My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives
Chapter 60 GUARDIAN OF GLASS

Chapter 60: 60 GUARDIAN OF GLASS

Rex threw Nietha’s gold gleaming khopesh, aiming straight for the Drift-Destroyer’s eye.

The massive flaming brute didn’t bother dodging. It simply glared at the projectile and it’s natural body heat smelted the sword down to a bubbling pile of gold metal in liquid form.

Immediately afterward, the apish fire-giant aimed its horrifying eyes at Nietha who ran in a blur behind it.

Before it could even take a step, Rex roared. The leonine roar shook the earth and demanded the apes attention.

For better or worse.

The ape screamed as he turned to face Rex. Instead of beating its chest again, it made a clapping motion with its hands and sent flaming winds in Rex’s direction.

Rex flipped out of the way.

Another clap.

Another dodge. Only Rex accidentally landed on a kobold corpse and tripped.

The Drift-Destroyer sent another audial heatwave and Rex was blown back into a nearby building.

Soft hands made of sand caught him. He would’ve thanked Hassan but the ape was on him.

It punched through the sand hands, ripping Rex out of the grains with a scorching hot grip.

Immediately after it threw him into the ground so hard he exploded.

In a burst of solar sand he was reborn on the spot.

[8 Lives Remaining...]

The ape roared with irritation and lifted a foot to stomp him. It would’ve hit him but Imani’s ocular beam from behind hit the ape in the back of the head and threw off its balance just enough.

Rex rolled out of the way.

It’s foot came crashing down. A smokescreen of debris and brain numbing quaking sounds blinded him. To combat this, he dashed through the darkness with an explosive backwards leap.

Dust and debris flew from his slowly shifting fur.

"Remember to focus, Rex." Nietha said as she climbed up the apes back playing her percussion instrument. "Your glass form is perfect for an enemy such as this. You just have to fully realize it."

The ape stumbled and swatted at the sounds. Before it could attempt to turn on her, Rex roared in demand of its attention again.

The ape snarled and lunged forward with a punch.

Rex jumped out of the way, barely turning around in time to see it spit a ball of lava at him. It was twice his size.

With his sharded claws, he slashed at the heated projectile, reflecting the attack in response.

The ape didn’t bother dodging and casually absorbed the lava.

"Oh, c’mon—" Rex’s words were cut short as the ape fire giant stomped the grounds and split them.

Rex fell down a crack in the volcanic world. A third world of pure green fiery lava burned below, threatening to swallow him whole.

Grains of sand fell with him, solidifying into a staircase of sandstone for him to land on.

"Hassan, I owe you my life a dozen times over." Rex whispered as he began running up the stairs.

After every step he crossed, it crumbled behind him. Even if he was deaf and blind he would’ve known that meant Hassan was occupied elsewhere.

Rex climbed back to the surface just in time to see the Drift Destroyer punching into the sandstone pyramid housing the others.

Nietha was knocked into a building behind them where he could hear her repairing herself.

"Rex! This is the set up. Can you feel the heat?" Nietha asked.

It was then that Rex’s system screen went off.

[40...38...36...34% HP Remaining]

"It’s getting hotter." Rex said as he looked down at his hands and found the fur rapidly changing into glass.

"This is the perfect storm, Pride-Lord. It’s your storm. Bring the heat. Embrace it. Make his strength his undoing. Make your pride impenetrable. Remember, it’s only sand." Nietha coughed.

"Only sand...." Rex mumbled.

The Drift-Destroyer raised a massive flaming fist to shatter the pyramid housing his pride.

Rex took off. As he ran, more of his sanded fur was transformed into glass as the Drift Destroyers aura of volcanic heat climbed. He focused. He remembered it was only sand. He remembered the trigger of protective instinct and how it led to further control as he entered the beasts area of fire.

Rex slashed at the air. Due to the innate heat, he was essentially sending arcs of fire of his own creation at the Drift Destroyer due to the shard claws reflection ability.

The first few slashes of focused heat only increased the heat. Which caused more damage to Rex. But it also turned more of his fur into glass.

The next few slashes actually burned and tore through the Drift Destroyer’s fur, revealing the skin beneath that bubbled and burned under its own heat.

[Predator’s Frenzy: 40%]

Rex pounced.

As the Drift Destroyer’s fists came down on the pyramid defense at the base of the building, Rex ripped into its back like a wild beast.

The aftershock of the impact was jarring. The Drift Destroyer roared, clearly sensitive to pain. Rex grinned as he burned. His entire arms looked like they were made of glass. With every slash, he reflected blasts of heat from their surface, doubling his damage.

His bloodlust made him lose track of his health loss and focus.

[Predator’s Frenzy: 60%]

The glass coating he was maintaining cracked as hot blood splattered against its spotless surface.

"REX!" Nietha stepped out of the building playing her instrument.

[Predator’s Frenzy: 55%]

The melody was neither enticing or lulling. It rested somewhere inbetween, mellowing him just to the point of humane alertness. Alertness that had him back flipping off the Drift Destroyer’s back as it reached for its back where he once was.

