My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives
Chapter 56 RETURN ANEW

Chapter 56: 56 RETURN ANEW

Rex did it. He changed a whole tribe of people— brought them to a cause beyond begging for mercy to a merciless monster. He hoped everything went according to plan. But if it didn’t, at least he’d have some time to adjust.

Little time, but time all the same.

He left Nahual Falls knowing it was in safe— hidden hands. He also left Nahual Falls in a relationship.

It was a night of new experiences across the board. But the same jungle still surrounded him as he leapt and bound through the dark-glow greenery in his Werepanther base form.

With every inhale of his nose, he could smell the trace amounts of sand lining the undergrowth. Hassan’s essence lingered throughout the lands like seasonings on a dish. He could feel it as he padded across the earth, warming his paw pads with solar radiance.

A radiance that quickly became a burn out of nowhere as he ran. Suddenly, a trail of enflamed solar sand was glimmering its way through the jungle. Not long after and a primal roar shook the sky.

Instinctively, Rex assumed his Anhurian Form. It was larger and more fit for battle. The change was only slightly painful as he ran. Swirling wisps of fiery sand flowed from his fur as it went from black to gold. Trees cracked and split as his bulk increased and he began bursting through the woodland.

His increase in speed was thanks to his powerful leaps all the way back to the clearing where he found Hassan standing in a prayers position. Trails of sand in five directions swirled from under him like glowing beige serpents. He looked incredibly deep in thought and on the verge of panic.

Rex landed behind him.

He spun around with a startled snarl, speaking to how focused he was on whatever task was at hand.

"Woah— hey, it’s me!" Rex said.

"I see." Hassan’s nostrils flared.

"What’s the matter?" Rex asked quickly.

Hassan looked down at his lineworks of sand in the grass clearing.

Rex didn’t need an answer. He didn’t see her. And there were three trails of fiery flowing sand snaking from underneath his feet. The Bastetians were out looking.

"Where did Imani go? What happened?" Rex asked.

Hassan snarled and shook his head, seemingly aggravated by his own failing mental musings, "I.... I don’t understand. She went on a walk with them. She wanted to test their dietary responses and reaction to natural Mana. Next thing I know, a massive skeletal creature is rising above the canopy in to the south. I shot it down. I have experience with skeletal creatures now. But at the same time, I heard the Bastetians get into a scuffle. When I connected to them mentally, they were looking for Imani. They say she just vanished. They were chasing a cloaked figure, and then..... nothing."

Rex ran his hands across his bald head in panicked frustration.

"Could it have been the Jungle Monkeys? No. Basically everyone inside The Box has been told to leave us be. Remulus? No. He’d want me to know he’s acting. Or else I wouldn’t know to submit or give in to anything. Unless this is the first act of something bigger. Fuck! I don’t have much night left."

"What do you suggest?" Hassan asked.

Rex silenced his mind and went over what Hassan reported. It was military— and common sense protocol to stick to the information presented. He helped no one mentally rambling. His mind worked until he was looking back at Hassan.

"You said you have experience with skeleton creatures now...? What did that mean?" Rex asked.

Hassan started, "Well, me, Flora and Syphen cleared out the cave.... to make it inhabitable. Inside there were many skeleton creatures. Snakes and giants and other things I’m not sure of. After my time. We slayed them. Syphen and Flora said go for the head or the necromancy runes."

Rex put the pieces together as Hassan spoke.

"FUCK!"

Hassan flinched, "We mustn’t make extra noise! The sun is coming."

"Yea!" Rex snapped, "The sun is coming and Imani was abducted by a Necromancer!"

"A Necromancer!? These are real? Amazing—"

"I’ll turn your ass to glass."

"Apologies, pride-lord." Hassan bowed.

"How much of the cloaked figure did you see?" Rex asked.

"Not much. They were quite fast. And tended to move underground..." Hassan said.

"Then that’s where we need to look for Imani." Rex said before taking off. "What else can you tell me? If you were mentally connected with the Bastetians when they gave chase, did you catch a scent or sound? Anything?"

Hassan burst through a tree as he ran beside him, "GODS! No. The figure just smelled like damp earth. That’s it. They could’ve been dipping in and out of the earth to keep their scent compromised."

