A Panther seal

As soon as the game began, several figures began jumping down from the trees at each end of the rocky jungle. Diving through the air on the black surfboards with blue beams which made mechanical sounds the closer the figures got to the duo, as they came into view.

These figures were female leopard creatures with human-like features. They possessed tails, whiskers and pointy ears except they had two arms and legs like humans. In each of their hands was a golden staff with irregular black blotches on which stood a blue crystal ball at its top.

[ Name : Hominid Panthers ]

[ Rank : Grade 10 supreme beasts ]

[ Skilled creatures in combat known to own one of the greatest fighting technique in Harbingers Of Death ]

"Now," Max said to Hillary who nodded in reply and they moved in opposite directions towards the incoming Panthers.

Immediately, Max activated his flame ability. If he was going to take down creatures that had skills when it came to combat, he would have to use his to the best of his ability. The first Panther he came across gave him no breathing space as she attacked him from every side. Kicks and punches followed the powerful strikes from her staff. Her foot works were so complicated that Max couldn't comprehend the speed of her attacks.

In a few seconds, she speedily drove away from his sight on her surfboard, revealing another Panther behind her whom in the blink of an eye used her staff to whack him and he staggered backwards. A surge of energy swarmed around him and in the next second, he found himself somewhere else in the rocky jungle, just below one of the trees the Panthers had come from.

"Huh?" Max was confused. "What hap-?"

Before he could complete his sentence, a Panther attacked him from above and soon the two were engaged in combat. Despite having activated the fire ability, only the fire aura engulfed him. He was unable to shoot even a ball of fire or even cause lava to spew from underneath the ground as the Panther used every second in attacking him. He had taken several hits from the surfboard and staff of the Panther yet not even a scratch was seen on the creature.

"Fury of a thousand blades!" Max screamed out his lungs seeing the fight would probably end with the Panthers' having the upper hand.

But to his surprise...

[ Vaccum surrounding the area has been occupied by the presence of other portals ]

His confusion only deepened. Other portals were present? Did that mean he had fallen through an invisible portal to where he was now?

As the Panther fought him with her staff, he dodged in order to confirm his assumption. The staff stabbed the air behind him and then it suddenly shortened with it's end nowhere to be seen.

Their eyes quickly met and Max swiftly launched a flame kick into the Panther's side before pushing her through the invisible portal which happened to be behind him.

He quickly equipped the Lunar blades so as to be sure of where portals were stationed, by poking the air with the blades in between fights.

Afterwards, he began making his way towards other Panthers and at the same time being cautious of portals that could be around.

On the other hand, Hillary manoeuvred her tentacles which did a good job of flinging the Panthers around, even without having to move an inch. She wrapped her tentacles around three Panthers whom were then bashed against the ground as many times as she wanted before they were flung away only to hit their bodies against rocky surfaces and the hard barks of trees. Despite the speed that complimented the combat skills of the Panthers, the tentacles from Hillary's back attacked at a rate that was a bit comparable to their speed. Her tentacles acted as weapons which fought the Panthers whom attacked her from every direction.

Though she was at a disadvantage as the major ability or more precisely, the only ability the grub moth possessed were tentacles that acted on both instincts and on the command of the body it was attached to. However, she managed to survive the fight, with her Botanical - mold transmit ability making up for her defense.

In not less than an hour and 30 minutes, the dead body of the Panthers were littered all over the place before they began to disappear. The Commander of the Panthers was the only one left as she jumped down from the tree she had long been watching the fight from and dived across the air on her surfboard towards Max and Hillary who were covered in sweat.

Max, who had not expected any of the Panthers to be left alive took a stance and pointed his swords at her ready to pounce on the Panther if she were to attack.

Instead, the commander took a respectful bow.

"Despite the low energy level I can sense from you both, you beat my expectations that you will be able to beat my test," She said as she lifted her head.

"Test?" Hillary tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes. "What do you mean?"

The Commander smiled and made a brief clap. In response to her clap, a group of Hominid Panthers all appeared in the air, standing on surfboards hovering behind her.

"Say hello to the real us," She said.

Max's and Hillary's jaws dropped to the ground. They couldn't believe their eyes. So all along they had been fighting against clones whom they had barely managed to defeat.

"I see you are the special one this time," She continued. "And so I believe it would be better to know and see if I am not mistaken. Now that I see I am not on the wrong side, I have decided to grant a gift to the special one whom will utilize it for the better of our clan."

The words of the commander were more or less a parable to Max's hearing as he couldn't even make sense out of anything she had said.

"I know it may seem complicated as you are human and are yet to understand the ways of this world. Please lend me your hand."

Max stared at her with a narrow eyes as if he didn't trust even giving his hand to a beast. After a second thought, he placed his hand in hers and a golden light shone between their palms.

All the while, Hillary was confused at what was happening since she could barely hear what was going on between Max and the leader

After a while, she let go of his hand. Max stared at the back of his palm. He could see a leafy print without veins instead in the pattern of a Leopard's skin. He lifted his gaze to the commander.

"What is this?" He asked.

"A Panther seal," She said. " I want you to go to the pyramid jungle, the Panther seal will allow your entry. There I want you to meet the Chief commander, Captain Lulu and she will hand over the gift to you. Any questions you have about what ' The special one ' is, she will readily give you answers."

Max simply nodded as he returned his gaze to the panther seal.

"We wish to surrender," The commander bowed her head and soon after they all disappeared.

[ The Hominid Panthers have submitted to defeat ]

[ Congratulations, you have successfully cleared level 2 ]

[ You are now being transported to Area 3 ]

[ Game will begin in 10 seconds ]

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The Area immediately changed from the rocky jungle to an island.

[ Game has begun ]

[ Level 3 ]

[ Mode : Difficult ]

[ Time limit : 2:40:00 ]

Balls of water speedily made their way from my sky towards the duo. Hillary placed her hand on the ground and a wall of Earth rose from it, preventing the balls of water from attacking them before it returned to the soil.

"What the hell was that?" Hillary asked.

"Heck I even know," Max said as the masterminds behind the water ball attacks came to view.

These creatures looked very different from the ones they had ever come across. They were humanoid fish-like creatures with fin ears, webbed fingers and webbed toes. Protruding from their backside were tails with a fin at its end. They had oily skin that glistened from a distance. The funny yet surprising thing about the scene were the flying sharks they mounted. The sharks looked like any other shark except that they possessed wings.

"They look weird," Hillary whispered.

[ Name : Marine soldiers ]

[ Rank : Grade 6 Divine beasts ]

[ Creatures known to be the ruling tribe of the ocean. Abilities attributing to water. Ability to survive in and out of water ]

More water balls soon made their way towards them. Max was quick to dodge as he equipped the Beast slayer. Black vines reached out from the sword, wrapping themselves around his hand till they got to his shoulder. His eyes turned a pitch black glow similar to the one he was emitting now. Even his behaviour suddenly changed from Hillary's observation.

"Finally, time to slice some beast meat," He smirked and launched himself into the air.