My Werepanther System: Starting with Nine Lives

The Weaponsmiths room was another dungeon like room below ground. Specifically below the small shop above ground. How The Box had a "below ground" was something Rex didn't yet know.

It wasn't an all white room with walk in closests and display cases like the armor fitting location.

It was dark— lit with post-industrial torches that smelled like gunsmoke and the afterglow of monitors displaying cam feeds of shoot outs and martial bouts between Drift Soldier and Drift Spawn.

Rex watched as a Drift Soldier wielding a gun-blade hacked and blasted his way through a Mantis-Man horde.

They came in waves. Humanoid bug monsters with blades for arms and the ability to crawl on walls. In a cave, they flowed like water. Green snickering water with waves that had the sharpness of a razors esge.

The horde was about to overtake the soldier when he suddenly began to glow with fiery red and yellow stripes. Some flowed like fire, others buzzed with electricity. All around him the mantis-men began to burn and electrify. His speed increased. His gunblade began to shoot incendiary rounds that left gaping holes in the enemy.

The tide was turned in a blink and the warpath he cut into the Drift Dimension was one of utter decimation. His team was no more than an armed clean-up crew.

"It's him." Rex realized— breaking the silence as his class watched.

"Yes. Dimitri Fauve. Victor's Patriarch." Imani replied.

Everyone glanced at Victor. He didn't budge— seemingly unbothered by the chaos filmed in 4K. As if he had to study similar film during training sessions at his estate.

"Why doesn't yours have lightning?" Tyson asked Victor.

"Dimitri Fauve gained the rare Physicality known as Shock-Hide. He can increase the electrical pulse in his body." Imani explained.

"Did he get that from energel doping?" Rex asked.

"Watch your filthy mouth!" Hunter spat.

Imani turned to face him, "The stigmas been around for a century. Calm down."

"It's around because people like him keep bringing it up." Hunter said.

"Yea it's not like I was offered any this morning or anything…." Rex replied.

Syrus laughed beside Hunter.

"Your Matriarch will hear about this." Hunter said after realizing Syrus offered Rex the very energel hit they were speaking of.

"And she'll totally listen to you Hunter, guard dog of the Inheritor Corporations." Syrus replied, still smiling.

Rex had a feeling Syrus liked when people saw his fangs. "He'd make a terrifying Beast-Totem Awakener." He thought after the fact.

"It doesn't matter. Energel will start being mass produced in the next decade anyways. They'll put it in our food to compensate for the Drift Spawn evolving to survive against our abilities. Eventually, we'll have to rely on Physicalities and M-Virus Strains more than Inheritence Abilties—"

"Woah there plant lady!" Tyson interrupted, "M-Virus Strains are not at all a possibility unless you want to legalize Vampires in society. That's kind of radical."

"I speak to plants. Tell me about it." Natasha drawled.

Before anyone could actually tell her about anything, footsteps rumbled down the steps.

They all rushed into a loose formation and stood at attention as the Sergeant walked into the room.

He was tall and lean with a hard face and no hair anywhere. It looked like he was carved from stone. His jaw was as squared off as a rifle stock and his nostrils were wider than the barrels on a shotgun.

He wore a classic Kevlar and cargo pant kit in dark green.

"Morning, trainees. My name is Sergeant Barret Browning. I've served the UMRA as a Drift Soldier and Armament Expert for a decade. I did two tours through the Blood Sands in the Middle East and was present when many of your Patriarchs and Matriarchs banded together and slayed the Vampire Messiah Julione. I say all that to say, not only do I know my way around a gun, but I know what gun will fit you. And that goes for every Armament in here. You'll all leave here with one and be better for it. Understood?"

"Yes, Sergeant!"

"Alright. Now, at ease." Sergeant Browning snapped.

The recruits fell out of standing at attention.

"This is your first Armament's Class. As such, I have nothing of substance to teach you. All today is for you, is selection. From there you'll train and study and be tested until you're an expert on the history and function of your chosen weapon. So browse, find your other half."

The recruits split off and began walking around the room, browsing the armaments as he spoke further.

