7 6. A Strong Opponent.

On the first day, It was the time when we all had a blast with the feast/party. Everyone was having a good time, eating, chatting, and dancing. And during that time everyone has begun to accept me as some of their females invited me to dance with them. I wanted to accept to show some goodwill between us but there was a certain... blocker.

The little daughter of the Chief, she's a little special one. Compared to the other children including her siblings, they were still scared of me. But she wasn't which made me feel better to know that there will be one child who can look at me with no fear. She will be my aid to help me turn the children's bad thoughts of me into better ones. But right now, only with time will the results show themselves.

Furthermore, about this little special girl, I don't know if it was because I had helped to cure her but she seemed to be a little clingy. Not that it's annoying because it was much cuter than annoying. She's like a little sister. But it did surprise me as to how quick she was to accept me, but I could also understand. I guess curing her made her see me in a different light.

Uh... Chief, I know you want to grab your daughter. Don't just sit there pretending to have a good time when I can see you're eyes not looking the correct way. Don't be jealous, I'm sure your daughter would love to come back into your arms. That's right come and get her, Oh... She doesn't want to leave my lap. Well... Sorry about that.

The Chief is embarrassed but fortunately, the wife was there to help ease the injured father's pride, or... she's just there to laugh at his face. Whatever, she doesn't wanna leave and I don't mind so I guess it's cool. Also, the other family member who I think might be the uncle or something tried to come and pick her up. Only for him to cause the girl to forcefully get out of his embrace and come running back to my lap.

Both the father and uncle are sitting together, comforting each other. I'm sorry guys but don't worry, soon she'll grow tired of me. When I looked toward the mother to see if she wanted to try and pick her daughter up, she quickly pretended to be busy looking after her sons. Although it would've been an acceptable excuse, however, it's different when I can clearly see the sons are deeply asleep.

I mean, it's better to not try and talk out of your ass the next day saying that she would've easily gotten her daughter to her if she wasn't so busy with her sons. Good play mother, well played. Protect the mother's pride at all costs.

This made me think of my past family, especially my little sister. It made me quite sad thinking about it, but I quickly brushed it off and told myself to move on because I'm living a new life now. And my little sister is a grown woman who is also a mother with a loving and respectable husband. My time as her big brother has ended. Plus she should be living the best of her life with her family and that makes me happy.

Anyway, throughout the party, this child would always fend off the ladies who wished to dance with me, although it's a shame because I also wanted to bust down some dance moves. The main reason why I wanted to dance was that watching them just swing their bodies around like that while screaming gibberish at the top of their lungs and calling that dancing made me eager to teach them the real way of dancing.

Although I never mentioned it before I'm quite the dancer, believe it or not. And once we add a touch of alcohol in my system, I evolve into the fucking dancing king. Who am I kidding, anyone will believe they're the best dancer once alcohol enters their system.

However, what's a party without at least one party pooper, right? To think that even 10,000 BC had party poopers, and I was looking at one right now. This particular individual who seemed to still have a problem with me, I don't know what I did to earn this hate, but the old shaman is currently glaring at me.

I didn't care much but from where I was from, we call this an eye problem. Usually, when one has an eye problem, they're asking for something. And that's usually to fight. And if this was my old life, I wouldn't mind coming over there fixing his eye problem with my fist right now, but unfortunately, I can't do that. Or can I? Nah, let's be the bigger man and ignore him.

Fortunately, my little bodyguard saw the old man's annoying gaze and she shot him one of her own. The old must've thought that it was a scary gaze because he then backed off, but when I looked at her I thought she looked cute. Anyway, good job, midget bodyguard. I would call you your name but sadly I have no idea what that is.

Moving on, overall, the party was cool and pretty fun. I mean, it's not every day you get to witness or participate in the earliest bbq parties. Even though the food was quite simple, either slightly cooked, some were looked pretty raw, while some were just straight up burnt meat, with a few berries and such on the side. I didn't complain, I'm not a picky eater after all. As long as it's not straight blood and raw meat, then I'll eat it. Also, this is back in the days so their knowledge of cooking and seasonings is limited.

However, since I'm here now I know my mission. I'll spread all the knowledge of cooking inside my head for the good of these people. I may not be knowledgeable on how to cook and extract meat from animals using primitive methods, but if we're talking about recipes for delicious food from the modern-day. Then it's a done deal. Also, It's not because I want to eat better dishes, no. This is all in the name of spreading the knowledge of cooking.

A few hours quickly passed by without me noticing and now the night has settled in, and the villages were getting ready to sleep. Obviously, I was homeless, which I didn't mind. Yet, the Chief and his wife tried to invite me in their huts but I showed them I was too big for it and they understood. The kid was also begging me to sleep in her home, the little cutie. And due to my unnatural height, she legit was like a little hobbit.

