"Eren, this is a strange Universe. I just can't understand some things no matter how hard I try."
Mel came from a place where people were nice to each other, shared what they had, and there was no competition. She couldn't understand the life on Earth.
"Actually, from my point of view, the elves' way of life seemed strange."
They were sitting on a bench in a small playground. Mel was eating some hot corn from the little paper cup she was holding. They were among the children and parents playing around.
"There were no children in my village except me and my brother. All the village people took care of us when we were growing up. In fact, more than half of the week we ate and played games in other houses, not in my own house."
Eren couldn't even imagine such a thing to happen on Earth without evil actions involved.
He realized that the more Mel knew about life on this planet, the harder it would be. She hadn't yet seen what happened to the millions of people who suffer from aimless wars, hunger and injustice every day.
"Shall we go home?" Eren was going to his new job for the first time tomorrow and he had to get ready the night before.
They walked home calmly and Mel kept asking about other things she had seen around. There were too many questions to ask and a lot of information for Eren to tell.
When they entered the house, Eren took his new shirt from the washing machine and put it in the dryer upstairs. He ironed the tie and trousers he will wear tomorrow. He prepared his clothes and was interested to go seeing Mel's little project that started in the backyard.
At that moment, Eren went downstairs as if he had thought of something. He had a pensive expression on his face.
He wanted to ask Mel something. But he saw her sitting among the flowers and seed sprouts that had just begun to grow.
The sweet girl had her green hair pulled together in a small tail from the back. Her adorable neck and sweaty body that went down to her chest looked very attractive. It was as if a forest succubus came to this garden to share happiness with her presence.
Eren sat on the ground, mimicking Mel's cross-legged sitting with her eyes closed.
He sat directly across from Mel and inhaled the scent of flowers he had just begun to pick up on. Then he watched the movements of a few ants and insects around.
He watched for several minutes when he realized that Mel had opened her eyes. It felt as if he had entered a trance.
"You've already made this place beautiful. My mother would love it if she saw it."
Mel was happy and grinned. It was an adorable smile. "There are some passive traits that almost all of us elves have. Wood elves in particular, like me, attract nature's attention. And if we want, we can make the surrounding plants grow faster and healthier."
Eren was sure that a farmer with this kind of skill would have a huge advantage.
"So how do these plants grow faster without mana. I understand this happening in Evon. But there is no mana here. How does your skill work?"
Mel shrugged. She didn't know. All she was sure of was that as an elf, all of her passive abilities were still working on plants. "Maybe there is mana here. But we don't have the Evon system so we can't feel it. Who knows?"
Eren asked some more questions on this subject with the fluent elvish that came out of his mouth. As far as he learned, all the elves' relationships with nature were not solely due to Evon. Their creation was the result of a superior design, asking them to be closer to nature.
Mel raised her hand and stretched it out into the small stone-lined area behind her. A small sprout of grass miraculously grew out of the ground.
"I'm pretty sure I'm not using mana right now. But this garden and these plants give me control and strength. I wonder if I'm unknowingly getting mana from plants?"
Is something like this possible? Eren didn't believe it.
"Can you use a simple skill, Eren?"
Eren shook his head. "I don't have anything I can use actively. I don't have mana anyway."
Mel decided to put some thought into the matter and reduce her own mana. Using a tiny amount was enough for what she was going to try.
She raised her left hand in the air in a peaceful and slow motion.
Then she used a simple air skill. She was sure that some kind of energy was spent in low amounts in her body. The wind current that came out of her hand didn't come into existence out of nothing.
Mel closed her eyes to do something Eren knew from books and movies. She meditated. A few minutes later, her eyes opened again with excitement.
"I feel like the energy I just spent is refilled. You should try it too?"
This young man from Earth was convinced that meditation was psychologically beneficial. But he also knew his own planet. He was 100% sure that there was no mana or supernatural energy on this planet.
But when he looked into the eyes of the sweet girl who was staring at him like a kitten only 20 inches away, his heart didn't let him make fun of her.
He mimicked Mel's sitting position, releasing his entire body, including his arms. He waited in a comfortable position without moving any muscle in his body.
"Just sitting is not enough. You have to clear your head too."
As Eren got something wrong, Mel corrected him.
"Now close your eyes and meditate, focusing on the flowers around you. Take deep breaths and imagine the energy being drawn into your body as you continue to breathe. Try not to think about anything else."
Although Eren hadn't been making fun of the girl out loud, he was really sure that meditation wouldn't work. There wasn't even a drop of mana on this planet.
Still, he began to take deep breaths at the gentle and magical voice of the elf woman. Minutes later, he was sleepy and his neck and back ached.
He opened his eyes, looked at Mel's face right next to him, and smiled. "I'm just sleepy. Maybe because you're an elf, you can collect mana. Or whatever energy these plants and earth radiate."
The two sat on the sofa for a while before entering the house and going to sleep.
They hugged each other and lay on the couch as Mel turned on one of the music channels on the TV. Eren inhaled the scent of Mel, who was pressing her back and her entire body against his as usual.