In its exposed state, he yelled. "Hassan! Now!"

The loose sand rolling off the pyramid rose up and immediately morphed into a fist of sand to uppercut the Drift Destroyer.

The sound of the monstrous apes jaw smacking together was deafening.

It stumbled backward and spun before recovering. For once it wasn’t smirking or grunting.

It was doing something worse.

The Drift Destroyer’s singular eye squinted. It’s flat black lips curled into a vengeful grimace. It’s fur gained red highlights as it caught flame along its back and arms. Molten black stone claws ripped into existence between each knuckle followed by a rhinos horn of dark stone just above its eye.

It was suddenly so hot it was hard to breathe.

The Drift Destroyer— that looked like equal parts, gorilla, cyclops, bear, fire elemental and rhino, stomped his feet and prepared to charge the prism.

Rex moved in a blur, running around to the front side of the creature to climb his length and slash at his eye. Before he could, the beast caught him.

Steam spiraled from between the creatures crushing grip. Rex snarled as his arm shattered.

[10% HP Remaining!]

When he opened his eyes again, facing the giant cyclopsian eye of the Drift Destroyer, he saw a sandstone spear in his peripherals go into its ear.

The beast yelped and stumbled to the side. It quickly tried to stomp and swing at Nietha but she stayed behind the creature.

In its distracted state, it wasn’t able to see the things spilling from inside of the pyramid.

Over two dozen reanimated skeletons. All massive boned men with the heads of jaguars and long bladed tails. They wielded clubs and spears that they attacked the Drift Destroyer with.

They were flimsy and just barely tall enough but there were enough of them that it grabbed the creatures attention.

He swatted and head butted the skeletons, shattering the already burnt remains with ease.

"MY BABIES!!!!!" The half-goblin screamed.

In the Drift-Destroyers destraction, Rex got an arm free. With his sharded claws, he slashed at the creature, sending arcs of hot wind at its face and neck, slowly overloading its temperate defenses.

The beast raged and slashed apart the last of the skeletons before throwing Rex into the pyramid. It was so fast, Hassan didn’t have the time to react and Rex died on impact.

[7 Lives Remaining...]

He respawned, now standing between the Drift Destroyer and the pyramid.

Nietha called to Hassan in another language.

The sand pyramid crumbled into piles of sand.

"The hell are you doing?!" Rex said without looking back.

"Giving you the chance to grow." Hassan said.

[Guardian’s Authority Activated]

Rex felt his stats boost as he took a defensive stance over his allies.

The sanded remains of the pyramid slithered across the scorching grounds like serpents, coiling around the Drift Destroyer’s legs and arms like chains connected to the foundations of buildings surrounding them.

The creature strained and snarled against the sand holds to no avail. Horrifyingly, it didn’t panick. It’s rhino horn of volcanic stone began to pulse with red waves.

Rex worried that it was calling others.

Then he felt all the moisture leave his body.

The heat climbed.

His fur burned entirely. He didn’t need to be told to maintain his focus a thirteenth time. Even as portions of his skin burned down to the bone before turning to glass.

He listened to Nietha’s instrument with closed eyes. It’s beautiful desert melodies. He listened to the crystallizing magic of his own body. Slowly the burn became warmth, reminding him of the sun.

DING!

[Elemental Reactivity Recognized!]

[New Anhurian Elemental Form Unlocked!: (Guardian of Glass)]

[All Defensive Stats: +3]

Rex opened his eyes. He looked like he was made of pure glass. Not shattered or a dozen bladed pieces. One solid sculpture. His claws were jagged twinkling blades. His musculature was smooth hard curves and contours. His mane was a fractal collection of prisms that sent light spinning in a chaos aura all around him.

"Everyone cover your eyes. You’re in the presence of a god...." Hassan bowed his head.

The Drift Destroyer’s pulsing rhino horn began to slow in its output of rapid heatwaves. Growing smaller and smaller in its radius until it was all internal.

It’s horn glimmered. It’s singular eye turned red. All the fire faded from its fur and focused in its one eye. It flexed against the sand restraints.

Rex knew what was coming.

He stayed in front of his people as the Drift Destroyer charged up a devestating beam-blast.

Rex hissed, "Come on."

The beast roared, sending a massive focused blast of fire, green and red lava and lightning.

Rex snarled as he spread his arms and legs to try and absorb all of the energy thrown his way.

It was scalding. But he never felt his skin burn. Not even his eyes as he became as bright as a living star. He could feel himself vibrating.

But....

"It’s only sand." He mumbled as he glowed with such a deadly intensity that he was melting through the ground.

The Drift Destroyer raised its eyebrow in confusion.

Rex took a step forward. He could feel the energy spinning through him.

"I was supposed to be an assassin..... but I kind of like this."

Rex swung at the beast.

In a flash that blinded the world, he unleashed all of the absorbed damage in a reflective back-blow that ripped straight through the Drift Destroyer.

And six skyscrapers behind it.

All was black afterward.

Then Rex opened his eyes.

DING!

[You have Leveled Up!]

[You are now Level 12!]

[3 Stat Points Available]

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