1 The Southern Earth tribe Part I

Following the scream, came pure pandemonium. Now, to Reeve, it seemed like he was screaming. However, to other people, it was like a monster's roar! Even the grand priest was startled, and he was the one who was conducting the so called rite. Finally, after screaming his lungs out, Reeve became silent. What was the reason for the scream? Simple. One moment, he was walking across the road. The next moment, he's sleeping on a stone altar, while a tribe was kneeling towards the altar he was sleeping. Nothing wrong with that, right?

"QUIET!! Bring the offering prepared for the protector!" ordered the grand priest, after quieting the place. The pandemonium and panic stopped, and people resumed kneeling behind the stage where the altar was situated.

A group of four burly young men, ran out to one of the storage of the storage areas and came back holding large containers. Each of the containers was filled to the brim with jewels made of gold, diamonds and other precious materials. They hurriedly left them in front of the stone altar, before leaving.

The grand priest snorted, before saying, "All of the offerings!" As he said this, he was looking behind him, on the front row. There was a middle-aged man, who was wearing a leather coat, golden earrings and looked like he owned the entire world.

The middle-aged man sighed, before looking at two young men, and nodding at them. The young men left and when they came back, they were escorting a beautiful girl.

Reeve was perplexed when he first saw the four young men leaving. The first thing that came to his mind when he heard the word offering, was money. Not a lot of money, no! As an engineer, he had learnt to analyze things critically. The first issue to notice was the number of people who had gathered at this … eh … whatever this gathering was. If this was all the people in the tribe, as the funny looking man with the staff had said, then how rich could they be?

And then to his surprise, the four burly young men returned with containers the size of a drum, and each of those containers was filled to the brim with jewelry! What on earth?

To make matters worse, the funny looking man said something with a cold snort. And then they brought a girl as an offering! Reeve wanted to shout out and ask what the … eh … what they were doing. However, he decided to keep it cool and see how this played out. Hey, at least if things went south, or north, he'd be rich, right?

"Oh great protector, messenger of the deities. In exchange for your protection, we'll be giving you this small tribute every once in a while. Please accept this small tribute from us, your humble servants", spoke the grand priest.

Reeve didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he heard the grand priest say they were giving him a small tribute. What was small about four drums worth of gold and diamonds, plus a girl?

As he was about to say something, there was commotion in the crowds. Five young men wearing simple tunics with a funny looking symbol drawn at the front. The young men were being led by a middle-aged man, wearing the same garb, but with a lighter shade of blue. The middle-aged man laughed coldly as he reached the front stage. He spoke, "Oh Karim, Karim. I was wondering what you were doing this whole time. So, this is the reason you decided to stop paying tribute to us?"

As he asked, he was pointing towards the stone altar, where Reeve was still sitting, confused. He continued, "Well, we are going to kill whatever it is you managed to conjure up. After that, we are taking all the tribute, including the girl."

The grand priest frowned deeply, while Reeve showed a trace of panic. He hadn't felt this terrified since the voice inside the white dimension. 'Eh? What voice inside a white dimension?' As he was thinking, a wave of memories flooded his head, causing his head to ache a bit.

He remembered the voice inside the white dimension! He remembered the runaway truck! He remembered being told that he was dead! As he remembered all this, his expression turned even more ugly. He had died!

'Wait a minute! How am I alive if I died?' he thought, as he tried to calm his heart. 'The voice said it was the deity that controlled the cycle of reincarnation! So this means that I was reincarnated?' He took a look at himself again. His hands were bandaged, his legs were in stitches and they looked like they were a million years old. Don't ask how he came to that conclusion.

While Reeve was busy analyzing his situation, the middle-aged man walked towards the altar.

"Azera! Don't do this! Are you trying to rebel against the gods?" asked the grand priest, who had been called Karim, with a very ugly expression.

"The gods? Don't make me laugh! You think the gods really care so much for your small Earth tribe in this middle of nowhere?" asked Azera, as he reached the altar.

He extended his right hand, and inside it, drops of water condensed from the atmosphere! After condensing, they formed a small sword, which froze into a sharp ice-sword!

The crowd gasped at this site. It would have been a marvel, considering they had never seen this type of magic up close. However, considering that Azera wanted to kill their protector, it was only despair they felt.

Azera dashed towards Reeve who had stood up from the altar in order to run. He had already died once, and he didn't want to die again. Reeve turned to flee, but he realized that he wasn't fast enough! Also, it seemed like a collection of snow flakes was slowing down his movements. Azera reached Reeve in a matter of seconds, and then swung the ice-sword! A head flew up, and then rolled down the steps leading up to the altar.