As the parents were still worried about me being outside, I decided to just show them why I'll be alright. Even though it got quite cold, I'll still be fine because of my special body.

I transformed in my mighty black bear form, although it surprised everyone to the point where a lot of people fainted in shock. It took a while of calming them down but soon they came to accept the reality that I could shapeshift. The Chief, however, seemed like he's already seen my form before which was weird. I would have to ask him how, but I won't be able to communicate until later on. And after a while of hard negotiations, they finally let me sleep outside.

But something shocked me, while making my way to the center, I saw the corpse of one of the villagers. An attacker? Where? And how didn't I notice? I definitely would've smelt something different. Although unfortunate, someone still needs to remove this dead corpse.

Hmm? Hold on a minute, it's just the old man shaman. He seems to have just fainted. Yes, thank you mighty warriors for carrying him home. Did he faint from seeing my bear form? Whatever, I'm tired.

Oh I know this one, he's the uncle of my little bodyguard, and he seems to be on good terms with that lady. Oooh, I see... Well, good luck fellow brethren. All the best for your success.

Returning to the center, I decided to sleep on the skin mats from before. It was probably the only comfortable place here. I quickly turned in my black bear form and decided it was time to sleep. However, I was interrupted by a poke. When I opened one of my eyes to check who it was, I was surprised to see that it was the Chief's daughter. She was standing there hugging something tightly.

While thinking of ways to shoo her away, the moon suddenly illuminated the entire night. Which took my breath away once I saw this child's appearance. It was so pretty.

Wow, her hair looks pretty when the moon is shining down, I'm quite jealous. Maybe I should've asked for cool hair color as well. Tch, what a waste. Additionally, the moon also enhances her purple eyes, she'll definitely grow to be a gem in the future.

Okay little human child, why are you out instead of sleeping? Also, what's that in your arms?

I see it's your doll. Okay, cool- Hey, hey, hey! Don't just pull my arm over you and crawl under me. Sigh... fine, you wanna sleep with me outside? But it's cold. Oh, she looks warm, am I that warm? I checked her fingers and they were definitely warming down quickly.

And before long she's soundly asleep. Sigh, whatever. If your parents get angry, I'll try my best to mediate them but the rest I leave for you to explain. And with that said, I went to sleep in my bear form while carefully wrapping the kid beside me so she wouldn't catch a cold.

The second day, I woke up pretty early. Not because I wanted to nor was I a morning person, no. I'm the type to sleep in until the afternoon, and I would call that my morning. The reason why I woke up so early was due to the noises caused by my surroundings. With my enhanced hearings and etc, I could hear everything clearly and loudly as if someone put a speaker beside my ears cranking that shit to full volume.

Also, there was someone who kept poking me to wake up. And when I opened my eyes, I was shocked to notice quite a few people have gathered around me. Obviously, they were here to inspect my majestic bear form. In my bear form, I was even taller and larger than my normal appearance, and in my normal form, I was already taller than these people. So you can imagine just how huge I was compared to everyone. It's only natural they came to inspect my form. Or maybe because this is the first time they see a shapeshifter, I don't know.

"Morning- *YAWN*," I said sleepily. The people replied but I have no clue what they're saying so I just nod my head and move out, still in my bear form. They make way for me while sounds of awe and amazement rang throughout the crowd. It's like I'm the new toy.

Then there was this bold lady who took the opportunity to hug one of my hind legs, it surprised me but I allowed it. It wasn't harming me in any shape or form, so all is good. I'm not some super aggressive edgelord who wants to murder everyone for touching his prestigious body, nope. I'm quite laid back if I say so myself. If I fuck with that person then everything is cool, but if I don't fuck with that person. Then it's that person's problem to deal with.

Currently, there was probably a large number of natives stuck to each of my limbs. I tried to shake them off but they hung on tightly, even screaming in joy as if they were on the bloody rollercoaster or something.

"Weee, wow, oh gosh so fun," I said exaggerated with a deadpan bear face, I was working hard pulling a person off my limbs. It was especially hard trying not to hurt them as well. "Thank you for your affection but please, I need to go have a light wash up before we can play." After getting rid of them with the help of the Chief and his wife, I was finally free.

Surprisingly they're a really nosy bunch of natives. Although there were problems when they first saw me, now they look at me as if I've been here for a long time. Oh, no my bad, there are still people looking at me with fear. The old geezer is one of them.

"GRRR!" I growled at the shaman flashing him my rows of sharp teeth, and instantly he ran away with a pitiful scream.

Come on man, have some balls. Once I had my laugh it was time I entered the river to refresh myself.

