I Somehow Reincarnated as an OverPowered Elemental

Chapter 4: [The Man Under the Tree]

A/N: Sorry, this update took a while. Enjoy reading!

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Did you ever get that feeling that you're falling even when you're not?
Like, out of nowhere, you're suddenly falling from who-knows-where. Then suddenly— you wake up. Just that: you JUST. WAKE. UP.

It's weird, isn't it?

I heard that when you experience  something like that in your sleep and you suddenly wake up, it meant that your heart had stopped beating and that your brain gave you the illusion of falling so you'd wake up and get your heart pumping again. In short, you almost died.

That was what Lee was experiencing right now. Though, it seems pointless since she was already dead... wasn't she?

After that giant circle slurped her in, she fell screaming like a little girl and continued to fall like Alice when she fell in the rabbit hole when she followed that weird, talking rabbit who was muttering on and on about being late. This thought made her wonder. Did Alice feel the same when she fell in the rabbit hole?

Down.

Down.

Down, she went.

She kept falling for hours that she had stopped screaming from the pointlessness of it. It felt like forever! Tumbling and falling and turning in that endless tunnel with nothing but weird, glowing circles appearing and disappearing like fireflies in the night. It was almost hypnotizing.

She sighed. Ah~ah. What am I even doing here? Shouldn't I be in the afterlife by now? I've been falling ever since that voice spoke. Huh... Come to think of it— it sounded like he didn't want me to go through that colorful circle earlier. I wonder why? There's nothing wrong with this place. In fact, it feels comfy just from the warmth these circles are emitting. And before that, he said something weird as well. Something about... Uh... What was it again? Something about spirits... Elemental spirits? Hahaha... How ridiculous! I've never even believed in the supernatural even when I was a kid.

She looked around at the glowing circles, appearing and disappearing, all around her.

Geez! Am I going to fall like this forever? Like falling for the same jerk over and over again? Haha, nope. That's a lame analogy, even for me. Well, I guess this is what fate had in store for me. To fall and fall and fall and——

And just when she conceded that this was her fate, to free-fall in an endless tunnel of light, quite suddenly, another circle similar to the one that had "slurped" her in appeared way below to what seemed like her destination.

She braced herself for the impact but was surprised when she went through smoothly! Suddenly, she could feel the rush of the air around her. It was blowing from below—— no wait!

She turned to look for whichever side "below" was and was surprised and not surprised at the same time to realize that she was falling! For real this time!

She could see the mountains, the plains, the settlements farther away, then hill she was heading for...

"Wait, what?!" she screamed.

Are you kidding me?! If I fall down there, I'll die! Wait... Am I not dead already? Won't that make be a double-dead?! Is that even possible?

No matter what she thought, she only knew one thing: the landing was gonna hurt.

Screaming at the top of her lungs like a pig in a rollercoaster, she plunged down, with flapping hands and flailing legs. Though it did not help her soften her landing, even in the least.

Thankfully, the tree that was atop the hill she was heading for caught her. Though she did bounce off almost each branch and broke off almost every twig before landing on her bum at the foot of the tree.

"Ouch! That hurts sooo m-Wow..." She wasn't able to finish her complaint when she saw the breath-taking view that welcomed her eyes.

The rolling plains she saw from above was even more beautiful when she views it in front of her and not below her. Especially when there is no fear of being spattered-to-bits-when-I-land bothering her mind.

Then a sudden jolt of pain from her hips made her remember that she had just falled from a great height (who knows how high, really). After a light check on her body, she was satisfied to see that she didn't have any external injury. No blood was squirting out so she guessed that meant she was fine, for now.

That then made her realize something: she just felt pain. That was not possible unless she wasn't dead in the first place. But if she wasn't dead, then how can she explain the fact that she didn't sustain any broken leg or arm in her descents. If she was alive, then she should have at least a number of scratches and scrapes on her skin. The fact that she only had a few scratches, and they weren't even bleeding, yet she felt pain nonetheless only made her more confused.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought hard about the bizarre situation she was in. "But... how am I alive? I definitely died back there." she said as she gingerly touched each of her limbs. The memory of her (supposed) death was burned freshly into her retinas. How could she forget the feeling of hopelessness as she looked at the face of her murderer, face distorted in anger as her bestfriend looked down on her with the rock in her hands. Or should she still even call that girl her bestfriend? Does she deserve to be considered as one even after what she did to Lee?
She frowned and shook her head.
She had to focus on the issue at hand.

She considered pinching herself to check if she was actually dreaming but that seemed pointless since the pain she felt in her bum ever since she landed felt more painful than a pinch would. As far as pain goes, she should have woken up just from the what she felt from the fall. But she didn't.

"Then does that mean...? Then was that... that... murder— me dying— a dream?" she muttered under her breath. The situation was getting more and more confusing, it seemed. She grabbed a tuft of hair from her head with both hands and pulled on it in frustration.

Tired, both mentally and physically, she let go of her hair and tried to take in what was around her in hopes of maybe finding an answer to her questions.

"But... this place sure looks like a place you'll see in dreams." she said as her eyes wandered around, looking from her left to right at the panoramic view.

It was quiet and peaceful. So relaxing she didn't want to do anything but lie down on her back, close her eyes, and just drift off to slumberland.

From above, the leaves of the huge tree were of vibrant green. They even look more alive when stray sun rays hit the leaves giving them a glowing effect. They rustled ever so slightly as tiny breezes blew. The air was so crisp and fresh she could taste it as she deeply inhaled a deep breath. Just the thought of such a clean air running around her body gave her more energy. And not only was it clean and fresh, the air was also full of flower's fragrances. Wild daisies dotted the green carpet of fine grass that rolled down the hill occasionally disturbed by a lump or two on the earth. The wild flowers danced with the soft breeze and spread their beautiful scent in the air like a natural air freshener.

In the slopes and plains below, she could see a few rabbits hippity-hopping here and there, scurrying around to find their lunch. A deer and her fawn grazing by the edge of the woods on the far right of her view.
A flock of birds made their entrance with a chorus of twittering as they swooped, dove and soared in the sky like synchronized flights of those from the military she once saw in a movie.

It was all so beautiful and breath-taking. Just like how most people would describe—

"Is this heaven?" she wondered aloud. And it could possibly be the heaven they speak of. The only thing missing if we'd really stick to the script is the sparkle-sparkle effect, like a filter of some sort. Of course, she wasn't expecting anyone to answer her question since she believed that she was the only one on that hill. Otherwise, they would have reacted to her big crash, wouldn't they?

"No." That's why imagine her surprise when she heard someone speak from behind her. From behind the large tree trunk.

"This is my spot." a masculine voice spoke out of nowhere, giving her a surprise that jolted her out of her bones.