"Oh my, I have been expecting you Blake, or shall I call you Noah?" I saw the Elf, that's what he probably is considering his pointy ears, a common way to identify an Elf, smile at me as he asked this very absurd question.

Huh? "Huh?"

I was perplexed.

How did he- oh, it could be a she, they look androgynous, anyways, how did they know my name? And my name from my past life too? Is it magic? But we just met.

I may have been staring at the Elf for too long, they frowned and then laughed.

"Hahaha! I was expecting some sort of reaction from you but this is my first time seeing one like this! You don't seem surprised at all, but your actions show otherwise." The Elf was amused, very.

I finally got myself together.

Noah! Stay aware, what is important is to make a good impression on him! Say polite words or a greeting, it is rude to stare for too long.

"Ah, I apologize for being rude, I was a bit overwhelmed by your question, my name is Noah, I am of the family name Blake, you can call me Noah, may I ask what your name is?"

I did it! That was very respectful! I think.. I don't know much about etiquette in this world, I just know that it is natural to say your name fully.

I heard the Elf stifle a laugh, I tilted my head while looking at them, they put on a more serious face and patted my head.

"You don't have to be so formal Noah, although Humans and Elves don't have the best relationship they still respect each other, I'm Sylvar of the Ancient Elves, I used to be the king of the Ancient Elves, just call me Sylvar, why don't you come inside and eat something? I've already prepared food as I have been expecting you to come." He said nonchalantly, as if he didn't say something outrageous.

Ruler?! That means he's the king of Ancient Elves, how was he so composed while saying that? Is he testing me? Should I stay formal so I won't be rude, or should I comply with what he said? Ahh why is my first meeting with another person so complicated!?

As I was muddled once again by him, I watched the Ancient Elves king's expression turn unnatural, as if suppressing his emotions, but he finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing... loudly, the graceful appearance of the Elf was completely discarded.

"Hahahahaha! My Oh My! Hahaha!" He wiped away the tears formed by laughing too much "I'm sorry Noah, I just haven't talked to anyone in a long time, much less anyone who is unpredictable like you, I was just messing with you for fun, you don't have to show any sort of respect you have to show towards a king, status for us Ancient Elves means nothing, I am only the king because I have the strongest divination ability of the Ancient Elves."

"Okay, thank you for the invitation, but are you sure you want to give me food? I have nothing else to give you in return." It hurt to say this but I just want to make sure I don't get myself into a situation I cannot handle.

He patted my head "Hmm, I'm sure you'd be suspicious of a person you just met, but I'll have to tell you that I don't want anything materialistic in return, I just want someone to converse with."

Perhaps it was what he said that prompted me to notice that in this place there was only his tree house and no other

"Do you live alone?"

He stopped patting my head "Yes, I do live alone."

That doesn't seem right, isn't he a ruler? Why are there no Elves around him? Hmmm, I'll ask him later if I have a chance, for now fo- rumble ah I'm ashamed.

He laughed yet again "Come on in, it seems your stomach is quite enthusiastic Noah."

"I am sorry, and thank you, I will take you up on the offer, otherwise I am afraid I would starve." I bowed to him.

He flicked my forehead "Why are you being so well behaved? I told you there is no need to be formal, go inside and let's eat together."

"Ah yes, I'm so-"

I have a habit of being formal to anyone I talk to from my previous life, since I wanted to make the best impression I could to people around me, I wanted to do something to make up for my lack of expression, however it didn't seem to help.

"I'm sorry, it is just a habit, I will try to get better in the future." I lifted my hands up for a handshake, he was a bit confused at first but then he seemed to remember something and shook my hands "it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Sylvar."

"Likewise, Noah." He smiled again.

Before I got in I created some water to wash my face and hands and a breeze to dry myself, it was cold.

but hygiene!

Sylvar raised a brow when he saw me using magic.

"Is there anything wrong?" I asked

"No no, there isn't, I'm just a bit surprised, we'll talk while eating or after, we have a long time to talk." He replied.

"Okay."

I got inside the tree house, which was more spacious than I thought it would be.

Wow~! I've always thought tree houses are amazing, this is wonderful! And it's so warm compared to the outside!

However rumble~ feed me~ ah~

My stomach got more excited by the sight of food, there wasn't anything special, just some roasted meat and vegetables, however that was something I haven't had for a while, I was excited.

I waited for Sylvar to sit down then I sat down across from him on the chair.

wah, so comfortable, I'm already getting drowsy, children bodies are fragile, after relaxing for a bit I feel so exhausted.

We started eating, I ate slowly, it was torturous since I was starving, but I had this as a habit aswell, it was a good habit, I never got burned or choked while eating, and eating too fast would cause bloating so I just usually ate slowly.

"Can I ask you a couple of questions?" I asked

"Yeah, you can, I too would like to ask some." He smiled while putting a piece of meat in his mouth and chewing it.

"Okay, I'll start, why do you live alone?"

He choked cough cough, I gave him water, "is it a sensitive matter? If so, you don't have to answer."

"No cough, no, it's just that I was expecting you to ask a different question, a more important one, like how I knew you already." He said

"You are right, I was going to ask that after this question, but this question is important too."