He wrapped his arms around her and started watching tv.
After half an hour of small talk, Eren started to snore.
Mel stretched out her arm for a moment and took Eren's phone. Curiously, she studied this technological device. She remembered Eren pressing a certain button next to it.
When the key was pressed, the screen saver image appeared on the screen. On the bright screen, a sweet girl and Eren were hugging each other. Eren looked a bit different in the picture.
From what she could tell from the picture, they both looked very happy. Mel's eyes lit up. She stared at the picture for a minute, then put the phone back on the table.
Even though she was an elf Mel started feeling jealous.
Mel was the one Eren hugged right now, but she was the one who felt jealous.
..
Meanwhile, on the small planet in the Elven Realm in the Evon Universe, the small village where Eren lived began to suffer greatly.
Things got messy when Eren disappeared a week ago with Mel, one of the village's youth. But before the elves had time to get angry, there was a small earthquake in the forest.
After this earthquake, creatures deep in the forest began to change their habitats. As if by a domino effect, all very high-level creatures settled a little further out of the forest.
All mid-level and low-level creatures in the parts of the forest near the village also became active.
Rather than stay in the forest and die from deadly predators, they approached the quiet area of the elven village. Every day, dozens more creatures started attacking the village than the day before.
Not all of them came here to do evil to the elves. But even just to kill the attackers, Elena had a lot to do.
Emily constantly felt bad as she kept thinking about things like the man she fell in love with she wasn't back yet or he was badly injured.
She was both grumpy and extremely angry. She spent the whole day just hunting in the forest and didn't talk to anyone in the village.
Even when Mel's parents asked her about their daughter, she got angry and kicked the ground. Those who saw a huge windstorm and the tiny crater on the ground decided not to get close to Emily for a while.
..
He woke Mel before leaving the house in the morning. They had a nice breakfast and a cup of morning tea. Eren lived in Istanbul, Turkey. In the country where 500,000,000 cups of tea are consumed per day. He was a tea drinker like his family.
After explaining to Mel the differences between the flavors of tea with sugar and without sugar, they chatted about a little more general stuff.
Then he went out to the street so as not to be late for work. He got on the bus and got off very close to the street where the two-story building where he would meet Mira. Actually, he wanted to come with his own car today. But in the morning he changed his mind. He preferred the bus as a trial because he would come by bus every day in the future.
He approached Mira, who was waiting in front of the front door with her coffee in hand. Her jet-black hair was made into a back bun with a simple hairpin. She was wearing a black blouse, brown trousers, and a tiny little bag on her arm. She looked both professional and relaxed.
When she saw Eren, Mira raised her eyebrows and looked at this handsome man from head to toe. She was happy with what she saw.
"Good morning."
"What." Eren nodded his head. He wanted to jump right in and quickly begin the long meeting.
At first, they toured the interior of the building. Then Mira started to explain the details of the job. They also had samples of many of the products they were going to sell upstairs.
There were herbal teas, dried vegetables and all kinds of organic food products. Besides simple things like rice and paprika, exotic products like packaged pineapple powder and 100% natural fig jams were also available.
While Eren's questions were answered for about two hours, Mira explained the plan in her mind. Everything was planned, from some furniture and paintings to be added to the space and how the tables would look. In a day or two, everything would be moved and the final look of the place would be revealed.
"I brought a copy with me in case you want to show the deal to your attorney first."
For the next half hour, Eren learned about more specific issues such as working hours, the extent of his responsibilities and the details of the people to work with.
The duo, who met in the early morning, talked about everything about this shop for a full three hours.
"I don't need to show the deal to my lawyer. I trust you on these matters anyway."
Mira felt that Eren's gaze, who was looking at her intently, was more daring than before.
When he first started working with them two years ago, he was a timid man who asked for every detail. He was inexperienced and insecure. Now, however, he gave off the impression that nothing could harm him.
"He has the aura that should be in a boss or manager to control people. I think he's learned a lot in the last two years."
Mira had some hesitations. Although Eren is the most reliable and perfectionist employee, if he is not a leader, there could be trouble at work. But today her hesitation has completely disappeared.
"You really don't have to prove anything to me. Talk to your lawyer first. We'll be here every day for the next few days anyway. There are a few more days until the opening. Take your time and see your lawyer."
Eren was still persistent and signed the deal. He took a copy with him, folded it and put it in his inner pocket.
Eren was so cheerful and happy with his day that he couldn't even remember when he said goodbye to his boss Mira.
"From today on, I'm a manager. Someone with his own team! I have an elf roommate like Mel. I'm stronger, healthier, and more handsome than before.
Maybe I'm not rich, but I also had a prestigious job where I could make a lot of money.
I remember the French had a saying; "C'est la vie! I think it means, "That's life!"
Eren was getting excited very early on.
He didn't know that a tiny black speck had formed in the sky hundreds of meters above his house.
Maybe Eren thought he was cut off from the Evon Universe forever.
But Evon had other plans.