Eric Xing stepped out of the humble dwelling into the brisk morning air, his right hand mindlessly scratching the back of his overly full head of hair in a leisurely manner. He was in a simple set of off-white robes devoid of any fancy embroidery and with no shoes to cover his bare feet. It was cold, but the chill from the air felt good in the presence of the unimpeded sun.
He looked down at his arms again, this time noticing the slight change in his skin tone.
'That's... odd.'
Raising his eyebrow, Eric Xing noticed how his skin seemed more clear than ever. However, it seemed like it may have taken some time to find him when he reincarnated, as evidenced by an impressive and even tan. The clear skin that was devoid of blemishes, combined with the tan, caused it to look darker than it was in his previous life. It practically shined with vitality in the sunlight.
A fact that obviously drew attention from some villagers in the distance. One glance told him that the racial landscape was very much so homogeneous. The locals had probably never seen anyone quite like him, so while conventional racism may not come in to play due to a lack of precedence, he knew he would probably always be 'othered' from here on out.
The people's stares didn't bother him too much, he was pretty sure a sore thumb analogy wouldn't cut it when describing how much he stuck out.
This body wasn't exactly familiar, but it was definitely his. This meant that he wasn't possessing a recently deceased man. Unlike in the novels, his whole being was sent to this world, which was great... except for the whole not blending in part.
Looking away from his gawkers caused him to notice his surroundings.
'What a view.'
Eric was left breathless. His previous assessment of him being on a farm of sorts, possibly in a mountain village were correct. The sheer magnitude of the mountain and the beauty of the vast surrounding landscape were something that truly had to be seen to be believed.
The rather large village was positioned several hundred meters above the distant valley floor, set upon a series of terraces that were carved into the face of the mountain that loomed above.
'And what a mountain this is...'
The monolith of a rock formation seemed to stretch well past the clouds. It was much more tall than any mountain on earth by at least ten times, if not more. He had actually climbed Everest in his previous life and his current position reminded him of the halfway point to the peak.
'That means I'm at least four thousand meters above the ground right now, give or take a few. Which means the peak of this thing is at least... eighty thousand meters?!'
Eric abruptly tore his eyes away from the impossibly sized monstrosity that loomed above and focused on his immediate surroundings.
The residence he was currently standing outside of was positioned in the corner of the terrace it was on. Noticeably distant from the rest of the residences. It was simultaneously near the edge of said terrace and he could therefore look to his right and see the next terrace thirty or forty meters below, followed by eleven more identically sized plateaus. Each one stretching towards the valley roughly fifteen hundred meters while stretching across the face of the mountain at a distance that he couldn't quite make out.
This was hardly a village at all, now that he properly looked at it. It's size was simply dwarved by its surroundings. Looking to his left informed him that the pattern of these terraces repeated themselves for a total of at least thirty sections of land.
'Seems each level also has it's own amount of associated wealth.'
Looking down and to his right, the amount of dwellings per level grew in number and fell in quality the further from the top they were. Each level down having more farmland and rice paddies than its predecessor meant that the squat ground-level dwellings had to be clustered more and more.
Looking up and to his left revealed less and less buildings of larger size, with more space between them and even more floors. The last third of the levels actually weren't even visable from where he stood, however they did display pagodas that grew in elegance and size the further up they were, allowing him to infer the existence of the remaining ones.
Just as Eric's eyes began to be pulled back to the distant peak, the door opened behind him and a delicate voice sounded out.
"Hello sir, it is nice to formally meet you."
Not knowing the traditions of the land, Eric simply turned around and bowed at the waist towards his host.
"And the same to you as well, ma'am. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Eric Zakhele Xolani-Xing. Most call me Eric Xing or just Eric, for short. May I come in?"
The young woman seemed to blush. She had obviously freshened up a bit, combed and put up her hair, washed her face and even changed into a set of noticeably nicer robes. "Please do", she said softly.
'No makeup huh?'
Eric, a supporter of natural appearances, approved.
"Um... please have a seat." She gestured to the small table, now set with food, as he crossed the threshold.
He seated himself in the chair facing the door and waited patiently as she poured tea.
"I am called Jiang Ying Yue. Ying Yue will do for now, Eric Xing." Her smile was heartwarming.
"Jiang Ying Yue... I feel as if I've read that in a poem. It means the moon's reflection on the river, correct?"
That smile again. "More or less. Your name is nearly a complete mystery to me, however."
Eric rubbed his nose and glanced to the side, while a nervous grin touched the side of his mouth.
"That's because it's kind of all over the place as far as its origin and intended meaning. Name by name it's 'eternal ruler, create something of yourself, you all have peace/ take it easy' and, as you know Xing to be, 'star'."
Ying Yue's eyebrows had risen considerably the further he went, it was quite impressive in its own right.
Eric sipped the tea as he waited for her response. He was almost absolutely sure that she wasn't even aware of when she sat down.
"There are so many things that can be gleaned from a name like that", she said. "Normally only nobility or eccentrics have such names. Are you either of those?"
Eric chuckled. "I'm afraid not miss, I'm simply from a distant land."
Ying Yue didn't pry. "Eric, is a surname I've never heard before, as are the other two. 'Xing' is the only name familiar to me and that is normally a surname itself."
"Eh... where I'm from, things are quite backwards, it seems. I guess here, I would be called Xing Eric... On second thought, either call me Xing or Eric. I'm not picky."
"Eric it is then." She smiled again. "Now Eric, I'm sure you're curious as to how you got here."
"You would be correct."