7 Arc 1 - My first battle

I approach the boat.

It is medium in size, I would say it would fit at least 5 men comfortably in it.

On the shore I see footprints, I think there are at least three men. The footprints lead into the forest.

I could stay here and wait for them or I could follow their trail. They could take hours to come back.

I go into the forest following the trail of these men. I don't know who they are, they could be bandits or worse. But it is the first sign of civilization that I come across, I need information. I need to know which continent I am on.

With my guard up and cautious steps I move through the trees.

What name should I use?

Owen Ventosa died a long time ago, but I'm not Riku Senju.

Of course Riku is one of my past lives but I don't feel comfortable using his name, it feels wrong.At the moment I will only introduce myself as Senju, I will decide my name later.

About an hour later I hear voices about thirty meters from my current position.

"You lil shit, you sure you saw er over here?"

I hid behind a tree and looked at the men who were arguing. They are 3 adults and a teenager. The men appear to be in their thirties and forties and the teenager appears to be no more than fifteen. All of them are dressed in somewhat tattered clothing.

One of the men has the teenager held roughly by the neck. That man has a huge scar on his face,

I'll call him Scar. Scar has an ax and a dagger on his waist.

The other men are also armed, one carries a bow slung across his back, I'll call him Arc, the other man carries what appears to be a sling (?), I'll call him Dave.

The teenager is not armed.

I wonder what is going on there.

I debate between approaching and intervening or continuing to observe from afar.

Dave tries to calm Scar down, but Scar ignores him as the boy looks like he's about to pee his pants.

In the end I decided to keep my distance and watch them. These guys seem pretty suspicious.

Approaching and asking for directions will not be greeted with kindness, I will most likely be attacked.

And I know where I am. Westeros. I am almost 100% sure that they are speaking in English, I understand every word that comes out of their mouths. And unless Andros gave me Allspeech that's the only thing that fits.

Westeros, but what a region. Westerlands? The Reach? The North? Riverlands?

Those guys look like they're looking for something, or someone.

A woman?

What kind of situation have I encountered?

My mind is going through a thousand scenarios and each one is darker than the last.

A group of men looking for a woman, my mind goes to Ramsay Snow. I know that bastard is just a kid right now, but Westeros is full of rapists and murderers.

Are these men scum of the worst kind?

If so, I will not hesitate to save that woman if she is found.

If there's one thing I hate in this or any world, it's rapists.

I follow them at a reasonable distance for what seems like hours. One of the men separates from the group, after a short time he calls the others.

"Fuck!"

I hear them swear. I shift my position to see what has stirred them up so much.

Blood.

That's a lot of blood.

The body is barely identifiable. It is a bear, the remains of one rather. Whatever killed that bear is a formidable beast. The body is ripped to shreds!

I swallow saliva.

My whole body tenses.

It can not be! Nope!

I must be wrong!

The only land beast I can think of that could have committed that act is a Direwolf.

But that's impossible, direwolves are native to the north of the Wall, finding one south of it is extremely rare. Especially in this year, there is still more than a decade to go before Nightking starts to move. Prey should still be plentiful north of the Wall, the Long Night is still far away.

The men are moving, it seems that they are going back the way they came. And fast. They're scared.

I can practically smell their fear.

`Smell their fear`?

I feel an epiphany.

The bad kind. Very very bad.

If I can sense their panic from this distance then-

Fuck.

I see her.

The beast.

And what a beast that is.

Thick orange fur. Big paws, head painted red with the bear`s blood. Its fangs are huge! Two fangs stand out, they are much bigger than the others, as big as a sword!

Sabertooth.

A fucking Sabertooth!

A giant one!

It's bigger than a horse!

A female saberthooth for what I can tell.

And she is stalking the group.

Shit.

What should I do?

It seems that I am wrong, these men are not rapists but some kind of explorers or hunters. What they were looking for is not a woman but a beast. A beast that's going to make them her dinner if I don't do something.

If I directly fight the beast in front of them my abilities will be exposed. I'm not ready for people to know how strong I am. The Faith of the Seven is going to brand my chakra as witchcraft, they are going to want to kill me, rid the world of a 'heretic'.

I'm not ready to fully expose myself to the world yet, it's too soon. I just got isekaied! I need time to get stronger, make a name for myself. I don't even know any jutsu yet!

These guys knew what they were getting into when they willingly tracked down a giant beast. Every hunter knows that he could become the prey at any moment.

Shinobi are not heroes.

And I'm just a 21st century guy.

But-

My decision is made. I picked up a rock and threw it in the cat's direction.

The Sabertooth looks in my direction, I throw another stone at her and start to walk away from the group. I want her to chase me. I'm going to drive her away from the men and then kill her.

Yesterday I killed a wolf, today a cat.

Beware of the last Senju, Starks and Lannisters.

The sabertooth changes prey.

The giant cat is chasing me. I should be terrified but just like yesterday my body is brimming with excitement.

Yep, now I'm an adrenaline junkie.

I stopped and jumped to the right avoiding the cat's claw. Her claw goes through a tree as if it was butter. This beast is more dangerous than I expected, I have to avoid getting hit by her claws at all costs.

I take a few steps back and turn around to face the giant cat. No more running.

We are face to face, her golden eyes are fixed on my emerald eyes.

She is analyzing me.

The intelligence present in those golden eyes is terrifying, a cat shouldn't be that smart!

Her eyes look at my spear, she identifies it as a threa-

She is puffing!

This bastard is laughing at me!

"Fuck you stupid cat! I'll make a cloak out of your fur! Let's see who has the last laugh."

That's it.

I have decided.

This cat is going to die today!

The cat jumped forward, decided to tear me to shreds. I jump to the left and kick her in the side. My kick moves her a few inches. Her expression changes, it seems that the bastard is no longer laughing. She is taking me seriously.

She lunges at me again, I dodge and try to stick the spear in her eye. The bastard moves her head and my spear pierces through the air. I am forced to drop my weapon to avoid her claws. Her agility is unnatural, the way she dodged my spear...

The Sabertooth grabs my spear between her fangs and breaks it in half, her eyes fixed on me.

That's a sign of defiance. One alpha tells another who is better.

"That's where you're wrong kitty. My weapon is not a sharp stick. I am the weapon!"

I may not be able to do the most basic chakra control exercise yet but what I can do is increase my strength and speed!

I increase the flow of chakra throughout my body.

This time when the cat lunges she moves much more slowly, or rather my perception is much sharper. Before her fangs reach me I kick her in the head. I sent it flying several meters and crashed into a tree.

The tree breaks in half!

Crack!

The sound is different from yesterday- it can't be...

Is she still alive?

The Sabertooth stands up with some difficulty. She's barely holding on to her paws, but she's not about to give up. Her golden eyes shine fiercely.

An emotion bloom in my chest.

Respect.

Respect towards my opponent.

Our eyes meet and we reach an understanding. I move to where my broken spear is and pick up one of the pieces, the sharpest one.

I looked directly at my opponent, Sabertooth looked at me.

At the same time, as if following a signal that only we can hear, we launch towards each other.

Sabertooth jumps.

I jump.

I plunged the broken spear right into her right eye, piercing her brain.

A quick death.