I Somehow Reincarnated as an OverPowered Elemental

Chapter 8: [Brightpine]

A/N: Lee has just started her journey in this new and alien world. How will she adapt to this new world?
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It has been two hours since they left the hill with the tree which, according to Kin, was supposedly called a Solar Eucalyptus. Interestingly, it was called that way because at the height of the Summer Solstice all of the tree's leaves gather the sun's light and warmth. It would then make the tree appear to be glowing! Then all the light will gather to one specific leaf. No one knows which one. Only the tree knows. And, when it falls, whoever the leaf chooses will be blessed with the sun god's favor for the rest of the year until the next Summer Solstice.

As it happens, the Summer Solstice was going to occur in two week's time!

"Wow! That would look super! I wish I'll get the chance to see such a spectacular moment." Lee sighed. She could totally imagine the whole crown of the tree glowing in a bright, golden color.

Kin, who was walking beside her, just mumbled a 'hm' in response. Huh, still not much of a talker, is he?

After a few more minutes, Lee noticed that they were approaching an incline on the road. It wasn't that high but she was getting tired.

"Hey Kin? How much farther to the closest village? I'm tired. And thirsty." she moaned in complaint.

"It's not far now. You'll see it in a moment." he replied without looking at her nor with any emotion.

And so they walked up the slope, Kin with steady strides while Lee was struggling to keep up. Back on Earth, she wasn't the kind of girl that goes out with their friends frequently. She was more like the 'stay-at-home' type where she spends much of her time at home doing household chores. So you could quite imagine how this walk was a big change in her lifestyle, and more was still to come.

Looking up, Lee saw that Kin had already reached the top and was standing there waiting for her to catch up.

'He's going to tease me for being too slow like a grandma if I keep him waiting. Fine, I'll sprint up to where he is. It can't be that hard, can it?' Lee decided and off she went, kicking her feet off the ground as fast as she could.

Well, she did arrive much faster than if she had walked but now she's out of breath.

Panting, with both hands on her knees to support her crouching body, she gasped to catch her breath. 'Man! That was tiring.'

Kin just looked at her while she panted like a dog. Ugh, can't he be a gentleman for this moment and offer some water or something?

"You look like you just got hammered by ten men." Kin commented, looking at her sweat-drenched face.

"Hammered?" Lee replied with a confused face, not sure what Kin had meant.

For a brief moment, Kin's face flushed but Lee didn't notice. Not sure if we could consider that fortunate or unfortunate. "Nevermind that. Look up ahead. That's Brightpine Village. The population is in the average hundreds but it's a bit more crowded than usual since the Solar Festival is near." Kin pointed out a settlement not far from where they were standing.

After taking two steps forward and squinting from the bright sunshine, Lee could finally make out a bunch of houses clustered together.

"Wow, that's... this world's village. I wonder what it looks like up close? What am I going to see? Smell? Taste? Yeah! I wonder if they have anything to eat there?" Lee's words came out in a jumble as she began her descent from the slope. She was excited to experience the other-world vibe first hand.

She once had a friend from the US that was a fan of Japanese animation or better known as anime. He would always talk on and on about it and would even recommend her a few of his favored series. She recollected that his favorite genre in anime, aside from comedy and sci-fi, was isekai which literally translates to "another world".