My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives
Chapter 59 IMPENETRABLE PRIDE

Chapter 59: 59 IMPENETRABLE PRIDE

Boss wasn’t exactly the correct term. It’s what most kids and young Drift Soldiers in training called them because it reminded them of video games. Rex remembered reading in a psychology book he found in a dumpster that it helped soldiers dehumanize and infantilize an otherwise hellish concept.

Because even though Rex and many others referred to them as Bosses, a more apt term would be Drift-God.

Hellzone Lord.

Nexus-Walker.

All names fit. And all names elicited an extreme sense of anxiety in Rex.

Especially for his current circumstances.

Drift Dimensions were split into three base rankings.

Bronze, silver and gold.

Based on the presence of cities, geological artillery systems, intelligence and world layers, they were in a high silver ranked Drift Dimension. Other additives and mutations could add to the rank, making things like Star-Bronze and Two Star Silver Ranked or Mythos Gold— which would be the presence of Drift Dieties.

As the ground rumbled and more geysers split the black sand, Rex found himself praying to Panther that a Drift Diety wasn’t on the cusp of emerging. The strongest ones could induce Mana Flux’s over entire regions of the outside world and change the application of Inheritence Abilities. Rex couldn’t imagine what would happen to his own in such an event.

"We need to take defensive positions." Imani said. Her dark skin was shimmering with sweat.

"Get her a weapon." Rex said to Hassan.

"No." Imani said quickly before turning to the half-goblin woman with a hand out.

"What?"

"Give me a weapon." Imani said as they left the center of the city.

The half-goblin woman dug into her bag of bones and pulled out a giants femur bone made into a single edged sword. It’s flat backside was dotted with wolf teeth.

Rex raised an eyebrow at Imani.

"This will lessen Hassan’s cognitive load. He can focus more offensive and defensive maneuvers without having to worry about maintaining the form of whatever weapon he’d want to give me." Imani explained.

"Fair enough." Rex said as they approached a empty building and headed inside.

As soon as Hassan stepped past the doorway, sand reinforcements consumed the first two floors of the building in the form of a pyramid building around its base.

Rex was able to see it so well because he didn’t step inside with them.

Imani turned around, "What are you doing?"

"Someone has to make first contact. I’ll gauge the threat level for us. Look for an opening and take it the first chance you get. I better not be out here for nothing." Rex said to them all.

"Rex— you understand this is most likely a Star-Silver Drift Dimension, right?" Imani said.

"I was thinking just high silver, but I see that too."

"So what are you thinking? You can’t solo a Drift-god." Imani said.

"Of course not." Rex turned around to face the volcano rising out of the pit of black sand in the cities center. He still only had one eye and an ear that was dripping blood down his face and shoulder. As he turned his back to them, a mane of glass shards shimmered in their direction, "I defintely can’t solo whatever this thing is. But when you die, it’s over. When I die, I come back."

Nietha stepped out of the fortified building with Hassan’s approval.

As she did, she transformed, assuming her Bastetian form in a whirlwind of golden fire and sand.

Like the Anhurians, she was massive. Over eight feet tall with long smooth muscle. Her jaw extended into a leonine maw and her ears sharpened. Thick golden and brown fur sprouted from her back and shoulders like armor with an endless aura of dust and sunlight. In one hand she held a glowing percussion instrument. In the other she wielded a golden gleaming khopesh blade.

"Don’t waste your heals." Rex said as he bounced on the balls of his feet like a boxer.

"I would never. That’s not all I’m here for, anyway." Nietha said.

"What’s up then?"

"You." Was all she replied as she looked him up and down.

Whatever else was to be said was swallowed up by the roar of the volcano.

It spit noxious fumes of green and red lava with thunderous undertones and overlays. The sky flashed and the fall was disasterous.

Rex and Nietha dashed around the opening, flipping out of the way and dodging the massive solidified lava asteroids that fell back down to the ground.

At least it should’ve been that simple.

But the solidified lava globules were eggs.

As the first few fell and cracked open, out came dinosaurid kobolds drooling fire and lightning.

"Holy shit that’s terrifying!" Rex snarled as he rolled out of the way of another projectile.

It cracked open, steaming and slimy as a creature that resembled a Stoney molten-clawed ankylosaur stepped out.

