Chapter 7: Across the Forest Path
*Whirl*
The mountain bike's wheel whirled as it raced across the uneven terrain. Getting the darn thing was perhaps a blessing in disguise, as it easily drove over the dirt, grass, and rocks on the forest ground.
"I don't feel fatigued, Sis. Isn't it taking my mana right now?" Senna asked as he pedaled.
«Mountain Bike is a human-powered Vessel. It does not require magical power to operate. The only time it requires some is when it is manifested.»
That sounded reasonable enough. Simplifying it further, instead of his mana, the bike expended his stamina. It didn't make it that much different as he would still feel tired if he ride too much.
The path he took would not fit a modern city vehicle. When Senna left the ruin's premise, the tree cover abruptly increased tenfold.
Sunlight now barely reached the ground because of the leafy canopies and their shadows darkened the scenery greatly. The forest floor was littered with grasses wet from dew and moisture to make it slippery.
He had to be careful of where he was steering or it could easily lead to an accident.
"When was the last time I rode a bike anyway?"
Perhaps it was shortly before graduation. When he was still a student, Senna did use a bike as his main mode of transportation. It was easy, healthy, and highly mobile across the convoluted city streets and their traffic jams.
"Hup." A particularly big rock obstructed the way forward. Due to that, he had to step down and lift the bike over it himself.
No idea how he would manage this with an Aventador, so maybe his previous wish was a tad too much nonsensical.
Resuming his cycling, Senna's mind wandered as he plodded the arboreal environs.
Not even 24 hours had passed since he was struck by Truckie in that intersection and a jumble of wild events had already happened with him in the center.
He was supposed to be dead, yet here he was still healthily prancing around on his magical bike.
Normally people would hate Nyaru and Truckie for forcibly putting themselves in these circumstances, but Senna frankly wouldn't complain about it that much.
Previously his life was dull and uneventful. When he wasn't working or driving around, he would spend his free time indulging in his favorite past times of reading, gaming, or all around just lazing at home.
It wasn't like he had no social life at all. Senna still kept in touch with friends he knew for years and he still regularly participate in family gatherings.
But that was it. No grand ambition ever entered his mind. No romantic escapades to tell future generations either.
He found the exciting world of fiction to be far more appealing to him. Often when those daydreams that people often experience during a long drive, Senna would imagine a scenario where his daily life was flipped upside down.
Now that he had time to think calmly, this was exactly the life he wished to be deep in his heart. He wanted—he NEEDED to take advantage of this chance he was given.
However, Senna still had yet to learn what it meant to reach the threshold of Fate Level.
"If I'm gonna be a taxi driver anyway, I'm going to make it the most interesting one. With this power, I'm sure—"
"Mmrrooaaw!!"
Suddenly a high-pitched squeal reached his ears. It sounded animalistic, unlike those normally uttered by humans.
And it also sounded familiar, except that somehow it felt far more menacing than the one he typically heard.
"Is that a… cat?"
Turning around, Senna saw a tail flailing over the ground he just cycled on. Putting the pieces together, it was clear that he just drove over it.
The owner of that tail slowly revealed itself as it came out of the bushes. Quadruple, covered in yellowish-brown fur, and had patches of black spots over its body.
It was a cat, indeed. Part of the Felidae family of mammals. But unlike the cute, lazy-ass house cats Senna was familiar with over in his old world, this one was probably over 2 meters long.
"Now I stumbled into a freaking tiger? Destiny, my butt. Is this how my life's going to be from here on?"
Nyaru said something about Spotted Tigers roaming across this forest, or maybe he did. The warning was as useless as a Terms of Service, heeded by no one, doomed to be forgotten.
"Rrrrgghh…"
The big cat was pissed off. The foul mood it radiated across the area could be felt even by the densest of harem protagonists. It was glaring at Senna with a scowl that seemed to say, 'Write your will.'
"Can I… Am I allowed to apologize?"
"Mmmrawwr!"
The tiger furiously leaped at him like a housewife on a bargain sale. "No chance be given at all, I see!"
Rapidly he spun the bike's pedal forward. Senna might have a huge weapon strapped to his back, but he was a mere taxi driver until just recently. Fighting for his life wasn't part of his daily routine.