What if you got exiled for being a bad ruler, then I would rather leave, although I'm sure he wouldn't give me an honest answer if it was anything bad like that, he also said something about divination which answers that question.

"The answer to your first question is that, I'm the last member of the Ancient Elves alive, we were hunted down for our unique ability to see anyone's past with our blue eye and see possible futures with our red eye, it's a racial ability for us Ancient Elves, and this also answers the second question you have."

"I survived by hiding in this forest away from any smart life forms as it is isolated from the outside world and rarely visited by anyone because it has no resource other than wood and some medical plants, it has no other living beings than bugs, horned rabbits, and some birds and people lose their way in it because it is vast and everywhere looks the same." He finished.

"So you are kind of like a seer, how accurate are the visions you see in your eyes? You knew I would come but didn't know my reaction as it seems you said I was 'unpredictable'." I asked.

He narrowed his eyes and looked at me "good question, since I have a strong divination ability, I could read souls very well, if I wanted to see their past, I would even be able to see their whole life again, the only disadvantage is being unable to read their thoughts, and if I wanted to see their future, it would be more complicated, because there are multiple paths and choices a person could take, but after accumulating knowledge in this field for couple thousand years, I could predict pretty much anything, which made things boring for me, do you understand everything I've said so far?."

I nodded while chewing "Hm, you're old."

He flicked my forehead and laughed "I am"

He pointed his index finger at me "and then you came, part of your soul isn't of this world, perhaps my ability is only able to read souls of this world, or maybe it is because your soul is too strong for me to comprehend it, but I still could vaguely see your past, aswell as your future, however it isn't very reliable and everything you do is 'unpredictable' for me, it is quite a novel experience if you ask me, you feel very fresh to me, and I'm quite interested in the world Noah lived in before."

"I understand, I going to ask three last questions for now, what happened to Blake? Why am I in his body and why am I in control? You said 'part of your soul' that means Blakes soul is still here, why is my soul here and not in my original world?... I know I asked a lot of questions and you probably can't answer them, but atleast give me a theory as to why or what."

He rubbed his chin, after a while he answered "those are indeed tough questions, my best theory is as follows: Blakes soul is strong and so is yours, I have seen strong souls going to other strong ones compatible with them to get some of their spiritual power, that happens when they are at the verge of disappearing or put in simpler terms, the body of Blake was dying so it's soul went to your soul, a very compatible one, as to why or how it went to another world, I don't know, Blake was absorbing spiritual power from you, he had borrowed enough and was going back to his body, but you died, and your soul was disappearing, Blake held on to your soul and because you two were compatible, the two souls fused together, that explains why you have such a powerful one."

He took a breath and continued "Blake's consciousness should have been the one in control cosidering this is his body, however he probably died because of the curse in his village and the pressure his body was facing to change and adapt with the new soul, which made your consciousness awaken, your soul adapted to the new world with the help of Blake's soul, and the fused soul made your appearance a mix of Blake's and Noah's, this is the only explanation I can give you." He said.

My expression was grim, it wasn't very noticeable, but perhaps the aura I radiated helped.

So Blake could have survived if his soul didn't fuse with mine?

I only cause trouble, because of me, Blake died, he was such a good kid.

am I a bad omen as my father from Earth said? I'm starting to believe it, maybe I am.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.

Who am I apologizing to? He's already dead, because of me, I'm so selfish.

He sighed "this is the only time I've been frustrated by my lack of ability, congratulations Noah, you did something unthinkable." And then he laughed and tried to cheer me up noticing my quietness.

I hate myself...

He got up and walked towards me, he cupped my cheeks with his hands and made me look at him

"Look here Noah, I know from the glimpses I saw in your past that you're a good person, you've done nothing wrong, okay? Blake had already died when he went to your soul to borrow spiritual power, if anything, you helped him say goodbye to his parents, before they died."

Ofcourse it's my fault, what are you saying? I should have done better, I should have stopped that girl from jumping, or told Blake to live happily, but I was absorbed in remembering my life before dying, without thinking of the consequences that would follow.

He pinched my cheeks "Oh that feels really nice," then continued "remember what Blake told you? He wanted you to live? He did all this so you can live, so are you going to disregard his efforts? If you think that merely living on with this body is selfish, and that you should wallow in grief to make up for it, then it's the opposite alright? You should make Blake's wish come true and live on without being so down on yourself."

Sylvar let go of me "I'm not going to meddle in anymore, it's up to you to make the decision to use this chance to live happily or let go of this precious opportunity that Blake worked so hard to give to you, you seem exhausted, there is an extra bed on the second floor next to my bed, it is smaller in size, go and sleep and we'll talk later okay?"

"Thank you." I wanted to hug someone for comfort but I resisted the urge to hug him and climbed the ladder to the second floor and jumped into the smaller bed, I didn't want to think of anything, because if I did I think I would go mental, and even though I didn't trust Sylvar completely, I didn't care if he did anything bad to me.

I got comfortable on a bed for the first time in so long and slept almost immediately, and thoughtlessly...