Immediately, through the black murky smokescreen, its stone mace of a tail slashed at him. The speed was untraceable by the eyes. Thankfully not by ears or feline instinct.

Rex flipped out of the way. But his damaged inner ear threw off his balance causing him to get grazed by the tail.

He felt it rip off a chunk of his arm flesh and fur. The intense heat immediately cauterized the wound as he flew backward, landing on his back.

[35% HP Remaining]

Another projectile fell straight for his face where he lay.

Nietha was cutting apart a small pack of them.

Rex groaned and tried to get up. At the same time, a blue lazer beam blasted across the sky and knocked the projectile off course.

"You need to fix your ear. It’s interfering with your agility— which is your best attribute in a time like this." Imani said from the window as lazer blue steam spun from her eyes.

"Working on it." Rex said.

"Are you?" Imani asked seriously as the ankylosaur kobold charged.

Rex looked down at his damaged arm. Where the chunk of flesh was missing, his fur surrounding it was turning to glass. Not shards, but solid smooth glass. It almost looked like ice.

"I am." Rex said. His glass claws returned.

The ankylosaur spit lava-lightning.

Rex’s instincts took over and he lunged to slash at the attack. To anyone else he probably looked stupid. But it felt as correct as breathing.

His claws claws hit the electrical fire blast. The heat and light was absorbed by his crystalline claws and reflected back at the beast like a magic mirror.

The blast hit the ankylosaur in the face, melting its eyes and ears down to the black skull.

Rex kept on his charge and slammed his foot through its skull. Burnt chunks of brain splattered around him as the creature fell.

[+200 EXP]

"That’s.... new." Imani mumbled.

"Just like I said, Pride-Lord. I am here for you. I am here to witness your pride manifest." Nietha threw her sword into a raptor bodied kobold without looking as she walked over to him with a feral gleam in her eyes. "Keep your focus. You are becoming impenetrable. Like the allure of the lion itself."

At the same time that she said that, the volcano spit again. Only this time it was a massive focused stream that penetrated the sky and evaporated all the dark clouds.

Suddenly Rex could see the outer world above them. Breathtaking and bound by crust and fire and jagged mountains held together by elemental magnetism.

But more importantly,

"The final egg." Rex said as the massive black boulder shot out of the volcano fell from the sky.

It’s weight was immense. The air distorted around it. As it fell, an aura of fire burned, slowly pulling away the volcanic layers to prematurely reveal the creature.

The Drift-god.

Born in volcanic strife for one purpose.

Rex and Nietha ran, using their feline claws and agility to climb the sides of the buildings to avoid the impact.

The creature landed in a whirlwind of heat and quaking intensity. Hassan reinforced the first few buildings, but everything behind them crumbled from the shockwave as if the Drift-gods very birth was ending its own world.

Sometimes, Drift-gods were enemies of their own domain. When that was the case, they were popularly referred to as Drift-Destroyers. Holders of dark mutations that upped the danger level of a Drift Dimension significantly.

Both Imani and Rex were wrong.

It wasn’t a High Silver-Ranked Drift Dimension.

It wasn’t a Star-Silver Drift Dimension.

It was a Dark-Star Silver Drift Dimension.

Rex knew it as soon as he laid eyes on the beast.

It didn’t have scales.

It had fur. It was at least twelve feet tall and stood like man. Clearly apish. Like equal parts gorilla, chimpanzee and fire-giant. Cyclopsian Fire giant if it’s one eye meant anything.

The beast roared and beat its chest.

With every beat, a volcano somewhere erupted, turning the sky into a pool of lava flame.

[35....34...33....32....30 HP Remaining.]

"This things aura is so hot it’s killing me." Rex said as sparks of flame danced around him.

"Perfect conditions." Nietha said as she healed him slowly.

"You’re insane." Rex replied.

"Confident. The Lion is confident. Even when all others are not." Nietha explained.

Rex dropped down from the building he stood on.

Nietha followed.

The ground burned his pawed feet. Forcing him to move. His fur burned and turned to glass before shattering at the ruin of his focus. Of his instinct.

The apish fire giant laid eyes on him. With his missing eye, torn arm and gushing ear.

He smirked.

A giant world ending Drift-Destroyer grinned at the prospect of fighting Rex.

"To hell with the heat."

Rex ripped Nietha’s Khopesh out of one of the dinosaurid kobolds corpses and threw it at the Drift-Destroyers eye.

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