But before making my way there, I felt a nudge on one of my legs. And there she was, the little girl once again has made her appearance. She's definitely clingy but oh well, nothing wrong in spoiling her for a little more. She's bashfully asking me for something and if I guessed correctly, I think she wants to ride on my back.

"Sure, you can ride me. Come on, up you go." Having said that, I grabbed her by the back collar of her skin outfit and carefully placed her on my back. When I was moving her she was screaming with a mixture of excitement and fear.

Looking back at her, she's smiling uncontrollably which also made me smile. Of course, she would, she's just a little girl. And this will definitely be her first time riding anything like this. She should feel honored the great me has allowed her to ride on my back. Concerning her age, if I had to guess from her small frame and features, my best guess is that she's 8 years old.

Continuing on with my new friend we made our way through the village. Naturally, everyone else watched us in envious gazes. Nope, I will only allow her to ride me. I'm not some domesticated bear. I'm a special bear with rights.

Also on the way, I watched what everyone else was doing. Everyone was busy at work. Unlike the lazy and technically advanced people from my time, these guys had to make everything by hand and with hard labor. Some people of this village, man and woman, have begun to skin the mammoth that I had brought along.

Watching them working hard, I knew I had to come back and help. Although I'm a guest, my parents have always taught me not to be a lazy guest, and to always help whenever I'm at someone's house. It would be rude if I didn't. And this teaching that my parents drilled into me from the time since I was but a child has stuck to me till now, even when I'm in a new world.

But helping them can be on hold for now. Right now I need a wash. I don't really mind not showering for like a day or two but right now I need to wash. The battles and events from the other day have definitely increased my stench, I'm probably reeking of filth. People might not smell it and I can't either but I definitely can feel it. It's not only staining my body but my soul.

Alright, that was dramatic but you get what I mean. I don't like getting dirty. I mean, fighting people and animals while spilling their blood upon me is all fun and games that I find too enjoyable but there's gotta be a boundary. And my boundary is to always clean myself after such bloody fights and then repeat. I mean anyone would do this but whatever.

Anyway, I and my little friend have finally arrived at the river. The river was big, to say the least, from this side to the other side, I roughly estimated it to be at least 25 meters apart. Quite big. However, as I expected we aren't the only ones here. There are some of the men with bone harpoons, currently fishing for today's meal.

They were only fishing by the shallow areas, making sure to not fall in. Hopefully, they can swim.

When they saw me, just like the others, they also had their mouths wide open in awe. Their eyes wondering throughout my glorious black bear form. I know I'm awesome but come on, stop staring at me so seriously... you'll make me blush.

Ignoring their gazes I made my way with my new friend. When she saw I was going to enter the cold water she began to panic and started to pull my fur, probably saying I shouldn't enter. But that's too late now my friend. Once my homie, always my homie. And homies don't dog each other. If I enter a freezing cold river, I better see you in there doing breath strokes or some shit.

Just kidding, I'm not that cruel. Well, not to any child I'm not. Oh crap, she's tearing up. Okay, I'm sorry. Yeah, that's it, you're a fierce female warrior, daughter of the chief himself. And warriors don't cry! Damn it, I scared her too hard.

I tried my best to calm her down but I think her little heart experienced a mini heart attack. Jesus just how irresponsible was I to make the child I'm looking after cry. I'm the worst babysitter, usually, I'm really good but now I'm not so sure. Even the men busy fishing stopped to inspect what the hell was going on.

I started to become flustered and showed them I had it under control, I don't know if they understood me but they did nod their heads. However, there's one last technique that I've always heard legends and myths about, I don't know if it'll help her calm down but right now it's the only choice I got.

Slowly I moved my hand towards the head of the crying little girl, I was hesitant but now, it's all or nothing. If she returns back to her parents and tells them I made her cry, my image and all the goodwill we've shared between me and this village will go through the drain.

When my hand touched her head, she slightly jumped in shock and stopped crying. Ohh! It's working- But immediately began to cry again.

Oh no, I can't stop to rest, I need to keep patting her head. I worked hard and slowly but surely she stopped crying. Yes, the legends never lied, the legendary head pats work.

After making sure she understood I was sorry, she sat on the edge of the river waiting for me to finish my little bath. I thought the river would only be wide but when I entered the middle, it was deep as fuck. And the water wasn't that dirty since the mud and plant biology about this and that didn't affect it. And the fishes swimming through this river were numerous. So I dived deep to greet them.

On the surface, my little friend was worried and the fishermen had stopped doing their jobs, now busy anticipating for me to break through the water at any minute. But I didn't.

I took my time swimming through the river, I also changed back to my human form. I noticed some fishes were surprised upon seeing me do so as some of the fishes choked on the water, but I continued to swim past them.

With my little stroll underwater, I started to appreciate this world more. This was my kind of life. There was plenty of unknown and powerful beings here for me to challenge, and there were also very nice and accommodating natives to keep me company. Just thinking about it made me eager for what the future had in store for me.

Unknown to me, the little heart of the little girl was racing rapidly in worry. She had thought I drowned, the men beside her also thinking so. That was until I broke the surface of the water while a shit ton of fishes landed behind them.

"Uuwwahh!!" The fishermen were ecstatic and had a little celebration while dancing around happily. Fufu, of course. This is probably the most fish they've ever seen. It'll feed everyone for another month, that's if they're dried up and preserved for winter or something.

And that had me thinking, what's the season currently? If I had to guess, it's probably about to enter winter. I thought this because I noticed some of the villagers working hard to store some dried meat in a different hut or storage. It was a lot bigger than the other huts. And people only store food like that if they're preparing for winter.

When I got out of the water, I was in my human form. My loincloth was now wet but I didn't care. As for my whole body, I just shook myself with an incredible speed and most of the water was gone. It's pretty easy. Oh, but I got the others wet, but I doubt they cared because they kept celebrating. My bad I also got my little friend wet, here let me help you.

I carefully wiped the water on her hair and face using the dangling sleeve of her skin outfit. Good thing she didn't fuss around because it would've made things harder. There, now your all good to go. Then we made our way back. I carried some of the fish, my little friend also carried one, it would've been too hard for her to carry more. She needs to build up her strength before doing something that would strain her little body.

And I forgot to mention, these fish were quite large, almost as big as a tuna. And with the additional help of the eager fishermen who carried the rest with their handmade straw baskets, we made our way back.

When we arrived back in the village, the people cheered loudly. It was as if we had just come back from the battlefield. Haha, my little friend has a proud expression as well. Alright, I'll follow along. Then I handed the fish back to the chief's wife who was very pleased, and she instantly ordered for the other women to begin work.

I stood there kinda lost as to what I could do now while watching the women working hard, cutting the fishes open, taking the scales off, etc. I wished to help so I went to ask permission to help from the chief's wife. I tried my best to explain and she seemed to have a hard time trying to understand what I mean.

But fortunately, my little friend was there to help me as I saw her talk with her mother. The mother seemed to finally realize then she patted her daughter's head before dragging me along with her to the end of the group of women who were working hard on the fish. Then she forced me to sit down and handed me some sort of flintstone, that had a pretty sharp edge. It seems like they sharpened the edge of this flintstone and then they use it like a knife. That's pretty cool.

Of course, the women were really surprised that I was there. They began to look at each other in confusion.

"Comrades, less talk and more work. We don't have all day!" I said enthusiastically before I began to work hard.

I knew how to do this because who hasn't done this before? I swear it's one of the first things you learn from your fathers or your parents. I learned how to scale and gut a fish from my parents when I was very little. I swear I learned this while I was also learning how to walk so I'm very confident.

Whilst working hard scaling numerous amounts of fish, a crowd of villagers gathered around our group. I paid them no mind because right now, this mere elderly village lady has decided to play with fire. And when you play with fire you will get burnt.

It started when I first joined this group. Not to brag or anything but I was really fast at taking the scales off the fishes and then gutting them, I even caused the other women to stop and watch me in awe and admiration. It was fine then, but then she entered my territory. How dare she.

Furthermore, she wasn't even part of our group, to begin with, and when she entered, she snarled at me. Me?! A werebear?! Does a mere elderly human dare to snarl at me?! Oh, you're damn right I was pissed, but that's not the worst part. It got worse when she began to skin and gut the fish, I didn't want to admit but she was really fast. I could tell from her masterful movements that she was a veteran that has survived many battles. And it gets worse, whenever she finishes a fish she would eye me out with a cheeky grin.

Old lady... you don't know how many elderly women I've beaten up back in my days, so don't test me. Okay, I admit it I'm just joking... but I might start with this one in front of me.

Both of our eyes were locked in a duel while our hands worked tirelessly, every second counts. And within a split second, I looked at her finished products to the side and I realized she had surpassed my numbers.

What is this? Will I have my first defeat? Never! If there's a will, there's a bloody way. You're one lucky old lady, I gave you a head start even though you've just joined. I won't give up.

And so our fierce battle continued, the crowd around us were cheering loudly on who they thought would win, and the women from before even left the rest to us so we could see who had the most.

Judging by the crowd's view and voice, I think I'm the underdog. I knew it, she's a master at this. A formidable opponent, indeed. But I will win!

Oh, thanks little friend, I knew you'll have my back. With just one supporter, I'll show you what this can do. It can create miracles.

Then after a world-shattering battle, the results had shown its self.

I lost. By a large margin as well. My pride, my soul, my everything... they were all crushed.

Fuck this, you may have won this battle but let's take this outside, come on!