(Rei's POV)
"What are you saying, Natsu?" Gray said, "This guy is strange?"
Natsu looked at me with a frown, "...hey is it me or does he look like Gildarts?"
They looked at me for a couple of seconds, their eyes scanning me up and down.
"I don't see it." Gray said
Erza placed her hand on her chin, "The resemblance is uncanny."
"The hell?" Gray frowned at this
I blinked, "O-okay." I said, "No need to compare me to that guy, but I guess."
"Who're you?" Natsu walked up to me, "What do you want?"
He was sniffing the air, as if he was still inspecting me like a dog.
"Well, I was nearby and heard the massive explosion that I assume was your doing." I said as I frowned, being a bit unsettled by his sniff-inspections, "Can you stop doing that?"
"Oh, that?" He straightened up, "Yeah, we were fighting a magic beast, but it got away. I was going to destroy it with one of my breath attacks."
I rubbed my hair, "Alright then." I said, "But you didn't get it?"
"No, he almost got me with it." Gray frowned, "Not just that, the beast got away."
"I see." I said, "What kind of beast is it?"
"A shapeshifting one." Gray said, "It can turn into anything, from inanimate objects to...wait a damn minute...."
Natsu narrowed his eyes, "It's you, isn't it?"
I blinked, "Eh?"
He then reared his fist back, sprouting flames on it as he smirked, "I got you!" He shouted, "Thought you can get away?!"
He swung his fist at me and I instinctively raised my arms to block his punch. I felt the impact of his flaming fist hit my forearms, my entire body rattled as I reeled back a couple of feet. I could feel the searing pain of the flames on my skin combined with the throbbing pain of the punch.
"What's your problem?!" I exclaimed as he rushed me again
"You're not getting away!" He shouted
"Natsu! Wait!" I heard Erza call out
Natsu swung his fist at me once again but I was able to dodge it, ducking downwards and rolling forward. I then stood up immediately and saw that he had followed up with a kick, hitting me in the stomach.
"Shit!" I grunted as I reeled back
Natsu then swung his left fist, aiming at my jaw. I blocked it with my arm,, feeling the impact rattle my entire body.
"Hehe, you're strong in this form huh?" He said, "Well, I guess I can-"
"Natsuuu!!" I heard a voice call out, "The beast went that way!"
We both looked up to see a flying blue cat hovering its way towards us.
"Happy!" Natsu said as he pulled away, "What do you mean, the beast is here!"
The cat floated above us, "Huh?" He said, "Natsu, are you stupid? Shifters don't shapeshift into humans!"
"Oh, they don't?" Natsu asked
"No." Erza walked up to us, "They don't. My apologies for that, my colleague happens to be an imbecile."
I rubbed my forearm, "It's fine." I said, "What sort of beast are you searching for?"
"A Shifter." She said as she pulled on Natsu's ear, who simply winced in pain, "A magic beast that can transform its entire body to anything it desires. From animals to inanimate objects. Some of them aren't that dangerous or special, but the one we're hunting is particularly dangerous. It has an enormous amount of power and was threatening a village. We were hired to capture it, so they can relocate it to a different location."
"Not slay it?" I asked
"Nah." Grey said, "The client said that they're endangering, so killing them is off limits."
"It's threatening a village." I said, "Wouldn't that be grounds for slaying?"
"Normally, yes." Erza said, "But the client was adamant about this. But this Shifter is quite crafty and strong. I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."
"The name's Rei." I said, "Sorry, I'm kinda lost. Would you mind pointing me in the direction of the nearest town or village?"
"Oh yea, you can just walk a few miles down that way." Happy pointed towards the East, "Just be careful, that's where the Shifter went. We're going to go that way, but heading into the forest."
I nodded, "Thanks." I said as I walked past them, "Nice meeting you guys."
I just met Team Natsu, or most of them. Which was a bit crazy, if I was being honest. But all of that said, it would be weird if I decided to stick with them. I still don't know what would be my move, considering I just woke up in this place. I needed to go somewhere to gain my bearings.
Natsu Dragneel just attacked because he mistook me for a shapeshifting beast, which was typical of someone like him.
An imbecile.
I had three traits, from what I remember. One of them gave me Haki, which I confirmed by using Observation Haki just then. I didn't activate Armament to defend myself because I panicked, just blocked his attack with my body by itself.
Another of the traits required me to use a sword, which I didn't have. The more aggressively I fought during combat, the sharper and stronger the blade was. I had to get a sword in order to make use of that trait.
And the last one was the one that was a bit insane.
Sex Conversion. I had sex to cultivate my Haki and empower it? I really don't know how that would work. Every time I have sex, my Haki becomes stronger and I can just store it away and cultivate it? I don't know, it's something I have to put into practice to truly understand.
As I walked, there was a strange feeling in the back of my head, as if I was being watched. I stopped and looked around, seeing that there was nobody in the near vicinity.
"Hm...." I said as I closed my eyes and focused, activating my Observation Haki, "I swear there is something.....or someone...."
Using the Haki came to me naturally, which was quite nice.
I then sensed something on the side of the road, which had a faint energy coming from it. I opened my eyes and walked over to the side, looking around to see where I had felt the energy.
I then looked down on the grass and saw what looked like a sword, just laying there.
"Huh?" I said as I walked over to it and picked it up
It looked like a katana, or at the very least a curved blade that resembled a Katana. It had a black hilt with a dome-shaped guard that was silver in color. It had a thinner guard that ran from the top to the bottom of the hilt. The sheath was black with some flaming patterns on it.
It kinda looked like Roger's blade, Ace. If that were the case, it was a Cutlass with a curved blade. Regardless, it was a sword with a decent length.
There was something that was coming from within the blade, it was some sort of energy.
Is it magic? Is that what I'm sensing?
"Well....." I said as I looked around, "Guess I'm keeping it."
"Hopefully it won't cause me trouble."