Rex shook his head, "Unlikely. All the Necromancer knows is it’s territory was invaded. Was the cave not marked?"

They continued to run.

"Not that any of us noticed. It was filled with traps, though."

"Traps in the cave.... No marked territory. They wanted someone or something to enter and die. Could be skeletal compounding but that’s not an act of desperation. And the Imani grab seems spur of the moment. Necromancer’s are planners. They’d never abduct someone unless they were entirely sure of success. And no chase. None of this makes sense!" Rex came to a stop as he leapt over a river and landed beside the Bastetians, Neitha, Dalia and Auset.

"Let’s dig."

No questions asked, they began digging. Even though, he knew they were confident their senses didn’t catch Imani or the Necromancer under ground.

That wasn’t what he was looking for.

They moved quick. Urgent. His fingers were sore. His back muscles burned as he plunged his fists into firm jungle soil and tore up the earth, immediately revealing marked bone shards lodged in the dirt.

"This whole place is marked up!" Rex raged.

Regardless, he pushed on.

The sun rose, bathing the sky in brush strokes of orange against the navy starlit backdrop.

After ten minutes of superhuman shape-shifter labor, Rex reached the last exit point of an underground tunnel.

He stood before an entrance into a Drift Dimension.

The only underground tunnel exit to have one.

Hassan and the Bastetians stood behind him.

"They’re not from here. This time. They wouldn’t know. It explains the sudden disappearance. Only one problem. This Drift Dimension is above my price range."

"Wait are we waiting for?" Hassan asked.

Rex steeled himself as he stood before the tear in reality. It swirled like a storm cloud of orange smoke and flame.

"Nothing."

Rex jumped inside.

His world was flipped on its head immediately. The entrance of the Drift Dimension was flaming hot. Scalding to his Anhurian skin in ways he couldn’t explain. Gravity shifted— growing heavier with both damp and dry air that came in swapping waves.

He landed on black stone grounds that felt to be in a constant state of pre-quaking.

The world was like a black sand desert being split by the rise of a volcanic mountain.

Dark dunes fell apart as black stone peaks and prisms rose.

Elsewhere— on the edge of the hellish world, volcanoes spit volcanic bolts of lightning, igniting the gaseous clouds.

In the illuminated shadows, he could see the outline of dragonoid creatures and sky serpents.

"More Drakes. I jinxed myself." Rex shuddered.

"I’ve got a scent!" Hassan said.

Rex inhaled. The heat was suffocating, but he could faintly catch it.

Straight ahead.

Where a dozen kobolds crawled out of fiery cracks in the dark stone with armor made of stacked scales and somehow melted stone. They looked mishappen and drowsy. But Rex was more focused on their volcanic stone lances and warhammers they armed themselves with.

"Rex, track her. We’ll clear the way." Hassan said.

Rex trusted his strength after seeing him spear the World Serpent in the Guardian Domain. So, he ran straight at them.

More accurately, he jumped over them.

They gave chase, with some even jumping and flying after him with volcanic rock constructs of jet-propulsion boots and flaming rock wings.

"Oh— shit!" Rex said as they gave aerial chase.

Before they could reach him, a lasso of solar-sand spun like a halo around them all before binding them all up with so much force they were sliced in half.

Rex hit the ground untouched. He refocused his senses. He could smell— feel, dirt molecules on the stone ground.

He got the scent again. He had the feel of essence from another world as well.

Anorher volcanic kobold chased after him.

Hassan threw his sand constructed shield, it bounced and ricocheted through the horde, blowing up their heads and shattering their bodies before disintegrating right before hitting Rex in the back.

He pushed on.

A kobolds arm burst out of the ground to grab his leg.

Rex flipped over the arm, grabbing it mid flip to rip the reptilian creature out of the volcanic earth and throw it into the air.

From there, a solar-sand spear hit the lizard in the face so hard that it exploded.

Rex came to a stop on the grounds as he came upon a cliff drop.

Dirt crumbs rolled and rumbled on the edge.

Quickly, he activated his (Nine Lives) skill and jumped.