The Southern Earth tribe was peaceful again. The tribesmen resumed their duties, while the women started taking care of the children at home. During this time, Reeve was preoccupied with coming up with a defence strategy. However, he discovered during this process that he was terrible at strategizing. The only idea he could come up with was digging tunnels in the rock mountain, for hiding whenever there was an attack.
In the blink of an eye, four days passed. During the four days, some carriages passed through the tribe, and a red-haired girl stayed behind. The girl was inquisitive, and despite her easy-going nature, she managed to help the tribeswomen with various chores. No one knew where she had come from, but she had introduced herself as Erica.
Reeve woke up early in the morning. If his body was normal, he'd be sweating right now. For the past four days, he had been having the same dream. In this dream, he was in a place called the Eastern District. He was a student of a martial arts master. Rather, he was the only student of the said master. The two lived in a run-down dojo, and to maintain the dojo, the master had borrowed money from some loan sharks.
The dream was so vivid, it was like it had actually happened. Reeve remembered what happened at the end of the dream, and he sighed. He had been shot during a confrontation with some goons sent by the loan sharks. If the dream had been just that, a dream, then Reeve would not have been worried at all.
What worried Reeve about this recurring dream was that, when he woke up, he would still remember the teachings of that master! He would remember each kata, including the feeling he had when he performed it. He would also feel pain in his chest, where he had been shot.
After waking up, he continued with his daily ritual. He ran around the village twice. When he was resting at the edge of the forest, he saw a red-haired girl going into the forest. He had seen this girl once before, but he had never paid any attention to her. What puzzled him now, was why she was awake during this time of the morning. Most people were still asleep, but she had already woken up. He decided to swiftly follow her, to see what she was up to.
The girl kept walking, until she was deep in the forest. That was when she suddenly stopped.
"Come out, I know you have been following me all this time!" she said, looking in the direction Reeve was hiding.
Reeve didn't come out of hiding, he stayed there. The girl seemed to be annoyed.
"I'm going to count to three. If you don't come out by that time, I'm going to kill you!" she said, drawing daggers from the skirt she was wearing.
Reeve sighed and came out. He had somehow been discovered. This made him surprised. It had to be known that, in order for someone to be this good at something, they had to have been doing it for quite a long time. They would have been trained or …
That's when it hit him! This girl was definitely a spy! Reeve had watched enough spy movies to know that the person least suspected is always the spy. This girl, despite the easy-going demeanour she had displayed in the village, was a spy. Considering he had found out about it; Reeve would rank her as an amateur. However, now he had a problem. She had discovered him, and this meant she would never let him go alive…
'Wait a minute, I'm immortal … hehehe She probably doesn't know that! It doesn't matter how she tries to kill me! I won't die! Hahahaha!' he laughed as he thought.
The girl saw him start laughing, and then she frowned. "So, you're the zombie protector of the Southern Earth tribe?" she said with a smile. The she continued, "I might not be able to kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't capture you and tie you up. This will prevent anyone from ever finding out!"
Reeve froze in mid laughter when he heard this statement.
*******************
Now, in a place far away from the continent, on one of the floating islands, an old man came out of a house and yawned. It was early in the morning, and he still felt sleepy. However, he had sensed something, which is what woke him up. He scratched his bald head, before sighing.
"What do you think of my present to him?" asked an ancient sounding voice.
"Aren't you cheating? What's the purpose for wiping a person's memories during reincarnation, if you're going to give them back anyway?" asked the old man.
"Whose rules am I breaking? You have to admit it's amusing though. Besides, we're about to watch a good show. Let's get some popcorn and a slushie."
"Wait, what?"
"Right, I forgot you've never been to the other world. Never mind."
"Do you think it's a good idea to bring people together like this?" asked the old man, scratching his bushy beard.
"They'll thank me later. It's a way to build a very strong friendship", replied the ancient sounding voice.
"My friends and I didn't try to kill each other before we became friends, and we're very good friends!"
"Does this include Rokkai and Ezrom?"
"Okay, never mind those two. They're always at each other's throat."
"Anyway, don't we have a more serious issue to discuss?"
"I have come up with a strategy to defeat the titans. This is where I need your help the most."
"I didn't want to get him involved with you and your problems …"
"Our problems? Do you think we enjoy being in this world?"
"Yes. If it's you, I'd say you enjoy it!"
"Right … Okay, I do admit I enjoy the peace and quiet, but we both know that once the titans figure out a way to break the barrier, this peace and quiet will be a thing of the past", replied the old man with a bit of melancholy.
"I know. But I'm still not getting him involved!"