and visited my doctor." Boss Lan said with a smile.
"And…"
"Well, he said that... all of my test results are good. I'm all good now! My knee is cured, and my prostate is fine. My wife is even happy, so, I'm also really happy. Thank you! Thank you!" he said while chuckling and having a broad smile on his face.
"That's… that's amazing, boss…" Curt said, feeling a bit dumbfounded.
Actually, while making the tea, he was not sure if it would be that effective. Though his mind is telling him otherwise, as someone without a background in medicine, how could he be confident to claim as such? But of course, in his heart he already knew of its effect, he just didn't expect that it would be this effective.
In fact, he didn't have to brew another tea for his boss today as he knew that his boss's body was already in good health. However, a deal is a deal.
Before Curt could walk towards the room at the back of the store, Lan Cuibing handed him an envelope.
"This…"
"You deserve it, young lad. My wife would nag at me if I didn't give you this much. Plus, she said to invite you to dinner tonight." Boss Lan informed, with a grin.
Curt didn't have to look inside the envelope to know that it was filled with credits. Hence, he just accepted it and gave his utmost gratitude to his boss.
"Thank you, boss! Thank you… I will go have dinner at your home tonight then…" he said as he put the envelope in his pocket and walked inside the back room.
This time he felt a bit conflicted about his decision. Whether he would resign from his job or not. In fact, Boss Lan was a great boss, but he knew that he would never be able to achieve his dream if he was in the store. However, he also didn't want to leave.
"Damn it… it's getting hard for me to leave this place…" he thought as he roamed his gaze inside the room.
He felt a bit of nostalgia in this place. He knew that if he left he would truly miss this place where he had learned and earned his living for many years.
But then a sudden glint of resolution came to his eyes as he recalled the few days that he had not been able to contact Jenny Mae. He needs to earn more money. But the question in his mind is how? If he leaves this place, how would he start?
He needs to earn more so that he can be at least presentable for Jenny Mae. But the problem is, she seems to be ignoring him these days.
He sent her a message and tried to call her, but she would not respond or even pick his calls. After their first fight, it became truly frustrating for Curt. He missed her so much but didn't want to look desperate at the same time.
"I think I should let her calm down for a bit. I'll try to call her next week, maybe she will have already calmed down by then." He muttered as he began working on concocting the herbal tea.
…
That night, he had a great dinner with the Cuibing couple and went home as usual. Suddenly, Curt saw an ambulance rushing on the street and an idea flashed in his mind.
"What if I ask the boss to help me get clients to practice medicine?" this sudden thought almost made Curt shiver.
How could he think of practicing medicine on living people? However, a strong intuition deep in his mind knew that he would be able to cure people if he followed what he knew.
"Well, if this is going to be possible, then using Boss Lan as my agent would not be that bad, right? Hmm… Let's set ten thousand credits as the fee and I will only help people with a difficult illness. I will not try to cure every illness. If I do that, then I will die from over-exhaustion. Let's just do the difficult ones then…" Curt muses while walking home.
However, this is only his plan though.
It was really dark, and the moon seemed to give off lesser light tonight. Unknown to Curt, a figure is currently hiding in the shadows while watching him.
After he is able to enter his house, that figure suddenly leaves.
After Curt opens the door and turns on the lights, he then put his back on the wall as he tries to extend his senses to listen to his surroundings.
He had already felt that presence ever since he went out of his boss's house. But he didn't bother with it as the person watching him from somewhere did not have any killing intent, so he just let the person be.
With the help of the tea and 5 days of absorbing LEP energy, he had finally enhanced his physique to reach the current state of a normal person in this world. This means that he is not a weakling anymore and has already reached the enhanced body of a regular person.
But of course, this is still not enough for him. In this world, a normal person is able to lift the weight of 100 kg with ease. At most, they can carry about 300 kg with extreme effort. And he has already reached this state. Hence, it made him feel really happy.
"It seems that the person is gone. I'm glad that my senses are this sharp. I'm not a weakling anymore… but I must continue to push myself and become stronger. I need to be a worthy partner for her." He muttered as he stopped being vigilant and walked inside his room.
After taking a shower, Curt sat in a lotus position on the cold hard floor and began brewing tea. In truth, this tea has a great effect on one's body and health. And not only was he able to cure his boss's sickness, but he was also able to enhance his own body with it. Plus, he also earned 10,000 credits on the side.
"Ah… this aroma is really refreshing." He muttered as he finished the tea in his cup with one gulp.
Then he began to concentrate and once again absorb the LEP energy in the air and that in the tea he had just ingested.
…
Meanwhile, in the darkness of the night, a petite figure walks towards a simple-looking house. The environment of the place that the figure is in is not that good. This area of the city is where people who are barely able to feed themselves live.
This is the poverty-stricken settlement of the city where the poor people live.
The petite figure is a young woman wearing a surgical mask and a black windbreaker. She is very careful in her movements and almost no one notices her walking while she avoids getting seen by anyone.
After sneakily entering the house, she closes the door carefully. She then cautiously listened outside for a while. After knowing that no one is there, she heaves a sigh of relief.
She takes off the surgical mask and the windbreaker, then sits on the only chair in the house. She then grabs the pitcher filled with water and pours herself a glass to drink.
"Sigh… I guess I was just too insecure…" she thought as she took out her old phone and looked at the picture of Curt in the gallery.
Because of her pride, she didn't ask for his picture and just took a stolen shot. But the angle was good, and the timing was so perfect that the picture ended up looking great.
"I'm sorry… I… I… was just hoping that you could heal my wounds..." she muttered as she caressed the face on the screen.
Her feeling for Curt is not that true. In fact, she is using him for her personal experiment. She didn't know if she could even overcome her horror and nightmares, so she really felt sorry for the only man who tried to understand her.