The Lupine System-Chapter 131: Mike vs The Panther

Mike vs The Panther

Something was wrong.

Mike knew it the instant he activated Primal Authority.

The skill activated, yes, but its effects were...

Underwhelming at best.

’What the–’ Before he could question it, the panther moved again.

In a second, it teleported around him several times while swinging its claws, and Mike was just barely able to defend against the attacks without getting injured.

Still, if things continued like this, he would be in quite the pickle.

With a snarl, he forced his Authority on the surrounding space, something he’d never done before, and, surprisingly, it worked.

Sort of.

The panther tried to teleport again, but to its shock, the teleportation was delayed.

If before its teleportation was like moving through water, it suddenly felt like moving through mud, it took more time and effort.

As a result, it wasn’t able to teleport in time, and Mike caught it right in its muzzle before it finally vanished.

When it reappeared, it shook its head as the attack had disoriented it a bit.

Mike didn’t immediately go after it and focused his attention on the sphere of influence of Primal Authority, and he couldn’t help but frown.

For starters, it was smaller. Before, he could extend it to about 70 meters around him. But now, it was barely 15 meters in diameter.

Second, it felt... weaker. If Mike had to describe it, it felt murky, and expressing his Authority with it now would require more effort to achieve the same result as when it was at full power.

’Is it because of what happened while I blacked out?’ He wondered. He looked at the wound on the panther’s chest, noted the sudden absence of the chieftain, and saw his domain, and concluded that they were all connected.

He just didn’t know what connected them.

At this point, the panther had recovered and snarled at Mike, but it didn’t charge in immediately. It seemed wary of what Mike did to slow down its teleportation, which is when Mike noticed something else.

Primal Authority was active, but the panther hardly seemed scared.

Usually, even if he didn’t consciously increase the output, surrounding creatures would still cower. But now, the panther barely seemed to notice the suppression effect on its psyche, and if it did, it was ignoring it.

’Annoying.’ Mike huffed.

Sadly, there wasn’t a lot to do about it, so he just had to roll with it.

With that thought, he raised his arm and let out a Primal Rend.

The panther easily teleported away since it was no longer within the range of Mike’s skiskill, however, as soon as it reappeared, another Primal Rend was waiting for it.

With his keen senses and instincts, Mike was able to sense where the panther would reappear and unleashed another attack right as it teleported.

It was a bit strange. It was like watching the ground shift as a worm went through, and then striking where it was going to emerge. Only in this case, the worm was a panther that could kill him if he wasn’t careful.

Sadly, the teleportation was truly too fast, and the creature blinked away right as it appeared, causing Mike’s attack to miss.

But Mike wasn’t dismayed. Instead, he dashed towards where he guessed the panther would appear once more. The reason why? To keep it within the range of Primal Authority.

Sure enough, the panther appeared again, but it immediately realized its mistake as pressure bore down on it from all sides.

This time, Mike consciously enforced the suppression effect of his skill, and the effects, while weakened, were still tangible, as Mike sensed the panther’s energy destabilize slightly.

Without hesitation, he sent out a Haven Ring and a Primal Rend at the same time, both attacks flanking the creature.

The panther leapt back, but Mike stretched his arm out and Primal Authority obeyed. Suddenly, the panther was halted midair before getting pulled towards Mike who was now preparing a punch.

Seeing this, the creature snarled, and Mike watched with surprise as the panther suddenly split into four.

He frowned as the four panthers ran in different directions, and Mike’s instincts instantly locked onto the one his instincts directed him towards.

He released a Primal Rend, and the attack struck true. But to his shock, the one he hit ended up being fake. That’s when his instincts directed him to another panther, and Mike realized what had happened.

’It can swap itself with its clones.’ Mike noted, then his danger sense flared, and he shifted to the side just as a shadow at his feet shifted before releasing a long black spike that aimed to impale him.

’Shadow manipulation???’ Mike was startled. He shattered the spike and looked at the panther that had now exited his domain and was staring at him with malice.

’... Space and Shadow manipulation. What exactly is this creature?’ Mike narrowed his eyes.

In terms of raw strength, it was weaker than both Mike and the chieftain. And yet, its attack methods were more numerous at a glance.

’If not for that injury, this fight would be a lot harder.’ Mike thought as he and the panther stalked each other. If he was being honest, he was surprised the panther hadn’t left.

He’d read that panthers generally liked to avoid direct confrontations, and if they entered unfavorable situations, they were likely to leave.

Seeing as this one could teleport and control shadows, it was probably adept at sneaking and assassinating. Plus, it was injured, and its combat strength had fallen significantly.

’So why are you still here?’ Mike frowned. Did it perhaps hold a grudge?

Sadly, he didn’t have time to consider the matter more as the panther suddenly melded into the shadows, and Mike lost sight of it. But he knew it hadn’t retreated.

With his senses and instincts, he could tell it was watching him. What unnerved him, though, was how.

He could feel its gaze from multiple spots changing rapidly.

’It’s teleporting while also being in the shadows. Pinpointing it will be an issue.’ He huffed. A very troublesome opponent indeed.

It was waiting for him to leave the smallest opening so it could strike.

That said, the panther couldn’t rush in easily either. If it failed to strike Mike, it would struggle to leave due to being within his domain, and Mike could capitalize.

Both of them knew this, so the panther did something else.

Mike’s eyes widened, and he looked down just to see space twisting around his leg, and he could feel a sudden pressure around it, like it was constricting.

He cursed and wrenched his leg free just as the spot collapsed inward, and Mike sensed a vacuum form briefly before space filled the spot back in.

The panther tried again, but Mike immediately used his domain to stabilize the surrounding space, and the harassment ceased. But that’s when Mike noticed the surrounding shadows had grown unnaturally, all of them coiling towards him like silent tendrils. It was an eerie sight, but he had no time to ponder on it.

He condensed his aura on his fist, and this time, he completely gave up on trying to control his energy and he punched into the ground.

The result was immediate. The ground shattered and exploded in a wide area, throwing massive chunks of rock in all directions.

Mike jumped between the rocks until he was high in the sky where the sun was shining, and without hesitation, he unleashed a barrage of Primal Rends on the ground below, right the surroundings apart. Again, there was no attempt to control his energy as he focused on destruction rather than actual damage.

With this, large amounts of dust filled the surroundings, and as Mike fell back down, he pulled his domain until it was just a few meters around his body.

He immediately closed his eyes and focused on his senses. He picked up on the smallest thing, from every individual dust particle around him to the slight distortions in space.

Other the small area his domain occupied, he was completely surrounded by shadows from the dust, but this wasn’t a fluke.

Mike let out a breath, then he spun and threw a punch.

He didn’t feel space distort, nor did he feel the wind pressure change or the dust displace.

In that moment. He left everything to his instincts and his instincts alone, trusting them entirely.

And the result was positive.

His fist collided with the chest of the panther that had just pounced from the shadows, right in the spot it had been injured before.

Blood spilled as Mike growled. Instead of punching it away, Mike punched it into the ground, the ground shattering even more as Mike focused on dealing as much internal damage as possible.

The panther let out a pained cry and tried to teleport, but Mike condensed his domain even more and essentially locked down space.

He made a blade with his fingers and condensed his auras around the tips, almost making a blade, and he thrust down at the panther’s head.

But right as his attack was about to land, his danger sense exploded.