He preferred fleeing for his life, instead. At least until he had more preparation.
*Crack Whirrll*
The unthreaded path felt rougher in his panic. But no matter how much the way forward was filled with vines, branches, and pebbles, Senna kept pedaling.
The Spotted Tiger wouldn't lose out in motivation, however. Being run over in the tail must've hurt as much as getting kicked in the nuts. He could empathize.
"Rrraw rawr!"
From behind it sounded like a chorus of infernal meowing. Nothing cute about it could be found in the voice, although it felt like the tiger wasn't just doing it without purpose.
Then, as if to jump scare him like cheap horror games, ANOTHER chorus of infernal meowing rang from a different direction.
"Oh, I'm definitely gonna die again!"
Per that ominous foreshadowing, a cacophony of rustling leaves and grasses could be heard nearby to the side as he ride.
"Rrawr!"
A different tiger leaped at Senna from the cover of nearby foliage, surprising him enough to almost caused him to crash from sheer shock.
"Guah?!" Sliding the mountain bike over the dirt and wet grasses, he managed to slip past the monstrous feline by a hairbreadth.
"Oh no!" Unfortunately, the momentum was hard to stop. It was hardly a skill issue because, as mentioned before, the forest floor was slippery.
*Crash* Senna collided with a tree along with his bike. Although it stopped his uncontrolled motion, it also provided the tigers an opportunity to trap the now unmoving rider.
"Gosh darn it, I think I broke another bone…"
As he voiced his whining, the tigers successfully surrounded him against the tree. There was hardly an easy way to escape now.
And without knowing when, somehow another tiger had joined the feline party. Now three sharp-clawed beasts were confronting him with violent intent.
"Kuh…" Standing up with difficulty, Senna unstrapped the Bumper Sword on his back. Not to say he felt great doing this. The purported 'greatsword' still looked as reliable as a random online teammate.
"Well, what'd it be? You coming at me?" taunted the bruised rider. Desperate as he might be, begging for mercy wasn't part of his plan. And it wouldn't ever be.
"Mrrawr!" One of the tigers pounced with exuberance. It must be the one whose tail was run over.
"O-Oryaa!?" Shrieking a bizarre war cry, Senna swung the Bumper Sword diagonally with both hands. It struck the leaping tiger dead-on its side.
"Ooh!"
Maybe because he wasn't yet used to it, but Senna couldn't manage to stop the heavy swing and almost let the greatsword fly out of his hand. "Ah, ah, hold still!"
The tiger he struck rolled away like a football into the vegetation. But as they often said about cats, it seemed these tigers also got at least nine chances for redoes.
It immediately stood back up like nothing happened, glowering at him with an even more intense murderous aura.
"Hey, it's fair and square."
"Rarrw!!"
This time the three of them jumped at once. "I said fair and square!" Senna yelled.
The first one he dodged by shifting his hips a little to the right, and the second one he blocked with the Bumper Sword poised mightily in front of him. But, as always, the third time was the charm.
"Gah!" The last one struck from the right side with as much force to knock him backward. Crash-landing on the dirt, Senna let out a pained groan signifying all of his agony.
But hey. At least he didn't manage to get scratched with those huge claws.
Stifling a whimper, he tried to get up. To his horror, however, it seemed that something prevented him from moving his body. Peeking through closed eyelids, right above his face, those fierce tigers were sitting in apparent victory.
As if they were professional T-baggers.
'Is this it? The end of my second life?'
Again and again, he tried to force them to move but to no avail. Three of them at once were overkill. Senna cursed the unfairness of his situation.
"Rrrrghh…"
The tiger with the most furious face closed in. It was time for his revenge, Senna guessed.
"Hah. I ain't giving apologies no more, you hear—"
"Woof!"
"—me…??"
That didn't sound like a meow or a roar. It didn't come from the tigers either, but somewhere from above his head where Senna was laying down.
"Woof! Stop bullying the human bro, pussy cat!"
Craning his head up, he saw what looked like a white-furred dog with a prominent black patch on its side.
"What's a Siberian Husky doing here?" Senna wondered the important question, fully ignoring the fact that it could talk.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
RasyaHelion
RasyaHelion Creation is hard, cheer me up! No, really. I want motivation.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone