Chapter 03: Tribe's Predicament
Alfred let out a big sigh after the Elders and Vir came out, he finally has a chance to observe his surroundings. Alfred found out that he was in a dome-like tent that was made from some kind of animal skin sewed together, he also saw some decorations made from different kinds of materials such as bones, feathers, and some empty basket made from some kind of dry leaves sitting in the corner of the tent.
After a while, Alfred finally stopped observing his surroundings, he started to process what he learned to make some theories in his head to understand his situation better.
'First, the most shocking news is, I am in a different world, I don't know how, where, or even when, but I am pretty sure that this is a different world. If I remember correctly, Chief Viren said that he is the Chieftain of this tribe, so, it means I am in some kind of a tribe.
If I am in the tribe am I in a pre-historic-like world? or am I just in the very isolated corner of this world? Oh well, there is no point thinking about this kind of stuff right now, I need more information.'
'Next is my body, whose body is this? What is the reason why I am inside of this body? did someone deliberately put me in this body? or did I just reincarnate and this body is randomly chosen?'
Alfred contemplated, then he combined all the knowledge he learned from the first time he arrived in this world until now, to build some kind of goals he wanted to achieve and the things that he wanted to know.
'My first goal is to learn all I can about this world, maybe there is some kind of a way to go back to my old world. The second is to find out why I reincarnated, I want to know if there is some reason why I am here, do I need to do something, or if I am just here for no apparent reason.
Wait a minute, if I reincarnated here did I die in my old world? Now that I think about it, I don't have any recollection of what happened to me before I woke up in that forest. Also, my memory from the Earth is kind of fuzzy, I know that I am from Earth, also I have a family there, and some useless memory, but other than that all of my memory is kind of blurry.'
While Alfred was recalling his memory, he got frustrated for not being able to remember it properly. So, he forced himself to remember parts of his memory, and then he felt a sudden surge of pain inside his head. He felt like his head was going to explode if the pain continued.
Alfred immediately stopped thinking hoping the pain to go away, after a few seconds, the pain in his head started to subside. He let out a sigh of relief and relaxed a little. Alfred was exhausted. Therefore, he decided to postpone reading the parchment he borrowed from Chief Viren, he chose to rest and just read it after he woke up.
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Inside the biggest tent in the tribe, Vir and chief Viren are talking about Alfred.
"Father, is it really ok to just let that man stay in our tribe, can we really trust him?" Vir said to chief Viren.
"It is not about trust Vir, it is about the survival of our tribe, the situation of our tribe is getting worst, and I would do anything to stop it." Chief Viren replied with a solemn face.
After Vir heard what chief Viren said, he became more confused, he didn't understand the connection of the tribe to Alfred.
"Father, I am also aware of the situation of our tribe, but I do not understand how can you be so sure that Alfred can help our tribe in its current predicament?"
Chief Viren stared at Vir for a while without saying anything, then sighed, his face became more serious, and he looked straight into Vir's eyes.
"Vir my son, I think it is time for you to know the secret of our tribe, or maybe even the secret of every tribe in the great forest. In tradition, this secret can only be known by the Elders of the tribe for the safety of every tribesman. Therefore, I want you to vow to the Guardian Tree that you will keep this secret and tell no one unless it is necessary for the rest of your life."
Vir got a little stunned, but when he saw the seriousness on chief Viren's face, he didn't hesitate to stand up, placed his right hand on his left chest, and make a vow to the Guardian Tree.
"I, Vir, the head arrow of the Phantom Tribe swore to the guardian tree, to keep the secret I am about to hear, and tell no one unless it is necessary for the rest of my life"
When chief Viren heard Vir's vow, he slowly stood up, then walked toward the exit of the tent. He waved his hand signaling Vir to follow him. After chief Viren and Vir walk out of the tent, the first thing they saw was the Majestic Tree.
Chief Viren stopped to admire the beauty of the giant tree for a few seconds, then proceed in the direction of the giant tree. While Chief Viren and Vir are walking, some of the tribesmen who saw them started greeting them, Chief Viren acknowledged them by nodding his head a little.
When they got near to the Guardian Tree, Vir stopped, but Chief Viren walked closer and then caressed it with a sad face.
"Come, Son, follow me."
The old man walked into the deep dark hole beneath the Guardian Tree, Vir hesitated to follow.
"Father, is it ok for me to follow you to the sacred altar? Isn't it only the Elders are allowed inside?"
Chief Viren stopped walking.
"Do not worry son, you are the next chief of this tribe, traditionally you are only allowed to go into the sacred altar after you became the chief, but this is a special case, the survival of our tribe is on the line."
After saying that, Chief Viren resumed his walk in the direction of the sacred altar. Vir hesitated a bit, but still followed Chief Viren. After a few minutes of walking in the dark cave, they finally saw some light ahead of them, they are only a few steps away before they finally arrived at the sacred altar.
On the other of the light was a large open space, In the center of this large open space, there was a big glowing rock the size of a two-person combined. The rock was covered with the roots of the Guardian Tree, and in the middle of this rock was a hole the size of a human head. Vir was mesmerized when he saw this glowing rock, he became dazed because of the beauty of this rock.
"Father, what is this rock? Why do I feel the strong Life Energy of the Guardian Tree coming from it?"
"This rock is the sacred altar of our tribe, it is also the hearth of the Guardian Tree. Our ancestors called this rock the Guardian's Heart, this rock is very important, if something bad happens to the Guardian's Heart it will also happen to the Guardian Tree. That is why our ancestors decided that only the Elders are allowed to come here." Chief Viren replied.
Vir became even more shocked by this revelation, but after a while his eyebrows frowned, Vir noticed that something was wrong with the Guardian's Heart.
"Father, why do I feel like something is wrong with the Life Energy of the Guardian's Heart?
When chief Viren heard this, his face became sorrowful.
"You are right, the life energy of the Guardian's Heart is continued decreasing day by day. If we lft this alone sooner or later the Guardian Tree will wither and die. If that happens our tribe will lose its only protection from monster and beast."
Vir became alarmed, he took an oath to his late wife that he would protect this tribe as long as he was breathing. That was why he worshipped and respected the Guardian Tree for protecting his tribe. When he heard that there was a possibility that the Guardian Tree was dying, and the tribe would lose its protection, he became frightened.
"Father! Why is this happening and how can we stop this?"
Chief Viren became more depressed.
"The only solution we know is by sacrificing a Life Stone every sixth moon, after that the Life Energy of the Guardian's Heart will rise again. That is why we follow the tradition that every sixth moon we will sacrifice a Life Stone to the sacred altar to show our gratitude to the guardian tree."
But over the past decades, the sacrifice we have made have taken longer between each sacrifice, and because of that, the Life Energy of the Guardian's Heart continued weakening. Therefore, we are forced to hunt a beast for its Life Stones, but every time we hunt a beast there is always a casualty within our hunters, over time our number dwindles, and the hunt for a beast became more difficult.