Rex approached the closest wall display and came face to face with a bunch of hung up Rapiers and needle-blades.

"For Soldiers with the strength of speed and precision. Syrus would do well with these." Rex mused.

Sergeant Browning continued, "I know most of you have come in here of a certain mind. You think there's two sides. Drift Armament users and Inheritence Ability users. That's true, but only to the latter. Let your superpowered buddies think they're above you and your weapon. It'll make them look down on their own weapon. Before you know it, you'll be a martial master who can outmaneuver and skill their power. The playing field is more level than you could imagine. And it all starts here."

"Do you believe that?"

Rex turned and found Imani standing next to him.

"I think it's more to it than just finding the weapon that fits for you." Rex replied, "I mean…. You could find the perfect complementary Armament and still not have a knack for combat. Or defensive movement. There's... a lot that goes into it." Rex replied.

"But doesn't the perfect complementary weapon cover those weaknesses?" Imani asked.

"It could. But the body has its limits, weapon or not." Rex said.

"Indeed. If only we could all transform into greater versions of ourselves."

Rex side eyed Imani and swallowed silently.

Imani shook her head at the Rapiers, "I don't know why you're here. These don't fit you."

"Then what does? You seem to enjoy telling me about myself anyway."

Imani nodded, "Another indeed. You're this way."

He followed her as she walked, flipping the middle finger to Hunter in the process. Syrus made sure he saw by smacking the back of his neck and pointing to Rex.

"You're student report said you were a close combat tactician of sorts. Wrestling means you think quickly and go for the kill. You're not a striker looking to break down an opponent. You're a killer— a hunter."

"Terrible word choice." Rex relied as they came to a stop at a wall of military spears and blast-javelins.

"Apt word choice." Imani said as she turned back to look at him. Her braids danced against her back.

"I hate spears."

"You have emotional connections to inanimate objects?" Imani questioned.

"They're stupid. What percentage of Drift Soldiers end up in closed spaces against….." Rex trailed off as he watched Imani's eyes glow. "Stop doing the calculation."

"Alright."

"The point is, I'll be damned before I end up stuck because my spear can't fit in a cave hallway." Rex explained.

Imani nodded, "There are collapsible spears and short spears but I get your point. These don't fit you either. You're still short despite your….. transformation."

"Stop using that word."

Imani eyed him as she walked away, "Why, does it bother you?"

"Yea. You wanna read my vitals?"

"I already am."

Rex followed after her. They passed Victor and a group of other recruits handling swords and shields excitedly. Then they pushed their way through Hunter and his legion of gun nuts aiming empty handguns and Mana-Blast Gauntlets. Really, Rex pushed his way through after Imani parted the sea of idiots ahead.

Finally, they came to a stop at a wall of short— more commonly untility itemized, weapons.

Some came in pairs. Others came as single heaping hunks of jagged metal atop sturdy poles.

Either way, he was picking up what she put down.

"Axes."

"Brutal, efficient, versatile." Imani said.

"I don't know, that almost sounded like a compliment." Rex said.

"I'm the daughter of a politician, did you think I was incapable?"

"Yea."

"….. right."

Rex's mind was pulled back to the weapons.

"This works. In terms of my system, I need a weapon that works with my stealth and marksmen abilities. I'm an up close and personal brawler sure, but when night comes, I change. I can use these in an up close battle and from above as a sniping tool. That's it. My weapon of choice are throwing axes."

Rex approached the best looking pair.

They were hung up on the wall under a name tag that said Division and Unity.

He took the axes off the hooks.

They were heavy. Heavy but balanced. He felt accurate even holding them in daylight without his (Nighthunter) mode activated.

They also weren't shaped like classic throwing axes. The blades had a curve and overhang to them that gave room for cleaves from the front of the blade and stabs from the back.

On the handles there were grips and pressure plates.

He studied the weapon until he found the barrels at the top and slider gauges along the spine of each weapon.

He pushed the backs of the two axes together. Mechanical lights bloomed and wires and plates connected the two weapons until it became one scepter-cannon.

"Division…. And Unity." Rex said, now understanding the name.

"I like it."